CHAPTER XI 



THE SILVER ISSUE 



A REMARKABLE manifesto, dated February 22, 

 1895, summarized the grievances of the Populists 

 in these words: 



As early as 1865-66 a conspiracy was entered into 

 between the gold gamblers of Europe and America to 

 accomplish the following purposes: to fasten upon the 

 people of the United States the burdens of perpetual 

 debt; to destroy the greenbacks which had safely 

 brought us through the perils of war; to strike down 

 silver as a money metal; to deny to the people the use 

 of Federal paper and silver the two independent 

 sources of money guaranteed by the Constitution; to 

 fasten upon the country the single gold standard of 

 Britain, and to delegate to thousands of banking cor- 

 porations, organized for private gain, the sovereign 

 control, for all time, over the issue and volume of all 

 supplemental paper currency. 



Declaring that the "international gold ring" was 

 summoning all its powers to strike at the prosperity 

 of the country, the authors of this address called 



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