The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-09-04
He Defend. the Glass Issue,

In an editorial in last Fridays G l o b e IN
der the caption "An Evil Teaching" you
smpute certain motives to John Lind which
! think are entirely uncailed for and unwar-
ranted. Such editorials influence your read
ers-those who believe in fair play at least
in the opposite direction from which you aim.
l know very little of the fitness OF Mr.
Lind for the office for which he is running,
but the mans fitness Is not here called in
question. You begin by saying: There is
one portion Of his speech of acceptance by Mr..
Lind, addressed to the Populist party con-
vention, which must call down the sharpest
condemnation from every lover Of his coun-
try and his kind. No one need hesitate to
~criticise Mr.. Lind's utterances freely, be-
cause he himself has renowned for him.
self the obligation of party and the protec-
ton which party loyalty to his candidate
sometimes extends. Mr.. Lind said to the
convention Of the Peoples party that, al
though he intended to accept the nomination
previously made, he would not accept it as
8 Democrat. He said that he did not accept
this second nomination as a Populist. Being.
therefore, neither Democrat nor Populist, and
having, in the same speech, renowned his
former Republicanism, at least as to the
financial issue. he may not hide behind the
shield of party loyalty. Therefore, not as a
Democratic candidate, not as a Populist can
didate, not as a renegade Republican, but
as a citizen, to use Mr.. Lind's own designation
for himself. must he be arraigned for teach
ing a false and evil gossip, when he places
himself before the people as a champion of
class" ~
With all your assumed impartiality you
seem incapable of rising above party 'loy-
ATTY. How do you reconcile this with your
attitude on the money question? am and
always have been willing to grant the hon.
esty OF my opponent in the discussion of pub
lie or other questions. On any other basis
free discussion is impossible. My sympathies
and faith in this campaign are on the side of
the advocates of the free coinage of silver
not because l believe the triumph at the polls
Of the standard bearers of the Democracy of
the Chicago convention will solve all the po-
tticai or economic problems which are now
ag1tating the thinkers of the world, but that
it means the ascendancy Of an element that
may in time work out these problems-a res
%toration of the rights of the people as opposed
TO the prevailing sentiment among those now
in control, who place the rights of property
above that of the individual. This merely
parenthetically.
You charge Mr.. Lind with teaching a false
and evil gospel when he places himself before
the people as a champion Of a political ar
raignment of class against class" Do you
not know-you must know, if you are a stu
dent and philosophical reasoner, as infer
from the best productions of your mastery
pen-that what you condemn Mr.. Lind for
teaching is a self-evident fact? "'Tis true,
It's pity, and pity It's tbs true" and trying
to conceal the fact makes it none the less
true. The theory upon which this government
rests is the abolition of class privileges, but
instead Of evolving along that line we have
retrogressed till the people of the United
States have become more servile than the sub
jects of many European monarchs. True,
we nave no tlIlCQ nobility IN this fair land OF
ours, but we have an aristocracy (?) much
worse than an aristocracy of bIood-a mon
eyed ar1stocracy. For one to assert, much
less assume, that class distinctions do NOT
exist In this country seems to be almost equi-
valent to asserting that the science Of arith-
metlc Is based on an error-that two and two
do not make four, but five.
You seem to assume that If the rights of
the people have been taken from them they
nave no redress and must simply look up to
their despoiiers as public benefactors. and
WhEn q a nr ~ ~ mar varnfACt -1s,,-
these conditions, you brand them as creators
OF discomfort, teachers of "a false and evil
gospel. and champions of a political ar
raignment of class against class" $50
quoting from the same editorial, YOU credit
Mr.. Lind with saying:
The issuesothat have brought us together.
that have fearfaneed party lines, are based
on the determination of the producing classes
to receive for themselves that share of the
Dement'S that are now claimed and enjoyed by
the non-producing classes. One of the oues-
tons now pressing, and more vital tan the
money question, Is. shall this be a gov nment
for the people or for a single class"
What is there in the above to even war
rant the charge you make? 1t seems to me
that MI. Lind, Mr.. Bryan and others who
are enlisted In the same cause are striving
TO bring an end to the very conditions you
accuse MIN or creating, and I think the in
telligence of the people will so declare No
vember next, despite the efforts on the part
OF the gold organs the country over to di-
vide them.
l cannot conclude without putting side by
side with the extract from Mr.. Lind's ad-
dress the quotation from Washington, which
you cite as one Of the best things in Mr..
McKinley's letter Of acceptance:
Il admonish the people against the object Of
overtures like these I admonish every in
dustrious laborer Of this country to be on
his guard against such delusfon. tell him
the attempt is to play OF his passion against
his interest, and to destroy all the fruits Of
liberty"
Unhappily, eevery industrious laborer of
this country has not been on .his guard
against" the "delusion" Of which the father
or our country warns us-"the familiar art of
the demagogue, centuries old. which con-
sists in breaking the ranks of the people and
destroying their liberties by instilling into their
breasts class prejudice and class hatred" But
let us hope they have awakened to the neces-
sity Of union. firm and true, on the essentials
OF their political emancipation. setting aside
all minor and unfmportant differences. You
admit in your leading editorial Of the same
date, in your criticism Of Republican meth
DDS. that they have already reached this
point. The men who are in favor of free
silver have sunk all other Issues in that.
Bitterly as PoDulists and Democrats and free
silver Republicans have abused each other
in the past, you do not find them opening up
old sores today. Sitting down to the feast
together in brotherly love, they talk moth
ing but free silver, and let bygones be by
cones. Thus they cement their coalition and
secure as united a vote as fusion will make
possible.
In conclusion I would say that the Globe.
Pioneer Press, Dispatch and all the 'gold
bug organs of the country over are doing
more for the triumph of free silver than any
factor in the fight.
w. S. MacEwen.
st. Paul, Aug. 80. 1896.