The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-03-28
INCONSISTENT REPUBLICAN
DECLARATIONS.

The Republican party OF Butte put
municipal ticket in the field last Thurs
day. There is nothing at all strange
about that. nor is it at all remarkable
that the convention reafFirmed its al
legiance TO the grand old Republican
party, endorsing fully all of the Drin-
ciples thereof" All that was proper
and consistent for a Republican con-
vention to do; but, having done this,
the convention then made a truly re-
markable and inconsistent declaration
when it adopted this plank:
We believe that both gold and silver
should be used as money metals, and
will use our utmost endsaVors in be-
half of the free coinage of silver at the
ratio OF IS TO l.
The Inter Mountain exposes the in
consistency and righteousness of the
endorsement of the grand old Repub-
lican party" and the PRONUNCIATION of
this silver plank. The Inter Mountain
says:
One of the principles of the Republic
an party which is fully endorsed by
the platform adopted yesterday is the
maintenance of the gold standard. The
st. Louis platform. the Republican rule
of faith, declares that the gold standard
must be maintained until International
bimetallism is brought about. The fail
IRE of a commission to arrange with
foreign powers for q conference looking
to that end has been recognized by the
president and his official advisers with
clear-cut, emphatic declarations in ia
Vor of continuing the gold standard.
10 fully endorse" the gold standard,
Trrfth n ont C1
their breath, declare for the free coin
age of silver, is enough to give any man
who is not a born philosopher the jim
jams, with a bicycle headache for an
accompaniment. If our Republican
friends. the esteemed straight-ups. had
only sandwichad in the Cuban resolu-
ton between their endorsement of Re
publican principles and the fires that
We're kindled upon the affairs of silver,
it would have given a bewildered pub
lie a chance TO collect its thoughts and
sort of reconcile itself to that principle
in logic which declares that it is very
peculiar how curious some strange
things are. Undoubtedly our ReDub-
lican friends meant WELL The trouble
is they meant too much.
The convention did not attempt to eX- |
plain what it meant by mixing free |
coinage uD with Republican principles |
hut generously confided the solution of
this problem to the people of the United I
States" This was really a shrewd, ]
move on the part of our Re- |
publican friends. Had they asked the |
people of Butte to interpret their plat |
form without outside help it would have |
prevented our citizens from doing their !
other chores. But if the people of the /
United States will tackle it as a body. |
we feel confident that some OF the ac- |
rebus experts, who are |
drawing enormous salaries on weekly !
story papers studying out enigmas. will !,
find out just what the platform means.
The chances are, however, that it will /
not get into good working order in time
for this campaign.
OF course. the convention did not at
tempt to explain what it meant by
trying to mix up free silver and Re
publican principles, perhaps for the
reason that it could not have explained.
Free silver and Republican principles
don't mix any more than oil and water
do, and the attempt to mix them will
always prove futile. The Butte Repub-
leans must be lot of unturned cakes
and free silver at the same time, or
else they assumed that the people to
whom they appealed are a lot of I'M
turned cakes. And there are plenty of
in Utah who are ready to
10 exactly the same thing that the Re-
1ublicans of Butte have done-endorse
he single gold standard and free COIN
age at the ratio of Is to l in one and
he same platform.