The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1898-12-02
THE OWOSSO TIMES.
OwossO. FRIDAY. DEC. 2, 1898.
Washington Letter.
EDMUND o. DEWEY, EDITOR.

Washington Letter.
WASHINGTON, ID. c., Nov. %, 1898.
The conspicuous advertising which 'Coin"
Harvey is giving himself in his efforts to
collect campaign fund with which to pros
ecute the next national campaign In behalf
of free coinage victory, has not passed un-
noticed among people in Washington who
make business of keeping a sensitive fin
ger on the political pulse strokes of the ma.
ton. Coin" Harvey has figured so much
in political affairs during the past few years
no one can mistake his mission, even IL 1t
had not been known that he had been APP
pointed by the Democratic National Com
mittee as head OF the ways and means COM
mittee for the special purpose of raising a
corruption fund. Harvey, who instilled the
poison of his doctrines into the unthinking
democracy by his book of VIGOROUSLY false
premises, perverted facts and unredeemable
promises. now proposes to carry on the
work of moral corruption by securing sign
ers to promissory notes which pledge those
foolish enough to be trapped-designedly
working men-to contribute dollar week
of their wages to the general fund to be
used in buying votes in 1900.
In 1896 vast amount of money was sub
scribed for this purpose by the millionaire
silver miners of the West, who for years
previous maintained a systematic silver lob
by in Washington and spent thousands of
dollars printing seductive literature in fav-
or of free coinage, which was circulated by
the literary bureau of the millionaire silver
c0terie in quantities of millions, to prepare
the ground for the last presidential election.
This coterie found the business an expen-
sive one Such men as General Warner,
president of the so-called Bimetallic League,
were not to be had for song, and after the
Chicago convention Bryan had to be kept in
the field. The army of workers, the spe.
cial trains necessary to convey the Bryan
boom from one end of the country to the
other, and the extTavagant disbursements
of the democratic campaign managers, con-
sumed untold sums.
The hackers of the free coinage scheme
have grown tired of continuing to furnish
all the sinews of war after two successive
knock downs, and the burden of supplying
the means to keep up the fight is to be
shifted to the shoulders of the working
men, whose hard earned dollars are to he
spirited out of their pockets into the strong
box of the Democratic Committee in order
to enable the mine owners to get 81 for 40
cents worth of their product
But the republican managers are alive to
the situation. They have had one expert
ence in dealing with measures to overcome
the false teachings Of ten years of propagan-
da for free coinage; and the efforts of ''COin"
Harvey and Chairman Jones, of the demo-
cratic committee, with their colleagues will
not be suffered to reach their fruition with
out stalwart counter move to check them.
Chairman Hanna intends to reopen the
headquarters of the Republican National
Committee as soon as Congress meets. The
working men of the country will not be
asked to pledge their hard earned wages to
form corruption fund for the republicans;
but the ground for the campaign of 1900
will be carefully surveyed and an extreme
ly watchful eye will be kept on the move
ments of the free silver forces.
To thu average political observer 1t would
seem that the free coinage issue Is over and
done for. 1t has sustained one serious de-
feat after another. The House in the Fiji
ty-second Congress, which was overwhelm.
ingly democratic, struck 1t down after
memorable debate, and the people of Mis-
souri, in 1894 defeated Bland, who was re-
sp0nsible for the bill. In 1896 1t went
squarely before the whole people and was
beaten, and finally In the congressional cleo.
tons just past 1t was again ANONYMOUSLY
tramped upon. But the profit of free coin
age for the owners of silver mines is so
enormous that the Democratic National
Committee apparently proposes to lend It.
self once more to the cause, In the hope of
exhausting the vigilance of the people and
forcing free coinage upon them under a
cloud Of other issues that may grow up be-
tween now and the campaign of 1900.
To what extent this issue has fallen into
disfavor is best shown by Analysing the re-
suit Of the election in Bryan's own district
in Nebraska.
The total republican and fusion vote In
this district-the First Nebraska--in 1896
for governor was S4,599, and the fusion
plurality was 739
The total republican and fusion vote in