10 'Che Conservative.
secure to the Americans all the commer
oial advantages they seek in that re
mote region and strengthen their posi
tion there in competition with Enropear
'
powers. On the other hand the forci
ble annexation of the archipelago would
be a perpetual Bourse of irritation and
sedition producing perpetual revolts ,
which , owing to climatic and other
physical conditions , a standing army of
hnlf a million men would be unable per
manently to suppress. That a prover
bially shrewd and eminently practical
people should permit themselves to be
inveigled into a course so inconsistent
with their principles and so injurious to
their reputation and material welfare is
explicable only on the supposition that
they are insufficiently informed and
know not what they do.
In an appendix the author gives ex
tracts from the constitution of the Phil
ippine Republic , which modelled . es
sentially after that of the United
States and shows that its framers have
very clear and comprehensive concep
tions of the nature of a self-governing
commonwealth and the firm founda
tions on which it must rest. The suc
cess with which this instrument has
been worked under exceedingly di fficult
circumstances is highly creditable to
the Filipinos , whose parliamentary pro
ceedings are unanimously praised by
all who have witnessed them.
E. P. EVANS.
MR. ECKELS' SPEECH.
James H. Eckels , comptroller of the
currency during President Cleveland's
administration , addressed one of the
largest political gatherings of the cam
paign in Chicago last Friday night. Mr.
Eckels spoke more particularly from
the standpoint of the working men ,
many of whom were present. He
showed the close relationship existing
between those-who labor and those who
employ labor and denounced the prac
tice of demogogues who seek to arouse
class prejudice and try to make the
wage earner believe that his interests
are directly opposed to those of his em-
ployer.
In regard to the Philippines the
speaker took the logical position that
Mr. Bryan in favoring ratification of
the treaty with Spain became responsi
ble for whatever of imperialism there
was involved in that act or in our sub
sequent holding of the islands
nu accord with the terms of the
treaty. He very tersely said , "Bryan
was unpatriotic then ; Bryan is
unpatriotic now , " and then pertinently
suggested , "Bryan has been found to
be wrong on every domestic question ,
how can he hope to be right on every
foreign one ? "
Yield Not to the Dcmogoguo.
Mr. Eckels appealed to the workingmen -
R men to act in accord with their own
- 4 best interests and not be influenced by
the smooth sayings of artful demo
gogues.
"Who has most at stake in this conn ,
try , " he asked , "the business man
whose , energy , thrift and venture of
capital has made possible its greatness ,
or the political demagogues who arc
going up and down the country preach
ing a gospel of discontent , arraying
class against class , and proclaiming
doctrines , which , if enforced , would
bring wide-spread and far-reaching
disaster upon every interest which no w
stands for the use of capital and the
employment of labor ?
Politicians Employ Few Men.
"Who today are employing the thous
ands upon thousands of men in mine
and mill , in furnace and factory , upon
the railroads and the. waters , in store
and office ? Are they the Bryans or the
Tillmans , the Altgelds or the Weavers ,
the Townes or the Crokers ? I call your
attention to the fact that these men and
all their associates who write the plat
forms , map out the policies , and con
trol the action of the democratic party
as today that p.arty reveals itself , are
men who know no calling but politics ,
and contribute nothing to the support of
their follows beyond the emoluments
of such political offices as they may by
chance secure.
"For myself , I would rather for all
time to come forfeit my right of affilia
tion with the democratic party than by
chance assist in giving place to one who
might yes , who would if placed in
power work out by the incorporation
of his financial views and socialistic
theories into the laws of the land , a dis
aster so widespread and a ruin so far-
reaching.
Dunks and Workiiigmeii.
Mr. Eckels pointed out that which is
recognized as the greatest danger in
volved in Bryan's candidature his hos
tility to aggregated wealth and his in
discriminate denunciation of banks and
bankers.
"It is the bank , " said the speaker ,
"which furnishes the life blood of trade ;
; he bank that utilizes for labor over
and over again the fruits of labor ; the
bank that makes accumulated capital a
potential force in a world-wide develop
ment.
"The laborer ought not to lose sight
of the fact that if it was not for the as
sistance of banks in granting to the
manufacturers necessary credit during
the process of manufacturing that
wages might be met before payment for
; he finished article is received from the
lurohaser , in almost every great insti
tution , operation would either be
greatly reduced or cease altogether. It
iridges over that period essential to the
aborer between the day of the raw
material and the payment for the finish
ed , a period when the manufacturer
must of needs have borrowed capital.
Herein is the importance of the com
mercial bnnk and the necessity of it to
the business and laboring world. "
A Statesmanship of Prejudice.
Mr. Eckels aptly described Mr. Bry
an's style of statesmanship when he
said :
"The difficulty with Mr. Bryan's
statesmanship is that it is a statesman
ship of prejudice , class distinctions , and
misinformation. It is a statesmanship
which takes no thought of the morrow ,
but contents itself with the political
advantage of today. I venture the
statement that ia all the range of Amer
ican political annals there never has ap
peared a public man who has illumined
so many different questions with so
much misinformation.
"In the last analysis the leadership of
Mr. Bryan demonstrates itself to begin
and end in a denunciation of the exist
ing order of things. Is it safe to trust
the governmental control of a great na
tion in the keeping of a man who sees
nowhere anything to commend ; who is
quick to charge conspiracy and dishon
esty upon great numbers of people , who
in daily life draw to themselves the re
spect of all their fellows ? What thought
ful and inquiring citizen will from a
knowledge of Mr. Bryan's past erron
eous discussion of these paramount eco
nomic problems believe him capable of
bringing about a proper solution of pres
ent ones ? "
Trusts.
Mr. Eckels' .discussion of the trust
question , unlike the speeches of Mr.
Bryan , shows the mark of the close stu
dent of industrial problems and is logi
cal and full of sound sense characteris
tic of the man of business. He thus re
ferred to industrial combinations or
trusts and their relation to the laboring
man :
"In manufacturing , two elements
make up the total cost to the manufac
turers. On the one hand , the actual
cost of production , and , on the other ,
the managerial and office expenses. In
a consolidation a large portion of the
managerial expense , which is consider
able , is dispensed with , and it is this
which is an important inducement ,
coupled with the promise of securing a
larger business because of a larger con
centrated capital invested under one
management for the consolidation. The
laboring man who actually produces the
material and the finished article cannot
be dispensed with , but the numerous
officers may be , and hence the effect is
upon the latter and not upon the former.
"There is no one who will fail to
readily understand how a machine
which does away with the services of a
man who gets , if you please , $600 a
year , will cheapen production ; why ,
then , will not dispensing with an officer
who gets ten times as much cheapen
production just so much the more ? No
one can honestly contend that the com
bination of these plants diminishes their