The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1898-06-03

Under the headline, Treason in the
Senate the Chicago Tribune makes a
ferocious assault upon the senators
who opposed the bond proposition Of
the war revenue bill. The Tribune re-
fers to these SENATOR'S as TRAITORS" and
says:
The real object of these senators is
to paralyZe the country when actually
at war;; to deny the administration
money with which to pay, clothe, feed
and transport it's soldiers and sailors;
to ruin the credit of the United States
abroad and make it impossible for it to
borrow at any time; to deprive it of
financial standing among the great ma
financial and industrial panic so de-
structive and SO far-re2ching in it's
consequences that for a time the peo-
pie would almost forget the country
was at war. This is treason. 1t is
apprehension aggravated by imbecili-
tv. The worst enemies of the United
States will begin their campaign in
the senate against their own country
in a few days. The domestic allies CT
the %Spaniards will open up their fire
in the rear and on both tanks of u
army and navy, and will stick at moth
ing to carry out their reasonable n
terprises unless an indignant country
serves on them notice in unmiStakable
terms that they must abandon their
Infamous policy-at least until the wal
is over"
Every senator who vigorously op-
poses a bond issue was an equally Wig
orous champion of Cuban independ-
ence, an equally vigorous champion of
the proposition that the honor of this
nation must be sustained. During the
contest over the Cuban resolutions
the Chicago Tribune referred to these
senator's as patriots. BY what proc
ess, says the Omaha World-Herald,
have they so suddenly been transform
ed into traitors?
The senators who led the fight
against Cuban independence, who in
sisted that the United States must be
humbled before S~pain-these senators
are leading the fight in favor of a bond
issue. While the Cuban resolutions
were being considered the Chicago
Tribune denounced these senators as
being untrue: to their country. Ely
what process have they suddenly been
transformed to patriots?
The charge that the purpose of the
bimetallists in the senate is to deprive
the administrator Of money with
which to prosecute the war does not
conform to the action of these BIZ
metallists when, by unanimous vote,
they appropriated the enormous sum of
$50, 900, 900 to be used by William Nc
kinley at his own discretion and in
his own way, in order to prepare this
nation for war.
1t is significant that Hanna, Elkins,
Hale and the other pro-Spanish SEN
ators, and Reed, Boutelle and other
pro-Spanish representatives, are most
conspicuous in the championship of the
bond issue. These men, more than
any others, are responsible for the
destruction of the battleship Maine,
and responsible for the necessity Of
this nation engaging in war with
Spain. They bear this, responsibility
because they persistently opposed and
prevented the granting Of %belligerent
rights to the Cubans, q proposition that
would long ago have resulted in com
plete triumph for the Cuban people.
These men opposed Cuban belliger-
ency, opposed the recognition of Cuban
independence and opposed action on
the part of the United States to main
tain it's honor, for the reason that
Wall street was opposed to such pro-
ceedings. Now that the war is on,
Wall street is anxious to make the best
of it, and demands the bond issue.
With characteristic loyalty to the
money power, Hanna, Elkins and Reed
advocate a bond issue for the same
reason that they opposed the Cubans.
The men who oppose the bond issue
are actuated by a determination to
guard the domestic interests of the peo-
pie OF the United States as carefully
as they sought to guard the interna-
tional welfare of that people.
The Chicago Tribune will have diff
Guilty in convincing it's readers that
Hanna, Elkins, Hale and other sena-
tors whom less than two weeks ago
the Tribune denounced as untrue to
their country-the Tribune will have
difficulty in convincing it's readers
that these men have suddenly become
patriots, while the loyal men who have
opposed them have suddenly become
traitors.
The treasury reports show that the
available cash balance in the treasury
is more than $21S,0O0, 900. Of which
s1QO 000 00l is gold reserve It walll6