The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-01-31
AN EXPLANATION THAT DOES
NOT EXPLAIN.

Il
Our morning contemporary finds
itself in a really bad box in its attempt
to explain why it has so suddenly be-
come convinced that President Nc
Kinley is an out and out gold man and
against silver. In how bad a box it is
we showed the other day. Yesterday it
made an effort to justify its attitude
towards the president. AS introductory
to that attempted justification it said:
For a newspaper that is only a silver
organ because a majority of the dele
gates in the last national convention
of its part, at last, declared in favor
of it, to darkly hint at corrupt motives
in another newspaper because it has
sought to hasten the day of silver de-
liverance, is probably natural.
AS rule, newspapers are like men,
and when not quite sure of their own
sincerity, it is a comfort for them to
doubt the sincerity of others. We
know what the president said his in
tentions touching silver were nine
months ago. We have the documen-
tary evidence in our possession to prove
the truth of what we assert, which we
are ready to show to any one anxious
to see it.
We take no exception to the first
paragraph, for our contemporary is in
"a devil of a predicament'' and it is
entitled TO a little license in its as
sertions. But we beg to assure our con-
temporary that The Herald is not a
champion of free silver because the
Chicago convention declared for it, but
because The Herald is a Democratic
newspaper and free silver is a Demo-
cratic doctrine. Some how or other
it has never happened that the Re
publican party ever declared for free
silver
AS a rule" says our contemporary,
newspapers are like men, and when
not quite sure of their own sincerity, it
is a comfort for them to doubt the sin
cerity of others" Very true, indeed,
and our contemporary here furnishes a
complete explanation why it accused
The Herald of insincerity in its devo-
ton to free silver.
Our contemporary lays much stress
upon the documentary evidence in
its possession and is ready to show it
to any one anxious to see it. We feel
sure that many must be anxious to see
it, and therefore We suggest that ii
print it that all may see and possess
it; here is a light that shouldn't be hid
under a bushel. But all documentary
evidence is not of equal value, and
there exists other documentary evil
dence than that possessed by our
contemporary. Secretary Cages COM
mission is documentary evidence that
Mr.. Mckinley was a single gold stand
ard man when he entered upon his
duties as president; likewise his mes
sage to congress just before it ad-
journed the latter part of July; like
wise the currency bill that Secretary
Gage presented before the coinage
committee, the avowed purpose of
which is to strengthen the Existing gold
standard, is documentary evidence go
ing to show that Mckinley was all the
while a gold monometallist. Our con-
temporary viii hardly longer contend
that that bin did not represent the
presidents financial views and that the
secretary did not draw it up with his
sanction.
Our contemporary course in insist
ing all the while that the admlnlStra-
ton was friendly to silver is inexplic-
able save on the ground that it should
have had great hopes" of what it
would do but that it should have had
hopes" is inexplicable. Not another
silver paper in all the west but has seen
clearly all the while just where Mr.
Mckinley stood: and that our con-
temporary should not have seen it is
strange indeed. There was absolutely
nothing new in the presidents New
York speech; it was nothing but a
reafirmation of his position.
No one need have any apprehension
as to the result of the election in this
state this fall. A free silver man will
be elected to congress and free sill
yer legislature, that will send a free
silver man to the senate, will also be
elected.