Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1896-05-08

jority of the Democrats in the Sec
ond congressional district favor the
imm ediate restoration of the free and
unlimited coinage of gold and silver
at the present legal ratio of 16 to /, as
such coinage existed prior to 1873,
without waiting for the aid or consent
OF other nations, and that such gold
and silver shall be full legal tender
for all debts, public and private. We
appeal to all Democrats who hold
that this is sound Democratic doc
trine to allow nothing to prevent them
from attending their respective mass
conventions.
We were told in the early days OF
the present administration, when a
panic was paralyzing every business
of the country except that of the
money shark, that if the purchase
clause of the Sherman silver law was
Internationally repealed, the bust
mes interests of the country would at
once assume a normal condition and
that all the ills we appeared to have
would vanish.
Some Democrats did not believe
this, but the administration with all
its powerful Influences forced the un-
conditional repeal of the Sher-
man law. We waited for the panic,
which was begun in Wall street pur-
suant to scheme concocted there, to
abate. All the laboring masses of the
country, professional men, merchants,
producers-everybody outside of Wall
street-with bated breath waited for
speedy return of the good times,
which it was said would forthwith
follow on the r,peal of the Sher
man law.
What has been the result? Have
the good times come? Has business
revived7 Has labor found employ
ment! Has the general paralysis
which pervaded the whole country
ceased? No! On the contrary the
panic of 1898 which was fraudulently
and cruelty thrust upon the country
by the same Influences which are to-
day attempting to fix irrevocably up
on the country single gold standard
is still with us.
AS one of the legitimate conse-
quences of the present false financial
system a Democratic administration
has issued $262,000,000 of bonds,
which bear interest from their date,
and which would amount before ma
turity to more than S576000,000, or a
per capita debt upon the entire popu-
lation of the country of more than IS.
This is the record which the gold
standard people of this country have
made within the past two years; this
is the penalty which the people are to
pay for the glorious blessing of
Sound money"
1t is not believed that Thoughtful
men will endorse a financial system
which cost them so much. If the
present system, which the undersign-
ed believe is vicious in the extreme, is
not to be continued, then the voters Of
the Democratic party-a party which
has always boosted that it was the
advocate of the rights of the whole
people-must see to it that the dele
gates who are sent to the Chicago
convention are committed to the re-
peal of the present vicious financial
system.
estate pride" is to cut no figure.
Kentucky has already lost a Demo
cratic Governor and a Democratic
Senator, and it is freely charged and
not without much evidence upon
which to base the charge, that these
defeats are directly attributable to
the influences which have dictated
mass county conventions in the hope
that the popular will might be de-
feated.
A Democratic secretary of the treas.
ury has been openly charged with
failing to vote for Democratic nom
inee at our last state election and
with encouraging certain alleged
Democratic members Of the recent
Kentucky legislature to vote against
the Kentucky Democratic nominee
for United States senator. If he has
denied these charges his denial has
not yet come to our notice. True
he consented to say he did not
vote for the Republican nomi-
nee for governor in the late cleo
tion, but he does not say that he
voted for the Democratic nominee,
nor that he did not encourage
Democrats in the recent legisl tture
10 withhold their support from the
regular Democratic nominee for
United States Senator. He has con-
tented himself with species of spec.
ial pleading which will continue to
leave the impression that he has not
been loyal to the nominees of the
Democratic party who happened to
disagree with him on the financial
question.
This is the situation as we under
stand it and if the will of the people
is to be reflected in the coming state
convention they must rally to their
county mass meetings and send dele
gates to reflect their will and with in
structions to condemn the deserters
and boilers from our ranks, who have
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