Red Lodge picket. [volume] (Red Lodge, Mont.) 1889-1907, 1896-06-27
ARE FOR ALTGELD AGAIN
DEMOCRACY OF ILLINOIS WILL
HAVE NO ONE ELSE.
First Plank in Platform Declares
for Free Silver and Against
the Gold Standard

| Peoria Ill, June 22.-The democratic
state convention was called to order TO-
| DAY. Temporary Chairman \. NJ. Bell
made a speech declaring against
| straddle CT the money question. He said:
! "Momen tous issues are at stake. Four
years ago we nominated 4 man for -he
presidency from the state of New YORK,
| in spite of protests from the delegates
| of that state. May God forgive US for
! IT. Since then We have been beaten rs
(, with a scourge of scorpions. Our presi-
| dent. forgetting the tariff issue. on Whi N
| we had won, brought confusion into our
/ party by striking down with tratorouS
! hands the only apology that still re-
| manned for coinage of the peoples sill
| Yer. The republican national convention
| !ast week, dominated by the northeas--
/ ern section of the Union, declared for
| the single gold standard. In my minis
| eye | can see the conspirators at Their
| work. There are Platt and Quay, Depew
| and Hobart, and Lodge and Hanna an
| lot of ignorant negroes Who for reads
| cash. would sell themselves and their
| posterity into a worse slavery than their
| race ever knew. The states of the west
| under Henry NJ. Teller, withdrew from
| The convention. What will our convention
| do? Will the east control its action and
| write its platform? Rest assured that it
| will exhaust every effort to do So |
| would have our national convention de-
| clare its purpose fairly and explicitly and
| let those who bolt will. | am tired of
| following New England or New York.
| Let imperial Illinois lead the way. Let
| Illinois be henceforth the empire Sta.e.
| When our national convention declares
| for 16 to bimetallism. what will be the
| result? God only knows. But this sralJ
question must be settled, and settled
| right
At the conclusion Of Bells speech the
great audience gave vent t" deafening
applause. The convention took a recess
until 3 o'clock.
On reassembling Charles X Ladd was
chosen permanent chairman. Permanent
Chairman Ladd said:
We are here today to act. not for the
democracy of Illinois alone but for the
democracy of the who,e civilized world.
(Applause.) The people of this country
Lave borne the burdens of capital, Of
greed, of ayarice until forbearance ceases
to be a virtue, and they now swear il
shall be so no longer. Great applause.l
The republicans have lately met aud
adopted a platform in which they reaf-
firm their tyranny and their devotion
monopoly and the money lender, and It
is time that the people should awake
Continuing, he spoke of the issuing OF
bonds in times Of peace as Being a rob-
berry of the workinSnen of the country
This country was the richest on the
face Of the earth. Yet the jews of l1u
rope sapped it. took the hard-earned
money of the American laborers. 1t was
the duty of the democratic party to stop
this; it must go back to the sentiment
expressed at the meeting Whcre the dec
iaration of Independence was formulated.
When the applause had ceased La5lI
ca He'd for the reports of the committees. /
The committee reported the following /
delegates at large to the Chicago conyen- |
tion: John 2. Altgeld, Samuel McCon-
nell of Chicago ". H. Hnrchson of
Jacksonville and j. w. lFithian Of Jasper |
county
When the call for the report OF the
committee on resolutions came, it WAS !
announced that the committee was not /
ready. To fill in the time Judge Nicho- |
las Worthington of Peoria called I
upon to make d speech. In the course of |
his remarks he said he believed the peo-
pie of Illinois would return to office the t
greatest governor the state ever had.
The convention addressed by Gov T
ernor Atgeld. He said in part:
-Four years ago our people met under |
brighter skies. We swept the country by
such a majority hat fidelity to Democrat |
c principles would have assured SUI I
premacy for another quarter of cen
tury. But before the inaugural festivities |
had ceased the head Of the new admins I
tration sought strange gods and esDoused /
alien principles. The interests of money
We're placed above those Of humanity.
Organized greed was fed with golden I
spoons, while the cry Of the husbanLlman
was unheeded, and he sweat of the toilcr
brought him no bread
The republicans had inherited the prin-
ciples of Hamilton, according to Which |
the government should be q convenience
for the rich. Our president tried to crowd |
them out and to place his feet on this |
ground AS the months rolled by every
principle that is vi al to republican insti- /
tutions was lost, and every precept OF JET I
ferson, every doctrine fundamental to de I
mCcracy, was trampled to the earth. Since |
then defeat has followed dishonor until I
We have lost what had formerly mad, /
But the spiri, Of democracy is immori Al. |
Today the democratic hosts are again |
mastering Oh the plain. The first thing /
necessary for to do is to stand for
something definite: stand for those prinGi- !
pies upon which the hope of humanity de
pends.
THE question of protec i've tariff has I
long been an issue in this country. For I
the first time we took an uneQuvocal po- /
Sltion on it four years ago, and We Won. /
The tariff has been revised and the prob I
abilities are that neither political party 7
viii make any radical change in it. 1t is /
no longer Wor h while to discuss the the |
ories of tariff. 1t protects the proprie-
tors. but not the aborer. The climax has I
been reached in the passage of that leg:s |
lativc monstrosity known as the Mckn- |
ley law This law was based on the the t
ory that. taking the blood from the patient |
beneficial. Then the right thing 10 |
do is to draw it all OUT at once and be |
done Between 1878 and 1880 this country !
and all the nations of Europe by law de |
stroyed one-half of the redemption money |
of the world and reduced by fully one-half |;
the annual add ion to the stock OF money |
of the world
Silver. when used at all was put on |
the basis of paper money. The effect of |
this was to double the work which gold |
had do, and by doubling it's Importance
its purchasing power was doubled: it !,
made 200cent dollars. As the debts, inter |
est. taxes and other fixed charges were |
not reduced, it took nearly everything |
which the farmer and the producing
classes generally could scrape together o |
meet the fixed charges. This dies royed tie
trade of the merchants ana soon forced
the factories to shut down.
LAS the democratic party represents the
great toiing and producing masses. i
must take the lead in undoing this wrong
1t will be fierce struggle for those un
scrupulous men who. by corruption and |
triCkery, fastened this system on the
world will resors to-nay. are already re-
sorting to-desperate means to hold their
advantage. The men who year ago made
$lc.G9GD out of the government in bond
transactions, carried out through a secret
contract with the president and he secre |
tary of the treasury, will do al! in their
power to prevent a change of policy. They
Will try to capture the Chicago conven-
tion, and. failing in that, will move heav-
Ell and ear Ii TO control the new admins
tration in case we succeed.
Last week there was held in St. Louis
a convention which will be known in his
tory as Mark Hannas trust. Railroad at
torneys, corporation agents. lobbyists and
those men who have made millions out of
the government and are looking for an
other harvest by governmental aid We're
no. only in control, but filled every place,
from chairman to page. 1t was the most
brazen effort on the part of organized
greed that was ever witnessed in this |
country. The democratic party will be