Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-05-20
IN SILVER STATES.

Not long since the Salt Lake Tribune
showed up the course which had been
pursued by the democracy in that state,
and declared that silver republicans
could no longer humiliate themselves by
cooperating with that party in 1900. In
Idaho the same conditions prevail. The
Pocatello Tribune says:
We know that the Tribune editorial ex-
presses the sentiments OF many OF the
silver republicans of Idaho. Democratic
unfaith and treachery have made in vain
the great sacrifice they made. They have
been forced to recognize that the demo-
cratic party is wholly selfish: that it has
ever regarded the spoils of office as OF in
finttely more Importance than the sue
cess of the silver cause. But worse than
even that. the democracy has proven it.
self utterly incompetent to deal with
| public affairs. This is plain talk but, 1t
is impossible for honest men to longer
lull themselves with illusions. TIL hope
of accomplishing anything for silver
through the democracy seems vain.
Every opportunity which the silver re-
publicans of Idaho have made for the
democrats. whereby they might have
proven their sincerity and really strength
NAANA NAS ~ nag VIVA
aside in order to make way for some
petty party advantage. Every effort of
honest men for the furtherance of silver
[ has been turned to the strengthening Of
the hands Of the treacherous and incom-
petent democracy. 1t is not that the men
Of Idaho are n less sincere in their adj
vocacy of silver, but that they are much
less confident of the democracy thar they
were three years ago. The democracy
had it's opportunity and it misused it.
Everywhere it has treated loyal allies as
hereditary enemies; everywhere it has
stabbed silver to strengthen democracy.
Great as has been the splendor OF it's
leaders, the bonds of a traditional mig
g~ardliness of opinion and incompetence
Of authority has fettered the limbs Of the
democracy and made it go lame. These
facts confront silver men. The democ-
racy, by its own actions, has deprived
them Of the hope Of accomplishing any
thing for silver through the democratic
party. They are forced to the conclusion
that the democracy desires only to rise
by their aid and then disown that aid.
Tried and respected silver leaders are
thrown down and crude figures of clay
set in their places-not for the further
ance OF the silver cause, but selfshly and
for democratic glcry alone. The men who,
N 1896, sacrificed party for a principle,
have been forced to see that with the
democracy that principle is only a hollow
mockery, and as the Tribune says: "They
do not feel as they did in 1896"
In Montana no s~elf-respecting silver
republican can afford to vote the demo-
cratic ticket in 1900, for that party's
~treachery to silver is too conspicuous to
be overlooked. It has sacrificed the in
~terests Of bimetallism to secure the spoils,
and has confined it's fidelity to silver to
it's local appetite for plumber. With the
silver republicans and populists taking a
firm stand against the democracy in all
the inter-mountain states in 1900, it is not
at all likely that it will be able to secure
much of a following from these parties
in other states.
1t therefore follows that the democracy
will lose no less than 5000, 600 votes given
it in 1896 by men who do not belong to
that organization. If that party makes
anti-expansion one of it's leading issues
it will lose heavily in all parts of the
south. 1t is safe to assert that the atti-
tude of the southern democratic press in
eastern sentiment, will mean the loss of
at least another million votes.
Had the local leaders of the democ-
racy in the various silver producing
states entered into a conspiracy to emas-
culate their party and hamstring it so it
can not stand alone in 1900, they could
not have made a better success of the
work than they have through treachery,
ingratitude, insircerity and bad man
agement.