Omaha daily bee., 1896-09-25
COUSINS DRAWS A CROWD
Clever Iowa Congressman Talks O Sound
Money.
ABLE DISCUSSION OF CAMPAIGN ISSUES
Prominent Men OF All Parties Present
to Heur the speech-Tribute to
senator Aliens Efforts in
silNer's IichnIf

Congressman Robert G. Cousins, one Of
1owa's most brilliant representatives. at
Washington, demonstrated to an immense
audience at the Mckinley headquarters last
night, that he is able to discuss the finance
question in a convincing as well as a
humorous manner. He delivered one Of the
most effective speeches of the campaign.
His smooth lip and chin, innocent, APP
parently, OF even the down Of early man
hood, and his frank boyish face give him
an appearance of extreme youth that en-
titles him to be called the boy Orator of
Iowa"
Congressman Cousins was introduced by
c.. NJ. Harl after the manner that has made
Harl more than locally famous, and before
the stranger arose to speak he had been
made well acquainted with his audience, and
every man and woman felt a personal in
terest In him. He is a slow, deliberate,
but very earnest and logical speaker. drop
| ping we'll rounded sentences that become
eloquent n moment after they have fallen
from his lips. On the stand were seated
John N. Baldwin. Judge Reed, Hon. ID. c.
Bloomer and other prominent republicans,
Mr.. Cousins lost no time in getting down
to the hard facts of his argument, and Tor
an hour and a half he gave the crowd
something to think of that will strengthen
| republican convictions and shake the faith
of the silverites in their %fallacies.
TRIBUTE TO SENATOR ALLEN.
Ho referred to the extraordinary efforts
that had been made by the silverites for the
last year to spread their propaganda, and to
Senator Allen, whose chief claim to legisla-
tive glory will always lie in the fact that he
spoke for thirty-siX hours on the silver
question. He critically analysed the silver
doctrine and showed it's incongruities, its
falsities and it's dangers, and declared that
A mere statement of 1t would reduce 1t to
absurdity, wherever it based its claims upon
the much Wanted Crime of '73." He said
If he were a veterinary surgeon and a man
came to him with a horse ring-boned and
spawned, and he told the mar the horse was
suffering from something he ate twenty
years ago 1t would be a fair comparison to
the ridiculous assumptions and assertions OF
the silver monometallists who attribute all
of the evils the country has suffered since
the advent of democracy into power to the
financial legislation of twenty years ago.
He reviewed the entire history of the pas
sage of the silver act of 1873 and ridiculed
the assertion, while proving its falstty, that
there was any secrecy or any crime com
mitted then. He showed that the venerable
fathers of the silver movement, including
Senator Stewart, voted for the law they now
denounce so bitterly.
SILVERITES' FALSE ASSERTIONS.
For half an hour he devoted his time
describing and comparing the conditions OF
1892 and the present time, and 1892 with
twenty years ago. There was SIS per capita
of currency in circulation in 1873 and $24 in
1892. He declared that every claim made by
the silver champions today was utterly false
and purposely misleading. He contrasted
the increase of wealth in the west with the
decrease in eastern states, using figures from
the census of 1890, as an answer to the
claims that the east had robbed the west
Western states had increased in wealth since
1873 from 100 to 200 per cent without an eX-
ception, but only three eastern states showed
any increase, and that increase was less
than 20 per cent, while all of the others
showed a heavy decrease.
He reached the climax of his eloquence
when he declared that the present demo
gogues who were engaged now in trying tc
deceive the people solely for the purpose OF
securing power for themselves by appealing
to the passions and prejudices for the
farmers, would be found using for their
issue the denunciation of the farmers OF
the Mississippi valley as the land holders
and monopolists who were robbing the peo,
pie by Withholding from them the privilege
of making a living by farming their broad
acres. They would be found a%rraying some
other classes against the farmers whom
they are now trying to array against the
capitalists and people of the east.