The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1895-05-03

From our regular CorresJ ondent.l

| w otNUION, -. ", hFih -. Io0c.
Republicans are interested observers
4 o. the rumpus in the democratic party
which Mr.. Cleveland has stirred up
over the silver question. They have
expected for some time that the demo-
cratic party would split into silver. and
gold factions before the opening OF the
Presidential campaign, and those ex-
pectation seem now to be in a fair way
of materializing into facts. :. They are
merely amused by the chimerical asser-
tions of certain of Mr.. -Cleyeland''s s
followers, that the republican party
would support Mr.. Cleveland on
single gold standard platform. They
know that not even q small section of
the republican party could under any
combination of circumstances be
brought to support Mr.. Cleveland up
on any platform. They are quite as
much amused by the assertion that
the republican party, outside of the
extreme western States, is gold
standard party. OF course it is need
less to say to any intelligent republi-
can, and most republicans are intelli-
gent, whether he lives north. east,
south or west, that the republican party
is not, never has been and is not likely
to be a single standard party.
The republican party has, since the
question has been raised, repeatedly
declared in it's national platforms in
favor of bimetallism, which the Cen
tury Dictionary thus defines: "The
use of two metals as money at relative
values set by legislative enactment;
the union of two metals in circulation,
as money at a fixed rate. Specifically
tina. system OF coinage which recog-
nizes both coins cf silver and coins Of
gold as legal tender to any amount, or
the concurrent use OF coins of two
metals as circulating medium at n
fixed relative value" There is no indi-
cation that the next republican
national convention will do otherwise
that reaffirm that declaration. There
is only one single standard gold party,
and that is the Cleveland wing of the
democratic party.
Even rock-ribbed democrats had to
smile when the official announcement
was made that the Treasury depart
ment would no longer collect and dis
seminate statistics relating to the
manufacture of tin and terne plate i'll
the United States. The reason was
plain. Every publication of figures
showing the increase of this industry,
which was one Of those established by
the MCKINLEY tariff law, was official
ly giving the lie to every democratic
editor and stump speaker who took
part in the last Presidential campaign,
all of whom had declared in the most
positive terms that there was no such
thing as the manufacture of tin and
terms plates for commercial purposes
in the United States, and predicted
that three months after the election
it would be impossible to find an
American tin plate factory at work.
But the makers of the Mckinley law
knew what they were about. They
gave the manufacture of tin and
terne plate such firm footing in the
United States that it has continued to
grow, although its growth has been
slow since the enactment of the demo-
cratic tariff. Had the republican
party continued in power there would
today have been no need to import a
pound of tin or terne plate.
Secretary Morton continues to make
an exhibition of himself, through his
daily newspaper interviews on the
beef question. He seriously presents
arguments to prove what everybody
has known from the frst-that the
price of beef was forced up and kept
up by the beef trust, and then just as
seriously announces his inability to do
anything to help the people. Really
he is very funny little man. True
he talks too much, but his talk
ainuses the country, and in these
"hard times" the people need all the
free amusement they can get. His
latest interview advocates the single
gold standard Of finance.
That there are number of hungry
democrats still unprovided for is
shown by the number of applicants
for the vacancy in the Deputy Comp
trollership of the Treasury, caused by
death last week of Hon. Charles HI.
Mansur. One of these applicants, an
ex-Congressman, is charged with hav-
ing circulated a. petition, asking for
the Office as soon as it was announced
that Mr.. Mansur's illness would pro-
badly prove fatal. No matter who
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