The herald., 1896-06-15
.HOLDING UP" M'KINLEY

The price or Mcktnley'S nomination
by the st. Louis convention will be a
declaration In the platform upon which
he must stand. in favor of gold none
tary standard. And 1t will have to be
declaration devoid Of ambiguity. II he
would be the nominee of his party, Ma
jor Mckinley must come to the dreaded
scratch Of san attitude on the money
question that will mean the same thing
wherever the English language is
spoken.
No plank made up of vague or pretty
phrases about "a money Of gold. silver
and paper" every dollar worth 100
cents" las untarnished as the honor of
the government" and all that sort of
CUFF, will pass. The plank must say
what is meant. and the meaning must be
that of a single gold standard. Thomas
c. Platt Of New York has said it, and
what Tom of Tioga says. under the cir
cumstances. goes. Distasteful as it will
be to the -Jawed statesman of Can
ton and his chief mortgage. Marc An
tony Hanna, the capitulation will have
to be made if the prize would be won.
And there is plenty Of evidence tending
to show that Mr.. Hanna and his as
sistants recognize the necessities OF the
situation, and that they are seeking
wistfully for chance to let themselves
down gracefully, II not unostentatiously.
While. Of course. 1t is apparent that
Mckinley has to his credit more dele
gates than any other candidate, 1t is not
yet absolutely certain that he has a
safe unalterable majority. and 1t is the
element of uncertainty about the latter
proposition that renders his managers
amenable, more or less to the wishes of
Platt and associates. The candidates.
of Morton. Reed and Quay are separate
ly not nearly SO formidable in conven-
ton strength as is the candidacy of Nc
Kinley, but together they constitute
means of holding up" the Mckinley
band wagon until the occupants thereof
have delivered out a satisfactory finan-
cial pledge.
Mr.. Platt and those acting with him
are thoroughly well acquainted with the
eastern sentiment on the money Ques-
ton. They know that in the eastern
states the defeat of the proposition to
admit silver to free and unlimited coin
age at the ratio of 16 to l, is looked
upon almost unanimously, as the su-
preme necessity of the hour, and they
very wisely, as politicians, aside from
the views they may personally enter
tain regarding the matter, fear the dis
affection that might arise from the
adoption by the St. Louis convention of
a financial plank making substantial
concessions to the silver side or contain
ing doubtful or equivocal declarations.
t1,n Of he
publican convention straddling the
money issue and the Democratic con-
vention declaring for free and unlim-
tied silver coinage, the nomination of a
sound-money ticket on simply sound
money platform, would not be al all i'm
probable, and they know also that if
such a condition came about the out
come would be appallingly disastrous to
the Republican ticket. The Democratic
party would carry nearly all of the
southern and a majority of the western
states, the sound-money ticket would
sweep the east and carry such of the
southern states as failed to go Demo-
cratic, like Delaware and Maryland,
and the Republican party would secure
about as many electoral votes as the
Populists did in 1892.
The eastern Republican politicians
have good reason to be solicitous about
that plank, and it will be found that
the candidates. of Reed, Morton and
Quay will last as long as the doubt about
the planks character endures. When
the Hanna presidential syndicate affirms
that it will do what the east considers
the right thing in finance, these en-
barassng candidates. will fade away,
NOT bafOre