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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 30, 1900)
The Conservative MB. SPEECH. THE CoNSEnvATiVE publishes in part the speech of Hon. Louis R. Ehrich , of Colorado Springs , chairman of the anti- imperialist convention. While not agreeing with" Mr. Ehrioh in his conclu sions , wo commend his speech as thoughtful and thoroughly patriotic. THE CONSERVATIVE is particularly pleased with Mr. Ehrich 's kind words of commendation for one of tho'greatest presidents our country has ever had Qrover Cleveland. To Mr. Cleveland more than to'any other one man belongs the credit for present prosperity and the honor of maintaining the financial in tegrity of the country. In the campaign' this year , THE CON SERVATIVE believes the highest interests of the country can be best subserved by adhering to the" financial policy1. inaugu rated by Mr. ' Cleveland , and aiding in the election of the man who is now seeking to carry out that policy , though he did bitterly oppose" Mr. Cleveland when he was so bravely contending for the financial honor of the nation. In so far as the Philippines are con cerned , THE CONSERVATIVE agrees with Mr. Ehrich that a mistake was made in not amending the treaty with Spain , making the same provision for the Filipinos that was made for the Cubans. This would have been done but for the untimely interference of } Mr. Bryan who by reason of his influence with democratic senators , brought about the ratification of the treaty as it was writ ten , and made futile all attempts to amend it. As both Mr. Bryan and Mr. McKiuley favored ratification , and as it is beyond the power of either to undo that which.was then done , THE CON SERVATIVE cannot see any choice be tween the two , so far as this question is concerned. Mr. Ehrich spoke in part as follows : The Trusts. "The ' temporary chairman of the Kansas City convention , Governor Thomas declares that : 'The crisis in our'commercial affairs is that of indus trial despotism against the liberty of the nation. * * * Either trusts or the government must disappear. ' Senator Wolcott , the temporary chairman of the Philadelphia convention , says with ad mirable frankness : 'Whenever a repub lican administration is in power , there is constant talk of trusts. The reason isn't far to seek. Aggregations and combinations of capital find their only encouragement in prosperous days and widening commerce. ' It is certainly true .that capital does begin to combine and to control the prices of monopolized products as"soon as the republican party is in power , * and , as Senator Wolcott says , the reason isn't far to seek. The republican party is the mother "of pro tection , and protection is the mother of trusts. The grandmother gives to her progeny the benefit and the protection of legalized favors , and in return , the grateful offspring are the principal con tributors to the campaign funds of their pliant progenitress. Speaking for my self , I ini ready to affirm that , under just legislative conditions , I welcome trusts , not only as an agent in the more economical production of commodities , but also as an evolntionized effort to bring about a closer and less wasteful balance between production and con sumption. Let the trusts stand open to the free , untrainmeled competition of the world , and they will speedily be divested of evil economic influences ! They become dangerous only when they are artificially created and unduly fos tered by a tariff wall which shields them from the competitive conditions of other markets , and which , by the instinct of self-advantage , brings them into part nership with a political party. Wolcott's Attack on Cleveland. "The sublimity of unblushing effront ery , however , reveals itself in another part of Senator Wolcott's address. As a preparation for the fulsome eulogy of President McKinley , Mr. Wolcott goes out of his way to attack and malign the first American of our time , Grover Cleveland. Speaking of the terrible financial disasters which came in 1893 , of the countless failures which followed , of the depletion of the treasury gold reserve , of the sufferings of labor , he says , referring to Mr. Cleveland : 'The appalling result of his policy is still fresh in the memory of millions who suffer from it. ' Can cowardly injustice and political misrepresentation further go ? Is it not a fact known of all men , that the disastrous panic of 1893 and the misery that followed were directly and unmistakably traceable to that shame ful bit of republican legislation known as the Sherman law'of 1890 ? And what part did Mr. McKinley , of whom Mr. Wolcott says , 'He has shown an unerring mastery of the economic problems which confront us * what part did he take in the enactment of this Sherman law ? As chairman of the ways and means com mittee of the house , he was its most earnest and most zealous champion. "He said : " 'Mr. Speaker , no man should hesi tate between the two millions a month that we have now , and the four and a half millions a month that we shall have under the proposed law. I would have this bill different if I could , but it rep resents the purpose and the idea , not fullyit is true , which I have , touching the silver legislation which is required. ' "And what , pray , was the full idea of the silver legislation which Mr. McKin ley thought was required ? Seventeen days thereafter he says : 'I am for the largest use of silver in the currency of the country. I would not dishonor it. * * * I want the double standard. ' Let it be remembered that at this time Mr. McKinley was over forty-seven years of age , when an 'unerring master of economic problems' might be expected to have his financial theories fully ma tured. In the year following , only two years before the panic of 1893 , ho snarls at Mr. Cleveland in a piiblic speech and says : " 'During all of his years ab the head of the government he was dishonoring one of our precious metals , one of our own great products , dtsoreditiutr silver and enhancing the price of gold. ' "And now the servile fawners of this co-author and champion of the financial crime of 1890 have the audacity to calumniate Mr. Cleveland for the results of their own vicious legislation ! Let it be said in this presence that the principal cause of the prosperity which our nation is now enjoying and which is the exult ing boast of the republican party , comes from the unflinching resolution , the heroic persistence , and the indomitable manhood of Grover Cleveland in bring ing about the repeal of that very law which Mr. McKinley was so zealous to enact. "We are prosperous not only because the gold standard has been maintained , but also because our harvests have been bounteous and the demands for our products increasingly large. This pros perity must certainly be a surprise to Chairman Wolcott. It is only two years ago that he said in the senate : " 'For myself I still cherish , and I shall cherisii as long as I live , the con viction that prosperity can never come to this country until it comes by a res toration of both silver and gold as a standard. ' "Are we not evidently face to face with another 'unerring master of eco nomic problems ? ' Cuban and Philippine Situation Con trasted. "Let us take a brief retrospect : When congress was considering the proclama tion of war , no question was raised but that the Cubans 'of right ought to be free and independent. ' There was some question , however , as to whether we could rightly say that they 'are' free and independent. The Cuban insur gents were not in possession of a single oity. The situation had not changed from the year 1875 , when General Grant wrote : 'The insurrection has not pos sessed itself of a single seaport , whence it may send forth its flag , nor has it any means of communication with foreign powers , except through the military lines of its adversaries. ' They were still , as Secretary Olney described them in 1896 , 'a nomadic association , ' which I take to be a polite term for guerrillas. They had , as Consul-General Lee said , nothing but the skeleton of a govern ment. Their capital was transportable on the seat of a Mexican saddle. Yet we decided by solemn legislation that 'the Cubans are , and of right ought to
