Eight years ago, and again four years ago, through the influence of
the Cobden Club, England attempted to subdue America. She succeeded in
prostrating our industries, impoverishing our people, and increasing our
public debt, but let us hope that the intelligence of American citizens
will rise up in its full might and undo the free trade blunder of 1892.
It now looks to me as if there was a gigantic trust of silver kings and
English capitalists attempting to again subdue free America. Evidently
there never was such a concert of action in the United States as
has taken place during the last few months in regard to this silver
question. The rapidity with which it has travelled all over this
country, to say the least, has been phenomenal. There is an old saying,
that "a falsehood will travel a thousand miles while truth is getting
its boots on." Fellow citizens, go forth and tell the misguided
advocates of free silver and believers in the false theories of "Coin's"
Financial School to rejoice in their strength while it is called
to-day, for, by the living God "truth has its boots on" and is marching
triumphantly out among the people, tearing away the webs and veils
of delusion and hypocrisy and appealing to the people, not to their
passions, but to their intelligence, their reason and their honor. The
people are not ready to advance by going backwards, they are not ready
to be Chinaized, to be Japanized, South Americanized, Mexicanized or
subsidized by a coterie of silver barons and English capitalists, who
are attempting by stealth to nail the wage earners and farmers of this
country to an unholy cross of depreciated silver. (Applause.)