Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1896-04-03
1.-THE CONTEST NOW ON"
From Vermont watchman.l

These words have a sound of battle, of
"death shots falling thick and fast as light
nines from the mountain cloud" George +.
Holden, ESQ, the head and front OF the
populist party, has received a letter from
Joseph Battel, the silver party Of the State,
with which he is so much pleased that he
asks to have a part thereof published. Air
and sunshine are the foes of microbes and
disease germs, financial and economic, as well
as physical and moral. So we let in the air
and sunlight on the letter Of the silver party
to the populst party OF the State. who, it will
be seen, propose to ally their forces and pro-
lect vociferous campaign among the Green
Mountains
We are confronted with a great contest,
the financial part of which ! believe to be
only another phase OF that which the popu-
lists have been fighting. 1t is. therefore, es-
pecially fitting that the silver men and popu-
lists should be united, and believe that in
the end it will prove to have been fortunate
that the money power made the attack on
silver which they did in 1873. ! have felt all
the time, since my attention was called to this
matter, that in doing this they had stepped
beyond their depth. 1t is a dangerous thing
to attack the money OF the plain people. Sil-
yer is pre-emnently their money! and though
from their want Of knowledge OF financial
matters they may be. and have been. slow to
realize what has happened their wrath will
be all the more intense when at last they do
fully realize it, and there will be no power ON
earth that can stand before its force.
A prominent Republican politician at my
house last summer, from New lork city, said
that he once heard Mr.. Blaine say in COM
pany Of gentlemen, that he knew something
about every question pertaining to American
politics, the tariff, temperance, or any other
excepting the silver question; that he did not
know very much about that only, that it was
destined to affect the politics of the future in
this country more than all the others put to-
gether.
The contest on this question is now on
Organization on a large scale has been begun
and the nation will soon be most earnestly
engaged in the fight All other questions
must and will stand aside until the battle is
over, 1t is the battle Of the people for their
money-the money that alone enables a large
proportion of them TO have homes, to educate
their families, and be Independent; the money
upon which to a large extent our institutions
are founded As the fight goes on, voter after
voter will recognize its nature, until we shall
again see illustrated Iincoln's famous remark
that you cannot fool all the people all the
time.
On this question the interests of nearly all
if not all, farmers, and manufacturers as well
are with the silver cause. The same is true
of merchants and laborers, for both these de-
pend upon the prosperity of producers for
their own prosperity. This includes nearly
III. 1
the interests of nine-tenths of our citizens are
wholly or very largely on this side. And al
though nearly the whole press, at present, %
this State, aand that which circuates in thii
State, is subsidized, or dominated by the
money power, it will be impossible to pre-
vent our intelligent yeomenry from finding
out what their interests really are.