The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1897-06-03
HON. w. ID. BYNUM.
His Reply to a Sentinel Editorial Of
May 10Th.

Editors Sentinel.
Permit me to occupy little space
in the columns of your paper in reply
to an editorial in your issue of May
10Th. You say,
During the campaign we were told
that if the free silver heresy was de-
feated and the gold standard was
maintained, confidence would imme-
diately be restored and the country
generally would ride upon a high tide
OF prosperity. To this end, the gold
bug Democrats united their forces
practically, with the Republicans,
and succeeded in deferring free COIN
age measures and in perpetuating
the single gold standard for four
years more. 1t is needless TO say
that the promised prosperity of our
gold Democratic, etc."
| have no means of knowing what,
il any, promises were made to your
people by Democratic sound money
. speakers but l wish to say for myself.
that [ made no such predictions, but
on the contrary distinctly stated
that while | believed free coinage
would immediately precipitate a
panic, that | did not anticipate a
| restoration of prosperity until the
government went out of the banking
business and a sound and flexible
| system OF currency was esta blished.
If any sound money Democrat made
| such statements as you charge, he
did so in the face of the fact that our
| platform contained the following
| declaI ations,
The Democratic party has sur
vived many defeats, but could not
| survive a victory won in behalf of
the doctrine and the policy pro-
claimed in its name at Chicago.
The conditions. however, which
make possible such utterances from
a national convention are a result OF
class legislation by the Republican
party. 1t still proclaims, as it has
for years, the power and duty of the
| government to raise and maintain
prices by law; and it proposes no
remedy for existing evils except
| oppressive and unjust taxation"
| Aud further, But we denounce
also the further maintenance of the
present costly patchwork system o.
national paper currency as a con-
| slant source of injury and peril We
assert the necessity of such intelli-
gent currency reform as will confine
the government to it's lie itimate
functions, completely separated from
the banking business, and afford tC
all sections of our countrya uniform
safe, and elastic bank currency under
governmental supervision, measured
in volume by the needs of business.
The position of the sound money
Democrats was that while there wa,
something radically wrong, FREE
silver was not the remedy. In th'
face of the declaration in our plat
form that the Republican party
proposed no remedy for existing
evils except oppressive and unjus
taxation" it would have been {
gross assumption for any of on
speakers to have asserted that HpoI
the triumph of that party, would b.
ushered in an era of great prosperity
we declared une quivically in favor O
a reformation of our system of cur
rency as the only remedy for existin.
evils, and, | do not think, you vii
find any difficulty in reconciling tn
prediction arguments" of myself an,
others with the position we nov
occupy if you will only correctl.
quote from the records. Truly,
W. D. 8YNUM
Indianapolis. May 25th, 1897.