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About The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 3, 1900)
"VHE" . -"? v" mn?susasasr U.'vj- ' sal fflF'vt z bbthi For M kiBd - r - nri rm. -v-am . i - b r m m m m rtw naa K-a- SUPPLEMENT. mr.TTifRns journal. Colusrtss. - - - - Nebraska1 Wednesday, October 3, 1900. WHAT BfiYM'S ELECTION HEMS TO LABOR. Only Qiiestioi b Whether Wage Earners Wait Hard Times. Dfcratic Miclca irare TfcMsaais to the Street leftce MdWiHDiSi Afafti K Iryss fc Sscccssfsl. Ib the eddying fight, amid diu and roar ef the fatten gnas of imperiaKwn and militarism, tkere ia danger the people of tab cosatry may lose sight of the fact that the eleetioa of Mr. Bryan means the overthrew of the protect ire tariff system aad the introduction of a free-trade pro gram into the policy of the government. Oar people hare short memories and they sometimes forget and need to be remind ed. Mr. Bryan was a member of the Fifty- bccond and Fifty-third Congresses and j took a very nctire part at once upon ta!;-1 ing hi seat. In the Fifty-third Congress, of which I wax a member, the Wilson bill was under consideration. It was the pas sage of that bill which plunged this coun try into ruin. It does not make any differ ence what people say about the origin of hard timet:, the intelligent laboring man of this country knows very well that he ceased to earn a living for himself and family because of the demoralization of business caused by the repeal of the Mc Kinley law and the passage of the Wilson net. It was that which precipitated wages to the lowest ebb that they have liceu for many a year. It was that which sent manning columns of hungry men over the country demanding food. It was the passage of that bill that made it pos sible for any intelligent man to listen for a moment to-thc speeches of such men as Bryan in 1800. On the floor of the House in the de bates ob the Wilson bill Bryan took the extreme free-trade ground. His speeches are on record and the laboring men of the country can find them and rend them. He especially announced himself as in fa vor of absolute free-trade upon many of the leading products of the farm, notably wool, which he insisted should be put upon the free list of the Wilson bill. When that bill was passed by the con currence of the House in the six hundred amendments of the Senate it was Bryan and Hon. Jos. Bailey, a representative from the State of Texas, who in their ecstasy soiled the champion, who wns the putative father of the law. the Hon. W. I Wilson, of West Virginia, and carried him cu Uieir shoulders in a triumphal pro cession through the House of Representa tives into the cloak-room una a saturnalia of joy resounded from those premises. It was Bryan who favored the introduction of foreign material into this country free of charge. It was Bryan who demanded that all raw material such as wool, coal, iron, and everything which entered into the manufacture of goods, should be im ported free, and it was his influence, more than any other man's, that brought about the terrible result with which we arc so familiar. It was Bryan' earnest demand that put wool on the free list, and in that de bate he declared that he did not care whether it benefited or hurt the wooi grower. It was Bryan who drove the tariff on coal down to such an extent as to flood the Eastern markets with coal and stimulate the growth of the develop ment of coal in the British possessions in the northeast, and practically drove us out of the seaboard markets with the soft coal of Central States. It .wns Bryan who advocated the low tariff on agricul tural products and utterly refused to dis criminate or allow discrimination in favor of the products of the West and Middle West. The laboring men of the country and the farmers of the country, before they plunge themselves into the vortex that is being held out, should get Bryan's record and read it. It is a very interest ing chapter in the personal politics of tiiat gentleman. The platform made at Kan sas City is very adroit in laying the foun dation for an enactment in Congress, should Bryan be elected, satisfactory to his history and record. Not daring to as sail protection directly he came at it in the platform which he personally con ducted as follows: "TsrifTlaws should' be amended by put ting the products of trusts upon the free list. We condemn the Dingley tariff law as a trast breeding measure, skillfully devised, etc." That is the platform of the party de nominated the Democratic .party and whose Bomiantioa Mr. Bryan accepted. The original Populist party, whose candi date Mr. Bryan now is, I refer to the Sioux Falls nomination, also places itself on record in a similar attitude. So Mr. Bryan, without any apology for the past, steads upoa a series of platforms all squinting in the direction of free trade, aad ia the event of his election, with a Congress subservient to his dictation, as was the' convention at Kansas City, we may look far 'just such legislation as pre cipitated tilts -couticfr--1nto 'the 'condition with which we are all familiar. It is therefore very unwise for tho people of the country to be led away front the two great prepositions of Mr. Bryan's life, the two prepositions for which he stands, the two propositions which make np Bry anism, to wit, free and unlimited coinage of. silver, and free trade, and follow off after the illusion and delusion of im perialism. If the intelligent agriculturist will take the prices of his products in 1806 snd compare them with the present prices of "the commodities, and then takethe Drng 'eVriaTlawrhe wfUaVonee discover to what he is indebted" for the advaace in prices. If the laboring man will take first the price of his labor ia IBM and then the price ef his labor in 1M0 aad then take the table ef Imports of foreign manufac tured goods in 1890 and back of. that time aad then take the imports ef foreign goods new. as' ahewa by the statistics of the Treasury Department, he will at once discover that the present advantage which is accruing to him comes absolute ly directly from the tariff law now ob the statute books, of the United States. And. then, if he desires old times, with old prices and old short days of employment, he had better vote for William Jennings Bryan. " But if the laboring man wants a con tinuation of the present prosperity of the United States, he certainly cannot, with out inconsistency, vote for Bryan. An other view of it. It the laboriBg man take the present price of his labor and take tho present prices of all the things he buys upon which his family is sub sisted snd supported and educated, and then take the price of his labor of 1890 and the prices existing then, he will dis cover, without any hesitation of intellect, that preseut conditions are far better than old conditions, that, waiving the lit tle increase of cost, of living, the balance sheet shows favorably to him. No man can deny that and there Is bo man la the United States, who has done more to break down the interests of labor by pro moting and cultivating unfair aad unjust competition than has William J. Bryan, of Nebraska. C. H. GROSVENOR. Athens. Ohio, Sept. 17, 1900. Prosperity fbr Wheat Growers- When the Democrats were experiment ing with free trade in the United States the consumption of wheat was 3.41 bush els per capita. That was in 1894. In 1899, under the McKinley administration, the consumption was S.95 bushels per capita. This is ample demonstration to the farmer as to how prosperous manu facturing interests bring prosperity to the wheat grower. ANOTHER THUTYTMSOmMlES 8AVEI IT C1ILHEJ. Chicago's Penny Savings Society has only been established for a few years, but its deposits have increased as fol lows: Year ending June SO, 1898 $19,140 Year ending June SO, 1899 33,900 Year ending June 30, 1900 71,793 William C. Hollister, who is acting president of the Chicago Penny Savings Society, says that it is operated entirely on a philanthropic basis and supported by voluntary contributions. There are only two salaried officers, young ladies, at the office in the Schiller building. This system is in operation only in half the schools in Chicago, yet the amount of money deposited by the children last year averaged. 30 cents for .every child' in' the Chicago school "district, and '60 cents per capita for all the children in the schools in which the Penny Savings Society is operated. The weight of last year's savings was thirty tons of American pennies, an enor mous mass of money for the little ones to put by in the banks within one year. It will be noticed that the increase be tween the amount deposited in 1898 and 1899 was 70 per cent. But between 1899 and the year just ended the increase -a the amount of pennies deposited was con siderably, more than 100 per. cent. The children would certainly not be able to save their 'pennies if their par ents did net -have the money to give them, and the exhibit made by the Chi cago Penny Savings Society is certain ly a straw showing that the people of Chicago have experienced more and more good times aad prosperity dnriag the Re pnhllca'a administration of President .Mc-Kialey. IftYII'S HIT SOD MOKS AH FEUS. Hk EzacctetiMs Basel uHiftstkit Others W Parget. Bryan argues that the Constitution ex tends ia full by its own force to every foot of land under the American flag. lie hopes thai the American people won't find out before November that the United States courts, from the lowest to the highest, have decided by overwhelming and irresistible decisions that he is wrong. "" He is running on a platform declaring for the fraud of free silver. He hopes that the gold Democrats who hare re turned to the Democratic -party "ob the' issue of imperialism will not cease to believe in his readiness to betray it. He is running on a platform oa'which imperialism Is said to be the paramount issue. He hopes thst the silver men won't take this portion of the platform seriously. He is running as a Democrat. He hopes the Populists won't lay it up against him. . He is running as a Populist. He hopes the Democrats will forget it. He is running as a silver Republican. He hopes that the silver Republicans, mainly men of the West, won't give him up because of their belief in expansion. He is running as the avowed friend of Aguinaldo. He hopes .that this won't drive the American votes against him. So every Democratic hope of 1800 has error or humbug back of it. PARAMOUNT 111! TIMES ITEMS SEEIEP IT UTAH. Adversity ef Others WHI Be Wefceae News to Desecrate. "Wanted Hard times items" is a "Help Wanted" ad Bryan ought to put in the newspapers to aid him in his la borious search for instances of indus trial and commercial distress. Probably nothing would more please him just now than to bear of workingmen in the coun try whose dinner pails are not full. In his speech in Milwaukee he gloated over the fact that a dock man in New Haven had discharged some employes, that pig iron production is less now than at the high point of last year, and that Massachusetts cotton mill men are said to be thinking of reducing wages. After exploiting on these items, he said exultingiy: "Even the prosperity that the Republican party has boasted of has not reached all the people, and even that which we have is on the decline." The reason Bryan is so anxious te knowof misfortunes befalling working men is because he fears that they will perversely consider the maintenance of their present, prosperity to be thepara- eaount" issue with them instead of "im perialism." If some great calamity could oaJy happen' to 'the workingmen between bow aad election time it would perhaps make. Jt really sound plausible to say thst" ''there Is ao-prosperity bow; there fore maiBteaaaee of prosperity is not the issue, so yen caa vote for me aad Agin-aside." A CI1LLMM Tt SIIATtt rTniUIW. A Cawhay teseats the Ittiswatlei Maie Against Cd. tsesevdt Sioux Falls, S. D., Is Senator Petti grew's home, and the Senator said ia a recent speech there that Col. Roosevelt did not lead his regiment at San Juaa Hill, bat was six miles in the rear. At the recent Roosevelt meeting in the town many of Col. Roosevelt's old regiment csme to greet him, some of them trav eling quite a distance, and one rough rider came 150 miles. This particular cowboy heard of Senator Pettigrew's ut teraace for thefirst time while in Sioux Falls, aad mounting his horse -he woutd ride to a street corner and issue this chal lenge: "Ladies and Gentlemen I have heard thatthere are people in this towa who say Col. Roosevelt was away In the rear at San Juan and did not lead his regi ment in the charge that was made that day. I was in that regiment and follow ed Col. Roosevelt up that hill. My cap tain -was killed and several of. my com pany. I saw that fight. I wa in it. Whoever says that Col. Roosevelt did not lead his regiment in that charge is a liar, a scoundrel, a coward and dare not tell me so to my face." Then he would wait a minute, ride to the next block and repeat the same chal lenge. The incident will keep Senator Petti grew quiet for awhile. He may be kept busy in explaining what he meant. ISSUE Mistaken. He said: "You shall not toss Mankind upon a cross Of shining gold." "Nor press his brow with thorns, Nor troad upon bis corns When he is old." He said: "No fires will burn. No wheels, no spindles turn. Without my hand Is at the nation's helm; Dictator of the realm Chief of the band." He said "the metal white Is strictly in the light (I lugged it in). We're on free silver bent. Without the world's consent And it will win." The voters heard him shout. Then straightway went about To give him fits; They said "we want no stuff Half money and half bluff. A dollar worth four bits." It tookjiis breath away When the people had their say In N-O V. But he's got his second wind. Thinks he'll not again be skinned; Wait and see. C. L. FRAZER. Highland. Cat. Cotton Consaunpllon Doable. The cotton consumption in the United Ststes in 1894 wss 15.91 pounds for ev ery man, womsn snd child. Good times brought by the McKinley administration have raised the per capita consumption to '27.14 pounds. The people dress bet ter aad buy more articles made from cot ton than ever before in the history of the country. - fsF fV IIOI JobPbistwo. ' Ai. tka Bast. ttbmeinoss,will mmo as the ;3 A Story of Country Life. Kg Jf BY ALMA L. PARKER, GUIDE ROCK, NEB. jS CHAPTER lY.-iCoatiaaed.) "Certainly; 1 want good times, but if we got them I'd never thank a Repub lleaa administration for It." "Suppose Bryan bad been elected and times Improved, would yon thank him forlt?" "Indeed, I would." "Then you- are partial, Simon. Why not think if such were the case that It was a Popnlist scheme to deceive the people?" "Because Bryan's an honest man." "How do you know?" "How do I know anything? My paper says he's honest." "But how do you know It's the truth?" "See here. How do you know he's dishonest?" "I don't. Neither do I know he is honest. I am not personally acquaint ed with the man, but I do know that he has charged outrageous high pay for making speeches over the country. It seems to me that a man who hates the rich, and so dearly loves the poor. would not care to accumulate wealth so fast, taking the dollars out of the labor er's pockets. I tell yon. Simon, if times get better, you ought to change your politics." "Just wait 'till they get better. You'll hare to wait 'till doomsday for times to improve under Republican rule." Political Simon then walked into the store and placed his basket of eggs on the counter. "What are eggs worth to-day?" he inquired of the clerk. "Two cents more than they were be fore election," the clerk quickly re sponded. "Well," said Simon, who knew the clerk was Republican, "you needn't be so d d glad to tell it. I see that Re publicans like yourself are dreadful haughty because prices are a little bet ter, but you'll grin the other way when this little McKinley wave breaks." "Mr. Grey, whenever this wave, as you call-it, breaks, it will turn into foam of prosperity. Just notice." "How easy," said Simon, "some peo ple are deluded. I see some fellows out there on the street a-shakin gold coin. I expect they inherited the pieces as an heirloom In the family, and they have been kecpin' them all these years to get a chance to show 'em now, to prove that nil our gold isn't in England or the Government vaults." "Why, Mr. Grey, everybody can have gold now. Confidence is restored, and gold will once more circulate. Just take a check to the bank, and see if the banker won't cash it in gold." Political Simon doubted very much what the clerk said, and resolved with in his own mind to go back home and bring two or three hogs to town, if they weren't very fat. just to prove in his own mind that the clerk was mistaken. Sooner than Cynthia expected, Simon came home. During the campaign It had been his custom to stay so long in town that she was surprised to see him return in an hour. "Cynthia," he said, as he entered the house, "I hare decided to sell two or three hogs while this McKinley wave lasts, for no tellin' what they'll be worth after a while." "What did you get for the eggs?" "Two cents more than before. You make the hens hurry and lay before they go down." "Maybe times ain't goin' to be as bad as predicted," said Cynthia. "Now, Cynthia, women as a rule have weak minds, and are easily influenced, and I want yon to be on your guard. Better prices for a few days is the bait these goldbugs set to catch people on their hook, but I tnist none of my fam ily will bite." "I suppose you are right, Simon, but time will prove all things. Accordin to your brother Ezra, success of the Popnlist ticket would not bring any benefits." "Cynthia, don't you ever mention Ezra's idea of things. It has made me enough trouble without alluding to It. In an Indirect way, Ezra's Republican Ism is the cause of my sore head. If be knew how I have suffered for him, for the honor of the Grey family. I have an Idea that he'd turn Populist." "Maybe we had better write and tell him then." "Great heavens, no! If I'd have licked the daylight out of Harrington, as I first Intended to, it might do, but as he's able to be up and around it would be better not to refer it. Just let hard times prove bis mistake to him. He'll be a Populist mind, body and soul 'fore many years roll by." Simon and his wife continued to talk for some time, and then Simon went back to Boonsville with his hogs, re turning in the evening with a $20 gold piece. "We'd better keep It for a curiosity," said Simon. "And bogs are a better price, too, are they, father?" inquired Vlnnle. "Yes, everything Is Improving to de lude people." It seemed to' Vlnnle a very pleasant delusion, and four months biter It seemed to her to be Listing a long while; that the McKinley wave must be a large oae, for times continued to Improve. CHAPTER V. The Road to the Poorhouse Missed Inauguration day had passed and Wm. McKinley of Ohio was President of the United States. Vlnnle Grey bad acted In the capacity of County Superintendent of Public Instruction since the 1st of January and ahe was delighted with her sew work and Warble County was proud of Political Simon's daughter. On this particular morning, Vlnnle was alone In her office looking over her morning's mall. There were business letters for her to answer; ah, yes, and there was another letter. It was from her Boonsville lover. How It filled her heart with joy! It seemed to her the happiest morning of her life. She felt that .she had a thousand things to be thankful for. Glen Harrington re turned her love; her folks at homo were beginning to see better times; prices were getting better for farm ers' products. "Yes," she meditated, "there are a great many things to be thankful for." She had great faith in Republican times, and she believed that in two years, at least, her father would be able to pay the mortgage on their home, without her assistance. If he wasn't able, she would take a part of her salary and pay It for him. The mortgage would never lie allowed to take the old home. As she sat in her office, meditating over the pros pects of the future, there came a tap at the door, and then it flew open, and Viunie was surprised to see her father standing in the dooiway. "Good morniug, Vinnie. How are you?" he said, taking her hand. "Very well, thank you, father. How are the folks at borne?" "We're all well. I thought I'd come down to the county sent this morning to see you on a little matter of busi ness." "Very well; what Is it?" "Why. Bob Wright, down there In Boonsville, has seme calves he want to sell, and I want to buy them. Though extremely anxious, I havn't the money to buy them with. Thought maybe I could get the money from you. I don't know as there's any money la 'em, or in anything else, ns far as that's concerned, but Joe Harrington is count In' on buyiu these calves, and that's the reason I want 'cm. I've been n-Iookiu all this time for a chance to get my revenge on that roan, and now' my chance. My! but he'll get mad. If I step in ahead of him, and knock him out of the bargain by gettin' those calves he's leen calculating to buy." "You shall have the money," said Vinnie, rather amused at her father' method of revenge. "How much will you need?" "Well, there's ten of 'em and ha wants $7 apiece. It's really an out rageous high price, but I won't stop for that. Why last spring a man couldn't get a bit over $3 for such calves." "Maybe they are worth more than they were then." "Well, the Republicans say they are. but I don't think so. We ain't bavin' a bit better times than we had. in spite of their predictions. I've been think in' of writing to Ezra and telling him that he is a false prophet." "Have you received any letters from Uncle Ezra lately?" "Yes; we received one just the other day." "What did lie write?" "I don't remember exactly what was in the letter. One thing that disap pointed me is the fact that he's still Republican. Every letter I get I ex pect to hear that he's turned Populist, but so far my expectations have been in vain. He wrote that he thought prices would get better for the farmer. He said if I wished to make money now was the time to speculate. Buy all the calves and other stock that I could, and hold them for higher prices." "So you are taking Ids advice?" "No, Vinnie; I am going to buy Bob Wright's calves for the express pur pose of outwitting Joe Harrington. What does Ezra know about running a fnrm? He's lived nearly all his life in a city, and is green as a squash, when it comes to country life." "His judgment In good, though, on almost every subject." "It is on some subjects, to be sure, but still he doesn't know everything. He has his failings like all other hu man beings." "To change the subject," said Vin nie. "have you planted your corn yet?" "Yes, we just finished planting a few days ago." "How does the wheat look?" "It looks splendid, but I don't expect to get much out of it, for silver's going down right along, and Bryan said whenever silver went down wheat went with It, or when silver went up wheat went up 'also. "I do wish Bryan had been elected, for if we had free coinage of silver, he said sliver would rise in value, therefore wheat would rise. "If wheat would be worth what it ought to be, there would be a good prospect for me to pay the mortgage with it. I suppose now wheat will tumble, and we-all know it was low enough last year." (Te be coatiaaei.) t . . . J .
