The evening times., 1896-09-18
s|CKLEs TO HIS COMRADES
He Asks Them to Uphold the
COuntry'S Credit.
NO TINE FOR PARTY FEELING
Pensioners Deeply Concerned In the
Pending Money Question--"An the
Creditors OF the Government Must
stand or Fall TOgether''-Obliga-
tions of Contracts Assailed.

New York, Sept. lS.-Major General Dan
ieI Z. Sickles, president OF the Union Vet
erans' Patriotic League, has written
letter TO his comrades, in which the follow
ing passages occur:
My Dear Comrades: l ask you TO CON
sider and reflect upon the sacred interests
involved in the present situation of our
public affairs. / know you love your coun-
try. You have given it the best proof Of
devotion man can give-you have defended
il in battle.
Let me urge you and every Union vet
eran to lay aside patty feeling now and
unite for national honor and for law anu
order. as you did i'll '61 90 against
treason and. rebellion. The present crisis
seems 20 Inc as vital 10 the welfare of the
country as that which called us to the
field before.
some of the principles for which we
then coptended are again at stake Sec
1p"naliSm, reputation and mob rule are
threatened. Many OF us were obliged to
choose between our country and our party
IN those days. l feel that this rs time
when all true patriots should stand to-
cerher, preferrng their country, its honor,
all mere partisan considerations.
WORST KIND OF SECTIONALISM
Mr.. Bryan and many OF his supporters
are trying to combine the South and West
against the North and East. This is sec
tionalism-ot which the rebellion was the
offspring Win you follow these guides
into da ngerous paths, or will you not rather
follow Washington in frow ming upon the
first da wning of every attempt To alienate
one portion of our country from the rest VI
to cnreeble the ties which Row link together
the various parts?'
''SeCtiona lism has grown hateful to most
OF our old adversaries in the South, who
have outgrown the asperities OF the war
and are now as loyal to their united coun-
Try as any OF US. Union veterans, who
fought for the Union. one Constitution and
one destiny, can never favor any candidate
or party seeking to array one section Of our
Common country against another
Mr.. Bryan proposes to pay all the credit
ors nt our country in silver. This Is rcpu-
dia:iun. 1t would degrade and disgrace us
as nation in the eyes uf the whole world.
Among the creditors OF the nation are he
pensioners. IL you conSentto pa Y indebascd
silver the bondholder who lent his money
To the government, To arm and feed AMI
clothe its troops. you consent at the same
time to a reduction OF one-half Of the pen
sous awarded to the war veterans and to
the widows and orphans OF those who are
not living.
STAND OR FALL TOGETHER
'All the creditors o. the government must
stand or fall together MaIyof yoI are pen
sioncrs, or the friends of widows and or
pl;tns who are pensioners. Many of yor
have deposited yoIr savings in savings
banks Most OF you are toilers at the
pillow. or in the workshop, or dependent on
small salaries. In public or private employ
meut. To all so situated the payment Of
wages and pensions and your savings, in
silver, not redceInablc III gold, as proposed
by Mr.. Bryan and his hybrid allies, would
involve severe losses and hardship. The
cost o. all the necesSares of life would he
doubled, while the value OF the money in
which wages and pensions would be paid
would be reduced nearly one-haf.
.'On the other hand the farmers would
not be benefited, because they must Sell
their products for money worth only a
little more than half its present value,
based on a gold STANDARD. Every producer
and every workman would thus suffer. All
business would be deranged. Employ mcnt
would be difficult to find. Wages would
advance very slowly, if at all
MIR, Bryan aSsailS the obligations of pub
lie and private contracts. He would not
pay the public creditors in the money they
have the legal and moral right to demand
and receive. This would destroy the public
credit Mr.. Bryan says the government has
no use for credit-whicb is foolish Wash
lngton, in his Farewell Address to his
cOuntrymen. admonished us 10 cherish pub
&c credit as a very important source of
strength and security Mr.. Bryan would
despoil the citizen OF his right to recover
what is due to him from his neIghbor ac-
cording TO the tenor OF an obligation made
WOULD DESTROY CONFIDENCE.
This would destroy confidence between
nIau and man. Public credit and national
honor are inseparahle. When our people
cease to feel a patriotic pride in the honor
of their country they will surely lose "a
Just sense of personal bonor and when
both of these sentiments are lost the ma
ton is lost.
The Constitution of the United States
declares that the validity of the public
debt of the United States, authorized by
Of pensions and bounties for services in
suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall
not be Questioned This pledge to all the
world is consecrated by the sacrifices and
suffering of the secession war We must
make it good"
Mr.. Bryan proposes that silver shall
be the money Of this country. There is
no nation in which silver is the standard.
of value where the wa ges paid for labor are
more than a fraction of the wages paid
10 the American workman. Nobody un-
derstands the evils of a deprecated cur
rency better than the veteran soldier and
saIior, because they were paid during the
war in paper money not then redeemable
in gold. This was the best our government
could do for us during the war and we
made no complaint. Often this paper was
worth less than so cents on the dollar.
while the cost of everything you bought
was double, but your pay was not in
creased"
- -
Reduced prices on
BUTTER, EGGS AND CHEESE
At all of
GIBBONS BUTTER BRANCHES