The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-03-26
MUST STAND BY SOUND MONEY
col. MCCLURE WARNS THE SOUTH
OF ITS DANGER.

Capital VIII Refrain From Moving
Southward If Dixie Falls in Be
hind the Band Wagon of the DEM
agoEue-Every Coin of the Union
Must he of an Intrinsic Value to
Command the Respect of All Ma
tiOns.
Jacksonville, Fla, March 25.-It was ex-
pected that Col. Alexander Mcclure. ed
itor Of the Philadelphia Times, would stop
i'm this city on his way north and prep
arauons were making to give him re-
ception. But to-day Mayor D. U. Fletch-
er received a letter from the veteran ed
Hor, who is at st. Augustine, stating
that it would be impossible for him to
accept JacksOnville's hospitality. The
letter is a most interesting one. Col.
Mcclure devotes a large portion Of the
letter to Florida and her resources. He
urges the people not to despond because
of the freeze and says that the state has a
great future.
The concluding portion of the letter is
devoted TO the financial question and is
as follows: Pardon me for saying that I
have grave apprehensions from my in
rercourse with the people of the south
ern states during my present journey
I believe that you are now confronted
with an issue second in Importance only
20 the issue which led to the civil war
We have tested the question of the dis
mantling of the states and decided it by
rhe abitrament of the sword; but a ma
zion would be vastly better dismembered
by fraternal strife than to determine
its union by a baptism Of blood and then
destroy its honor and its credit by obedi-
ence to the subtle teachings of the dem
aEogue
"A nation cannot live without scrupu-
Iously maintaining its integrity, and the
southern states, above all, must command
fhe confidence of financial, commercial
and trade circles at home and abroad, if
they would hope for prosperity. They
possess countless millions of wealth which
await development, and that development
can only come by commanding the con
fdence of those whose capital and labor
must be invited to aid in the work. That
can be done only by maintaining honest
money and proclaiming to the world that
every honest dollar invested in the south
viii be repaid in equally honest money.
"A coin of the union, whether silver or
gold, must possess the intrinsic value and
not a promise to pay, and every dollar
should be such as would be accepted by the
civilized world, and every dollar issued
should be of equal value because redeem
able in coin of indisputable value. / am
not a capitalist nor a money-lender; I have
mo PERSONAL interest in the issue excepting
MAT which is the interest Of the entire
south. My life pursuit is aided or him
dered in prosperity by the success or mis-
fortune of the industrial classes of our
country, and when they are prosperous
am prosperous and when that class is
prosperous in the north there must be
prosperity in the south.
The first southern state that shall plant
itself unmistakably on the platform of
honest money will be foremost of all in
developme ent, in credit and in respect in
our own and all other countries; and as
long as there shall be hesitation in the
south as to her financial policy, there
must be dstrust in every quarter that
can aid you. and growing paralysis and
distress throughout all classes and condi-
tons of your people. ] speak earnestly
on this subject only because / earnestly
desire that the south shall prosper, for
when the south shall be prosperous there
must be prosperity throughout our en-
tire country.
Il hope that Florida will make an earn
est and united effort to aid the Atlanta
exposition. 1t should be a landmark in
the history of southern progress and
every state south of the Potomac should
make common cause to aid in the great
work. Great as has been the advancement
of the southern states during the last
dozen years you have hardly reached the
beginning of southern development, and
the Atlanta exposition should be made
the most successful illustration of indus
trial possibilities and achievements in its
reconstructed state. Sincerely yours,
"A. X. Mcclure"