CARNEGIE LIBRARY, E. H. ANDERSON, LIBRARIAN. March 31, 1896. Garretson, Cox & Co., 862 Seneca St., Gentlemen: Buffalo, N. Y. Can you tell me how long it would take to bind a volume of "Current History?" We should like to have you bind our numbers, but they are in such constant use that we cannot afford to be without them for any length of time. could send us bound copies in their place, or could bind our own copies in a few days, it would oblige us very much. Yours very truly, William Richard Watson, If you Ass't Lib'n. We will bind the volumes of CURRENT HISTORY for subscribers at the following prices per volume: Best English Cloth, Stamped in Gold $ 50 1.00 1.00 We return the volumes prepaid. Always put your name and address on the package containing numbers returned to this office. The cost of sending the four numbers of a volume to us by mail will be 13c. COLUMBIAN SUBSCRIBERS, in returning volumes to be rebound, should always state that they wish them bound to match their cyclopedia, and mention the style. We bind to match all styles of the cyclopedia. For any style of Cloth or Buckram – 66 $50 per vol. N. B.-If the numbers are returned to us in good order we will send a bound volume by return mail. If marked or soiled they will be specially bound and returned in about a week. CARRETSON, COX & CO., PUBLISHERS BUFFALO, N. Y. THE POLITICAL CAMPAIGN. SO complex are the issues, and so rapid has been the shifting of the scenes, in the political drama now being enacted in the United States, that, before these pages reach the reader, the rise of new conditions or the readjustment of those already existing, may have deprived the incidents here recorded of the intense dramatic interest which characterized them at the moment of their occurrence. The electoral mechanism of all great republics is capricious. The marvellous activity of silver sentiment throughout the West, South, and Southwest, and the domestic schisms within the great parties, have already effected a change in prevailing conditions, the ultimate outcome of which even an inspired political prophet might hesitate to predict. In spite of the efforts of republican leaders, the issue of protection versus modified free trade has been relegated to a position of secondary interest in the canvass; and the silver question at the present time has come to dominate all others in the campaign. The quondam leading tariff issue has been transfigured; and in its place we see daily more and more clearly taking form the outlines of a figure-in her proportions and mien wearing the semblance of transferred sovereignty: a form symbolized by the Montana silver statue that adorned the Mining building at the World's Fair three years ago on the one hand decried as the incarnation of untold possibilities of evil, on the other worshipped as a veritable goddess of justice and liberty, the only hope of the oppressed of all classes. It would seem as if the prosperity of the people and the credit of the government were at stake in the present struggle. Shall we maintain the gold standard, which we have had in common with the leading nations? Or shall Copyright, 1896, by Garretson, Cox & Co. Vol. 6.-17. we, notwithstanding the altered status of silver in the markets of the world, and independently of an international agreement fixing its ratio of value to gold, return to the once-existing policy of free and unlimited silver coinage? On this leading issue a depth of feeling has been aroused which recalls nothing so closely as the divisions of sentiment that marked the old days before the war. The dividing lines have cut across, not between, the old parties. The national conventions of republicans and democrats, by their platforms, have accentuated the fight and apparently made compromise impossible-the republican, by an unequivocal declaration in favor of maintaining the gold standard; the democratic, by an equally unambiguous declaration in favor of free-silver coinage. From the ranks of the majority in both parties, however, as also from the regular phalanx of the prohibition party, there have been important defections which have greatly complicated the situation by rendering possible future alliances and combinations that at this writing (immediately following the close of the democratic convention at Chicago, July 11) make futile all attempts to tell what even. a day may bring forth. While the echoes of convention excitement are still ringing in our ears, and the press is teeming with argument, speculation, and misrepresentation, it is no easy task to take neutral ground. It is not for us, however, here to pose as the advocate of either side, but merely to present as faithful and impartial as possible a record of the accomplished changes, without speculating on the untold chances, of the political situation. The main arguments for and against free silver are familiar to all students of the times. For years they have been reiterated in the press, and have consumed much of the time given to debate in congress. Within the past three years, however, certain causes have operated to force the silver issue into unwonted prominence. During this period the country has suffered severely from depression of industry and stagnation of trade. It is not necessary here to reason why. Appreciation of gold owing to enlarged production of silver and to legislation unfavorable to the coinage use of the white metal; a general contraction of credit owing to threatened depreciation of the currency through proposed legislation for the continued or increased large use of silver in the United States, and consequent threatened inability of the government to maintain parity; a general disturbance of economic conditions incident to the |