The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1897-07-15


claim to the party confidence except
such as may be allowed two defeats IN
hand With the deiuge yet 20 GOMEZ
FalIaey OF free silver.
Asa political issue the free and In
dependent coinage OF silver At the ratio
OF 10 to !, or any other ratio, Is as dead
as the Institution OF African slavery.
After the wretched experience the DEM
ocratlc party has mad OF It there would
be no thought OF keeping It longer be-
fore the people, even 10 vindicate those
WHO are responsible for the evil It has
done us, except that back Of It still
stana the silver kings OF the Rotten
Boroughs and the stockholders Of the
senate d the United States. These
represent millions OF present and spec
ulatlye wealth, supplying the needed
slneWs Of war, and whilst the agitation
lasts-no matter what comes or II or
who suffers-lt can be made 20 serve the
ends sometimes pecuninry Of those VINO
have Il In their special keeping. and
who never mean to let It go until forced
10 do so by public opinion. In Gods
name, ! ask, shall the great historic
Democratic party. with all its glorious
achievements and noble possibilities, be
scuttled and sunk by such men and In
actual siuht Of an open sea and a safe
harbor? II Is with tho rank and file Of
the party 10 say. To the rank and ale,
therefore, we turn with eager, but with
confident, hope. We ask them, In So
her truth, as friends and brothers, to
look about them, 10 stop and think, and.
seeing whittier We are being hurried by
passion and error, to help US reverse
the engines before It is too late.
The Way II Works.
There Is not one of these free silver
philosophers who, II he be entirely sin
cere. can give any better reason for the
faith that Is in him than that by maxi
ing money worthless, and abolishing
credits, his boasted theory VIII wipe
out all Indebtedness, public and pri-
Vate. / admit the force OF the argu-
ment. 1t appeals to every man who Is
needless OF his country's honor and his
own. 1t appeals to every bankrupt In
the land. II we were a nation OF bank
rupts, II might be worth our while to
consider Ii; though even as q speeihc
FOR debt--eyen as a promised relief to
the Insoivent--I would reject II as In the
last degree misleading.
The statesmen who propose 1t play
finance as children play blind mans
bun; In thelr horrid travesty. the poor
debtor being the blind man. They as
sumo everything for their plan OF dellv-
erance. They take everything for
granted In the public credullty. Yet II
Il a demonstrable proposition that. be-
fore they could get their machinery 60
ing-before they could set up their Sill
yer-before they could issue dollars
plentIful enough and cheap enough to
come within easy reach OF the mort
raged-rldden farmer and the insolveht
merchant-there would be no farm LETT
10 release, no stock OF goods TO be sold
off at advance prices. The big credits
would swallow up the little credits. The
return OF money borrowed OF other
lands on American securities would be
at once demanded. The banks OF In
ternatonal exchange would come back
on the local banks. The local banks
would be forced to call IN their loans
and close their accounts. and, most
likely along with them. their doors:
Long DelOEe lHe plShi9SN
free silver reached him, the farmer
would be wiped out--the merchant
would be wiped out-leaving only the
adyenturer, with nothing 20 lose, to tell
the tale Even he would in most cases
end. where he began, with nothing, or
with worse than nothing-like those
who, during the war found themselves
loaded down with that money OF which
II was commonly said that the more
Won had OF 1t, the worse on you were. In
short, the remedy proposed by these VS.
Ionary financiers and optimistic phil
osophers-these'c hasers OF political and
other ralnbows-Is OF piece with the
prescription OF the quack doctor, good
10 cure In thirty days" and conse-
quently valueless to the patient DOOM
ed to death. except he set relief In
twenty.