New-York tribune., 1896-03-30
A REPLY TO MR.. BELMONT.
prp1yBI1cANs AND DEMOCRATS ON THE
MONEY QUESTION.

a., uoRR SHOWS HOW EASY 1T WOULD BE TO
CONSTRUCT A FINANCIAL PLATFORM sArIs-
FACTORY TO THE GREAT MAJORITY OF
REPUBLICANS. AND WHAT AN
1MpossIB1ILrY 70 DO THE
SAME FOR DEMOCRATS
70 the Editor Of The Tribune:
Sir Your correspondent. Mr. Horr. gives the
.rider' placed by Congress upon the repeal Of the
scope and intention and largely in words with the
recent Republican platform adopted In Ohio. and
Asks what objection we fault-fnders" with the Nc
Einley platform point out.
The rider is In language substantially the
p. Of &
Shall the S until d n1 or fse 6
How is that answered by the rider" which is as
o"Hnd it is hereby declared to be the policy Of the
United States to continue the use OF both gold and
snd silver into money of equal intrinsic and
changeable value. such equality to be secured
agds of legislation as viii insure the maintenance
Of the parity in value of the coins OF the two metals
is hereby further declared that the efforts Of the
tsbl;shment Of such safe system of bimetallism
viii oa a. or All suea by the
in the markets and in the payment OF debts
sod iseln and Of equal
voiue Who now proposes that. or intends 1t,
ounce Of gold worldwide mint parity Of value?
No possible safeguards" can be enacted by our
snce Of the parity in value Of our gold dollars and
our silver dollars in the markets Of the world -, !
Mckinley platform applicable to the conditions
roid on demand of every silver dollar. silver Ger,
thcate and greeneack SO certain that want wan ds1 OF
in isss the coming OF any more silver or me me
erssen conditions On permitted And yet Mckinley
Senator Allison and the Republicans do not now say
inS ns moTs Silver TIL 6mstac
coinage shall have arrived: PERRY BELMONT.
New-York, March a. 1896.
The above letter comes from leading Demo-
cratic ex-Congressman Of this city. had the
honor to serve in Congress with Mr.. Belmont
and retain only pleasant memories Of our social
intercourse with each other. In my article from
which he quotes had referred to certain Re
nublicans and Republican journals" that were
"hnding fault with the Ohio platform, and had
asked them to point out In what It differs from
the Republican doctrines laid down In our plat
forms during the last fifteen years. / had not
intended to claim in any way that the platform
could be made satisfactory to our Democratic
friends am somewhat familiar with the past
record and present attitude of the Democratic
party upon the money question. know nov
irretrievably they are divided upon that ques-
ton with the chances to-day that a majority of
them favor the free and unlimited coinage OF
silver upon ratio Of 16 to by our Nation alone.
The Democratic party is hopeessly divided
into two sections upon that subject am
also aware that there few Republicans
who also favor the same free coinage OF silver.
but their number Is so small wnen compa'eu
with the hosts of Republicans who are opposed 10
It, and who have been voting against II When
the Democratic party were nearly sohdly voting
in its favor, that they need not be taken INTO
the account Mr.. Belmont will remember several
votes taken In Congress when We were serving
together where the Democrats voted that way
very largely. and when John G. Carlisle was
always found on that side Of the question
Whether I am right or not as to the present
condition of the two parties will in few
weeks. be coneiusiyeiy- proven. when they meet
in their National conventions.
I predict that the Republican convention Will
be nearly solid against the free coinage OF silver
uron the ratio Of 16 TO /. or upon any ratio not
agreed upon by the commercial nations OF the
world. They have been 80 voting Tor twenty
wears. There will be a few men who will not
agree to that proposition who will be members OF
that convention, but so few that their opposition
will rot be felt
Does Mr. Belmont or any one else believe that
such will be the makeup Of the Democratic con-
yention? / predict that 1t will be entirely difrer-
ent Hence l did not expect any Republican
platform to be acceptable to our Democratic
friends Indeed, they cannot draw platform
themselves which will be satisfactory 70 much
more than half their delegates. l suggest 70
Brother Belmont that he expend some OF MS
surplus energy in an attempt to draw such
platform. Understand me- I mean platform
that will command the support OF much over
one-half the delegates to the Democratic con-
vention to meet soon at Chicago
can draw one and not half try that Will meet
the approval Of moro than nine-tenths OF the
Republicans who will convene at st. Louis MOI
because 1 possess any ability In that regard
sest matory of the at St. Louis will
be agreed upon that subject. and know what
they believe. My task would be an easy one; MS
an impossibility.
He tells us that the rider the repeating
act Of the purchasing clause Of the Sherman law
was nearly in the words OF the Demotratlc pat
form OF 1892 Yes; but he neglected TO state that
that platform was drawn after the Republican
platform had been adopted and published and
that the Democrats pul posely COPIED neariS '"e
whole of our platform upon that subject
l nowhere intimated that the rider" was not
In accordance with the Democratic platform OF
1892 The two platforms meant nearly the same
thing upon the question Of the free coinage OF
silver. The important fact was that the rider
voted for and adopted by large Repuphcdii
natority. The Democrats had majority OF
eighty In the House in that Congress. ana yet
Mr.. Belmont will admit that but for Republican
votes the repeal rider and all. wcuio nave
been defeated In that Congress. Look at the
vote In the present House upon the free coinage
Of silver. Count up how many Democrats voted
for 1t and how few voted against it, and then
see the overwhelming vote of the Rcpublcans
against It. and 1t will readily be seen what the
comparative attitude of the two parties is.
Mr. Belmont assures that the conditions
are now different from what they were In ls9"
He neglected to point out Of what that difference
consists. He says that more silver can be
safely coined and more silver certificates can
be safely issued. He and may not diner wideiy
upon that point. What does this dispatch from
Washington mean. published in ALI the papers
Warrington March 26.-The mints are now coin.
ing standard silver dollars at the rate OF l.ooOUU
4 month from the silver bullion purchased under