The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1896-08-07
THE SEMI WEEKLY OHIO DEMOCRAT FRIDAY, AUGUST 1896

NDNfNtG IhIt, DtISulldl pup
ularlty, however great, that can pro-
tect from the avenglng wrath OF an In
dgnant people the man who viii neither
declare that he H. In favor OF foistlng
the gold standard upon thc people or
who Is willing to surrender the right Of
self government and place legislative
control in the hands Of foreign poten-
tates and power. (Cheors).
We go forth confident that we shall
win. Why2 Because upon the para
mount lsauc In this campaign there Is
not a spot % ground upon which the
enemy dares to challenge battle why,
If they tell us that the gold standard Ia
a good thing. we point to their pla torn
and tell them that their platform
pledges the party to get rid Of a goll
standard and substitute bl-metalism
(Applause) If the gold standard Ia a
good thing why try to get RID of It.?
daughter and continued applause)
And I might call your attention 10 tn,
fact that some of the very people who
are In this convention today and who
tell you that we ought 10 declare in fe-
vor Of intcrnatl2nal bi-metllllsm, ana
thereby declare that the gold standard
Is wrong and that the principle of BIZ
metalllsm IL better, these very people
four months ago were open ana avowc1
advocate OF the gold standard and tell
Ing us that we could not legffl!e two
metals together even with ell the world
Uenewed applause and checrs.)
| wan: to suggest this truth, that II
the gold standard is good ,hng we
ough! to dec,1re In favor Of It's r.ten-
tlon and moi in favor of abandoning
It; and If the gold standard il a bad
thing, why should we walt unt,l some
other nations are willing to help us to
let go? (Appllusc). Here Is me line
OF battle. We care not upon which Is
sue they may force the fight We are
prepared to meet them on either issue
or on both II they tell us that the gold
standard is The standard of civilization.
we reply to them that this, tn, most
enlightened of all the nations Of tho
earth, has never declared for % gold
standard, and both the parties ;hls " ar
are declaring againJt II. Applluse)
II the gold standard Is the standard
of civilization, why, my friends. should
we not have 1t? So lf they come to
meet us on that, we can prtsen. tn
history of our nation More than shat
we can tell thls-that they viii search
the pages of history in vain to find n
single Instance In which thc common
people of any land have ever declared
themselves In favor OF the gold standard.
holders OF fixed lnve.rmcnts have. Mr..
Carlisle said In 1873 that this was a
struggle between the idle holders of
idle capital and the struggling masses
who produce the weahh and pay the
taxes of the country, and my friends.
it Is simply a question that we shal.
decde-uron which side shall the Dem
ocratic party fight? Upon the side o.
the Idle holders of idle capital, or upon
the side Of the struggling masses?
That Is the question that the party
must answer FIRST, ana then 1t must be
answered by each individual hereafter.
The sympathies of the Democratic
party, as described by the platform,
are on the side OF the struggling MASSES
who have ever been the fOundat on OF
the Democratic party. (Applausc)
There are two ideas of government.
you Just lcglslatc to make the well-to-
do prosperous, their prosperity viii
leak through on those below. The
Democratic idea has been that If you
ieglslate to make the masses prosper
GUS, their prosperity VIII lind It's way
up and through every class and rest
upon It, (Applause)
You come to us and tell us that the
great cities are In favor of the gold
standard. tell you that the great
cities rest upon these broad and fertile
pralrics. Burn down your cities and
leave our farms and your cit cs win
spring up again as If by magic. But de-
stroy our farms and the grass viii grow
I'm the streets of every city In this coun-
try. (ApplauseD
My friends, we shall declare that this
nation Is able to leg slate for its own
people on every question, without walt
Ing for the aid or consent of any other
ma tion on earth (applausG). and upon
that issue we expect to carry every
single state In the Union. (Applausc.)
| shall not slander the fair state OF
nor the state of New
York, by saying that when Is citizens
are confronted with the proposition l.
this nation able to attend to It's own
buslness?-I will not slandcr either one
by saying that the people of these states
will declare our helpless impotcncy al
4 nation to attend to our own bus ness
It is the issue of 177G over again. our
ancestors, when 100000 had the cour-
age to declare their political indcpand-
rnce of every other nation upon earth
Shall we, their desc ndarts when we
have grown to n, ,O00 600, declare that w
are Less Independent than our f1refath-
ars? No my friends, II VIII never be TN
Judgment of the people, Therefore w
care not upon what lines the battle L.
'ought. If they say bi-mrtaliism IS good
but we can not have It till some nation
helps us. we reply that Instead Of haY-
Ing a gold standard b.causc England
has, we shall restore bl metalllsm and
then let England have bl-metalllsm be-
cause the United States has. (Applduse)
II they dare to come out, and In the
open defend the gold standard as a
good thing. we shall fight them to the
lttermost, having behind us the pro-
iuclng masses of this nation and the
World. Having behind us the CONNER
'lal interests and the laboring interests
md all the to,llng masses, we shall nn-
'wer their demands for u gold standard
Dy saying to them you shall not pres
iown upon the brow Of labor this crow
IF thorns. You shall not cruelty man
Kind upon a cross of gold. Great ap'
Dlause)