The Irish standard., 1896-09-12
PAYS the POLITICIOA.
ssuchis the Attitude HcKinley Pre-
sents to the People at Present,

Il f5sa,8 SSuIS W tue f>SVUtS 0k EECSSnIS
81 III his letter Of acceptance Mr.. McKin-
| ley. affirms that independent free and un-
restricted coinage by the United States
| would "debase'' the currency. and that
such debasement would fall with alarm
| ing severity upon investments already
made, upon insurance companies and their
policy holders, upon savings banks and
their; depositors, upon building and loan
associations and their members upon the
! savings of thrift, upon pensioners and
their families and UPON WAGE EARN
lERs AND THEIR PURCHASINGAP pow
Err OF THEIR WAGES" He also de-
clares that "bimetallism can not be. Sc
cured by independent action on our part.
It can not be obtained by opening our
| minis to the unlimited coinage of the sill
yer Of the world at ratio Of sixteen
ounces of silver to one Of gold. =
| 1t was not thus that Mr.. Mckinley spoke
in 1892. On the contrary, in a speech adj
dressed to the Ohio Republican League in
that year, and which was entitled a 'Re-
ply to Grover .Cleveland," he talked quite
differently. In the course Of his remarks
he said:
honoring one of our precious metals, one
OF our own great productions, discredit-
ing silver and enhancing the price OF goid
He endeavored, even before mis- Inaugural
tion to office, to stop the coinage Of silver
dollars, and afterward, and to the, end of
his administration, persistently used MS
power to that end.
HE WAS DETERMINED TO con-
TRACT THE CIRCULATING MEDIUM
AND DEMoNETIZE ONE OF THE
FIFTH ~ ~
VOLUME OF MONEY AMONG THE
PEOPLE, Make MONEY SCARCE
AND, THEREFORE,, DEAR; HE
WOULD HAVE INCREASED THE
| VALUE OF MONEY AND DIMIN-
ISHED THE VALUE OF EVERY
THING ELSE-MONEY THE MASTER,
EVERYTHING ELSE IT'S SERVANT.
"He was not thinking of the poor then
He had Left their side. He was not stand
| ing up in their defense. Cheap coats,
cheap labor and dear money-the sponsor
and promoter of those processing to stand
guard over the poor and lowly. was
| there ever more glazing inconsistency or
reckless assumption?
| "@He believes that poverty is blessing
to be promoted and encouraged, and that
A SHRINKAGE IN THE VALUE OF
EVERYTHING BUT MONEY IS A Ma
TIONAL BENEDICTION..
/ He no longer conceals his love Tor
cheap merchandise. even though it entails
the beating down of the price Of labor and
curtails the comforts and opportunities OF
the masses. He has uncovered at last. He
would make the cheapest articles of COM
fort and necessity dearer to the poor, FOR
he would diminish the reward of their
labor. r. 1t is a powerful alliance
a resolute and aggressive combination. II
you have any doubt of it, I beg you will
read the English press and the Demo-
cratic press Of the United States just be-
fore and since the elections, and you will
be convinced that they are fighting In the
same unpatriotic cause, engaged in the
same crusade against our industries.
They rejoice together over the same vic
tories. Theirs is a joint warfare against
American labor and American wages, a
blow at the American commonwealth.
1--WE HAVE NO CONTROVERSY
WITH GREAT BRITAIN OR HER
FISCAL SYSTEM. SHE IS FREE TO
ADOPT THE ONE WHICH HER
sTATEsMEN H BMt1E WET WILL b ANp
THAT OF HER PEOPLE. EACH Ma
TIoN MUST SETTLE ITS OWN Do
.MESTIC POLICY: EACH rs SUPREME
IN THAT SPHERE, AND SHOULD
BROOK NO INTERFERENCE FROM
T Tb 1yTS1RE w T}iNn ExERG1sh
RIGHT OURSELVES AND FOR OUR
| SELVES"
The particular thing which Cleveland
! tried to do during his first term, and for
which, in his speech, Mr.. Mckinley so
vigorously arraigned him. was to secure
the repeal OF the Bland-Allison act, under
which the treasury was buying and COIN
| ing an average of 5000, 900 Of silver each
month. Mr.. Mckinley held that to re-
peal this law would contract the circulat-
ing medium" make money scarce and
therefore dear;" increase the value of
RI iC1, no re
thing else;'' and 'render the. cheapest arti-
Giles of comfort and necessity 'dearer to-
the poor by diminishing the rewards Of
their labor He commended that such a
policy would produce poverty, which
Cleveland regarded as blessing to be
promoted and encouraged; and that it
would make money the master and every
thing else it's servant Moreover, Mr.. Nc
Kinley practically declared that regard
less. of the wishes of Great Britain or any
other foreign country we should exercise
thexfundamental right to coin money for
ourselves.
| What contrast between this and the
letter Of acceptance! In the speech he .af
firms that suspension of silver coinage will
produce poverty, and by diminishing the
rewards of labor make even the cheapest
articles dear to the wage-earner. In the
letter he declares that resumption of silver
coinage will bring heavy loss to savings
bank depositors and life insurance policy
holders and ruinously affect wage-earners
by reducing the purchasing power of their
wages. In the speech he said that closing
the minis to silver would contract the
currency and "make money the master,
everything else its servant" In the letter
he: proclaims that we must make money
the master and everything else subordi-
nate to escape disaster. In the speech he
ANNOUNCED that we must exercise cur I'M
doubted fundamental right to coin money
for ourselves. In the letter he abjectly
declares that we cannot do this without
the consent and cooperation OF Great
Britain and other foreign nations. In 1892
he denounced Clevelands anti-silver pro-
international agreement policy as poverty
braeding. Today he fully accepts the
Cleveland policy, embraces what he for
mefly Stunned, and tells the country that
contraction of the currency, the cheap
ening of Noats and labor, the apprecia-
ton, Of money, the multiplication Of bank
ruptcies and tran1ps, and the destruction
of prices, values and profits. our condition.
/ frightful as IT. is, will at once become
worse! Calamity will be our fate If we
endeavor to help ourselves without the
consent Of England!
The intelligent citizens 5of the United
States can determine for themselves
whether a man who thus stultif1es him-
self Isl patriotic and honest enough to be
worthy of their votes and the exalted
Office to which he aspires Not only
did Mckinley denounce currency contrac-
ton and Cleveland before the Ohio Repub-
lean League in 1892; as a member Of the
house Of Representatives he voted for the
Bland free coinage bill in 1878; for the