The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1896-08-18
Senator ThurstOn HASN'T
traeted Enough to SuitL
He Says His Assault on BrJ Ii
Was COWardly.
MADE ALAME DEFENSE
Stewart Says ThurstOn Was I'm
manly In His Disclaimer
That He Simply Skulked Be-
hind a Newspaper Report.

Washington, Aug Ex-senator w NJ
Stewart has sent the following letter in
reply to that of Senator Thurston pub
Hshed yesterday:
Washington. Aug. II.
J. M. Thurston, Omaha, Neb.:
My Dear Sir: observe in the papers
TINS morning a letter purporting to have
been written by you to me, in which I
am pleased to note the following: Il
would be the last man in the world
10 assal the character of Mr.. Bryan.
nave not done so in any instance, or
by any word of mine. Mr.. Bryan is
the candidate Of a great party 1t is
not Just to him that charges of this
kind should go unanswered. He is the
man and the only man who can make
de7Nite and conclusive answer"
Mr.. Thurston, how can you reconcile
the foregoing sLatemeIS with your
charge against Mr.. Bryan and against
the silver producers which is contained
in the following language used by you
and to which had the honor to call
your attention in my former letter:
THE proprietors of the big bonanza
silver mines have found it profitable
to keep large number of lecturers
and other spokesman on the road
preaching to the people Among the
many who have thus been employed for
a number of years is William Jennings
Bryan of Nebraska, q paid agent and
spokesman of the free silver combine.
In the city of Omaha, where William
J. Bryan does his editorial work, the
Omaha Bee has made this specific
charge editorially time and again. It
has never been met I say as an Amer
lean citizen having at heart the vel
fare of the people, that the man pos
ing as the advocate for doWntrodden
masses of his countrymen, holding q
crown of thorns' in one hand and the
bugabOo cross of gold in the other
owes it as a duty to every man, woman
and child in this country to say whether
that charge is false or true.
Il do saw. cOuntrVTn6n. and I
know whereof speak, that without re-
gard to Bryan there has been a select
corps of orators and writers, paid as
employees for silver producers, spread
ing their literature over this country
from one end to the other, telling the
farmer that he will have more for his
wheat, telling the laboring man he will
have more for his work"
Your disclaimer in connection with
the foregoing required explanation, pro-
vided you considered your reputation
for truth and veracity valuable. But
your disclaimer that you would ''be the
last man to assail the character of Mr..
Bryan reflects either upon your YER
acity or your knowledge of the law of
libel If you are a lawyer, and the fact
that you have been retained by the
Union Pacific railroad for so many
years indicates that you are useful in
some degree to that institution, you
ought to know that repeating a SANDER
or libel is equally as slanderOuS or libel
Gus as the original matter. You as
sumo that you are not asSailing Mr..
BRYAN when you quote what irreSpOnSi-
bic newspapers say of him, and giving
to such statements all the credit your
high official position can confer. You
belittle your understanding when you
say that it is the duty of Mr.. Bryan
to enter into personal controversy with
every hireling newspaper scribbler who
is employed to SANDER or defame him
The people understand the animus of
partisan newspapers and make proper
allowances for their assertions, but
when you clothe their ISLANDERS with
your official robes it is a lame and cow
ardly defense on your part to protect
yourself by skulking behind miserable
newspaper scribblers. I called your at
tention to the charge made supposing
as you were an honorable man you
would retract the charges at once, if
you were unable to prove them. In
stead of doing so, you repeated other
stale ISLANDERS against Mr.. Bryan, my
self Senator Sharon, Governor Stan
ford and others, which if true do not
prove your charge against Mr.. Bryan.
shall not reiterate in kind and quote
what evil newspapers or even better
men than yourself say of you, because
il is not pertinent to the issue. The
issue is whether you have justly and
without proof assailed the character of
Mr.. Bryan. You cannot avoid that issue
by pretending that you only repeated
falsehood which somebody else orgi-
mated. Do you not fear the repeating
of a falsehood and attributing it to ir-
responsible parrleS Will impair your IN
f1uence in favor of the cause you are
advocating? You must remember, my
dear senator, that there is a sense of
public justice which is outraged by
SANDER and libel. which you cannot
justify by claiming you have right
to remark it because you had not the
courage to originate it. If you have
no case against Mr.. Bryan, which you
have already virtually admitted by cit
ing irrelevant, incompetent hearsay to
prove your charge, it will be harmless
so far as he is concerned, but can you
afford to be published to the world as a
peddler of ISLANDERS which you cannot
prove? If you have any friends who
supposed you were both honest and
brave, they will be sorely disappointed
if you fail to frankly avow your error
and retract your ISLANDERS or prove the
truth of your charges which I have
quoted above. Yours very respectfully,
WIN. NJ. STEWART.