The River Falls times. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1894-1933, 1896-07-14
backs Of the people. am IN favor Of

Soiu standard Is q g0ou thing, we point to
their platform and tell them that their plat
form pledges the party to get rid of a
sold standard and substitute bmetallism.
If the gold standard is a good thing, why
try to get rid of it? If tie gold Standard
and | might call your attention to the fact
that some Of the very people who are In
this convention to-day and who tell you
that we ought to declare in favor of Inter.
national bimetallism and thereby declare
that the gold standard Is wrong and that
the principle of bimetallism is better-these
very peope four months ago were open and
avoWed advocates of the gold standard, and
telling us we could not legislate two metals
together, even with all the. world
| want to suggest this truth, that If
the gold standard is good thing we ought
to declare in favor of it's retention. and
not in favor Of abandoning it; and if the
gold standard is bad thing, why should
we wait until some other nations are will
ing to help lis to let 60? Here IS the line
of battle. We care not upon which issue
they force the fight. We are prepared to
meet them on either issue or on both. If
they tell US that the gold standard is the
standard of civilization, we reply to them
that this, the most enlightened of all the
nations of the earth. has never declared for
a gold standard, and both the parties this
year are declaring against it. If the gold
standard is the standard of civiliza on,
why, my friends, should we not hay it?
SO if they come to meet us on that we
can present the history of our nation. More
th.t til t, we can tell them this, that they
will search the pages Of history in vain
for d single instance in which the COM
mon people of any land have ever declared
themselves in favor of q gold standard.
They can find where the holders of fixed
investments have. Mr.. Carlisle said in 1878
that this was a struggle between the idle
holders Of idle capital and the struggling
masses who produce the wealth and pay
the taxes Of the country, and, my friends,
it is simply a question that we shall de-
eide upon which side shall
The Democratic Party Fight:
Upon the side of the idle holders of idle
capital, or upon the side of the struggling
masses? That is the question that the
party must answer first, and then it must
be answered by each Individual here
after. he sympathies of the Demo
cratic party, as described by the platform,
are on the side of the struggling masses,
who have ever been the foundation Of the
Democratic party.
There are two ideas of government
There are those who believe that If you just
legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous
that their prosperity will leak through on
those below. The Democratic idea has been
that if you legislate to make the masses
prosperous their prosperity will find It's
way UP and through every class and rest
upon it. You come to us and tell us that
the great cities are in favor of the gold
/ tell you that the great cities
rest upon these broad and fertile prairies.
Burn down your cities and leave our farms,
and your cities will spring up again as if by
magic, but destroy our farms and the grass
will grow in the streets of every city In
this country.
My friends, we shall declare that this ma
ton is able to legislate for its own people
on every question, without waiting for the
aid or consent of any other nation on
earth, and upon that issue we expect to
carry every single state in the Union. l
shall not SANDER the fair State of Massa-
chusettts nor the State of New York by say
ing that when its citizens are confronted
with the proposition, is this nation able to
attend to It's own business will not SLAM
der either one by saying that the people of
those states will declare our helpless I'M
as nation to attend to our own
business 1t is he Issue of 1776 over again.
Our ancestors, When but three millions,
had the courage to declare their political
of every other nation upon
the earth Shall we, their descendants,
when we have grown to 70,000,000, declare
that we are less independent than our fore
fathers? No, my friends, 1t will never be
the Judgment of the people. Therefore,
we care not upon what lines the BATTLE is
fought. If they say bimetallism is good,
but we cannot have it till some nation
helps u.s. we reply that instead of having
gold standard because England has, we
shall restore binetallism and then let Eng
land have bimetallism because the United
States has. II they dare to come out in
the open to defend the gold standard as
good thing, we shall fight them to the
uttermost, having behind us the producing
masses of this nation and the world. Hav
nj iT1fh 0x16
the laboring interests and all the toiling
we shall answer their demands for
a gold standard by saying to them, you
shall not press down upon the brow of
labor this crown of thorns. You shall not
cruelty mankind upon cross of gold.
Regarding the Tariff.
Now, my friends, let me come to the
great paramount issue. If they ask us here
why it is that we say more on the money
question than we say upon the tariff ques-
ton, l reply that If protection has slain
its thousands, the gold standard has slain
its tens of thousands. If they ask us why
we did not embody all these things in our
platform which we believe, we reply to
them that when we have restored the
money Of the constitution, all other neces-
sary reforms will be possible, and that I'M
fill that is done, there is no reform that
can be accomplished Cheering Why is
it that within three months such change
has come over the sentiments of this
country? Three months ago, when It was
confidently asserted that those who believ-
ed in the gold standard would frame our
nlafform and nominate our candidate, even
the advocates of the gold standard did
not think that we could elect president;
but they had good reason for the suspi-
cion, because there is scarcely a state here
to-day asking for the gold standard that is
not within the absolute control OF the
Republican party. But note the change.
Mr. Mckinley was nominated at st. Louis
unon \ nlatform that declared for the main
tenance of the gold standard, until it should
be changed into bimetallsm by an inter-
national agreement. Mr.. Mckinley was the
most popular man among the Republican