Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1897-06-19
INCONSISTENT PoPocRATs.

1t is said the leopard never changes
its spots, neither does it ever tire. If
the proving marauder'' could COM
prehend the inconsistencies Of the
modern Popocrat, he would surely ac-
quire nervous prostration or die of
ennui.
The free. trade tariff or-revenue-o on
~ Democrat was bad enough, but
he was jolly good fellow compared
with the conglomeration which is now
known as the Popocrat. All of the
incongruities OF the erstwhile Demo
crat and crankiness OF the Popu-
list are combined and the product is
as much OF curiosity in politics as
the What Is i" among showmen.
The shibboleth OF the aggregation
was free coinage Of silver at the inn
practicable ratio of I6 to /, and now
is added opposition to trusts and
monopolies
The party is now engaged in dis
cussing 'differentials' and "compen-
satory duties" and il called upon to
explain either, not one in a thousand
could do SO.
That which is so puzzling in their
makeup is that they denounce every
thing-all combinations of every
character-save and except the silver
mine owners. Why they do SO is
easily explained. There are some
recalcitrant Republicans out in the
Rocky Mountains which they are
striving to inveigle into their party,
when, in fact, the SilYerites have cap
tured the Popocrats, horse, foot and
Dragons. 1t is fact that if the sill
ver-mine owners of the West could
succeed in securing the free coinage
of silver, they would realize greater
profits than all Of the trusts and mo-
nopolies OF the world combined. The
coinage value of the silver mined in
this country last year-a year IN
which the industry was depressed
was $50, o69, $50, It's bullion or mar
ket value was less than one-half. say
$37, 600, 600. Had Bryan been elected
and free coinage of silver enacted, the
owners Of those mines, would have
realized, over and above their present
enormous profits the vast sum of at
least thirty seven million dollars
Their organization is most perfect and
they have worked upon the credulity
ofthe people until the masses through
out the West and South have become
imbued with the idea that cheap mon
ey is panacea for hard times and
that free silver means abundant cash
while the recipients (themselves) lux
uriate in idleness. Never was there a
more fallacious idea A debased cur
rency always carries with it woes
such as the present generation has
not known. All of the experience, OF
all ages teaches this fact, while on the
other hand stable currency is the
sure and safe road to prosperity.
Mr.. Charles Broadway Rouss clear
ly depicts the horrors that would have
ensued had Organism succeeded. He
says:
The banks throughout the country
would have suspended specie pay
ments instantaneously, the United
States treasury would have been de-
pleted of all its gold between sun and
sun, and the ability to preserve the
parity of metals destroyed. Thus
would have followed individual, in
stitutional and national bankruptcy.
would have been destroyed
everywhere. Our securities would
have come back from every direction,
to be dishonored, and obligations of
every description would have demand
ed immediate settlement, These
things would have produced universal
business paralysis. including stop
page OF factories, followed by indus
trial discomfort because there was no
work; then the logical climax OF a
bloody revolution, because there was
hunger in the land which could not
be satisfied by the employment and
earnings of labor; finally would come
the swift and terrible reckoning for
those reckless men who had brought
on the terrific troubles.
State School Fund.