Daily Kennebec journal., 1896-11-10

web of romance about him. They sa,
him a bare foot boy drying the cattl
home from the distant pastures the.
lsaw him turning the grindstone for th'
mowers to sharpen their scythes-ant
wept scalding tears of sympathy TO
him; they saw him, in his young man
hood, hoeing the long rows of CORN be
meath the broiling noon day sun, ant
they detected therein. the source of hi:
passionate, his outspoken devotion tt
the plain people!"
sweet, bucolic pictures as these; but
truth is mighty and will prevail. They
are but mirages, mere mists of the i'm
agination, and had no place in the life
of William j. Bryan.
1t is a sad fact that Mr.. Bryan was
never one of ''the plain people" he has
delighted to picture. His hands have
| never been calloused by an axe or a
hoe handle. He was high toned city
boy, Judge Bryan's son. and had moth
ing to do but go to school and enjoy
himself He could wear dickey col
lars. kid gloves, and toothpick shoes
every day of his life! He was born
to what is commonly called a soft
snap" and he appears to have made
the most of it.
Then there is Mr.. Sewall who inher-
tied handsome property, and by
shrewdness and business ability has
kept it rolling up hill ever since.
Compare these men who have posed
as the champions of "the plain people"
with the President and vice President
elect both of whom are self-madd
men, who were reared among the
plain people" of the country and have
never grown away from them. 1t was
not necessary for such men to dance
about the country proclaiming their
devotion to the American people.
Their lives and acts proclaimed it for
them. They have stood for years as
the advocates of a policy that would
protect American working men and
pauper paid labor of foreign lands,
and maintain the American standard
of living and wages. They believe
that every one of the plain people"
should not only have the very best
opportunities to sell his labor at a
remunerative figure, but also that
every dollar he receives for his toll
should be worth one hundred cents.
The time has not yet arrived when
men who oppose these propositions
men brought up in ease and luxury
can successfully palm themselves off
of "the plain people.
The American people have always
been quick to size up a demagogue,
and to this fact is largely due the
overwhelming defeat of the Popocratic
ticket in the recent election 1t was
Mckinley and Hobart who represen-
ted the plain people" in the recent
campaign, and it was THE plain peo-
pie" who triumphantly elected them
to the highest offices in the nation
gift. This fact must not be lost sight
of, nor can it be too strongly en-
representative of the plain people.
From the first he was the representa-
the richest, most powerful, and most
unscrupulous combinations of capital.
ever known to the history of the re-
public Serving these men, advocat-
ing their interests, leading a crusade
whose bills We're paid by them. Mr..
Bryan still had the monumental gall
to pose as a friend of the masses"
against the "classes!" His audacity
may have amused his masters: but it
was no laughing matter to the plain
people" of this country. neither did it
deceive them. They resented the in
sulting imputation upon their intel
ligence and buried Mr.. Bryan, and the
silver mine owners platform upon
which he stood, beneath an adverse
plurality of more than a million votes
Moreover they will not permit him
hereafter, to disguise himself as a
friend of 1.-The plain people" in the
hope of thereby finding opportunities
to resurrect the defunct cause of the
silver barons.
The Future Of Hawaii.