Great Falls weekly tribune., 1896-07-24

not spot of ground upon which the
enemy will dare to challenge battle
Why, if they tell us that the gold stand
ard is good thing, we point to their
platform and tell them that their plat
form pledges the party to get rid Of
gold standard and substitute bimetal-
lism.
If the gold standard is a good thing
why try to get rid Of it? might call at
tention to the fact that some of the peo-
pie who arc ". this convention today and
who tell you that we ought to declare
in favor Of international bimetallism
and thereby declare that gold standard
is wrong and that the principle Of BIZ
metallism is bottcr--theso very people
four months ago were open and avowed
advocates Of t'ro gold standard and tell
ing us that we could not legislatc two
metals together even with all the world
want to suggest this truth-that if
the gold standard is q good thing we
ought to declare in favor of it's retention
and not in favor Of abandoning it; and
if the gold standard is bad thing, why
should we wait until some other nations
are willing to help us let go? Here is
the line of battle We care not upon
which issue they force the fight. We
are prepared to meet them on either is
sue or on both. If they tell us that the
gold standard is the standard Of civili-
zation, VIC reply to them that this, the
most enlightened Of all the nations Of
the earth, has never declared for gold
standard and both the parties this year
are declaring against it. If the gold
standard is tho standard of civilization
why, my friends, should we not have
it? So, if they come to meet US on that,
we can present tho history of our nation
More than that, we can tell them
this--that they will search the pages Of
history in vain to find single instance
in which the common people Of any land
have ever declared themselves in favor
of gold standard. They can find where
the holders of fixed investments have
Mr.. Carlisle said in 1878 that this was
struggle between the idle holders of
idle capital and the struggling masses
who produce the wealth and pay the
taxes Of the country; and, my friends,
it is simply question that we shall de-
eide upon which side shall the Demo
cratic party fight-upon the side of the
idle holders of idle capital or upon the
side Of the struggling masses? That is
the question that the party must answer
first, and then it must be answered by
each individual hereafter.
The sylnpathics Of the Democratic
party, as described by the platform, are
OH the side of the struggling masses,
| who have ever been the foundation of
| the Democratic party. There are two
ideas of government. There are those
who believe that il you just legislate
to make the we'll to do prosperous
| their prosperity will leak through on
those below. The Democratic idea has
been that if you legislate to make the
masses prosperous their prosperity will
find ts way up and through every class
and rest upon it.
You come to US and tell US that the
great cities arc in favor of the gold
standard. tell you that the great cities
-est upon these broad and fertile prai-
ries. Burn down your cities and leave
our farms, and your cities will spring
| up again as if by magic; but destroy
our farms, and the grass will grow i'll
the streets of every city i'll this country
Ny friends, we shall declare that this
nation is able to lcgislatc for its own
people on every question without wait
ing for the aid or consent Of any other
nation on earth. Cpon that issue we
expect to carry every single state i'll this
Union.
shall not slander the fair state of
Massachusetts, nor the state of New
York by saying that when its citizcns
aro confronted with the proposition, Is
this nation able to attend to its own
bu>incss?-I viii not slander either one
by aging that the people Of those states
will declare our helpless inpotency as a
nation to attend to our own business.
i is tho issue of 177G over again.
Our ancestors, when but 5000, 900, had
the courage to declare their political in
dependence Of every other nation upon
earth. Shall we, their descendants,
when we have grown to 70, 900, 600, de
o1orn tbo% ,x-r or, Inco ipdopop6apt thop