Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1896-02-05
TILLMAN'S SPEECH
HIS Maiden Effort in the United
States Senate.

WASHINGTON, D. c., Jan, %
Senator Ben Tillman, of South
Carolina, made his first speech in
the Senate to-day. Al 2 o'clock be
took the floor on the pending silver
bond bill. The galleries filled
quickly and the Senator was ac-
corded CLOSE attention. He moved
down the front aisle from his rear
seat to one in the front row imme-
diately in front of the presiding
officer. Although provided with
manuscript at first, he spoke ex-
temporan4eusly:
"Mr. President" the Senator be-
ga;l "it is not saying too much and
I feel warranted iu, charging that
the arrangement in our finances
and all this cry about sound money
and maintaining the honor and
credit of the United States are all
part and parcel of damnable
scheme of robbery, which had for
it's object, first, the utter destruc-
ton of silver as money metal ;
second, the increase of the public
debt, the issue of bonds payable in
gold and third, the surrender to
corporations of the power to issue
all paper money and give them a
monopoly of that function"
Senator Tillman referred to the
Sherman silver law of 1890, and in
this connection said:
"The silver republicans of the
west who had deserted the silver
democrats Of the south and accept
ed the compromise offered by Sen
ator Sherman, may take warning
as to what faith or trust they can
put in the utterances or actions of
the Senator from Ohio as to legis-
lation IN regard to our finances.
The time for another presidential
election approaches. They must
understand that the election of any
man to the presidency who would
veto free coinage bill means de-
feat. 1t means more; it means
continued disaster to our industries
and increased poverty TO the masses
of our people"
"Under the Sherman law" he
continued, "there was dimuni-
ton of the amount of free gold in
a gradually decreasing scale, but
not enough to cause any alarm. Du-
ring the entire year of 1891 and
the entire year of 1892, there was
approximately as much gold as
there was during 1884 and 1885.
eff the secret history of the year
1892 shall ever be written it will
disclose the fact which can not be
proven now, but of which I have
not the slightest doubt, that the
gold ring of New York, which en-
braces nearly all the bankers in the
eastern and middle States and the
stock gamblers of Wall street, COL
trolled the presidential nomina-
tions of both the democratic and
republican parties had an under
standing with the managers or with
both the ca. didates themselves in
regard to what policy should be
pursued toward our finances. They
contributed money for the BOOM
ing Of Mr.. Cleveland as the only
democratic candidate and
they abused and rldiculed every
other demo ratio aspirant.
There was plain evidence to
show that he president himself
had weakened on the question of
tariff reform and the financial
plank was cunningIy drafted.
X X 4 4 Il
"With rclentness purpose he has ig
nored his oath of office, TO uphold
and obey tie law, and has paid out
gold instead cf coin and issued
bonds to buy more gold, by both
actions overriding the law, and
giving no heed to the interests of
any bul moneyed friends-I might
say his own partners.
'fWbile 10 this besotted tyrant
coinshas come to mean gold alone,
ne can lot by his mere 'ipse dixit'
ohnnga the law of this land and