The Washington weekly post., 1899-06-20
Bland's Fight for Silver.

In the death Of Richard Parks Bland
the cause OF free coinage of silver loses
lis most conspicuous, most persistent.
most hopeful champion. Bland and silver
VIII ever bee linked together in common
brotherhood. To write the story Of his
lie Is TO chronicle The long and unsuc-
oeSSiuI effort 10 TemOnetiZe the white
metal He began the battle when men
who are now foremost in the fight were
learning the alphabet and knew nothing
more Of silver than the value Of a dim
IN the purchase Of childish TOYS He
never weakened III his devotion 10 the
cause. II was his hobby. his one life mis-
sion and dream. He clothed himself about
with the silver question until ne almost
became lost in II, like a mantlr-WrapUed
figure. Thus he became largely man
ui one ldcd. lie spoke upon IlJtlc else in
congress, and even with death staring
nm IN the face he proved MS loyalty
Less than ten days ago he was inVIJeI 10
an antitrust dinner IN ST. Louis He
could not attend, but wrote brief iCt-
ter Faithful To the last, hc urged that
free coinage At the ratio Of lG 10 ! should
hc kcnt 10 the front as the leading issue
OF the day
Perhaps Bland first began to appreciate
SILVER os money metal when he en-
SaScd IN mining in Nevada ana CaiifOT-
Ma. tie was born i'm Kentucky in 1875
S-Nly-IOur years ago, and went ont To
The HaClnc slope in 1850, remaining there
ten years. Although born in a slave State
the war did lOt appeal 10 him, and il was
1900 before ne came East 10 Missouri. in
which state he settled. purchasing a farm
near IN" town OF Lebanon. He fITmtd
and prdcuCeI law. and became ntereS led
lu politics. lie had treu in the StaJ, only
eight years and was thlTtN-ScNrU years
% age when Le was elected TO Congress.
TO reach that point in so short a time
ana especially when he had not been In
JEC Confederate SrINlCr-a matter which
counted for something i'm those days
meant that his sturdy honesty ana ahil-
lJy attracted the attention OF his fellow
citizens. He remained in Congress all
the rest of mis- lie, with the exception
OF the two years which followed The Re
pDbIican landslide Cf 1884.
Died Poor Man.
Nearly 4 quarter OF a century did Bland
serve in Congress. when he entered he
had a farm near Lebanon and SOM
thousands of dollars, yet he died poor. In
This one sentence is told the story OF
his mimpedchable honesty. He was
sc.upulOusly conscientious In the clos
INK days of the Fifty-third Congress,
W hen he was about 10 retire To private
lie. some of his admirers i'm Colorado
sent him a magnificent service of solid
silver. Bland received the box by eX-
press. opened it, glanced At its contents.
closed IT, sent It back. and said nothing
about II 10 any one. This WAS CharaC-
IeristjC OF the man He was the father
of tie Bland dollar the famous dollar
ul our daddies,' but he never lined his
own pockets. lie Iabored. as he thought
und hoped. for the bettcrment of the
" hole people. OF himself he took no
thought whatever.
Ihere is absolutely no doubt Of the sin
Corry Of Bland's position on the silver
,--vsJion. lie honestly believed that with
the reconciliation OF silver would come
untold blessings upon the human race.
lie knew, as he expressed it once, that
there would be temporary wrench To-
capitalists and bankers but ne fclr that
this would be a small price To pay for the
benefits that would eventually Follow He
thought that n the United states entered
upon The free coinage Of silver all The
other nations OF the world would be-
forced 10 do likewise. and. sincerely belleV-
lHg This. he worked with an his might
10 accomplish the result. To the study
uf the financial question he gave au uf
his time. When he entered Congress