-ryfiET1
Mwk
a
Toprohonsiblo acts of the administration in con
nection with the bond sales. In describing the
Issuo or tho last ?100,000,0O0 o bonds, Mr. Cleve
land conceals a part of the transaction, and that,
too, tho part which arousod the fiercest criticism.
It will bo remembered that ho had first ontercd
Jnto negotiations with Mr. Morgan, and mado a
tontativo agroement with him, by tho terms of
which Mr. Morgan was to take tho bonds at about
$1.05. Mr. Morgan Btarted out to place the bonds,
nd tho terms of tho agreement leaked out. Such
nn uproar followod that Mr. Cleveland was finally
coorced by public opinion into calling for bids for
tho bonds. Just before the bids wero opned Mr.
Morgan put in a bid for ?1.10 and a fraction
$5,000,000 abovo tho price that ho was to havo
jpaid for thorn had he taken them at private sale.
Horo was a differenco of $5,000,000 in his bid, and
it could only bo explained in one of two ways
cither ho know tho bonds wero wcrth $1.10, but
psed his influence with tho administration to got
fchom at $1.05 (a thing neither creditable to him
nor to tho Intelligence of tho president), or ho was
jdiistakon as to tho value of tho bonds. Was ho
Ignorant of the actual valuo of the bonds? Did ho
make a mistake of $5,000,000 in his own favor, or,
as is probablo, did ho know tho value of tho
bonds, and try to make $5,000,000 out of his influ
onco with tho president? Mr. Clevc.and not only
passes over in silence his negotiations with Mr.
Morgan, but ho gives himself full credit for tho
public salo of the bonds. Ho says:
"Though our resort to tho expediency of
purchasing gold with bonds under contract
had beon productive of very satistactory re
sults, it by no means indicated our abandon
ment of tho policy of Inviting offerings of
gold by public advertisement."
And again:
"Wo had not lost our faith in tho loyalty
and patriotism of tho people nor d'd we doubt
their willingness to respond to an appeal from
their government in any emergency."
As tho denunciations which he received and
morited for his attempt to make private negotia
tions with tho Morgan syndicate drove him from
his purpose, it is scarcely possible that ho could
havo forgotten it, and his failure to make any
roforonce to it shows that ho is not attempting to
give a history of the transaction, but is advancing
a purely personal and partisan delenso, in order
to relieve himself of the blame that has justly
boon placed upon him. What must we say of the
ethics of such an attempt? To what an extrem
ity is ho drivon when he resorts to so one-sided,
so incomplete, and so unfair a statement of his
infamous part in tho notorious bond deals?
If it is necessary to redeem greenbacks and
Sherman notes in gold in order to maintain tho
credit of the country, then It is equally necessary
to redeem silver dollars in gold for tho same pur
pose, and if silver dollars are redeemed and then
reissued, wo have an endless chain longer than
the endless chain on account of which he issued
bonds. If wo aro to havo bimetallism, the debtor
must have tho option whether the debtor be an
individual or the government. On no other basis
is bimetallism possible. Any departure from this
uoctrlno involves tho government in endless ditt
culty. If the holder of an obligation has a right
to dictate the coin of payment, tho silver dollar
can bo used as effectively as the greenbacks and
tho Sherman notes were to force an issue of
bonds. In other words, tho nation's debt will not
be determined by the will of the people, or oven
o? V"J th08G in . but by the will
?firtflHncl0r8' wbo are Pitted to dictate
terms to tho government.
elairt does not mention the fact that
JsSuo n'av niiSSS r?CeiVed for lbe ncta was
SfJSJ V y ?iront expenses, and that some bonds
flf ?aY? be!n necessry oven if the Ammeters
had not attempted to raid tho treasury. When Mr
.Harrison went out of office tho treasury w pracl
couryhSn T fh decI?l0n 0 tbe
ft a S fSin LinCme tox "constitutional,
,, m In th0 revenues of the government
no SLtertof" win? Part f Mr- evelandis
?; I WiU the Prosont manner of run
?noothir0asury dePartment the financiers can
nTtoei,nded debt at any tIme y drawing
Anu?,80ll,i:caerve' ana then domanding bonds
denlsit of 0irlch bIU is pass authoring the
cieposit of all the government surplus in tho linni
wo need not be surprised to see the banks foreSt
new issueB of bonds from time totimn Lx ?hSg
borrowing back at alow wteX me St Sfwft?
gSver'mon? 8UrPlUS UlUS ?bTffe
- Mr. Cloveland was the willing toni nt
saot in the hand, olptSS,
Th Commoner.
whilo the people at large bor$ the burden of his
maladministration of tho treasury, his party bore
tho odium for his conduct And now, without
showing any regrot or repentan.ee, ho emerges
from tho obscurity to which his administrative
acts consigned him, to defend bis indefensible
record and to excuse his inexcusable course. Not
satisfied with defeating his party in two cam
paigns, he seeks to bind the party again to the
policy of his malodorous administration.
And whilo ho is posing as the partes "guide,
philosopher and friend," bo continues to assail
with insult and inuendo the majority of the party,
that cast him out in- order to save the party's in
tegrity. In this article ho quotes from his mes
sage, and then remarks: "Perhaps it should not
have beon expected that members of congress
would permit troublesome' thoughts of the govern
ment's financial difficulties to disturb the pleasant
anticipation of their recess." And in another part
of his article he says: "Quite in keeping with
tho congressional habit prevailing at that time,
the needed legislation was refused, and this money
was not saved."
It must be remembered- that the democratic
party was in power in both the senate and the
house, and this reflection upon the '"habit" of
congress is a reflection upon a democratic con
gress whose greatest sin, in his eye, was its re
fusal to follow him blindly in the carrying out of
republican financial schemes.
It is fortunate for the loyal democracy that
Mr. Cleveland has written his article, for it shows
to what pettifogging the chief of the reorganizers
can resort when he tries to cleanse his hand's of
the spot made by the handling of the finances of
the government. He concludes his article by
saying:
"I have attempted to give a derailed his
tory of the crime charged against my admin
istration which issued bonds of the govern
ment in time of peace. Without shame and
without repentance, I confess my share of the
guilt; and I refuse to shield my accomplices
in this crime who, with toe, held high places
in that administration. And though Mr.
Morgan and Mr. Belmont and scores of other
bankers and financiers who were accessories
in those transactions' may be steeped in de
structive propensities, and may be constantly
busy in sinful schemes, I shall always recall
with satisfaction and self-congratulation my
collusion with them at, a time when our
country sorely needed their aid."
There are two degrees of vice. Those take
the first degree who yield to temptation, but re
tain enough conscience to be ashamed of their
sins. The second degree is conferred upon those
who are proud of their viciousness. Mr Cleve
land seems to bo aspiring to the highest honors of
the second degree. He is proud of his part in the
bond transactions which were so largely instru
mental in driving his party out of power, divid
ing its councils, and turning the government over
to a republican administration-and that too to
thSPh?1CSnadflln,BtIatl011 tbat bas Indorsd an
that he did that was bad and carried the policies
of plutocracy to' still greater extremes
JJJ
Politics at the Exposition.
tho Tf,rep,ublIc,ans seGm determined to make all
or'SlBh,aVandttneyStUr ? Wlthout
the same high aensB nf ?' ? 6oIvea w"1
imnoss and courage with S C Samo tear
tors met the v,XtS?pS em 8iLf "
presented by the julrHH ? Vu. ms that "re
of territory $$$ tbis wide expanse
WS8 as it now
proposition in which thL Pin U? is to stato a
truth. It has from tho be Jnn0t ,tbe slitest
for the government to treat ?ifafeubeen PiMe
as Cuba was treated but tL,nhiHpPine lQ
of the country refiiseri m commercial interests
sidered a trade ad vintage S wUp Wbat " m?
the Philippine isEHo'iDWe are now Elding
and not because dot TTQ l is accessary
theory of government S honCnslBient wlth our
vances our national interest T do so ad
commercialism which prevent 'thb0Ut becauae ""
the trusts also prevent th be Drosecution of
IPPine independence. e recStion of Phil-
Secretary 'Van vn
statement: U " " Qua significant
.VOLUME 4, NUMBER
.''That they may not and' probably win
not be solved by conferring- statehood unon
the new territory is probable. Augurs of iS
and ruin to follow from tho experience n i
the solution of the problem are not want im
but they never have been wanting in tho is
tory of the country, and they never have beon
allowed to control the fearless grappling of
new problems by Americans."
Here is as near an authoritative statemonh
as we have yet had that the administration in
tends a permanent colonial policy.
Secretary Taft then proceeds io argue that
because we havo solved the problems connected
with the Louisiana Purchase wo can solve satis
factorily the prpblems connected with the Phiiinl
pine question. But his argument strangely over
looks the fact that in solving the. problems con
nected with the Louisiana Purchase we have given
citizenship to the inhabitants of the land pur
chased and have formed the territory into self
governing states.
Whether a problem in mathematics can bo
solved satisfactorily depends entirely upon the
correctness of the rules applied to it, and so
problems of government can only be solved aright
when correct rules are" applied to them. And tho
Philippine question cannot be solved according to
American ideas by applying to it European
doctrines of government, and this is just what the
imperialists are trying to do.
Then follows a downright njlsrepresentation
of the position of those who oppose imperialism.
Mr. Taft says:
"Those who look forward with dark for
boding to the result of this new adventure
base their prophecies of disaster on what they,
think is the weakness of the American peo-
. vple. Those who look forward to its success
base their judgment and their optimism on
- what has already heen accomplished in the
islands, and on what they know the American
nation can do when an emergency and an
inevitable necessity present themselves."
Secretary Tart is either grossly ignorant, or
he has deliberately misstated the position of those
. who oppose imperialism. Those who indorse tho
position taken,, in the Kansas Cit;y platform and
favor the immediate promise of ultimate inde
pendence to the Filipinos do not base their ac
tion upon the weakness of the American people,
but upon the belief tnat questions of right aro
not to be determined by strength or weakness,
but by the principles Involved. Those who re
fuse to commit murder or steal do not refrain be
cause they have not the strength to murder dr
to take other people's property, but because their
strength is controlled and guided by conscience.
The opponents of imperialism insist that tne
great and increasing strength of our nation must
be guided by conscience. Tho fault of imperial
ists (and it seems that Secretary Taft is guilty
of the same -fault) is that they substitute, might
for right, and brute force -for justice.
The Louisiana Purchase illustrates the pos
sibilities of democratic expansion and that kind
of expansion is as different as night from day,
from the imperialism which Mr, Taft is trying to
defend.
JJJ
Tariff Question in 1896
and 1900.
Replying to Mr. Bryan's criticism of the Now
York platform, the New York W6rld maintains
that the platfprms upon which Mr. Bryan was a
candidate were evasive .on tho tariff question.
The World explains:
, Mr. Bryan's own- Kansas City platform
said on this point: "We condenin the Dingley
tariff law as a trust-breeding measure, skil
fully devised to give the few favors they do
not deserve and to place upon the many bur
dens which they should riot bear." Not a
word, it will be observed, to show what sort
of tariff the Kansas City democracy wanted.
Merely a condemnation of the Dingley law
the McKinley tariff might have been restored
in entire consistency with this declaration.
Mr. Bryan's explanation of His failure to
be any more explicit at this time was that the
Party needed the votes of protectionist silver
republicans. Yet h'e talks about "bunco
games" and "a dishonest platform fit only lor
a dishonest party."
The World failed to quote two ve'ry important
paragraphs in the Kansas City platform
Not only did that platform "condemn tne
Dingley tariff law as a trust-Weding measure,
skilfully devised to give the few favors which
they do not deserve and to place iipon the ma
(SBPi l Nl ' ,
i '3
W1 L
X
