New-York tribune., 1897-08-11
4 rIRGINIA KEYNOTE.

Many and curious and sudden are the TURN
incs and twjstings TO which the Popocra'lc poll
ticion Is compelled to resort these days. wheh
cold. concrete facts are daily giving the lie 10
his Free-Trade and free-sllver theories ana
nronbecles in such fashion that even the duliest
ond most unobservant cannot fail TO see anu
connrehend Them The situation is one which,
indeed, requires the Popocrat to exercise All HIS
agility. versatility. ingenuity and inaghauoh'
and he often lands where one would least eA-
nee, TO find him. Such a case Is that OF feter
! Otey. a Representative in Congress and mem
her of tho Popccra,ic National Committee from
Virginia. in which State a general election Is
70 be held this year Otey has recently sound
ed the keynote of the campaign as we are i'll
formed. and n curious one 1t is Otey Is an ex-
IRENE and ardent Free Trader and an equally
ardent and extreme advocate OF the free ana
unlimited coinage of silver at the ratio of l6
to ]. without asking the aid or consent OF any
other nation on earth" Ir Congress he loud
Iy acclams against and vehemently denounces
sthe iniouitous system Of Protection" and the
'crimc of 1S73,' which, he declares nave I'M
"povershed the farmer: reduced labor. both
skilled and unskilled to a condition or servi-
"tude; brought numberless woes and untold bur-
"classes and made the rich richer and the poor
poorer" and on.
Tint sort OF talk did very well for Virginia
Popocratic consumption last year, but change
is taking place and Otey's keynote shows tha'
he is shrewd enough to perceive 1t. Hear him'
Tobacco Is virginias greatest crop. Twenty
years ago she was in the eighth place, ,,nh VIII
now she has risen to second place. kentucks
alone exceeding her. In the oyster INDUSTRY we we
are second in Importance no less than S-'ooV,VV,,
being invested. Our coal output mas Incr9ase ,,ho.
enormously while In the production or whea,.
corn and rye we are actually anead OF solne % os
the more favored States OF the West han on
our cultivated land Is In corn ana Quart, W
Il Is in wheat. The total product OF our our ~ ~Haliu
factories now reaches nearly SlOo,VoVO year.
The "keynote' contains other statements in
regard 10 Tirginins greatness and progress, all
OF which, of course. is attributed 20 the Demo
Populist party which has been doing lis Ut
most 10 break down American industries ana
Mexicanze the money standard Of the Initeu
States: but. of course Otey was not quite SAT-
is,ied until he had filed something in the nature
of a cayeat He remembered how he had argued
and proved last year. to the apparent satlsIac-
tion of his Popocratic audiences, that the price
Of silver and the prices of wheat. corn. tobacco
and other agricultural products were linked TO-
petber with indissoublc bonds that the prices
of the latter were concident with and dependent
on the price of the former and he also remenl-
bered that whereas the price Of silver had de-
filmed about 20 per cent in the last tweVe
months the price Of wheat had advanced more
than 40 per cent This thing will never do,
thought Otey; "lf dwell too much on Virginias
"prosperity and greatness and say not word
"abou. silver the voters will begin to doubt
.'my word or my good sense And so he gath
cred himself 70. a high jump. and here is where
he landed:
The main point il that everything has in
creased in Virginia except values. Production OF
agricultural and manufactured products. ana
their consumption population, revenue-ali THESE
have increased marveilously in the last uecaoe
hut the prices have fallen. so that the total
values do not keep pace in proportions or course
being an ardent 16 70 silver man. nave my
own ideas as to the reason of this decrease, but.
apart from this. the showing made by the State
is worthy Of attention, without regard to nnaN-
cial beliefs.
But in another place he said: whether we
"bave n struggle in the State this fall or nor. II
lis worth while to let our people know how they
"have prospcred'
An unfriendly critic might perhaps say tnat
Major Otey was somewhat incohercn. or SELL
contradictory. and that his keynote" ought to
be withdrawn for repairs: but 1t is only fair to
remember that a Popocratc manufacturer OF
party keynoes is in grear straits these days
and that his is one OF the few industries which
do not thrive when times are growing better.