Omaha daily bee., 1897-01-09
AN INSULT TO HIS MEMORY.
The Assumption TINT Andrew Jackson
Was Silvcritc.


1t is difficult to follow those who claim
that If General Jackson were alive today he
would be a free silver man. There is no
authority for the claim in any of his state
papers, or in any of his official acts as
president. 1t is probably based on a gilt
tering generality General Jackson tackled
and overthrow the United States bank of
his day, and out of that performance has
grown some undiscriminating praise about
his standing for the people as against what
is called the dOmineering power of money
But not a single financial feature of that
fight can with safety or in fairness be ap-
piled to this silver question. General Jack
son, If alive and in office today, would be
obliged to meet that question, and would
meet it, with only a general reference to
the other.
How he would meet it is of course,
question. He had a very direct way of
looking at matters. He settled a number
of important questions in a very straight
forward and satisfactory manner. He never
yielded to clamor. He never led or coun-
seled a crusade against the rich. He was n
plain man and stood for the people, and he
was national man in all his deliverances.
He frowned upon sectionalism in all forms,
and he would have gone to war to preserve
the union as readily any man who ever
sat in the white house.
If he were alive today, therefore. two or
three things about this silver question would
In his direct way he would probably want
to know about converting SO cents worth of
silver bullion into legal tender dollar.
He would be very curious about the arraylng
of one portion of the people against an
other and the sectional cry would arouse
him at once. And so, as he favored sound
money while he lived, and was a national
man in all his instincts and deliverances, |.
Is not difficult to think Of him as belonging
in his influence to the sound money side OF
the present financial question.
In letter dated December &c. 1896, ad
dressed to Rev. A. S. X. McCalum, Andrew
Jackson expressed the sentiments of con-
firmed goldbug, follows:
"Thc useful and ornamental purposes 10
which gold can be applied are the properties
that give it real value and render the
demand for IL universal This, with other
peculiar qualities, has made 1t In all ages
throughout the world, the standard of value
There is no fraud in gold; like the honest
principles of the founders of our government,
who declare by constitutional provision the
precious metals to be the only money of the
republic, it is Interchangeable, and will 10 It's
office well everywhere and at ali times; no
alchemy can multiply it-no chartered privi-
leges can give sudden and unseen expansion
or contraction to its amount. Nature has
set limits and labor imparts an invariable
value to it. 1t Is, therefore, the true repre-
sentative of the principles of justice and
equality which should enter into every
thing that operates on our institutions and
should be ever insisted on by the industrious
classes as the actual circulating medium to
bring continually to the test every species
of credit currency, and to suppress the
spurious paper system, resting on no solid
basis. and giving birth to frauds and stock
gambling; which tends so much to estrauge
people from honest and useful pursuits
and our legislation from that primitive
patriotism which was once entirely directed
to foster them"