The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1895-09-20


Miliions-How 1t Spreads Information.
Influence and Scope.
We clip the following from The Jour
nal of Commerce and Commercial Bull
letin Of Sept 9. This is the leading
commercial journal Of this country, and
its statements show that the Reform
Club, instead of having millions Of dol
lars, which it is spending for corrupt
purposes, really has a small fund which
1t is spending for educational purposes
It is, in fact, experimenting the work
done by our schools and colleges-or
rather it is doing work that they should
have done:
A Texas paper is manifesting great
distress over a corruption fund Of 81
800, 600 said to have been raised by the
Chamber Of Commerce or the Reform
Club, or each Of them, for the Nrposes
of seducing the south from its loyalty to
the long suffering and down trodden
"white metal" This money, it repre-
sents, is being disbursed 70 secure the
control Of newspapers and TO buy votes
for sound money candidates for legisla-
lures and for congress
This corruption fund is a mere night
mare. II does not exist. 1t is as baseless
as the cargo Of gold that Ernest Seyd
was declared, in a Colorado affidavit,
to have brought from London and used
In bribing congressman to commit 1.-THE
crime Of 1873" Children and savages
easily believe in fairies and spooks and
the supernatural in various manifesto
tions, but why will grown men. who
wish 10 be reputed intelligent and sensi-
bic, disgrace themselves by repeating
such nonsense!
The Reform Club has not yet succeeded
In raising $50, 900. and it has not spent
quite all it has raised All its disburse-
ments have been in support Of its publ
cation Office, except a trifie that has de-
frayed the expenses Of some public meet
ings. The Chamber of Commerce COM
mittee has probably raised less money,
and its expenditures have been Of the
same general character.
The Reform Club has bought or hired
no southern paper. Much less has it
bought or hired any southern politician.
The belief in the Reform Club is that
the southern silver men are honest, but
misiuformed, and that any attempt to
influence them by money would be fu-
tile and resented as an insult. The
southern papers that are printing the
literature issued by the Reform Club are
doing it because they believe or their
readers believe in sound money. The
matter is supplied to them, and they
print it if they wish it, and it does not
cost them anything. But they are not
paid to print it.
The Reform Club has issued more
than l,500,0 copies of the 10 numbers
Of its regular publication, Sound Cur
rency," in editions varying from 80, 900
to 300, 900, according to the adaptable
ity Of the various numbers for popular
reading. 1t has supplied "broadsides, ;"
which have been folded into country
newspapers and issued as supplements to
$50 papers, having an aggregate circula-
iton Of 2SS, 210, which gives an average
of 800. This is getting sound currency
literature into the hands Of the farmers
In the back counties, who see only one
newspaper and do not often get to pub
lie meetings. This is getting back Of the
local boss or the leading politician to
the sovereign voter himself. Of these
papers 220 are published in the southern
states, including Kansas in the south
western group, and these papers have an
aggregate circulation Of 1853, 1000 and an
average circulation of TAI. In the mid
die west and northwest these supple
ments are used by Ga papers, whose aver
age circulation is little more than
1000
Sound currency literature ALREADY set
and stereotyped, what is called "plate"
matter, has been supplied to and used
very freely by 500 papers with an aver
age circulation Of / 400 and an aggre-
gate circulation of 724, 1863, and of these
there are in the southeast and southwest
zoe, with an aggregate circulation Of
2s1, 900. A large supply Of cartoons
has also been prepared and is being
freely used. The majority Of the publ
cations of the club have been illustrat-
ed, and less than third of them have
been of that literary or statistical char
acter which is supposed to be unaccept-
able to the average man. The publica-
items, as whole. have been of very
popular character. Their numbers are
summed up as follows:
Sound Currency SERIES. !. 532 900
"broadside, pages ..l,65O,UOO
Plate matter, pages 500, 90
Reprints and miscellaneous documents
through supply bureau. 1851
Speeches Of Carlisle and others, not in
GLIDING the much greater number
lately furnished at the expense Of
other parties. .......................... 10000
iotai .........................
The influence Of this work on the
public sentiment Of the south and west
Is alE,ady apparent. The literature of
the club has been reproduced at second
and third and fourth hand and is found
in papers that probably are not aware
that they are using portions Of Reform
Club documents.
The Reform Club has not insulted the
south by trying to subsidize its papers
or buy up its politicians. 1t has sought
to give information to the people, and
1t has certainly succeeded remarkably