Democratic Sentinel, Volume 22, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 October 1898 — POLITICS OF THE DAY [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

POLITICS OF THE DAY

*TI3 A DEMOCRATIC YEAR. This is a Democratic year. Republicans fear it; Democrat* know It Republican* who are not apathetic are demoralized, Vermont and Maine'have caused thrills of apprehension among the leaders of the grand old party. “Slain in the house of a friend” Is the verdict on the mortality caused by the action of the voters in the two great citadels of Republican polities. Alger is too heavy a load. Hanna weighs on the party like an incubus. McKinley is blown about by every wind of doctrine and panic threatens to ensue. Democrats will undoubtedly control the next House of Representatives. The probable status of affairs may be tabulated as follows: PRESENT HOUSE. Democrats 130 Republicans f. 202 Populists 21 Fusionists 1 Silver party "3 Republican majority 47 PROBABLE NEXT HOUSE. Democrats 167 Republicans -129 Fusion , 1 26 Doubtful 32 Should the Republicans manage to elect every one In the doubtful list they would still have eighteen less than a majority in the House. Reports from many districts now represented by Republicans give the most flattering indications of Democratic success. Indeed, the members of the national Democratic Congressional Committee at Washington are highly pleased with the outlook and find that their most liberal estimate gives the Republicans but 134 members in the next House, thirty-five less than a majority. Truly, this is a Democratic year. But that should not cause Democrats to slacken in their labors. It should encourage them to renewed efforts and ■tir them to the most vigorous action. “Honest Money.” The fundamental objection to free coinage in this country has been and Is that it is “dishonest.” The “market price” of silver is less than 60 cents on ounce, and tbe coinage rate at 16 to 1 Is $1.29. It is claimed that the dishonesty of coining 60 cents’ worth of silver into twice as much moni*y is too clear to require any argument. The same contention has been made right along whether silver was worth 60, 70, 80, 90 or 100 cents per ounce. It has always been dishonest, according to gold standard reasoning, to coin it at any higher rate than the market price. This, of course, excludes the coinage use of the metal as an element in its value, and assumes that silver will be worth no more with the American mint open, thus creating an enormous demand for It, than it is now with the mint closed and silver deprived of that demand. Laying aside this palpable absurdity, there are a few simple questions we would like to propound: First, if to lower the value of money below the gold level, or to cdin silver a* a rate above its market value in gold, is dishonest in America, it is not equally dishonest everywhere? What, then, has the gold advocate to say of the action of Japan in reducing the weight of the gold yen one-half and establishing the gold standard on the basis of what has been called in this country a “50-eent” silver dollar? Have we heard any outcry from that sourca about the “dishonesty” of Japan? Russia has acted in a similar way. She has reduced the weight of her gold coins so that the quantity of gold which formerly made ten rubles will now make fifteen. Have the gold men indulged In any denunciation of the “dishonesty” of such action on the part of Russia?—National Bimetallist. Alger’s Belief in Himself. Secretary Alger may see nothing wrong in tbe management of the war department—men of his small caliber are always satisfied with their own doings—but President McKinley, who is responsible for him, ought not to add another blunder to that of his selection for the cabinet by accepting as &>rrect his own estimate of himself. Alger needs Investigation and if the President’s friendship 'for him is so great that he cannot order it and see that It is thorough and impartial, then he should eall Congress in extra session at once and let that body appoint a committee in whom the country will have confidence. There are ugly stories afloat, not only about political “pulls” having secured the appointment of incompetent men to positions of responsibility in the war department, but about influences being; at work of a much more serious and' disgraceful character. These should be| ssarched into, and if there is any truth 1 in them somebody should surely go to! jail. | Alger i* conceited enough to think j that his perfunctory strutting around i the camp at Montauk Point for a sow hours and talkng loudly about what “1” have done and about what “I” will do is going to be accepted by the public as a thorough vindication of himself, and as a spectacle before which the hundreds of needless dead and the thousands of needlessly i]'l are bound to be forgotten. If President McKinley agrees with h m then there are breakers ahead for him and his party such as wire not dreamed of when the war with Spain began.—New York Times. The Silver Issue. It is now so certain that the Democratic party at the election of 1900 will stand by the Chicago platform of 1890, and reaffirm it, that a refusal on the part of any local or State organizations of the party to distinctly approve ' of that platform would be worse than folly. Any one who advocates such a course—who prates of Ignoring national questions and conciliating unfaithful leaders—must be desirous of Democratic defeat. He must wish to Introduce discrepancy and confusion Into onr councils. He must desire to divide the party upon issues concerning which a national convention, and also our regular State convention of 189 Q, have announced their deliberate declarations, and which declarations are as certain to be reaffirmed for future political contests as such political contests are to occur. He may. utter such pretenses as he chooses of a desire to strengthen the party, but he must be aware that his policy would fatally weaken it Behind the Democratic organization to every State stands a vast body of

voters who will abandon it if It abandons its principles. If the Democratic party fails to stand for the free and unlimited coinage of silver they will find one that wilL If the Democratic party fails to sustain the gold and silver coin of the Constitution—the silver dollar of the days of George Washington—another party will adopt the war-cry and welcome them. By advocating silver coinage the Democrats lost a very few thousands votes two years ago, and by ceasing to advocate it now It would lose millions and go into a minority for a generation. History is fall of examples of disappointed and selfish leaders who have proved unfaithful to their friends and followers. The only thing for the rank and file to do in such case Is to let them go. We have waited for two years for the men who bolted from us, and helped elect McKinley, to return to duty. Patience is exhausted, and those who are not with us must be reckoned to be against us.—New York News. Wheat at 84 Cents. How do our Republican brethren think the price of wheat and the price of silver coincide nowadays, say since Leiter’s wheat corner collapsed? We dislike very much to refer to this painful subject, but our anxiety to print the truth as it Is compels us to make a suggestion along that line occasionally. Last winter when wheat was selling at $1.40 a Democrat hardly dared say wheat and silver. The Republicans laughed lustily and loudly. They still laugh, but It is out of the other end of their mouths. Wheat at 64 cents is not nearly as funny as at $1.50. Wheat and silver do not travel together, according to the Republican theory, but you can’t tell a thing about a Republican. They are all such jokers. Last spring they had all the elections carried on the $1.50 wheat deal. Democrats were despondent, but only temporarily, because anybody that knew enough to come in when it rained knew that wheat was high because of the unusual foreign demand and because Joe Leiter had it cornered. Free silver had nothing to do with wheat last year. How is it now? We are willing to concede that the price of wheat is regulated by supply and demand. Probably free silver or a single gold standard has nothing to do with It. We don’t know and don’t care. Wheat was high last winter because Europe had none, and it is cheap now because it is plenty everywhere. Granting that proposition also proves the other, viz., that silver is cheap when not used and high when given an equal chance with gold. Wheat has not been kind to the Republican party. It has come down ker-plunk when for political purposes it ought really to have been sky high.—Washington (la.) Democrat.

Gloomy for Republicans. When the Republicans realize that 96,000 critics of the administration have been mustered out of the army and sent all over this nation to their homes, then the Republicans will become possessed of a very gloomy fact. Gloomy for the politicians, the money grabbers, the soldier starvers, the incompetent, impertinent, heartless, scheming followers of the heartless, impertinent, incoinpetent and scheming Alger. But not gloomy for the peopled For them the return of the soldiers is an event full of joy. The loved ones have been snatched from the perils of camp life, which have proved more disastrous than the rifles of the foe. And when these 96,000 soldiers tell the story of their sufferings what will the administration have to say in reply? Surely the outlook of the Republicans is gloomy, and most surely the outlook for the Democrats is cheerful. Cheerful because the soldiers are now safe; cheerful because the abuses existing in the army will be corrected; cheerful because the Republican boodle gang will be turned out of power and honest men put in their places. There will be no necessity for a speedy report of any Investigating committee on the conduct of the war. The returned soldiers will give their report and the people will hear and heed it.—Chicago Democrat. Too Much Hanna. There Is going to be a popular revolt against Hanna. Too much Hanna has resulted in too much Alger, and too much Alger has caused disease, starvation and death among the soldiers who went forth brave and strong to fight the Spaniards and to the stars and stripes. Public patience has been tried to its very limit. Corrupt political bosses have ruled the Republican administration. The most shameful appointments have been made to official position both in civil and military circles. Such a conduct of affairs i musit inevitably bring about but one re-sult-popular revolt. Hanna has flaunted Ms gross commercialism in the face of patriotism. | He has “conciliated with an ax” and | has forgotten there is no truer saying [than this: “He who lives by the sword j shall perish by the sword.” Mark Hanna has not yet been overthrown. He still retains power to force the Republican administration into acts Which will end in its destruction. But the reign of Hanna is nearly ended, and whim he falls the Republican party will fall with him. Vernftmt and Silver. There are other things besides the failure of the war department which the Republicans will have to investigate. One of these things is the slump in the Republican vote in Vermont. Ia that state the contest was between sliver and gold. The Republicans advocated the gold standard, while the Democrats stood solidly on the Chicago platform and spoke and voted for free silver. There was a spirited contest, and the returns show that the Republicans suffered great losses, while the Democrats made substantial and lurprising gains. At the election which preceded the one under discussion the Democrats secured but eleven representatives; now they have thirty-three. It is needless to say that the Republicans of Vermont are demoralized. Sham Investigation. No wonder that a large per eenit. of the investigating commission appointed by President McKinley would not consent to serve. When it is understood that the commissioners will have to pay their own salaries and bear their own expenses, and that they will have no authority to summon, swear or examine witnesses, the disinclination of these appointed to serve Is fully explained. Of what use would an investigat*on

ewfcea all of its ,|| mm mvmt volunteer their testimony in the case? What would that testimony prove when It would be given without the sanction of an oath? Army officers would riot testify before such a commission. They might desire to have the truth known concerning the incompetence, carelessness and cruelty of the commissary department, for instance, bnt they would not put themselves in the position of tale-bearers. McKinley’s commission appears to be a very inadequate method of securing the facts desired. The administration is. facing a crisis and it is meeting the emergency in a shuffling, ineffective and cowardly manner. If the President desires to save his party from utter defeat and ruin he will take hold of this investigation with sincerity and force. The people are in no mood to accept excuses, nor will they be satisfied with a sham commission, bereft of all power to do effective work. Gov. Tanner’s $2 Shave. When Governor Tanner went down to Golconda and sought to divert'attention from himself and the issues with which his name is associated by crying “Thief!” at the Altgeld administration be pursued the tactics best calculated to bring his own record into public review. That speech has had the effect of rousing ex-Governor Altgeid, who promises to give the Tanner administration a very thorough reviewing before the public in due time. Just as a beginning he told how Tanner gets himself shaved at the expense of the state. lie says one Herman Gaa, a barber in the Leland Hotel barbershop, was put on the state house rolls as a janitor at $2 a day; and that his sole duties in that capacity consisted in shaving the governor, thus making the chief executive’s shaves cost the state $2 apiece. Governor Tanner asserts that he paid Gaa extra for the service rendered in shaving him. Altgeld says Gaa performed no service but to shave the governor, and If that service was paid for extra what did Gaa do to entitle him to draw money from the state treasury? It will strike some people as queer that the governor of Illinois should employ a Janitor to shave him, but perhaps that is due to Tanner’s.simple, unaffected ways. The number of men whose names arc on the pay rolls as janitors is so large that there cannot possibly be anything for all of them to do at the state house. This is a scandal, and the Tanner-Alt-geld controversy will be productive of good If it leads to the abatement of the evil.—Chicago Record.

lowa Democracy, The Populists and Silver Republicans of lowa indorsed the Democratic State ticket, and the probability of a triumph over the Administration party in. the November election is very great. The platform of the National Democratic convention adopted at Chicago in 1890 was unequivocally reaffirmed, and the policy of free silver coinage, without awaiting the consent of the government of Great Britain, was declared. The platform also Indorses W. J. Bryan for leader In 1900, upholds the commencement of the war with Spain, but scores Secretary Alger and the national administration for the conduct of hospital and camps. The election In lowa In 1896 went heavily for the McKinley electors, the Populists having declned to support the Democratic ticket Last year, however, they united with the Democrats, and the Republican majority consequently fell to less than half. With the aid of the large contingent of Silver Republicans who have since joined them, our friends expect still better fortune this year.— New York News. Maine Republicans. Maine Ibas returned Speaker Reed to Congress with a marked falling off in the Republican vote. Leweilyn Powers was re-elected governor by a plurality of about 27,000, whereas two years ago he went into office with a plurality of 42,000. The decrease in the Republican vote is discouraging to the party in power and explanations and excuses are now in order. Reed’s constituents showed a lack of interest In their candidate and the result was a decrease of 4,000 votes in his usual majority. Analyzing the vote, it becomes apparent that the Republicans have lost 21 per cent., which is much more than the normal loss shown dn an “off year.” Such a thing as a Democratic victory In Maine Is not to be expected, but Democrats can find encouragement in the showing of the polls because it demonstrates that many thoughtful Republicans have become disgusted with the administration and have refused to give it the seal of their approval. Horrors After the War. If there was only a lull in the painful proceedings and If there was only a promise of better management and results to come we would be patient, but there are no such signs descernlble—the horizon is still as black as night. Still come into port the transports from the South, each with its addition to the court of criminal culpability on the part of someone in authority, each with the same indictment of bad water, decayed and unsuitable rations and insufficient ■medical attendance.—Cleveland Plain Dealer. Democratic Policy. Whatever the reason, the growth of public opinion in favor -of municipal ownership generally has for the last half dozen years been steady and rapid—and in spite of the general opposition of the newspapers, not a few of which have been retained as special advocates of the private corporation. And this, in itself, is strongly suggestive that this change in public opinion is based on solid grounds,— Grand Rapids Democrat. Commissions Badly Distributed. If the government had made the officers of the regular army the arbiters of the distribution of commissions, as they di<s In the case of the navy, the glaring incompetence which is now throwing shame on our entire military establishment would never have had power lb work evil. The officers of the regular army would have seen to It that of ly men properly qualified had eommlrbions.—-New York Times. McKinley’s Unfortunate Slip. President McKinley’s declaration to Senate*!* Bacon, that this “is the war of no paS-ty and no section” will rise to plaguft those Republican politicians who Ire endeavoring to capture the by claiming the credit for ad the good that has come from this war, -Atlanta Constitution. An Obio Administration. T<? the head peace commission, \yi]j. lam R. Day, of Ohio; for the Secretary of £taite, John Hay, of Ohio; for «m* haofodioh to Great Britain, Whitelaw Reid, an Ohio man; to head the Cuban commission, Gen. Wade, an Ohio man. And (there are Constitution,