Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-12-20
A DEMOCRATIC CONFESSION.

In military operations a retreat from
tha battlefield by one side is usually fol-
lowed by aggressive action on the part
of the other side. The same rule holds
good in political warfare. When the
democratic party began its retreat from
the position it had taken in 1896. relative
to the free coinage Of silver and gold, ana
surrendered the vantage ground it had
ACQUIRED in aligling public sentiment
with that idea. it invited the aggressive
,policy which has since been pursued by
the gold men. and which has made pos
ssible the adoption of the new currency
bill that affrins the gold standard.
Had fixity Of purpose on the part Of
the democratic leaders inspired the Am
eriean public with faith in their sincerity,
the sentiment in favor of free coinage
would have been as strong to-day as it
was in 1895. 1t could have been shown
that free coinage would have augmented
the prosperity now enjoyed by the coun-
try. by supplemanting the increased pro-
'duction of gold with silver. thus en-
larging the facilities for business with
out the impairment of monetary values.
But the democratic leaders and the
party press chose another course. In
stead of SIGNALLING the defeat of 1896
with renwed efforts in behalf Of silver,
keeping the issue to the forefront and
educating the American public to the
,a,;+ - +lo+ o,,4: 11;a, 41.oxr 1.-.A
a hasty retreat from the field of battle
and began the search for some other
ground upon which to make another po-
litical stand in 1900.
Scarcely had the smoke of battle in
1896 cleared away. before the democratic
silver leaders began the work of arrang-
ing terms of surrender to the gold wing
of their own party. To effect a party re-
union, it was necessary for the silver
democrats to recede from the radical
position taken in 1896, and agree to the
selection of some other paramount issue
for the campaign of 1900. This was &C.
.~cordingly done. Mr.. Bryan himself TAX
ling the initiative by springing ''anti-im-
perialism" upon the public. He resign
ed from the army, not to promote the
silver cause but to assist in the work OF
croWding it to the rear with a new issue
upon which the two wings of the party
could unite. He is to be rewarded for
this step by the support of the gold dem.
ocrats who fought him bitterly in 1896.
lesser lights of various degrees of no.
toriety and influence haye emulated Mr.
Bryan's example, and even the talloN
dips Of the silver democracy have sput.
tered and sizzled until their political tai.
low has taken on a yellow hue, and the,
are willing to admit that the relative
values of the money metals are fixed b,
the worlds exchanges. Every concession
made by the silver democrats to the gole
democrats is an ignoble confession tina,
the campaign of 1896 was an error Of
Judgment. No greater confession o.
weakness could be made on behalf of the
Silver cause than the readiness will
which Mr.. Bryan and his %coadjutors seel
to create a new paramount issue to takt
its place in the forthcoming campaign.
With the late silver democrats unwill.
ing to accept the republican challenge tt
make free coinage the paramount issue il
1860, as it was in 1896, little wonder tina
the gold men have become aggressive to 6
point where they are willing to affirm by
law the financial policy for which they
contend. Had the silver democrats KEEP
the silver sentiment of 1896 alive-had Mr.
Bryan, and other influential leaders OF
that wing of the democratic party. deyot.
ed their energies to it's maintenance as
the paramount issue. instead of creating
a new issue to take its place-the republi.
can party would have been kept on the
defensive. But with the issue
of 1896 voluntarily forced into the back.
ground by it's former champions and
friends. the republican advocates of thu
single standard quite naturally took ad.
vantage of the situation and assumed the
aggressive. The new currency bill is thu
legitimate outgrowth Of democratic