The Florence tribune., 1898-10-01
SENATOR TELLER TALKS SILVER.
Would Walk to the Polls to Vote Against His Best Friend if put on the
 Mckinley Ticket.

1T need not recall the fact that i'll 1896 the republican state convention gave me an invitation to go to St Louis to the republican national con Vention. knew then, as know now, that party had got under the control of the great moneyed power of this country, and that all the efforts of | silver advocates would fail in that con yention. I did not desire to attend | that meeting, because knew that l | would not be in harmony with it's actions. said I would not stand by that party if it abandoned silver, and l did not. What would you have thought of me and my associates if we had remained in that convention after its declaration against silver? We carried a commission from the great republican organization of this state. We went to that convention, and we came home, and 85 per cent of the peo- pie of the state ratified our action. But we are now told that the people have changed their minds: that there has been great war. Yes, with the great examples of imbecility that are cropping out every day. There wasn't a man who stood with me for silver in congress that didn't give as earnest support to the administration on the war measures as any republican of any stripe whatever. We gave to the ad- ministration $50,O00,0O0 without any restriction or limit whatever, because we hoped the war might be averted by such an act of union of all the political forces. don't klow what has been done with the $5O,oOO 900. do know
 that there wasn't as much scandal in three years of the civil war as in the thirty days just past of this admins | tration. It does seem to me that there must be imbecility of the worst charac- ter when within few hours ride of the greatest city of this country there
 are thousands of sick men who fought nobly at Santiago (eheers), and who are without even the bare necessities for comfort and nursing. It seems worse than imbecility when the widow of one of our dead generals visits the place and appeals to the country for help for those dear patriots-for cots and for milk for,the men who contracted fever at Santiago. With man at the head of the war department as com potent as Stanton (cheers) such blunders would never have occurred. Mrs. Logan would not have had to ap- peal to the people to furnish cots and blankets for the sick soldiers. Yet the administration people would have us believe that their conduct of the war killed the silver issuei Don't tell ne there is anything in the war so far that requires me to forget that the silver question is settled. And I am not alone.
 Almost every teacher at Oxford and Cambridge, in England, tells us that you can't maintain civilization under the gold standard. And yet 1 they tell us the silver question is dead
 There not hamlet or village in the United States where the subject is not of paramount interest. I trust that in 1900 we will fight the battle again under the same old standard bearer.
 "The enemy tells us that there is no hope for silver only in the republican party. My friends, if believe that never would have left that party. If the republicans settle the question it will be on the basis of the gold standard. Do you believe the men who proclaimed themselves the followers of Mckinley are the friends of silver? (Cries of 'Nol No') When the convention at St. Louis declared for the gold standard Mckinley accepted the nomination, and made more than 100 speeches from his cottage home, and in every speech he derided and denounced silver. He selected for the secretary of the treas ury Lyman J. Gage, man who was avowedly gold standard man. Do you believe the president, if bimet- allist, would put such man in his cabinet? The people of Colorado are not idiots, even if some public people say so, and it is hardly fair to tell that in the face of this that Mckinley is silver man. Every movement that the administration has made has been to fasten the yoke of the gold standard upon the people, and every vote given for a Mckinley man indorses this course. The word has gone out to the east that Colorado has seen the mis- take it made in 1896, and that the re- publicans will again get into line with the old party. l don't intend to get into line. l will stand for silver. will not join hands with the gold standard in the east and then come home here and profess friendship for the silver cause. I feel moved to speak