The Forrest City times., 1899-02-24
CERTAIN OF VICTORY.
Senator James K. Jones on the
 Democratic Outlook.
Says Tint Issues VIII Be the same c Next Year ns They Were tn IsO0 -Deductions from Last
 Years Elections.

Washington Feb. 1s.-Senator James K. Jones, chairman of the democratic
 national committee. in an authorized interview to-day was asked if in his | opinion the democratic national con- vention of next year would reafiirm the Chicago platform. He said:
 ITO say that the next democratic na- | tional convention will reaffirm the po- sition taken by the convention in 1896 is to assert what every candid man. even slight ly familiar with existing facts, knows to be true. It is as certain as anything hu-
 man can be that the question of bimetallism | will be the leading issue in the campaign | next year. And 1t is reasonable to expect that the majority of the people will next | time declare for the party which means what 1t says and will redeem its pledges. and that they will not again be tricked into | casting their votes in favor of the enemies i of the principles in which they believe" "On what grounds do you base your hopes for success next year?" was asked. Some of the reasons why am strongly | hopeful of the future of our cause are as | follows: In the campaign of 1886 both parties declared for bimetallism; the dem. ocrats for independent action by the United | States; the republicans for an interna tional | agreement, which they pledged themselves | to promote.
 On being asked if he believed that the cause of bmetallism was improv- | ing, he said:
 There are as many believers in bimet- allism to-day in the United States as there 1 ever were. and all these doubtless are now | convinced that the only way to accomplish bimetalism is through the action of the democratic party. The great effort to stop | the fall of prices-the shrinking of values and to relieve the distress of business re- | sulting from these great evils. without | doing injustice or injury to any class or business. Is being more and more under | stood. and commands the respect of honest | and fair men always when understood, and | another campaign of ridicule and abuse. such as that of 1S96-whether dictated by | ignorance or venality-cannot succeed l against temperate arguments and appeals
 for simple justice. when the people have
 time to fairly weigh the arguments and i form deliberate judgment. There was great unrest and dissatis.
 faction in 1896 throughout the country. re- sulting from falling prices and shrinking | values. The republican party promised | that if they were intrusted with power all this would be changed. and that prosperity
 should succeed existing conditions. Mir Mckinley and the gold press now assure
 the country that we have prosperity There | Is quite a boom in stock speculation in Wall street. but Wall street is not the | country. we believe. A great famine | and a short crop of wheat all over the world. except in the United States. nat | urally raised the price of wheat while these conditions lasted. and the beneficent ef- l feet of this increase in the price of wheat | Is still widely felt. The beneficial effects | of this temporary advance in the price of | single article, which was so marked in
 the short period 1t continued. are likely to l stimulate a desire for a return to that con- l q nf |
 to all other products. This is our purpose,
 and was our purpose in 1896, when the re- publican party denounced any effort to
 increase prices as a crime"
 | Asked how he accounted for the ac-
 tivity in business, he answered.:
 "There has been necessarily an increased | demand for labor within the last few
 months. as the result of the withdrawa
 of large numbers of American citizens from
 the ordinary walks of life to be employed
 in the army. whose places had to be filled. | There has also been an increased activity
 In and demand for all products which | were necessary to the maintenance and support of a large army. But all these I conditions are in the very nature of things | temporary. and all of us know that they must pass away with the end of the con-
 ditions which brought them Into life. Max ing due allowance for the influence of these three causes. on the present condition of the | country. there Is to-day as much dissats 1 faction and as much cause for 1t as there was in 1896. No relief was or is to be ex-
 pected under republican management. ex- | cept such as comes by famine abroad and war at home- A condition of constantly falling general prices is everywhere recog- | nized as a condition of distress and hard
 times. and speculation excitement in Wall street does not change this. We believe
 that small volume of money forces prices xua hox, q h~ of our silver as we'll as of our gold-not
 only to check this grinding fall in prices, but to promote steadily advancing prices" Then you think that the Chicago plat
 form is gaining ground?"
 T most certainly do Tn the elections of last year the principles of that plat form were not the leading and exclusive issues in all sections of the country These
 were partially obscured in many states and districts. The question of imetallsm, the republican effort to retire the green
 backs and to confer upon the national banks the absolute control of the volume of pa- per money. and to surrender the country to the trusts. were. in many sections, for the time being lost sight of in the excite ment of the war and its resulting ques- tons: and in others they were sidetracked by efforts to substitute local issues in their
 stead. The result was great loss of in- terest and large falling off in the vote,
 
 the democratic party. In Colorado, where
 national Issues were at the front and dom- inant, the interest in the election was in.
 tense. the vote large and our majority overwhelming. In states where it was stated. whether truly or not. that there was an intention on the part of the demo- cratic managers to sidetrack the great issue. with the purpose of ultimately bring ing the party in national convention back to the practice of shuffiing and evasion, so long persisted in by both political parties. and still kept up by the republicans. the interest was not great. the vote was not full. and the results were not conclusive. There was. however. one great and val uable result-al reasonable men are now satisfied that straddling and lodging are not popular. The next democratic national convention will speak out again in the same clear. unequivocal terms, and in the same manner and in the same lines that It did In 1896. Of this there is no doubt. the assertions of the republican gold press. With whom the wish is father 10 the thought. to the contrary notwtthstandin.