The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-09-09

1t is not often given to political party, as
| it is this year given to ours, to stand be-
tween national honor and dishonor; public
| faith and Reputation, and order and dis
| quietude. (Applause.) 1t is the good fortune
of the Republican party to stand in this con-
| test for what is best in government, for what
| Is patriotic In citizenship, for what tends to
the support of financial integrity OF the gov
eminent, its credit and it's currency. 1t is a
vast responsibility put upon any party but
the Republican party is not without trial
amid grave responsibilities. 1t has performed
supreme duty before. 1t has met great
trusts before. 1t has discharged them too,
with wisdom, courage and fidelity, and it will
meet the new ones with an honest and unfal-
tering purpose to serve the best interests of
the people, and all the people. tApplause)
fortunately, in this contest, the Republican
publican cause Conservative men of all
| parties stand with it. 1t numbers among it's
| strongest allies many of the most powerful
democratic newspapers East and West which
are doing yoeman service for patriotism and
national honor. (Applause) They are well
come thrice welcome, and the country owes
them debt Of gratitude for their untlinching
| loyalty as against party, for sound money
ana public morals. Great applause) This
is year, gentlemen, Of political contention
without bitterness. Intelligence and investi-
CATION are taking the place of passion and
partyism Party prejudice cuts little figure
IN crisis like this. We must not indulge
IN dispersion or elimination against those who
may have differed from US in the past but
who are now with US in patriotic effort to
preserve the good faith of the country and
ENFORCE public and private honesty. ZAP
pause We must not drive anybody out of
camp, but welcome everybody in.
From your ranks have gone forth some of
the ablest journalists whose influences and
learning have impressed other states and
| enriched the literature of the whole country
Some OF TIE old editors still remain welding
| the pen OF power. May their lives be length
ened and their splendid example be emulated
by their younger colleagues + congratulate
you upon the high rank Of the newspaper
press of Ohio and wish FOR you still higher
achievements in your chosen work on broader
higher usefulness than now and you never
had greater opportunity for the best use Of
your best faculties than in the support of the
principles and policies which are involved in
the contest now upon us. | congratulate
you upon the great work you are doing and
appreciate more than I can tell you the kind
plause) ~
Whitelaw Reid had been invited to
attend the meeting and deliver an ad-
dress, but was unable to be present
He sent the following letter, which was
read:
REDS LETTER
Inc remembrance of my birthright among
you touches me, and l am grateful to ths
Ohio Republican editors for it; much more
grateful, in fact than for your friendly per-
slstence IN requiring letter when you found
could not come to make speech. My
friend Charles Emory Smith will do the
latter so acceptably that you will need naither
from me- We have had the -four years in
clover which our friends, the enemy prom
lsed US In 1892 The people are quite salts
ned that they have had enough of it. On
the old lines, this campaign was already won
Voters were absolutely resolved to 90 back to
the point where they turned off four years
ago and get into the path again which, from
1883 to 1892 had led them to the greatest and
most widely diffused prosperity this country
ever enjoyed. Asserting the power of the
common people, they put forward as their
candidate the man whose very name meant to
every one Of them the policy of those four
prosperous years, and the work was prac-
tically done
Then burst out the Adullamites. Every
minimizing or interruptions man that was in
distress. and every one that was in debt.
and every one that was Disconnected gath
cred themselves together, not unto David alas
but unto Altgeld. They captured the national
convention OF historic party and degraded
It and Inundated the country by asking the
American people to vote that they would NOT
obey the eighth commandment
Now, when question is submitted to q
popular vote, people must infer that there
are two sides to it. and that they have a
right to vote on whichever side their judg-
ment or their interest inclines. But there
are no two sides to the moral law. No man.
no PARTY, has right to put the eighth COM
manament to popular vote, to decide through
an expression OF popular desire at the polls
whether this nation shall cheat its creditors
by paying its debts at the rate of 50 CENTS
on the dollar, and whether every privafe
debtor shall be at liberty to cheat to the same
extent the man who has trusted him To
propose such vote and such a decision h
itself crime. But having proposed If the
plain people Of the country will sustain the
g grT,r,s commandment th by vote which will
/ nope you Ohio editors will deal with thfs
matter In a Straightforward fashion. and call
space spade Many of our opponents are
as sincere as we are and mean to be as
honest, but the thing they have done Is tho
Wickeoest ana most immoral public act since
secession. To pay the national debt in sill
yer, to pay private debts in silver, to nullifv
and declare invalid any contract however
freely and honestly entered into for paving
gold, and to turn So cents worth Of silver into
a dollar at our minis as often and as long as
any silver mine owners at home or any SILVER
burdened Chinaman, or Hfndoo from Asia
chooses to bring 1t to us-the effect Of ali
this is simple robbery. To ask intellieenf ana
honest men to vote for 1t is to jns,It thaTn
as well as to declare that the American people
have the right to over-rule Mount Sinai ar
the polls, and reverse the moral law ~ ther
want to. = '-S5
Dishonesty never pays. There are dozen
ways OF proving it in this case But frst
make the moral nature of the proposals clear
TO the average voter, and there should he
no more doubt then Of the verdict this honest
and Christian nation will give, than there
1t may be well to go further and show. for
instance, that the real nation not mere
colony or isolated province. cannot get on
with what our New York candidate for gov
salt water We sell now more than hfteen
times as much Of our products to gold coun-
tries as we do TO silver countries Do we
want to take the pay for this wheat. beef
pork, cotton. corn, etc. not as now in gold
or its equivalent. but in silver bullion to
be given free coinage at our minis? This
becomes question not much of paving
silver. but of taking silver. Is the great
American republic to seek to hold toward
all Eurore such a financial relation as
India TOW holds toward England or worse
one? Surely fresh water currency is only
fit for people content with fresh water
commerce.
You can make free silver men See from
the financial history of every nation that
ever tried il. that while making more money
does not initiate prices, it works both ways.