Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1896-07-10
THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVEN-
TON.

The democratic national convention
opened at Chicago on Tuesday. Up TO
Yesterday it had accomplished little be-
yond organizing.
The silver forces are in control. The
first contest came on Tuesday, when
Senator Hill of New York, the national
committees nominee for temporary
chairman, was defeated by the candidate
of the silver men, Senator Daniel of
West Virginia, by a vote of 553 to $40.
Wednesday was taken up with debates
on various matters. The gold delegates
from Michigan and Nebraska were un-
seated and silver men put in their places,
thus giving the silver men two-thirds
majority and enabling them to do what
they please both as to nominees and plat
form.
The platform, as prepared by the COM
mittee, declares for the free coinage OF
gold and silver at the ratio of l6 TO /, OPP
poses the Issuance of bonds in time of
peace. denounces as disturbing to busi-
ness the republican proposition 20 re-
store the Mckinley tariff law, favors an
income tax, holds that American labor
should be protected by restricting immi-
grafton, demands additional government
control of railroad and other corpora
tions, denounces the waste of govern
ment money by congress, approves the
action Of,lcongress in refusing to pass
the Pacific railroad funding bill, declares
for liberal treatment of pensioners,
favors the admission of New Mexico and
Arizona as States, expresses sympathy
for Cuba, opposes life tenure in the pub
lie service and declares against third
term and for the Improvement of water
ways. The money plank in full is as
follows:
Recognizing that the money question
is paramount to all others at this time
we invite attention to the fact that the
constitution names silver and gold to
gether as the money metals of the United
States and that the first coinage Law
passed by congress under the constitu
ton made the silver dollar the money
unit and admitted gold to free coinage a
ratio based upon the silver dollar unit
We declare that the act of 1873 demon
etiAng silver without the knowledge OF
approval of the American people has re
suited in the appreciation of gold and {
corresponding fall In the prices of com
modities produced by the people, {
heavy increase in the burden of taxation
and of all debts, public and private, thu
enrichment of the money-lending clas
at home and abroad, the prOstratiOn o
industry and impoverishment OF th'
people.
We are unalterably opposed to mono
metallism, which has locked fast tn
prosperity of an industrial people in tn
paralysis of hard times. Gold mono
metallsm is a British policy and it
adoption has brought other nations int
financial servitude to London. 1t is no
only un-American but anti-American
and it can be fastened on the Unite
States only by sitting that spritit of Low
of liberty which proclaimed our pOlitica
Independence in l776 and won it in tn
war of the revolution. We demand the fre
and unlimited coinage of both gold an
silver at the present legal ratio of 16
/, without waiting for the aid or consen
of any other nation. We demand tina
the standard silver dollar should be
full legal tender, equally with gold, fo
all debts, public and private, and W
favor such legislation as will prevent fo
the future the demonetiZatiOn of an
kind of legal tender money by privat
contract.
We are opposed to the policy an
practice of surrenderiug to the holder