Jasper County Democrat, Volume 1, Number 24, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 September 1898 — HON.S.M.RALSTON'S SPEECH [ARTICLE]

HON.S.M.RALSTON'S SPEECH

Hoosier Democracy's Standard Bearer Reviews the Issues—Party Loyalty Means the Defeat of Landis —Democracy and the War. State and National Questions. [Delivered »t the Sloth Congressional District Convention, July SO, ISOSLj

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Convention: I am glad to greet the Democrats of the Ninth congressional district in convention assembled. While lam not a delegate to this convention I am In sympathy with the object of your meeting and will rejoice with you should the result of your deliberations prove acceptable to the rank and file of our party. When Democrats meet to take counsel of one another they should never forget that it Is the duty of the minority to submit to the will of the majority. I h*.ve such faith in the unadulterated Democracy of the Democrat* of this district that I feel the fchoioe of this convention will reoeive the vote of every Democrat in ths district. If loyalty prevails in our party Mr. Landis will surrender his seat In congress to your nominee and the citizenship you represent will have a protector and defender against those Influences that make against our national life. The Bine and the Gray United. We meet, my friends, under unusual circumstances. More than 80 years ago the great civil war ended that threatened the life of our nation, but unfortunately the bitter animosities kindled by that conflict have manifested themselves in some manner in every campaign since the close of the straggle. Party leaders have not hesitated to seek party advantages by fanning anew the dying embers of sectional strife. To-day, however, publio opinion demand that Mason and Dixon’s line be obliterated, that it may no longer be a flaming wall—an impassable barrier to a friendly intercourse between the north and south, and that the differ - euoes out of which the wnr came must not be cited as a reason for the ascendenoy of any particular party. The boys who wore the blue have clasped hands across the bloody chasm with the boys who wore the gray, and shoulder to shoulder they are standing this hour under the folds of ono flag in defense of a common country. Fortunately for us we are not now engaged In war among ourselves. Within our own boundaries we are at psaoe. We are united as one man against Spanish tyranny and Spanish oppression. We have heard the voioe of the oppressed in a neighboring island, and, yielding to Ibe dictates of humanity, we have determined, It matters not how great the cost may be In blood and treasure, to deliver the Cubans from bondage. This is the purpose and mission of the Amerioan people , regardless of party affiliations, for in this : war there should be no politics and so long as the object and purpose for which war was declared ate adhered to and good faith prevails In Its prosecution, damned should be the man or party that shall attempt to gain a partisan advantage through it. Democrats Util fw Oibss ladcpsadsaos. It Is to bo regretted that the suggestion Is occasionally made that Indiana should go Republican at the next election because the present administration has the war on Its hands. My friends, it Is true that the president, who is the command-w-ln-chief of our armies and navy. Is a Republican, yet the Democratic pasty stands ready to strengthen the president’s hands In every way possible, and through its representatives in congress It will fladly join in voting every man and every ollar necessary to aid in prosecuting the war to a speedy and successful conclusion. And I now wtraour Republican friend* that if they Insist that the voters of Indiana should support the Republican ticket next fall because of the war, wo shall not hesitate to remind them that Marcus Hanna and his administration were against the war until the excoriation of Kbllc opinion lashed them into it. The mocratlc party was demanding the independence of Cuba when the Republican party was in a state of lethargy on the subject. Wall street had sat down so heavy on Mr. McKinley and his advisers in opposition to the war and In favor of the holders of Cuban bonds, that the presence of lending Republicans of Indiana was rendered necessary in Washington to point out to the executive the disintegrating influences at work In their party ranks and to impress Upon him that all ehanoes of Republican success at the coming election would be lost unless war was declared.

OimMMil Win ths Vtotorlss. We shall not stop here. If U become* mcoHiry we will not allow the voters to forget that the man who on that memorable morning of May plowed hta way at the head of the American fleet through the engines of death and destruction in Manila harbor, and who, after a battle that amased and startled the civilised world, planted the stars and stripes on Philippine soil, was commodore, now Rear Admiral Dewey, who is a Democrat We will not forget to Ml them that Hobson, who destroyed and sunk in the Santiago channel the vessel that bore him above the waves while hell was belching her fury on him from the Spanish forts on all the hills around, and who lingered his time in a Spanish prison, is a Democrat We will tell them, too. with becoming pride that the man jnder whose direction ttud command Cervera's fleet was •wept from tue seas and the arm at Spain paralyzed in war was the daring, dashing Schley, a Democrat. I cannot toll you of the bravery of these men.' My words am too few and too feeble. The poet and the essayist are yet to be born whose pens can adequately portray the unselfish patriotism, the love of man for man, and the dauntless heroism they have displayed in their effort to free their oppressed fellow man. But while we rejoloe in the parts Democrats are taking in this war, we do not wish to dstraet from the honor and glory due the president and every man under him, down to the humblest in the ranks of the army. To them all we oonosds a genuine patriotism and cheerfully acknowledge the debt of gratitude we owe them. Dsasoeraar’s Isnrd la Indiana. There are other things, however, for which the Democratic party is to be commanded aside from Us position Penan* wwiiits u?££d“ Hi peril

In this - state ~or In'tEe nation "he finds oaose for congratulation. With pride he points to the common ichool system of Indiana and her magnificent benevolent Institutions as an evidence of Democratic philanthropby and statesmanship. The law that overthrew the notorious schoolbook trust and reduced fully one-half the cost of a child’s education, was passed by % Democratic legislature. Pinkcrtonism was driven from the state and the power to rob the wage-earner was denied the proprietors of the “pluck-me” stores by the Democratic party. The tax law that incurred the special enmity of Republican leaders, while it was in process of enactment, and that since has been oondemned by the Republican press and Republican speakers, was also passed by a Democratic legislature and upheld by Democratic officials until the courts sustained it. Un der this law the corporate wealth of the state has been forced to bear its fair share of the expenses of our state government and the state debt has been set In process of liquidation. And in this connection it Is especially pleasing to a Democrat, who Is always a stronger patriot than a partisan, to be able to recall that his party gave this state the law having for its object the preservation and perpetuity of our free institutions through the purity of the ballot The suppression of corruption at the polls, however, has never met the approval of the Republican party, and consequently it has never lost an opportunity to decry the election law and to change and weaken its most salutary provisions. Unlimited and Independent Bimetallism. Bat gentlemen, while in the campaign we are preparing to enter, we shall consider state issues, and the records the two great parties have made touching state affairs, we propose tq, go further and resubmit to the voters of Indiana the financial question. lam not indifferent to the charge frequently heard that the silver question Is dead, but I remind those who talk that that uo question ts ever settled In this country until it has been settled right. Gold triumphed in 1886, but a victory achieved through slander, villlficatlon, coercion and wholesale corruption, can never be permanent. The methods of Colonel W. W. Dudley, the notorious refugee from justice, in his blocks-of-flve sooundrellsm in 1888. were the methods of the Sunday school teacher when compared with the means resorted to in 1806 to pinion this nation to the aocursed gold standard. We will enter the contest then in support of the doctrine of free, unlimited and Independent bimetallism. In demanding the unlimited coinage of both gold and Oliver Into standard money at a fixed ratio by law. v e are not departing from the traditions of our party, nor are we seeking to engraft a new or novel scheme of finance upon the country. We are but pleading for the restoration of the monetary system of our fathers, whose virtuous operation can be cited by Its supporters in the absence of famine, starvation and the application of the gambler's art on the board of trade.

Oar portion, we know, is impregnable. We Insist that gold and silver at rates Used by oongreas constitute the only standard of value allowable under oar constitution, and that the people have the right to the use of both metals in the monetary form, in the discharge of all debts, both private and public. We submit that, if the constitution has made the standard of value to consist of the two metals, congress has no authority to increase the value of the measuring standard in the Interest of the money-changer and against the wealth-produoer by demonetising silver, and thereby shifting the monetary demand responded to by the two metals onto gold alone. Stalesmaashlp and the Supreme Coart w the Side of Stiver. We are not without authority, high and respectable, in support of our theory. The ripest scholarship, the ablest statesmanship and the evenly poised judicial mind have indorsed it. It has been taught in the foremost colleges ana universities in the world. It has been expounded in the forum of statesmanship and approved judicially from the bench. Daniel Webster, perhaps the greatest constitutional lawyer the world ever knew, said In a speech In 1880 from his ■eat In the United States senate that “The legal tender, therefore, the constitutional standard of value, is established and can not be overtnrown. lam certainly of the opinion that gold and silver, at rates fixed by oongrees, constitute the legal standard of value hi this oountry, and that neither oongrees nor any state has authority to establish any other standard or to displace this. James G. Blaine, onoe the idol of Republicans, took strong ground against the authority of congress to demonetise either gold or silver. The distinguished jurist, Justice Clifford, in his able dissenting opinion in the oelebrated “legal tender cases.” says: “Argument to show that the national treasury was organized on the basis that the gold and silver oolns of the United States were to bo the standard of valuo, is unnecessary, as it is a historical fact which no man or body of men can ever successfully contradict * * * Very strong doubts are entertained whether ah act ofoongrees Is absolutely necessary to constitute gold and silver coins of the United Statet, fabricated and stamped as such by the proper executive officers of the mint, a legal tender in payment of debts. Constituted as such coins are by the constitution, the standard of value, the better opinion wbuld seem to be that they become legal tender for that purpose If minted of the required weight and lineness, as soon as they are coined and put into circulation by lawful authority. * * * Currency is a word much more comprehensive than the word ‘money,' as it may include bank bills and even bills of exchange, as well ss coins of gold and silver, but the word 'money/ as employed in the grant of power under consideration, means the oolns of gold and silver fabricated and stamped as required by law, which, by virtue of their intrinsic value M universally acknowledged and their official origin, become the medium of exchange and the standard by which all other values are expressed and die-

tervloes on the supreme bench of the Hutted States cover a* period exceeding that of any other man la the history of the ooort, supplements the opinion of Justice Clifford thus: “The inhibition upon the states to coin money and yet to make anything but gold and silver ooiu a tender In payment of debts must be read in connection with the grant of the coinage power to congress. The two provisions taken together indicate beyond question that the oolns which the national government was to fabricate, and the foreign oolns, the valuation of which it was to regulate, were to oonsist principally, if not entirely ” not of the One only, but both, ‘of gold and silver.’ "Money being a standard, its coin or pieces are necessarily a legal tender. The provisions in the different coinage acts that the coins to be struck shall be such legal tender are merely declaratory of their effect, when offered in payment, and are not essential to give them their character.” Thus it is seen that the views of the bimetallist todpy are in harmony with the opinion of these eminent statesmen and jurists, and when he insists upontheright of the people to the use of both gold and silver, not as currency, but as money, he demands for them only their constitutional right. So my friends, if the opinion a' man entertains on the financial question may render him a dangerous member of society, as we were told in 1896, it would not be difficult, taking as a criterion the utterances of the gentlemen I have quoted, to point out and designate the real anarchists of this country. It is not enough fox the single standard advocate to say he is opposed to bimetallism because of the ratio proposed. If Webster and Blaine, Clifford and Fields have correctly Interpreted the constitution, and the present ratio is an erroneous one, which we deny, bimetallism should be supported at a correct ratio, and he who is not willing to do this, but on the contrary favors the destruction of one of the metals as money, brands himself as an Infractor of the 0.-ganic law of the nation. We bear it frequently observed that the Democratic party is an unsafe guide on the money question, and yet I am praotioally within the truth when I remind you that the monetary system prevailing In this country from Its organization until 1873, and under which this nation fought its wars, contributed its share to the swelling tide of civilization aud made its most giant-like stride in material progress was the out-growth of Democratic statesmanship. Republican Party Rot Entitled to Leadership On Financial Questions. When was it the Republican party became the embodiment of the financial wisdom of this oountry? It was not born until 1866 and Its platform of that year contained no reference to m6hey. In 1860 It conducted a national campaign without saying In its platform what it thought about the financial question. In 1864 it favored “promoting the use of national currency,” but by the time 1868 came! around it had forgotten what it had thought on the subject four years prior thereto, and so it omitted to incorporate a money plank in its platform. Its memory was still no better In 1878, nor had Its stock of information been added to, and the result was it adopted another platform without a money plank. In 1876, however, 80 years after it was born, it gave its first but very slight premonition of having a financial idea, as was evidenced by its platform declaration In favor of "a steady progress to specie payment.”

It would not bs expeoted, of course, as a party to make very rapid progress in the development of a subject about which it reqtyred 80 yearn to get an idea, and so no particular surprise was manifested when this selfconstituted guardian of national honor went before the oountry in 1860 on a platform containiag no money plant In 1864 it was in favor of an international agreement for the rse ofbeth gold and silver as standard money. In 1880 it loved si ver and denounced the Democratic party for Its unpatriotto attempt to demonetise it In 1892 it still loved tilver and here in Indiana it was very vociferous in its congratulations of the oountry that a long stride had been taken toward the free ooinage of the white metaL But, my friends, in 1896, to believe Its story now, it began to see the error of its way in forming an attachment for silver, and consequently in Its 84. Louis platform it made, over the the protest of Hon. Richard W. Thompson, Henry M. Teller and 100 other leading Republicans, a half-way confession of Its sins. And now, In this good year of 1898. this party of progressive ideas, of superior wisdom, of immaculate purity, is confessing by its course that in reality it never knew anything about the money question until recently, and since it has been placed under the command of its new leader, that distinguished statesman of finance, Hon. H. H. Hanna, doubtless a direct descendant of Marcus Aurelius L I wish I had time to take up and discuss the financial measure recently introduced in congress, back of which this gentleman and Wall street’s monetary commission are standing. But I can give you briefly an idea of this bill, as I get it from Mr. Hanna himself. A friend to whom he addressed a letter in support of his measure was kind enough to hand the same to me. He says: "The bill is politically tbe best measure that has been prepared.” The word politically he has underscored, and I suppose he thereby to suggest that it will call forth the sinews of corruption when the fight is on. Then he continues; "It meets ths expectations of those who believe there can be no permanent business prosperity until the greenbacks are retired, and it does not oppose the prejudices of those who favor the greenbacks.” Now, if you can conceive a measure embodying two theories of finance diametrically opposed and yet every part working harmoniously with the whole you will at least have a faint conception of what Mr. imagines he has in his bill. He is beyond question the right man to be at the head of the visionary commission which is pretending to believe It should supercede congress ia determining the monetary policy of this government. A candid investigation will fall to establish the right of the Republican party to leadership on financial questions. It has rendered complex and thrown Into oonfusion our monetary system. Its statesmen have labored to unravel the web of idiocy running through its financial legislation, but to no purpose. In making this charge Ido not overlook its financial policy during the rebellion, but the j-ollcy it then adopted for the salvation of the nation it now condemns. It asseverates with great pretensions to wisdom in favor of the tingle gold standard, and yet you may taka any two Republicans of your own selection and have them each evolve a theory of finance bottomed on the single standard idea and you will find their conclusions to be as wide apart as ths poles. Aa Appeal Far a Uatea mt Deems.

for which tbstr party is standing, to give It their oouasel and support. 1 beg them to remember that the party with which they have affiliated in the past t fc .e party of their oholoe and the party of their love. Is greater by far than any one idea. I point them to its glorious past, and to them I predict for It a still more brilliant future. It has been fighting for a ceutury the tyrannical and centralizing influences In our national life. Wherever the brazened features of monopoly have shown themselves the Democratic party has Challenged their right to extort and fatten off the product of honest labor. And, to its credit, the party of the sage of Montloello and of the hero of New Orleans has never in its great career joined hands with organized greed to assault the best interests of our country to pauperize the bone and sinew of our land and fasten about the throats of Americans the vicelike grip of plutocracy. On the other hand, however, it has always stood for that form of government and for those measures and laws that take into account the citizenship of the man at the forge, In the factory and In the shop; of the boy In the ditch and In the mine; of the woman at the spindle, by the loom and over the tub, and guarantees to each and all of them their fair share in life’s achievements. A party with such a past can be trusted In the future. And for the future of our oountry we have much concern. The four quarters of the earth are at this time anxiously watching American statesmanship, and on every hand the concession is made that the destiny of this republic is largely dependent upon the question of annexation. It is well for us, therefore, to reflect la this hour of feverish excitement that territorial aggrandizement may lead to a national weakness and degradation. It is at least suggestive that the late secretary of state, Senator John Sherman, who was a fair representative of the ripest statesmanship of the Republican party, reserved the last paragraph of his "Forty Years In the House, Senate and Cabinet” in which to sound a note of warning to his countrymen on this question. In conclusion I quote his words; "The events ot the future are beyond the vision of mankind, but I hope that our people will be content with internal growth and avoid the complications of foreign acquisition. Our family of states is already large enough to create embarrassment in the senate, and a ropublio should not hold dependent provinces or possessions. Every new acquisition will create embarrassment Canada and Mexico, as independent republics, will be more valuable to the United States than if carved into additional states. The union already embraces discordant elements enough without adding others. If my life is prolonged I will do all I can to add to the strength and prosperity of the United States, but nothing to extend its limits or to add new dangers by acquisitions of foreign territory.”