Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1896-10-01
Highest of all in Leavening Power La
Highest of all in Leavening Power.-Lae u S. Report.
R3H!A!l! g! RRskiRs Rs%assz
his circular struck me:

All are invited, farmers and laborers espec
Any. This on our part is the poor mans cam
pmgn IL Is "a fight for our liberties, families
ahu homes against the most terrible OF all
beasts OF human invention. IL has been a per
od OF class legislation for the last thirty years 4"
Ii Is of great conse quence whether
the people of the United States shall
determine To be honest and upright
during the next four years; it is of
great consequence that they should
determine whether their markets are
20 be invaded by the labor of the whole
world: but there is a question which is
Of infinitely higher and deeper conse-
qdence than either the free coinage of
silver or the protective tariff. 1t is a
question which hitherto has never
been propounded in political plat
form; 1t is a question which does not
concern an economic principle, but it
does concern the good of the people Of
this country and the possibility of every
government.
The man who wrote those lines was
simply following the path in which
every advocate of free coinage of sill
YER has been walking day by day, and
night by night, during the last two
mouths and chief among those who
have walked in that path is their lead
er and candidate, Mr.. Bryan. He
says, and this article says, that there
is one policy which il pursued is good
for the successful and bad for the un-
successful, which is good for the rich
and bad for the poor, that is good for
the banker and bad for the farmer,
that Is good for the wage payer and
bad for the wage Garner: in other
words Mr.. Bryan and his followers say
! OF 10 nnn,Nla of thfS
vided into classes by their self-interest
and that there may be general legisla-
/ tion which is good for one and bad for
another. He says, that there are class
es which may be carried into prosper
ity by general laws, over the PROSTATE
body Of some other class. Assuming
this circular proposition to be true, Mr..
Bryan and his followers, great and
small, are appealing to the poor, to the
wage Garner, and TO the farmer for no
other reason than this, that what is
good for others cannot be good for
them. My fellow citizens, if these as
sumptions are true, or If, under this
government they ever can be true, then
fresygoverument is impossible and rev
olution is as inevitable as the recur-
rcnces OF the seasons. Thank God,
thank God, they are not true, my fell
low citizens. They are as false as
though they had been coined in the
mind Of the prince Of darkness, and
are as black and foolish as if they emf
mated from his conspiring heart.
Loud applause
Bear with me upon this occasion. ]
think it is vastly greater Importance
than any mere political question, how
ever selfish man may be it has been or
dered by the divine commander of the
world that one class cannot strike the
other blow without intlicting that
same blow upon itself, aud in that lies
the safety of society and government.
! would doubt the wisdom of the ON
nipitant il it were otherwise. Just
look with me a moment upon the pic
ture which lies between the Atlantic
and Pacific, upon which the patriotic,
Intelligent, prosperous and successful
people have written lovingly the words
United States. y There are hills and
there are valleys, there are mountains
and plains, there are fertile fields, pro-
ductive mines, there are farms and
stores Offices and factories, and all the
myriad advances of civilization, and
upon this domain, this fair region there
are seventy millions of human beings |
There is the farmer gathering his har-
vest TO appease, not only his own hun
ger, but to appease the hunger of 9TH
ers, and TO sustain the lives OF this |
people. There is the miner taking
from the treasures OF the earth those
substances TO be made into articles of
usefulness and beauty. There is the
merchant with his shelves piled and |
his counters full, simply distributing
TO you that which you want of the |
goods and the work Of others. There /
is the banker lending to one the sur
plus of another. There is the railway |
distributing and carrying all these
things hither and thither, making long |
distances short, and linking us into "a
common community. Why, my fellow |
citizens, there they are, linked togeth-
er now and forever and inseparable. |
You can no more strike one and do it |
an injury and leave the others in tact /
than you could take from the noble /
arch its key stone and expect IL would /
stand unimpaired and uninjured. APP |
plause. want you, then to stamp |
this principle upon your minds that
there can be, there is no law respecting i
our financial system which can make |
one class happy and another miserable. |
LNON olii hOb btilhluS dOOhb iIie oliNti
| am not talking about tariff What
ever may be the merits OF either, beg |
at.least that you will hold fast to your
faith in the principles Of the Republi-
can party. Whatever you may believe
upon the financial issue, for the honor
of humanity, for the love that you bear
for the old flag. at least believe that If
free silver is good for the banker IL is
also good for the farmer: if IL is good /
for the wage payer it is also good for
the wage Garner; if it is good for one
IL Is good for the other; If IL will please
any il will please all, and then no mat
ter so much what becomes of this finan-
cial question, you will save your coun-
try's hopes, honor its flag, its institu-
tions, and this is the lesson | would /
teach to any political party gathered |
together under the influences that are /
now abroad in the United States. APP /
plause.
Let me add one thing more before /
90 TO those specific questions. | like I
TO east up a back ground upon which /
Continued on Ei0hfh Pdge)