The Portland daily press., 1898-08-06
PARsoN MCKINNEY AND THE GOLD
BUGS

BUGS.
Parson MoKinney's explanation in his
Alfred speech of his attitude toward free
silver and Bryan would seem to render ii
possible for all the gold Democrats of the
district to support him with enthusias m.
He apparently agrees with them perfectly
on all poi nts. He believes, as they do
that free silver would do great injury to
the business interests of the country and
would be especially hurtful to the wage
earners. His conviction on these points
is stronger probably than the most Of
them would claim for theirs, be.
cause it is founded on actual
experience and observation. While
theirs are to d large extent based
On theory, he has seen free silver in oper
alton and knows how it demoralizes bust.
ness and robs the wage Garner. Indeed
we doubt if any political orator has done
more TO discredit the cause of free silver
coinage than did Mr.. Mckinney in his
brief reference to the subject in his speech
at Alfred, when he pointed out how he
had seen it work in Bogata, when he
was there filing the position of United
States minister under President Cleve
land. On the matter of Bry-
ms capacity TO fill the highest Office in
the land, he is in close accord too with the
gold Democrats. They consider him un-
fit for that Office. So does MIR. McKin.
ney. Mr.. Mckinney did not speak quite
so contemptuously Of him at Alfred as
| he did in his letter of two years ago, but
| that no doubt was because he suspected
there might be some silver Democrats in
the audience, and did not want to be
unnecessarily offensive. But he made ii
clear that the objection he had to him as
a Presidential candidate in 1896 still re-
manned, though since then Bryan has
grown two years older and has had more
experience.
| The only conceivable reason why the
| gold Democrats should not support Mr..
Mckinney con amore lies in the unfortu-
nate paragraph he put into his letter of ac
ceptance to the effect that he should, il
elected, consider himself bound to ascer-
| tain and be guided by the wishes of a
majority of his party on all important
| questions that might arise in Congress.
If Mr.. Mckinney should follow out this
policy and the majority of the Democrats
should want him to vote for free silver,
then he would have to vote to infiict this
curse upon the country, and the gold
Democrats who helped elect him might
be held to be partioipes criminis. How
| ever, we think this obligation was taken
on by Mr.. Mckinney with the full ex-
pectation that it would prove nudum
pactum. He fixed the financial plank,
of the platform SO that it would
be impossible to draw any in fer
ence from it as to the position of the
party on the question of free coinage, oI
ratio. or anything else, and he must have
been fully aware when he put the para
graph into his letter about consulting the
wishes of the party that it would never
| be possible to consult them in any effec
tive way. Probably the paragraph was
meant simply as a sop to keep the noisy
silver men quiet. His heart evidently
beats warmly for gold, and we have it or
Soriptural authority that out of thu
| fullness Of the heart the mouth speaketh,
SO that on the whole we think the golt
| Democrats will be safe in relying upor
Parson Mckinney to vote against wha
he has pronounced to be the Creates
curse that could befall this country
4