V .."V II II II II II II It 1
ii i in i .11 i ii in it it
VOL. XII.
LINCOLN, NEBtASKA, JULY 19, 1900. i
NO. 10.
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THE REFORM LEADER
1J ! 1 U id. If Ca&Mt b Trtupu-U
U Cjt4. ! Sa Glaat
Amxc le-
Mr. Bryan is forcirg recegcitioa from
the i&Ofet eaUcent writers and thinker
amocg hi oppooect. WhCe the de
generates c-f the fc'tate Journal continue
to rpeak of him ia the language of the
dives acd patter, the briiliant and able
writ amo&g; the republicans have i-ocg
klrce dropped such tactics. The Waoh
icgtoa Iot acd New York San, still
trit!j republican papers, as well a such
able acd cistijrui-Led icdejndect re
publican pa;er a the Sprir.gf.leld Re
publican, ackoca-ledge bis ability and
fcta.tee-aEbip- The next day after
lirjaa ii cosa&ateJ, the Wa-hington
Pot pablih4 the- foiUowicg leading
editorial:
Mr. Brian's nosiicatioa by the demo
cratic Jirty yesterday ih u ruuch a
foresee cocci uj"a as had been Mr.
MeXiciey by the republican party two
week agu. It ft a rational, as logical,
ad, if poiLle, evea core inevitable.
The republican cjraniratioa, thanks to
Mr. IltxtV beroac tcethod. i well nigh
frfert It is xa fact, a rigidly con
structed and ssmihly runiir?. if re-Cjorwelee-
machine, operating with abso
lute rreciios, if without human weak
cess or e&otcs. Mr. MeKinley was
cotaicated tot because the prty de
pended wholly tc hi leadership, but
rather Jjecau-e the Esesber of that
T arty, deptu- its aJsaost despotic di-cip-Lce,
kve and ho&or the can, belieTe in
Lisa, and are food cf him. Unquestion
ably he will re-afire a few hundred thou
acJ t&ore vote than any other repub
lican candidate would receive, bat the
fact retrains thai the controllable rote,
the drilled and regular rote cf the party,
cuald, under the present management
be delivered to any candidate whatever.
In Mr. Bryan cae it is entirely differ
ent. He I the cee detnocrat ahre who
can develop the prtj"s tzcxt strength
this year. Not oc'y do democrat pre
Lira their icrTt& respect and oa
tidecsce; they cow recognize hn absolute
hocwty and hi rafrc&cectucswervicg
coursfe. With hits a the Uradrr all is
jt hartDony, but without him the dem
oerati tarty would be an incoherent
and hetTjjrefcec: taA, He d cot,
iiite McKiniey, appeal to the i&ectlmentai
aide of tutu, ife dues cot, aaic like hit
di-tir-cui-hed ar.ta?c.it, win perccal
afTectKo. He i tree sou, dominant,
cotnpeLif j:. He doe cot consult or
k adfk or k-ao tst.ffl another. He u
a eapisia, s ccc:tr&der, a law tanto hixa
e.f. i'a&T year h leaped frota cota-
Irjk.lif e oixrunty to the leadership cf
a party which Mr. Cleieiand had j radi
cally wreck ed. !a the eye the coue
try at lare h an accident the
grtitei?ie froit of dirided counsel-; the
5 r-ian of d-jain the capnee of aa
d and a trfeW umjo. He was
Yr2C, hi politiral ep-rietK?e kad ben
tery br:-f; i ii record hinted at no
special briiiianry, and hi achie'eroent
warrant! bet very codet ei;ectatkin
foe tne f utcre. Neierthele, he tztg-Tjii-d
trn thoc-an 1 csen ar&ccabied in
th Chicajr e:rectin hall aa. surely,
no ftlrilar audircoe w a eter canetized
b-fjre, and he did thU k by any gift
of rhetori; or trick of ekt;ence than by
tt orerwhelaiin pa4a of hi eamet
c and the trreitible force of hi
coniirtjon. ile wa dwt the evolotion
of a deep itid chese. He wa cot the
TTnlt of crefa'y coctrired con piracy.
He a a the ipontaneoa choice of every
&-ixsztx wiiuin hean- g of hi ringing
word within the iflteoce of hi tre-xa-aiMi
perfc-jcali ty. The astounding
car.p;ra which he ooedected ub--tjUenUy
ha co iaralkl ia tbe chronicle
of Aa-eriata fLties. AiBKt unknown,
baeitd by co prty urracizstioo worthy
of isrrkra. apj.ra;rajesst; without noney;
abnsoDed try the Ovelaod faetioc;
riiiraki and aUrrf relented: fighting
tgaint th- tar de;iT6te tdd. inciud
iegthe desjciaue ait2jir.itrtiaa and
mli it4 tireiicsr and benetieiarie, thi
youthful traeger from the far wet
Lcousrht out crariy a aillion rote snore
than Mr. detei.d, with all hi eaatern
Bsi.Iionaire beLind hiss, had been able
fore, and fort
leay on every
it tsalrfctf -c
So one todsy aJT-rU to hold Mr.
liraa is c-r.t'ii j t No mao at once ta
teLigect ai4 hoaet venture to dioii
hiea from the e-uaUoc of 1SJ ts a fac
tor cf tut!l onjtienr. Kvea the
New Voric Han. prhap the ot
ardent and e&-er republican organ in
the country, i-.i cil'd cpjo.fonie weeks
ago, to iy tribute to t: e can cor:it-
Indeed, Mr. liryan
ts.d upA.-n hi
twa feet a terfect
j--ix-a t4 j ayiral intellectual and
moral ctreagth. He i do trimcier. He
do tt jro to ti.e per?4e for asaranoe
eccrj-arsiet:.nt. He draw them to
hi'u a.:-! he feid tieta by hi unaided
ter. li fi- revx! hi character.
It l a face witLout oftnM. and equally
without crttfrity. 1 1 i the f a of a isaa
who df tt yield, who cannot be
tecsp1J or c, d the face of or.e who
believe atlute!y in hiiacif tbe face
of aa enthuia a fanatic, if you will,
but of a leader and a giant acong snea.
CKiKA AKD THE BOXERS
TU f,rt XWia mt IW t tuar( fa 1.
Washington, D. C July 1CL -Special
correpondence. Although the vast
&ob which iciet Pekia acd the larger
tT wli cf China, worked up to a state of
frenzy and fanaticism, have rendered
iffipoeib,-e ary satiifactcry action by the
available force of the powers, the great
Chis poptilatiaa pni-er is agricul
tural aid naturally extreaielj jeaceful
-l - ., . a i
1 th r pabhian rartv to! .i . ,o.. ,
and peace-loving. Agriculture, however,
U most primitive and the wonder is how
such an immense, population can be sup
ported from the soil, until the great
economy practiced in all things is un
derstood. On the Great Plain of China,
every available foot of land is utilized
for growing something andevery parti
cle of fertility returned to the soih
Waters are used for irrigation and in
many caea laboriously distributed over
the tield-i. .
The Great Plain itself is one, of the
most wonderful sectioas of the globe.
It is about 700 miles in length acd varies
from 400 to 400 miles in width, occupy
ing the northeastern part of the empire,
and containing over 2U0.O00 square miles
of wonderfully fertile soil. The most in
teresting feature of this plain is its enor
mous population as it supports, accord
ine to the census of 1812 not less than
177 million human beings, making it the
taost densely Fettled of any part of the
world of the same size, its inhabitants
aaouBticg to nearly two-thirds of the
entire population of Europe.
The most wonderful feature in the
physical geography of China is the ex
istence of a vast region of loess in this
portion of the empire. Loess is a very
f-olid but friable earth, brownish yellow
ia color and is found in many places
from 500 to 1,000 feet deep. The loess
hills rise in terraces from 20 to several
hundred feet in height Every atom of
loess is perforated by small tubes after
the manner of root fibers, only the direc
tion of these little channels is always
from above downward so that cleavage
ia the loess mass is invariably vertical.
The loess region of China is perhaps the
most broken country in the world, with
its feheer cliffs, and upright walls, ter
races and deep cut ravines. Owing to
the ease with which it can be worked,
caves made at the bases of straight cliffs,
afford homes to millions of people in the
densely populated northern provinces
where the lioxers have thus far been
most active. Whole Tillages cluster to
gether in carved out chambers, some of
which extend back more than 200 feet
The capabilities of defense in a country
such as this, where an invading army
mut necessarily become lost acd abso
lctely bewildered in the tangle of inter
lacing ways and where the defenders
may always remain concealed or have
innumerable means of escape is pecu
liarly significant at this time when con
sideration is being given to a conquest
of China.
It may cot be generally known that
th Chine were the discoverers of coal
as a f ueh The Venetian trareller Marco
Polo ays: It is a fact that all over
the country of Cathay (China) there is
a kind of black tone existing in the
14. of the mountains which Ihey dig
cut and bam like firewood. This stone
burns better and costs less."
The rivers of China are her glory and
there are few countries in the world so
well watered acd cone with such splen
did natural water trao?portatioc facili
ties. The three great rivers of the em
pire are the Vang-tse-Kiang (Child cf
the ocean.) the Hoacg Ho (Yellow River)
and the Chu Kiang (Pearl River or Can
ton river.) Of these the Yacg-tse-Kiang
is much the largest flowing through
extensive and fertile plains and finally
emptying into the Eastern sea, after
traversing a distance of over 2,000 miles.
Its discharge is estimated at oae million
cubic feet per second. The backs of the
Vang-t-Kiang are crowded with towns
acd villages, the most famous of which
are Nankin and the new treaty port of
Hankow. The lloacg Ho or yellow
river is noted especially for its frequect
and rioleot floods. Its current is very
rapid and its course circuitous,nearly ap
proaching in length the Yacg-tse-Kiang.
The I'earl or Canton river while not
Dearly so large as the others is a stream
of great importance and innumerable
vessels trade upon its waters. At some
joints it spreads into large lakes; in
others it passes between narrow gorges
which if dammed would afford large
storage capacity for irrigation. The
Chines, however, have not practically
worked out irrigation in its different
phases as completely as would be ex
pected of such an agricultural people.
Irrigation, nevertheless, is practiced
to a considerable extent through the use
of the waters of the Grand canal and by
walls. The Grand or Imperial canal is
a work of great magnitude. It was con-
ight
current for a distance of but 700 miles.
While built for purposes of communica
tion the waters are used largely for irri
gation acd thousands of drains and
creeks have been made to connect with
it along its route.
aifTIQCAl ED METHODS
The methods of irrigation are ancient
arsd crude One of the most cicture3nue
l u tar iith nf tht witr whael which is
mcH vY. th land to watered is
well above the channel of the river.
The wheel is turned by the force of the
current and is perhaps thirty feet high.
Its buckets being sections of bamboo
which as they are raised cy the stately
motion of the wheel, empty their con
tent into troughs or ditches. Hollow
bamboo pipes or tubes are sometimes
used for distributing water over the
fields. They rest upon wooden supports
and branch in ery direction from the
source of supply. The chain pump is
also a common means of lifting water,
the chain running up from the water on
a flaot and being provided with little
buckets at intervals, which as they reach
the highest point and begin to descend,
discharge their contents. These ma
chines are worked by buffaloes or some
times by human labor, a man working a
crank with his feet somethicg after the
manner of riding a bicycle. The most
primitive and laborious method is the
ancient well sweep, such as is seen to
day on many an old New England home
stead, ucr Jti. MrrcHEix.
The summer meeting of the Nebraska
State Historical society will be held in
th court room, Geneva, Nebraska,
Wednesday and Thursday, July 25-20,
PJU0.
iH Great Plain and Cows with but sli
VICTORY IN THE AIR
The Fusion Forces are a Unit in Nebraska
and that Means Twenty Thousand
Majority for Bryan.
The State Convention of the reform
forces have met, performed their work
and adjourned. ' It took some little time
and effort to fully adjust all matters
wherein the three parties were interest
ed, but this was done, and so effectively
that when they finished their labors,
there was a better feeling in existence
between the parties than there has ever
been at any time in the past, and like
wise between the contesting candidates.
As is always the case where a party is
in the majority, there are a number who
think, as well as their friends, that the
Party could be better served by the
Domination of this or that particular in
dividual than by naming any other.
The condition above referred to is a
healthy sign and demonstrates that the
reform forces have men who are capable
of filling all positions of trust and honor,
and secondly, that ' such persons have
unquestioned faith in the success of
their cause at the polls.
In addition to the state ticket a satis
factory agreement was reached in the
makeup of the electoral ticket which
gave the Populists four, the Democrats
three, and the Silver Republicans one.
This division insures Mr. Bryan the
vote of Nebraska. In 1S96 the electoral
ticket was carried by him by almost
fourteen thousand, and we predict a
marked increase in the majority this
year, as there are a number of changes
in his favor. - There is an earnest desire
on the part of all persons connected
with the reform forces, to see Mr. Bryan
president of the United. States. None
know better than do the people of his
own state what it means for him to be
successful. The firm stand which has
characterized his entire official life will
be fully realized in the event of his suc
cess, and there cannot be any doubt as
to where he stands on all public ques
tions. The common people, the masses,
will have a friend at the head of this
government.
That Mr. IJryan is the leader of his
party and not the party a leader of Mr.
liryan has been demonstrated in the re
cent transactions, and especially is this
true in the shaping of the platform that
was adopted by the Democratic Na
tional Convention at Kansas Citv.
While all who have watched his course
know nothing short of this would have
been satisfactory, and that which was
not satisfactory would not have been ac
cepted, and as a result the " Democratic
National Convention has gone further
tnan any time in the past toward ac
cepting and demanding the principles as
advocated by the Peoples Party. With
this done, and Mr. Bryan the candidate,
there can be no good reason offered why
he should not have the full strength of
the Peoples Party vote at the November
election, and we believe with this known,
it places the entire body of voters in the
Peoples Party enthusiastically at work
for his success, which means victory.
les, Nebraska will be in the Bryan
column by twenty thousand majority
this fall and the state ticket will, as it
always has, keep pace with the electoral
ticket This means that each candidate
named at the state conventions of the
reform forces will be elected. The state
in this way will be saved from the mis
rule of the republican party, which par
ty convinced the citizenship of this state
that it could not be trusted in positions
of honor and responsibility without
abusing the same. With the same list
of managers desirous that they shall be
again placed in power, no one can imag
ine that the people w ho have been de
ceived and robbed by them will again
place their trust or conndence in the re
publican party. When the good record
that has been made by the reform forces
of this state is compared with that of
those who preceded them, it is then
that the hopes of the republican party
fade away into insignificance.
Ihe record made and referred to is de
serving of the careful consideration of
all who desire an honest state govern
ment conducted in the interests of the
people. For instance, the largo increase
of school funds which have been placed
in the hands of school boards for the
purpose of assisting in the education of
our children. If your republican friends
doubt the statement we make in this
matter, take them to your district treas
urer and show him the increased amount
per capita for each child of school age
This was brought about by the constant
efforts of the present state officials, in
seeing that all school lands were leased
and that all school funds in their hands
be placed where they will draw interest
for the benefit of the children. When
these benefits are considered, coming di
rectly as they do, as the result of the
change in the management of the state's
affairs, we feel like congratulating our
selves and the party at large for its suc-
, - 1 1 A r . i.1 . - A 1 . X 1
cessiui euoris in , ice interests oi xne
people.
It may, be in some instances that
friends of the state administration may
feel that the right course has not been
pursued in all cases, and disappoint
ments may have come to some seeminely
without just cause, yet I desire to say to
all friends who may feel thus that "it is
but human to err, and divine to forgive,
In many instances mistakes have occur
red owing to lack of a full knowledge of
all the facts that surrounded the case,
and others have doubtless occurred from
various reasons, but if persons who have
been disappointed will take into consid
eration that this is true in almost every
instance where the individual or officer
is charged with the responsible duty of
dispensing patronage to the constituents
who have contributed to the election or
success of the officer thus empowered.
When we take into consideration the im
portance attached to this .election we
doubt very much if any fusionist will
refuse to give his earnest efforts to the
support of our entire ticket.
The election of the electoral, state,
congressional and legislative tickets are
all very necessary and We cannot neglect
any one of them without serious loss
and irreparable damage to the party. In
state and nation we ' are expecting great
reforms, and there is certainly much
room for the same. In the state we must
have the legislature in order that two U.
S. senators can be elected to represent
our views. .These senators, together with
the congressmen represent us in the
halls of congress, and to act with them
we must elect a president who directs
the policies of the government, and in
order that we may control the state gov
ernment we must have the state officers
without a single exception. With this
done wo have performed our full duty.
The. bright outloolc for Mr. Juryan's
election should, and we believe does, in
spire our people everywhere with new
hope. We believe it an impossibility
for the present administration to justify
their action; on the Cuban, Philippine
and Boer questions, and the American
people are calling them to account for
their un-American course. Standing as
we do in a solid phalanx for the cause of
humanity we should win in both state
and nation, and with this done each
patriot will - feel he has performed his
duty well and assisted in achieving the
same. Let the word he passed along the
line that we have but one enemy in this
country end that is the republican party.
The state of Nebraska will be the star
of this union with W. J. Bryan as presi
dent We already have attracted the
attention of the civilized world and
there is now .daily a stream- of promi
nent men, commissioned by their fel
lows, from the various states calling on
him, delivering assurances that he will
have much additional assistance as com
pared with that received in 1896.
The discontent m the republican party
on account of the unfaithful manner in
which Mr. MeKinley has treated those
with whom' we have come directly in
contact, is driving thousands out of the
republican party, and Mr. Bryan stands
on the broad platform of reform. He
appeals to them for support, and we
have no doubt but they will find it easy
to join their fortunes politically with
him in this contest for human rights.
ith the north, south, east and west
united in this battle as they are, we be
lieve victory can be felt in the air, there
fore my friends in the cause of reform,
take coinage this is our year to win.
J. U. JtUDMISTEN,
- Chairman.
A DRAMATIC INCIDENT
When Webster Davis Declared at Kansas
City That he Stood for Liberty and
W. J. Bryan.
The inost . dramatic incident of the
most enthusiasticnatiohal: convention
ever held in the history of the country
excepting the people s party convention
at Omaha was the renunciation, by
Webster Davis, ex-Assistant Secretary
of the Interior, under MeKinley, of the
republican party. His bell-toned voice
filled the vast auditorium so that every
one of the 110,000 persons present could
hear his every word. The following por
tion of his speech is well-worth repe
tition:
"I sympathize with people struggling
fer liberty everywhere, I sympathized
with them as they struggled for liberty
in every country. And when the war
broke out with Spain, we said then that
it was not a war for conquest not for
glory, but to carry liberty to people who
were crying for help at our feet . (.Loud
applause,) And the, boys marched up
from the north land whose fathers once
marched in tattered blue, with the song
their fathers loved. 4My Country Tis of
Thee;' and the boys came from the
south land, they whose fathers once
marched in tattered grey, to the music,
Way Down South in Dixie (applause)
and they followed the men who at once
led the northern and southern armies
down to Cuba and into other lands and
into the islands of the sea. They
marched under one flag, in behalf of one
country, to the music of one splendid
melody, as they felt in their hearts the
music that inspired the men in the days
gone by.
"In the beauty of the lilies, Christ was born
across the sea :
As He died to make men holy, let us die to
make men free.
"Up until that point the war was right,
but when we passed beyond that point
the administration went too far. But
it was another indication of following in
the footsteps of Great Britain. When
our flag rose over the flag of the rotten
Spanish monarchy the American repub
lic could not resist the temptation then
f following in the footsteps of Great
Britain, and it thirsted for land and
gold, and that is where the mistake was
made. We should have stopped at the
end of the Spanish victory, when we
brought liberty to the people who were
being ground to death under the wheel
of Spanish tyranny. We. love liberty.
The masses of. , the American people
stand for the blessed idea liberty, justice
and equality of rights and I dare say to
day if it were possible to get the aews
over the British cable to the Boer farm
ers in the two South African republics
that these representatives of six or seven
million-American voters send a word of
sympathy to them, many a Boer would
shout for joy in the hills of the Trans
vaal. Grander struggle for liberty was
never made in all the world s history
than the struggle being made by the re
publicans and democrats in South
Africa. ; Let us sympathize with them.
I am glad that you have taken this ac
tion to-day. At the polls in November
follow it up. Let American principles
ever live. Let them go on down for,
years to come as an institution to gener
ations ' yet unborn. Liberty, love of
country, one flag, one country, one
splendid destiny atone, l stand upon
this platform and support William Jen
nings Bryan."
The Adam Forepaugh and Sells Broth
ers united menageries circuses and Hip
podromes will exhibit in Lincoln, lues
day July .31. Take a day off, come to
Lincoln and have a pleasant day's va
cation.
THE SPIRIT OF '96
The Address of Hon. Charles A. Towne at
X the Bryan Ratification 'Meeting:, Xln-
coin, July 11th.
"I rejoice to share with " you the in
spiration of this hour. We stand upon
the threshold of the campaign of 1900,
where in the allied reform - forces of the
country we hope and intend to restore
the action of the federal government to
the principles of Washington and Jeffer
son; tore-establish by the principle of
1896, the doctrine of 1776. (Applause.) ;
"I think I read this high and holy
purpose in every kindling eye, before
me." It glorifies every face. It may be
felt in the very air. It consecrates this
occasion. ' For the time being it dedi
cates this meeting place as a ' temple of
liberty and we are met about the altar
of our country. - 3 1
"The principles of 1776, that all men
are created equal, that governments de
rive their just powers from the consent
of the governed, that governments are
instituted among men to secure for
them life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness, are with us. - (Cheers.) The
principles of Washington and Jefferson,
no alliances or entanglements abroad,
and at home, equal rights for. all, special
privileges to none. The spirit of 1896,
CHAni-KS A. TOW Jig,
that patriotic devotion , which impelled
the vast majority c-the populist party
to rise above every" consideration of par
tisan pride and to waive all claim of
precedence in the march of the great al
lied army, that recognition of the su
premacy of loyalty to country over party
fealty and that subordination of person
al ambition to the duties of patriotism,
which enabled the silver republicans to
sever the political pes ot oiden times
and to turn their backs on ' the allure
ments of rjlace and Bower, that impulse
of true democracy which wrested the
control of the Chicago convention from
the hands of the most adroit and re
sourceful politicians known to our his
tory, prjIaixned a platform in the inter
est of humanity, and nominated for the
presidency that marvellous man who,
during four crowded years, has remain
ed the uninjured target of the most un
scrupulous criticism and the undaunted
leader of an unended contest whose be
lief in the people and faith in God, whose
ability, eloquence, sincerity and courage
have enshrined him in the hearts, in
trenched him in the confidence of mil
lions of his fellow countrymen.
My friends, the man who sees in the
campaign of 1S96 only an ordinary polit
ical contest has little or no philosophic
insight That campaign was the begin
ning of a life and death struggle be
tween opposing forces of a fundamental
character and between which, in the
very nature of things, there can be ' co
truce or parley until victory shall have
crowned the one of the other. '
FIRST CLASH OF ARMS.
"It was the first real clash of arms be
tween those who would transform this
government into an oligarchy of wealth
and privilege and those who would ar
rest our present progress in that direc
tion and retrace our steps to the safety
"and glory of "the ancient ways," (cheers,)
for we have fallen ; upon the evil days
that lurk about the days of all repub
lics. Greece, Rome, the free states of
the middle ages, all tell the same story.
Air illustrate what Abraham Lincoln
called The proneness of prosperity to
breed the tyrants. The enjoyment of
special privileges on the part of a few,
either by the permission or by the assis
tance of the laws, the. consequent con
centration of wealth and the stratifica
tion of society into classes; the erection
of military defense to protect the booty
and the power thus unjustly gained;
these are the invariable steps by which
in times past, democracies and republics
have been led down to dusty death.'
"The control of the money system of a
country has - always been one of the
methods, and one of the readiest and
surest - whereby privilege has become
power. Designing men early learned,
and it is wondrous strange that their
victims have never learned it yet - that
there is a relation between the quantity
of money available for the exchange of
commodities and the payment of debts,
on the one side, and the number of com
modities to be exchanged for .money
and the amount of debts to be paid in
money, on the other. If, therefore, these
men could get other - men in debt to
them, and then so manipulate the money
volume as to make money scarcer and
harder to get compelling producers and
debtors to offer more and more commod
oties and property for a . given sum of
money, it is plain that they would by
and by come to own both money and
property. (Cheers.)
IS ALWAYS THE SAME.
"This cruel, though simple process ha3
been practiced by the same class of men
in every age of the world's history, and
inevitably with similar results in all
cases. It has - sometimes - preceded,
sometimes followed, but usually accom
panied, other forms of the exploitation
of the many by the few. Land monopo
ly and other monopolies, unequal taxa
tion and harsh laws respecting debtors,
have ordinarily characterized almost
contemporaneously, this social move
ment In the United States circum
stances conspired to precipitate the con
test against a contracting money system
in 1S96. The progressive disuse of sil
ver as money by many nations from 1873
down, accompanied by a fall of general
prices and an increase in the burden of
debts, had widely stimulated the study
of monetary science.
"The results of this study became ap
parent at about the same time that the
plans of the influences behind the gold
standard were . culminating. It was
well known, leng before the campaign of
1896, that a determined effort would
then be made to commit the republican
and democratic parties to the gold
standard by the declaration of their na
tional conventions. In both organiza
tions strenuous opposition to this rever
sal of party doctrine was speedily inaug
urated. The world knows how sadly
we failed in the republican party and
how grandly we succeeded in the demo
cratic party.
"The world also knows that a party
trick in the republican platform, a sim
lated and faint hearted profession of
friendliness to 'an international agree
ment,' deceived and was intended to de
ceive, hundreds and thousands of repub
lican voters who were, as they had al
ways been, bimetallists, and that the
election of 1896 was not a verdict in fa
vor of the gold standard; that neither
the American , people, nor any other
people on earth, has ever yet voted to
establish that standard. . -
THEY REMAIN TRUE. i
"Now the : principles of bimetallism
were true in 1896 and they remain true
in 1900. Subsequent events have only
verified this so far as the . main conten-
tion is concerned. Tne demand for open
mints was based on, first, the necessity
of relief from the fall of average prices
during a quarter of a century; and sec
ondly, the importance of restoring the
par of exchange between silver using and
gold using . countries. - Our opponents
contended that falling prices are a bless
ing and that we had money enough in
1896, the quantity being of no conse
quence if only the quality be 'good. "v
"Quite consistently, therefore, they de
clared that the way to get a par of " ex
change with silver using countries was
to put them all on the gold standard,
viewing with apparent complacency the
project of trying to make, our then stock
of gold immediately, for six times as
many people, aa were already using it
Today, as the result of occurrences
which nobody foresaw in . 1896, condit
ions are greatly changed. An unprece
dented and sustained increase in the
world's output of. gold; the practical
cessation of war chest hoarding by the
great powers, so far as the new gold is
concerned; the decrease in the gold re
serves of the large European banks, and
as to the United states, a continued phe
nomenal balance of trade, due chiefly to
the misfortunes of other nations; and
the vast expenditures directly and indi
rectly caused by our foreign wars; all
these things have greatly added to the
quantity of money with which we are
able to do business.
"The result is more business and high
er prices. This result is . continuously
cited by gold standard advocates as a
title to the gratitude of the country and
and as confirmation of their arguments
in 1896.
RIC1CULOUS PRETENSE.
"Our politics have never witnessed so
ridiculous a pretense. (Cheers.) They
claimed in 1896 that there was money
enough and that the quantity was imma
terial. Will anyone of them today dare
to say that our present volume of busi
ness could be done, and at existing pri
ces, with only the same supply of money
as in 1896? Yet this was what their po
sition then necessarily implied. . Statis
tics show that we have not far from
$500,000,000 more in circulation in the
United States today than we had in
1896, an increase of more than $6 per
capita. What right has a gold standard
man to be glad of this? In laub the ad
vocates of scarce money were almost
hysterically denunciatory of 'cheap'
money (which is merely another way of
saying 'nigher prices.') Yet the chief
cause of the conditions that they now
boast of is, that our money has become
'cheaper' than in 1896 by precisely the
ratio of $500,000,000 or thereabouts to the
present total circulation, modified, to be
sure, by increased use. (Cheers.)
HOW PLENTIFUL.
Bimetallists, of course, admit that if
gold should become plentiful ('cheap')
enough they would be satisfied. They
are controlled by considerations of quan
tity, not of color. But how - plentiful
must it beto be sufficient? The answer
is, plentiful enough to maintain prices
as business " expands ' and population
grows, and to keep pace with the exten
sion of the gold system to the people of
countries, like India and China, that do
not yet employ it, which means not far
from one and a quarter bilKons of the
inhabitants of the earth.
"Despite the continued increased yield
of gold, and despite the rise of average
prices during the last three years of
some 16 or 20 per cent, I feel perfectly
confident that we shall very soon find
the gold stock insufficient for the de
mands upon it' While prices have risen
they have risen inequitably.
"Ihe farmer, for example, has felt very
little of the movement To be sure, his
products would have risen more in prices
if the artificially high prices of trust
controlled commodities had not absorbed
most of the money; but I venture to
think that, even if he had his present
distributive share, the country would
not be injured by a still further legiti
mate increase in average prices where if
he should receive his due proportion,
but the special fact which our gold
standard advocates in the country seem
to forget is, that European countries,
and especially England, are very greatly
concerned about restoring the par of
exchange. - '
HAZARD OF FLUCTUATION. ;
"Until that is done commerce with
silver using nations is burdened with
the hazard of a constant fluctuation i:a
exchange. (Applause.) We also, as our
foreign trade expands, will be compelled
to give more attention to this feature ci
the coinage problem. The situation i:a
China will constantly emphasize this
consideration. Either a relatively stable
par of exchange between gold and silver
must be secured or all the world musit
go to one standard. . . - ;
"Here is the danger, even with our In
creased gold product The official class
has begun the gold standard experiment
in India. When this was proposed last
year, the greatest financiers and bank-el's
of London declared that to. get sufficient
gold to put behind the money system of
India would cause such a strain on ex
isting stocks as to threaten the very
solvency of the Bank of England, hence
of course, the money fabric of Europe -and
the world. .
"India has as yet gathered not much
if any beyond 5,000,000 of pounds ster
ling, not even a fifth of the smallest es
timate of her needs, and only a tenth of
the estimates of her best authorities;
yet the effect of even this action htia
been gravely disquieting and every great
bank in Europe has for many months
been obliged to have recourse to manipu
lation of the discount rate in order l-o
Erotect its stock of gold. What will
appen when the drain is magnified to
the full demand of the 300 million peo
ple of India, and then of the half billion
of frugal and industrious men who are
just waking up about the yellow sea,
and then of the other growing millions
on the globe still to be subdued by com
merce, l
"Our good, easy friends who write eo
contented, in some of the big journals,
about the coinage question being 'sot
tied for all time do not, I venture to
think, quite fully realize the world
breadth of that question. Suppose, for
example, that your balance of r trade
should reverse itself, and the demands
pf India continuing, gold exports should
set in, as indeed they may do any day,
for I noticed shipments of $100,000 some
days ago and the exchange rate has been
hovering near the specie point for a con
siderable time, and let this find us with
an inflated and redundant bank money
currency; how long would it take to
make the coinage question a very inter
esting bone bear in mind that India
has had a so-called favorable balance of
trade for 5,000 years.
"Throughout historic time I think it
may be said she has exported goods be
yond her imports and has always ab
sorbed specie, and until now the balance
has been sent her in silver. " Mr. Gos
chen's silver commission An 1876 showed
that between 1848 and 1876 the rest of
the world had sent India about j51L
000,000 ($2,500,000,000), or more than all
the gold mined in those years in Califor
nia and Australia. Meantime the popu
lation is growing, railroads are extend
ing, and under normal conditions it is
only fair to assume that India must soon
resume her world-old habit of metallic
absorption.
"But hereafter, be it remembered, bal
ances must be sent there in gold. Will
some gold standard editor or statesman :
inform me what would happen if, during
the next twenty -five years, India should
call for $2,500,000,000 of gold on an aver
age of $100,000,000 a year?" (Cheers)
"But, fellow citizens, while we can thus
see how nearly imminent this great ques
tion constantly is and must be until
it is settled and settled right, yet
it is perfectly clear to me that it will not,
if present conditions remain, claim any
thing like that relative prominence in
the discussions of the campaign that it
held in 1896. The reason, of course, was
that it was the subject in which most
men were chiefly interested : for after all
it is the people who make the issues and '
assign them their relative rank.
'The phase of the money question
most likely to be discussed exhaustively
will be the currency. The world is yet,
I fear, many years from a scientific
money system. Until that comes I shall
favor the free coinage of gold and silver,
with a legal-tender paper money issued
by the government and so regulated in
volume as to maintain as nearly a3 pos
sible a stability of value represented by
an average level of general prices. The
present currency law, handing over to
the banks of issue this sovereign gov
ernment function, perpetuating the pub
lic debt, presenting a bonus of some
$85,000,000 to the bondholders, and
founding in effect a gigantic money
trust, will form the topic, in my opinion,
of the chief part of our monetary dis
cussions this year.
WAS A PROTEST.
"But, my friends, our coinage plank in
1896 was much more than a demand for
open mints for silver as well as gold. It
was a protest against the whole enginery
of modern social oppression, a cry , for
the restoration of liberty and opportu
nity in this country, and for a new af
firmation of the honored traditions and
peculiar ideas of the American common
wealth. The tandencies toward perma
nent industrial conditions involving re
sultant political changes fatal to demo
cratic society and government were first
clearly discerned by any large body of
our citizens as manifested in the opear
ation of the money system. When they
protested against that they protested
against the whole program of plutocracy;
for the same spirit animates it all,
whether it aim at a money monopoly or
a trust control of industry, or the estab
lishment of militarism and empire. (Ap
plause.) ...
SPIRIT NOT ABATED. j
"What some of our friends cannot un
derstand is this, that the spirit of 11396
has not abated; that it was and remains
a spirit of liberty; that it inspires today
our opposition to more recent tyrannies
Erecisely as in 1896 it moved six and a
alf millions of freemen in the most
memorable contest since I860. Thero is
a community of soul among all friends
of freedom, no matter when or where
they live and strive. i '
"The true champion of American loy
alty to American principles today, can-