The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1896-08-20
To Bolt or Not to Bolt2 That's the
Question.

EdfI0r C0IHWbtdH - Observing
that your respected journal flies Dem
ocratic colors from top to bottom of
the ticket while some of your con-
temporaries are apparently itching to
jump the traces on the monetary
issue, permit me to congratulate you
and to add bit Of opinion.
1t seems to me that boilers from
the proceedings of fair majority in
convention assembled will have to
look sharp to retain their prestige for
the future, and If Democratic publish
ers want to deserve to hold their sub
scribers they will do well to keep out
of the Republican camp and off of the
Republican platform which advocates
continuation of our prevailing dis
astrous monetary conditions under
delusive plea for "sound money"-too
sound for poor folks.
Having written some for the Col
UMBIAN, its readers will not likely be
surprised to hear from me as a bimet-
alist, as one who is opposed to the
cornering of things in general and
gold in particular.
The fight involving equitable taxa.
tion as between the rich and the poor,
in the hope of securing all requisite
revenue, and the rotation of appoint
i've as we'll as elective offices, | want
to say that the best speech l have
read in a decade Of years is the truly
patriotic address made by the "boy
orator of the Platte" before the Dem
ocratic convention that wisely nomi-
mated Mr.. Bryan for President.
Speaking sarcastically and yet most
eloquently along the line of popular
train of thought from first to last, we
could not have done otherwise than
applaud at every point he made in
behalf of the impoverished masses and
against the too highly favored classes,
had we been present. The reflection
that silver was demonetized by stealth
and through foreign and domestic
monied agencies would certainly have
enthused us. Mr.. Bryan has we'll said,
" the plain people of this or no other
country has ever yet asked for it nor
sought to allay any oppression through
monometalism. " 1t was quietly
brought here, after lobbying from 1870
to 1873, just as other obnoxious leg
islation is formulated and passed by
Congress. This important question
has never before been submitted to
the sovereign power of this country.
Had it been, the single gold standard
would never have bled the Treasury
or the people.
Right next to Mr.. Bryan's forceful
and convincing speech in point of
craftsmanship and merit, comes the
most popular Democratic platform we
ever read, in fact the only one we
could ever fully endorse. Every
plank in it is just, requisite and equit-
able. We can think of no plank in it
which we would eliminate as a matter
of principle; but as matter of policy
it would likely have been more cum
ming to have SAID nothing objection
able to those now comfortably fixed
IN appointive offices for life under the
guardianship of a monarchial civil
service law. There is quite a crowd
of civil service officials, and they all
vote, you see.
AS to the woeful calamities which
we are told will befall us if we remon.
etize silver, we think it will be little
hard to prove it and make it quite
apparent to people who have tried
it to their hearts content, tried it
from the establishment of the first
mint until 1873, when for mercenary
purposes silver was demonetised and
gold was unduly appreciated. Had
gold been demonetized silver would
have been unduly appreciated, and no
doubt financial distress would have
been fully as great.
The burden Of proof lies with the
gold men who would have us believe
that prevailing conditions are all right.
They must explain away many things
among them being the fact thar the
rich are getting richer and the poor
poorer under monometalism.
The burden of proof lies with the
"monos," many of whom have un-
Willingly in the past committed them
selves to what is now sound Demo
cratic doctrine, Mr.. Mckinley being
Is. IL L.