The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-04-06
SILVER THE WAR CRY.
White Metal Champions Must
Not Leave Their Battle
to Others.
TRICKS OF THE GOLD BUGS.
The Senator From Nevada Says the
Bimetallic Men Must Act
for Themselves.

WASHINGTON, D. c., April ga con-
ference of the leaders of the new Silver
party was held in this city last evening.
Among those present were ex-Congressman
Sibley, Judge Joseph Sharon of Connecti-
cut, Senator Jones of Nevada, General
Warner, Senator Stewart and Congressman
Newlands. At the close of the conference
Senator Jones and Sibley left for New
York, where they are to hold another con-
ference concerning the welfare of the new
party. Sibley is understood to have been
exceedingly sanguine of the outlook in
Pennsylvania, and spoke enthusiastically
of the prospect of gaining recruits in the
East
1t is said that there was some division of
opinion among the silver leaders as to
whether or not it would be wisest to nomi-
nate an independent candidate for the
Presidency, or to support such Democratic
and Republican electors as will pledge
themselves to vote for some free-coinage
man in the electoral college. Senator
Stewart of Nevada, however, is quite out
spoken in his distrust of either of the old
parties or their electors to the college and
favors nominating an independent candi-
date. He said to the CALL correspondent:
eve are bound to win if we unite. The
only hope of the gold combination, con-
sisting of the dominant factors of the two
old parties remaining in power, either
under the name of Republicans or Demo-
Gratis, is to keep the silver forces divided.
1t is only through division of the friends
of silver that the gold element can hope to
maintain its supremacy.
1.-THE Republicans and Democrats in the
next campaign will have difficult task in
finding 'straddler' on the financial ques-
ton The gulf between gold monopoly
and the shrinkage of fortunes, penury and
want of the masses grows wider every year,
and straddlers' find themselves in danger
of the fate of Pharaoh. The impossibility
of converting the gold leaders of the two
old parties to bimetallism is becoming
more apparent every day. Last year free
coinage Republicans of the West thought
they had converted Mr.. Reed to their prin-
ciples. They were very happy for while,
and pointed to many things as an evidence
of his support of their ideas. Now, how
ever, they sadly confess that his vote for
the Cleveland gold bonds has forced them
to give him up.
''Then they centered their fond hopes
upon Governor Mckinley of Ohio. They
recalled the fact that he had voted for free
coinage when in Congress, and the Re
publicans in Washington were predicting
that he would be all right toward silver if
elected to the presidency. They whispered
that he was in favor of free coinage, but he
was compelled to keep quiet for the pres
ent in order not to ALLEVIATE the gold ele-
ment in the convention. But now McKin-
ley has busted them. He very unkindly
destroyed all the hopes of those who were
depending on him. His declaration that
he would not be candidate on a free
coinage platform was the refinement of
cruelty to those who had judged him by
his records in Congress long ago.
"The skill of Harrison in phrase
making to satisfy both sides is about ex-
hausted. His services to the gold COM
bination while he was President sufficiently
disheartened the people who favor silver
TO make them stay away from the polls
at the last Presidential election or to vote
for Mr.. Cleveland, whose activity in the
gold cause had somewhat abated while he
was out of office. BY the way, the strength
of both Harrison and Cleveland is re-
markable in slow race. In the last
election Cleveland had the advantage, for
Harrison, being in office, was able to make
more enemies than Cleveland could out of
office. A multitude voted for Cleveland,
another multitude stayed away from the
polls, and enough people voted for the
name of Democracy without substance to
give the Democrats triumphant ma
jority.
"The fact is that each party relies solely
upon the misconduct of the other, and in
the past fifteen years each side has been
enabled to make unlimited capital from
the shortcomings of the party in power
But there is going to be another element
in the next campaign, for the people are
tired of the two old parties, disguised with
their shortcomings, enraged at their fail
ure to legislate for the people and in favor
of the money of the constitution. The
people will unite in 1896, and such union
means restoration of the Government to
the people, for whom it was ordered"