The herald., 1896-08-18


majority of the delegates assembled at
Chicago to bind the Democrats of the
United States to platform inconsist-
ent with the party's principles or to any
action that should result in their sur
render.
In violation of the trust committed to
them, majority of the delegates as
sembled in the convention, ignoring the
rights of the minority, unseated regu-
larly elected delegates to make places
for others in sympathy with themselves.
They proclaimed a sectional complna-
tion of the south and west against the
north and east. They impeached the
honesty and patriotism of PRESIDENT
Cleveland, who under exceptional en-
barrassments, produced by past errors
of legislation, has heroically maintained
the honor and integrity of the republic.
Against the protest of one-third OF the
delegates they promulgated a platform
at variance with the essential princi-
ples of the Democratic party. This
platform is in it's policies dangerous to
the welfare and life of free government.
1t is mischievous in its tendencies. But
even more threatening and mischievous
was the spirit of the convention that
adopted it, spirit manifested not alone
by this affirmative action but as well by
its reckless rejection of every PROPOSE
ton tending to temper the declarations
of the convention with conservatism
and justice.
The platform proposes to degrade the
coin of the United States by means of
the free, unlimited and independent
coinage of silver by our government and
by the exere, se of the power of the ma
tion to compel the acceptance of depre-
ciated coins at their nominal value,
thereby working an injustice to credit
ors, defrauding the laborer of large
part of his earnings and savings, rob
bling pensioned soldiers of a part of their
pensions, contracting the currency by
the expulsion Of gold from the circula-
ton, injuring, if not destroying, domes-
tic and foreign commerce. While pro-
Tossing to advocate policy of bimetal-
lism, it censures the present Democratic
administration for maintaining the par
ity of gold and silver. 1t proposes to re-
duce this country to a condition of sill
yer monimetallism with its vacilating
and unreliable standard of values and
tends to bring the farmer, the wage
Garner and the Salaried men to the
wretched condition of the same classes
in countries in which the silver stand
ard prevails and where the rewards of
agriculture and labor are lower than
anywhere in the world.
With what seems to be deliberate
attempt to mislead the people, it asserts
that by the coinage act of 1873 the Unit
ed States abandoned the use of silver as
money, and that gold has appreciates
and commodities have fallen in price
solely by reason of this legislation. 1t
ignores the fact that the prices of COM
modities have fallen because of the en-
larged use of labor saving machinery,
Increased production and resulting COM
petition 1t suppresses the fact that a
potent reason for the decline in the price
of silver has been the discovery of new
and cheaply worked mines, resulting IN
an enormous increase in it's production.
Instead of recognizing these facts, it ap-
peals to the prejudices of the people.
1t demands the free coinage of silver al
the arbitrary and fictitious ratio of 16 t.
1, although the ratio established in tht
worlds market is about 80 to l, and al
though neither experience nor reason
warrants the belief that the commercial
ratio between the metals can be reduced
by the action of this government to any
ratio even approximating that pro-
posed. 1t threatens in certain contin-
gencies to increase to an unlimited eX-
tent the volume of legal tenders issued
by the federal government, the ultimate
effect of which would be to force the
and to compel public and private busi-
ness to be transacted in depdeciated pa
per currency, constantly fluctuating in
value, and to invite the ruin and con-
fusion which have always followed the
adoption of such policy. It's declara-
tions invite and have almost produced
financial panic, and many of it's pro
ponents announce that to accomplish
this purpose they are prepared to involve
their country in a disaster comparable
to nothing in its history save the calam-
ity of the civil war.
1t assails the independence of the iu-
dietary by covert threat to reorganize
the courts whenever their decisions con-
travene the DEGREES of the party caucus.
1t seeks to allure office-seekers and
spoilsmen to its support by attacking
the existing civil service laws which
good men of all parties have labored SO
long to establish and to extend to all
departments of public service The Chi
cago convention having thus departed
from the recognized Democratic prin-
ciples and promulgated doctrines new
and strange to the Democracy, all Dem
ocrats are absolved from obligation to
support its program. More than this, as
the doctrines announced are destructive
OF national honor and private obligation
and tend to create sectional and class
distinctions and engender discord and
strife among the people, all good citizens
of the republic are bound to repudiate
them and exert every lawful means to
insure the defeat of the candidates that
represent those false doctrines.
Democrats are told that they must ac-
cept the platform enunciated and the
ticket nominated at Chicago because
submission to the will of the majority IS
fundamental principle of Democracy.
1t is true that when majority of the
people have expressed their will a It a le-
gal election the will of such majority
must be respected and obeyed. This Is
essential to the peace and existence of
the nation. But IL is a nonstroi1e ra,.