The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1898-11-15
THE WEST, THE SOUTH AND FREE
SILVER.

SILVER.
Reason as they may. the silver people
cannot find any comfort in the late cleo
ton returns on the contrary they must
see. and all who are not blinded by par
tisanrv do sec. that their cause has re-
celved a blow from which It will not re-
cover It is true that the Republican
majority IN the House. has been re-
duced. but most OF the Democrats from
the East who have been elected 10 take
the place Of Republicans are as surely
in favor OF sound money and as surely
opposed 10 free silver as any Republican
In the House. For example, one OF the
most pitifm walls that VIC have heard
Is that of Mr.. william Willis, who ran
in the First Maryland District as a free
silver Democrat against Colonel Jonh
Walter Smith. Mr.. Willis declaring that
the Chicago Democracy in that district
WAS slaughtered In favor Of the gold bug
candidate The next House will con
tain almost as many sound money men
as the present House contains.
As for the Senate. the silver men have
lost control Of that body for many years
TO come and IL they should succeed in l9VO
in electing a silver man for the presi-
dencv and the majority Of the members
Of the House. they would still be unable
to pass any silvr legislation.
But all this aside. The silver people
are bound to see that in the last election
wherever the silver issue was ignored
the Democrats made their largest gains
and that where silver was made the
leading issue in the West there the Repuo-
licans made their gains, notably in Cali
fornia Washington. Wyoming. Kansas,
the two Dakotas and Michigan, TO say
nothing of Dir. Bryan's own State OF
Nebraska, where, although the Repubh-
can victory was not so great as at first
reported. they made gains Of more than
1000 votes.
Tho South is still solid. The South will
sIwavs be solid as long as there Is
negro question to deal with, but to-day
the South is the only section that Is
standing up for free silver. Even its
late associates in the West have forsaken
II and fed All but Missouri, Montana
Colorado. Nevada and Utah. But the
neople of the South will after while
awake TO the fact that they have been
rpisled. one Of these days they viii see
that those who stood by the old Jeher-
sonian principle, who stood for sound
money and for national integrity ana
who refused to be led away from the
democratic faith by these new apostles
,yere the real friends Of the South and
not renegades and traitors as their op-
ponents said.
In 1896 when the Chicago convention
| declared for free silver it was an easy
| matter TO 20 along with the crowd, 10
cry out against the money power and to
demand that the minis Of the country
| be opened TO silver. It was a very sore
trial for sound money Democrats TO cut
loose from their old associates and 10
mt themselves in the position OF being
harshly criticised. but they stood by their
convictions at all hazard and the day of
their yindication has come.
Few newspapers in the South or any
where else have ever been more abused
than The Times because 1t would
not support the Chicago platform
we have never aspired to be party
| organ and we have never sought popular
iv by running with the crowd. We arc
quite content with the position that We
| occunv in the state Of Virginia, and we
| do not aspire TO party leadership. But
we make the prediction that the day vii
| come when The Times will be recog
nized by the rank and file as tho
| true exponent Of Democracy in this old
| Commonwealth and this will come TO pass
without any deviation whatever from
the principles which The Times has adj
| vocated from the beginning and which
II advocates to-day. We may not live
TO see IT, We may not be here. but The
Times will be here ana Democrats VII
saw that after all The Times was right
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