The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-08-06
PRINCIPLE AND POLICY.

| Mr.. Hanna's personal organ in this
city quotes with approval a statement
from Mayor Rose of Milwaukee, and
| commends it to its Democratic friends.
Mayor Rose prefaces his statement
with the story of his conversion to BIZ
metallism in 1896. Then he proceeds to
argue, in substance:
l. That it is dangerous TO attempt to
reform the financial system of coun-
try in time of prosperity.
.. That the balance of trade has given
US a large supply of gold.
3. That it is difficult to combat the
temporary prosperity produced by
heavy war disbursements of money
realized from bond sales.
From these premises he argues it is
unwise to make bimetallism a dominant
issue in the next presidential campaign,
and that the question of ratio is sub
ordinate.
Having quoted this, the new convert
to gold doctrines says, triumphantly:
That is precisely what the Tribune said
months ago. VIII our morning contem-
porary try to gainsay it. or will it de-
clare that Mayor Rose has sold out to
ter are that the Democracy should next
year stand for bimetalism, traiff for
revenue, anti-imperialism and anti-trusts,
and he urges that no Democrat of any
shade be ostracised.
The letter confirms what We long ago
predicted that the Democratic party will
not go into the campaign next year with
silver as the paramount issue. 1t will
mildly endorse bimetalism; IL will try to
make its great roar in opposition to trusts
and in denouncing the acquisition of the
PlilinDineS. And Grover Cleveland and
William c. Whitney will be voting the
same ticket with Colonel Bryan and
Chairman Jones.
That is not what the Tribune said:
it declared silver was dead issue, but
no matter, its declarations are so con-
Trajectory as to be of no Importance.
The Herald sees no cause to ''gainsay''
what Mayor Rose says; he is so OBJ
viously at outs with the real Demo-
cratic sentiment of today that his opin-
ion is even less important than the
view of his Utah sponsor. If he had
supported free silver coinage at 16 to l
for the past twenty years; If he had
declared he would never support any
other doctrine; if he had until within
six months repudiated any talk of
compromise on the ratio, and then had
suddenly uttered such views, The Her
aid would feel justified in suspecting
he had cash reasons for such violent
change. And If, in addition to this,
Mayor Rose had announced gravely
that William ]. Bryan had lost prestige
With his party, there would be good
grounds for suspecting that his brains
had taken a vacation.
g g g
Mayor Rose and the Tribune may
like to believe that the Democratic |
party will not go into the next cam
paign with silver as the paramount !
issue" 1t is obvious the organ of Han !
naism has substantial reasons for such |
a hope AS Senator Dubois happily |
quoted, the wish is father to the /
But no genuine Democrat, |
no friend of silver expects any such |
from Democratic policy. No |
man who has watched recent develop |
ments believes silver will be abandoned |
by the Democracy in 1900.
If financial reform is on honest lines, |
it will be more easily accomplished !
when times are good than when they |
are bad. 1t is an old trick of gold adj
vocates to plead either way: When
times are good, free coinage is bad;
when times are bad, free coinage would
make things worse. according to their
is the Tribune's view.
AS to the prosperity induced by /
war disbursements, there is another
side. Taxpayers are feeling the burden
Of those same war disbursements more
than they feel the incidental benefits.
That argument is two-edged sword
The Democratic party will not aban-
don its advocacy of free coinage at Is
to !; it will waive neither the principle
nor the ratio. 1t is not ready to do as
the Tribune has done-abandon great
principle in the hope of deriving ad-
vantage from its betrayal.