St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-03-16
CAN'T HAVE MtYNEsoTa


William NJ. Springer, with an ak,
unfolds the inner purposes of the
men who built a new party craft
with a free silver pennant, and put
old Belly and Brains" Sibley on
the quarterback. He says their pur-
pose is to capture the next Demo-
cratic national convention. They ex-
pect to get all the Southern dele
gates, all the Pacific slope and half
OF those from Pennsylvania, Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Mime
sofa and Iowa. Then the new craft
will be dismantled, the pennant
transferred to the Democratic craft
and some good Western man" put
on the bridge in place of the Penn
syivania decoy duck Mr.. Spring ger
is convinced that these schemers will
capture the convention and thus
force the Republicans to Allison and
sound money plank, and on this
the fight will be waged.
We do not pin our faith to the
prophetic powers of Mr. Springer.
He hasn't shown himself to be
prophet, and history fails to record
that his father achieved any reputa-
ton in that line. We do not believe
that the expectations Of these spec
ulators will be realized. The Ohio
Democrats have had two expert
ences with free coinage that should
SIcken them, and make them refuse
longer the guidance of the young
son of his father Michigan Demo-
Gratis last fall declared for free coin
age and failed to elect their congress
sional candidates in their strongest
holds. So emphatically were they
and their creed rejected that they
saved but one lone Democrat out of
the legislative wreck. If they are
capable of learning anything they
will not care to repeat that folly on
a larger or any scale.
What reason Minnesota Democrats
would have for sending a free coin
age delegation is not cemprehensi-
bic. Certainly the experience in the
last campaign does not furnish it.
GOV. Nelson made opposition to it
the leading feature of his canvass.
and his vote indicates no silver
sentiment in the state even after
deducting the Democratic votes he
got through the Populist scare. Nor
is the vote of Owen to be taken as
a test, for he received the votes of
over 10000 Democrats given him
simply as g rebuke to the prominent
Democrats who were working for
Nelson.
The best test Of all was in the Sec
ond district. 1t was only on con-
gressmen that any vote for free
coinage could be effective There it
would count. On governor it was
merely an ineffective expression of
opinion. The district is entirely ag-
rlcultural. To the farmers the sill
YER demagogue is never tired of cry
ing that the lowered price of all
farm produce is solely due to the
characterization of silver. To them
he held out the lure of doubled val
ues following free coinage. If the
farmers of that district, constituting
three-fourthS of the voting strength.
had believed the free silverite's as
sertions the candidates representing
that policy would have had the ma
Jority of the votes.
The issue was sharply drawn.
Long, the Populist, and Baker, the
Democrat, proclaimed the gospel of
silver. McCleary from start to fin
ish fought it, maintaining the gold
standard. He talked nothing else.
He argued the money question his
torical1y and theoretically. He re-
ceived 23,269 votes against 1912 for
Baker and 1882 for Long, or a
clear majority of 1896 over both
After this exhibition what nonsense
it is to talk about free coinage in
Minnesota. If there are any Demo
Gratis who wish to make their party
smaller they can take no surer way
to do it than commit the party here
to that monstrous fallacy We have
been having large accessions of late
years from the German voters. They
Will stand no nonsense about the
money question. Their common
sense is bomb-proef against the
sophisms of the silverites. They will
leave the Democracy in a body when
it goes glimmering after cheap"
money.