The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-09-29
TO UTAH SILVER REPUBLICANS.

One of the anomalies of the political
situation in Utah, is the adherence Of
certain pronounced silver men to the
Republican party which is the pro-
nounced and persistent enemy of sill
yer. We are aware that some of them
declare they will vote for a Demo-
cratic silver candidate in preference to
Republican goldbug. But that is not
the issue just now.
The whole history of the Republican
party shows it to be the friend and
feeder and ally of the monopolists, the
bankers. the trusts and the millionaire
manufacturers, who have profted by
the protection which that party has
given them, and who in return have
donated out Of their gains funds to
keep that party in power.
The history Of the Republican party
since 1873 when it demonetized silver,
has been an exhibition of hostility to
silver in the interest of the same
classes. for the benefit of the creditor
as against the debtor, to enrich the
money-grubber and tmpoverish the
y
trampling silver into the mire, the Re-
publican party fought every Demo.
cratic endeavor to restore the white
metal to its former status as money.
In the repeal of the purchase clause
of the Sherman act, the Republicans
stood in the way of a free coinage sub
stitute and prevented its adoption.
They voted in large majority with the
Democrats for the repeal; they voted
in large majority with the minority of
the Democrats against free silver coin
age at any ratio.
The attitude of the party today is
the same. It calls the free silver move
ment "craze" and its doctrines
''heresy.' There is not a great leader
of the party who is straight, square,
open advocate of free silver coinage
at the ratio TO 16 to l, independent of
European agreement. Only in the sill
yer producing regions are even the
rank and file of the party in favor
of free silver. It is emphaticalIy a
goldite party, with a minority of bo-
gus bimetallists-that is those who will
not support free silver coinage without
the consent Of the other commercial
nations, and sprinkling of free sill
verites who are so from local interest
and pressure.
There is positively mo hope for sill
yer in the Republican party" as en-
phatically declared by the leading sill
yer men, once Republicans, who have
reached that conclusion after many
years of hopeless struggling against
the party's goldite tendency. Why,
silver support a party from which no
friendly act to silver can reasonably
! be expected?
It may be asked in reply: What as
surance is there that the Democratic
party will do any more for silver than
the Republicans have done? The DIFF
ference is this: While only a small
minority of the Republican party is
for free silver. the large majority OF
the Democratic party advocate and de-
mand it. The silver element is growing
in the Democratic party and diminish
ing in the Republican party.
If the out and out silver men of the
West will help to send silver Demo-
Gratis to the United States Senate and
House, they will thereby strengthen
the cause of silver in the way it is
likely to prevail. Sending silver Re-
publicans will not be of benefit, be-
cause the whole number Of silver Re-
! publicanS is a homeless r7oioor;+1- oo5
the policy of the Republican party is
anti-silver. The only show for silver
is to swell the Democratic hosts and
secure such nominations in the next
national convention as will surely
effect the end desired At any rate
there is nothing for silver men to bona
for in the goldite Republican party.