Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-03-13
TT rs HISTORY.

the democratic party captured the iO"el
house of congress by a very large major
ity. On December 4 of that year the Adj
Yertiser said:
THE revised returns of the election OF
represen ia tiYes-democrats don't seem
to weary of the figures-show that only
eighty-seVen republicans of 331 members
elected will be in the next house. one
member remains to be chosen in Rhode
Island, who will probably be democrat.
The democrats count 223 representatives
elected. and there are twenty-one demo-
Gratis and Farmers alliance members,
but they will probably act with the demo-
Gratis as with two on three exceptions
they were chosen on fusion tickets. The
straight democratic ma jority over all is
lis. In the present house after Reeds
purge the republican majority is tWen-
ty-four."
At that time and in that election the
democratic party opposed, as shown by
the record it's members in congress had
made, the decentralization of silver and
favored it's restoration to a legal tender
status. 1t opposed in every shape and
form the retirement of the greenbaek
currency. II had forced the senate to
pass the law making greenbacks receiva-
BILE for all dues. 1t favored silver coinage
and had forced concessions from the fol-
passage of the Bland-Alhson law. 1t ia
yored the coinage of silver, and because
of that had voted against the Sherman
act. which act provided for the cessation
of the coinage of silver. 1t favored the
substitution of greenbacks for national
bank notes. That is where the national
democracy stood in 1880. That year, as
stated above, when the time came for the
election of congressman republican ma
jority of twenty-four was changed into
democratic ma jority of 115. The congress
then elected actually passed bill pro-
Viding for the free coinage of silver at 10
to /. In 1892, following the return of the
country to democratic rule in congress,
the national democratic convention met
and adopted a platform, the financial
plank of which pledged the party to give
to the country the free coinage of silver.
A pla tform that can't mean anything but
free coinage, because it promised the
coinage of both gold and silver without
discrimination against either or charge
for mintage. In addition to that the peo-
pie had the record made by the party, as
referred to above, to guide them in con-
STRUNG the platform They also had the
assurance of all the democratic speakers
who went on the stump hat year. and
last, but not least, they had 1t from the
editorial columns Of the democratic press
galore, the Advertiser included, that the
party platform pledged the free coinage
of both gold and silver. What was the
result of the party's appeal to the coun-
try with that promise and that record?
Why, the result was that there was
a. . nd 1Amnprat-
lie nominee was elected by the largest
ma jority that any presideut-elect had re-
ceived in twenty-five years. The repub-
lican majority in the senate was changed
to a democratic majority, and the demo-
cratic majority in the house was increas-
ed to more than 40. That is what the
democratic party did in 1892, and now we
are informed by new converts to the old
notorius republican doctrine, the single
gold standard, that unless the democratic
party this year declares for the single
gold standard it cannot be expected to
make decent showing in the coming
November elections
Now, let's see. After the party in 1892
had swept the country on the free coin
age platform and its free coinage record,
and the country was ready to enter upon
that era of prosperity which the return
to the old democratic principle OF the
free coinage of gold and silver would
certainly bring, what do we find? pres
ident recommending to congress- the strik-
ing from the statue books of the last
vestige of law looking to the further use
of silver as money of final redemption,
and by the power of the patronage at the
command of the administration and the
aid of panic manufa ctured to order,
forcing the party to abandon not only
its recent pledge to the people, but to
go back on the record it had made. This
effort having proved successful, what do
we next find? The election of 1894, which
changed the democratic majority in the
senate back to republican major
ity and the democratic majority of
about 140 in the house to repub-
lican majority of something like 1879.
In order that the Advertiser, when it
comes to take issue on the proposition
that the democracy of the country won
it's victories of 1890 and 1892 on its record
as the party favoring the free coinage of
gold and silver, may not again stultify
itself by attempting to say that such
a record as we have stated is not correct,
we append hereto what that paper said
about it in 1890 on the 4th of December,
at which time it had the same editors
that it has now. True neither of them
then had a postoffice-a job that fell into
the hands of one of them. AT the same
time sufficient other plums were dished
out to force enough of the then repre-
sentatves of the party in congress to
stultify The party by forcing 1t to go
back on its record and pledges to the peo-
pie, the prime cause of the republican
landslides that have come since that
memorable occa sion. From the Adver-
tiser, December 4, 1890:
upon all matters of vital concern and
that have Legislative possibilities the
democrats are with the Farmers alli-
ance. The party's record shows that it
opposed silver decentralization and IA
vored it's restora ton to legal tender ba-
sis. 1t opposed in every shape and form
the retirement of the greenback curren-
cy, and compelled the senate to pass the
bill making it receivable for all dues. 1t
favored silver coinage. under which the