| Show GENERAL CLARKE I A Distinguished Southern Railroader I in the City I He Talks About the West and Tells How He Would Deal With tho Silver Question il General James C Clarke president of the Mobile and Ohio railroad came to the city yesterday with a party of friends from his old home at Frederick Md The party as registered at the Knutsford consIsts of Colonel D C Wiuebrener Colonel Charles W Ross and wife Miss Eleanor M Johnson Miss Caroline Ross and George I Ross If General Clarke will live until January Janu-ary next he will be 70 years of age He began his career as a railroad man away back in 1844 and he has been president of some of the great rail aids of this country among them the Erse and Illinois Central The general is one of the most affable of men and it Is n pleasure to hear him talk o n any subject for he is clear in his linking and forcible in his expression General Clarke talked freely on all questIons to which his attention was directed reeled My first visit to Salt Lake was in 1873 I came again in 1SS5 in the interest of the Illinois Central with tvbich road I was connected from 1854 to 1887 At that time a great many of the Central people had an idea of building a road as far aa Ogden to connect with the Central Pacific The railroad business in the south is a little tame We havent a very thickly settled country and a failure of the cotton crop or a low price affects us as much as silver does you forcing every industry down to he closest economic g5j5C In regard to the relief to be expected from the calling of an extra session of Congress General Clarke said with much feeling I sincerely hope theyll have some sense instead of damned non sense I think one of the evils our country coun-try is subjected to is too much legislation both national and state Sentiment in the south is a good deal divided on tho silver question They would nearly all desire to see silver regarded re-garded as money rather than as a commodity com-modity Many of our people favor the repeal of the Sherman law but they want e compromise I What compromise do you believe is liable to he effected I hear the argument advanced that the Sherman bill should be repealed and Congress should reenact a law empower ng the secretary of the treasury to buy as much silver as the country needs to have coined into money Another plan which has many advo cates is to put 400 or 440 grains instead of 412 in the silver dollar My own notion of silver is to make every piece 10 cents 25 cents 50 cents and 1 with the stamp of the government good for all debts public or private ex ept duties and interest on the national debt make it in realty real-ty money instead of a comodity fThen I would not allowanysilverto bo coined in the mints unless it is produced In the United States If the government has not a warehouse large enough to store all the money that can be coined it has plenty > of land which to build one upon idw J f troU Td eo for the convenienceof circulationl would I issue silver certificates against the silver in the vaults and do away with the present issues ot f1 and 2 bills laving no paper currency of less enomination than f5 except silver certificates tificates Then subsidiary coin will come to be circulated among the people In all sums under J5 That is my notion of dealing with the silver question concluded the general with no uncertain sound How will the politicians take to that kind of legislation I The politicians east west north and south are ready to seize on any clamor for political success If free coinage will return them to office they will cry for free coinage if demonetiza ion will give them the favor they crave for they will vote for it If there was an honest desire on the part of legislators there wouldnt be one half the trouble in the country there is at he present time What we want is not tariff reform but tariff revision wherethe tariff is too ugh cut it down where it is too low put tup tupAnd And you are a Democrat I have been a Democrat all my life but I am trying not to be a fool Free trade means direct taxation and direct di-rect taxation means a darned sight bigger war in this country than you had with the confederacy Yes I was in your city in 1886 I had always an idea that it was to become I a great point concentration as well as distribution and think that in course of time it is to ba a great commercial city i General Clarke and his party will remain re-main here two or three days They have no objective point simply wandering over the country in their private car When they get tired they will turn East and South S 1 To take in all this Western country a man should stay out ten years and keep moving all the time > was General Clarkes parting panegyric to the great silver states |
