The San Francisco call., 1896-07-08

the sunrise in Maine and spread into
sunburst in Louisiana and Texas. 1t
stretched in unbroken line across the con-
tinent, from Virginia and Georgia to Cali
fornia. 1t swept like a prairie fire over
Iowa aud Kansas and it lighted up the
horizon. When he saw the grand array
and thought of the British gold standard
that had been recently unfurled over the
ruins of Republican promises at ST. Louis,
he thought OF the battle of New Orleans of
which it was said:
There stood John Bull in martial pomp,
But there stood old Kentucky.
s'There was no north, south, east or west
in the uprising of the people for Ameri-
can emancipation from the conspiracy of
European kings led by Great Britain,
which sought to destroy half of the money
of the world and to make American manu-
facturers, merchants, farmers and me-
chanics hewers of wood and drawers of
water. He appealed to all Democrats to
acquiesce in the Will OF the great majority
Of their fellow Democrats and to go with
them, as they had oftertimes gone with
those TO whom he appealed. Mr.. Daniel
continued:
do not forget that in the last Nation
Convention of 1892 you proclaimed your
selves to be in favor of the use of both
gold and silver as the standard money of
the country and for the coinage of both
gold and silver without discrimination
against either metal or charge for mintage,
and that the only question left open was
the ratio between the metals.
'Do not forget that just four years ago
in that same convention, the New York
delegation stood here solid and immoyable
for candidate committed to the free and
unlimited coinage of silver and gold at
the ratio of Is to 1, and that we are kor it
still. 1t Is in some measure from your
teachings. That we owe you much is
readily and gratefully acknowledged,
but are not our debts mutual and not one
sided to each other?
GAS this majority of Democrats is not
sectional, neither is it for any privilege or
for class legislation. The active business
men of this country, its manufacturers,
its merchants, its farmers, its sons of toll
in counting-room, factory, field and mine
know that contraction of the currency
sweeps away with the silent and relent-
less force of gravitation the annual profits
OF their enterprise and investment, and
they know, too, that the gold standard
means contraction and the organization of
disaster. [Applause.]
What hope is there for the country
what hope for Democracy, unless the
views of the majority here be adopted? :?
The Republican party has now renounced
the creed of its platforms and of our stat
utes. 1t has presented to the country the
issue of higher taxes, more bonds and less
money, and has proclaimed for the British
gold standard.
ave can only expect, should they sue
ceed. new spasms of panic and long-pro-
tracted period of depression. Do not ask
US, then, to join them on any of these
propositions If we should go upon the
gold standard it is evident that we must
change the existing bimetallic pay
ment of all public debts, taxes and ap-
preparations, save those specifically pay
able in gold only. And as we have twenty
billions of public and private debt, it
would take more than three times all the
gold in the country to pay one years in
terest in that medium.
owe should be compelled hereafter to
contract the currency by paying the FIVE
hundred millions of greenbacks and Sher-
man notes in sold, which would nearly
exhaust the entire American stock in and
out of the treasury, and the same policy
would require that the three hundred and
forty-four millions of silver certificates
should be paid in gold, as foreshadowed
by the present Director of the Mint in his
recommendation.
This means the increase of the public
debt by $500, ,000 600 of interest-bearing
gold bonds. with the prospect of S344, 900,
600 to follow. The disastrous consequences
of such policy are appalling to contem-
plate, and the only alternative suggested
is the free coinage of silver as well SIS gold
and the complete restoration OF our Amer
lean system OF bimetalllsm.
Bring us, we pray you, no more make
shifts and straddles. Vex the country
with no more prophecies or smooth things
to come from the British Republican gold
propaganda. We may learn that this
great Nation with natural base (as Glad
stone said) of the greatest continuous en-
pire ever established by man, with far
more territory and more productive en-
ergy than Great Britain, France and Ger
many combined, without dependence
upon Europe for anything that it
produces. and with European dependence
upon US for much that we produce, is
fully capable of restoring its constitutional
money system of gold and silver at an
equality with each other, and as our
fathers in 1776 declared our National inde-
pendence, so now has the party founded
by Thomas Jefferson, the author of that
declaration. met here to declare our finan-
cial Independence OF all other nations and