The silver state. [volume] (Unionville, Nev.) 1870-1903, 1902-01-24
BARTlNE
REVIEWS
SITUATION.
Former Nevada COngressman's
Views Upon Present Polit.
ical Conditions.
Saws the Silver Issue Lives and
Nevada Should Stand
by the Cause.

The following letter written by II. F.
q Bartine Of Washington, D. c. who ably
represented Nevada in the House of
Representatives for two terms, is of
timely interest:
Editor Journal: Old Nevadans sell
from the State for longer or shorter
periods of time the most of them in
dulge in the hope that they themselves
are not entirely forgotten by their old
time friends in the land of silver and
sage. Such, at all events, is the case
with me, and being located for the
present in Washington, 1t occurred to
me that some of my thoughts and OBJ
servations concerning matters of ma
tional import might not be entirely de-
void of interest to your readers.
NEW POLITICAL CONDITIONS.
Politically and legislatively the situ-
alton has greatly changed since the
time when i had the honor to serve
Nevada as best could in the House of
Representatives. Then the question of
free silver coinage was the issue of
paramount Importance before the
country. In Congress five-sixths of the
Democrats and all the Populists favor
ed such a measure, while something
like 81 per cent of the Republicans OPP
posed 1T. But in neither House was
there any appreciable sentiment in ia
vor of the gold standard. Almost every
member professed to believe in bimet-
allsm, and the few pronounced gold
men like Harter of Ohio and Walker
= of Massachusetts, were regarded as
monetary cranks of the first water.
Today the Republican party is solidly
for the gold standard, not only oppos
ing the free coinage of silver, but any
coinage at all of the white metal, save
for small change, while many Of its
members are in favor of getting rid of
the silver dollars already coined, and
supplying all deficiencies in the cur
rency by allowing the banks to issue
circulating notes upon the basis of
their general assets.
In fact, bills for both OF these pur-
poses have been introduced into Con-
gress by prominent members of the
party and the one designed ultimately
to eliminate the silver dollars from our
monetary system has already been act
ad ,,poy, md rann,ta1 20 tha uo,,va hxy
the Committee on Banking and Cur
rency
Thus has the attitude of the party
been completely reversed within the
space OF a decade. Radical as this
change has been. it was nevertheless
made by almost insensible gradations
Little by little Republican platform
declarations in favor of bimetallism
became weaker and more equivocal,
but still holding out some hope to those
of the party who honestly believed in
that monetary system. Even in 1896
the Republican national platform did
not declare unqualifiedly for the gold
standard, but onl'- for its maintenance
until an international agreement for
the free coinage of silver could be
maintained. and this agreement the
party leaders pledged themselves to
promote. The pledge thus given bore
an the ear-marks of bad faith and of
being merely to hold the votes of West
ern Republicans. 1t deceived none but
those who were willing to be hood
winked In the interest of the party. 1t
was denounced by Colorados grand
oid man." Henry NJ Teller. as a fraud,
ana ne, with Cleveland Of Nevada,
hartman Of Montana, and some thirty
others left the convention hall.
subsequ Mt events have more than
justified this action. The Wolcott
commission was appointed in a per-
iunctory way. 1t accomplished moth
ing and was not expected to. In Eu-
Iope 1t was regarded as merely the
pornal carrying out of the campaign
pledge, with no purpose on the part of
'he American government that anything
should result from it. While the COM
'nission was at work in Europe, Secre-
'afy Gage, with the full sanction Of