The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-08-11

MISUNDERSTANDING THE DEAD.
Judge Cullen of Rush county. who. under
the guise of advocating bimetallism, advo-
Gated silver monometallism in recent ad-
dress. was either so ignorant or so lost to
sense of fairness that he introduced into
his speech the garbled extracts from James
G. Blaines speech in the Senate in Febru-
airy. 1873, to prove that that statesman was
in favor of free and unlimited coinage of
silver at the ratio of Is to /. Judge Cullen
Is very ignorant man If he does not know
that that same speech Of Mr.. Blaine's was
one of the strongest arguments ever made
against free coinage Of silver into dollars
which did not contain gold dollars worth
of silver bullion. On no less than three oc-
casions the Journal has given extracts
from Mr.. Blaine's speech from which the
garbled extracts which Judge Cullen has
used were taken. The st. Louis Globe
Democrat has printed nearly the whole of
that speech. and nearly all Of the Chicago
papers. which gratefully remember Mr..
Blaine's fame, have called attention to the
injustice done him by the extracts, which,
after all these avowals Of the contents of
Mr.. Blaine's speech, Judge Cullen repeats
to sustain his gauzy pretensions of a devo-
ton to bimetallism, which, when the silver
dollar bullion was worth 90 cents Mr..
Blaine declared that its free coinage would
put this country silver basis. At that
time Mr.. Blaine declared that the free
coinage of 92-cent dollars would drive all
the gold out of the country with the re-
sistless force and certainty of the oceans
tides" In the same speech Mr.. Blaine
showed that to put the country on a 81
cent-dollar silver basis would in effect rob
of eight cents every holder of paper dol
lar in the country. which was then on the
of resumption a gold basis. Judge
Cullen weeps over the grave of Mr.. Blaine;
but he does him the greatest injustice by
leaving his hearers to infer that he was
advocate Of the free and unlimited coin
age of silver at the present ratio, when he
always denounced it. If Judge Cullen has
done this In ignorance he should make pub
lie acknowledgment; il KNOWN gly. he de-
serves the censure of all fair-minded men.
Judge Cullen either ignorantly or other
wise, is equally unfortunate in quoting as
the views of Abraham Lincoln a bogus
letter attributed to him, which has been
doing service for years in spite of positive
proofs that it is a base and clumsy for
gerry. Judge Cullen can claim from his new
associates whatever credit they give
him for bringing this forgery to life for
the first time in this campaign. 1t is as
follows:
1t has been indeed trying hour for the
public. but see in the near future crisis
approaching that immerSeS me and causes
me to tremble for the safety OF my coun-
try. AS result of the war, corporations
have been enthToned and an fo era of corr1 up
money power Of the country will endeavor
to prolong its reign by. working upon the
Is aggregated in few hands and the re-
public is destroyed. / feel at this moment
more anxiety for the safety of my country
than ever before, even In the midst or the
war
Mr.. Lincoln's private secretaries were
John Hay and John G.. Nicolay. Into their
hands fell all Mr.. Lincoln's papers. Both
have declared time and again that the al
legged letter is bogus. 1t is not in Mr. Lin
coins well-known language, and the most
diligent search by these biographers of Mr..
Lincoln has failed to find any evidence
that it was written alleged. Lee sur
rendered April o. 1865. the news of which
did not reach Mr.. Lincoln until late that
night. He was assassinated the evening of
April IA. 1t is absurd to assert that during
the five most momentOus days between
Lees surrender and his assassination, in
which a score of new problems forced
themselves upon his attention. and while he
was yet sharing the Nations great rejoic-
ing he turned aside to write TO some un-
known man such a letter as the above.
Judge Cullen must have ceased to read
newspapers and to keep in touch with the
life Of the times If no has failed to note
the Reputation of this letter by both of
the men through one OF whose hands it
would have passed il written. With a
single exception none but the most blatant
Of Populists have persisted in using this
forgery.
OF that crime of misrepresenting dead
men, the assassination of their characters,
the Journal does not accuse Judge Cullen.
He has doubtless been rnslel by his new
political associates, but that fact renders
all that he may say on the money question
wholly unreliable. False in one thing,
false in all' is well-established maxim.