* * * -T * '
tbe Conservative.
The conmgo of
fa
CAXDIDATUKK . . . , .
cnndiclnture for
COIx.
oflico into the cur
rency of tbo realm is a. very honorable
and successful industry. There is , however -
over , in that mouth-mint which alone
coins into cash , candidature for office , a
complete monopoly or trust Colonel
Bryan is a phenomenon in finance. He
is the only patriot who over made a largo
income of money from a. largo outgo of
mere words. Ho has the only mint for
coining candidature into currency. He
is a mouth-trust monopolist. Getting
money out of running for office mak
ing a livelihood and a competence out of
candidacy is a splendid industry by
which "the plain people" will be much
profited.
Silos HOURS Rent
FIRE ! FIRE !
Holcomb is the
president of a mutual fire insurance
company which is doing a tremendous
business in Nebraska. Nothing could
be "handier to have in the house" than
Q. supreme court judgeship when liti
gation sets in for that plutocratic mutual
fire insurance company.
"When the money power , the corporation -
tion cormorants , the venal vampires of
the dollar-abovo-the-mau diabolism
seek to put the president of a railroad era
a fire insurance company upon the
supreme bench of Nebraska what more
degradation of popular rights can they
contemplate ? When the interests of
the insurance company of President
Holcomb are conserved by Judge Hol-
comb , justice will wink and the plaintiff
vs. House Rent may weep 1
IN SOUTH
CAROLINA.
JONESVILLE , S. C.Oct. 15 , 1899.
Bryauism and Tillmanism being syn
onymous terms to the Tillnmnites of
South Carolina , we would like to inquire -
* quire How are they understood by the
Bryanites of the West ? And while not
authorized to speak for Mr. Bryan , yet
as a native of the middle West , as a
worshiper at the political shrine of
Thomas H. Hendricks , I know full well
that he , with all his eloquence , his mag
netism and his extensive vocabulary ,
* dare not advocate these isms as they
exist today before an intelligent , unbiased -
* biased and enlightened people , and even
hope for political preferment.
4
In the abstract , Bryanism-Tillmanism
as known in South Carolina , is the essence -
, sence of class legislation. It is centrali
zation of power in the most insidious
form. It is imperialism , in the Bryan-
ized interpretation of that word. These
are the facts as revealed to an immigrant
after a residence of four years in the
South not as they are understood by
the partisan people ; but as revealed by
an analysis of the census reports , the
election returns and personal observa
tion ; while Mr. Bryan with his usual
assurance and complacency , comes down
hero and , before an ignorant and parti
san people , advocates Tillmanism to the
limit , either in words or action which
speak louder than words. I would be
unjust to myself were I to ask if he ad
vocated these same un-American ideas
in any enlightened community without
making my question more specific.
Tillman , as is well-known in his own
province , floated into office by organiz
ing one class against the others ; the
populistic bumpkin against the pro
fessor , the planter against the merchant ,
the country against the cities , the
northern and western part of the state
against the southern portion , and he has
maintained his power by the prejudice
and gross ignorance of his bigoted serfs.
( Do not misunderstand me for you will
find as well informed , as broad-minded ,
genial companions and as desirable
neighbors in South Carolina as you can
find anywhere upon the face of the
earth. BUT they are NOT Tillmanites. )
No one conversant with the recent
political history of South Carolina will
tion of the files of any of the leading
papers of the state will confirm my
statement , any reasonable man will
agree that my claim of class legislation
is well taken and in this respect Bryan-
ism of today and Tillmanism of yester
day are one and the same Bryan's ap
peal of The Foolish Virgin being his
chief stock in trade.
The first step towards centralization
of power is to deprive residents of the
right to participate in the general
government. This is such a tender sub
ject in the South that I do not care to
discuss any branch of it , in this connec
tion , further than to use one of Mr.
Bryan's rant phrases and say while I
don't believe in disfranchising a single
'God-made man , " I will make no com
ment upon the first stop towards cen
tralization , which was taken in 1880 by
denying 80 per cent of the niggers the
right to vote , nor will I offer any
objections now , when the second step
was taken in 1884 and every nigger in
South Carolina was deprived of the
rights of suffrage. Neither will I pro
test when the third step was made and
07 per cent of the foreign born but
American citizens were denied their
constitutional rights in ' 84 ; but when
the fourth step was made in 1888 and in
addition to the nigger , every foreign
born American citizen was denied that
which is guaranteed them under the
constitution , it was time for us who
might have acquiesced in those fatal first
and second steps to at least inquire
where and when was this abridgment
of rights by these disciples of King John
of England to cease ; and when we
found the fifth step of these destroying
isms of American institutions had in
sidiously invaded the sacred precincts of
the native born in 1888 and robbed 10
per cent of us of the rights for which
the gallant Marion and Sumter fought
and won , it was time for us to protest
and reflect upon what we had brought
upon ourselves in entrusting the govern
ing powers to unscrupulous fortune
hunters , who are without a conscience
and who "assure us it is the money that
is in the office , not the honor" that they
are after. Our reflections , however ,
were not calculated to have a very
soothing effect upon a liberty-loving
people , especially when the sixth step
of these isms was another invasion of our
sacred precincts , a further abridgment
of our constitutional rights and 82 per
cent of the native bom whites were not
only robbed of their suffrage in 1892 ,
but , gloating over the powers we had so
injudiciously bestowed upon them , these
imperialists reversed the vote actually
cast and when a majority of the 08 per
cent of native whites who could vote
asked for bread we were given a stone.
We asked and voted for the removal of
a curse and received the greatest monopoly
ely that exists in the United States
today , and yet these isms have the in
consistency to condemn monopolies in
one breath and declare that individuals
should not do a business that the state
could , would and did monopolize.
While wo fully realized our lamentable
condition in ' 92 we had hopes of im
proving them in the campaign of ' 90 , but
Mr. Bryan's well known endorsement of
Tillman and Tillmanism only added
another "ism , " increased our degrada
tionstrengthened the "gigantic octopus"
which took another stride the seventh
towards centralization of power , and
41 per cent of the native born white ,
100 per cent of the foreign born white
and 100 per cent of the niggers did not
and could not , from one reason or
another , vote in 1890. Aware that these
remarks are so un-American as to sound
unreasonable ; aware that it is possible
some partisan or ignorant may denounce
and vilify me in an attempt to detract
from the facts I ask of what use is it
to abuse me when I refer those of you
who can read and reason to the follow
ing election returns of South Carolina ,
which prove every statement made
above in figures , if not in words ? There
were 205,789 males of voting age in
South Carolina in 1880 , with 83 per center
or 170,388 voting ( the democrats getting
a majority of 54,241 , by the way ) ; 218-
048 voters in 1884 , with 42 per cent or
91,578 votes ; 281,511 voters in 1888 and
34 per cent or 70,581 votes ; 252,620
voters in 1892 and 28 per cent or 70,440
voting ; 286,580 voters in. 1896 with 24
per cent or 68,907 voting , the democrats
and the populists and free silverites
combined only getting a majority of
48,689. 17 per cent not voting in 1880 ;
58 per cent in ' 84 ; GO per cent in ' 88 ;
72 per cent in ' 92 and 76 per cent in ' 96 ,
