The Indianapolis journal., 1898-01-26
THE PARTY OF DISORDER,
But the One with Which the Post Was
Long Allied.
New York Evening Post.


The Democratic party made a notable be-
ginning in Congress yesterday for the next
campaign by starting in the Senate reso-
luton for paying the public debt in silver
and in the House a movement for Cuban
belligerency. Both of these movements are
projects for public disorder and business dis
turbance. The latter follows naturally and
inevitably from the former! There has been
perceptible gain in business activity since
the beginning of the new year. Apparent
ly, the Democratic leaders consider prosper
1ty, even in the slight degree that it has
manifested itself, detrimental to their pros
poets. Hence these two simultaneous move
mentS in Congress, which may fairly be
called riotous. The party seems determined
to make 1t impossible for any man who
has acquired money honestly to cooperate
with II and to expel from its ranks all
persons who belong to the property-owning
classes. The change that has come over it
since it nominated Bryan and adopted the
1ncendiary Chicago platform is most melan-
choly. During the greater part of Mr.. Cleve-
lands two terms of office, and also during
the interval between the first and second,
the Democratic party was the most con-
serVative party of the two 1t commanded
the confidence and support of the property
owning classes in a high degree and it
Republican party at that time was under
the spell of it's most reckless leader Blaine.
1t lost so large share of the Sober-minded
ard rejecting classes who were attached to
1t by birth and tradition that it went out
or power Tor the first time in quarter of
century. Now the wheel has reVolved again.
The republican party has improved by way
of contrast, if not actually The country
looks to 1t now to preserve order. so that
the PLAIN people can earn their living in
peace and quietnesS
This fact found expression in the teIe-
grams from Washington yesterday when it
was announced that the Senate COMMITTEES
on finance had reported the Teller resolu-
ton for paying the bonds in silver The an
nouncement was coupled with the assur-
ance that even if the Senate should mass
such a bill the House would vote it down.
II 1t were supposed that such a bill would
10 hnF~n 4
panic the like of which has not been seen
by the present generation. 1t would mean
blank repudiation, because the law under
which the present debt was created made
the gold dollar the unit of value That
law, enacted in 1873, has never been
changed. The limited coinage of silver dol
lars that has taken place since that time
has not altered the fact although it has
served to obscure it in the minds of some
public debt in silver? To pay it in the
present silver dollar would signify little.
because these must be kept equal to gold
dollars 1t means that the next step would
be the free coinage of silver so that all
debts, public and private. might be paid
in a cheap metal at about 80 cents to the
We cannot say that we deprecate the
presentation of this resolution in the SEN
ate In some respects it is timely. 1t is
time that the Republican party was shaken
out of its lethargy 1t won victory last
year for sound money and against the 90
cent dollar 1t has been apparently fright
bling on the brink, undecided whether to
go on and reform the currency and put it
where it should cease to be a perpetual
menace, both in politics and in business,
or not. We have pointed out frequently
that if the Republicans could not make up
their own minds the Democrats would force
the issue upon them. They will now be
driben from cover and it is best that they
should be. We have told them that the
world would not stand STILL and now comes
Mr.. Teller bringing proof of the fact. Let
them come out of their hiding and fight his
resolution. 1t will be good for their de-
jected souls to do SO. 1t will improve the
courage and also the intellectual resources
of the numerous doughfaces in both
branches of Congress, to compel them to
take a stand and give the reasons for doing
so. We have no fear of the result when
once a battle is brought on and il becomes
a question of life and death. The North
can be relied upon in such fight just as
surely as in the fight against secession. The
North has the population and the resources.
and the same patriotic resolve that carried
ii through the struggle of 1S60-65. 1t has
the profund conviction that paying debt in
silver that was contracted in gold is repudi-
alton and that reputation is akin to sui
eide We shall regret to see the country
again divided on sectional lines--the South
and the silver-mining States against the
rest of the Union-but it looks now as
though such division were impending.