Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-11-18

this form of government, we shalt. be
partakers of any good that may come,
even If 1t comes in spite of our efforts;
and If we are wrong in the contention
that we have made, then, my friends,
we shall rejoice to see our error, and shall
rejoice that others have seen better than
we.
"But If experience teaches us that
good times cannot be restored while
money rises, If experience teaches us
that the people cannot be benefited by
the organization of those great trusts
and combinations, which can protect
themselves from competition, and thus
prey upon people who are not able to
protect themselves-I say If experience
teaches them that we are right, then in
the future contest we shall know we can
appeal to them to join with us and to
remove in other years what we have not
been able to remove this year."
Does that read like the expressions of
a man who was simply agitating the
question in the hope of securing office?
Is there anything in that to cause any
one to believe that the public speech of
the man delivering it, put in book form
and circulated, would result in more harm
to the good morals, peace, dignity, well
fare and honor of the people than could
possibly result from the circulation of
any amount of any other kind of litera-
smacks of the "demagogue," the ere
pudiationist," the Socialist" the IAN
archist?" Could Mr. Bryan have said in
stronger terms to the gold bugs: If you
are right, you will restore good times?
Good times is all we want, and when
you supply them this contest is at an end.
What more do those who succumb in the
result Of the election desire the advocates
M To baf mn
could they demand or expect?
Why do they, after pledglng themselves
to restore good times, urge that the fight
for the gold standard be kept up, regard
less of the possible outcome of fair
free and full trial of it during the next
four years? Has a single one of them
been heard to say: We may be wrong, and
after a trial, If 1t is demonstrated, that
we are wrong, we will admit it freely
and stand aside and permit you to apply
your remedy for hard times? Not yet.
No gold bug leader has yet proclaimed
that in the event the gold standard theo-
ry, when applied, proves to be a failure as
a remedy for hard times that he is willing
and will then be ready to admit his error
and try some other remedy. If Mr.. VIII
liam Mckinley carried within his bosom
a HGdIt dS LUZ Va pitiIOlioH anu iOfN LII
his country and fellow man as does Mr..
William Jennings Bryan, he would, when
he read In the press dispatches the an
nouncement of Mark Hanna that he was
going to keep his headquarters open and
continue to prosecute the campaign for
the gold standard until 1900, have
promptly TELEGRAPH Hanna as follows:
Dear Sir, we have promised the people |
.
them that our remedies for the existing
hard times were the correct remedies;
they have voted us the authority to apply
them; it is return of good times the
people want and that is what we have
promised them; they will be the first to
realize the fact, If our theories prove on
trial to be the correct ones. You will,
therefore, please close campaign head
quarters, and If we restore good times
we can safely trust our cause with the
people. If we default in our promises,
we shall willingly stand aside and permit |
the application of the remedy which must
be the correct one, If ours fails. Close
your campaign headquarters.
Who doubts that if Mr.. Bryan had been
elected and with him congress ana
senate in sympathy with his theories, ana
Chairman Jones nau proelailheu MS IN
tention to continue the fight regardless
of consequences, that Mr.. Bryan would
have promptly protested?
When the gold bugs begin to say open
ly and above board that IL their rem
edy proves not to be the one necessary to
restore general and permanent prosper
ity," they will be willing to subslde and
try the remedy offered by the free coin
age people,; then the public can begin to
believe them sincere in their pretentions,
and not until then.