The Delta independent., 1895-05-15
'"SILVER DICK" BLAND
HIS FIRST VISIT TO DENVER.
Tho Veteran Apostle OF Free Coinage Ad.
dresses an Enthusiastic Audience
Urges His Hearers Not to Vote for .
Gold Man for President.

Il
Denver, May 12-At the Broadway
theater last night Richard P. Bland,
eX-Congressman from Missouri. deliver
| ed an address on the Twenty Years
Battle for Silver and the Fight Yet to
! Come"
There was a large and distinguished
| audience present to welcome the emf
nent advocate of the free coinage of
| silver at a ratio of 16 to /. The ad-
| dress was an able one and was re-
ceived with much favor by the audi
| ence. The speaker after narrating the
| history of the struggles in Congress
| over the silver question: said:
"In all the great battles in Congress
| on the silver question. the Southern
| people. while enthusiastic for silver,
have had that sympathy and enthus-
iaSm clouded with the dread of force
bill or federal interference with their
local elf-government Doubtful as to
| whether their safety depended upon an
| alliance with New York and the East
for protection of their local affairs. or
| whether to go to the people of the West
and Southwest, where nature points
as their true friend and allies. caused
| them to hesitate upon the threshold of
victory for silver. Fortunately, how
| ever, in the great battle over the force
bill in the Senate, the senators from
the West, and especially Of the gold
and silver mining states, in their op-
position to this measure, which resulted
in its final overthrow and defeat. has
given assurance to the people of the
South that their political reliance. both
for. fnfH Of f1,ni, laTnt
| and their prosperity on economic queS-
tions, point to the West. We do not in
tend to draw sectional lines further
| than those who insist on the single
gold Standard have forced upon us this
| situation. The great money centers of
| the East, whose banking institutions
| are principally owned and controlled
by European banking houses. have
forced the people of the West and
| South in self-defense to make war up
on their system Of finance.
1.-THE day has now come when war is
| sues cannot longer dominate our poll
tics. The great political battles of the
| future will be fought on economic
questions. The battle of the standards
Is the greatest battle to be fought in
| this country and the world over. The
enslaved masses of the Old World look
naturally to this free people of ours to
lead the way. This vast country of
| ours of forty-four independent states
| and other vast territory, with over sew
| enty billions of wealth, and with Il
| population Of seventy millions of peo-
| pie, increasing at the rate Of more
than a million annually, is strong
| enough to maintain their own monetary
| system, to open the mints to the free
coinage Of gold and silver, and thus
,iv,r ly RI
| to the world, the old order of things, by
| which gold and silver circulated side
| by side, aiding and supporting each 9th
| er In giving labor employment and ef-
| fecting the exchanges Of commerce"
"In conclusion. attention should be
called to the fact that heretofore no
| president of the United States since
1878 has been friend of silver. Mr.
| Hayes vetoed limited coinage bill; It
is well known that every president
| since that time has been hostile to free
coinage and would veto any such bill
| II sent to him. This has had the effect
| of discouraging Congress in all these
contests. | have reason to believe that
silver would have long ago been re
stored to its old place in our system of
money had there been president Of
| the United States favorable to it, 1t Is
well known that the Senate to-day Is
overwhelmingly in favor of free coin
age, and will probably remain so for all
future time. The battle to be fought
| and the all-important point to gain, is
| to secure president who will sign Il
| free coinage bill If sent to him, and will
| not use the power and patronage of his
| Office to prevent such n bill coming t.
him; but, on the contrary. will recon-
mend such legislation. If we can once
a iC
| won. To this point all our energies in
| the future must be directed. 1t is not
my purpose and would be out of place
| in a non-partisan lecture or speech of
| this character to indicate how that may
| be brought about, further than to eX
press the hope that every true friend
| of the free coinage of silver will make
| a firm resolve and stand to it, that he
will not support In any manner presi-
dental candidate. no matter how nom
mated or what party platform he
stands on, unless that platform and
candidate give assurance of silver res
| toratiOn.
At the conclusion of Mr.. BANDS ad-
dress. Senator Teller was called for. He
said he had just finished congratulating
| the speaker on the closing words of his
| address that each one should pledge
|. himself or herself not to support any
one for president unless he was for the
| free and unlimited coinage of silver.
1t was the great question before the
| people of this country, and should b..
settled. The people were considering
| greater proposition even than the
| question they were called on to decide
whether there were to be two flags.
There might have been two republics
conducted with prosperity on this con-
tinent Senator Teller said but II was
| impossible that there could be prosper
ity under the present financial policy.
The effort to restore silver was not
an experiment. 1t was in accord with
the history of the world for 1000 years.
Senator Teller announced that he had
cast his last vote for any candidate who
was opposed to free silver, or was luke
warm in Its interests.
| The meeting closed with three cheers
for x-Congressman Bland.