The Topeka state journal., 1899-12-19
COME WITH US.
Appeal Of the Silver Republican
Leaders to the People.

Washington, Dec. 19.-After the pas
sage by the house of the financial bill
the silver Republican leaders in the
city held a meeting and adopted an ad-
dress setting forth their views as TO its
eject The address is as follows;
To the members OF the Republican
party who still believe in bimetal-
Ism:
The passage by the house Of repre-
sentatives of the gold standard and
bank currency bill exactly as agreed
uDon by the Republican caucus and
without the opposition of a single Re
publican vote marks the elimination
OF a policy long carefully pursued by
certain influences in control of the lead
Sership of the Republican party and JUS
rf6ed the action OF the men who in 1896
refused to remain IN tnat organlzatlon
after the adoption OF the St Louis
platform
The Republican national platforms Of
1SSs and 1892 had been unequiVocally in
favor of bimetalism ana the use OF
both gold and silver as standard money.
Nevertheless il was apparent Feral
months before the assembling of the
national convention or 1896 that the
machinery of the Republican party had
passed wholly into the hands Of the
banking and creditor interests and that
ii was the purpose of the latter to com
init the party to the advocacy ana
achievement OF the gold standard.
AGAINST this danger the undersigned
and MANY other Republican bimetal-
lists at that time vainly attempted to
arouse the masses OF the party The
politicians and newspapers prlvy to the
scheme denounced our fears as un-
founded or simulated and by skIIlful
use OF catch words and generalities
succeeded in fOreSUalIng any wide
spread comprehension of their designs.
When the convention met a similar in
genuity governed the framing OF the
declaration on the money question. Its
essential part was as follows;
ID. we are therefore opposed to the free
coinage OF silver except by internatiOn-
al agreement with the leading CONNER
cfal nations of the world which we
pledge ourselves to promote and until
such agreement can be obtained the eN-
listing gold standard must be preserved.
All our silver and paper currency must
be maintained at parity with gold etc
1t is strange that SO manifest an IN
sincerity should have deceived any
body. Clearly, if the gold standard was
desira BILE. the free coinage of silver was
unGesira bic, however secured II the
gold standard was right, free coinage
of silver must be wrong. Nobody could
jntelligently and honestly demand the
international free coinage of silver ana
al the same time express such emphatic
satisfaction with the gold standard as
an alternative. AS a matter OF tact
this declaration was intended as q
definite assurance 10 the speculative
banks and their allies that the Repub-
1iCau party, if successful in the election
would proceed with all polite speed 10
The establishment OF the gold standard
in all its Tig9r. The promise to pro
mote the International free coinage OF
silver was never meant to be observed
IN good faith. yet il proved d good
enough slogan until after the election
Relying upon it. enforced as II was
throughout the west and central pOr-
IionS of the country by the editors ana
orators Of the Republican party. mill
lions of voters were held in line for the
ticket. for. as stated in the Republican
campaign text book for 1892. the Re
publican party was 'bimetallc party
No one whose political judgment mas
the slightest weight will deny that
frank prOnOuncement for the gold stan
dard in that platform. or a straight for
ward Interpretation Of it by the Re-
publican candidate for president as
meaning the gold standard and nothing
else would have elected Alr. Brya an Dy
an overwhelming majority. To con-
strue the election of 1886 as mandate
by the American people for the eStab-
1ishment of the gold standard IS to ap-
propriate political goods under false
pretenses.
As soon as the election was over and
the fruits of this chicanery had been
gathered the great Republican news
papers began to discard their COnVen-
lent antiquities about sound money
and honest money and to claim the
result definite verdict IN favor OF
gold. These utteranceS increased in
volume and precision as the advent of
the new administration approached
4 ne president also. dlInOu8A not dDle
at once to form the habit of directness
in speech showed by his actions that he
no longer considered the prediction
construction Of the platform to be bind
ing. His appointment as secretary of
the treasury perhaps of the most con-
spicuous gold standard advocate among
the great bankers of the country was
obviously not especially designed to
promote any kind of bimetallism. To
be sure there was sent abroad the al
legged international monetary commits
sion Unless the hoax was to be openly
confessed this was the least the presi-
dent could do. but for fear that after
all. foreign governments might take the
procedure seriously, he sent to congress
n July. 1897, at the very moment when
his commissions proposals were before
the English cabinet. a special message,
recommending the sO-CalIed IndianapO-
lis monetary convention plan with it's
program OF the single sold standard, re-
Tlrement OF the greenbaCkS and extern
Eions of the powers. privileges and i'm
munities of the national banks. Mean
time his secretary of the treasury was
declaring in interview after interview,
most of which were carefully reproduc-
ed in Europe, that bimetallism of any
kind. International or otherwise was
not only impossible, but undesirable.
OF course. no serious negotiations were
possible after all this The internatiOn-
al commission became an international
Joke. 1t folded its tent like the Arab
and silently stole away Its distin-
guished and discounted chairman
sought early opportunity in the senate q
10 explain its failure in a speech in
which neither his diplomatic artifices
hot p n