The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1896-08-25
THE WEEKLY OHIO DEMOCRAT TUESDAY AUGUST 25 1896


character however pure, personal pop
ularity however great than can pro-
tect from the avenglng wrath Of an in4
dignant paoaie iee man who Will neither
declare that he Is in favor Of foistng
ithe gold standard upon thc people or
who Is willing to surrender the right of
se.f government and p,ace legislative
control In the bands OF foreign poten-
tates and power, (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 dares TO challenge battle why
If they tell US that the gold standard is
good thing, we point to their platform
and tell them that their platform
pledges the party 10 set rid Of a gol1
standard and substitute bi-metallism
(Applause) If the gold standard is a
good thing why try to get rid OF it2
daughter and continued applause.)
And I might call your attention to the
fact that some of the very people who
are In this convention today and who
tell you that we ought TO declare In ia
vor Of internati1nal bl-metallsm. and
thereby declare that the gold STANDARD
Is wrong and that thg principle of bi-
metalllsm is better, these very people
four months ago were open and avowcd
advocates of the gold standard and tell
ms us that we could not legisla. .e two
metals together even with all the world.
Qenewed applause ana choers.)
l want to suggest this truth, that II
the gold standard is good ching we
ough. to declare In favor of It's raten-
tlcn and no. in flv1r of abandoning
1t; and II the gold standard Is a bad
thing. why should we wait until. some
other ratiOns are willing to help US 10
le: go? (Applluse). Here Is the line
of battle We care not upon which is
sue theyaKlay force the fight. We are
prepacedSFb meet them on elthar issue
or on both. II they tel 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 never declared for a gold
standard, ana both the parties this year
are declaring against ii. ApplIuse).
If the gold standard Is the standard
OF civilization, why, my friends, should
we not have 1t? Sc If they come to
meet us on that, we can present the
history of our nation. More than that
we can tell thls-that they viii scare,
the pages of history in vain to find
single instance In whlch%he common
people of any land have ever declared
themselves in favor of the gold standard.
(Applause). They can find where the
holders of fixed investments have Mr..
Carlisle said In 1878 that this was n
struggle between the idle holders of
idle capital and the struggling masses
who produce the wealth and pay the
taxes of the country, and my friends,
1t is simply a question that we shall.
dec.de-upon which side shall the Dem.
ocratic party fight2 Upon the side o.
the Idle holders of Idle capital, or upon
the side Of the struggling masses?
That Is the question that the party
must answer FIRST, and then 1t must be
answered by each individual hereafter
The sympathies of the Democra tic
party az described by the platform,
are on the side of the struggling masses
who have ever been the f1undat on OF
the Democratic party. (Applausel
There are two ideas of government
There are those who believe that If
you just leglslate to make the well-to-
do prosperous, their prosperity VIII
leak through on those below The
Democratic idea has been that If you
leglslate to make the masses prosper
Gus, their prosperity VIII find Its way
up and through every class and rest
upon it. (Applause)
You come to us and tell US that the
great cities are in favor of the gold
standard l tell you that the great
cities rest upon these broad and fertile
pralrles. Burn down your cities and
leave our farms and your cit es win
spring up again as II by magic. But de-
stroy our farms and the grass viii grow
In the streets of every city in this coun-
try (Applausc)
My friends, we shall declare that this
nation Is able to leg slate for it's own
people on every question, without wait
Ing for the aid or consent of any other
nation on earth (applause), and upon
that issue we expect TO carry every
single state In the Union. (Applause)
| shall not slander the fair state OF
Massachusetts,, nor the state of New
York, by saying that when IT'S citizens
are confronted with the proposition, Is
this nation able to attend to its own
will not slander either one
by saying that the people of these states
will declare our helpless impotency az
a nation to attend to our own bus ness
IT is the issue of l776 over again. Our
ancestors, when 100000 had the coar-
agc to declare their political indepand-
euce of every other nation upon earth
Shall we. their desc ndants when we
have grown to 10, $50, 900, declare that we
are less Independent than our forefat tn
crs? NO my friends, It will never be ths
Judgment OF the people. Therefore we
care not upon what lines the battle Is
fought. If they say bl-metallism is good
but we can not have II till some nation
helps us, we reply that Instead Of hav-
Ing q gold standard because England
has, we shall restore bi metallism, and
then let England have bi-metallism be-
cause the United States has. (ADplause)
If they dare to come out, and In the
open defend the gold standard as q
good thing. we shall fight them to the
uttermost, having behind us the pro-
duclng masses of this nation and the
world. Having behind US the CONNER
olGl interests and the laborlng interests
and all the t0!ling masses, we shall-a an
swcr thtlr demands for d gold standard
by saying to them you shall not press
down upon the brow of labor this crown
of thorns. You shall not cruelty man
kind upon q cross of gold. Great ap'
plauSe)