Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-04-27
EFFECT IN THE SOUTH
What a Gold Standard Nomination
at Chicago Would Mean.
WHITE SUPREMACY IAPERILED
Silver Men Fighting to Save Their
State Tickets.
CONGRESSMAN TALKS

The effect of gold standard nominatio
at Chicago on the state politics Of various
southern states was freely discussed in the
democratic cloak room of the House the
other day, along with the effect it would
have on ational politics.
A well-known and popular democratic
member Of Texas said that the silver men
were fighting the battle now as much to
save their states as to try to win in the
national election. THE supremacy of the
white man and the democratic party in the
southern states,'' he said, ''is more i'm
portant to us than the nomination of any
body at Chicago Not since the war has
there ever been before doubt about how
the southern states would vote on state
and national candidates, but there is a
doubt now, and not only is there a chance
that the democrats will lose nationally but
that we will lose in several states. The
only chance / see to avert this danger is
the nomina ticn of a consistent silver man
at Chicago. Then we will hold our states
In line on state tickets and on the national
Let the Chicago convention, however, NOM
mate a gold standard man, and the party
Is irretrievably wrecked for years to come.
A number of southern states will elect pop
ulist or fus ion state tickets, and the demo-
cratic party will lose its power. prestige
and machinery in the south. The republi-
of the states may land In that column.
Serious Question.
IT'S a serious question with US, and 1
doubt If there is a southern democrat on
this floor who has not pondered over it.
While the silver question is the foremost
with US nationally, there hangs over US the
shadow of losing our states and all that
goes with them. Ny own state is certain to
lo
standard nomination at Chicago There is
not much chance of the republicans win
ming. Our eastern brethren DO not seem to
realize the dangerous position We are in
and it looks like they don't care. They are
willing to sacrifice to get what they
want TSey are willing to drive from the
party many of the states which have never
failed to elect democratic electoral tickets
It's all well enough to maintain a stiff up
per lip and to talk as if there would be no
break in the south, but there will be a bad
break if tie silver men don't win at Chi
cago."
Would anything Re accomplished by the
silver men leaving the convention at Chi
easo. If they were in a minority, and put
ting up ticket of their own?'
Il do not think 1t would be much better
than if there was gold standard nomina-
ton. There are hundreds of thousands of
democrats who believe in sticking to the
party, and the ma ajority in the national
convention is supposed to he the party
These men, many of them for silver would
refuse to believe that the minority con-
stituted the party, and would not vote for
the ticket put out Our only hope is that
the silver men will have a clear and fair
majority at Chicago, and that they will
have backbone enough to resist all over
lures at compromise and put out straight
silver ticket. If this is done. we will hold
Oh to our states locally, and nationally
there Will be fighting chance of winning
in November"
The Increased POpuIist Vote.
Referring to the election returns of 1892
and 1894, the member spoke of the increase
in the populist vote in two years. In 1884
the populists poled about 100000 more
votes in Texas than in 1892, and the in
crease in other states was in the same
proportion. Nearly every populst was
formerly a democrat The same increase
in the populist vote this year over two
years ago means more than. eastern demo-
Gratis think. They are not surrounded,
southern men say, by the same conditions.
They do not believe that there is much
danger in the south. They put their judg-
ment of the situation, the southerners
claim, against the judgment of men who
know what they are talking about.