Conservative *
GOLD STANUAK1) TOPICS.
General prosperity and the gold stand
ard go hand in hand.
The American people are as eager as
over for the gold standard bill.
The fifty-sixth congress should begin
its work well by passing the gold stand
ard bill.
The gold standard sentiment is
stronger than over throughout the
country.
The gold standard bill would be a
grateful New Year's gift from , congress
to the people.
In 189G , twenty-three states supported
the St. Louis gold standard platform.
They still support it.
The hour for action has arrived.
There should bo no needless delay in
passing the gold standard bill.
There wore 7,288,208 votes at the
back of sound money in 1896. There are
many hundred thousands more now.
Silverites of all parties and factions
say that Bryan will be renominated for
president. The wish is father to the
thought.
Congress should pass the gold stand
ard bill early in the session. Delays are
dangerous in finance as well as in
things in general.
The gold standard bill has not been
much discussed as such , but its pro
visions have been very fully considered
by the press and people.
Mexico , whose staple product is silver
readily makes her foreign debt payable
principal and interest in gold. It pays
to be honest. Mexican bonds are higher
than ever.
The silver democrats are about to
undertake a "campaign of education. "
Their work in that respect in 1896 ended
in disaster. The leaders need instruc
tion more than the masses.
The recent meeting of the national
democratic committee in Chicago re
sembled a lodge of sorrow. The silver
element was in control , and turned
wistfully to "Coin" Harvey for solid
comfort.
In the first nine months of this year
the import of gold in Great Britain ex
ceeded the export thereof by $55,000-
000. Gold goes where there is a gold
standard. This is one strong reason
why congress should place the gold
standard on a firm and unalterable
basis.
It is remarked that the bimetallists of
France , Germany and England have
been dumb for a long time , and will not
again be awakened from then ? torpor
unless aroused from it by us. Let them
slumber. The bimetallist Del Mar 'said
sadly of theEuropeansilverites : VThey
are not -with us. " He meant that they
would not uphold the 16 to 1 ratio.
.
Conflicting reports have been current
concerning the Russian finances. The
Minister of Finance , M. Witto , demon
strates clearly , in a long report , that the
country has beuefitted greatly by the
adoption of the gold standard. He
quotes figures to show that the amount
of money now circulating in Russia is
greater than ever , that the new gold
coinage is not going out of the country ,
that the payment of gold for paper is
assured , that the State Bank , instead of
restricting its operations , is increasing
them whenever it can get solid and proper
security , and that the condition of the Im
perial Treasury is perfectly satisfactory.
Without counting treasury bonds and
bullion , the total amount of money now
in circulation surpasses all previous
records. Since the resumption of specie
payments , he says , the rate of exchange
has never made it advantageous for any
body to export gold , and it has been im
possible to find any appreciable quantity
of Russian gold money , coined during
recent years , in any of the great centers
abroad. The general dearness of money ,
he adds , is bound to be felt also in
Russia , and Russian industry must deal
with it without expecting the govern
ment to squander the resources of the
state in backing up risky enterprises.
This is a good showing , and indicates
the wisdom of M. de Witte's financial
policy. Sound Money.
It is often said that in planting a tree
a man rears for himself a monument
which may endure for centuries , but it
would seem that all monuments are
transitory and perishable. Alexander
Hamilton , the staff officer of Washing
ton , the great lawyer , the first secretary
of the treasury , when a proud and happy
man , planted on his estate , in the north
ern part of New York City , thirteen elm
trees in commemoration of the thirteen
colonies which formed , largely under
his direction and influence , "a more
perfect Union. " Hamilton hoped that
he would live long to care for these trees ,
and that after he had passed away , re
gard for his memory and his wishes
would lead future generations to pre
serve them. Hamilton afterwards fell
in the prime of life before Burr's pistol ,
and now the word comes that his
cherished trees , after living so long , are
to be cut down to make way for a
house. The destruction of the trees
does not obliterate in any degree the
memory of Hamilton's public services.
The sad fact is that no hand was
stretched out , no voice was raised to
preserve so interesting a memento of so
great a man. Kansas City Star.
Light is dawning in the South. The
Richmond , Va. , Times , , a democratic
journal , gives -warning that it will not
do to revive , the 10-to-l cry. It says :
"Under the changed conditions , with
great business and industrial activity
whore there was stagnation in 1890 ,
with prosperity all over the land where
there was adversity , with the great
army of workiugmen profitably em
ployed where thousands and tens of
thousands were seeking a job at any
price a few years ago , it would bo suicide
for the democratic party to go before
the country again with the proposition
to revolutionize our financial system and
to swap genuine prosperity for legis
lative tinkering and visionary experi
ments. " The Times made the mistake
in 1896 of assuming that adversity had
made the people dishonest or reckless.
Many persons were misled by Bryan's
sophistry , but 7,000,000 voters stood
firm as a rock for the gold standard.
Sound Money.
POLITICAL.
Reform in party representation
"should not stop with the republicans , "
says the Chattanooga Times ( doui. ) .
' 'The democrats should base representa
tion in the convention on the democratic
vote , and not on political geography. "
"If morality is to bo the test of mem
bership in congress , why should Quay
be raised up and Roberts cast out ? "
asks the Philadelphia North American
( rep. ) . "Roberts offends in one par
ticular only ; Quay has broken every
commandment , and done it flagrantly
and on system. "
"If any such plan of government as
Secretary Root proposes is adopted for
Porto Rico , we ought to make it plain
that it is only temporary , and we ought
to begin from the very first to give the
people a share in it , steadily increasing
every year , " advises the Philadelphia
North American ( rep. ) . "For instance ,
they could bo allowed to elect part of
the legislative council in the beginning ,
and the number of elective members
could bo gradually increased until it
constituted a majority. And it would
seem as if better results would come
from having the governor appoint his
own heads of departments than from
having them appointed by the presi
dent. "
The action of the Georgia legislature
in rejecting the Hardwick bill is re
garded by the New Orleans Times-Demo
crat ( dem. ) "as simply indicating disapproval -
approval of that measure because of
objectionable features , and not as dis
approving of the popular desire to get
rid of the negro vote. That vote , " it
says , "is large in Georgia , and will
prove an element of danger to the state
some day , just as it was in Louisiana
and North Carolina ; and Georgia will
do well to solve the problem now , when
it can do so. And it can bo solved in a
thoroughly constitutional manner , with
out any grandfather clause , and without
inviting an attack from the republicans
in congress. "
