Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 August 1896 — RAMPANT DEMOCRACY. [ARTICLE]

RAMPANT DEMOCRACY.

Democratic Press Burst All Bonds in Their Indignation. In every contest in Ohio* lowa, Illinois and Michigan'when the Democrats were on a free islver or cheap money platform they have been overwhelmingly beaten. What evidence have we that there is to be a change iu ’96’.'—Montgomery' JAla.) Advertiser. When a! great party has reached that stage of moral depravity that such creatures as Tillman, Altgeld & Co. are perniitted to speak to it. much less take an important part in moulding its politics, its course is. indeed, about run;—Wabash jlnd.) Times. a Americans will never give this crowd control of the country until they shall have fallen to the level of the old world communists. That will not happen this year, at least. The people must be degraded in their own esteem' before they will vote for a war of class against class.—Memphis Scimitar. The financial plank in the. platform adopted by the Democratic national convention at Chicago is distinctly a declaration for such repudiation of existing debts, public and private, as can be secured by the enforcement upon the country as legal tender money of a debased silver coinage conformed to a degraded standard of money.—New Orleans Picayune. Scratch a silver man and you come to n Popnlist; In the heart of each burns Hie desire to get as much as possible and give as little. .If either of them happen to be a debtor, this desire takes the fqpn of repudiation. As most of them are debtors repudiation is the thing they are for. and in tiie Chicago platform they go for it straight.—New York Times.

It is but proper to say in fairness and justice to the grand old Democratic party of Hamilton, Jefferson and Jackson that we cannot depart from the ways of the fathers upon the financial question, and. therefore, esnnot. much to our regret, follow, the Democratic banner as it trails into a foreign camp; and must, as a matter of self-respect, refuse to support Mr. Bryan upon the financial platform upon which he has been placed aud stands.—Dayton (O.) Times. Till the contest is decided our voice shall be raised and our influence given for the election of Mr. McKinley to the presidency. The security of the currency is the paramount question of the hour. Ft eclipses issues. Bel ieving that this security —cn n best —be attained ~by the success of the Republican party, we promise it our sincere and hearty support for Its presidential ticket in’the impending campaign. We have never believed that the Republican* l party made the best selection possible to it. but it Is difficult to see how any candid man can deny that the selection of the Republican party was eminently more fitting and appropriate. .There is an absence of dignity in the Democratic selection which is seen both in the candidate himself and in the circumstances that attended his nomination.—Boston Herald.

The tjue interests of the people ask for the election of Mr. McKinley, not for himself but for the absolute necessity of the whole people of the United States and of the greater world of which they are after all but a part. In -any event let us be reasonable. Don’t talk of’ “sectionalism” or of “anarchy” or of “revolution.” Remember always that compared with the unity of country the gold standard is not worth fighting for; one country, one flag.—Springfield Republican (Ind.-Dem.) No reasonable man can ask the Times to stultify and dishonor itself and longtimed Democratic principles. While supporting to The best of our ability the State nominations for executive offices and legislative nominees, we feel assured that all true Democrats will justify us in deciding that we cannot give the support., of tlie Times to the Chicago convention and its politically diseased candidate. We shall do all we can to sustain the good name and the organization of the Democratic party, but we cannot support principles nor candidates of tlie Bland. Teller and Altgeld stripe. We cannot conscientiously ask honest men to vote for them. —Hartford Times. We repudiate the 16 to 1 plank in Bryan’s Chicago platform and will not support any candidate on such a platform. It is too Populistic and Nihilistic. —Machias (Me.) Union. Our worst fears have not only been realized but new' and horrible doctrines have been added to the Chicago platform, which cannot possibly bind a Democrat who is unwilling to abandon the fundamental principles of his party.—Richmond (Va.) Times. What Harry Bingham, feared only as a bare possibility has come to be a’stern reality. The “madmen” of whom be spoke have controlled the national convention and declared for free silver at J. 6to 1. The .Democrats of New Hampshire cannot.-'o with them.—Manchester (N. H.) Union. Circumstances have made William McKinley the mnn around whom ail must rally who desire to defeat determinedly the candidate for (he pseudo-Democracy. William J. Bryan, who stands for fiat money under the guise of bimetallism; for nullification of lawfully-contracted liabilities; for -communism and lawlessness. McKinley and the party he represents have until now induced Democratic and indepndent voters ro look for means by which they could avoid the necessity of supporting the Republican ticket. This has been shown to be hopeless, and thef.e is ho other way but to offer our supitort to our old opi>onetits.—Now York Staats Zeitttng, the leading Eastern German Democratic daily. We have no fear that tlie sound-money Democracy will acquiesce in a free silver platform, a ticket of repudiation, of anarchy and the trampling <nit of tire rights of the sound money delegates in the convention, A bait is Inevitable. A Democratic ticket for which Democrats can vote is a' necessity. It will be supplied. The Anarchist’s, the Populists, the C’oiuniiuiists aud the Nihilists who are controlling this convention will never control tbU country; they will never control the Democratic pa'rty.-r-Brooklyn Eagle.

‘The parting of the ways bns been reached, ami for the sake of pnrty honesty and electoral Integrity it is to be hoped that the division will lie complete. A paramount issue like that for the pending ebinage question demands a speedy settlement ami a voter’s convictions upon it have not been subordinated to the demands of party expediency. There cun be no honorable compromise with or submission to the free silver faction.—Galveston News.

Speaking for itself, the Courier cannot so far forget its duty to its constituency as to advocate support of the Chicago pronouncement. The declarations contained therein are abhorrent to Democratic ideas: they are not expressive of Democratic doctrine, Free coinage of silver itself alone, with or without its attendant consequence as an economic proposition, is of minor importance in its Influence forfftood or eviUupon the people bf this Country compared with the other declaration* of party policy ex,e ■’ . " ». >

pressed in the platform.— Syracuse Courier. _lt is altogether probable th# the Democrats who love Democracy and who decline to be counted among its betrfivers will have a ticket in the near future that will satisfy their desires and aims. This would be Ihe most desirable result, but, come what .may,’ the Chronicle absolves itself from all responsibility for the utterances of (he alleged Democratic convention just closed at Chicago, and pledges itself to aid in the defeat of its nominees. To participate in a campaign ‘ fcr such a ticket on such a platform would be to be untrue to every patriotic Democratic principle.—La Crosse (Wis.) Chronicle. A bright young mnn with a silvery, demagogic tongue is planted on the antiDeipocratic platform adopted at Chicago, and the excited victims of a singular and illogical craze vie with the sympathizers virith Anarchy and Populism in the long acclaim to William J. r ßryan. the eloquent and eccentric representative of the bolters of Nebraska. . . . The platform and the candidate threaten a paralysis of business until the day of election; for a longer period if success could possibly attend; and they condemn the Democratic party to a fate that would be death to any other party, but the Democratic party is undying.—Utica Observer. ‘ Will Lose Hundreds of Thousands. Savannah Neiys: AU Democrats wi.ll not approve the declarations in respect to coinage, bonds, the currency, income tax and railroads. These latter declarations are much more Populistic than DemocTOtie. they were put into the platform for the express purpose of ctlrrying favor with the Populists. In fact, if we are not mistaken, Senator Tillman said in his speech in the convention that the purpose of them is to influence the Populists to come into the lines of the Democracy and become a part of the Democratic party. He did not seem to take into 'consideration the fact that the adoption of Populistic declarations might not break up the Populist party, but would pretty certainly drive hundreds of thousands, of Democrats out of the Democratic party. Bosz Champions of Disorder. Trenton (N. J.) American (Demi): But, whatever may be the course of the politicians and the party leaders, there will be thousands of Democrats in New Jersey who—not in resentment of the contumely with which the state and its interests have been treated, but from persona] and publie motives—will refuse to give their approval to a convention and a candidate which, have’publicly and vaingloriously threatened the destfuctlbn of the nation's credit, the dim- ” inution of values, th«M retardment of bust- 1 ness. the attack on property, and the triumph of disorder above "the law and those called upon to administer it. And they will so refuse in the belief that all other party issues fade into insignificance in comparison with the issue as it has been formulated at Chicago. Danger to Liberty. Galveston News: The fact is that the firogramme formulated at Chicago merey marks the skirmish line of a great and final battle-for social revolution, industrial reconstruction, and constitutional subversion. Without consitutional safeguards there can be no assurance of either free government or individual liberty. An unchecked social Democracy means no law but the law of brute force, no mle and no order but the rule and order of irresponsible tyranny. Intelligent citizens grounded in wholesome appreciation of the constitutional essentials of a stable republic, who supremely cherish the priceless interests or constitutional liberty and security, who feel that there can be no true progress without the conservation of these interests/ will not fail to see in present emergencies where their common danger lies. Realizing also that the problem of deG'nse is .their common concern, they can well understand that how they may best proceed to combat, defeat and disarm their common enemy is a question of momentary expediency to be decided in the light of current events and modifying circumstances.

South Dakota Views. Sioux Falls Argus-Leader: The Democrats have declared for a policy which will inevitably establish the single silver standard; will, in our opinion, wreck the national credit and reputation; will, for many years, make commercial confidence impossible; will spread ruin over the land; will destroy all hopes of bimetallism in the generation: nnd will indefinitely postpone a revival of good times. Under these circumstances the ArgusLeader can see its duty only in one channel. Believing. as this paper does, that Uiejmnor. safety and prosperity of the rmted States would be seriously jeopardized by the success of the Democratic party on its presetn plqtform. the ArgusLeader, with sorrow for the broken associations. with regret at parting from a name it bas-revered and loved, hut with a consciousness of unavoidable dutv withdraws from the grand old Democratic party, which has. in our judgment, left its time-honored principles in pursuit ■’* strange gods, and will throw whatever influence it may possess on the side of the Nation's prosperity and honor. To Attempt the Impossible. Stjiunfon (Va.) News: A law declaring that wheat, regardless of the surplus ou the markets or the demand for it, should sell the year round at $1 per bushel, and that corn and oats, no.matetr their intrinsic value." should always sell at the same figure as wheat, would be just as sensible as a free coinage of silver law and would be just as easy to carry into effect. The gist of the whole matter is that to attempt to coin silver in unlimited quantities and to make it even in value at a given fixed ratio with gold is to attempt the impossible and to do what in the very nature of things cannot be done. Looking to the New York Convention. Syracuse News: The Chicago plat- ” form is a wide departure from the platform adopted by the last Democratic state convention at Saratoga. It was so wide a departure that the delegation felt compelled to abstain from participation in the nomination candidates on that platform. It remains for the coming Democratic state convention to formulate the policy of the New York Democracy. That convention. in nominating presidential electors. will point the way to Democrats which shall lead to the preservation of the jiarty—the preservation of its unsullied honor and integrity. The party which this year celebrates its 100th anniversary will not be permitted to go down to a dishonorable grave. No Excuse for the Insult. Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser: Thousands and thousands of Democrats in Alabama will learn with mingled emotions of anger and "shame that a Democratic national convention declined to declare of Grover Cleveland the simple truth that his •"honesty, economy, courage, and fidelity” deserved commendation at the hands of Democrats. The intense indignation which this action causes to over 60,000 sound money Democrats in Alabama is heightened when the voice of the Democracy of the state is recorded as in favor of this insult to their leader. The intensest heat and partisanship in favor of free silver cianot excuse it. A few more such blows will reuder inevitable the outbreak of dissension which year* will not quiet -oi cure. ’ *"'■