The age-herald., 1899-01-21
DICK CROKER SAYS
 SILVER IS DEAD Maintains That the Requiem Has Been
 Sung Oyer the Issue. SUPPORTS HIS POSITION By Virtually Declaring That Wall Street Gan Control Democratic Party. NEW YORK WILL FALL IN LINE However, When the Party Declares It. self, Even if the Platform Does
 Not Conform With Ideas
 ofMoney Brokers.
NEW YORK WILL FALL IN LINE

New York. January 2O.-Richard Croker,
 in an interview tonight said:
 "rhe 16 to l question is dead issue. This
 was proven conclusvely by the expression
 of the will of the people in 1896 when they
 elected MT. Mckinley president of the
 United States.
 States.
 Now the democrats of the west and other sections of the country are trying to foist this dead issue upon the democratic
 party and to make the dead cry of 16 to I
 the democratic issue in 19O0
 "Why should we carry a dead weight in that campaign? The times of four years ago are past. Today the times are differ ent and the issues are not the same
 Speaking for this section of the country I say that if the IS to 1 question is again
 brought before the people there will be felt again throughout the nation the same
 distrust that prevailed in 1896. During the fall of that year while the campaign was
 in progress every man With dollar of sur plus whether lie WAS Oi "Oi'Aio
 man, boarded his savings, in fact locked
 them up so securely that there was no money in circulation.
 The Natural Consequence "As a natural consequence, the times then became well-nigh desperate. Look back at the winter of 1896 and see what the mere rumor of silver coinage at the ratio Of l6-t 1 did to this country. You could not get money in the banks; you could not raise money on any kind of security and the re- suit was the hardest kind of times. "From the south and west there always comes the hue and cry against New York because it is the money center of the United States. But whenever there is any public improvement to be made in any section of this country the first place they look for help is towards abused New York.
 "They rush to our great city to raise the money They come here for the means to build their railroads, to construct their
 water works, to erect the plants for gas service and bond their cities for any kind of improvement. Then, no matter how much benefit is derived from this section of the l country, there is always the same howl against the great city because it is the money center-that very center without which public improvement would be an im- | possibility. "If this silver question comes again be- | fore the people and is made factor in the national platform the moneyed men of the l east will look for investment outside of | this country and the banks in other states | in the union will be unable to borrow money l in the east The result will be that the poor will be the greatest sufferers Every One Contented "The present winter of 1S9S-99 has been <; free from the scenes of starvation and suf- | fering that were so plainly characteristic | of the time when the financial strength of | the country was threatened. Everybody seems to be making a living and to be con- tented The reason for this is easily l found. The men with money have loos- ened their purse strings and money is being plentifully spent for public Improvements. | Labor is not idle and money is in circula- tion because there is feeling of financial | security.
 '"The free silver issue is merely local | issue. In the sections where free silver will benefit the residents it is but natural for I them to declare for 16 to l. However in my opinion, the money question should be 1 settled by congress.
 "But here in New York we must see to | it that the position of our party on the money question must meet the require- ments, not of any one section, but of every | section of the United States.
 l "When in convention assembled the ma- l jority of. the delegates demand a certain :, standard or a certain reform New York l will, as it ever has, fall faithfully in line l without a moment of opposition or a mur- I mur or protest. But the democratic plat 1 form of 1900 has not been written" mIIIMLM pI nnNC mn M0uEMEMT