use every ounce of silver that will be brought to our mints. We state our position and are able to give a reason for our belief.

At the Phoenix Hill Park meeting I met ex-Congressman A. G. Caruth and I. H. Goodnight, and later in the evening Senator Blackburn and Hon. Watt Hardin, both of whom spoke during the evening.

Early the next morning we went to Frankfort, passing through LaGrange and Eminence. The speeches at these places were brief, and at Frankfort the rain was falling heavily. We took dinner with Senator Blackburn at Versailles. A public meeting at that place gave me an opportunity to testify to my appreciation of Mr. Blackburn as a Democrat and as a fighter. Few members of the party have had to contend against such hostile influences, and none have manifested a higher order of moral courage.

From Versailles we went to Lexington, where we were warmly greeted. The rival clubs at this place presented to me handsome silver badges as souvenirs of the occasion. The horseback parade here was the finest that I ever saw; some of those who participated in it had ridden a hundred miles to attend the meeting. The horses in line sustained the reputation of the "Bluegrass" State. Below will be found an extract from the speech delivered here:

Lexington Speech.

I have been interrupted in the midst of speeches before, but I want to say to you that, of all the interruptions, this is the most pleasant of which I have any recollection. I shall remember this as the speech which was cut in two by the most remarkable horseback parade which it has ever been my good fortune to witness.

They bore banners and presented mottoes which make any further speaking unnecessary. If I were to talk to you from now until night, I could not more than emphasize the mottoes which have passed in procession before you. I noticed one motto, which, though written in letter not altogether according to the latest pattern, presented a truth which ought to find a lodgment in the memories of all. It was "High money-Low times."

I challenge you to find in any of the speeches that will be made this year by the opponents of free silver, a single sentence which contains as much of political economy and common sense as is contained in that phrase, "High money-Low times."

I saw another motto: "Our barns are full, but our pockets are empty." In that sentence is epitomized twenty years of farming history in the United States. Nature smiles upon your husbandry; your soil gives forth in rich abundance, but, according to the experience of the farmer, with all his industry, economy, and patient toil, he finds that the lot of the American farmer grows harder

every year.

In the olden times under the rule of those who wielded the scepter, as they

said, by right divine, complaint was answered with the lash, but now the just complaint of the toiling millions of the United States is answered by the charge that they are anarchists.

I protest against the use of that name for a purpose which deprives it of all its terrors. Those who are opposed to us cannot afford to place the farmers and laborers of this country in the position of enemies of the government, because they are the only friends the government has ever had.

There is another motto that impressed me deeply. It is a short motto, and reads: "We mean business." The humble business men scattered all over our land have as much right to the use of the name "business men" as those who, having large business in the great centers, assume the right to be considered the only business men of this country. I want you to prove my statement true by showing that you are not only business men, but that you understand that election day is the most important business day in all the year.

From Lexington we made a flying trip to Maysville and return, with brief stops at Paris and Carlisle. During the day I met two more acquaintances, Congressman McCreary, who attended the Lexington meeting, and Congressman Berry, who was at Maysville.

I left Lexington near midnight, got up about 2 o'clock to give a word of encouragement to the silverites of Somerset, Ky., and reached Knoxville, Tenn., early in the morning. The meeting at Knoxville was a very large one, and ex-Governor Taylor, since Governor-elect, shared in the honors of the occasion.

The ride from Knoxville to Asheville, N. C., was, owing to the heat, a very uncomfortable one. After a dinner at the Battery Park Hotel and a view of the surrounding mountains we proceeded to the speaker's stand, which had been erected in the center of a natural amphitheater. The meeting was largely attended and enthusiastic. This county, Buncombe, was the home of Senator Vance, and he is still the political idol of the people. The following is an extract from the speech made here:

Asheville Speech.

I have a reason for coming to North Carolina which is personal, aside from my interest in the electoral vote of this State. It was the State of North Carolina which at Chicago, before I became a candidate, before my own State had taken any formal part in presenting my name-it was the State of North Carolina which, by resolution, decided to give me the unanimous vote of the North Carolina delegation in the National Convention. I appreciate the honor which the delegates were willing to do me and therefore it gives me great pleasure to come among the people whom they represented, and give what assistance I can, if any assistance be needed, to secure the electoral vote of this State for the free coinage of silver at 16 to 1. I am glad the canvass of this State opens in this county, which was the home

of one of the grandest public men given to this nation-not alone by North Carolina, but the entire country-Senator Vance. He was a man whom I delighted to honor, and I am glad that I stand among his neighbors and friends advocating the same cause that he so eloquently advocated. I cannot more than impress upon your memories the words of his last speech. Let me read you an extract from it:

The great fight is on. The money power and its allies throughout the world have entered into this conspiracy to perpetrate the greatest crime of this or any other age, to overthrow one-half of the world's money and thereby double their wealth by enhancing the value of the other half which is in their hands. The money-changers are polluting the temple of our liberties. To your tents, O Israel!

He foresaw the struggle in which we are now engaged. He realized its magnitude when many others did not. Those words came from him as words of command, "To your tents, O Israel." And the command was heeded by the Democratic party. The silver Democrats engaged, first, in a warfare within the party to rescue that party from the hands of those who were using it to advance the interest, not of Democracy but of plutocracy. It was a great contest. I venture the assertion that never before in the history of this country did any party have such a contest within its ranks as that which ended at Chicago. I venture the assertion that never before in the history of this country have the voters themselves had so much to do with a convention as did the voters of the Democratic party with the convention at Chicago. This question was submitted to the voters. The Democratic idea has been that the party is but the instrument of those who compose it, and derives its power from the will of the voters who number themselves as members of that party. Yet it is often the case that the party machinery or bosses have more to do with shaping the policy and making the nomination than the voters themselves. I am proud to be the nominee of a convention which represented no machine and no bosses, but the unpurchased suffrages of the voters of the party. A few months ago the most sanguine Democrat did not believe that success this fall was more than possible. The most sanguine Democrat felt that four years of gold standard administration had destroyed almost the possibility of success. But the voters of the Democratic party determined to make one final fight and determined that, if die the party must, it should at least maintain the honor of those who believe in the right of the people to govern themselves. The result is just what it always is if people lay aside expediency and seek to do their duty and accept the consequences. In trying to do right the Democratic party won a possibility of success which it never could have hoped for if it had consulted expediency. The gold Democrats demanded the silver Democrats pledge themselves to support the nominee.

I, for one, said, that whenever our opponents would bring a pledge that the gold standard Democrats would take, it would be time enough to ask free silver Democrats to make pledges. I stated in answer to an inquiry that I would not support for President a man who would in the Presidential chair continue the present financial policy and mortgage the United States to English bondholders.

I said it because I meant it. I may be wrong in my judgment, because none of us are infallible, but my judgment is the only judgment that can control my conduct. Now when the Secretary of the Treasury denounced me as a

Populist and quoted me as saying that I would not support the nominee, I replied that I did not expect him to support the nominee if he were a free silver man. The time came when he was put to the test, and the only difference between him and me was that I was candid enough to tell the people that I would follow my conscience. I have sent him no letter begging his support. The highest compliment he can pay me is to oppose me, because then the world will know that the Secretary of the Treasury whom I will appoint, if I am elected, will be as different from him as possible.

I do not dispute the right of any Democrat to vote against the Chicago ticket, if he thinks its success will imperil the country, but what I ask is that these men who have been pretending to be Democrats shall now, when the Democratic party has been rescued from the people's despoilers, leave the name and not attempt to take that name with them into disgrace.

On leaving Asheville the train stopped for a moment at Black Mountain, within sight of the Vance homestead. Short speeches were made during the evening, among other places, at Hickory and Statesville.

The next day's work began early, with a large meeting in the public square at Charlotte, followed by short stops at Concord, Lexington and Salisbury. At the latter place I was introduced by Major T. F. Kluttz, who seconded my nomination in the Chicago convention, While at Salisbury I learned that Andrew Jackson, in his younger days, had studied law there.

The meeting at Greensboro was one of the largest held in the State. Some two years before I had visited the city and delivered an address upon bimetallism at the Normal College located there, and on this occasion I had the pleasure of renewing an acquaintance. with many whom I had met on the former visit.

From Greensboro we went to Raleigh, stopping at Durham, the home of Colonel Julian S. Carr, who, as chairman of the reception committee, was with us during the journey through the State, and whose care and thoughtfulness added much to the comfort of the entire party. At Raleigh the meeting was held in the evening, and was very largely attended. Chairman Clement Manley, of the Democratic State Committee, and Chairman Hal W. Ayer, of the Populist State Committee, jointly presided at the Raleigh meeting. They were with me during the entire trip through the State, as were also National Committeeman Josephus Daniels, and Major E. J. Hale, a delegate to the Chicago convention. Speaking of the experiences of a candidate, I said, in the Raleigh speech:

Raleigh Speech.

The trip through North Carolina has been so well managed that at the close of the second day I am feeling better than I did when I commenced talking to the people of the State. I have followed somewhat the example of the man who, in seeking employment in Southern Illinois, urged in his behalf that he never became tired, hungry or sleepy. After he had been at work for a little while, his employer, going out into the field, found him resting under a tree, and, reminding him of what he had said, received his explanation, namely, that he rested before he got tired, ate before he got hungry, and went to sleep before he got sleepy. It has been a great pleasure to note the interest which the people of this State are taking in the campaign, and while their demonstrations of affection and interest sometimes come near keeping me from getting into the place of speaking and out of it, yet I feel as your own great statesman, Vance, once said. Some one asked him if it did not nearly kill him to have the people pulling him around and shaking hands with him. He replied: "Yes, it does nearly kill me, but if they did not do it, it would entirely kill me." So, while it is rather hard to bear up under all the affection that is bestowed upon a candidate, it is a great deal easier to get along with it than it would be to get along without it.

In discussing the breaking-down of party lines, I said:

At last we have the line drawn so that a man can take his place on one side or the other, and the result is that a great many Republicans who had hoped to secure bimetallism in the Republican party have now given up hope and joined with those who demand the immediate restoration of free coinage, and some in the Democratic party who had sought to further the gold standard by secret means, have now joined with the Republican party, and a few, instead of going all the way, have stopped at the half way point to rest a moment before completing their journey. You may rest assured that the lines now drawn are drawn, not temporarily, but permanently. The man who leaves the Democratic party today, when the party is taking up its fight for the common people, must understand that if he comes back he must come back in sack cloth and ashes. Not only that, but he must bring forth works meet for repentance. The men who are in the employ of trusts and syndicates and combinations are not leaving the party for their country's good; they are leaving their party for their party's good.

Later, referring to an argument sometimes made, that the substitutes for money have made money itself less important than formerly, I said:

There was a banker down in Oklahoma who told his depositor that money was not as important as it used to be. "Why," said the banker, "if you deposit money in my bank you give a check for a given amount and it goes through various hands, and finally some one deposits it at the bank. No money changes hands. I merely transfer the amount on the books from one account to the other. Don't you see, money is not as important as it once was?" The depositor replied, "I am glad to hear that. I have been keeping my money on deposit with the idea that it was just as important as ever; but