The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1896-07-31

| "OesSS
i laughter and cheering that man
shudders to-day when he thinks that
he was nominated on the anniversary
of the battle of Waterloo. Not only
that, but as he listens he can hear with
ever-increasing distinctiveness the
sound of the waves as they beat upon
the lonely shores of St. Helena.
Cheers.
why this change? All, my friends,
is not the change evident to any one
who will look at the matter? 1t is no
private character, however pure, no
personal popularity, however great,
that can protect from the avenging
wrath of an indignant people the man
who will either declare that he is in ia
vor of fastening the gold standard upon
the people, or who is willing to sur
render the right of fselfgovernment and
place the Legislative control in the
hands of foreign potentates and pow
ers. Cheers.
"We go forth confident that we shall
win. Why? Because upon the para
mount issue in this campaign there is
not spot of ground upon which the
enemy will dare to challenge battle.
Why, if they tell us that the gold stand
ard is a good thing. we point to their
platform and tell them that their
platform pledges the party to get rid
of gold standard and substitute bi-
metallism. Applause.
"If the gold standard is a good thing
why try get rid of it? Laughter and
continued applause. Ifthe gold stand
ard, and might call your attention to
the fact that some of the very people
who are in this Convention to-day and
who tell you that We ought to declare
in favor of international bimetallism
and thereby declare that gold stand
ard is wrong and that the principle of
bimetallism is better, these very people
four months ago were open and avowed
advocates of the gold standard and tell
ing us that we could not legislate two
metals together even with all the world.
Renewed applause and cheers.
81 want to suggest this truth, that
if the gold standard is good thing we
ought to declare in favor of its reten-
ton and not in favor of abandoning it;
and if the gold standard is bad thing,
why should we wait until some other
nations are willing to help us to let 60?
Applause. Here is the line of bat
tie. We care not upon which issue
they force the fight. We are prepared
to meet them on either issue or on both.
If they tell us that the gold standard
is the standard of civilization, we reply
to them that this, the most enlightened
of all the nations of the earth, has new
er declared for a gold standard, and
both the parties this year are declaring
against it. Applause. If the gold
standard is the standard ofcivilization,
why, my friends, should we not have
it? SO, if they come to meet us on
that, we can present the history of our
nation.
"More than that, we can tell them
this, that they will search the pages of
history in vain to find a single instance
in which the common people of any
land have ever declared themselves i'm
favor of a gold standard. Applause.
They can find where the holders offixed
investments have. Mr.. Carlisle said
in 1878 that this was a struggle be-
tween the idle holders and idle capital
and the struggling masses who produce
the wealth and pay the taxes of the
country; and, my friends, it is simply
a question that we shall decide upon
which side shall the Democratic party |
fight? Upon the side of idle holders
of idle capital or upon the side of the
struggling masses? That is the ques-
tion that the party must answer first,
and then it must be answered by each |
individual hereafter.
"The sympathies of the Democrtic
party, as described by the platform,
are on the side of the struggling
masses, who have even been the foun-
dation of the Democratic party. APP
plause. There are two ideas of Gov
ernment. There are those who be-
lieve if you just legislate to make the
well-to-do prosperous that their pros
perity will leak through on those be-
low. The Democratic idea has been |
that if you legislate to make the masses |
prosperous their prosperity will find
its way up and through every class
and rest npon 1T. Applause.
''You come to us and tell us that the !
great cities are in favor of the gold
standard. | tell you that the great |
cites rest upon these broad and fertile
prairies. Burn down your cities and
leave our farms, and your cities will
spring up again as if by magic. But
destroy our farms and the grass will
grow in the streets of every city in
this county. Applause. My friends,
we shall declare that this nation is able
to legislate for its own people on every
question without waiting for the aid or
consent of any other nation on earth.
T Applause. Upon that issue we ex-
pect to carry every single State in this
Union. Applause.