The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1900-02-02
rnE HEPBURN LETTER.
fclnoinnnti Ena,lirerl

Gage, secretary of the treasury, under
date of June 5, 1897, is likely to be an
important part of the literature and
history of the presidential campaign OF
this year. Senator Teller in recent
able speech on the gold BILL said of It:
mr. President, 1 do not read that
letter with any feeling of pleasure. /
am not one of those who would never
willingly and with satisfaction speak
i'll of those in authority. l like to be-
lieve that the American officials and
and the American people are honest;
like to believe that they pursue proper
methods. But here is a letter which
ought to have gone back to the man
who wrote 1t, with a blistering reply
from the secretary of the treasury.
But IL did not. Why? Because subse-
quent events indicate very strongly that
the secretary of the treasury inteT.ded
to comply with that request and to
comply with it as a reward for services
rendered in political campaign"
Mr.. Teller treated the letter as an
indication that the banks were getting
too powerful in this country. He did not
want them to have the power to say
whether money should be dear or cheap.
He did not believe that the American
people wanted their financial affairs
mixed up with politics. For the sake
Of the completeness of this article let
us have the letter again. There will be
ing the next nine months and the
makers Of scrap books should have a
chance. Here it is:
my Dear Mr.. Gage: The National ,
City bank, of this city, Of which
recently became Wce-presdent through
the consolidation of business of the
Third National with lis one of the
banks designated as q United States
depository and l write to request that
in any changes which may be made
under the administration we may not
be disturbed in this respect. We should
like to remain a United States deposit
tory as at present. OF course the bank
is very strong and If you will take
the pains to look at our board of direc-
tors you will see that we also have
very great political claims in view Of
what was done during the canvass last
year."
The list of directors includes the
names of Mr.. Rockefeller and other
very rich men who contributed largely
to the Republican campaign fund in
1896. The more the candid people of
this country look back to that campaign
the bitter are they convinced that the
election of Mr. Mckinley was directly
the result of the influence of the pluto
cratic monopolists and the expenditure
of the enormous sum of money they
supplied. Mr.. Teller may be right in
spirit when he says that the letter
should have been Indignantly returned
to the writer, but the letter not hav-
ing been returned, and having remained
on file as part of the records of the
treasury department the senator ,lfs-s.,N y.
admit that Mr.. Gage did a good thing
when he sent it to congress along
with other information sent for. To
have withheld it would have been, to
say the least, lack of frankness. 1t
has confirmed the people in the suspi-
cions they have entertained and it has
given notice to them of the sort of a
canvass the administration managers
expect to conduct this year. 1t is money,
money, money. The city of Philadelphia
is to be blackmailed out of 100000 to
begin with. A gold bill is to be passed,
at great risk to monetary conditions, as
a sop to the heavy political contribu-
tors; and, of course, the federal office
holders and employees are again to be
stood up" and have their pockets
rifled Money is to be the potent power.
Principle is to play only a small part.
1t may not be possible to do anything
with Mr.. Gage. 1t may not be a mat
ter OF such deep moment to have a
congressional investigation, though it is
good politics. to make the Hendersons,
the Dalzells, the Hopkinses, the Gros-
venors, the Hannas, &c. squirm through
the fear of such thing. Upon them
should rest the burden of stopping
proceedings. The country is now pretty
thoroughly informed as to the facts.
The ascertainment of these truths
officially, in a proceeding which bears
some relation to a trial, might involve
the necessity of impeachment, dismiss
al, resignation, or something Of that
sort; but the case will do very we'll
for campaign purposes as it stands. The
proof is beyond dispute. Those people
who put up" the most for election
purposes are the men who get the
government favors.
Mr.. Teller was right when he said that
the American people do not want their
financial affairs mixed up with politics.
'They do not want the banks to be
able" said he. "when an election is
coming on, to make money plentiful,
and again when they want to assist
l..