Willmar tribune., 1896-02-18

uoSO Suo VAAo EO CO1Atu Cuul6SS Cll11U. 1u0
parity clause was absolutely necessary to
givo excuse and color to a demand for tho
retirement Of the greenbacks as a means of
stopping the tissue of unending bonds.'
So they repealed only so much of it as
suited their purposes.
But let US consider what the honest
meaning of '.parity'' in the Sherman law
was and is. What. is the meaning of
"parity' as given in the dictionary? The
language is:
To maintain the two metals on parity
with each other upon the present legal ra-
ito or such ratio as may be provided by .
law
Now, if should lie down on this floor,
my head and feet would be on parity, SO
far as the floor is concerned. If I stand
up, my body is still on the floor, but my
bead is up here and my feet down there.
The head in this instance represents gold,
tho feet silver, and that is tho parity which
this paragon of presidents has gieen us.
1t did not say the parity of coin, mind
you, meaning tie coined dollar. 1t said
the parity OF the metals, tho ratio of 16 to
!. The words could not mean that upon
one hletal was to be imposed the duty of
holding up the other and of redoening by
itself the paper dollars based on both or on
silver alone.
The object was to have them assist each
other, to hold silver up by holding gold
down, and an honest secretary Of the
treasury, who should havo resigned his
office rather than submit to the dictation
of a besotted chief, would have paid out
silver to protect the treasury from the
gold gamblers and bond grabbers, as the
law and his oath of office required. But,
alas, the old breed of southern statesmen
like Calhoun, who, after a life spent in
the public service, had to be buried 1T pub
lie expense and his debts paid by tho state
OF South Carolina, appears to be passing
away:
Gold Standard Responsible.
Mr.. President, if there has been one idea
moro persistently and prominently pre-
sented to the American people by Presi-
dent Cleveland than any other it has been
the iniquities of the tariff and the demand
for its revision. In season and out of sea-
son, with ''damnable iteration" he has
sung this siren song in tho ears Of the
farmers. Listen to this paragraph from
his message of 1887:
In the present state Of legislation the only
pretense Of any existing executive power to
restore at this time any part Of our surplus
revenues to the people by its expenditure con-
the treasury may enter the market and pur-
chase bonds OF the government not yet duo at
q rate OF premium to be agreed upon. The
only provision of law from which such power
could be derived is found in an appropriation
bill passed number Of years ago, and it is
subject to the suspicion that it was intended
as temporary and limiting in it's application,
instead of comforting continuing discretion
and authority. No condition ought to exist
which would justify the grant of power to
single official, upon his Judgment of its neces'
sity, to withhold from or release to the busi-
ness Of the people in an unusual manner mon
ey held i'll the treasury and thus affect at his
will the financial condition of the country, and
if it is deemed wise to lodge in the secretary of
the treasury the authority in the present juno
ture to purchase bonds it should be plainly
vested and provided, as far as possible, with
such checks and limitations as will defino this
officials right and discretion and at the same
time relieve him from undue responsibility.
Evolution of Tyrant.
Iquote it for the purpose of pointing
out the evolution of a tyrant and of show
ing the transition from a conscientious
law abiding chief magistrate to an arro-
CANT and obstinate ruler who ignores the
law and issues bonds at will and issues
them under statute that is "subject to
tho suspicion that it was intended to be
temporary and limited in it's application,
instead Of comforting a discretionary au-
thority.' He not only issues them, but
does it secretly, with his 1pw partner as a
witness to the contract, and has created
the suspicion in the minds of millions of
his countrymen that q president of the
United States can use his high Office for
private gain.
The suspicion, like "da1nned spot, -
has been burned into the brains of the
people and will no moro tout" than Dun
cans blood could be washed from tho lily
hands of the denented Lady Macbeth.
And here let me remark, in passing, that
this last of the Democratic presidents (for,
mark my prophecy, he is the last that
party, as now organized, will ever olcct)
will 20 down in history and his two ad-
ministrations will be chiefly remarkable,
the first as having to deal with large and
unwieldy surplus, which entailod the
necessity, as he contended, for the pur.
chase of undue bonds at an exorbitant
premium, while his last has been signal
lied, after persistent adherence to his pei
schemes of finance and taxation, by def
icit by the issue Of bonds, contrary to the
law, to pay the current expenses Of tht
government, and an infamous attempt to
increase the bonded debt of the country
more than $500, 900, 1000, and the surrender
to those same corporations which he 81
abused of the absolute control of our pape
currency.
The Democratic party elected him ant
reelected him and would have no othe
leader. It must bear the odium of his off
cial misdeeds his utter lack of statesman
ship Ho has never been Democrat
measured by the standard of Jefferson AM
Jackson. Hts opinions and policy OF
finance have been those of Sherman, VIII
is. not a Republican, measured by tn
standard Of Lincoln. He differs from th
Republican party only In the one partiou
lar Of the tariff, and on that he has blow
hot and cold as his pet hobby and will g
down in history as the most gigantic fail
ure of any man who ever occupied tn
White House, all because of his vanity an
obstinacy
Now, to make good this charge, I viii
recall the fact that when he came to power
in March, 1898, and could have called th
senate and house together Democratic fo
the first time since the wary to carry hi
policy into effect, what did he doS Did b
call an extra session to give tariff refor1
= to the people-the overburdened an
downtrodden people, whose wants an
woes he had depicted in SO many speeche
and messagesP Oh, mol The policy {
gold monometallism, of more bonds, {
B. . the substitution of national bank cu1