The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-09-04
THE INHARMoNIoUs CITY DEMoC-

The two wings of the Democratic party
in this city are making a desperate effort
to flop together on the municipal election
or, perhaps. it would be more accurate to
say the gold wing is making a desperate
effort to flop with the silver wing. while
the latter insists on doing all the Topping
itself. The publication of the manifesto of
the sound-money Democrats repudiating
the Taggart platform, condemning the re-
cent Taggart interview and indorsing Tag
CART. is accompanied by the Sentinel with
an editorial denouncing 1.-The gold-bug boil
ters." and their manifesto as a studied in
suit to Mayor Taggart." From the Jour-
nails point of view the manifesto is more
discreditable to those who issued it than
it is to Taggart. The latter is already
thoroughly discredited, so far as the silver
question is concerned, by his own acts and
those of the party managers. Mr.. Taggart
has shown that if he has any convictions
on the money question he either does not
know what they are or is willing to be
understood as being on both sides of the
question, while the party managers have
picked him up bodily and set him down on
a free-silver platform. For it must be re-
which Mr.. Taggart was nominated was
chiefly devoted to glittering generallties
concerning city affairs it opened with the
following declarations:
While recognizing that the issues of the
municipal campaign are local and not ma
ticnal, we take this opportunity, the first
which has offered itself since the presiden-
tial election of 1896, to reaffirm and en-
phasize the declaration of the last national
Democratic convention in favor of the free
and unlimited coinage of silver at the his
toric ratio of 10 to / without waiting the
aid or consent of any other nation on
earth, upon which that great Statesman,
William ]. Bryan, made his memorable
campaign for the presidency.
There was no necessity of making this
fiatfooted declaration in favor of free silver
at 16 to 1 or of introducing the subject in
city politics at all. The convention went
out of it's way to dc it, and after making
the platform as offensive as possible to
sound-money Democrats it proceeded to
place Mr.. Taggart on it, The fact that
some gold Democrats assisted in the trans
action does not make it any the less Of
fersive to the self-respecting ones among
them. The inconsistency of their position
is made very apparent by the statement
in which, after declaring that I'VE emphati-
cally repudiate and denounce the free-silver
declaration in the platform adopted by the
silver Democracy as also that 1--WE con-
denim the interview of Mayor Taggart in
which he proclaimed his devotion to the
free-silver fallacy," they wound up by de-
claring in favor of the election of Tag
CART This is most lame and impotent
conclusion to such laundering in the index.
1t is as if the gold Democrats had de-
clared Whereas, Mr.. Taggart is all things
to all men on the money question, and has
TO convictions that an honest man is bound
to respect; and, whereas, he stands on a
platform which we detest and repudiate
mayor" They justify this position on the
ground that national questions should
have no place in a city election" Perhaps
not, but when they are thrust in or dragged
in, as they have been in this case, their
presence should be recognized. The Jour-
nal has faith enough in the honesty of the
gold Democrats to believe that they would
not vote for a candidate for Congress or
President on such platform as that which
Mr.. Taggart stands on, yet they must
know perfectly well that if he is elected it
will be heralded as a free-silver victory
and will tend to bolster up that dying cause
throughout the State. But after all their
establishment in pledging support to a
candidate whose principles and platform
they repudiate, the party organ declares
the whole performance lone of studied in
suit to Mr. Taggart." AS if anything the
gold Democrats might do could be an in
suit to such a candidate on such a plat
Co.