The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1896-07-18

opine that the Wheeling convention
will not be so plastic in the hands of
any boss as was the ST. Louis con
vention in the bands of Hanna.
There will be, at Wheeling, the
same Democratic disposition as was
manifested at Chicago, to choose a
leader that will best represent the
party in the campaign.
While we have no desire to ad-
vance the interests Of any candidate
by destroying or detracting from the
claims of another, we are only anx-
ious that the convention should Sc
lect candidate who will most thor
oughly unite the party throughout
the state; one against whom there
shall be no feeling Of antagonism in
any section; and one who will have
the entire confidence of the voters of
all parties.
There are good men who are max
ing no personal effort to secure the
nomination and who, therefore, will
have no organization of their friends
in convention, yet whose peculiar
fitness for the situation should not
be overlooked or ignored because one
candidate goes into the convention
with noise and banners intended to
create the impression that he is the
acceptable and only man.
1t behooves the party TO be DELHI
crate and eircumspect. And we think
it will. 1t will not be carried away
by q little wave Of enthusiasm. 1t
will study the demands of the cam
paign, and look to the future inter-
ests of the party rather than TO graf
ify the personal ambition Of candi-
| date
Giving Gen. Watts due credit for
all the qualities that would make
him a strong candidate. there are
many hundreds Of level headed
Democrats who, having studied>the
situation, are satisfied that either
Col Smith or Judge Bennett fits the
situation better than he. It will not
do to ignore this very general con,
viction, otherwise we may have a
very dull and uninspiring campaign.
The first purpose Of the convention
should be to give the people the best
man in the bunch without reference
to states and deals made in advance
of the convention. We want Dem.
ocratic convention and Democratic
methods in this matter. We are op.
posed to the st. Louis plan as
model tor West Virginia Democracy.
A Pittsburg Republican, who pro-
poses to vote for Bryan because he
believes in free silver, as partial ex-
PLANTATION sends the Post this ex-
tract from a speech made by James
G. Blaine in 1880, about The time
Congressman William Mckinley was
voting for free and unlimited coin
age. The extract we are asked to
print is from a speech made by Mr..
Blaine in the United States senate,
and is as follows:
believe the struggle now going
on in this country and in other coun
tries for single gold standard
would, if successful, produce wide
spread disaster in and throughout
the commercial world. The destruc-
ton of silver as money, and estab-
fishing gold as the sole unit of value,
must have a ruinous effect on all
forms of property except those in
vestments which yield fixed return
in money. Those would be enor
mously enhanced in value, and would
gain disproportionate and unfair
advantage over every other species
of property. If, as the most reliable
statistics affirm, there are nearly ST.
O00,0O0,0 900 of coin or bullion in the
world, very equally divided between
gold and silver, it is impossible to
strike silver out of existence as mon
ey without results that will prove
distressing to millions and utterly
disastrous to tens of thousands.
l believe gold and silver coin to
be the money of the constitution; in
deed, the money of the American PEG
pie anterior to the constitution,
which the great organic law recog-
nized as quite independent of its own
existence. No power was conferred
on congress to declare either metal
should not be money. Congress has
therefore, in my judgment, no power
to demonetize either. If, therefore,
silver has been demonetized, | am in
favor of remonetizing it. If its coin
age has been prohibited, I am in ia
vor of ordering it to be resumed. II
am in favor of having it enlarged