The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1896-09-17

punish rather than reward our veteran
soldiers, and Is unworthy of the conn.
%tenance, by thought or vote, OF any ma
triotic citizen Of whatever political faith.
NO party, until that which met in con-
~vention at Chicago. has ever ventured to
Insult the hOnored survivors Of orr struupIa
for the national life by proposing TO scale
their pensions horizontally, ana to paw
tk>m hereafter in deprecated dollars worth
only % cents each.
Enormous transactions
Tn amounts due, in addition TO the in
terests already named, 10 deDositors and
trust companies in national, state and prl-
yate banks, to holders of fire and accident
Insurance policies, TO holders OF Industrial
insurance, where the money deposited or
the premiums have been paid In gold or its
equivalent, are so enormous together with
the suns due. and TO become due, for
state, municipal. county, or other corporate
debts, that if paid In deprecated silver or
its equivalent, it would not only entail upon
our fellow countrymen n loss in money
which has not been equaled in a similar
experience since the world began, but IL
would, at the same time, bring a disgrace
to our country such as has never befallen
any other nation which had the ability TO
pay its honest debts. In our condition.
and considering our magnificent capacity
for raising revenue. such wholesale repudi-
otA'h - iihph 'N'SslNs VI EXCUSE. NO
political expectancy or party exigency, how
ever pressing, could justify so INDUSTRIOUS an
act.
All these deposits and debts must, under
the platform Of the Republican party, be
met and adjusted in the best currency the
world knows, and measured by the same
standard in which the debts have been
contracted or the deposits or payments
have been made.
Still dealing sparingly with flgpfes, OF
which there Is an enormous mass to sus-
tain the position of the advocates Of the
gold standard of value, / cite one more
fact, which Is officially established. pre-
missed by the truism that there Is no bet
ter test Of the growth OF a country's pros
perity than its increase in the per capita
holdings OF its population. In the decade
between 1850 and 1SHO, during which we
had our existing gold standard, and were
under the conditions that supervened from
the act of 1873, the per capita ownings OF
this country increased from $50 to 81, O3G.
In those ten years the aggregate increase
Of the wealth of our country was S21. 395,-
No,uO being 30 per cent in excess Of the
Increase for any previous ten years since
1870, and at the amazing rate of over two
thousand millions of dollars a year. The
trainers Of the Chicago platform. in the
face Of this fact. and Of the enormous In
crease over Great Britain, during this same
gold standard decade, of our cOuntry's for
'Sh bIdht anu It's pTOducllOn OF iron, coal
and other great symbols of national
strength and progress. assert that our
monetary standard is mot only manner
lean but anti-American," ana that il has
brought Us into financial servitude to
London" 1t is impossible to imagine an
assertion more reckless ana indefensible.
The proposition for
Free and Unlimited silver Coinage,
carried 10 its logical conclusion, and but one
Is possible, means. as before minated, leg
iSlative warrant fer the formulation of all
existing Indebtedness, public and private,
to the extent Of nearly 80 per cent Of the
face or all such Indebtedness. 1t demands
an unlimited volume of fiat currency. ire
deemable, and therefore without any stand
ara value In the markets Of the world.
Every consideration of public interest and
public honor demands that this proposition
should be rejected by the American people.
This country cannot afford to give it's
sanction TO wholesale spOiiatlon. 1t must
hold fast to It's integrity. 1t must sill en-
courage thrift in all proper ways. 1t must
not only educate is children to honor and
respect the flag, but it should inculcUcate
hdclity to the Obligations of personal and
national honor as we'll. Doth these great
principles should hereafter be taught in the
common schools OF the land, and the lesson
impressed upon those who are the voters
0 to-day and those who are TO bogomc the
inhcritorS Of SOVEREIGN power IL This T6pub-
Liz that it is r6'T.tr wise, patr.o,ic, nor
safe to make p]oii,.cal plu.rg-us the me
diumS Of assault pron pr0pvrl.E, the peace
OF society ami upon civilization Itself.
Until these lessons have been learned by
our children, Gud ny those who have reached
the voting age. !, can only be #armised
what enlightened statesmen and ~politicaI
economists Will record, Is to the action Of
a party convention which offers an induce
ment 10 national dishonesty by a premium
of II cents for every - cents worth of
silver that can be extracted from the bowels
of the whole earth, with n cordial invita-
ton TO all to produce 1t at our minis and
accept for it a full silver legal tender dol
lar OF 100 cents rated value, to be coined
free of char &c and unlimited in quantity for
private account.
But vastly more than a mere assertion
OF a purpose TO reconstruct the national
currency Is suggested by the Chicago plat
form. 1t assumes, In fact, the form of a
revolutionary propaganda. 1t embodics a
menace Of national disintegration and de-
struction. This spirit manifested itself In
n deliberate proposition TO repudiate the
plighted public faith, to impair the sane
tity of the obligation Of private contracts,
to cripple the credit Of the nation by strip
ping the government of the power 10 Dor
row money as the urgent eXigencies of the
treasury may require, and. in a word, to
overthrow all the foundations of financial
and industr rial stability.
Nor Is this all. Not content with a propo-
sition 10 thus debauch the currency and
to unsettle all conditions OF trade and com
merce, the party responsible for this plat
form denies the competency OF the govern
ment to protect the lives and property OF
its citizens against internal disorder and
violence.
1t assails the judicial munimcnts reared
by the constitution for the defense of indi-
vidual rights and public welfare. and II
even threatens to destroy the integrity and
Independence Of the supreme court, which
has been considc~cd the last refuge of the
citizen against every form Of outrage and
injustice.
In the face Of the serious peril which