The record-union., 1896-09-18
THURMAN WAS A BIMETALLIST.
AN OPEN LETTER FROM ALLEN
w. THURr1AN,
In Which He Declares That the
Assertion That His Father Was
Gold Man is Untrue.

COLUMBUS (O), Sept. 11.-Hon.
Allen w. Thurman to-day addressed an
open letter to ]. T. Brooks, Second
Vice-President of the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company. In political ad-
dress here this week Mr.. Brooks, who
has fOrsaken the Democratic party, de-
clared that the late Senator Allen q.
Thurman was gold man. In this con-
nection he referred to the attitude of
Allen w. Thurman in favor of the free
coinage of silver and said: II appeal
from the younger to the elder Allen" 1t
is in reply to this that Mr.. Thurman
writes as follows:
Mr.. J. T. Brooks, Pittsburg, Pa
From what I have been told, and from
the report 1 saw Of your speech here the
other night, you said, in speaking of the
Act of 1873, that you appealed froln
the younger to the elder Allen By this
you no doubt intended to convey the
idea to your audience that my father
knew that the Act of 1873 demonetized
silver. Why did you thus indirectly
state what you must have known to be
false if you had taken the least trouble
to investigate. If you had taken the
trouble to investigate you would have
Senate: i cannot say what took place
in the House, but / know when the bill
was pending in the Senate we thought
| regulate coinage and fix up one thing
and another, and there is not a single
man In the Senate, 1 think, unless a
member of the committee from which
the bill came, who had the slightest idea
-, aY>d n a
monetization. And if you had intended
to be honest in your statement you
would not only have referred to this
statement but also to the speech made
| by him showing how in a codification Of
the law without the knowledge Of
| scarcely anyone the whole villainy was
perpetrated.
1.-The further inference to be drawn
| from such reference to Judge Thurman
was, as you must have intended it as
such, because you linked my name with
his as If to draw a comparison between
| the beliefs of father and son, that he was
| in favor Of a gold standard. Again, If
| you had examined not only the Con
gressional Record but the record oil
the Monetary Conference Of 1881, you
would have seen that such an insinua-
| ton cannot be truthfully made. In one
short paragraph at the Brussels Con
ference his words settle any controversy
| in this direction. He said: l believe
that bimetallism will ultimately prevail
| for / cannot see how the vast structure
Of credit, the most distinguishing OF
| modern industry and commerce, can be
supported on a gold basis alone. With
both metals it's base has often been
found too narrow, but with one it would
be- to my apprehension, positively un-
safe
He lived nearly fifteen years after
this declaration, and If ! heard him re-
fer to it once ! did so a hundred times,
because as year by year he saw the in
creasing demand that was being made
by the different countries upon gold
alone. he clearly saw, and said his pre-
diction must be verified, or national,
corporate and individual bankruptcy
would be almost universal. After he
has gone, however, you come here
among the people with whom he had
lived for several years, and not directly,
but indirectly, try TO make them beileve
just the opposite of what every pubic
and private utterance he ever made
showed was his belief
There can be no meaner kind of de-
ception than for man who pretenls
to be public teacher, and especially
when he is proclaiming that only his
side is honest, to indirectly attempt to
impose upon his audience as you must
have done upon yours. Any praise which
you may have bestowed upon judge
Thurman only makes your deception
more fiagrant.
ALLEN w. THURMAN"