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"Che Conservative. i
THE PIIOSPECT.
A writer in a recent number of The
Nation has announced as a deplorable ,
but unavoidable certainty , that wo are
to be the victims of "McKinleyisui" for
another four years , his argument being
founded chiefly upon the fact that
nearly all of our presidents have been
elected for a second term , not always
because of their fitness for * the office ,
but because to drop them would be
equivalent to an admission of error in
the party which made the selection ,
thereby injuring the party as a whole
oven more than the individual repre
sentation. His conclusions are logical
and advanced with almost mathemati
cal precision ; but there is still a ray of
comfort and a loophole of escape in his
failure to take account of another fac
tor in the sequence which constitutes
what we call fate. The connection be
tween cause and effect is always im
perative and inevitable ; but we have it
in our power to modify and even en
tirely change the cause , thereby chang
ing also the effect. For example :
thoughtful Americans can now perceive
and must acknowledge that if the best
and wisest of our citizens in each gener
ation had been faithful to their political
duties , we should not have arrived at
our present desperate pass ; individual
states could not have defied decency
and right in their administration of lo
cal affairs , and the general government
would not have presented a spectacle of
mingled imbecility and arrogance which
is a scorn and derision to other nations
and hinders the spread of free institu
tions throughout the world.
Upright and pure-minded men have
turned away from politics as dirty and
corrupting work ; instead of uniting
their energies to keep this necessary
department of labor honest and clean ;
they have either refrained from voting
or have gone with their party , unmind
ful of the merits or demerits of the can
didate ; a few have occasionally "bolted"
in favor of a more decent representative
of opposite principles ; but there has not
been any united , persistent effort to se
lect the best men in either party for the
performance of important public duties ;
hence the prevalence and strength of
political corruption in our day , and the
apparent hopelessness of attempted po
litical reformation. And yet the at
tempt must be made and that without
further delay. To submit tamely to a
repetition of the administration of the
last four years is to deserve the fate
which threatens us. There is yet time
to save ourselves from another period of
the rule of "McKinleyism , " which
means disregard of solemn pledges ,
yielding to dishonest solicitations in
every form , pandering to the worst ten
dencies of the least trustworthy affilia
tions. If our best citizens throughout
the land , irrespective of party dif
ferences , will unite in active protest
Ji
against the policy which led us into one
needless war and is leading us into a
disastrous and disgraceful contest
which involves the repudiation of the
fundamental principles of our govern
ment , we may yet save the republic and
redeem our national honor , otherwise
both are lost.
ELIZABETH E. EVANS.
A VETO OF LONG AGO.
Rutherford B. Hayes , de facto presi
dent of the United States from 1877 to
March 4 , 1881 , was the ablest man from
Ohio who has ever filled the executive
office.
He vetoed the miserable Bland-Allison
act of February , 1878. He exhibited
courage , good knowledge of finance and
patriotism by attempting to avert the
innumerable ills which have descended
upon the American people from that one
fatal mistake in financial legislation.
In his message of objections to the com
bined diabolism of the political neutor-
genderism of Allison and the infatuation
of Bland which that blunder in legisla
tion represented , De Facto President
Hayes said : "The bill provides for the
coinage of silver dollars of the weight
of 412 } grains each of standard silver ,
to be a legal tender at their nominal
value for all debts and1 duties , public
and private , except where otherwise ex
pressly stipulated in the contract. It is
well known that the market value of
that number of grains of standard silver
during the past year (1877) ( ) has been
from 90 to 92 cents , as compared with
the standard gold dollar. Thus the sil
ver dollar offered by this bill is worth 8
to 10 per cent less than it purports to be
worth and is made a legal-tender for
debts contracted when the law did not
recognize such coins as lawful money. "
No matter by what dishonest moans
Hayes came to be the de facto president ,
when Samuel J. Tilden had been really
elected to that high place , Hayes was an
honest financier and wise as a forecaster
of the influences upon the finances of
the republic which the Bland-Allison
disaster was to exert. He clearly saw
the folly of cutting off the only source
of gold supply from the national treas
ury and with terse prophecy declared :
"The right to pay duties in silver or in
silver certificates for silver deposits ,
will , when they are issued in sufficient
amounts to circulate , put an end to the
receipt of revenues in gold , and thus
compel the payment of silver for both
principal and interest of the public
debt. "
And again , in the same veto , when
speaking of the bonded obligations of
the United States , Mr. Hayes with
forceful truth and honesty asserts :
"These bonds entered into the markets
of the world. They were paid for in
gold , when silver had greatly depreciated
and when no one would have bought them
if it had been understood that they would
'te ' paid in silver. "
Thus American records and executive
documents demonstrate that the original
} honght , intention and understanding
was that all the bonds of the United
States were to be honestly paid in gold
liquidated upon the same basis and
in accord with the same standard in
vigor when the national debt was con
tracted.
A 1'romlso by a Nation.
In the same veto Hayes also remarks :
"A doubt was suggested as to the coin
in which payment of these bonds would
bo made. The public announcement
was thereupon authorized that it was
not to be anticipated that any future
legislation of congress or any action of
any department of the government
would sanction or tolerate the redemp
tion of the principal of these bonds or
the payment of the interest thereon in
coin of less value than the coin author
ized by law at the time of the issue of
the bonds , being the coin exacted by the
government in exchange for the same. "
And again Hayes appeals to the honor
of congress , to common honesty and to
patriotic pride , telling plainly and fairly
these great and incontestible truths :
"The standard of value should not be
changed without the consent of both
parties to the contract. "
"National promises should be kept
with unflinching fidelity. There is no
power to compel a nation to pay its
debts. It's credit depends upon its
honor 1"
But the iniquitous Bland-Allison act
passed over the vigorous veto.
In the United States senate 40 voted
yea , 19 voted nay and 11 were absent.
In the house of representatives there
were 196 yeas , 78 nays and 28 repre
sentatives not voting.
Prominent among those voting yea , to
pass the bill over the veto , was Major
William McKiuley of Ohio. He aided
thus a silver syndicate to unload upon
the government 291 millions of ounces
of silver at a cost of more than 808
millions of dollars and at an average
price of a little more than $1.05 an
ounce for silver junk , now worth about
half that price.
For a short time silver advanced.
But stimulated production soon made
an output that caused a decline. Legis
lation to create a constant demand ,
equivalent to a constantly increasing
supply , failed then , failed again with
the Sherman act , and will fail wherever
and whenever tried. All demand is
based upon human desire. That which
is desired is demanded. Law makers
cannot enact desires for humanity.
They cannot therefore create permanent
demand by statute.
Will Allen , Bryan or Coin Harvey ,
Bill Deoh or any other advocate of the
fallacy of the free coinage of silver at 16
to 1 answer the arguments in the Hayes
veto message quoted above ? .