The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-09-18
Words of the Deceased States.
man Quoted to Refute an
Assertion.
]. T. BROOKS CALLED DOWN.
Information Given to Show That the
Railroad Man Was Not Correct
in His Statement.

COLUMBUS. OHIO, Sept. II. - Hon.
Allen w. Thurman to-day addressed an
open letter to ]. T. Brooks, second vice
Company. In a political address here
this week Mr.. Brooks, who has forsaken
the Democratic party, declared that the
late ex-senator Allen G. Thurman was a
gold man. In this connection he referred
to the attitude of Allen w. Thurman in
favor of the free coinage of silver and said /:
~ appeal from the younger TO the elder
Allen" 1t is in reply to this that Mr..
Thurman writes as follows:
J. 7. Brooks, ,PtttsbHrg, Pd.-DEAR SIR: From
what have been told and from the report
saw of your speech here the other night you
said. in speaking of the act of 1873. that you
appealed from the younger to the elder
Allen" By this you no doubt intended 10
convey the IDEA to your audience that father
knew that the act of 1873 demonetized silver.
Why did you thus indirectly state what you
must have known to be false if you had taken
the least trouble to investigate?
If you had taken the trouble to investigate
you would have found that Judge Thurman
said in the Senate: ~ cannot say what took
place in the House, but know when the bill
was pending in the Senate, we.thought ii was
age and fix ND one thing and another, and
there is not a single man in the Senate, think,
unless member OF the committee from which
the bill came, who had the slightest idea that
there was even squint toward demonetiza-
tion.'
And if you had intended to be honest iii
your statement you would also have referred
to this statement. but also TO the speech made
by him showing how in codifeatlon of the
law, without The knowledge of scarcely
any one, the. whole villainy was perpe-
trated. The further inference to be drawn
from such reference to Judge Thur
man was, as you must have intended it as
such, because you linked my name with his,
as If TO draw comparison between the beliefs
OF father and son, that he was in favor of a
gold standard. Again, If you had examined
not only the Congressional Record, but the
record of the monetary conference OF 1881.
you would have seen that such an insinuatlon
cannot be truthfully made. In one short para
graph at the Brussels conference his words
settle any controversy in this direction. He
said: al believe that bimetallism will ulti-
mAtelt prevail, Tor cannot see how the vast
structure of credit, the most distinguishing of
modern industry and commerce, can be sup
ported on a gold basis alone. With both
metals its base has often been found too mar
row, but with one it would be, to my appre-
hensiou, positively unsafe" He lived nearly
fifteen years after this claration, ana if |
heard him refer to it once did so hundred
times, because as year by year he saw the in
creasing demand that was being made by the
different countries upon gold alone, he clearly
saw and said his prediction must be verified,
or National, corporate and individual bank
ruptcy would be almost universal.
After he had gone, however, you come here
among the people with whom he had lived
for several years. and not directly, but indi-
rectly, try 10 make them believe just the OBJ
posite of what every public aud private utter
ance he ever made showed was his belief.
There can be no meaner kind of deception
than for a man who pfetends to be a public
teacher, and especially when he is proclaim
ing that only his side is honest, to indirectly
attempt to impose upon his audience as you
must have done upon yours. Any praise
which you may have bestowed upon Judge
Thurman only makes your deception more
dsgrant. ALLEN w. THURMAN,