Birmingham state herald., 1896-03-17
CAESAR CLARKE MUST SINK William Cassius Oates Declines
 to Help Him. WILL NOT TAKE THE SLUMP Discussion Between Democrats Bodes No
 Good OPPOSES THE SINGLE GOLD STANDARD Important Letter by the Governor in Re- sponse to the Effort by the Clarke Clique to Force Him Into the
 Campaign.
WILL NOT TAKE THE STUMP
OPPOSES THE SINGLE GOLD STANDARD

Montgomery. March 16.-(Special)- Governor Oates sent the following com munication to the Mobile Register today:
 Montgomery, Ala, March l6. Editor of the Register:
 On Saturday, the 29th ultimo, your pa per contained the following edltoriai' which has since been reproduced in seV- eral of the newspapers of the state' to- wit:
 A Cry From Macedonia.
 Ut is possible no special call has been made upon Gov. w. C. oates ana Hoh' H. c. Tompkins to take part i'll thas cahi- paign but if an oversight in this mattei has been committed it will be douptiess renledled when we call attention 10 It, These gentlemen are candidates Tor the democratic nomination for the United States senatorship and are known as Ia vorine The maintenance of sound money policv by the government. They must look 10 sound money men Tn the as- sembly for support, and hence potn per sonal interest and duty declare that they should be active in upholdtng the souno money cause and helping elect sounu money men to the state offices ana to the general assembly. Their services on the stump at this time will be eXceeoihs iy valuable to the good cause ana ID needed. We hope that if they are walt mo for an invitation to take part in the canvass they will wait no longer, put fake this as a sufficient call to acton. We know we speak the opinion of ieao- ing democrats down this way when we ask these two powerful advocates ol sooo government to come over iii'o N"'e" and help us.
 Tn the Register of the 7th instant fnd the following editorial:
 we do not understand by what pro cess of reasoning Colonel Tompklns or Governor Oates can expect the suppo,t of administration men unless they heIp the administration men in their present effort to keep the state democracy III line with the national democracy. fos, sibly they may think that free silver VIII win in the national convention ana .naI ls,i be counted as friendly to that side, put the public does not remember negative benefits. No man ever yet voluntarily rewarded another for not doing nm ah injury" e.,,ou,,, appeared:
 Where Are the Other Twop
 "Haye we been mistaken as to the flashing qualities which distinguished Col w. c. Oates, at present governor oi Alabama and candidate for the Umlteo States senate, or is he changeu: ihere
 
 and he has no hand in it. And where IS inc gallant Henry Clay Tompkins, an other senatorial candidate, whose voice was wont to ring out in convention haLs and always on the side of truth anu the Deople? There is a struggle going on whfch means the victory or defeat or honest principle. the upholding or the oyertb rowing of the democratic piat1orm as interpreted by the trusted leader or the party, and the maintenance or tne abandonment of the financial poilcy ol our democratic fathers. There, Tn the midst of the fray, may be seen the ln- tre1id Clarke, the blue-eyed winner Q. an hundred battles and that Henry VI Nevarre, Tom Jones of Montgomery. Where are the other two! why are N'ey mt there by the side of our cnainpiohs' hein,ng them in this great fght?'
 During my candidacy for the nomlna- +ion two wears ago I made seventy-nine speeches and after my nomination iorly- nine and none of these were less than two hours in length; and If the people or Alabama did not learn fully my views on the currency question and my defense of the national administration-With the aid of the Register and other lhnuehtIaA rapers--I am not now able to make my views understood. It is not compiimenta- rv to the democratic voters nor to me 10 suppose that they have forgotten what l then said If there is any doubt as 10 whether I have changed, most eHi- phatically declare that have not. rune has fully confirmed the opinions l then ontertained and expressed I told the neople then as I had declared in con gress, that I was not in favor of single gold standard. with silver only as sub sidiary coin, but that l was In 1aVor or silver with the status the law gave 10 the dollar-a legal tender in payment or debts public and private. the same as inc gold dollar. That is the law today. While 1t declares the gold dollar to be measure of value, the law of 1878 de- clares the silver dollar to be equal there to This is the double standard, or bi' metallism as nearly as it can be main tained in this country under present cir c1mstances I told the people then that I was in favor of the coinage Of all the silver that could be circulated and main tained on a parity with gold, dollar for dollar. and that If we were to have free coinage of silver dollars I was in favor of making the commercialNyalue of the two approximately equalN In other words that the owner of silver bullion should put enough into ms doilar so that when coined 1t would be as good as any other dollar here or abroad. The de- cIa,ed statutory public policy of both the democratic and republican parties was then. and Is now, to maintain equality or parity in all of our dollars. gold, silver and paper. I told the people then, and I am now opposed to the free and unlim- fled coinage of silver dollars at the ratio of 16 to 1, because 1t would break down the parity and send gold to a premium. If would drive the gold out of the coun- trv or cause il to be hoarded, and pro- duce such fin acial panic as our people have never rxn. iienced. and the greatest suffering woufh fall upon the laborers. wage-earners md farmers, who are the least able of rs of our people to bear such a financial stringency.
 Some of the advocates of free coinage o< ,tIror that hfss. i- now no gold in cfrculation There arc $630, ,000. 900 of 1t in circulation in this country. according to the best and most accurate informa- ton obtainable: and but few weeks ago, when the secretary of the treasury he received subscriptions aggrcgating about $60O, 900 900 in gold, and more than