The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1896-02-01
DADY or THE IS .SZLyEK
CRANK.SO S..

CRANK.S"
Al
We suppose there b now no papef In the
United States more malignaat, visapssasive
and Insulting ia dealing With the cause Of
and with is advocates than the
Looisville fourier Journal. It has even
gone % FAR as to give all the weight of its
support to the election Of Republican gov
ernor and . Republican United States sena-
tor rather than endure the election Of .
Democrat Who. for twenty years. has fought
side by side with the Courier Journal and its
brilliant editor for free trade and the free
coinage Of silver. Yet most Of the Kentucky
Democrats whom it now loves to lampooa
were Instructed in their faith by the coarier-
Journal. Most Of the Arguments and propo.
sitions il now assails with scurrilous ephithet
and ribald buffoonery are the arguments ad-
vanced, elaborated and reiterated by the
Courier Journal year after year. Mr.. Wat
terson was won't to claim for himself the dis
tinction of having seen 6rsi with the clearsst
vision the terrible effects Of silver demone-
tization and the evil power thereby given to
the Money Devil. He claimed to have
taken mp this question, not in the heat and
passion Of partisan controversy, but ut q
time when the prea..of the country was ne
lent and when others failed to appreciate it,
importance. In calmness aud soberness and
deep meditation he reached his conclusions,
and having reached them he became, ~ he
himself claimed, the pioneer silver agitator
Of the whole country. If Mr.. Watterson has
told the truth about himself; If he Is indeed
the daddy Of all the 'tgibbering idiots'' and
s'6at fools'' aud sesilver lunatics'' and e.jab-
berwocks'' aud other things too fearful
to mention; il Henry Watterson has
spawned all the ssrot'' and e.rubbish'' and
ssdrivel'' he now curses with 30 fantastic .
vocabulary; he was the original calamity
bowler, the first Populite and the primeval
silver crank, what an awful sin weighs upon
his wretched soul! Yet here Is the fearful
confession taken from the columns Of the
Courier-Journal Of August 10. 1886:
sfThe Courier Journal has been devoting =
large amount of space, week after week, to
the discussion of the silver situation In its
relations to the interest of the United States.
have taken but little notice Of the matter;
many do not refer to it ut all, and no other
daily newspaper except the Courier Journal,
in any part Of the Union, is treating it with
any degree OF that earnestness and persist
!
nized by leading minds as . question of in
finite moment, and of immediate and intense
practical significance to the welfare of all
classes Of citizens. Such is the magnitude
of the question, and such its practical be n.
ing upon the interests of all men, and We
find the whole American press ignoring it.
stThe Courier-Journal lays down the fol-
lowing propositions:
ssI. That the decentralization Of silver,
which has prevailed for some years up te
this writing, both in the United States and
Europe, has had the effect of advancing the
value of gold about 40 per cent.
ss2. That this has been accomplished By
depressing the value of all other property te
that extent.
50. That about 20 per cent, of the prop
erty and producing resources of the people
have thus been transferred to a compare
lively small class of men whose stock il
trade is gold investments.
80. That in the exact proportion as cole
has risen, the burden of debt and taxation
has increased; and that in proportion a
property and labor have declined, the capa
city of the people to pay their debts ans
taxes has diminished.
ssS. That the silver discount is creating
bonus of more than 80 per cent, in favor o
the farm productions of India and Asia
| which to that extent eheapens the wheat
cotton and various other productions of tn
United States.
ss6. That these lamentable conditions hav
been produced by anti-silver legislation.
ss7. That they can be undone and pros
perity be restored by pro-silver legislation.
'sNow, here are seven propositions, eithe
of which, If true, certainly proves the silve
situation is a matter of intense and universe
importance. If SO, why is not the matte
forced upon public attention day after do.
by all the newspapers in the land which ar
not owned body and breeches by the none.
kings of the gold conspiracy If they 70
either of them) are not true. Why do the,
not prove it, and put the whole question \
rest once for all. If any newspaper in New
| York or Boston, or Chicago, or Philadelphia
or St. Louis, or Cincinnati, ur New Orlean
| can successfully controvert either of thes
propositions it will render the public VALUABLE
| service by doing 50 at once. If they can no
controvert either of these propositions the
are obviously connivine at \ gigantic frau
and wrong, which can not possibly co-exis
with any degree of prosperity. IF any q
all of the propositions are true, the homes
journalist. with the capacity to understan
the principles involved, can not consistent
abstain from giving the greatest publicit
possible.