The Coconino weekly sun., 1896-07-02
EOEAkE3 EXPLAINS.
Says the Republican Party Has DccIs rsd
 No Kew Money Plank.


 No IJew Money Plank.
 In view of Senator-elect Foraker's re lation to the making of the platform al St. Louis and his relations with Senator Teller four years ago in similar ca pacity, his utterance on the subject ot gold and silver in his ratification speech at Cincin-ati on June 21 becomes of peculiar interest. He said:
 "I want to take advantage of this op- portunity to say word about the enort now being made to make it appear that the republican party declared in it's money plank for something new at St. Louis. That is not true. The declaration or the republican party. IS embodied in It's money plank at St. Louis, defines exactly what has been the position of the republican party through all these years with respect to the silver question. Silver was demon- etized in 1873, and ever since then we have been on a single gold standard basis About the same time several of the leading na- tions of Europe demonetized silver, and ever since that time an effort has been made to get back to the standard. We have taken part in three international money conferences, the object of them being to agree with other nations upon an International ratio, according to which we could have the free coinage of silver. But all these efforts have failed.
 Tt has been constantly and repeatedly declared by both parties that bimetallism was desirable in preference to gold and silver monometallism. Both parties have agreed that we could maintain the parity of the two metals and bring about bimet- alism again by an international agree ment. Some have insisted, in the mean while, that if We could not do 1t that way we could do 1t alone. without regard to | whaf har nations might fit n dc, The republican party has constantly, con- sistently and consistently stood up against that idea"
 -Four years ago, when we held the c.n- vention at Minneapolis, 1t was my fortune to be the chairman of the committee on resolutions, as I was at the St. Louis con- Vention, and 1t was my fortune to be asso- ciated in that committee with Senator Teller. He and his associates from the silver states came to that convention and came before that committee asking us to insert a plank pledging the republican party to the free coinage of silver We re- fused to do it. We declared that we were in favor of international bimetallism, but that until that was brought about it would be cur policy to maintain silver at parity with gold by issuing no more of it than could be maintained at parity with gold.
 "They accepted the result and remained in the republican party. That declara- 
 day, that we would stand precisely where we were until we could do better. We were agreed that we could safely undertake to have bimetallism by international agree- ment: we were unwilling and refused to attempt 1t by free and independent coin- age.
 "The silver men did not feel called upon to go out of the party then: their con- science did not seem to trouble them so much then as now. They remained in the party four years longer. When the last session of congress commenced, with a re- suit of this democratic free trade experi- | ment, the government was found to have deficient revenues. not enough revenues to meet It's current expenses. A bill was pre- pared in the house and passed that body without partisan division almost providing for an increase of revenue. The bill was known as the Dingley bill. It went to the senate. The national credit, the national honor. the national life was at stake. These gentlemen said the bill was unob- jectionable, but they refused to vote for 1t (that is. six of these gentlemen from silver states did) unless the great majority, who did not agree with them, would sacrifice their convictions and vote for the free, un- limited and unrestricted coinage of sil- | yer. The great majority in the senate would not be coerced by that minority. That action upon the part of these people directed the attention of the coun- try to that subject as 1t had not been di- rected before; and, therefore when we met at St. Louis we were not for different stand to be taken by the republican party, but for more explicit declaration of our principles than we had heretofore made, and, inasmuch as they had thrown down the gauge of battle by demanding free sil- yer and seeking to coerce us to accept, we concluded that was good time to meet them half way, join issue and let the battle come on. They appeared before the conn mittee, just as they were four years ago. They made the same demand: we made the same answer; but when we came to write the platform We said we would make 1t so plain all would understand, and so we declared that we were unalterably op- posed to the free and unlimited coinage of siiver until we can have an internation agreement, and in the meantime we will preserve the existing gold standard.
 ITO conclude with a word, when Senator Teller and his associates bolted the party at the St. Louis convention they had no cause for 1t whatever that did not exist four years before at the Minneapolis con- vention. and when the republican party ln:. .o the declaration 1t did make at St. i.0u'5 1t did not change Its position one particle, but simply made 1t absolutely cer- tain, in order that there could be settle msnt of that question, that the proposi- tiol for free, independent and unlimited coinage of silver is a proposition that we will not entertain. We will not entertain 1t because, in our judgment 1t does not, as Senator Teller and his associates claim, mean bimetallism, but simply silver mono netallism.
 "We go into this ::.,t, therefore, with our gallant standard bearer representing to the people of America protection to American industries and American labor and an absolutely sound dollar with which to do our business: an absolutely sound dollar. not simply for the banker and the | merchant, but for the wage-earner as we'll When a man does full days work he Is entitled to have full 100 cents on the dol- lar with which he is paid, and we propose that he shall have it, We propose that the dollar that we put into circulation, the metallic dollar, shall be worth 100 cents in gold all over the world. no matter wheth- CT 1t carries the eagle and superscriptions I or not. Take a silver dollar and pound 1t into bullion and 1t is worth 4 cents; take a gold dollar and pound it into bullion and 1t is worth 100 cents all over the world. Nobody is cheated by that kind of dol- lar; nobody is misled by 1t; no distrust is excited, everybody has confidence ip 1t; and when Gov. Mckinley shall have been elected prosperity will at once come again, because that will insure a sound tariff. rec iprocity and a sound currency"