 Many westerners , including Republicans , were supporters of free silver . McKinley 's advisors had anticipated there would be strong feelings about the currency question , and pressed the candidate for a decision on what the party platform should say on the subject . McKinley had hoped to avoid this issue ; his surrogates had presented him as firmly for the gold standard in the East , where support for that policy was strong . Western supporters , who often favored silver , were told he was sympathetic to the bimetallic cause . In the following years , several McKinley associates , including publisher H. H. Kohlsaat and Wisconsin 's Henry C. Payne , took credit for including an explicit mention of the gold standard in the platform 's currency plank ( for they deemed it vital to the Republican victory in November ) , but it was not inserted in the draft until Hanna consulted with McKinley by telephone . The silver Republicans from the West were led by Colorado Senator Henry M. Teller , who drafted a plank promoting free silver , only to see it voted down in the drafting committee , and in the full Platform Committee . Teller was determined to have the full convention vote on his language , although it was certain he would lose as most Republican delegates favored the gold standard . The debate was held on June 18 . After Teller 's minority report was voted down and the gold plank adopted by an overwhelming majority , 23 delegates , including Teller and his Senate colleagues Frank Cannon of Utah and Fred Dubois of Idaho , walked out of the convention and thus left the Republican Party . Amid a tumultuous scene , an angry Hanna was seen standing on a chair , shouting at the departing men , " Go ! Go ! Go ! " 
