8 Cbc Conservative.
A VOICK FROM THE SOUTH.
Virginia on JCfjK Samples anil Free Silver.
Mr. Bryan gays that events have been
vindicating the policies proposed by the
democratic party in 1890. Wo would be
much interested to hear Mr. Bryan's ex
planation of that remarkable statement.
Wo have been looking over the files of
the newspapers of 1890 to refresh our
memory as to what were the policies
proposed by Mr.Bryan and his followers ,
and what were the predictions that they
made. First of all , Mr. Bryan claimed
that under the gold standard there was
n contraction of the currency which
would necessarily bo still further con
tracted if free silver should bo defeated.
In one of his speeches he called atten
tion to the fact that there was a con
traction of § 150,000,000 in the currency
among the people during the previous
two years , and ho declared that the gold
standard people proposed to do nothing
to increase it. In point of fact , the total
money in circulation in the United
States when Mr. Bryan was speaking in
1890 was § 1,500,484,906 , or § 21.10 per
capita. In 1898 the total money in cir
culation , according to the last report
sent out from the department at Wash
ington was § 1,887,859,895 , a per capita
circulation of § 24.71 , an increase in two
years of § 451,530,099 , or § 3.61 for every
man , woman and child in the United
States. Of this increase § 204,000,000
was in gold.
Mr. Bryan told the farmers of the
West that they would be poverty-
stricken as long as the gold standard
stood. Yet The New England Home
stead , whoso editor has just returned
from a trip through the West , says that
industrial conditions in that section of
the country are excellent ; that the agri
cultural depression , which began in the
East late in the seventies and in the
West several years later , has passed
away since 1896. That Western farmers
have largely paid off their debts and
quite generally have a surplus in cash ,
or improved homes that make their
credit gilt-edged.
Mr. Bryan told the laboring men that
they could not hope to secure steady
employment until silver should bo re
stored , and that their wages would be
cut down xinder the gold standard. Yet
today every competent workingman in
this country , who is willing to work ,
has got a job , and Brndstreot's tells us
that within the past sixty days the
wages of more than 500,000 laborers
have boon increased.
Mr. Bryan said that the industries of
the country would be paralyzed under
the gold standard , yet it was only a few
days ago that ho was driven through the
iron district of Birmingham and saw the
iron-makers of that section bending then
energy to supply the demand for their
product.
Mr. Bryan said that England was our
enemy , and again that it was England's
'
'
; * t vtKJM > * " " " XI ! V"ffi * ' F- ' ' * < , !
[ ) olic3r to maintain the gold standard be
cause she was a "creditor nation , " and
: ho gold standard doubled her interest
account. In point of fact , when wo
were at war with Spain , England showed
: hat she was our best and our only friend
abroad. As for the other , America has
now become a creditor nation , and as for
; herate of interest , everybody knows
'hat that has fallen to the lowest point
over known.
Mr. Bryan said that under the gold
standard our industries must languish
and die , and trade become stagnant , yet
under the gold standard the railroads of
; ho country have increased their earn
ings at an enormous rate , and are now
earning more than ever before in their
history , our export trade has broken all
records and is growing continually , the
bank clearings show the largest volume
of business ever done , and the trade re
views of yesterday report for the first
quarter of 1899 failure liabilities of § 20-
080,330 against § 57,525,185 for the same
period in 1890.
Mr. Bryan said with reference to the
anti-injunction plank of the Chicago
platform : "Tho recent abiises which
have grown out of injunction proceed
ings have been so emphatically con
demned by public opinion that the sen
ate bill providing for trial by jury in
certain contempt cases will meet with
genuine approval. "
Yet a similar bill to that introduced in
the United States senate was introduced
in the Virginia legislature and passed ,
and the Virginia court of appeals , com
posed of democrats , declared that the
act was unconstitutional and a menace
to our courts of justice.
With this record behind him , is it pos
sible that the people of the United States
regard Mr. Bryan as a true prophet ?
Can ho find any vindication , any fulfill
ment of his prophecy in these facts
which we have cited ? The truth is
that the people have discovered in Mr.
Bryan n visionary enthusiast , and while
the dreamers are still hurrahing over
him , the thoughtful mm are shaking
their heads and saying that he will not
do. In one of his speeches in 1890 , by
way of proving that the value of the
silver dollar would not fall in case the
government should open its mints to
the free coinage of silver , ho used this
illustration : "If any man in this com
munity would offer to buy eggs at 25
cents a dozen and was able to make
good his offer , nobody would sell eggs
for less , and 25 cents a dozen would be
the standard price of eggs. " That is
the kind of logic upon which Mr. Bryan
hns founded his theory , but it is about
as substantial as the egg shells which ho
has used in illustration. The people arc
now asking themselves that if this egg
theory of Mr. Bryan has any meat in it ,
why does not the government fix the
price of eggs and make all the farmers'
wives in the country happy ? And if il
is able to fix the price of eggs and silver
why not the price of wheat and corn
and cotton , and all other products of the
farm ?
There has been no vindication in
recent events of Mr. Bryan's egg policy ,
nor his wheat policy , nor his silver pol
icy , nor hia injunction policy , so far as
wo have seen. Richmond Times.
THIS DECLINE IN FREIGHT RATES.
William Jennings Bryan , in the cam
paign of 1890 , declared in one of his pub
ic speeches that there had been no re
duction in railway rates commensurate
with the decline in the prices of other
commodities. The statement was im
mediately challenged and shown to be
untruthful. The United States govern
ment ( department of agriculture ) has
now issued an official and authoritative
statement on the subject in the form of
a very carefully compiled document by
Mr. H. T. Newcomb of the division of
statistics. The decline in rates per ton
per mile is shown to have been as
follows :
The decline in thirty years therefore
has been from about 2 cents to 8 mills
or a fall of 58 per cent. Even this does
not represent the whole of the actual de
cline , because for the earlier years the
records are incomplete and the roads on
which the rates are not now ascertaiuable
are those which with the least business
had the highest rates. The real average
for the country in those days was un
doubtedly even higher than the figures
indicate. Taking the figures as they
are , however , the report says that the
decrease "is probably not exceeded by
that in the price of any important com
modity amoug those largely shipped by
rail. This is the exact opposite of Mr.
Bryan's assertion , and while Mr. Bryan
was only guessing for political effect ,
the other statement is official and backed
by figures which are unchallengeable.
b °
BIRD DAY.
no endeavor to
propagate the gull. Wall street is fur
nishing the markets of the world with
gulls. This bird is very prolific. The
flocks of gulls hovering about the trust
traps and industrial snares of Wall
street are imminerablo. Every day they
take the bait. Before loug there will be
whole coveys of gulls entirely featherless -
less they will have been plucked of
every quill not oven a pin-feather will
remain to help prevent the exposure of
their nakedness and idiotic credulity.
Gulls are too plentiful. Bird Day
should not protect them.
