The Oklahoma Representative. (Guthrie, Okla.), Vol. 5, No. 35, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 9, 1896 Page: 3 of 8
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J
THE F.I R ST (UN.
HON. FRANK BURKITT OPENS
CAMPAIGN IN ARKANSAS.
Finance, Tr aim port at ion :m i I.an«l tho
Threw Great institutive Principle* of
t>i<* riiuplo's Party -History of 1'ollilcnl
Parties.
The following are extracts taken
from th^speech of Hon. Frank Burkitt,
•x-eandidate of the people's party for
governor of Mississippi in lS9r>. The
speech wjis delivered at Hardy, A4k.,
May 30. 189G.
Fellow Citizens: When four thou-
sand men own more than half the
property of a nation of seventy mil-
lions; when two men are the proprie-
tors of 14,000,000 acres of land, when
corporations and foreign syndicates
have been given or permitted 10 grab
land enough in this country if in a
body to make four such states as Ar-
kansas; when flfty-two per cent of our
entire population are tenants; when of
2.277 heads of families in ward 1 in the
city of New York only 19 own their
homes unencumbered; when heartless
millionaires like Pullman exercise the
power to reduce arbitrarily the waged
of their employes three times hi one
year, at the same time declaring the
•i3ual dividends: when federal judges
at the bidding of corporations enjoin
men from doing what they never con-
templated, and imprison them for fail-
ure or refusal to commit the crime
charged; when the same tools of plu-
tocracy attempt to compel workingmen
to submit to the exaction of railway
magnates or be punished for refusing
to work; when the President of the
United States will at the behest of
soulless corporations invade a sover-
eign state over the protest of a gov-
ernor and in defiance of the constitu-
tion and law of the land; when a ser-
vile congress farms out the right to
issue, expand and contract the cur-
rency of a great nation at will and
pleasure of 3,756 national bankers;
when an incompetent and corrupt sec-
retary of the treasury dickers in secret
with the old clients and partners of the
president in the sale of bonds at a
price that enables the purchasers to
reap a profit of millions of dollars;
when a supreme court solemnly de-
' lares that the rich and powerful mey
escape taxation, while the products of
farm, mine and factory do not yield a
sufficient profit to the producers to de-
ently feed, clothe and educate their
children; when soup houses are re-
garded as necessary institutions in our
cities, when the highways of this, the
greatest nation on earth, ire thronged
by 2,000,000 human beings, who, like
the Son of Man, are houseless and
homeless, with not where to lay their
heads, I assume that you will agree
with me that there is something wrong
in this country.
To right the wrongs from which peo-
ple suffer, after earnest, prayerful ef-
forts to induce the democratic and re-
publican party leaders to cease to fos-
ter monopoly and adopt as a policy
' the greatest good to the greatest num-
ber," many good and true men, more
patriotic than partisan, feeling that
nothing would be dene by either of the
old parties to restore to the country
much needed prosperity, resoived upon
the organization of a new party which
would embody in its. declaration of
principles the republicanism of Jeffer-
son and Lincoln and the democracy of
Jackson and Calhoun, and they cliriBt-
ened it with the identical name which
Jackson's party returned in 1828—The
People's Party.
We hear democratic speakers often
boast that Thomas Jefferson was the
founder of the democratic party. Per-
mit me to say, for the benefit of the
young men of the country, that
Thomas Jefferson died years before
there ever was a party organized in
America bearing the name of demo-
crat. It is true that Jefferson laid
down certain great and fundamental
principles of government, which were
afterwards adopted by the democratic
party under the leadership of Andrew
Jackson, but in truth and fact Jeffer-
son's party was called the republican
party, and it is a fact of history that
Abraham Lincoln and his followers
claimed—and with more reason ar.d
greater consistency than the modern
democracy—to be the disciples of Jef-
ferson. A resume of political parties
in the earlier days of the republic dis-
closes the i/iteresting fact that the peo-
ple's party of today was organized
under precisely the same conditions,
and for precisely the same purposes,
that called the democratic party into
existence, as I have already stated,
years after the demise of the author
of the first declaration cf American in-
dependence. So if principles rather
than name can properly fix political
status, the middle-of-the-road populist
is the truest democrat in the land, if
Jefferson and Jackson were democrats,
ind judged by the same standard the
honest populist is the purest repub-
!ican in America today, if Lincoln was
.i republican.
In the earliest days of the republic
there were Shy locks as now, and the
grasping gre°d of the money devil was
almost as arrogant and aggressive un-
der the administration of Washington
as of (Irover Cleveland. Always tak-
ing advantage of the misfortune of
mankind, the money leeches seek to
fasten themselves upon a people impov-
erished by war. and hence the patriot
fathers of the revolution l>ecame the
victims of these scavengers of civili-
zation, and suffered in part the same
outrages which we now endure.
In 1796 congress under the influence
of Alexander Hamilton passed the
United States bank bill, which con-
ferred upon the Incorporators similar
powers and privileges as those now en-
Joyed by0the national bankers. The
charter of the bank was for twenty
years, just a* tfcr present national
banks, but*there was no clause in the
bill as in the national bank charters,
reservjng to congress 4I10 power to
change, filter, amend or repeal the |
charter of the U. S. bank at will and |
pleasure. I* that day and time the i
courts held more tenaciously to the
doctriiu* of "vested rights" than now, I
and statesmen as well us the peopn j
recognized the fact that the bank was ■
a fixture until 1816. Jefferson was in I
uncompromising enemy to the bank J
and he declared "banks of Iss e are
more dangerous to the liberties of the
people than standing armies." He
proclaimed the doctrine that the
right to Issue money ° musf be
taken from the bank and restored to
the government (the people) tt> whom
it belonged, and lie proposed that when
the government should stand in need
of money it should issue its own bills
of credit (trcasuv> notes, greenbacks;),
bottomed on taxes. Although Mr. Jef-
ferson recrgnlzed the fact that the act
of 1796 conferred upon the U. S. bank
the power to control the currency of
the country until 1816. he knew it was
necessary to educate the people to se-
cure its overthrow and to this task
he set himself, and in the year 1800*
he organized his party, which he called
the republican party. In that (lay
nominating conventions were not the
fashion. A man declared himself a
candidate for the presidency as ona
of "the boys" would do now. who
wished to be constable of his beat,
and he wrote a letter to some friend
avowing his principles, which served
the purpose of the latter day conven-
tion nJatforrn. Mr. Jefferson's letter
set forth conspicuously two planks:
The first was opposition to the lT. S.
bank uncompromising hostility to the
idea of congress farming out the right
to individuals or soulless corporations
to control the currency of the country,
and tho second was opposition to fed-
eral interference in the local affairs of
the states. On his declaration of
principles Jefferson was elected presi-
dent in 1800 and again in 1804 as a re-
publican. Madison was elected liis
successor in 1808 on the same platform
and again in 1812. But the war of 1S12
having afflicted the country and pro-
duced much financial embarrassment,
the money sharks took advantage of
the situation to importune congress to
re-charter the bank, which was done in
1816 and Madison in defiance of his
piedges, approved the bill, which act
rendered him almost as despicable in
the eyes of the people as the present
occupant of the White House.
Realizing that the country had been
duped by the money-changers and be-
trayed by their representatives, the
| people were disgusted and ceased to agi-
tate the financial question for a time.
Monroe was elected twice, without op-
position. but in the campaign of 1821
the bank question again became a lead-
ing issue. Four candidates for presi-
dent entered the race. John Quincy
Adams, the federalist and a U. S. bank
advovcate was one, Henry Clay, who
represented that wing of the old party
of Jefferson that had made friends
with the bank was another, and An-
drew Jackson, representing Jefferson'?
ideas on the question of banks of issue
and state rights was another. Win.
H. Crawford, of Georgia, was I believe
the flourth candidate.
It will be observed that the repub-
lican or Jeffersonian party had divided
on the money question just as the dem-
ocratic party is now divided on the
same question. There was no election
by the people, and the choice of a pres-
ident was relegated to the lower house
of congress. In the contest the friends
of Adams and Clay, under the influence
of the bank combined, and Jackson
the real representative of the Jeffer-
sonian policy was defeated. Adams,
the federalist, became president, and
Clay, whose position was analogous tc
the gold-bug democrat of the present
day, was made secretary of state, and
thus it was the "bargain intrigue and
corruption" charge, which prevented
"Harry of the West" from ever being
president, originated.
Mark you. fellow citizens, no demo-
cratic party had up to that tim®
sprung into existence. The party of
Jefferson (who died July 4. 1826) was
still called the republican party.
Adams served his term of office and
old Nick Middle, president of the bank-
was the power behind the throne. Sen-
ators and congressmen were seduced
and corrupted by the Hherality of th^
bank in lending money and other
methods so well known among finan-
ciers. An era of corruption never sur-
passed. perhaps, until tho infamous
national banking system under which
we suffer, held high carnival, dictated
the policy of the government and
robbed the people unmercifully. But
the end came, for in 182S Jackson
again took the field as a candidate for
president, and allow me to say that lie
did not call himself a democrat nor his
party the democratic party. He wag
elected as "The People's" candidate on
a platform of principles practically
the same as those promulgated at
Omaha in the second declaration of in-
dependence, July 4. 1892. I hold in
my hand a photographic copy of the
ticket voted in Ohio in 1828. It is
headed people's (not democratic) ticket.
It has for its motto. "Gratitude, glory,
patriotism," and its candidates, for
president, Andrew Jackson; lor vice
president. John C. Calhoun. And I
affirm, fellow citizens, her? and low,
that up to that time there was no or-
ganized party in this country known
as the democratic*party. In this cam-
paign of 1828 the name of Loeofoco
democrats was given in derision to
Jackson's followers, jtisv as the name
populist or populite has been given to
the members of the people's party by
our enemies. Aite:wards the name
democrat was accepted and adopted by
the Jackson par1 y. Just ..s we have ne-
cepted the name populist, but "Old
Hickory" was first elected as a people's
party man under precisely the same
conditions and for precisely the saruo i
purposes that inspired honest, patriotic I
members of both the old parties to as®
semble at Omaha. Neb., on independ- '
ence day, 1892.
Our opponents of both the old naities,
while virtually admit#,ng the identity I
THE ST. LOUIS INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT FRAUD.
ey
j* •
' || 3N W-*r-
*!■&■> I' ■ ; f~) V'A
•ss-D
/i ;
i IWmt
mil M
Hanna: "Yes, we want gold straight; but. say. (whispers) just pull that
curtain down and change the label on the barrel — hush -see? National
Bimetallism
of our position with that of Jefferson
and Jackson on the financial question,
usually ignore the land plank and pour
out their vials of wrath upon govern-
ment ownership of the means of trans-
portation and communication. That
they have little or nothing to say in
criticism of the populist on the land
question I attribute in part to the fact*
that the* doctrine we preach was first
proclaimed by Jefferson and is there-
fore older than the democratic party,
and because of its popularity with the
masses, was championed t by demo-
cratic press and orators whenever there
was a chance to secure political ad-
vantage in their contention with the re-
publican party from '68 to '84, and in
part to the fear that the party's record
on this subject vital to the homeless
majority of our people, would not bear
close inspection.
Answering the assertion, ridicule
and abuse of the tools of plutocracy
who denounce the transportation plank
of our platform, populists maintain
that the principle is as old as the gov-
ernment itself.
It may be found in the declaration
of the founders of the republic. t!iat
public highways are and shall be the
property of the people. Navigable
streams could not be owned in whole
or in part by individuals, corpora-
tions, or by states even, but should for-
ever remain the property of the gen-
eral government.
Railroads are nothing more nor less
than public highways, and to permit
private ownership is a dangerous in-
novation on the doctrine so clearly, as
T conceive, laid down in the case of
'Jlrt roads and navigable streams.
GRANDPA'S HAT.
Harrifton the Recipient of an Offer Bar-
harouiily Mmrn t
Benjamin H. Harrison was offered
$10,000 by a certain New York paper
to write for it a gossipy letter of noi
less than 100 words each day from the
reporters' gallery in the "republican
national convention. There are thou-
sands of honest, sober, industrious la-
boring men engaged in producing
wealth in this country who would glad-
l.v bind themselves to their masters
during the remainder of their natural
lives if their masters would agree to
secure them in the possession of a job
which would average them $300 per
year.
Put these two facts together and then
consider some other things in connec-
tion with them.
Ten thousand dollars at the above
ate won #1 hire a man to grub, plow,
tiustle lumber, shovel coal, or do any
Jther "unskilled" labor—which, by the
way, is always cheaper than "skilled"
labor, though it is the humble mudsill
upon which the latter depends for its
support—thirty-three years and four
months, at the end of which time the
unskilled laborer, if he had not died
sooner, would be ready to fill a pau-
per's grave.
Ten thousand dollars will buy, and
pay cash for, one of the finest 160-acre
farms in the grandest agricultural
state in the Union: it will buy and
pay cash for two stores better than
the average stores of the country; it
will buy, and pay cash for, ten of the
average blacksmith, wagonmaker or
carpenter shops of the country. At 6
per cent interest $10,000 w'U produce
an* annual income, without the slight-
est exertion on the part of its owner,
as great as two of our unskilled labor-
ing men can earn in the production of
wealth by a hard year's work and be
just as fresh at the opening of its sec-
ond year as i was at the beginning of
Its first.
But what is perhaps more sugges-
tive, $10,000 would have hired one hun-
dred better, brighter and brainier men
than Ben Harrison, either of whom
would have sent better "copy" to the
paper employing him than Harrison
could.
Then*who or what,is Denjamln Har-
rison, that he should be thus favored
above other men?
Physically he is a little, short, pudgy
fellow, a good deal after the style of
"Punch" in Punch and Judy, gray
bearded and gray haired and over 60
> fears old.
Mentally he Is cunning enough to
"keep his plate right side up when it
rains porridg^' and to espouse the best
paying*side of any question In.which
he may be interested. It goes without
the saying, since he has never pro.
duced a dollar'# worth of wealth in his
I life and is a corporation lawyer ever
| ready to defend corporate interests,
j right or wrong, that he is a plutocrat
| of the plutocrats; that he is not a
multi-miilionaire comes, not because
i he is troubled with the least qualms
' of conscience about the morality of
! the business of appropriating to his
i own use the wealth created by the
i working bees in the industrial hive,
i but solely because his cunning falls
short of th# degree necessary to make
I the opportunity of its acquirement a
| perfectly safe one.
j Strange as it may seem in a country
where the majority is said to rule
and where the humble producers out-
number the leeches in the proportion
of a hundred to one. this cold-blooded
parasite, who glories in the ability of
j capital to crush the life out of labor
I organizations, lias been gene'ral in the
! army, governor, United States senator,
j and president of the United States by
! virtue of votes cast by men whom and
! whose calling he holds in utter con-
| tempt, and it is because of the hope
that the notoriety he has thus gained
i may be made to redound to its private
1 gain that a plutocratic paper made him
the offer noted above.
Such men and such papers are fit
representatives of a Christian (?) civi-
lization which differs from the barbar-
ism of the dark ages chiefly in the fact
: that it has transferred the right of
I man to possess himself of his neigh-
i bors' property from his physical to his
i mental ability to do so. However, the
j day is not far distant when theft,
whether accomplished at the end of a
1 gun-barrel or the end of a contract,
will be recognized for what it really is.
I Then the history of such men as Harri-
son and such offers as the above will
i be objects of a great curiosity and won-
! derment as the strangest relics of an
earlier barbarism now is.
A Mini like.
"Perhaps the populists would accom-
! plish more if they would drop the
gold bug for the present and devote
their energies to the chinch bug."—
New York Press.
There you are all wrong. The chinch
bug works only in patches; and ii
does not touch the potatoes, or the
cattle, or the piga, or the chickens, or
the horses; but the gold bug devours
them all. And then everybody says,
"Good!" if we kill the chinch bugs,
but there would be a terrible uproar if
we killed the gold bugs. And certain
kinds of weather produce spores that
fasten on the chinch bugs and destroy
them by the millions: but there is
nothing that seems to have any effect
on the gold bugs—they are as salu-
brious as bed bugs and as procreative.
If we put corrosive sublimate on a gold
bug. the daily papers of the whole
country would shriek as if we had run
a lancet into their vital parts; and
the army and navy and the courts
would all be put into operation to de-
fend him.
Chinch bugs, indeed! Why, they are
quiet, pleasant and harmless little
chaps compared with the gold bugs.
If we could get clear of the gold bugs
the chinch bugs would not bother us.—
Representative.
TO BENEFIT .MANKIND.
OPEN TftE* MINTS TO F R #E '
AND UNLIMITED COINACL.
• • J
Double the Amount of Money in Clren-
• tut kotfci himI Kverjr Avenue of IlimlurftH
Will Itoom—The Wall Street Itcpub- j
lli-an Platform.
■•'Allen! Fallen'
Populists are sometimes twitted with
being a set of financial ne'er do wells,
who, having miserably failed to get
rich themselves, naturally grumble at
the fellows who have been luckier.
Now the shoe is on the other foot.
The# Republican party, that tremen-
dous machine controlled by the Money
Power, will soon put a candidate in
the field, Maj. McKlnlcy, who failed in
business a year or two ago. and came
out of the catastrophe owing $100,000
] more than he had cash to meet.
A number of wealthy manufacturer*
kindly made up a pony purse to put
the major out of debt. These men, to-
gether with others of th<4 same class,
have hern furn h!ng funds to help Mr.
McKinley secure the nomination for
the presidency—as Senator Wm. Chan-
dler boldly charged some time ago.
Soon we shall have the humiliating
spectacle of a bankrupt candidate who
is to cure hard times, and whose nomi-
nation has practically been bought by
a set of men who expect to be greatly
benefited by the particular kind of leg-
islation >f whfch sgid candidate is the
avowed 'hampion. •
To such a depth of degradation has
the party of Wncoln fallen!—Nevada
Director. e .
tates 2.r>.8 grains of standard gold or
1! graius«)ure are worth $1, for the
all-sufficient reason that thr^ law re-
quires just tlrat weight of gold to bo
put into the dollar. In other words,
tin* gold dollar weighs 25.S grains. So
by ^lie English coinage law an ounce
of gold #111 be coined jnto £11 17s lOV&d
of English money. That amount is the
mint rate; but when gold is deposited
at the mint for coinage there is nl-
vrtiys sonic* delay in getting returns.
Prior to IS 11 the delay averaged alrout
sixty days. Therefore tho owners ^>f
bullion desiring to have their money at
once would sell it to the brokers for
something less than tin nin^ rate-
usually about £3 17s 6d an ounce. Ac-
cordingly in that year parliani ^r
enacted that the Bank of Rnffland
shftuld take all money offered at its
counters and pay for it at the rate of
17s 94 an ounce, the difference of
pence between the bank rate and
the mint #rate being intended to par-
tially or wholly reimburse the hank for
the dela>. That has been substantially
the price of gold bullion ever since.
The act of parliament at once raised
the price of gold bullion about 3 pence
an ounce. A favorite argument with
the gold people is that the value of
gold is wholly independent of coinage.
And yet we see that a simple delay of
60 days in the coinage made a differ-
ence of 4 V2 pence an ounce in the value
of gold bullion. If the delay had been
longer the difference would have been
greater. If it could not have been
coined at all either in England or
elsewhere, we leave some gold wor-
shipper to figure out how much it
would have been worth.
In France Hie law provides for the
coinage of gold at the rate of 3,100
fiancs to the kilogram. The kilogram
is something over 2V6 pounds—-more
exactly, 2.67951 pounds troy. We arc
not aware of any law in France simi-
lar to the English provision of 1844.
I•< hat country the mint rate fixes the
pr.'ce, subject to any small difference
that mav result from delay in the coin-
age, as was formerly the case in Eng-
land. But this difference must bo
very slight, because the gold can be re-
alized upon immediately at the Dank
; of England.
The reader will of course understand
that it is the "money" value alone that
is here spoken of. An ounce of gold
is worth just as many "dollars" as it
will make. But how much these "dol-
lars" will buy (or exchange for) of
something else depends upon their
number compared with the quantity of
J that something else. The exchange
value of gold is constantly varying,
' the same as the exchange value
of other things. If all gold coins
were to be doubled • in weight
there would only be half as many
of them, and each one would buy
! twice as much of other things as it
does now, but it would take twice as
much gold bullion to buy a gold dollar.
Contemptll le Pett I fog*; inc.
From the National Blmetalllst, Chi-
cago: While reading the recent dis-
patches from St. Louis relative to the
I currency plank adopted one scarcely
I knew whether to boll over with indig-
| nation or to smile in cold contempt at
' I the bare-faced fraud. The extreme
gold men of the east demanded a
declaration in favor of maintaining the
• present gold standard:" The McKin*
ley men said. No! We will give you a
From the National Bimetdllist. Cm
cago: A correspondent, whose letter
has been misplaeCd. asks tlfV« National
Bimetallist to explain how the silver
would get into circulation if it were
coined without limitation. The under-
lying thought with those who ask tills
.question seems to be thai inasmuch as
there is a large amount of money lying
idle now there is 110 occasion to provide
for any more. That idea carried to its
logical conclusion would also require
the mints to be closed to gold, tor it i.
a well known fact that but a very
small portion of the gold now in the
country is in actual circulation. Henc<«t
we might inquire, "Why coin any
more?" Nevertheless, a proposition to
atop coining it would brinfc a storm of
protest at once.
The fact is that whether a country
has much money or little there is al-
ways some of it lying idle. Iii India
and China, where the money in actual
use is very scarce, there are vast suns
hoarded away. And, strange as it
may appear at first glance, it is never-
theless true, that where the supply of
money is insufficient to keep pace with
the wants of trade the amount unem-
ployed will be larger in proportion
than where the supply is ample.
A very little intelligent thought will
disclose the reason. When the money
supply Is diminishing, either actually
or relatively, it means lower prices for
products. Lower prices means smaller
profits, no profits at all. or actual loss.
Hence people having money will not
invest in productive enterprises. They
will buy gilt edge securities, employ it
in purely speculative ventures in stock
exchanges and boards of trade, or If
conditions become too bad they will
lock it up for safe keeping.
These are the conditions which now
exist in the United States. For many
years, ever since the demonetization
of silver in 1873, business has been
done on a falling market and more
and more money has been withdrawn
from actual employment.
Now for the effect of free coinage up-
on the circulation.
The first effect of opening the Amer-
ican mint would be to raise the gold
price of silver to $1.29 per otitic;.
Leaving out of consideration the ques-
tion of whether parity would be main-
tained it is perfectly plain that In the
first instance silver would go up to the
mint rate in gold for the simple reason
that no man in his sane mind would
take any less for it. The secondary,
almost coincident effect, would be to
raise the prices of all those products
such as wheat, cotton and petroleum
that are sold in the European market
at silver prices. This means a corre-
sponding rise in tho American market.
to be closely followed, as Is always the
case, by a sympathetic rise in the
prices of other things of a
similar character and occupying a
common field. As. for example, a
general rise of wheat would un-
doubtedly be accompanied by a rise of , declaration in favor of maintaining the
corn, rye, barley, buckwheat, etc.
the price of cotton has Its effect upon
the price of wool. If the price of cot-
ton goods takes a sharp and long con-
tinued decline it is inevitable that
woolen goods will follow more or less
closely, because cotton goods and
woolen goods in a measure compet?
with each other. So do a great many
other things, and subject, of course, to
exceptional influences, there is a
general tendency of all prices to
rise and fall together. So the
mere rise in the market price of
silver bullion consequent upon the
opening of the American
give a general upward movement
to prices and especially to the prices of
our great agricultural staples.
This would necessarily bring out for
investment large sums of money now
lying idle, for investors always se«k a
rising market. Again, the silver de-
posited at the mints would be struck
into coin ami the coin handed to the
owner, who in turn would pay it out to
others with whom he has business.
Thus it would find its way into general
circulation, swell the volume of money,
stimulating prices and business at the
same time. There is never any trou-
ble about getting money into circula-
tion when business conditions ar.
healthful, and an abundant supply of
-?ood money is always productive of
healthful conditions.
One thing should be entirely clear.
If silver cannot be coined it is utterly
Impossible for it to get into circulation.
If It can be coined there is certainly a
chance for it to find Its way into the
channels of trade. Lt us give It that
chance. If it do not circulate it will
it least do no harm, while if it do c!r-
ulate it will be productive of great
;ood.
It Is strange what a prominent plae?
he negative has in the goldlte's discus-
sion of the money question. Goldy
meets almost every argument in favor
if the coinage of silver either by a
irade of abuse or by a conjugation of
ho verb "can't"—
First person I can't.
Second person you can't.
Third person he, she or it can't.
Plural-
First person we can't.
Second person you can't.
Third person they can't. 0
Suppose we lay aside "can'ts" for
\ hile and substitute a few "trys."
"present standard." In the name of all
the saints and apostles, what is the dif-
ference? The question before the peo-
ple is. "Shall silver be restored to its
former place in our monetary system
or shall the present gold standard be
maintained and perpetuated? The gold
imn of the east, after claiming for
\oars to he bimetal litts. now declare
unequivocally for the gold standard as
It exists. The McKinley men, with
less boldness, but more policy, de-
manded precisely the same thing, but
want to leave out the offensive word
"gold," thinking thereby to hold tho
mint would | western vote. Absolutely the only dif-
ference is that the eastern men's posi-
tion is the more honorable. We are
glad that the platform adopted is so
clear in its expressions for the gold
standard.
It was merely a quibble over the
utterly immaterial point whether the
present standard shall be called "gold"
or not called anything.
Ther is not a straight-out silver man
in the country who can be deceived tor
a moment by any such hairsplitting.
We don't care what they call the
present standard. "Calling" it does not
change its essential nature—and that is
what genuine bimetallists object to.
The leaders of the republican party
propose to maintain the system that
has practically destroyed one-half the
money value of our great staples,
brought business to a standstill, sub-
stantially put an end to all improve-
ment, filled the land with idle men,
and east the shadows of actual suffer-
ing into untold thousands of humble
homes. If there is a man In the United
States who claims to believe in silver
restoration and is prepared to support
the republican ticket upoa such a de-
clared policy it is to be devoutly hoped
that he will not sing "silver" any
more, but sing as he votes. A declar-
ation in favor of maintaining the pres-
ent money standard is a declaration in
favor of gold—nothing more, nothing
less, and it will prove that the repub-
lican party is no longer the party of
Lincoln and the people, but the party
of plutocracy, plunder and pelf.
Filing the Price of (iold by law
From the National IJImetaDlst, Chi-
cago: tn reply to questions by many
correspondents the National Bimetal-
list will gtate that the money value or
price of gold Is absolutely fixed by law.
In the coinage system of the United
"'T- - ■" '
imiHmpipipiRim
... . fev .
A Trlfllnc Snake Htofy.
Joapph Connor, a Sugar lake farmer
::n<l fisherman, had a peculiar experi-
ence a few nights ago while camping;
out. A snake swam from the lake
o the shore and made for the eampfire.
Conner took a blazing stick from ths
fire and held it toward the snake. The
reptile rushed « the firebrand and.
wrapping itself around it, was burned
o death. It seems almost needles;
o state that^ill this happened in Mis
iourl
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Vincent, Leo. The Oklahoma Representative. (Guthrie, Okla.), Vol. 5, No. 35, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 9, 1896, newspaper, July 9, 1896; Guthrie, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc94846/m1/3/?q=%22new-sou%22: accessed June 4, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.