The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-07-14
DEMOCRACY AND THE GOLD sTAN-
 DARD.

human retribution.
 | >-
 DEMOCRACY AND THE GOLD sTAN- | DARD.
 It is a matter of regret that some Democratic leaders and some Demo- | cratic papers here in the South are l looking with beclouded eyes at the &C., 1 ton of the Convention at St. Louis in | ratifying Judge Parker's addition to | the platform on the money question. For instance, here is Governor Cun- | ningham of this State. In an inter
 view in The Advertiser yesterday he
 made the following statements: l It occurs to me that the platform l is a declaration of the basic principles l of Democracy more than a declaration 1 of the policy to be inaugurated It is l a platform upon which all Democrats.
 regardless thsd of their vie views s..n upon the the
 bimetalists have not been ignored and | the gold standard men have not been | triumphant. and such platform is for the best interest of the Democ- | racy and in my judgment, for the best | interests of the Government, which will
 be safest in the hands of the Demo-
 cratic Party. 
 The reply of the convention that the l platform would not preclude a nominee | of his views from accepting the nomi- | nation in effect committed the admin l istration of Judge Parker. should he | be elected. to the maintenance of the I mitted the Democratic Party to this | policy.
 | The New Orleans Democrat
 takes practically the same view. | It says:
 l When, in hissdispatch to the St. Louis l Convention. Judge Parker, nominee of | the Party for President, said. T re- | gard the gold standard as firmly and
 irrevocably established" he was, of
 course. speaking not as statesman,
 but as prophet. The statement firm | ly commits Judge Parker to the single standard of value. but 1t can not and
 does not commit the party to that | on the subject of money. the debate
 and the vote showed that the. party is committed to the principle that the | in the present campaign. Whether it will be an issue in the next or not Is
 the realm of prophecy. We know of no one competent to say anything concius-
 i've or even of value on that subject. The best answer to both these utter
 ances is the construction put upon the
 correspondence between Judge Parker
 and the Convention by Mir. Bryan him.
 self. In his vigorous opposition to the
 affirmatory telegram of the Convention. He said last Saturday night: mated a man known to be a gold man | on that platform people could have gone and voted as I would have gone and voted voted knowing that he was | a gold man, but trusting him on the | other questions.
 But now he comes and injects into
 the platform this question and makes 1 it not merely gold standard plank | but as has been suggested makes it an | irrevocable gold standard, denying us | even the right to test it at future times.
 The Republican platform is not as
 strong on this subject as this telegram
 would make our platform" There can be little question that MT. I Bryan was correct in his view. That | Is the reason he got up out of his | sick bed, and fought he convention's
 action with all his might. He saw | the logical result of the telegraphic | correspondence, and did his best to
 prevent the reply. It will be observed
 that he says the Democratic platform
 Is made stronger by Judge Parker's
 action on the gold standard than the Republican platform. Furthermore, l Governor Cunningham and the Times 1 Democrat are the exceptions in their
 views on this matter among the Demo- | cratic leaders and press of the country. It Is unfortunate that such views
 are expressed in the South. It gives
 ground for the Republican press of
 the country to misrepresent the South
 as still clinging to the free silver
 ignis fatuous, in the face of the almost
 unanimous action of Southern dele
 gates at St. Louis in support of Judge l Parker himself and the conventions
 endorsement of his position. For in
 stance, here is The Chicago Chronicle, | until now a Democratic paper, which
 has gone over to Roosevelt and the
 Republicans on the very ground that | the South and the whole Democracy
 really hold the view advanced by Gov | ernor Cunningham and The Times | Democrat. Among other things justi- | flying its flop, The Chicago Chronicle | says:
 timid Eastern Democrat. who fond ly imagined that he could be nominat ed as an unknown, has been placed on the ticket with an octogenarian free silver l. ite from West Virginia and supplied with a platform which amounts to an endorsement of the platforms of Chi cago and Kansas City. The Populistic West and the reactionary South are again in alliance, with new leader it | Is true, but with no change in principle and purpose. The ticket bears the stamp of Populism. There Is not a plank in the platform which was not
 modified by Populism.
 Of course. The Chronicle Is unjust and perverse. It has long roasted the
 South on all sorts of pretenses, and it
 was only hunting excuses to turn Re publican. But we are very sorry that
 Southern leaders are affording any
 ground for Republican paper. new or
 old. to fight the reorganized Democ- racy upon.
 If We have kept up with the process
 slcn. there are now six candidates for President, including the off-color fel- low.
 The newspaper list which long ago knew that Parker would be the nomi- nee is growing right along