Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 August 1896 — BRYAN'S SPREAD-EAGLE NONSENSE. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

BRYAN'S SPREAD-EAGLE NONSENSE.

A careful reading of Ur. Bryan’s “great speech” before the Chicago convention utterly fails to disclose any rajionab’explanation of the influence it had upon his auditors. It did not contain'a new fact nor a new argument; it was full from beginning to ehd of assiiffiptlons, assertions, n|isstatenients, oft-exploded economic fallacies, flowers of rhetoric and faulty reasoning. Good vociferation, a pleasing stage manner and an alleged personal “magnetism” do not constitute an argu meat and they prove no thing Dli raeli characterized Gladstone as inere s ly “a sophistical declaimer intoxicated with the exuberance of his own verbosity." That “verbosity” is the distinguishing feature of Bryan’s talk will be the verdict of intelligent readers, though it clearly exerted a marked influence upon the third and fourth rate men comprising the large majority of tlie members of the convention, just as "sound and fury signifying nothing” So often sways a congregation of eqlored people in a Southern camp-meet-ing. It is claimed that Bryan really owed his nomination to the closing words of his peroration (unless, as is also asserted, the convention bosses, Tillman and Altgeld, had determined upon this nomination tliree months ago). These closing words were: “We shall answer their demands for a gold standard by saying to them: shall not press down upon the brow of labor tills crowir of thorns. Yon shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.’ ” ,« Carefully reread these applauded phrases and see whether, no matter how faultlessly delivered, they afford a sufficiently substantial basis for a candidacy for the most responsible political position On earth. The metaphor reminds us of an Irish TOeniber of parliament, condemning the government for. its policy concerning the income tax: •’They’ll the wool liff the sheep that lay* friT'"goTitr'T[ cggs' • until they pump it dry.” This implied comparison of the ordinary laborer to the Son of God savors of tlie grotesque, if not of the profane? At best the simile is an outrage upon rhetoric.

For, the rhetorically absurd assumption of torture and 'death as a inetalluriglcal possibility, only in the unschooled imagination of "boy orators” is gold used in the tnanufac-tiit'i»-of-eFownx_j>f thorns; would it or could, it be easier to be broken, torn, and bruised on a silver rack or wheel than it would be to enduro crucifixion upon "a cross of gold?" The days for crucifixion long since passed away. If any one needed crucifying to-day a plain cross of pine would best serve for the purpose. Iu an attempt to construct “a cross of gold” would we not encounter difficulties similar to those met by Aaron when he built the "golden calf?” Logically, the challenge is no less absurd. No one is demanding a "gold standard,” as that standard has existed for* over half a century and is the outcome of the commercial necessities of the commerC'iar world, and is not a product of legislation, national or international, and is a matter outside the province of legislation,‘a matter which legislation cannot change any more than if can change a natural law. Such a demand would ,be as senseless as demands that grass shall grow, that the sun shall shine, tliat water shall run down hill, or that the Dittch shall be permitted to occupy Holland. Historically, the insinuation is no less hypercritical. Is the best monqy of the world, money of highest as well as of universal purchasing power, a crown of thorns for labor?

If “mankind is crucified” in “gold standard” England. France and Germany, what word will fitly characterize the workingman’s condition in poverty stricken but "free silver” Central America, Peru, Mexico and Japan? Really is not Bryan’s Jrkteseent and widely heralded peroration simply a voeabulistic ' embodiment of the quintessence of sublimated nonsense? From 1879 to 1802 we enjoyed one of the most prosperous periods in the histojry of this country. Labor> was almost universally employed and well paid. Our ci-ops were large and our home and foreign markets all that could be desired, our/oreign trade being Immense. And this prosperity was all based upon the confidence which everybody felt that our gold money, and our paper money secured by It, constituted actual money all over the world as well as at home. The peoples of other countries bad the fullest confidence In our business honor and integrity. What we need •to-day, above all other things, is a full restoration of that confidence ynder which, we might prosper as In .'the years to whteh we refer. Breezy declamation, Illogical utterances, captivat-

ing rhetorical moonfefiltfdj- the muddling aroma exhaled from socialistic and anarchistic insinuations, and the hysterical huzzas of a mob of irrational beings, even under the name of a political Convention. repeal their nothingness when rationally considered, or when viewed in the light of the facts and truths to which We here call attention; —Pullma-h Journal. . McKinley to Labor. Whenever, the workingmen of the United States—l mean skilled and tinskilled laboring men—whenever they are ready to work for the same wages, the samelow wagosthat arepa id their rivals on the other side, their rivals in England, in Germany, in Belgium, and in France, engaged in the same occupation. whenever they are ready for that, which I hope and believe will never be, then we are ready for the free-trade doctrines of the Democratic party. It is a question that addresses itself to the bone and sinew of the United -States; it is a question for the wwl»ngßiefrtn Willlain McKinley. A Lesson for Farmers.

Bryan Acrainst Wool Grow-r,. ‘‘Wool, for instance, is the chief raw material in the woolen industry, and it has been placed upon the free list. Whether the tariff on wool lias raised the price of wool to the sheep grower above the point it would have reached without a tariff, is a question which Isas been discussed rather than settled. Speaking for myself, it is immaterial in ray judgment whether the sheep grower receives afiiy benefit from the tariff or not. Whether ire does or does pot, whether the wool manufacturer collects a compensatory duty from I lie consumer of woolen goods and pays it over to the wool grower, or doesn’t collect it at all, and therefore does not need it, I am for free wool, In order that the vast majority of people who do not raise sheep, but who do need warm clothing to protect them from the blasts of winter, may have their

clothing cheaper; and in order that on* woolen manufacturers, unburdened, by a tax upon, foreign wooj, and unburdened by like tax upon ‘home grown wool-if they pay an hit-leased price ■now—may manufacture Tor a wider market.”— Hop. Wm. J. Bryan, in Congress,

An Old Loan Scheme Revived. Down at their seventhly the straightodt pops demand that a la w Jte passed authorizing Government to loan to giti,zens money on all landed, property to the extent, of two-thirds of its assessed value, the loans to be secured by mortgage which shall run for not less than live nor more than ten years, to jny one citizen, at a rate of interest not to exceed 2 per cent, per annum. AS if this were not bad enough in itself, the eighthly givps a finishing blow. It proposes that the Government shall loan money to municipal corporations for the purpose of public improvement to the extent of one-third of the assessed valuation of the taxable property in tlie corporation. Such loans would draw only interest enough to pay the cost of their issue and would be paid back in annual installments, each in-' stallment not to exceed -t per cent, of the sum loanedUnder a combination of laws framed in accordance with rife demands of seventhly and eighthly it would be possible to so plaster the property in any municipality with mortgages and municipal indebtedness that the chief concern of property owners ultimately would be to get out front under. Of course, all local 'taxes would go on? just the same. Money would be required to support the public schools, to pay the salaries of city officials, and to meet the many other ordinary needs of the municipal government. Meantime, also, the currency would depreciate in value rapidly. Such was the experience under the loan system of the colonies, and it i» to that miserable ex-pedient. which was demonstrated to be all fraud and error, that* th.ese ‘•reformers” would liesott now. History of Agriculture. One of the great-lessons of history is that agriculture cannot, rise to its highest perfection and reach its fullest -devrlepmenF-wHliont-the—aid—of_ emitinercv, manufactures, and mechanical arts. All are essential to the healthy growth and highest advancement of the others; the progress of one insures the prosperity of another. There are no conflicts, there should bo no antagonisms. They are indispensable to each other. Whatever enfeebles one is certain to cripple the rest.—Hon. William McKinley.

Bryan Wants Free-Trade, “When Michigan iron ore is placed on the free list. Alabama ore is placed, thei;e also; when Pennsylvania coal is placed on the free list. West Virginia coal is placed there also; when the rough lumber of. Maine and Wisconsin ts placed upon the fret* list, the rough lumber.of North Carolina and Georgia is placed there also.''—Hon. Wm. J. Bryan, in Congress; .A Hundred Millions Lo«t, The "tariff for revenue only” of the free-traders brought .$1U2,27.".791 less money into the Treasury during the first twenty-two months of its operation than tlie McKinley tariff did during its first twenty-two mouths. Japanese Arc Workers. On? tiling characterizes the Japanese, be he student, merchant, shopkeeper, artisan, or worker, and that is intensity of application. Work, owupation, toil, is nor regarded as a hardship, but as tae natural condition 01 life: ~ ; —r Potit'cal Potpourri. Every time Democracy is born again, it is born worse. » The people discuss finance, but they demand protection, Tlie people ask for work and Democracy offers'flic m wiild. Sewall, the bank president, standing on a platform denouncing banks, is one of the humors of the situation. ~ Fnliss you support tlie business in-_ terests of tlie country there will never be business.ynough to support you. The Populists object to Sewall because be is rich: but tlie Democrats love him for his ability to pay campaign expenses. McKinley's hvYoic service during the war shows the stuff lie is made of. and the people will vote for him because th6y have confidence in him. International bimetallism is the middle of tlie road between the silver ex' tremists and tlie gold extrwnists, and the Republican party holds it.

All classes of farmers have felt the depression caused by the overthrow of the protective system, and as a consequence the Populist as well as the Democratic party will see many of its members east a straight vote on election day for McKinley and protection. “The platform adopted at Chicago,” says Gen. Sickles, “is "one that makes me choose .between my party and my country, as I did in 18111. and no party lias a right to claim what belongs to one’s country.”' There are thousands of loyal Democrats Who take the same view Of the situation, and whose votes will be cast for the protection of the national honor.

1592.

1896.