The Springfield herald., 1898-02-11
FOR SIXTEEN TO ONE.
BRYAN DISCUSSES THE RATIO.
He Refutes the Arguments of those Who
Would Change the Status of Silver
CoInage-wants no Concessions to Gold
Democrat

New York, Feb Yesterday morn-
ing the Journal published long letter
from William j. Bryan, in which he
contends for the retention of the 16 to
/ ratio as n cardinal feature of the
Democratic creed.
"The moment the ratio of 16 to l is
surrendered" writes Mr. Bryan. "our
silver plank loses its force. Those who
oppose the ratio of 16 to / are not
agreed among themselves. No consid-
cradle body of men ask for any other
ratio. One man says 20 to l, another
"a, another 80; but all objectors to-
gether are small in number compared
with those who believe in the ability
of this nation to maintain the parity
of 10 to l."
Mr.. Bryan then argues against leav-
Ing the ratio to be determined by Con-
gress, and points out that such pol
icy divides the free-silver forces. Some
congressman may be elected on a 16
to l platform and others on platforms
favoring other ratios.
1.-THE ratio of III to l." he says, "has
been adopted by the Democratic party
in a convention which more than any
other recent convention received its au-
thority direct from the people. The
rank and file of the party. instead Of
leaving the ratio to the leaders, eN-
pressed their own opinion upon the
subject. and that opinion has not
changed since the convention. This
ratio has also been endorsed by the
Populistic party, the National Silver
party and the Silver Republicans. To
abandon the ratio would be wrong in
itself, and as impolitic as it would be
wrong. If the Democratic party We're
to allow its policy on this question to
be determined by n few doubling
Thomases. or by the deserters who
supported the enemy in the great strug-
gle between Democracy and plutoc-
racy, 1t would lose the respect and con-
fidence of those who now look to 1t as
an efficient means of restoring gov
ernment of the people. To turn its
clear and courageous enunciations, to
wallow again in the mire of ambiguity
and deception. would ALLEVIATE those
who have been drawn TO it by the plat
form of 1885,
Mr.. Bryan does not mince words in
characterizinG those Democrats who re-
fuse to stand up for 16 to 1.
1.-The Democratic party could have
retained within its fold the deserters
of 1896 if it had consented to a mean
ingless PLATFORM" he says, but 1t pre-
ferred to lose some members of the
body rather than have the whole body
destroyed. Regeneration did not come
too soon. The gold Democrats were
rapidly making the party rival of the
Republican party for the favor of
trusts and monopolies. If the Chicago
platform did nothing else, 1t drove
from the party those who had been
manipulating the party for private
gain and using the government for
public plunder. There are many of the
deserters whose return to the party
would bring weakness rather than
add strength. and there are millions of
Democrats who would not surrender a
single line of the Chicago platform be-
cause of antagonism to the principles
set forth in that platform. The party
can win more voters by steadfastly
standing by the right than by weakly
compromising with error. and those
who profess attachment to the Demo-
cratic name rather than to Democratic
principles will always require watch
ing. The Democratic party has put
its hand to the plow, and. unless mis-
take the spirit which animates the
members. it will not look back"