The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1896-09-03
Triangular Debate on Cam
paign Issues at Pitman
Yesterday.
SOUND MONEY TRIUMPHANT
Senator Cooper's Convincing Ar
guments Against Free Silver
Prohibition Talk.
Special to the Jersep Gin Ns,rs.

| CuSsiOA has OccA OpCACu leu hSt A oSe.N
Jersey By a three-cornered debate that
was held here yesterday between a trio of
well known expounders of the doctrines
of sound money, free silver coinage and
prohibition of the liquor traffic. They
were ex-State Senator Thomas v.
Cooper of Delaware county, Pa, for
merly Collector of the Port of Philadel-
phia, who elucidated the principles of the
Republican party and championed sound
money; State Senator Williamt Dc Daily,
Of Hudson county, who held up free silver
as contended for in the Chicago platform
as good Democratic doctrine kand neces-
sary to the prosperity Of the country;
and T. R. Carskaden, the noted Prohi-
bitionist. known as the Lincoln of West
Virginia., who was quite positive that
the suppression of the liquor traffic is
alone necessary to restore the country
to the high road to good times. United
States Senator Stewart. the Nevada
Populist, was to have spoken for free
silver, but he was unable to attend the
meeting.
The meeting was held at Alcyon Park,
near Pitman Grove, and the day was
fine for open-air stump speaking. AS
there had been some hitch in the arrange
ments, the Republican County Commit
tee withdrew from participation, other
wise the audience of about 800 that
listened to the debate would have been
largely augmented.
Carskaden, the Prohibitionist, led off
the speaking. He is an old Southern
Abolitionist. and while a member of
the Republican party he was an elector
for Presidents Grant and Hays. He is
a tall man, with but one sound eye, but
he is an excellent stump speaker and
entirely captured the sympathy of the
audience with his witticisms and illustra-
tive stories, scoring both old parties
equally hard. His position in the debate
was rather an odd one, and he cleyerly
placed both of the other speakers at a
disadvantage by challenging them to dis
cuss the prohibition question. and fatty
daring them to answer his arguments.
Senators Cooper and Daily were more
anxious, however, to discuss the money
question, and the Prohibition debater was
left in the position of having a fee field
for his assertions.
The entire logic of Mr.. Carskaden's de-
bate was summed up in his declaration that
the only issue, the only salvation for
the country, was in the prohibition of the
liquor traffic. He declares that the
quor power controlled politics, and that
as long as the Government was conducted
contrary to moral and Divine obliga-
tions there would be no prosperity for the
country. The liquor traffic is the in
iqusty," he sad, that lies at the CEN
tire of all of our adversely. 1t may yet
be necessary for the people to shoot
themselves out of the condition of affairs
they are bringing themselves into, as they
did once before. The victory may yet
be gained through blood. You may howl
for. free silver or for a gold standard,
for low tariff or high tariff, but they are
obligations of the people, until which are
fulfilled there can be no happiness and
prosperity for the country"
The battle over the money issue was
DAILY. Senator DAILY was a delegate to
the Chicago convention and placed him
self at a disadvantage during the debate
by admitting that he. formerly favored
gold, and his opponent was not slow in
sejzlng upon he point and commenting
upon the s~uddenness OF the change in the
Hudson County Senator's convictions.
The ~latter's newness IN the cause was al
so emphasized, in q measure, by his
heading from printed speeches and docu-
ments, without combining himself to an
Senator DAILY began by quoting from
Lincoln. Grant, Garfield and Blame to
prove that the men who made the Re
silver coinage, which Senator Cooper
promptly refuted when he answered the
statsments Senator Dalg declared that
ties had always favored bimetallism, and
that the Democratic party was following
the lines of tradition and principle. in
coming out openly as free silver cham,
pions. .'It always favored bimetallisn,,"
he said, but the party policy was re-
pudiated by President Cleveland at the
behests of the money power.
."The country prospered," the senator
continued, under the double standard.
But since the characterization Of silver
there has been no stability. Legislation
struck down one-half of the money of the
country, and the conditions of depression
have resulted as a consequence" He
under free silver farm prices and laborers'
wages would advance. He declared that
gold had appreciated and silver had not
Deprecated, and that the Governments
stamp on silver would alone make every
dollar worth 100 cents.
Senator Cooper conducted his end of
the debate very forcibly and emphatically:
He compared the Democratic party of
Jackson, an 'illustrious Sound Money
Democrat" to the declarations of the
new Democracy that was brought into
enunciated.' he said. are in violent con-
trast to it's declarations of years gone by,
and mean nothing less than the disrup-
ton of the Government" To substantjate
geld plank in the Chicago platform,
which, he said, means that the Govern
ment should encourage Anarchists and
refuse to duell rioters The scoring the
speaker gave this particular plank start
ed the rounds of applause which greeted
his address.
Discuss ng the money question, Sena-
tor Cooper briefly reviewed the, act of 1873
and the reasons for its passage. Then, by
way of Illustration, he compared the con-
dition of the countries on a silver basis
with the United States. He told of his OBJ
servations during a recent trip through
Mexico. the country wretcnedly governed
and in a deplorable state of affairs.
Wages in Mexico, he said, varied from 81
to SO cents a day in Silper-that is, one
half the value of American money. There
are no manufactures and no farming
class, and the great mass of people are
ground down in poverty from which there
is no escape. And yet ii is the kind of
a financial system that has placed Mexico
in such a plight that we are invited to
adopt the Senator continued. I'm the
ment does not add value to a coin or es-
tablish an arbitrary parity, and such a
thing can never be done. The United
States maintains its gold and silver in
Interchangeable. which sustains the pur-
chasing power of the silver dollar, and
enables il to pass as par. The value of the
silver in these Japanese and Mexican dol
lars / hold in my and is greater than the
value of silver in an American dollar. and
yet one dollar is double their value be-
cause 1t is sustained by the Government
with gold. We have the only practicable
system OF bimetallism in the world. unless
1T can be obtained through international
agreement. Vigorous applause.)
Bryan and the Chicago platform
would take away whatever good quail
ties our silver currency possesses. Their
proposed system of free coinage would
strike the value of the silver dollar in
one-half 1t would drive gold out of the
country and Immediately produce a con-