The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1897-09-05
GOLD STANDARD
AND DEMOCRACY.

year old, and is excusable for seeking In
formation concerning the past history Of
tho democratic party. The Disptch chal-
lenged the Post to cite single instance
in which tho democratic party declared for
the single gold standard. The Post pro-
ceeds to Cite for the information Of .he
Dispatch the National democratic platform
of 1892 and the National democratic plat
form Of 1876. II the Dispatch needed cor
rect information on the subject 1t wouli
not seek It In the editorial columns Of the
Post. because the Post is notorious FOR It's
rerversion of political truth. The Ma
tional democratic platform Of 1876 was not
a gold standard platform. The fact Is that
IT ignored the financial question, except
In Its denunclation Of tie republican par
ty for It's failure TO redeem the greenbaeks
There is not single newspaper In the
United States. nor n single speaker. who
attempted to give the platform any such
| construction as the Post now proposes to
give 1t. There is one rule by which TO in
terpret POLITICAL platforms, and that is the
| constructions given them by newspapers
and public speakers who represent that
platform before the people. rhe Post can
not at this day, for the purpose OF main
tanning its one-sded argument. change
| OF TO SO far as the platform OF 1892 is
concerned, there was not any question
| about what IL meant until after the cleo
ton Of Cleveland as president
The campaign speakers and newspapers
never once told the people during that
calnpagn that 1t was n single gold stand
ard platform. On the contrary, they held
out the idea to voters that Il meant the
restoration OF silver to It's position as
standard money. In view OF subsequent
| legislation 1t Is evident that Mr.. Cleve-
land had q secret understanding with Wall
street that he would give the platform Il
| gold standard construction. That it was
not the proper construction OF the plat
form is evidenced by the overwhelming re-
pudiatlon of Mr.. Cleveland ~ his own par
w. and by the universal odium which at
| tached to his name wheu he left the pres
| idency The people looked upon him as a
| traitor to pledges which had been made
| to them before his election, and he Is to.
day regarded with loathny by the demo-
| cratic PARTY of the United States. The
platform demanded the repeal of the Sher-
| man law as a whole and not in part The
| repeal OF the act of 1890 would have forced
| the re-enactment Of the Bland Allison law
| OF 1878, or the reconciliation OF silver on
the established ratio OF 16 to I. The par.
| tial repeal of the Sherman law was Sc
cured by use OF the patronage OF the adj
ministration, conformity with the money
| OF Wall street. They bribed 1t through
| congress. and Cleveland was a party TO
the entire transaction and equally as
guilty of bribery as II he had used the
money. tecause the patronage Of office.
when used for corrupt purposes, is equally
detrimental to public morals as the direct
| use OF money
The Platform of 1892 declared: 1--WE hold
to the use Of both gold and silver as the
standard money OF the country" The most
ignorant man who knows anything of the
money question at all knows that If we
have both gold and silver as standard
money we could not have the single gold
standard, and the talk of that platform be-
| ing gold standard platform is idiotic In
tho extreme. The platform declared for
| the coinage of both gold and silver. with
out discrimination against either metal
or charge for coinage. Yet silver Is dis
| criminated against and II is not allowed
| free coinage at the mints, while gold is
allowed free and unlimited coinage. In
fact, all gold that is brought to the minis
!
while not dollar OF silver can be carried
to the minis and coined into standard
| money at all. The only coinage of silver
that is going on at the minis la the coinage
OF bullion purchased under the Sherman
law Tor the redemption of the Sherman law
| certificates. The declaration in the plat
| form Of 1892 in favor of the maintenance
! OF the parity OF the two metals was a dou-
| -Seared contrivance designed to de-
fr,.a ell, ,,.l,,.
| stands the question Mt all contends that
| the right OF the free coinage of silver with
| gold, without discriminating against either
metal, would restore ana maintain the
parity between the two. and this plank
| was put In the platform with that under
standing OF their contention. There was
| an element In tho party--a small element
| Mt that--which expressed itself doubtful
about the maintenance OF the parity of the
coins Of gold and silver at the established
legal ratio Of l6 to I. though they did not
pretend to say that silver should not be
coined into standard money at the same
ratio. The whole question was one OF RAJ
tio ut that time. and not one OF standards
The democrats We're committed to the
double standard Of gold and silver. and the
question of ratio was LETT as n detail to lie
adjusted by legislation.
The democratic party OF Kentucky named
democrat on that platform, in 1895 IS its
candidate for governor, and the Post played
the part OF the viest OF assasrins In strik-
Ing him down because he placed the con.
struction on the platform in 1895 which
was placed upon 1t before Grover Cleve-
land became the chief OF traitors and
stabbed the democratic party. Kentucky
is today in the hands OF republicans on ac-
count of tho treason OF newspapers like
the Post and the Courier journal, which
never placed the construction on the demo-
cratic platform OF 1882 that Cleveland
placed on 1t until after he had made tho
Issue and Wall street had made the de-
mand shat the newspapers which It con-
trolled should fall into line and fight Tor
the destruction OF the democratic party.
AZ the beginning OF the campaign OF 1896
Cleveland and his followers We're confident
that they had effectually destroyed tho
democratic party, and that On its ruins they
an, ,,lt