People's Pilot, Volume 5, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 February 1896 — Page 4

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A solid south united with a solid west. Union of all the reform forces is assured. The money question can not be shelved this time. The people cannot be fooled again by meaningless platforms. In self-defense the old parties must meet the party of financial reform. At St. Louis, July 22, will the glorious consolidation be consummated. The south and the west demand silver and they will vote as they think. Without the sacrifice of any vital principle a union of all the reform forces is possible. Partisan association will be abandoned in the hope of effecting a change for the better. Well the senate has “gone on record” for silver; the same gang that went against it wnen their votes counted. There are seven pgpulist members now in congress and five more will be seated when the contests are decided. Would that the supreme contempt evinced by the old party leaders for the populists and free silver advocates was genuine. The republicans of this, the tenth district, will meet in convention at Michigan City. June 4th, to nominate a candidate for •congress. The only party which will declare for the free coinage of silver this year will be the one which formulates its platform and names a ticket at St. Louis, July 22.

The currency question, after twenty years of persistent demands for recognition, will this year overshadow all other issues and completely bury the dead tariff farce. Owing to '.he death of a demo cratic member of the Kentucky legislature the election ofUnited States senator has been postponed until the vacancy can be filled by an election. Ex-Governor Barney Gibbs of Texas has quit the democratic party and joined the populists. The gold-bug democratic News of Daingerfield admits that this acquisition is worth 20,000 votes to the populists. Despite all the objections that can be urged against it, the subtreasury plank in the Omaha platform has made more populists where its provisions were understood than any other feature of the platform and it will be a mistake if it is removed. From a democratic paper it is learned that L. L. Woods, chairman of the fourth congressional district of Texas has resigned and quit the party. From all over that great state similar instances could be mentioned, and the same is true throughout the the south and west. The silver men have already discovered that it will te useless for them to appeal to either the democratic or republican conventions for recognition in their platforms. They will present their petitions to them only as a matter of fdrm that it may not be said afterwards that they did ask for it. The more we ponder over the action of the populist national executive committee, in naming July 22 as the date for the national convention, the more wisdom we see in their course. By that time the republicans will I have met and straddled the great issue, and the democrats will have met and declared for the gold standard, and both will have nominated goldbugs for president.— People’s Guide. Irwinton. Ga. I

Events in the political world are changing rapidly; what a few mouths ago appeared but a dos sibility to accomplish in 1900 now seems within our grasp this year. A spirit of revolution is rife in the ranks of both the old parties, and all the reform elements are coming together with a determination to join hands for the mighty battle this year. Victory is in the air.

Indiana seems to be- in a fine predicament since the recent supreme court decision on the gerrymanders. There appears to have been no legally constituted legislature since 188| and that one may not have been better. That being the case it is difficult to see how any acts of the legislature could be legal, though it is understood that the court intimated that it would be against public policy to invalidate them. At least the next legislature will have to be elected according to •the apportionment of 1885, or if that is thrown out, of the previous one. Representation in the coming peoples party national convention to be held at St. Louis, July 22, will be on the basis of one delegate for each United States senator and congressman and one for each 2,000 populist votes or a major fraction thereof. This will give Indiana thirty votes out of the 1,303 which will compose the great convention. The southern states will have 500 delegates and the west and south combined will compose two-thirds of the convention. A man in the western part of Nebraska, having a large bunch of horses, and the market being overstocked, wrote to a friend in Washington city to ascertain if he could not help, him sell a carload or two of stock. The answer was very brief, and read as follows: “The people of Washington ride bicycles, the street cars are run by electricity, and the government is run by jackasses. No demand for horses.—lowa Searchlight.

“I pledge six people’s party votes in this chamber to either party that will stop the further issue of-bonds, and six votes will give a majority to either side. In fact, either party can have a majority in this body when it desires to pass any law in the interest of the American people.” The above are the words of Senator Butler of North Carolina, expressing ihe sentiment, not only of the six populist senators, but of the 2,250,000 populist voters, and of a large majority of all the people of this country. The old parties are agreed on the one great issue that is engaging the attention of the masses and those six votes will not be accepted on the terms offered. Practically the senate stands six to eighty-four on propositions of real benefit to the people.

I remember very well in 1881 that we attempted to force the national bank to he'p us fund the public debt. We thought, as the supreme court has decided, that they were agents and creatures of the government. They asserted that they were not, and their officers thronged these lobbies and corridors, and told us that if we dared to force them to take 3 per cent bonds they would create a panic that would rock, this country to its center and destroy its credit. We passed the bill through both houses, and a panic came in New York. That was the response of Wall street to the legislation of congress, as the incipient panic now in Wall street is the response to the bond order of the presi dent. Over $18,000,000 of national bank notes were retired in one day. If I had any doubt about the dangerous power in .the hands of these corporations, that would have been a lesson which would have lasted me during my public lite.—Extract from recent speech of Senator Vest of Missouri. But then. Senator Vest, your party will endeavor to give the national banks still more of the same dangerous power. Will you help them do it?

Electric Bitters.

Electric Bitters is a medicine suited for any season, but perhaps more generally needed, when the languid exhausted feeling prevails, when the liver is torpid and sluggish and the need of a tonic and alterative is felt. A prompt use of this medicine has often averted long and perhaps fatal bilious fevers. No medicine will act more surely in counteracting and freeing the system from the malarial poison. Headache, Indigestion, Constipation, Dizziness yield to Electric Bitters. 50c. and 1.00 per bottle at Frank B. Meyer’s Drug Store.

THE PEOPLE’S PILOT. RENSSELAER, IND.. THURSDAY FEB. 6. 1896.

FALL OF DEMOCRACY.

Judge Saunders Talks Out in Meetln’. Why the People Should Vote for Home and the People’s Party Ticket. Sparta, Bell County, Texas Hon. X. B. Saunders, Bolton. Texas: Dear Sir— Relying in your frankness, intelligence, integrity and patriotism, and on our long acquaintance with you, and further. knowing you to be a plain man of the people, we take the liberty to ask your views on the following questions: 1. Are you a monometallist or a bimetallist? Are you in favor of our nation establishing the ratio 16 of silver to 1 of gold, and undertaking to maintain it without reference to action on the part of England or any other country? 2. Do you believe that a majority of the democratic party in Texas and the United States is in favor of the free coinage of silver at the old ratio of 16 to 1, and if so, do you believe that this majority in spite of the influences of the money power, backed by the President, John Sherman and eastern leaders of the socalled democratic and republican parties will be able to have their will expressed in the national platform? 3. Is it your opinion that the present method, principles and practices of the President and his co-workers are in accord with the time honored principles of democracy, and if not, are they in accoid with any existing party? If so, which one? 4. Upon a calm and partial sur-’ vcy of the present political field which one of the present political parties is the one, in your opinion, that nearly accords with the Democratic party as organized and maintained by Jefferson, Madison and Jackson, and what is the duty of the citizen under the present political condition of parties and the country? 5. Do you consider the present condition of things as menacing any great evil to our government and country? If so, how and why? Your early answer will oblige. Your friends, J. R. Walker, J. M. Cramer, G. W. Cole, and others.

Belton, Tex,, Oct. 19. Messrs. .1. R. Walker. J. M. Cramer. G. W. Cole, and others. Sparta: GentlEmen—l have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 16th inst., in which you request me to express my views upon certain questions therein contained touching the present political situation in our country. While lam not now, and as you are all aware have never been a politician (having never held a political office in my life), and therefore my reply will only be the expression of a private citizen, yeti have always taken enough interest in the affairs of my country to endeavor to inform myself upon the current political questions so as to be able to vote intelligently, and as I have no consealment to make of my endeavor to answer your questions candidly, and whether satisfactory to others or not, it will be at least satisfac tory to myself, and the utterance I shall make will represent no one but myself. In answer to your first question, I have to say that I am a bimetallist. lam neither a gold or a silver monometallist. I favor the money of the constitution, the money of our fathers, gold and silver. But if we are to have only one metallic currency, I favor silver, because it is the money of the people, is most suited to the ordinary transactions of the great body of the people, and therefore most usual and convenient, is more stable and less subject to danger-ous-fluctuations than gold. lam in favor of the continuance of its coinage at the old American ratio of 16 of silver to 1 one of gold, about that ratio It maintained itself as the principal medium of exchange of the world for more than 300 years prior to the great crime of its demonetization, as the most accurate statistics will show. Besides, it is questionable if there is hardly gold enough in the world to sufficiently float the commerce of the United States unaided and alone. I am also in favor of our country issuing a national paper currency directly to supplement our stock of gold and silyer. I. am opposed to national bank issue of paper currency by authority of government. I want the bondholders, banks and bankers to go out of the government business and I want our government to get out of the banking and bond issuing business, and if 1

had the space it could easily be demonstrated that the people of this nation are annually robbed of many millions of dollars. Yes, I am in favor of our nation establishing the ratio of 16 of silver to 1 of gold and maintaining it without reference to what Great Britain “or the balance of mankind” may think or say or do to the contrary notwithstanding. Tocoin, establish, and to regulate its currency is one of the highest and most sacred acts oi national so ver eignity. To surrender that right to a foreign power, either directly or indirectly, is the most pusillanimous and disgraceful of all national acts. I am proud to say that the United States is a nation, the wealthiest and most powerful in existence, the census shows, with twice a population and greater wealth than Great Britain and our people rank with the most intelligent, active and progressive ?n earth. Their renascent energies are incalcuable, and resources practically inexhaustible.

More than a hundred years ago when our revolutionary fathers had gone successfully through an eight year baptism of fire and blood to establish their right to be a free and sovereign nation, with not three million of people, impoverished and financially exhausted to the last degree, with neither commerce or credit and not the one thousandth part of our present national wealth, our monetary system was established then right in the teeth of the opposition of British capital and their paid agents, who, then as now, sought to hold us in financial slavery, and practically the same arguments were used then as now to show that it was to our best interests to permit England to regulate our financial affairs. But those sturdy old patriots paid no heed to them, but went ahead and established a system that for eightyyears met all the demands of the most wonderful national development recorded in the history of men. To your second question I answer both yes and no. To the first part I answer yes, I am satisfied that at least seven-tenths of the democrat party in Texas and a large majority of that party in the United States is in favor of the free coinage of silver at the old ratio of 16 to 1. This wil? apply more particularly to the party in the south and west. But in the north and east the democratic leaders being “hand and glove” with the republican party on this and other questions are almost a unit for the demonetization of silver. I do not believe that the southern and western democrats will be able to overcome the baleful influence of Cleveland, Sherman and the money power sufficiently to get the honest expression of the majority in the national platform, and I believe this gold standard wickedness or a straddle of the question to catch votes will be fastened upon the party; in the event of either of which I think the honest democratic masses will become so disgiisted they will no longer act with the party. To the third question I answer no. Ido not think the present methods, principles and practices of our President and his’ comrades are in a,ny way in accord with “the time honored principles of democracy,” for numerous reasons, a few of which I will mention. It is not a time honored principle of the democratic party for the president to go into the the republican party and select for the highest offices in his gift (Secretary of State) a man who boasted to the day of his death that he had never voted the democratic ticket. Surely among the millions of democratic voters there could have been found some one honest and capable enough to fill the office. If there was, then he was untrue to his perty and his principles. If it was true there was not to be found among all the democratic millions one who could be trusted with this important portfolio, then the sooner the party is wiped out of existence the better. It is not in accord with democratic usage or principle to issue in time of profound peace the enormous amount of $162,000,000 of bonds to supply a deficiency which is occasioned if not directly at- least indirectly by destroying the debt paying power of one half the democratic and constitutional money of the country and to cover up as far as possible that criminal and un democratic blunder. It is not democratic for a democratic pres ident, who, when elected and finding an unprecedented democratic majority in congress who are opposed to the unconditional J repeal of the silver bill of 1890,

or in other words who are opposed to the unconditional destruction of all silver money conceives hitaself to be infinitely wiser and greater than the whole democratic party that he joins with the republican minority led by that enemy of democracy and constitutional liberty, John Sherman, by invoking all the influence of his great office and lavishing false promises, cause enough democratic votes to join with hisfaithful republic following to carry the repeal, and then when enough of the democratic congress, conscious of the great wrong he had induced some of them to commit, sought to partially atone for it and asserted their manhood and principle by passing th,e “Seigniorage Bill” faithful to his working republican minority and the money kings of Wall and Lombard streets to prevent cheapening their gold and vetoed it, knowing it could not be passed over his veto by a two-third majority, by which act alone he caused property values in this nation to shrink not less than $1,000,000,000 by increasing the purchasing power of gold that much. It is not democratic for a president to accept a nomination on a platform intended by the party to favor bimetallism and after election to openly declare and work for monometallism. • In answer to your fourth question I have to say that after a deliberate review of the present condition of political affairs with the democratic party hopelessly shattered and in connection with the republican party unalterably manipulated and dominated solely in the interest of the money power, utterly regardless of.the interest or inconvenience of the great mass of the people; when for many years past principle has invariably been abandoned, when classing with expediency, when all along the pathway of the last thirty years are strewn the wrecks of broken political faith, and vicious legislation has been the rule instead of the exception, it seems to me that a party which is ever regardful of the interest of the whole people above all other interests, which prefers to stand by principle for principle’s sake, which in the simplicity of its instincts, its methods and principles most nearly agrees with the party of Jeffeison, Madison and Jackson is the one known as the populist or people’s party. It is the outgrowth of a patriotic American sentiment, which is destined to cover our whole country, “as the waters cover the sea.” Its very existence is at once an evidence of, and an indignant protest of a nation against the corruption and degeneracy of its political parties. Whenever human brains are working, human' hearts are beating for a loftier citizenship or the amelioration of the toilers of the earth, it reaches out the hand of sympathy and assistance. As to what is the duty of the citizen under this condition of things I will not presume to answer for any one but myself, as each man in a matter of this sort must answer to his own conscience. For myself, I conceive it my duty as a well-wisher of my country to vote hereafter with this party and shall do so through evil and good report.

To your fifth and last question I answer yes. Ido consider the present condition of things, brought about by the corruption and misrule of the republican and democratic a serious menace to the very existence of our free institutions, and one calling for the earnest, thoughtful consideration of every citizen. We are now actually in the midst of a condition of things the very thought of which was a source of much disquietude to the. fathers. of our government, and against which we have been so solemnly warned by them. It is a matter of history familiar to every school boy that at the organization of our government there were two great parties, federal and republican. > one led by Mr. Hamilton and the other by Mr. Jefferson, the one favoring a strong, centralized, aristocratic government with long official terms, the other a more democratic form With short terms of office and the full preservation of all rights of the citizen consistent with good government. All these grave questions were only settled by a long, earnest and peculiarly able debate by those old patriots in the formation of the constitution. Among other things it was proposed to elect the president for life. :

To the everlasting honpr of those old patriots the short term idea prevailed, and among other things the presidential term was

fixed at four years. Geo. Washington was twice elected, serving in all eight years, and declining a re-election, declared that no man ought to be permitted to serve longer in that great office. Ever since the example set by the Father of his Country has been accepted as common law on this question, and until the last .twenty-five years no one in this nation could be found so unpatriotic or corrupt as to wish to change it. We have now fastened upon us an official aristocracy. It has become an established custom, inaugurated by the republican party and acquiesced in by the democratic representatives in congress that it is proper and right to foist upon the government the widow of any man they choose, who has happened to have lived any length of time by holding office, but who has been so improvident or worthless as to live beyond his income and died penniless, and too often when he has left his family in easy circumstances. These matters may seem unimportant and insignificant to the casual observer, but they surely mark the corruption of the hour, the decadence of a simple honest patriotism; the political, moral and soqial drifting of the office-hold-ing class from the well defined landmarks of a glorious past, as the light follows the rising of the sun. The people of our great nation can never be too distrustful of any innovation however small upon the wholesome rules and checks thrown around our institutions or guard with too great diligence the inestimable privileges bequeathed to us by those grand old masters who stood at the cradle of our government. The liberties of a people are never subverted at once, and the principles of free government are only changed by successive insidious steps. The inhovation of today is apt to become the precedent of tomorrow, and one by one the fundamental props of the system are stolen away until at last the whole system tumbles into ruins. I sincerely believe that if Mr. Cleveland is ever nominated for president in violation. as it will be, of a settled American principle he will be the candidate of the combined republican and democratic monometallists, for their creed on the greatest of all present questions as identical. And I further believe the success of that combination would be absolutely ruinous to the best interests of the country, if it did not further result in the destruction of our free government. Then let the thoughtful, earnest men of all political parties unite with the great party of the people and present an unbroken front against this combination of money changers and sweep them from our great political temple, which they have so long made a house of merchandise. You have the power if you will use it. “You have a weapon that comes down as still As the snow flake lhat falls upon the sod, That executes a freeman’s will As lightning does the will of God. A weapon from which neither bolts nor locks Can shield the traitor, The unbought ballot in the ballot box.”

Unite and you can scatter your political enemies like autumnal leaves. Justice may sleep but never dies; the cause of the people may have been delayed by their apathy and want of concert, but the hour of triumph will surely come. The finger of destiny is pointing to it as surely as the needle tn the pole. The cup of political iniquity of those who would make us bond slaves of a foreign and native moneyed aristocracy is full, and when that hour, of triumph shall come, when their shields and lances are broken, and under the purer regime of the people of our country shall be restored to its ancient way of national prosperity and permanent glory. “Then shall the press the people’s rights maintain, Unawed by influence and unbribed by gain. Here patriot Truth its sacred precepts draw, Pledged to Religion, Liberty and Law,”

X. B. SAUNDERS.

McClure’s Magazine For February.

McClure’s Magazine for February takes its first grasp of the reader’s attention with eight portraits of Lincoln (several of them very rare), some twenty other Lincoln pictures, and an account, abounding in vivicf personal details, of Lincoln’s misfortunes as a country merchant; of his entrance into the legislature, beginning of his acquaintance with Douglas; of his work as a village postmasterand a deputy county surveyor; of his study of Shakespeare and Burns and a copy of Blackstone found by chance in a barrel ol refuse; and of his romantic courtship of Ann Rutledge, and his affliction at her death shortly before the time appointed for their marriage.