Conservative. VOL. II. NEBRASKA CITY , NEB. , THURSDAY , OCTOBER 26 , 1899. NO. 16. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. OFFICES : OVERLAND THEATRE BLOCK. , T. STERLING MORTON , EniTon. A JOUHNAIj DEVOTED TO THE DISOU881ON OF POLITICAL , ECONOMIC AND SOCIOLOGICAL QUESTIONS. CIRCULATION THIS WEEK 6,948 COPIES. TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. One dollar and a half per year , In advance , postpaid , to any part of the United States or Canada. Remittances made payable to The Morton Printing Company. Address , TUB CONSERVATIVE , Nebraska City , Neb. Advertising Rates made known upon appli cation. Entered at the postofllce at Nebraska City , Neb. , as Second Class matter , July 20th , 1898. Somebody has started a report that Ex-President Cleveland had writ ten a letter to a member of his last cabinet stating that the defeat of fusion in Nebraska in 1899 would defeat Colonel Bryan in 1900. THE CONSERVATIVE knows that no such letter was ever written and that no ex-member of President Cleveland's official family has ever said that he received such a letter. The World-Herald of the issue of Friday , October 20th , reiterates false hood as to that letter , after its denial in The State Journal , by authority , of Tuesday , October 17th. Perhaps Mr. Cleveland's admiration for Mr. Bryan began to decline when the latter proposed to the former the appointment of a relative , a nephew of Mr. Cleveland , to an important office in Nebraska. The Auti-Im THE THIKU . . . , permhst League in i Chicago on the j 17th and 18th of this mouth assembled an enthusiastic and patriotic con vention. Speeches were made by Carl Sohurz , Bourke Cockrau and others to very large , remarkably intelligent and re sponsive audiences in Central Music Hall. The business meetings of committees were attended with unusual prompt ness. The organization of the Anti- Imperialists of the United States will be , in sixty days , as perfect and vigor ous as that of any other political party. A list of the officers may be found in this issue of THE CONSERVATIVE. The third party is born. It is a vigorous and efficient combination of citizens who believe that the flag of the United States was made to represent self- governing peoples everywhere and no where to float over subjects. The con stitution recognizes only citizens as members of this republic. There can bo no subjects to any but an imperial government. The names of Ex-Governor Boutwoll , former secretary of the treasury , and of George F. Edmunds who recently re signed the position of United States senator from Vermont , coupled with those of Carl Schurz and Bourke Cock- ran , indicate the grade and quality of mind , character and patriotism which lead the new party which already holds the balance of power in the United States. More than thirty states were repre sented at this first convocation of the anti-imperialists. More than one hun dred and fifty delegates were in attend ance. The movement , the assemblages of thousands who gathered to hear Schurz and Cookran , were the spon taneous outgrowth of that love of liberty and justice which permeates the best citizenship of this republic. Before the nominations for the presi dency in 1900 the anti-imperialists who are only just now organized will be admittedly able to determine the elec tion. They may , like the gold demo crats in 1890 , be forced , however , to decide between two evils and to advance that evil which seems the least. Thendvoootos of FKKK SH.VJBB. , free silver at six- teeu-to-ouo avow that such coinage of that metal would enhance its value , Colonel Bryan has declared repeatedly that if the United States would only open its mints to the free and unlimited coinage of that metal at the Heaven- decreed ratio of 16 to 1 every ounce of silver in the world would at once jump to one dollar and twenty-nine cents. And this acrobatic leap of silver would drag wheat and all other food products up to a higher level of prices. High prices , say these philosophers , are a good thing for plain people. They agree perfectly with the silver bullion syndicates who have formed the silver combine and already put up the price several cents an ounce. They being the agents and candidates of the silver bullion and mine owners , can only act in their interests. WnOU FltKK Til A UK. , ly advocating free trade because it would reduce the prices of many articles upon which a pro tective tariff had placed an artificial price , Colonel Bryan conclusively proved that fcho lower the prices of the neces saries of life ranged , the bettor it would bo for the plain people. How can the same man now advocate free silver for the declared purpose-of making all the things mankind has to buy in the United States higher ? What consistency is there in a states manship which emphatically endorses low prices in 1890 as the solo panacea for economic ills and in 1896-1899 solemnly proclaims for high prices as the solo cure for poverty ? PIOUSNESS. I" a popular play of not long ago Raymond described a Senator Dilworthy , who appeared in the character of a wholly disinterested politician , as a most excellent , unselfish and surpassingly patriotic man "chock full of piousness. " But if one may credit the platitudes of McKinley while he declares his ardent affection for the flag , the country , the constitution and the people of the United States , Senator Dilworthy was not his equal in fervid love of country. And Colonel Bryan also admits that he too is without a freckle on his devotion to the plain people and that he is satur ated with conscience and altruism , from , heel to head. Taking their own avow als as truth , McKiuley and Bryan must realize that they are too good for this wicked world and that they are in im minent peril of being translated at any moment to run for office among the angels or bo crowned in everlasting office in that delightful world which is always depicted as on a gold basis and where harps and crowns are made ex clusively of that metal. George A. Abbott , one of the found ers of the people's party in Nebraska , in answer to a request from the chairman of the fusion committee for advice as to the conduct of the campaign , wrote : "By no means allow any of your speak ers to talk state issues. The record of our men in power forbids any such thing. Tell your men to talk about the Philippine war , and keep the minds of the voters on the other side of the earth. That is all that is left for the hold-up gang and the free-pass grabbers to do. "