New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-08-15
A GAMBLE DECLINED.

New-York declines TO bet half its wealth on
the infallibility Of Boy Bryan's opinion. There
were 141 900 Democratic votes cast In this city
last year. $1,000 In Kings County and 21OC0
in Hudson County, y. j., so that 900 voters
were within an hours ride Of Madison Square,
New-York, on Wednesday night. The hall was
not full Mt any time, and Of those present
fully third drifted away SO quickly. after Mr.
Bryan began speaking. as to show that they
came only to see the phenomenon. 1t IS not
great success TO assemble two In a hundred OF
the Democratic voters in this great centre OF
the party's strength.
Mr. Bryan travelled 1900 miles with much
fatigue, put his supporters to an expense of
many thousand dollars, and uttered 1900
words, Of which not one sentence was remem
bered the next day by those who heard 1t, or
by any who laborously waded through his
speech. Major Mckinley on the same day greet
ed comrades of his old regiment at his home
with brief speech OF which one sentence will
be remembered by n large share Of the voters
of this Nation: 1T Is IA good deal better TO open
up the mills Of the United States TO the labor
"of Americans than TO open up the minis Of the
United States TO the silver Of the world If
Bryan were to talk forty years in his Madison
Square vein. he would rot win as many votes
as that one sentence will win for Mckinley.
Thoughts really weigh more than words. The
Republican party nominated a conviction, with
thirty-fve years of experience behind 1t. The
Democratic party nominated some words. which
cannot be repeated anywhere in the country
without costing the utterer many votes. Mr.
Bryan felt that he must shed the defiant. and
revolutionary, and blasphemous. and became so
du1l thar his audience ran away q DrOnOSpd
a monetary revolution, the widest and most
perilous that any nation ever thought of trying
and against all the experience of thirty years
had only his callow and sophomore opinion to
offer: Free and unlimited coinage Of silver
"by the United States alone will raise the bull
zion value Of silver to It's coming value, and
thus make silver bullion worth 81 20 per ounce
'in gold throughout the world" On that unsup-
ported assertion, which Is contradlcted by the
worlds whole experience. the people are asked
to stake half of the SEQ, 000,0OO,O0O they are
worth.
II Is large bet, and the people are not In the
humor to gamble. They listened, as It hap
pened, in 1892 to confident assurances that the
reforms desired by the Democratic party would
not injure any industry Scarcely one Of the
many millions Of wnge-earners has escaped
present Democratic candidate asks the people to
stake their wages. their savings, their invest
ments and their property on another experiment,
and tells them, with the deeply serious air Of
the leading actor who comes before the curtain
with his hand upon his heart that they cannot
lose anything All that Major Mckinley has
occasion to answer is that we prcspered beyond
all precedent under Republicans laws in 1892,
and are In no condition to make more wild ex-
periments.
The practical man will be strongly impressed
this year with the need Of stopping experiments.
We have about twO-thirds Of the wooen work
ers idle. third Of the cotton workers, a quarter
Of the iron workers. and many thousand iron
miners and coke workers, besides many men
in many other branches OF industry. II Is not
a prOptiOus time for perllous ventures. Instead
Of the unsupported assertion Of Mr. Bryan,
whose elaborate speech only d!scloses his lack
Of accurate knowledge or close reasoning. the
people have every cause to prefer the Repub-
lican policy which they have tried, and the
blessings Of which they already know.