Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-01-07
Mr.. BLAND is HOPEFUL
He Believes the Silver Men Will Control the
Next House.
Looks for Democratic Gains I'm Many
Republican Dtstricts-MOney
to BE the Issue.

Representative Richard +. Bland Of Mis-
souri, takes a hopeful view of the prospects
of the silver men in the congressional cam
paign next fall, at which members OF the
House will go before their constituents for
denomination and reelection. Mr. Bland
thinks that the democrats will make gains
in every part OF the country where the re-
publicans were victorious at the last cleo
ton. and that the next House will contain
a comfortable majority in favor OF free
silver
Il have no doubt" he said today, that
the silver people will win victory in the
congressional election now approaching.
The issue will be the money question. there
can be no doubt about that, and the battle
will DC fought along clear and open lines.
The republicans will not be able to push
the international bimetallic agreement plan
before the people, and the issue will be
whether We shall have the gold standard,
plain and simple. or whether We shall elect
a Congress which shall use its efforts in
the direction of securing the adoption by
this government OF free and unlimited coin
age at 16 to /, Independently of any other
country on the globe. / anticipate that the
silver men will make substantial gains in
every part of the country. Particularly
will this be so in the west and northwest
and in states In the middle west, which are
now represented by delegations solid.
almost solid. republican. Missouri. / eN-
pect, will return a representation unani-
mously for silver.
to formulate any proposition maintaining
the gold standard that they can agree up
on. When 1t comes to carrying out and
fixing the gold standard on the country
they seem to be afraid of their platform
and are evincing a disposition to fly from
1t. In the last campaign they seemed to
place some confidence in their ability to
reach an agreement on international BIZ
laf a lint nov ha
ever effecting such an agreement now, and
l do not think that they can induce any
one to believe that there is any further
chance of communicating that idea. The
republican followers of the administration,
with all due respect to those gentlemen,
are evidently trying to hedge on the gold
standard question in some way or another.
but Secretary Gage is trying to hold them
back. He has gigantic task on his hands.
In the next campaign, however. they will
be obliged to face the issue. If the gold
standard is the right thing, my republican
friends ought to issue their gold bonds to
retire the greenbacks and wipe out silver.
That is practically what the gold standard
means and what Secretary Gage means by
his proposition.
I'VE will have a good ajorty in the
next Congress. / predict that one of the
first legislative acts of that Congress will
be to pass free coinage bill. which will
be sent to the President for his action.
THE issues In the presidential campaign
of 1900 will be along the same lines. The
Chicago platform will be readopted in most
of its material points. excepting that the
money plank will be made even clearer and
stronger. We Will nominate good man,
who will sweep the country. l cannot see
how any one can reason that any other
result will follow when we take into con-
sideration all the circumstances and par
ticularly the growing sentiment of the
people in favor of free silver. | believe
that those democrats who left the party
last year on account of the pledge of the
party for free silver ought to come back
into the party and work for the regular
nominee but those who are not prepared to
fight that line ought to stay out. A
great majority of those who left us will
return, but, of course, there will remain
a few of the disgruntled men who will not
come back. We can afford, however, to
lose. them. After the presidential election
We will control the two great branches of
the government. We will then enact our
free coinage legislation Until that is done
l do not believe that the country can reach
a state of genuine prosperity"