The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1904-10-06

ty in Congress refused to amend it so
that it could produce enough revenue.
The saying, Millions for defense, but
not one cent for tribute" in this case
| might have been expressed, Millions of
cost to the country in increasing deficit
and loss of credit rather than one cent
OF protection to any industry in which
Democratic leaders themselves did not
happen to have some personal financial
interest, like coal and sugar.
WHEN NERO PLAYED A FID-
DIE WHILE ROME BURNED HE
| SHOWED NO MORE UTTER IN
| DIFFERENCE TO THE INTERESTS
OF HIS COUNTRY THAN THE
LEADERS OF THE DEMOCRATIC
PARTY IN CONGRESS DID IN
| THAT DISTRESSFUL YEAR 1894
WHEN THEY PLAYED PETTY
| POLITICS, AND ALSO THE MAR
KET FOR SUGAR STOCK, AND
| WITH BLIND INDIFFERENCE TO
A FINANCIAL SITUATION THAT
WAS ALREADY DANGEROUS.
| PUSHED TO ITS PASSAGE a
| BILL THAT IN TURN WAS TO
| PUSH THE NATION TO THE VERY
| VERGE OF BANKRUPTCY.
The Stone Instead of the Loaf.
| The one single proffer of relief from
the Wilson bill deficit during the entire
session of the Fifty-third Congress. Dem
| 0cratic in both branches. was a bill di-
:ecting the treasury to coin ard use the
| S55,0OC.OO0 "seigniorage" theoretically
acquired by the government in buying
silver at the market price and paying 1t
| out in over-valued silver dollars.
| This bill was a case of offering to the
| financially distressed nation a stone
when loaf was asked for, for with the
| gold reserve 'crumbling to pieces owing
to the increasing desire of persons APP
pretending a slump to the silver basis
to exchange paper and silver money for
| gold, and owing to the encroachments of
the government itself upon the gold re-
serve because of the increasing deficit.
it was obviously case of trying to sup
ply the straw to break the camel's back
TO furnish this additional load of silver
| for the gold reserve to carry at a parity
with gold
But what did the Democratic Con-
gress care if the seigniorage bill was to
further damage the credit of the coun-
try? Never for moment did the Dem
L
even to prevent deficit in the treas
ury, and never for a moment did they
care to go back on free silver, even to
prevent the fatal consequences to the
national credit that the increasing deficit
involved.
The Scigniorase bill, however. was for
tunately vetoed by President Cleveland.
who on the silver question at least was
right while his party was wrong. and to
whom credit is due for refusing 10 con-
cede anything to the free silver senti-
ment during the same period when Al
ton B. Parker and Henry G.. Davis were
both actively aiding and abetting free
silver with their money and with their
votes
lvindictive Treatment of the Pros
perity Goose.
| The Democratic party during those
four years acted as if it deliberately
| sought to kill the goose that lays the
golden egg of prosperity. 1t was a case
of give the goose a hit in the head with
a big stick. then in order to ward off
any returning signs of animation, a more
severe hit, this time in the heart; and
then. lest there should be a few sparks
of vitality left, a violent kick with the
foot, and then another, and then another.
And there is nothing in the Democratic
platform this year, or in the personal
records of the Democratic candidates,
Messrs. Parker and Davis, to suggest
that the Democratic party would not
again attempt the killing of the prosper
ity goose if it got the chance.
The Democrats want reduction in the
| tariff, but unless they should pursue a
niggardly, drastic policy of cutting down
present expenditures in furtherance of
the honor and prosperity of the nation,
they would need every bit of the present
revenues from the tariff to make both
ends meet. However, even by pursu-
ing a policy of ultra niggardliness in ex-
penditures for the public good, extrav-
agance in other ways, coupled with their
tariff revision policy, would probably
more than neutralize such saving and
necessitate large bond issues. Why should
the intelligent voters of the United
States give the Democratic party the
slightest chance to allow history, to re-
peat itself in another doleful chapter of
Incompetence, scandal, business disaster
and hard times for all classes of people
Parker and Davis belong to the same
school as Cleveland as regards free trade,
except that Davis has been a protection
list when protection to himself through a
high tariff on coal was involved. But
as regards free silver, neither of them
showed the moral strength that Cleve-
land showed in trying to prevent the
prosperity of the country from being ut
terly crushed-for while Cleveland
fought free silver, and fought it hard.
Parker and Davis both voted for IL