The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1896-03-07
GOVERNOR STONES LETTER.
The Governor Urges Friends of Free
Coinage to Organize for a light.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo-, March, l
1S96.-Dear Sir: | would prefer t.
write you ii personal autograph letter i
| could, but as | desire to write a larg,
number of similar letters to democrat.
throughout the state, | am, in order Il
do that, compelled to resort to the pla,
of a circular. | know that circular.
are frequently treated with more o
less indifference, but a resort TO tina
method of communication is a neces
sIty in this instance, and l trust yol
will accord to this the same conSidera
ton you would give it If it were al
autograph letter.
My purpose in sending out this com
munication is to promote the effort
am making in conjunction with other;
to organize those democrats in Mis-
souri, who favor a resolution IN oul
national platform declaring for the i'm
mediate free coinage of silver into
standard dollars at the ratio of 16 to ]
and the nomination of candidates fol
president and vice-president who openly
favor that policy. The state conven
ton to select delegates to the n~ationa
convention will meet at Sedalia OF
April 10Th next. The county conven
tions to appoint delegates to the Sedali;
convention will meet at different dates
during the latter part of March and the
first days of April. The dates fol
these county conventions will be fixed
for each county by its own committee
My hope and purpose is to o the
democrats-the people-to the neces,
sIty of going actively to work to secure
the selection of county delegates to the
Sedalia convention who are well known
and earnest advocates of a free silver
coinage, and who a be implicitly
trusted to represent their constituencies
with fidelity. l believe that a large
majority of the Democrats of this state
favoIs the free coinage of both gold
and silver; this majority, however, can
not have its way, but will be overridden
if the people are inactive, or if they are
careless or cowardly in the selection OF
their delegates.
l write, therefore, to urge you, fol-
your interest and for the good of your
party and country, to take hold of the
work of organizing u party friends
in your county, and particularly in
your precinct, with the view of sending
free coinage men to your county con-
v~ention and through that convention to
send the strongest free coinage demo
Gratis of your county to Sedalia. Re-
member that reforms even at Wash
Ington must begin with the people.
Nothing can be accomplished without
organization, and precinct organization
is the basis of all organization. You
know full well that your W prosperity
and that of the great mass of the people
is involved in the mighty struggle upon
which we are now entering. Should
we not, therefore-all of us-make
this IL personal cause? Let us see
neighbors and arouse every man to
action. 1 am in correspondence with
many prominent and earnest men in
many states. We are going to make a
fight to rescue our party and country
from the control of Wall streat, and to
place the government on a higher plane.
This is your, fight as much as mine.
You have as much at stake as L. Unless
the people rally and make this fight
their own they canno hope to win. If
all of us do our duty | believe we can
VIII u hlClOl1 Iudl VIII IOSJOIC pIOS-
perity to the people and save our
country from financial serfdom. Will
you not do your partP 1 write to urge
you to join in this effort and help to
give it an impetus that will sweep all
opposition before it. Work yourself
like a man in earnest, and get your
neighbors to join hands with you. The
forces against us are very strong. The
power of money, the power of patron
age, and nearly all the metropolitan
papers are against us. These forces
are organized and aggressive, and they
constitute a mighty combination. But
L believe the great body of the people
are on the other side If L did not
my country as hopeless. But the
are not organized; and an Or
ganized minority, with unlimited means,
is more potent than an unorganized
majority. The effort l am now making,
in conjunction with others in Missouri
and elsewhere, is to organize the
so that they may be able TO
their rights and make their
will effect. In this work | ask your
cooperation.
In this fight l state frankly my own
position. | shall favor the Sedalia
convention sending Il solid free silver
to Chicago, l shall favor the
selection of two delegates from ach
congressional district, as has been done
as a matter of geographical
but | shall stand with
those who will insist on every delegate
being a pronounced advocate of tree
silver coinage. 1 shall take this posi-
ton because l believe it IS right. | am
in this fight to win, if possible, all the
way up from the precinct to the Ia
tional convention. l do not want t
play politics like children play mimic
1 want to fight as men should
fight in battle, knowing that victory
means prosperity, and defeat, disaster.
The delegates TO Chicago will repre-
sent the Missouri democracy. They go
there to voice the sentiment of this
state. They do not go to voice simply
the sentiment of a district. Ii that
were so then the state convention would
nave no right to instruct them. If a
delegate goes simply to speak for his
iolAlOby INV SOuiN hS ObCl hu
ton of the state convention binding
him to vote against the will of his i'm
mediate constituents Concede that
a given district mas the unquestioned
TO select its own national dele
gates; concede that the preponderating
of that district favors gold
monometallism concede that the dele
gates chosen from that district are pro-
nOunced gold men. Now, if the state
convention should instruct those dele
gates to vote for n free silver platform,
what would they do? III they obey
hey misrepresent the district. If they
they treat the instruction with
contempt. But Missouri conventions
nave always exercised the right to III
'truct the whole delegation. The right
o instruct implies superior authority.
For years district caucuses have been
leld mt state conventions. These dis
riot caucuses have suggested the dis
riot committeeman on the various
district electors, district
delegates, etc. This, however, has
been done merely rs II matter
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