Omaha daily bee., 1897-03-07
WHAT WAS THE ISSUE OF 'NlNETY-Slxl

| WHAT WAS The ISSUE OF
From the fifth day of November to
the fifth day of March it is only four
months, and yet men who were active
p%artisans in the late presidential cam
issues upon which the battle was
fought. Within twenty-four hours after
President Mckinley had taken his oath
of office the new chief executive is taken
to task by a leading Chicago daily for
calling congress in extra session for the
purpose of revising the tariff, which we
are told ''has been distinctly repudiated
at the polls" This session. petulantly
eyclaimS our Chicago contemporary, lis
to be called not to undertake the re-
form of the currency system or the i'm
provement of our finances, but simply
to re-enact laws which are Intellectual
If not positively injurious"
What was the issue of 'ninety-siX?
Surely no one who took an active in
terest in the campaign could nave been
oblivious to the questions upon which
the country divided. The issues of
'ninety-siX were set forth in the plat
forms upon which Mckinley and Bryan
confronted each other. The first plank
in the platform upon which Mckinley
was elected made the following declara-
tion:
We renew and emphasize our allegiance to
the policy of protection as the bulwark of
American industrial independence and the
foundation of American development and
prosperity. This true American policy taxes
foreign products and encourages home in
drstry; it puts the burden of revenue on for
eign goods; it secures the American market
for the American producer; it upholds the
American standard of wages for the American
workingman; it puts the factory by the side
Of the farm, and makes the American farmer
less dependent on foreign demand and price;
1t diffuses general thrift, and POUNDS the
strength of all on the strength of each. In
Its reasonable application it is just. fair and
impartial. equally opposed to foreign control
and domestic monopoly. to sectional discrim-
nation and individual fayoritlon. = =
We are not pledged to any particular sched-
ules. The question Of rates is a practical
question, to be governed by the conditions
Of the time and of production; the ruling
and uncompromising principle Is the protee-
ton and development of American labor and
industry. The country demands a right set
Element, and then II wants rest.
This positive pledge of tariff revision
Mckinley and the republican party are
Obligated to redeem ut the earliest posi-
bic moment, even If there were no def
cit in the treasury calling for legisla-
ton to increase our revenues.
Grant that the money question was
the paramount issue of the late calu-
paign, as contended by the supporters
Of Bryan, who dared not discuss the
tariff, what obligations have Mckinley
and the republican party assumed and
what was the import of the popular
verdict of last November? The popo-
cratic position on the money question
was enumerated In the Chicago platform
aG follows:
Recognizing that the money question Is
paramount to all others at this time, we in
yite attention 10 the fact hat the federal
constitution names silver and gold together
as the money metals Of the United states, and
that the first coinage law passed by congress
under the constitution made the silver dollar
the monetary unit and admitted gold to free
coinage at a ratio based upon the silyer-dol
lar unit. We demand the free
and unlimited coinage Of both silver and gold
at the present legal ratio OF 10 10 / without
waiting for the aid or consent OF any other
nation. We demand that the standard sill
yer dollar shall be a full legal tender,
equally with gold, for all debts, public and