V < m * H
'Cbe Conservative *
corded in language which should be
come the text for all political education.
We nro compelled by every considera
tion of honor , of duty and of interest
to repudiate Bryanism and all that it
represents. The coinage of silver at the
ratio of 10 to 1 is the least of the false
doctrines in this platform , but it neces
sarily occupies the first place. Yon ask
whether I believe in the coinage of sil
ver in the ratio of 10 to 1. You might
as well ask me whether I believed that
an ounce should bo made to pass for a
pound in the ordinary transactions of
commerce. The ratio is a false ratio.
The value of silver measured by gold is ,
as everyone knows , not 10 to 1 , but 82 to
1. The proposition , therefore , of the
platform is to declare that 50 cents shall
by law be made equal to one dollar.
This absurd proposition is based upon
the professed belief that in 1873 when
silver was demonetized a crime was
coinmit'ted , by which creditors benefited
at the expense of debtors. The fact
is that silver was then overvalued , and
hence its demonetization was a relief to
debtors and of no benefit to creditors.
The extraordinary thing is that the
Kansas Oity platform proposes to com
mit the very crime which it falsely de
nounces as having been perpetrated in
1875J. It proposes to substitute a fifty-
cent dollar in payment of debts which
ought to bs discharged with 100 cents
to the dollar. This is robbery , and
therefore a crime , in which no honest
man can have any part. The pretense
that the bullion value of silver could be
raised to its coinage value by the fiat of
the government is ridiculous- fact
we have tried the experiment by pur
chasing more than six hundred millions
of dollars worth of silver in order to
preserve the parity between silver and
gold at the ratio of 10 to 1. We have
seen the price of silver steadily fall in
the face of these large purchases. The
United States strained its ability to the
last thread of tension in this effort.
Universal distress existed , and we were
only relieved from general bankruptcy
by the repeal of the Sherman act. To
repeat this experiment in a time when
business is good is an act of folly so
glaring that it is difficult for a sane man
to understand how the proposition could
have received a single vote in the con
vention.
You ask me whether the present ad
ministration is likely to establish an im
perialistic form of government over this
country or in its new possessions.
I answer that the constitution of the
United States is too strongly entrenched
in the affections of the people to permit
its possible violation by the administra
tion , and that if such an attempt were
made the supreme court of the United
States will surely interpret the constitu
tion in the spirit of its founders and for
the preservation of the constitutional
government to which we owe our
t
stability and our prosperity. Personally ,
I regret very much that we have ac
quired the Philippine Islands , and so far
as I might have any influence I would
exert it for the purpose of divesting our
selves of the ownership of these islands.
* * # *
Lastly , you ask whether a democrat
by voting for MoKinley and Roosevelt
could bo considered false to the interests
of democracy.
I answer that I do not see how a
democrat who is true to the interests of
democracy can in the present exigency
take any other course than to vote for
the republican ticket. I propose myself
so to vote , and I do this because I am a
democrat who feels that Bryauism and
all that it stands for is diametrically
opposed to the principles of the demo
cratic party as they are enunciated by
Jefferson and as they have been con
strued by all the great men who have
led the democratic party up to the time
of the holding of the unhappy conven
tion of 1890 , when the old organization
was broken up.
* # * #
I have but little sympathy with the
republican party and as a rule have
found its leaders to be opportunists and
not statesmen. Nevertheless , in the
present crisis the Philadelphia platform
is much more acceptable than the plat
form of the Kansas Oity convention. It
may be a choice of evils , but it is cer
tainly a lesser evil to continue the
government in the hands of the repub
lican party for the next four years than
to encounter the perils which would
confront us in case Bryan and his fol
lowers should have the opportunity of
putting in practice the insane policy to
which they are committed.
Very truly yours ,
ABRAX S. HEWITT.
New York.
From the New York Oesterreichisch-
Ungarische Zeitung.
ECKELS GAUGES BRYAN BY HIS
FRIENDS AND FOES.
In his speech at the Auditorium James
H. Eckels suggested a significant con
trast between one class of people whom
Bryan is repelling and another class with
whom he proposes to divide the spoil. He
is repelling the whole business world ,
and it is true of his party that it' 'has so
completely eliminated all employers of
labor from its councils" that it "is not
to be trusted with the power to legislate
for either labor or capital. " On the
other hand , this same party under the
Bryan leadership has become "a party
solely of politicians , controlled wholly
for the benefit of politicians and by
politicians alone. "
Speaking generally this entire analysis
is a fair one. The business world , in
cluding the employers of labor , has
almost completely withdrawn from the
democracy because it is the object of Mr.
Bryan's most vicious assaults. He
attacks it when ho attacks the banks
and a sound currency , and when ho
makes his demagogic appeals for a war
of the employed against the employing
classes. From the first ho has proclaimed
its extermination with a cry of "no
quarter , " and ho himself can expect no
quarter from those whom ho has pur
sued so relentlessly when the day comes
for them to be hoard.
But aside from the antagonism that is
excited in the particular class it is worth
while to consider the more general
significance of this phenomenon. Is not
ho a dangerous man who is continually
threatening a great conservative element
in our society which manages the trade ,
commerce and manufacturing industries
of the country ? Will the judgment of
this peripatetic politician weigh against
the judgment of the thousands upon
thousands of able , progressive men of
affairs who have been among the fore
most agents in the development of the
nation ? Not unless the tramp is en
titled to more respect than the reputable
citizen at whose gate he waits.
And with Bryan there is a grand
assortment of tramps of the political
order , as Mr. Eckels intimates. They
represent nothing but the appetite for
office , and if from time to time they
achieve a small measure of political suc
cess the American comment upon such
lives as theirs is "failure. " They are
never useful members of society , but
parasites merely , and are held in almost
universal public contempt. Chicago
Times-Herald.
THE ARMY OF PEACE.
There's an army in the field ,
Hear the sound1
See the thousand swords they wield ,
And the ground
Trembles to their mighty tread ,
Flashes now each golden head ,
Bound about with silken thread ,
They are crowned !
Who are those that silent come ,
Thousands strong ,
Swift , with neither fife nor drum ,
Nor with song ?
Do they como in war or peace ,
To bring havoc or increase ,
To take captive or release ,
Bight or wrong ?
'Tis the army of the King ,
Sovereign Corn ,
To the needy minist'ring , ' '
The forlorn.
Bringing broad and meat and wine ,
That the starving souls may cllno ,
That the hagard face may shine ,
Like the morn. 'C
Open every parched throat ,
Give a cheer
That shall echo , that shall fioat ,
'Till the oar ISAIlBIjRlOIIEY.'C
Of the giver of the grain ,
Of the sun and of the rain ,
Shall drink in the blessed strain
Loud and clear.
ISAIlBIjRlOIIEY.