The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-01-07
PRIVATE JOHN ALLEN
Relates Incident Showing Prophetic
 Wisdom of Ex-President.

The Conservative.
 Quite recently. in a moment of rem len related this circumstance to a chum- my Republican friend:
 'The fact is, Tom" said John, "that I shall never forget being one of a legislature who called in a body upon Grover Cleveland during the year 1893, to solicit his influence in behalf of the free coinage of silver at the ratio of were about twenty-five members of that committee. Each one presented the best possible arguments in favor of the fad and fallacy of free coinage of the white Cleveland that they believed that un- less the administration favored silver and the monetary doctrine we all repre- scented. reelection to Congress or the Senate would become an impossibility in their States. No cause was ever pre- sented with more intelligent zeal than was that of silver on this occasion to which I refer. The friends of the money fallacy Gas it has turned out to bel were fervid and ardent in requesting MT. Cleveland to change his views so that the Democratic party might be strength ened and each one of the statesmen then present returned to Washington.
 After we had all finished, Grover Cleveland, with grelt pathos and depth Of feeling evinced in every feature, said:
 John. I would not willingly obstruct the path which for any of you lead to further political prominence and success. Towards each one of YOU l have only the kindest personal feelings. but this money question Is of so grave and seri- ous a nature that ones own feelings. preference and desires must be subordi- mated to his sense of duty. The honor and credit of the United States are at stake. It is my duty to adhere firmly to the single gold standard for this country. The government bonds have been issued with the distinct understanding both by seller and buyer. that they are to be tional credit are superior to any partisan considerations. Patriotism and the duty that it imposes, compel me, under my oath of office, to utterly disregard parti- san success. and to firmly act for what l consider the honor, the integrity and the prosperity of our common country. If you gentlemen could only convince yourselves of the error of your ways and come over to the support of the ad- ministraton and the support of the gold standard, I honestly believe that 1t would not only do the country great good, but that 1t would make the Democracy per manently the controlling political party of the republic
 And now" said Private John Allen, looking back to that momentous oc- caston. l wonder why we did not agree with that old man. If we had support ed his views and upheld his policies of his administration, the Democratic par ty. would have been in power today. and oiA liO hoNC pCOh iSLS Out OSSoNSS OA our adherence to the free coinage of sil- yer at 16 to 1 in unlimited quantities, would have been returned to Congress again and again, with unlimited possi- bilities to our political future.
 When the historian comes to write of Cleveland and the fact that when he ended his first administration he left $500 .000, 900 in the United States treasury. and that when he returned to his second administration four years later, he found that treasury drained so low that there was not money enough in it to meet ma turing obligations and current expenses and that Charlie Foster had already is- sued his order for the printing of gov ernment bonds with which to raise gold to redeem greenbacks, he will charac- terize Cleveland as a wise and sagacious statesman and financier. That historian will also say that Cleveland's last ad ministration was four years of lost op- portunity on the part of the Democrats and their pseudo leaders. If that second administration had been upheld as wig orousy and vehemently IS 1t was de- nounced. the Democracy would have re- mained in power time without end. The very things that were thrown overheard as unacceptable were taken up and adopt ed by the Republicans. Upon the money question. just as Cleveland stated and adhered to, the Republicans have twice ridden into power over the vagaries and fallacies which the Democracy's false leaders had set up