The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-09-12

todlans of the financial honor and com
mercial interests which they have but
recently sought to ruin Being unable to
agree among themselves as to whether
the gold standard is a. curse or bless
ing, and as to whether we ought or ought
not to have free and unlimited coinage
OF silver. they have apparently thought
1t aeXDedient to avoid any -commital on
these subjects. and individually each to
follow his particular bent. Their nearest
approach to a majority Judgment seems to
be that it is now inexpedient to assert
their convictions one way or the other,
and that the establishment of the gold
standard by the Republican party should
not be disturbed unless there is an alter
alton in the relative quantity of pToduc-
ton of silver and gold. Men who hold
sincere convictions on vital questions can
respect equally sincere men with whose;
views they radically differ; and men may
promising their honor or their self-re-
spect But it is difficult to respect an
attitude of mind such as has been fairly
described above; and where there is no
respect there can be no trust. policy
with so slender a basis of principle would
not stand the strain of a single year of
business adversely.
We, on the contrary, believe in the gold
standard as fixed by the usage and YER
dict of the business world, and in d sound
monetary system as matters of principle;
as matters not of monetary political ex-
pediencY, but of permanent organic, pol
icy. In 1896 and again in 1900 farsighted
men, without regard to their party fealty
in the past, joined to work against what
they regarded as debased monetary. sys-
TEN. The policies which they cham
p1oned have been SteadfaStly adhered to
by the administration; and by the act of
March IA, 1900. congress established the
single gold standard as the measure of
our monetary value This act received
the support of every Republican in the
mousse, and of every Republican except
one in the senate. OF our opponents,
eleven supported it in the house and two
house and twenty-eight in the senate.
The record of the last seven years proves
that the party now in power can be
trusted to take the additional action nee
essary to improve and strengthen our
monetary system, and that our opponents
cannot be so trusted. The fundamental
1act is that in popular government such
as ours no policy is iTrevocably settled by
law unless the people keep in
control of the government men who be-
l1eve in that policy as matter of deep
rooted conviction. Laws can always be
revoked; it is the spirit and the purpose
Of those responsible for their enactment
and administration which must be fixed
and Interchangeable. 1t is idle to say that
the monetary standard of the nation is
1rreYocably fixed, SO long as the party
Which at the last election cast approx
mately As per cent of the total vote re-
fuses to put in its platform any statement
m1natlon to remain silent cannot be ac-
cepted as equivalent, to- recantation
Until our opFonehts ass a Eparty explicitly
adopt the views which we hold and upon
which We have acted and are acting in
the matter of a sound currency, the only
real way to keep the question from be-
coming unsettled is to keep the Republic
an party in power.