The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-04-10
BRYAN ANSWERS
PERRY BELMONT
Devotes Himself to Existing
Party Differences.
THE RIVAL DINNERS
ARE NOT MENTIONED
Democracy Is Determined BY the
Platform Adopted.


Both Favored the Free and Unlim-
tied Coinage of Silver-Refers to
McKinley's Former Attitude
Championing the White Metal
Wage-earners Have Declared
Against the Single Gold Standard.
Lincoln, Neb., April 9.-Colonel w. j.
Bryan today mailed his answer % the
last letter received from Perry Bel
mont some weeks ago. The correspond
ence thus far has dealt largely with
the rival jefferson dinners to be held
in New York, but Mr.. Bryan ignores
that matter and -dewotes his attention to
the differences existing between him
self and Mr.. Belmont on the question
of Democratic party policy. His letter,
in part, follows:
Lincoln, Neb, April 6.-H0n. Perry
Belmont, New York: Upon my return
/ found your letter containing the orig
| inal letter and postscript given to the
! press some days before. / cannot find
anything in my letter to which you can
| consistently. object.
You began your speech in Madison
| Square Garden, on Aug. IS. 1896, by
saying that it was time for plain
speaking and ,proceeded d to accuse the
| Chicago convention of betrayal of
I the Democratic party. In your Brook
| lyn speech on Sept ID, 1896, you spoke
| of the Chicago platform as the strange
doctrines born in Chicago of a coali-
tion between the unthinking elemert of
| the old party and the socialists who
masquerade as Populists.' 1t seems
| that in using the words betrayal and
| masquerade 1 unconsciously fell into
| the style which you employed in 1896,
| but [ did not reflect upon the intelli-
gence of the gold standard advocates
by characterizing them as an 'unthink-
| ing element.
You ask-First, that I point out
| wherein your utterances are 'unpatri
otic, un-Denloeratic, un-American and
| in conflict with the Democratic creed
| as set forth in Jefferson $ first inaugu-
raj address,
I'VE have no accepted standard by
| which to determine whether a given
| opinion is patriotic or American, but
we have means of determining whether
an opinion is Democratic and in accord
with the teachings of Jefferson. | pre-
| sumo you use the word Democratic in
| the party sense, otherwise that term
would be as difficult to define as pat
riotic' or American
HOW DEMOCRACY IS DEFINED.
THE right to determine what is
Democratic in a party sense belongs 20
the Democratic party. The Chicago con-
| yention was more purely represents
| tive than any other convention held in
recent years, because the rank and file
! of the party spoke on public questions
through instructed delegates The Chi
cago platform is the latest authorita-
tive definition of Democracy, as ap-
piled to existing conditions. If a min
! ority of the delegates to a national
convention, representing a minority of
the members of the Democratic party,
has a right to determine what is Dem
ocratic, then each member of the party
has a right to define. Democracy for
himself, and to assert that he is a bet
ter Democrat than any one else.
Let me apply this principle to three
questions upon which you have taken
position in the volumes sent me:
=" 'First-Standard money.
"Second-Paper money.
''Third-Income tax
Jefferson favored the double stand
ard as against the single gold standard
and during his administration our na-
ton had the free and unlimited coinage
of gold and silver at the legal ratio
of 10 to l. The ratio was changed to 16
to 1 during Jackson's administration
The Chicago platform pronounced
against the gold standard and in favor
of the return to the free and unlimited
coinage of gold and silver at the ratio
of 16 to L without waiting for the aid
or consent of any other nation. AS a
delegate to the Chicago convention,
you voted for minority report which
declared against independent free coin
age on the ground that it would not
only imperil our finances but would
retard or entirely prevent interna-
tional bimetallism. to which the effort
of the government should be steadily
directed AS d delegate to the Indian
apolis convention two months later,
you supported a platform which de-
clared in favor of the gold standard
without any declaration in favor of in
ternational bimetallism. You may be
able to explain why the minority re-
jected at the Indianapolis convention
the plank for which it fought at Chi
cago.
"Mr. Mckinley in 1891, charged in a
public speech that Mr.. Cleveland, dur
ing his first administration. was dis
.,
discrediting silver and enhancing the
price of gold. He insisted that Mr.
Cleveland was trying to make money
scarce and therefore dear and added,
he would have increased the value of
money and diminished the value of ev-
erything else. Money, the master and
everything else the servant. If Nc
Kinley then understood the real pur-
pose of the gold standard as / believe
he did, who could think Jefferson
capable of advocating policy which
instead of securing equal and exact
justice to all. makes money the master
and everything else the servant
"Or Carlisle in a speech in 1878 said:
The conspiracy to destroy the legisla-
ton and otherwise from three-sevenths
to one-half of the metallic money of
the world is the most gigantic crime of
this or any other age.
IF Mr. Carlisle was then right. as I
believe he was, in his deunciation of
the gold standard, who can believe
jefferson capable of being d. party to
such a crime?
After the election, Mr. Mckinley
sent commission to Europe to Sc
cure international aid in getting rid of
the gold standard, and a Republican
congress appropriated money to pay
the expenses of the commission. The
commission failed because of the Eng
lish opposition and English opposition
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