THE BATTLE OF THE STANDARDS 175 



later to send out an address advising all Republi- 

 cans who believed in free coinage of silver to sup- 

 port the Democratic ticket. The nomination of 

 William McKinley and Garret A. Hobart followed 

 with very little opposition. 



There was nothing cut and dried about the 

 Democratic convention which assembled three 

 weeks later in Chicago. The Northeastern States 

 and a few others sent delegations in favor of the 

 gold standard, but free silver and the West were in 

 the saddle. This was demonstrated when, in the 

 face of all precedent, the nominee of the national 

 committee for temporary chairman was rejected 

 in favor of Senator John W. Daniel of Virginia, a 

 strong silver man. The second day of the conven- 

 tion saw the advantage pushed further : each Terri- 

 tory had its representation increased threefold; 

 of contesting delegations those who represented 

 the gold element in their respective States were 

 unseated to make way for silverites; and Stephen 

 M. White, one of the California senators, was made 

 permanent chairman. 



On the third day of the convention the platform, 

 devoted largely to the money question, was the 

 subject of bitter debate. "We are unalterably 

 opposed to monometallism, which has locked fast 



