People's party paper. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1891-1898, 1898-03-18

no assurance that the Democratic par
sustain them, Mr.. Bryan adds that, eff
the Republicans obtain control of the
Senate and House at the elections of
1898, there is no doubt that they will,
by law, surrender the contract right
which the government now has, to pay
coin obligations in silver" Bnt this
right the government has already sur
rendered. Mr.. Harrison surrendered |
it, Mr.. Cleveland surrendered it, Mr.. |
Mckinley has surrendered it. True, it |
is surrendered by executive ruling not |
by legisl ative act. But if the Congress |
elected this year should pass an act |
surrendering this right the Congress
elected in 1900 could repeal this act and |
reassume such right. In reassuming
such right there would be no breach of
contract on the part of the govern
ment. The forms of contract under
which our bonds have been issued were
fixed by acts passed in the years 1870
and 1875, and no declaration of Con-
gress can change the meaning of those
contracts.
In 1873, Congress declared that under
those contracts the government could
justly pay the interest and principal of
such debt in silver coin. Yet a differ
emit Interpretation, an Interpretation
that the creditor has right to pay
ment in either gold or silver as he pre-
fers. has been given by the executive
branch of the government, the solemn
Interpretation of the Congress of 1878
ignored. And so may the next Con-
gress reverse the Interpretation of
1878 and approve the executive inter
probation of to-day. Bnt as the Con-
gress elected in 1898 might reverse the
| Interpretation of Congress in 1878, so
might the Congress elected in 1900
reverse the Interpretation of the Con-
gress of 1898. So the evil effects of
Republican congressional victory in
| 1898 would not be irretrievable. And
as to such election being followed by a
surrender of the right which the gov
eminent has to pay coin obligations in
silver, and which Mr.. Bryan seems to
fear as the worst result of such a victo-
nv, it can only be said that such sur
render has already been made, that we
could suffer no added evils by surEen-
dering that which has already been
surrendered.
1 oLx +ac 0ft bn rr01d eta nd OF -5 -
concludes Mr.. Bryan, "the enemies of
independent bimetallism, the oppo-
nents of the greenbacks, the friends of
national bank notes, the defenders of
trusts, the supporters of government
by injunction, and those who object to
arbitration and an income tax-all
these find no difficulty in uniting on
the main issues, no matter how much
they may differ upon the minor ones.
Shall the friends of reform show less
earnestness or less sagacity ?"
We answer confidently that Popu-
lists will show no less earnestness, we
trust no less sagacity. But Populists
will show their earnestness as oppo-
nents of gold recommendation and adj
vocates of bimetallism not by smother
ing their party identity and supporting
a party that cannot be depended upon
to fight aggressively and sustainedly
the aggressions of the moneyed oil
garchy; they will show their earnest
ness as advocates of honest money not
by the neg alive course of opposing the
retirement of the greenbacks and an
increase of hanklnotes, but by demand
ing the issue of paper currency di-
rect to the people and in volume suffi-
Gent to maintain a stability of prices,
SO that strictly honest currency may
be created and maintained; they will
show the earnestness of their opposi-
ton to trusts by cutting at the root OF
such trusts, railroad discrimination,
not by supporting the party that
scorns to advocate government owner
ship of railroads as a remedy, that
proclaims it's preference to tolerating
such discrimination to turning to gov
eminent ownership as q remedy
they will show their earnestness in
support of an equitable system of tax
alton, their belief in an income tax by
demanding that all taxes shall be i'm
posed in proportion to the means OF
the individual, not in supporting the
party that advocates a system of per
capita taxation as the justest and most
equitable they will show their sagac-
ity by working to bring about union OF
the forces of reform, not under the
banners of the Democratic party,
which have been besmirched by the
corrupt practices of the party, that do
not stand for equality of opportunity
for all, that are not carried by those
who can be depended upon to defend
our people from the encroachments of
the moneyed oligarchy upon their
rights and liberties, and under which
there can be no union of the forces of
reform, but under the banners of a
party upon which are inscribed the
words freedom, liberty, equality, the
grand tenet of true democracy, equal
ity of opportunity to all, special privi-
leges to none," and shows itself worthy
of such banners by it's acts, q defender
of freedom, of liberty, of equality, that
can be relied upon, party worthy OF
confidence and support, party under
whose banners there can be union OF
the forces of reform, the Peoples Party.
I-Wherton Barker in American.
PopuIists of Mcintosh.
McIn tosh county Populists in Mass
meeting having selected three delegates
Nelson Amos, Isaac Gary and R K