Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 41, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 September 1908 — HIDDEN TRUTH REVEALED [ARTICLE]

HIDDEN TRUTH REVEALED

Talking in Topeka to everybody in the. country on his bank deposits guaranty scheme as a remedy for panics, Bryan made a statement that impressed most folks who don’t live in Oklahoma. He was careful to delude the people by keeping back the whole truth, which he knew would have lessened the impressiveness of his statement. And Kern has told us his running mate is so moral and honest!

Bryan pointed with pride to the fact that between December, 1907, and May, 1908, the Oklahoma banks which adopted his guarantee deposit plan “gained in deposits 34,237,765.22, while the unsecured banks, all national, showed a decrease in deposits of $1.101307.86.” This establishes the popularity of his scheme, he declared. That was impressive, but we are happy to reveal the fact hidden by him. When the Republican congress passed the act enabling Oklahoma to become a state it put its hand into the national purse and drew out a little $5,000,000 prize for the use of the pub-

lle schools of the new state. When it became a state that sum went to the hand of Governor Haskell. He put it In the national banka till the state passed its Bryanised state banking law and then promptly transferred It to the state banks. A pretty piece of Juggling of the school funds contributed by congress, but It gave Bryan the chance to boast at Topeka that the banks which adopted his banking plan gained $4,237,765, while the banks not in his scheme lost $1,101,807 in deposits in five months. Of course, there was no such change in the regular deposits of the Oklahoma banks, but Bryan was applauded all the same. He wouldn’t steal a dollar. Even hts attempt to secure legally $50,000 from the estate of his admirer Bennett a few years ago was frustrated by Connecticut’s callous courts. But he will quote half-truths in speeches to captivate audiences that are ignorant or careless of facts. “It’s politics,” Is probably the excuse he would offer.