The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1896-06-24
GERMAN AMERICANS
THEY ARE ALMOST UNANIMOUS FOR
SOUND MONEY.
Ready to Break Party Ties to Vote Against
Free Coinage-They Form . Largo Per.
centsgo Of tho Voters of This Country.

Ready to Break Party Ties to Vote Agains,
Free Coinage-They Form . Largo Per.
centsgo Of tho Voters of This Country.
MIR. Gustav H. Schwab is president
OF tho German society of New York
city and is therefore in touch with
Germans and German Americans in this
country. Being also a prominent bus
mess man, he is familiar with the views
OF Germans on the financial question. In
an interview cn May ID he said:
am convinced from my knowledge
OF my German-American fellow citi-
zcns and their ways of thinking that
the vast majority Of them in the coming
political contest will entirely disregard
party ties and will vote for that party
which declares for the maintenance, be-
yond possibility Of doubt, of the gold
standard of value, and that they will
not give their suffrage to any candidate
who may be suspected of leaning to-.
ward free silver coinage or toward any
compromise with the silver people
They consider that the paramount
question before the country at present is
the integrity Of our monetary system.
and their votes will 60 to that party
which they believe will uphold the
count1y's financial honor, regardless CT
what their views may be on other polit-
ical questions. Previous experience has
shown that German voters Oh questions
relating to or affecting tho standard Of
value have always stood for common
honesty, and that they have uniformly
opposed all forms Of financial heresy
When. 20 years ago, the paper money
initiation question was agitated in Mis-
souri,, the Germans Of that state were
arraycd on the side Of sound money
The Germans Of Illinois are on record
as always having been on the right sido
Of the money question, and as never
having been led astray by cheap money
propaganda at any time. A German
business man. cashier Of large bank In
Chicago, who has a wide acquaintance
with the small bankers ard merchants
throughout the west, tells me that he
has had occasion to hear expressions
from his German countrymen for years
past on the question of monetary
standard, and that he has never vet
found one who was not in favor of the
gold standard and opposed to the free
coinage CT silver
His opinion is that the German citi-
zens Of Illinois are unanimously opposed
to any impairment Of the present gold
standard.
1t is fact, universally known, that
the sound money victory i'll Ohio in the
gubernatorial campaign of 1875, in
which Rutherford B. Hayes ran on a
Republican hard money platform
against William Allen OH Democratic
paper money imitation platform, was
due to the firm stand taken by the Ger.
mans, who, disregarding party lines,
turned the scale in the election in favor
Of honest money. This fact was conced-
ed at the time by the Republican press
of the state, and the Democratic candi-
date voiced the sentiments of his party
leaders when he gave utterance to his
lacerated feelings after the election by
exclaiming, 'The Dutch are ID un-
reliable !" The German voters are GER
tainly not to be relied upon when they.
are asked to prostitute tho country's
financial honor at their party's bidding.
In the state of Wisconsin the Germans
have taken the same united stand in
favor of sound money, and the Same
may be said Of Michigan, Iowa and
Minnesota
The entire German newspaper press in
this country, with few exceptions, Is
emphatically for sound money, as it has
been in the past, and can be depended
upon to pronounce in favor of the main
tenance Of the present standard Of value
and for the party that represents this
principle, regardless of previous party
affiliations. Several important German
Democratic papers in the western states
have already threatened to bolt their
ticket if free silver plank should be
adopted. As an indication Of the gem
eral sentiment Of the German press I
refer to the position taken by the largest
and oldest German newspaper in the
south, The Demokrat of Louisville. in
the last state election in Kentucky. AL
though always Democratic up to that
time, this paper bolted the Democratic
free silver candidate and urged the cleo
ton Of the Republican sound money can.
didate for governor
The Importance Of the German vote
will be apparent when the numerical
strength of the German-American popu-
lation in the pivotal states is consider
ed. The returns Of the census Of 1890
show that the state Of New York then
contained 972, 608 German-Americans,
Ohio 541, 407, Illinois 900, 588, Penn
sylvania 472, 42S, Michigan 78,25s,
Wisconsin SOL, 1874, Minnesota 244, 1874,
Iowa 800, 603 and Missouri 297 ,O95.
Whatever may be the decision Of the
national conventions on the money ques-
ton, this issue will be fairly, squarely
and most thoroughly placed before the
German voter in the course Of the cam
paign, and as to the nature Of his re-
Spouse / do not entrtain any doubt
The total population Of the silver
mining communities, including all those
who are directly or indirectly dependent
on silver money for living, cannot ex-