Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1902-09-15

the battle Of 1896 was fought again OBJ
tanning, the one great thought of that
memorable contest must press to the
front for settlement.
When that day comes, whether soon
or late, two years from now, or after
or before that time, there can be no
doubt, In the light Of experience. Of
the intensity of the struggle, when it
comes. 1t was the one point selected
by common consent of the combatants
around which the war of the standards
in 1896 ragged. Again and again the
Republicans tried to switch the issue
to that Of the tariff. They found that
in the estimation of every one the
tariff question was as dead as Julius
Caesar. But any man, on any street.
corner, could in minute have a
crowd of eager listeners to even the
most raw and crude discussion Of the
hiouey duVstioii. All acute ODSeTNer
! has thus graphically but fairly de-
picted that heroic fight: "The canvass
which occupied the months between
party nominations and the election
was the most remarkable, in many
respects, that the country had ever
gone through On both sides of the
silver question intense convictions
were burning and intense anxieties
being felt. To the defenders of the
gold standard Of value an unlimited
free coinage of silver legal tender
money, at the ratio Of 16 to 1, meant
both dishonor and ruin-national bank
| ruptcy, the wreck of industry. and
chaos In the commercial world. To
many of those who strove with desper-
ate eagerness to bring 1t about 1t
meant, Oh the contrary, a millennial
| social state, in which abundance would
prevail, the goods of the world be
divided more fairly, and labor have
juster reward. So the issue fronted
each as one personal, vital, almost as
one Of life and death. Their conflict
bore no likeness to those commonly
in politics, where consequences seem
remote, vague, general to the body
politic,-- not instantly overhanging
the head of the individual citizen. as
in this case they did. Not even the
patriotic and moral excitements Of
the canvass Of 1850 produced so in
tense feeling of personal interest in
the election--so painful an anxiety
in waiting for its result. And never
In any former political contest had the
questions involved been debated so
earnestly, studied so widely and in
tently set forth by every artlfice of
exposition and illustration with so
much ingenious pains. The cam
paign literature distributed by each
party was beyond computation in
quantity and beyond classification in
Its kinds, and the speeches of the can
vass were innumerable."
And yet, in the face of every obsta-
Gle which the meanness characteristic
OF money could invent, and which
the resources of trick, chlcane, fraud
and coercion were exhausted in inter-
posing, and I'm spite of the enormous
defectlons from the Democratic ranks
in the Eastern States -desertions
which gave to the enemy New York
by plurality Of 26S,0O0, besides 10000
for the gold Democratic ticket, Penn
sylvania by 295,000 and 1000, New
Jersey by $1,000 and 5000, and Massa-
chusetts by 173,00O and 11,OO0-not-
withstanding these odds, Mr.. Bryan,
upon the silver question alone, rallied
to the Democratic banner, mainly
from the thinly peopled States of the
South and West, 0,506,S35 votes.
That the money question is not yet
dead, and that II sleeping 1t is but
fltfully and near the surface, Is seen
In the fact that Wall Street is all the
while on the verge of nervous prostra.
tion. Today the street is at the edge
OF collapse because of threatened
money famine. The Secretary of the
Treasury is Fastening to its relief by
releasing several millions of govern
ment funds, Armour Is shipping like
amount to New York, while gold i'm,
ports from Europe are eagerly hoped
for by every steamer.
So we say that Mr.. Johnson did a
prudent as well as patriotic thing in
mailing to the Ohio platform fit rec
ognltlon Of this all-important issue
And he but emphasizes its paramount
place in any consistent scheme OF
Democratic campaign by tempering
his disclaimer of entire agreement
with Mr., Bryan in 1896 upon this ques
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