Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1896-07-17
ONE ISSUE ONLY.
Money Question the Sole Political
Bone Of Contention.
50 DECLARES CANDIDATE BRYAN.
Tho Democratic Nominee Makes a Speech
at Centralia, IlL-Points Out the Diff
ference Between the st. Louis
and Chicago Platforms.

Centmlia, ILL.,, July 15.-Candidate
Bryan arrived here from Salem at ten
o'clock Tuesday evening. He was re.
ceived quietly and placed in the private
carriage of Capt. S. L. Dwight and
driven to the latter's residence. Mrs.
Dwight and her sister, Mrs. Haussler,
cousins of Mr.. Bryan, assisted the cand!-
date and his wife in the reception given
at Capt. Dwight's house to the ladies Of
the town. Afterwards there was meet
ing at City park, where Mr.. and Mrs.
Bryan shook hands with a large num-
Der of people. A band was in attend
ance. A special train brought excur.
sionists and the Bryan club from Nash
vile, Washington county, with another
band, and the silver club from Ashley
and delegation from Fairfield were
also there.
The Candidate Speaks.
In response to cries from the crowd,
Mr.. Bryan consented to speak, and
mounting an improvised stand, he made
an address strongly reminiscent in pas
sion and vigor his famous speech in Chi
cago last Thursday. He said, among
other things:
we are entering upon a memorable cam
palsn, and the Issues are being drawn for
the contest. The two parties described as
the two great parties. or the two leading
parties. have already adopted their plat
forms and have already named their can
didates for president and vice-president.
and in short time the campaign will be
opened fully and you will be making up
your minds as to which platform and as to
which ticket you will support ! trust that
the issues involved in this campaign will
be clearly understood and carefully studied.
Parties Not to BE Worshiped
Parties are not made to be worshiped;
they are merely the instruments by which
we serve our country. The parties are made
for the people, and parties can only claim
the support of the people when these par
ties are efficient instruments in the hands
or the people for accomplishing good And
those who are called upon to vote have the
right to consider the platform utterances
and the policies advocated by the various
parties as we'll as the candidates who are
nominated.
A Campaign for Principle.
In this campaign I believe that there
Will be less of personalities and more Of
principle than In any campaign which we
have seen in recent years. The people have
before them two great public questions,
We must not expect that any platform will
contain all that you desire. No thinking
person finds In any platform an expression
of everything which he believes, nor must
you expect that any platform will be free
from some objection. We select our party:
we select our platform, not In the hope Of
iind1ng something which is absolutely in
accord with our opinion, but we take that
platform which for the time being prom
lses to us the best legislation on the most
important questions,
Money Question Leads.
And in this campaign 1t Is decided by
all sides that the most important issue is
the money question. 1t matters not wheth-
er you believe in the restoration of silver
or IN the gold standard, you must admit
that the settlement of the money question
is of the first and greatest Importance.
one that when settled leaves nothing else
to be considered. On the money question
the two great parties have taken positions
directly opposed to each other,
-Four years ago the position taken by the
republican and democratic parties were
almost identical. The republican party
said the American people were in favor of
bimetallism and the democratic marty was
holding to the use of gold and silver as a
standard money for the country and to the
coinage OF both for money. Thus you see
that both parties declared in favor of gold
and silver as the money Of our country.
-Four years have passed since that platform
was written, and these four years have
been full of momentous happenings, but
as this campaign approached the great
parties lined themselves up for the fray.
Position of the Two Parties.
Upon this question the party at st.
Louis declared for the maintenance of the
gold standard. but the platform does not
say that the gold standard is a good thing
because that platform pledged the party
to get rid of the gold standard, but de-
clared that this change cannot be made ex-
cept by international agreement until the
leading nations of the world should help
me democratic party met at Chicago
and 1t adopted the platform which is in
direct opposition to the platform adopted
at st. Louis. The st. Louis convention de-
clared for the maintenance of the gold
standard until something else could be
done in the near future. But more than
that the republican platform did not prom
Use any complete monetary system. The
democratic party outlined what 1t desired
to have done and declared that the silver
dollar should be OF full legal tender for all
debts, public and private, and that such
| legislation should be enacted as Is neces-
| sary to the restoration of the unlimited
| coinage OF silver and gold at the present
| legal ratio of sixteen to one without wait
ing for the aid of any other nation. We
also declared that the silver dollar should
be full legal tender for all debts, public
and private, and that such legislation
should be enacted as is necessary to pre-
vent for the future the decentralization OF
any legal money. The platform declared
| that the government should exercise the
right to redeem its obligations in either
gold or silver
| Tho Issue Drawn.
1.-THE issue Is drawn and we have our
choice In this campaign between an Amer.
| GU toy fnv. =,
pie and an English financial system for
the English aristocracy. If mistake not
the patriotism of the people, who have
never been appealed to in vain there car
be but one issue in this campaign and bu,
one result. If they ask US what about
other questions we tell them that so Ions
as the right of self-government is in dan.
ger there is no other question. Why dis.
| cuss questions II we have not the power to
| decide them?
Questions Propounded.
II want to impress upon your minds two
things. want to ask two questions. They
| are questions that will be asked over AND
over again in this campaign. They are
questions that will be asked with ever-in.
creasing emphasis. These two questions
are these: If the gold standard is O ,gooc
thing, why should we try to get rid Of It
and If the gold standard is bad thing
| why should we walt until some other ma
lions are willing to help us let go? We
care not upon which issue they force the
fight We are prepared to meet them upor
| either issue. or both.
| 81 thank you friends and fellow citizens
for the interest which you haye manifested
and for the compliment which you have
paid to us by your assemblage here to-day
| i can but beg of you that you will remenn
! Der your duty as citizens We who stant
| upon the platform adopted at Chicago d.
not come to you as supplicants to beg fol
your votes. Your votes are your own, ant
/ no man is asked to do anything save as hi