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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 9, 1902)
Conservative. The violcut silver THE SILVER agitation of the FEVERI years 1893 to 1890 is a piece of con temporaneous history , which thus far has not been given the attention it de serves by the psychologist. The very intensity of the silver-furore of those years was highly interesting from the standpoint of the alienist , and presented a series of strange phenomena. Nations as well as persons possess a soul. A composite photograph of a L number of people Its Psychological furnishes the aver- Aspect. . ago type ; and the sum and substance of sympathies and antipathies , of hopes and fears , of loves and hatreds in the hearts of the individuals , who form a commonwealth , make up the soul of the nation , a composite typo of its physical status. This national soul is , just as much as the soul of man , prone to suffer from emotional and hysterical disturbances and from delusions. The world's history demonstrates the fact , that great national disasters prepare the soil for the outbreak of widespread popular delusions. In the middle ages pests , famines and great wars brought on violent mental manifestations in Germany , France and Italy. Public life in the modern acceptation of the term did not exist in those times , and as religion was Disasters and the dominant fao- Deluaions. tor , the idea of an offended Deity gained ascendancy in the minds of men , and the desire to pacify the Almighty swayed the folk-soul , leading to strange doings. For instance ten thousands of so-called "flagellants" wandered aboul tne country , chastising themselves pub licly in the most cruel and bloody man ner , hoping to conciliate God thereby and to stay the scourge. We moderns are apt to speak half- pityingly and half-oontemptuously of the delusions and follies of former generations , but we should not forget that through the course of ages human nature and human weakness remain the same they only appear in different forms hi accordance with changed en vironments. Nearly perfect methods o : transportation have done away in our times with famines ( except in some re mote and ill-favored lands ) , deadly man-destroy ing firearms shorten' wars and an improved way of living , hygiene and preventive medicine have prac tically stamped out pestilence in civil ized countries. But still we are no altogether happy , because every age has its own distress and disaster. . Fierce industrial competition , over production and causes of a politica nature bring o n Panic a panics. If famine Modern Peit. war and pestilence were the horrors o the middle ages , the panic is ours " : \ r 'olitics in our times are strenuous and all-penetrating , and the mediooval idea of an offended Deity having vanished , ; he public mind seeks a remedy against the panic our modern economic pest from the hands of the politician , and ; urbulently demands a change. Politics , strongly interwoven with industrial questions , are the dominant factors of our times , and the transient psychic aberrations of the national soul are therefore necessarily of a politico-indus- irial character. The most violent and widespread manifestation of this sort was the silver delusion of the Outbreak of 1896. years 1893-90. The times were exceed ingly hard , drought prevailed in the western states , and the flooding of the country with under-worthy silver dollars lars brought on the disastrous consequences quences predicted by prudent and con servative statesmen ; other causes co operated to make the resulting panic the most terrific and overwhelming one in the history of our country. The people were suffering , they brooded over their troubles , and the soil was well prepared for a morbid outbreak. Then like a "deus ex machina" the Silver- Messiah arose and his plausible fallacies were readily accepted as the truth , the gospel of 1G:1 : spread like wildfire and the climax was reached when the Na tional convention of a once great his torical party accepted the new creed in a paroxysm of hysteria. The followers of the new faith were a motley crowd , the old greenbaokers flocked to its stand ard , schemers and visionaries abounded , populists and that class of men , best described as "cupidi rernm novarum , " ( wanting a change , ) swelled the mass , there was the man eager to scale his debts via the "dollar of our fathers"- route , and the whole thing was engi neered by cunning politicians , scenting office , fame and fortune in the game. A great many people , of course , voted the silver ticket actuated by business and private reasons , as their self inter est demanded , or prompted by a strong feeling of party allegiance. From the day of that convention unto the day of election the country was turned into a perfect bedlam. In every hamlet prophets and sons of prophets arose. Everywhere "states men" turned up , solemn of mien and gesture and loud and declamatory of voice , who dealt out.with a free hand.to ever-willing audiences the most stun ning financial theories. And here the fun came in these "statesman" took themselves perfectly serious , presenting , Violent Symptoms , to the man with a particle of humor in his make-upa never-ceasing spectacle of the grotesque and comical side of our politics , in fact the words "difficile est satiram non soribere" became true. Life got to be a burden. Demagogues masqueraded as patriots , men who appealed to reason and common sense were insulted , and President Cleveland , who stood , a veritable "rochor de bronze , " in that roaring sea of human prejudice and fury , a rook of patriotism and firmness , on which the fool-craft of the time went to pieces , was denounced as a traitor of the common people. A storm of vituperation and hatred swept through the land. A perfect frenzy prevailed and even persons of more than average intelligence caught the infec tion. The minds of men were in a state of the highest tension , and abnormally and morbidly receptive , therefore the words and precepts of the leaders acted upon the masses , coming under their influence , like a hypnotic suggestion. After a long time of intolerable tur moil the election day happily brought relief , reason tri- Relief. umphed , the coun try was saved from a great disaster and the roaring silver- tornado soon declined into a gentle zephyr. This silver-excitement will go into history as one of the greatest delusions of the age and it will offer a thankful field to the professional psychologist , to study , analyze and describe the curious and widespread phenomena developed in those turbulent days. Such a book would be a valuable con tribution to what the Germans call " Voelker-Ps y o h o- Historian and logic , " that is , the Psychologist. psychology of na tions , and a boon to the future historian who is to write the history of our times. E. W. S. POETRY. Mary French Morton's "Leaves from Arbor Lodge" show accurate observa tion of nature , a good ear for rhythm , and a sufficient felicity of phrase. These are evidently the poems of a woman content and cheerful in her station , convinced that this is a good world and growing better , and satisfied if only her songs please without much desiring them to stir. The following stanza , cited not because it is the best , but because it is a fair average , and has also the interest of association with a movement which the writer's father officially inaugurated , may be given as a specimen : To one who lists when lie plants a tree Gomo melodies so full , so sweet , As if the years from the future called , Though far away , their Joys repeat ; As if the birds from trees to come , Beside each peaceful , sheltered nest , Sang out their glee of the morning time , Sang softly notes of evening rest. A number of excellent pictures of scenes about the Nebraska country home , whose beauties several of the poems celebrate , add to the attractive ness of the volume. ( Blakely Printing company , Chicago. ) Chicago Inter- Ocean.
