The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1898-10-19
4 RINGING LETTER
From NJ. F. Smith. a Former Re
publican,
who. Has Grown Tired of Re
publican Prosperity.


allow me space In your paper, /
would like to say a few words to
the Republicans of Mason county.
1 have been a Republican all
my life. loyal to what I believed to
be the principles of the Republi-
can party, but I never understood
that the establishment of the Gold
Standard was one of its principles.
On the contrary, I always believed
that the restoration of silver TO its
time-honored position of a money
metal as provided by the Constitu-
tion of the United States. was one
of the cardinal principles of the
party.
1 was led to believe that from
the utterances and public record of
such Republicans as James g.
Blaine. James a. Garfield, Ex-Pres-
idenf Harrison, and especially the
record of William Mckinley, who
now occupies the exalted position
of President of the United States,
and host of others less promi-
nent in the councils of the party.
But / am now forced to the conclu-
sion 1that these great men were
either mistaken in their views upon
the position of the party on this
question, or that they were play
ing the part of hypocrites. or that
a set of scheming, unscrupulous,
blood-sucking scoundrels have got
ten control of the Republican
party, and have completely revolu-
tionized It's principles and aims
and / am persuaded to believe the
latter. Being farmer and teacher,
occupying a place among the great
middle class of Americans, I can
see in the near future the total an
nihilatioD of the class to which I
belong if the gold standard is to
be made a permanent fixture in
our financial system, bringing in
its train, as it inevitably must do,
all the evils resulting from a con
traction of the circulation with our
constant increase in demand occa-
stoned by our rapid increase in
population. Every thinking man
must know that it is absolutely
impossible to find gold enough
upon which to base the money Of
the world and have a sufficient
amount of money with which 70
carry on the business of the world,
except through trusts and monop-
olies. which are even now sucking
the very life blood. and sap
ping the foundation of the Amer
lean republic.
Believing as 1 do that the vel
fare of the labOrer, the farmer, the
mechanic, and every class of our
citizens. except that class whose
great wealth he's already become a
menace to the stability of our
Republican government, will be
enhanced by a plentiful supply of
full legal tender money either sill
yer or green-back, not bank notes
which cost the people from 9 to
Is per cent. for itssuse, and know
ing as I do, from the history of
the production of gold in the
world, that it is impossible to sup
ply sufficient amount of money
based upon gold to relieve the in
dustrial classes of the enormous
debt which they are carrying.
1 am forced in self-defense and
from the principles of philanthropy
to renounce my allegiance to the
Republican party and cast my lot
with the Democratic party which
is pledged to the restoration of sill
yer to the position it occupied
previous to 1873 at the ratio of "I6
to L"
I ask my Republican friends to
consider the present conditions of
the business of the farmer, of the
mechanic, of the laborer, of the mi
ner, in fact of all classes and con
ditions of society and compare it
with what we were promised two
years ago if our party should be
successful. The Republican party
then told us that a lack of conf
dence in the Democratic admins
tration was the sole and exclusive
cause of the stagnation in business
and that the success of the party
would restore confidence and pros
perity would follow within thirty
days after the election.
They were successfuI-we pre-
sumo confidence was restored; the
Wilson bill was repealed and a pro-