'Cbe Conservative. 11
they are inclined to fnll back on the
gold standard and make that issue once
more the chief stone of the corner.
On the other hand , the Bryanites ,
thinking that they see victory within
reach on other issues than that of " 16
to 1 , " are taking steps towin the gold
democrats back to their old allegiance.
This is within their power undoubtedly.
They have only to make a platform on
which the Palmer nnd Bnckner men can
stand with good consciences in order to
secure their votes and influence next
year. It is needless to say that the men
who went to Indianapolis in 1896 and
nominated a ticket in opposition to
Bryan , did not take that step for the
sake of getting office or leadership. As
they were moved by a noble patriotism
in going out of their party , they will
come back to it under a like impulse , if
at all. To them the republican alliance
was not an agreeable one per se , but it
furnished the only means of saving the
country from a great calamity. If that
calamity is not impending when the
campaign of next year begins , they will
most probably come back to their old
places , but no more in the character of
office-seekers than when they went out.
It seems most likely now that the
regulars will arrange their platform in
such fashion as not to repel any demo
crat who bolted the ticket in 1896. Yet
it is possible that they may not. It is
conceivable that the silver fanatics may
control the convention in such a way
as to bring the old issue of 16 to 1 again
to the front. What will happen in that
case ? Whither will the gold democrats
go then ? Will they cast their votes or
their influence for McKiuley a second
time ? This is not at all likely. Many
unexpected things hnve happened in the
past three years. The traditional foreign
policy of the republic has been over
turned. Distant islands have been
annexed. A war is now in progress to
put down the spirit of liberty among a
people who never did us any hnrm all
this at an enormous cost of treasure and
no little cost of blood to ourselves.
As regards domestic policy , the things
which the McKinley administration is
most concerned about have been those
most calculated to offend its democratic
and independent allies. It passed a most
offensive tariff bill , the details of which
gave rise to the suspicion that it was
part of a preelection bargain for which
cash had been paid into the campaign
fund. In the interest of spoilsmen , it
reversed the of civil-service
policy - re
form in defiance and contradiction of
its own national platform a policy
which had received the sanction and
support of every other administration ,
i republican or democratic , for fifteen
' years. Moreover , as regards the one
issue which led the gold democrats and
the independents to give their aid to
the republicans directly or indirectly
( the establishment of the gold standard ) ,
they have , oaf yet done nothing , < and it
* * i tr"-
is still uncertain what they will do if
anything. It is true that they have not
hitherto had control of the senate. They
could not have passed any measure
through that branch of congress , but , in
fact , they did not make any attempt to
pass anything , not even the slight mea
sures looking to the maintenance of
the gold standard which President Mc
Kinley himself recommended. They
gave no sign of interest in the subject
until it dawned upon them a few months
ago that they might want the votes of
their gold allies next year , especially
since their policy of expansion and war
against the Filipinos had not been an
unmixed success. Added to these acts
of omission and commission which are
sins in the eyes of nearly all of their
allies of 1896 , they are now talking of a
new ship-subsidy bill , to enable another
lot of rich men to get their hands into
the public treasury. Such a measure
would alone repel four-fifths of the
Palmer and Bnckuer democrats and of
the independents who supported Mc
Kinley in 1896.
What these men will do when the
time comes will depend largely upon
events transpiring between the present
time and the coming together of the
national conventions. It is still possible
that McKinley may not be renominated.
If the republican party becomes con
vinced in the meantime that he cannot
be reelected , he will be laid aside. It is
possible that McKiuley may himself be
come an anti-imperialist. Ho still has
his ears to the ground ( very long ones ,
it seems to us ) , and ho may hear rum
blings which will cause him to stop
expanding and become a contractionist.
He has never done or said anything
which would prevent him from saying
to the Filipinos , "You have fought a
good fight for liberty ; now form a
government for yourselves , and wo will
protect you against foreign interfer
ence. * ' It is possible , too , that Bryan
may not bo renominated. It is possible ,
nay probable , that silver will bo a dead
issue next year. So it would bo unsafe
to make any predictions now as to the
political alliances and detachments of
next year. All that can bo said now is
that the "conscience vote , " which really
elected McKinley , will probably bo much
larger than it was three years ago , being
reinforced by all those who adhere to
the maxims of Washington's farewell
address , and who believe that the de
claration of independence applies to
brown and black men as well as to
whites. Now York Evening Post.
The organ of the Sound Money
League at Chicago has an article enti
tled "More Wabbling , " which betokens
some hesitation in the senate finance
committee to face the issue now pending
in that quarter. The question is
whether the republican members of that
committee will report and advocate a
measure to establish the gold standard
by law without any doubt or equivoca
tion. That is the minimum , of mone
tary reform that the thinking and re
flecting portion of the American people
are now disposed to accept. It is so
small an advance , it is so needful , and is
so much in accord with the declaration
of the St. Louis platform that one can
hardly see how it could be whittled
down or attenuated. Yet Sound Money
las heard of three members who are
still wabbling. One of them says that
no gold standard legislation is needed ,
because gold is now our standard money.
Another fears lest the silver republicans
in the senate should vote against it and
defeat it. A third thinks that the sil
ver republicans who seceded under the
lead of Teller in 1896 , might come bnck
to the party next year , if thej- were
spoken fair , but that any gold standard
legislation now would prevent that de
sirable reunion. So the party , accord
ing to these weak-kneed senators , is to
be saved by ignoring the very issue
which gave it victory in 1896. To all
such Sound Money says that "they will
run to certain defeat next year if they
succeed in dodging the money ques
tion. " That is a safe prophecy. There
are more than enough voters to defeat
the republicans next year if they fail to
use the power which the people put in
their hands to insure the permanence
and perpetuity of the gold standard , and
it will not be accepted as an excuse that
their failure resulted from an attempt
to win back a handful of silverites who
walked out of the St. Louis convention ,
and supported Bryan three years ago.
Now York Evening Post.
IUHKIKKMA rK 1'APKK CU11UKNCY.
The populist party of the United
States with Judge William Vincent
Allen , easily its leader , declares for an
irredeemable unlimited paper currency.
But the populist party of Nebraska ,
the same Judge Allen making its plat
form , declares itself for the free and
unlimited coinage of silver at sixteen
to one.
The Nebraska Independent , edited by
dopulpitized preachers , declares in a
vain attempt to answer argument with
rant , that during the campaign of Til-
den in 1876 when ho was elected presi
dent of the United States the currency
being then irredeemable , "the people
of the United States were also enjoying
the best times that this country over
had. "
Yet the same depulpitized advocate of
money fallacies declares for silver at
10 to 1 now. That is to say , if the cur
rency cannot bo made entirely irredeem
able it is a consolation to make it worth
only forty-five cents on a dollar. An
irredeemable greenback , according to
the depulpitized , is perfect and a silver
dollar which would be worth less than
I half its face value would bo an approxi-
' matiou of monetary perfection ,
