People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1897-03-18
Shall We Drop Silver?

and party expediency. Fiscal reform
is our Oldest and chief article OF faith,
and as means Of reform, We have
always urged the restoration of silver
to its constitutional companionShip
with gold. The greenback and union
labor parties, out Of which the Pop
ulist organization has grown, made it
one Of their cardinal demands, and
largely upon it the reform political
forces have DOurnished and vitalized.
Upon it, in great part, We have grown
in the past twenty years from an in
significant party Of two or three hun
dred thousand to one of millions, and
have finally compelled the Democratic
party to leave off its equivOcal and
misunderstanding platform expires.
sions upon the subject, and declare in
plain terms its adhesion to our faith.
| repudiate the assumption, but not
the doctrine, Of the sO-called "Scien-
titic money" school. If by scientific
money is meant fiat money, | believe
in it; but reduced to its last analysis,
the advocacy Of scientific money is a
simple higgle and bubble over the
kind Of material out Of which money
shall be made. We never said that
money should be made out of paper
alone, as cJntradiStingulShed from
other material. The Greenback party
never said 50. We did say, however,
and do 50 now, that it can as well he
made of paper as Of gold ADD silver,
and that all that is necessary is to put
upon it, whether of one material or
another, or of all, theapprOvng stamp
Of the sovereign of all pOwer-the gov
ernment-and give it its full legal
tender quality. The prejudiceS and
preference Of many incline them to
favor silver as one of the materials
out of which mOnev shall be made
The demand for silver TemOnetiZa-
ton within Our ranks. however. has
not been because OF It's SO-caled IL
trinsic value, but as a part only of
the generally felt necessity for more
money with which to transact the
business of the country. For US now,
upon the eve OF certain victory, IL
fall out with each other in front OF
the enemy, aud divide our forces over
the minor and nOn-esSential question
as to what we shall make money out
of, would be fOlly-woUld be treason
if not idiOcy. But do not admit sill,
yer reconciliation to be the chief is
sue, except TO The relation to the com
ing on of events. 1t is chief, however
in the sense that it first presents it,
self, and thereby engages the atten-
ton of the larger number of people
Along with it are others Of equal, per
haps greater, Importance, and only
lacking equal or greater interest be-
cause not pressed so hard to the front
hence, | will not consent to an aban
Comment of any Of the other issue,
We have been presenting. The Pop
ulist party stands for reforms il
currency, land holding and traGSpor
tatiOn, and its doctrines lead logically
to the Specialization of all public inter
eStS and utilities. For, | have no hes
itancy in accepting Mr.. Bellamy's for
mula of ultimate conditions: 9Th,
Industrial system of a nation. like III
political system, should be govern
ment of and by and for the people.
But an ideal state cannot be reached
at once. 1t can only be reached b.
laying hold of the forces and agencie
OF government. and the Institution
of society, working them under rec
c)gnized legal limitations to the de
sired end.
The restoration of silver will be, 10
directly, shaping of the institution
of money to such.
Having become aroused on the sui
Ject OF their rightin that one respect
the educative force Of its exercise
the most valuable gain to be made
But the fact should not be lost sigh
OF that the issues Of this trial now OF
before the bar of public opinion ar
not between silver and gold, or meta
and paper, but are between caultaI
ism and industrialism; between tn
people and their plunderers. On
. count, however, in the indictmen
against the culprit at the bar is tn
crime of money robbery, a specifics
tiOn of which is the demOretizatio
of silver. There are other charge,
graver 10 my judgment than this, bu
it is count number one, 10 a true bill
called such because it happened to 3
first written, and | believe in pressiD
the entire body of accusations to tria
without retraeting or dismissing
single one. The Democratic part
promised to turn states evidence an
, help convict the accused. Let tn
case 70 on. FRANK DOsTER.
j Kansas Debt.