Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1897-12-30

PSA SSA SAh OO AOAnA 5uCn d
system of robbery.
SAY Why did it take the Dem
ocratic party twenty-three years to
find out that the gold standard is en-
shaving the common people?" Why
did the Democratic National conven-
ton in 1892 vote down proposed free
silver plank, giving it only seventeen
votes out of over 900? We have been
asking this question for about year,
and no Democratic paper has answer
ed it.-Poptar Biuf Republican.
The first section of the above is an
alagOus to a scientific inquiry into the
causes of the preservation of the fresh
ness of the green cheese of which the
moon is composed. The premises IN
both cases are equally true. The sec
ond question is a statement of half
truth. The financial plank of the
Chicago platform of 1892. as reported
from the committee and adopted, read
as follows: 1--WE hold to the use of
both gold and silver as the standard
money of the country and to the coin
age of both gold and silver without
discriminating against either metal or
charge for mintage." with proviso
that both dollars should have equal
intrinsic and exchangeable value.
This plank, if it had been honestly car
ried out by the Stuffed Prophet, would
have given the people the free coinage
of silver as well as the free coinage of
gold-for neither metal was to be dis
eliminated against by the government.
But Cleveland was then owned by
Wall Street as Mckinley is now, and
in lieu of the enunciation of principles
he had, by his acceptance of the NOM
ination, pledged himself to carry out,
he substituted the Vanderbilt declara-
tion-''The public be id" The
Democratic party was betrayed by the
men it had honOred and it threw them
overheard at the first opportunity
the whole bilin' of 'em, from the chief
traitor down to the smallest cuckoo.
Just as soon as the opportunity came
the masses of the Democratic party
showed how they interpreted this
plank of the platform. The Republi-
can party never can be betrayed, for
the rank and file accept the enuncia-
tions of their bosses as the dicta of
gods. In 1888 the Republican plat
form Indignantly denounced ''the Dem
ocratic administration for it's attempts
to demonetize silver" Then all the
following threw off their hats for the
white metal and cussed the Democrats
to a finish. ''Bimetallism" was the |
Republican financial slogan in 1892, |
and it received the united endorsement |
of those who now delight in denounc- |
ing bimetallists as ''repudiators, "''an-
archists," etc. In 1896 the Republi- |
can platform declared for the single |
gold standard, and behold! all the |
rank and file were at once convinced |
that 1.-The preservation of the national
honor" required increased tribute to
the foreign and domestic patriots who
had traded upon the governments ne
cessities in the time of its helplessness
and disaster. Such party cannot be
betrayed by its leaders, for the fol-
lowing belongs to them-body, soul,
boots and breeches. The Republicans
item, taken literally, conveys the i'm
preston that the silver question had |
lain dormant from 1873 to 1896; but
history does not bear out the assertion.
On the contrary, all parties united in
denouncing the characterization act I'M
til last year, when Mark Hanna show
ed the Republicans the error of their
belief and converted them to the re-
ligion of the single gold standard. |
Then, with active, organized and pro-
claimed opposition to the use of silver
as money of final account, the Demo
cratic party was left the only effective |
organization to combat the new dog
ma. With both parties prOfessedly |
friendly to silver, as they were prior |
to 1892, and both promising to restore |
it to its old position, the people had |
been put off from year to year in vain |
hope. At last they were updeceived, |
and then the silver question displaced |
all others IN interest and bitterness. |
The Democratic party threw overheard
the leaders who had betrayed it and
put forth declaration in which there
was no equivocation. To determine
that because the people were deceived
into long waiting, therefore they were
and are insincere in their advocacy OF
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