Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-10-04


their belief that S0,000,000 of American
people can as easily maintain their finan-
cial independence as they can their polit-
ical sovereignty and their glorious enun-
citation of the Monroe doctrine. The
banks and bankers can create panics with
the aid of the British allied money pow
er If we permit them to do SO and to go
scott free. They did that in 1878, when
they wanted silver legal tender money
destroyed, and they filled the roads with
tramps and every industrial home with
alarm and suffering. In 1898, on the 30th
of June, the British government closed
the minis in India. In this act they con-
troled our financial system as effectually
as If we had been British province. Our
government was, under the law, required
to purchase and coin 81 900 in silver
each month, and, following this British
order they stopped the purchase of silver
so required to be bought and coined, be-
ing then the only hope for sustaining its
bullion value. Our government alded
Great Britain, by this means, in depress-
ing the price of silver bullion, and our
producers of silver lost $11 100000 that
year and more each succeeding year until
$685. when they lost $S0,0O0,0O0, and have
lost that much every year since.
I am glad that such treatment OF our
own people, whether they are gold or sill
yer miners, can no longer be claimed as
democratic policy, except by the handful
of pharisoical mugmumps VINO, because
democrats have honored them with office
and have, from party pride, condoned
many lapses from democratic faith, have
become, in their own estimation, the en-
bodiment of all the wisdom, decency and
honor that is to be found in 100000 of
tried and true men who compose the
great democracy.
am glad that we are free from the
sort of democracy that espouses the dl-
vine right of queens, like Lilliwakillanl,
| and winks at the cruel barbarities OF
Weyler in his persecution of American
| citizens, and endures, II 1t does not wei
come, the atrocities of Bourbon Spaniards
| within ninety miles of eur shores, that re-
peat the horrible tragedies of the Duke or
Alva and the Spanish inquisition.
vote for the senate tariff bill, with the
income tax, was denounced as party
perfidy" when it saved the country from
| a deficit of $30O000O0 a year In our reve-
nues But how does that compare with
| the party perfidy" that conspires with
| its enemy to destroy party upon an af-
| fectation of superior honesty, because
more than two-thirds of its delegates IN
| a national convention refused TO supply
| bonds to gold bankers at enormous proht
as settled policy Of government ana re-
| fuse to further impoverish the people by
| fastening upon them British gold mono
metalism and the British policy of per-
| manent national debt.
| Lord Maccauly, the most just and ac-
COmpl1SneQ OF GISHSi hiSeoi.s sAiS' "
| people of England, long ago, were divided
| into beasts of burden and beasts OF
prey" That condition is now peing
| forced upon the people of the United
States. If some of our former associates
prefer it will not for one. OBJECT 10 their
new alignment with the beasts or prey,
| hut they should not object If they get un-
| der the heels of 1.-The beasts of burden" to
| find that they are sometimes FESTIVE and
| even dangerous
| There are still some things to be proud
| Of as democrats.
/. We can appeal to the official record of
| George Washington, Thomas Jenerson
| and Andrew Jackson, three presidents
who approved the coinage of gold and
| silver on equal terms as full legal tender
| money.
| Q. We can appeal to the fact that the
| democratic creed never contained an ex-
preston or hint of hostility to either
| metal.
8. We can appeal to the fact that no
| democrat in congress, or out OF congress,
| can be named who ever antagonized sill
| Yer before 1878, when John Sherman,
| leading the bankers, took the lead also of
| a few democrats from states whose peo-
| pie held large amounts of government
| bonds.
| A. We can appeal to the fact that
| majority, equal to two-thirds of the DEM
| ocrats in the house and the senate, have
| always firmly supported the restoration
| Of silver to free coinage.
B. We can appeal to the fact that the