ed the strident whoops nud slirieks of
the rough riders who accompanied Col.
Willinm Cody to Nebraska Oity on the
18th of September and drew a crowd of
ten thousand people at fifty cents to one
dollar each to hear them yell. If it
would not bo wicked or trust-like a
combination to prevent competition in
the spectacular why should not Colonel
Kodak expand and annex Col. Cody's
wild west show to his during the re
mainder of the campaign ? At Nebraska
City Col. Cody took in many thousands
of dollars and it is questionable whether
Col. Kodak without taking in a cent
took in even the most simple-minded
property-owner and tax-payer , before
whom he performed his wonderful feats
of vocal athletics and his prestidigitation
in vocuumizing words and perfectly
dothoughtizing speech and delogicalizing
language.
.For a moment the peerless Colonel
Bryan beamed self-consciously upon his
feeble-minded
He Opens. , . _ _
worshippers. He
wore that sturdy smirk-smile which is
so successful in front of audiences and
so fleeting in the front of battles. That
stereotyped simper is a blend of benig
nant commisseration , egotism and solf-
admiration.
With indescribable courage some
thing like that exhibited when Bryan
was in the midst of shot ( oranges ) and
shell ( watermelons ) at the head of his
regiment at Jacksonville the peerless
crown-crusher began with these defiant
words :
"I decided to shorten my days of rest
long enough to discuss the trust question
under the shadow of the starch factory. "
Spontaneously the automatic applause
broke forth in thundering tones. So
enraptured were his disciplined enthu
siasts to hear from his own lips that
Colonel Bryan , the dashing , slashing
soldier the trust-smashing statesman
was not afraid of shadows , not even
though they were starched. It was
some seconds before silence resumed ,
and with it the Presidential Thespian
said :
"I am here to talk to you because the
starch trnbt is a a greater menace to the
people of Nebraska City than it is to any
other part of the state. "
That paragraph is literally quoted , but
in effect Colonel Bryan declared :
. "I came here to talk because I had
hoard that your people were against
shutting up , by legal process , a splendid
wage-paying industry , supporting hun
dreds of good families in your midst , by
prompt , remunerative wages. Before
hearing that I had no intention of ad
dressing you. But feeling confident
that words from me will be more
nourishing as a winter diet than mere
cash wages from the starch factory , ]
am hero to subsist and fatten you from
my vocabulary.
"I am here to protect you and your
best and dearest interests from the ex
tortions of capital and the domination of
trusts. I am here to assert that the
factory here is in a trust that it will be
a great drawback to your city. "
And again he said precisely these
words :
"I want to open your eyes to the real
meaning of the trust ; and in order that
I may be sure of my ground I am going
to quote from good authority on the
trust question. If anybody tells you
this is not a trust here , I want to call
your attention to something that I think
should be accepted as evidence in this
case. I had these quotations made this
afternoon because it is easier to read
them hero than to look up the quotation
in 'THE CONSERVATIVE' every time. ( Loud
laughter. ) I want to remind yon that
iho attorney general who is enforcing
; his law is not trying to destroy a
factory ; he is trying to prevent a trust
from absorbing that factory. "
THE CONSERVATIVE extracts remain ,
as when published , the views of its
editor , who has
Trusts. , . , ,
never deserted free
trade for free silver , nor entered the
ring as an expert prophet of calamity
and disaster. THE CONSERVATIVE agrees
perfectly with the New York court of
appeals and the decision it rendered in
June , 1890 , in the case of "The People
of New York , respondent vs. The North
River Sugar Refining Company. " That
defines a trust and there is not now in
Nebraska Oity , nor elsewhere in the
United States , such a trust , either in
starch , sugar , salt , soap or any thing else ,
perhaps , except in free silver organiza
tions which have combined in a trust of
candidature to prevent competition for
office and proceeded so far in Nebraska
as to ask the courts to enjoin any other
body of citizens from using the trade
mark "populist" as descriptive of their
patriotism and political intentions.
No combine or trust in commerce has.
gone so far , managed so adroitly and
succeeded so selfishly as the Bryan Trust
in nominations , which began business
at Sioux Falls , held a street fair conven
tion at Kansas City and a carnival at
Topeka. It was a populist nomination ,
a silver democratic nomination , a silver
republican nomination. And now the
three are one in a Bryan Trust. No
nominee ever had such a clear title to
E Plurilms Unum.
The C9urt of Appeals of the state of
New York in the case cited concluded
thus :
"In this state there can be no partner
ships of separate and independent cor
porations , whether directly or indirectly ,
through a trust ; no substantial consoli
dations which disregard the statutory
permissions and restraints ; but that
manufacturing corporations must be
and remain as they were created , or one
under the statute. "
Under the definition , from the highest
judicial state tribunal which has met
the question , there is not now in Ne
braska Oity any manufacturing corpora
tion in any trust. It is asserted without
fear of successful disproval , that Col.
Bryan and General Smyth know , be
fore this action against the Nebraska
Oity Starch factory was begun , that it
was not in a trust as legally defined by
the Now York court.
Nevertheless Col. Bryan , the peerless
and fearless lawyer , whose wonderful
, , . success as an attor- "
. _
Iiifornmtloii. . ,
ney n-t Lincoln is
blazoned on the court dockets and in the
names of myriads of clients , declared :
"I want to give yon some information
about trusts , and especially this starch
factory , because I have been looking it
up. I find that the Argo Manufacturing
Co. , of Nebraska Oity was a prosperous
corporation. You ask me how I know
this. I saw it in THE CONSERVATIVE. ' '
Quotations from this journal are al
ways recognized as the truth , it seems ,
even by Ool. Bryan. Nevertheless its
persistent perusal has not infected the
valiant colonel with veracity. He pro
ceeds at once to tell half-truths and un
truths.
Bryan said , with an obvious impedi
ment in his veracity :
"Now when the Argo Company was
owned by people here , and when it was
controlled by people in this city , if there
was a strike , the men who had charge of
the concern were as interested as were
the laborers , but when it is a part of the
great starch trust , managed by paid men
in the employ of the head office , who'
have no interest whatever in the men ,
they can close down the factory and the
laborer is helpless because the trust can
do its work elsewhere after it has frozen
out the laborer here.
"This attempt to form a starch trust
and embody your factory in that trust
is simply an attempt to transfer the
management to New York , and there
fore its wishes will have no effect. You
people who live here are more interested
in destroying this starch tnnt than the
people who live in other parts of the
state. " ( Applause. )
Bryan assumed and asserted that the
starch factory is not controlled by people
of Nebraska Oity. la that ho told an
absolute lie , or he was mistaken because
he did not desire to know the truth.
The same men who did originate the
starch factory in Nebraska Oity , control
that establishment now , todays
The men who employ help now are
the ones who employed it ia ne begin
ning at this factory. All of them
are residents of Nebraska Oity. They
have always taken an interest in the
welfare of the employees. They never
did close down the factory and throw
helpless operatives out of employment.
But from year to year they have en
larged the works , putting more and
more money into Nebraska Oity. Such
are the men whom Mr. Bryan has the
effrontery to warn Nebraska Oity
