The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-08-21
RIVER AT s A. NJ.
RETURNING CONFIDEyCE.


There can be no question that the
opinion prevails in every part of this
country at the present time that the
cause of free silver has lost immensely
and irrecoverably within rhe past week
or two. The date from which this can
be exactly determined is the delivery
of Mr.. Bryan's speech in New York.
To a slight extent he was the victim
of circumstances and all that over
strained expectation which would be
disappointed by anything short of the
miraculous. But, in the main, his dis
comfiture was the inevitable conse-
quence of the weakness of his cause
and of his own character as a man Of
flighty words, rather than of sober
judgment, of statesmanlike views or Of
the capacity for executive planning.
The verbose and disjointed address
which he delivered there, and which
drove half of his audience out of the
hall before he had finished, gave the
measure of the man. Even his adher-
ents were woefully disappointed by the
suddenness with which it and he and
the cause that he represents became
''stale, fiat and improbable"
We would by no means be under
stood as saying that the free silver
cause is dead or beaten. That cannot
be predicted with safety until after
November. But we do say that it has
been, ever since the Madison Square
garden meeting, on the wane, and that
1t is at this moment declining. The
same influences seem to be at work in
the West as in the East. From every
state, county and town come advices
saying that the free silver sentiment
has been vastly exaggerated, and that
those who were inclined to accept
1t are returning to sound money
views every day. We should doubt the
value of reason as a guide if this were
and honest men, the truth must pre-
vail. The advocates of free silver have
constructed some ingenious sophistries,
and they have some plausible argu-
ments. Men must be captured by these
until they have looked deeper into the
matter and learned more Of history and
political economy than the average
man is expected to know. But when
such an issue is at the front. the cam
paign of education must tell. To ham
mer away day after day with the mex
orable fact, to expose fallacies and fear
down the fiimsy edifices of Illogical
argument, to give blow after blow with
the sword of truth. must eyentua1lv
snow 10 majority of men in what di-
rection the truth lies Therefore we
have never, for one moment. doubted
that, as this campaign progresses. the
cause of the free coinage of silver nv
this country alone at an impossible
ratio must lose more than it gains.
That the country at large is recov-
ering from the scare into which it was
thrown temporarily and very naturally
by so extraordinary an event as the
capture of the Democratic national
convention by the free silverites and
the Populists, is now apparent in the
course of the markets. For time we
seemed to be trembling on the verge
of panic. Men were getting ready
to make a grab for gold on the supno-
sition that silver victory might be
possible. All hands were taking in
sail, and set eyes were fixed upon the
life boats, as this storm appeared TO
approach nearer and nearer the shin
of state. But we find, now, the condi-
lions growing easier and more settled
1t is evident that the people of Euro
pean nations take no stock whatever in
the idea that the United States will 90
to the silver>basis. Thousands of them
who were easily. scared got scared long
ago and have disposed of their hold
ings- The rest of them have come m
the conclusion pointed out In our arti-
Gle of yesterday, that there never will
be better time to purchase Ameri-
can securities than this. These facts
together with the larger shipments of
our products, have affected the price
of exchange. They have been aided by
all influences which the financial men