The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-03-08

served. III IS OF the deepest SlEnlHcance
that this platform, which absolutely
reversed the attitude of the party on
the great question of bimetalisn. was
as silent as the grave in regard to
trusts and monopolies. There seemed
TO be a perfect realization of the fact
that a party which proposed to preserve
the gold standard must also be ready
TO uphold all other forms of monopoly
and special privilege. In the campaign
which followed, unexampled for the ex-
hibition ii afforded of the most wicked
and abandoned political methods. Ii Is
notorious that all combinations of cap
ital, organized in trusts or otherwise,
throughout the United States. were
arrayed in solid phalanx in support of
the republican platform and candidates.
Fidelity TO Evil Interests.
The II months which have now
elapsed since the republican admlnistra-
ton came into power have only served
to confirm the fidelity of that party TO
the evil interests IL was elected to sub
serve. While a commission of distin-
guished gentlemen were in Europe OBJ
sequiously wooing the consent of foreign
governments to our exercise of the right
of government, and ostensibly car
rying out the empty promise OF the 81.
Louis platform To promote the free
coinage of silver by international agree
ment. and at a time most critical To the
SUCCESS pI II1dI IL any Su13N7o
at all were possible, the president of the
United States, in q special message 10
congress on the oath OF July, 1897, en-
dorsed the scheme Of alleged monetary
reform propounded by the so-called In
dianapol.s sound money convention,
based on the maintenance Of the single
gold standard. the retirement Of all
kinds Of government notes, and the sur
render to banking corporations of the
sovereign function OF issuing paper
money. This conspicuous reputation at
home Of any disposition toward bimetal-
lism must inevitably, IL no other cause
had existed, have sufiiced to defeat all
negotiations in its favor abroad.
when the present session of congress
convened It was addressed by the chief
executive in an annual message whose
utteranccs and recommendations on the
money question were inconsistent with
any other system than that of the gold
standard. and the secretary of the treas
ury laid before that body an elaborate
financial scheme, the principal object OF
which. as he himself candidly informed
a committee of the house of representa-
tives, was To commit the country more
thoroughly to the gold standard. More
recently has appeared the report of the
commission constituted by the Indian
apolis sound money convention and, as
we have seen, endorsed in advance by
this endorsement, and from the method
of its constitution. the character of its
deliberations and the treatment accorded
il by the great gold standard republican
newspapers. this report goes before the
country with almost the character of an
administration utterance. The speech OF
the president at the New York banquet
disposes of all doubt existing prior
thereto, and plants his administration
squarely on the gold standard. where
Secretary Gage has said 1t stood.
The Issue Clearly Drawn.
Thus 1t Is apparent that the interests
which are concerned in the perpetuation
of the gold standard and It's attendant
wrongs in the United States has select
ed the republican party as the means
wherewith to carry out their purposes
II is equally apparent that unless that
party shall be overthrow, currency
contraction, the extension of special
privileges, the rapacity Of monopolies,
trusts and Ubiquitous combinations or
capital are not only to be unchecked.
but to increase without limit. Under
such conditions the many must be sac
rificed to the few, social and industrial
conditions become intolerahle and self
government an impossibility. Against
such peril it is the duty of all friends
of social justice and civil liberty to unite
in vigorous and ceaseless opposition. The
issue is clearly drawn between the re-
publican party on the one hand and all
those who oppose these iniauitous de-
signs upon the other. At this junetufe
no friend of the people can afford to
hesitate in his duty Those who do not
exert their utmost to defeat the candi-
dates of the gold and monopoly party
are responsible for its success to precise
ly the extent TO which their efforts have
resulted in dividing the opposition.
Permit me 10 quote few lines from
letter written by me to T. 5. Corser
at Minneapolis. Mimi upon this same
subject, which quite clearly expresses
my views:
He who assumes the task of oppos-
ing the amalgamation of forces will
find that in order 10 sustain his case he
must demonstrate that part is greater
than the whole, and that a more sue
cessful assault can be made upon the
common enemy by the soldiers of the
army opposed to that enemy turning
on each other and destroying them
selves.
The opportunity for success in 1898
and 1900 is ours. if we but have the wis
dom. the patriotism and the courage to
grasp IT, The contest can only be won
by conducting our campaign upon the
high plane of moral grandeur and uu-
selfish patriotism. The selfish desire Of
men, or of political parties, must not be
permitted to stand in the way of an
equitable cooperation upon grounds of
mutual concessions by the three polti-
cal parties whose great mission Is to de-
stroy Hannaism, Clevelandism and Me
Kinleyism: in short, TO turn back the