The Indianapolis journal., 1896-09-10
,ountrv increased from sa7o 10 81 oas 1n


those ten years the aggregate increase of
the wealth of our country was s21 299J eco 00n
being so per cent. in excess of the increase
ft any previo-s ten years since 1850. and at
tie amazing rate of over 81. .090, 600. 600 year.
The trainers of the Chicago platform, in the
face of this fact and of the enormous in
CT ase ever Great Britain during this sarce
eold-standard decade of country's fer
eign trade and it's production of iron, coal
and other great symbols of national
etary standard is mot only un-American,
but arti-American," and that it has
brought US into financial servitude to Lor-
don" 1t is impossible to imagine an as
st rtion more reckless and indcfensiEle.
MEANS REPUTATION.
The proposition for free and unlimited
silver coinage carried to its logical con-
clusion. and but one is possible, means,
as before intimated. Ie2isla tive warrant for
the repudation CT all existing indebtedness,
public and private to the extent of nearly
so per cent. of the face of all such indebt-
edness. 1t demands an unlimited volume
of fiat currency, irredeemable, and there
fore without any standard value in the
markets of the world. Every consideration
Of public interest and public honor lenl"lrds
that this proposition should be rejected 10y
the American people.
This country cannot afford to give its
sanction to wholesale spoliation. 1t must
hold fast to its integrity 1t must still en-
courage thrift in all proper ways 1t must
not only educate its children to honor and
respect the flag, but it should inculcate
fidelity to the obligations of personal and
national honor well. Both these great
principles should hereafter be taught in
the common schools of the land and the
lesson impressed upon those who are the
voters of to-day and those who are to be-
come the inheritorS of sovereign power in
this Republic, that it is neither wise, pa
triotic nor safe to make political platforms
the mediums of assault upon property, the
peace of society and upon civilization it
self.
Until these lessons have been learned by
our children and by those who have
reached the voting age, it can only be sur
missed what enlightened statesmen and po-
litical economists will record as TO the ac-
tion of a party convention which offers an
inducement TO national dishonesty by a
premium of II cents for every 50 cents
worth of silver that can be extracted from
cordial invitation to all to produce it at our
mints and accept for it a full silver legal
tender dollar of 100 cents rated value, to be
coined free of charge and unlimited in
quantity for private account
But vastly more than a mere assertion
of a purpose to reconstruct the national
currency is suggested by the Chicago plat
form. 1t assumes, in fact, the form of
a revolutionary propaganda 1t embodies
destruction. This spirit manifested itself
in a deliberate proposition to repudiate the
of the obligation of private contracts, to
cripple the credit of the Nation by strip
ping the government of the power to bor-
row money, as the urgent exigencies of the
treasury may require and, in a word, to
overthrow all the founda tions of financial
af9 Nor IonS'fhi is this a Not content with
proposition to thus debauch the currency
and to unsettle all conditions of trade and
platform denies the competency of the gov
ernment to protect the lives and property
of its citizens against internal disorder and
violence.
1t assails the judicial muniments reared
by the Constitution for the defense of in
dividual rights and the public welfare. and
it even threatens to destroy the integrity
and independence of the Supreme Court,
of the citizen against every form OF out
rage and injustice.
In the face of the serious peril which
these propositions embody it would seem
that there could be but one sentiment
among right thinking. citizens as to the
party. who believe in law, and have some
regard for the sacredness of individual and
institutional rights: must unite in defense
of the endangered interests of the Nation
THE INDUSTRIAL SITUATION.
While the financial issue which has been
thus considered, and which has come as
the result of the agitation of recent years
to occupy peculiar conspicuousness, is ad-
mittedly of primary Importance, there is
another question which must command
careful and serious attention. Our finan-
cial and business condition is at this mo-
ment one of almost unprecedented depres-
sion. Our great industrial system is Sc
riously paralyzed. Production in many i'm
portant branches of manufacture has alto
gether ceased. Capital is without remun-
erative employment. Labor is idle The
revenues of the government are insufficient
to meet its ordinary and necessary ex-
penses. These conditions are not the result
of accident. They are the outcome of a
mistaken economic policy deliberately en-
acted ana applied 1t would not be diff
cult. and would not involve any violent
disturbance of our existing commercial sys-
tenn to enact necessary tariff notifications
a of lyyrA A..rn
two fiscal years of the so-called Mckinley
tarlff, the receipts from customs were $780,
act has been in force for nearly Two fuIl
fiscal years, but the total receipts. actual
ana estimated. cannot exceed $312. AL 947. A
steady deficit, constantly depicting the re-
sources of The government and trenching
even upon its gold reserve has brought
about public distrust and business disa sfer
IT has, too, necessitated the sale of S262-
000,000 of bonds, thereby increasing to that
extent the national debt. 1t viii be remem-
quarter of a century of continuous Repub-
lcan administration succeeding the civil
war, when our industries were disinte-
grated and all the conditions of business
were more or less disturbed. was the ma
t1onal dept increased by a single dollar; it
was, on the contrary steadily and rapidly
diminished. In such a condition of affairs
as this it is idle to argue against the ne
cessity Of some sort of a change in our
for remedy by direct taxation upon Sc
lected class of citizens. 1t opposes any ap-
pllcdtlon OF the protective principle.
Our party holds that by a wise adjust
ment of the tariff conceived in modera-
ton and with a view to stability we may
secure all needed revenue, and it declares
that in the event of it's restoratio to power
1t viii seek to accomplish that result. 1t
holds. too. that it is the duty of the gov
ernment to protect and encourage in all
practicable ways the development of do
mestic industries. the elevation Of home
labor. and the enlargement of the prosper
ity of the people. 1t does not favor any
form of Legislation which would lodge in
the government the power to do what the
people ought to do for themselves but it
to discriminate in favor Of our own ma
terial resources. and the utilization under
the best attaina bic conditions of our own
capital and our own available skill and in
dustry
REPUBLICAN TARIFF PLANK
The words of the Republican national
platform on the subject are at once tenn
perate and emphatic. 1t says of the policy
of protection: In its reasonable applca-
ton 1t is just, fair and impartial. equally
opposed to foreign control and domestic
monopoly. to sectional discrimination and
individual favoritism'' I'VE de-
mand such an equitable tariff on foreign
imports which come into competition with
American products as will not only furnish
adequate revenue for the necessary ex-
American labor from degradation to the
wage level of other lands. We are not
pledged to any particular schedules The
question of rates is a practical question, to
be governed by the conditions of the time
and of production; the ruling and uncom-
lfSin 1lrina aiY1la iS ha and