The Monitor-register., 1896-10-16
RepubIican Mass Meetipg.

Republican Mass Meeting.
The first guns of the campaign were
fired in Woodstown on Wednesday night.
That is of the real political battle. Our
local politicians have been brushing on
the skirmish line for months, and it is a
little relief to have the big guns open fire.
The meeting was held in the Opera House,
and the speakers were Hon. Chas. II.
LitchmaD, of Massachuse tts, and Judge
Lansing, of Lincoln, Nebraska. Mayor
hickman was chairman of the meeting,
and the Woodstown Band was in attend
ance to add life and interest to the
occasion.
In addition to Mayor Richman and the
speakers, the Republican candidates on
the county ticket, Richard G. Miller, Jos.
B Crispin and Beuj. B Westcott, Joshua
Moore, DIR. L. A. D. Allen, M. D Dickin-
son, David D LiPpincott n Riohman
Coles occupied seats on the platform.
The Opera House was wellfilled, upstairs
aud down, a large number of ladies being
in the audience.
The first speaker introduced was Mr..
Litchman, who made a clear, logical and
convincing argument in favor of sound
money. and for Maintaining the honor of
the nation. He showed the fallacy of the
pleas made for the free coinage of silver
that such a course on the part of the
government would only benefit the silver
mine owners, and that no matter how
many silver dollars there are, there are
only three methods of getting them other
than by bequest, and that is to earn them
by honest Toll, either by hand or brain; beg
or steal them. The American laborer is
too homes t to steal and too independent to
beg, but he wants the opportunity to earn
a dollar, and when he earns it he wants it
as good as any other dollar. He then
demonstrated by illustration and argu-
ment that it is the law of demand and
supply that regulates prices, and that the
volume of money plays little part in the
account. His address was fair and
reasonable throughout and the arguments
so logical that the most ardent advocate
of free silver would find difficulty in
successfully ~controvertirg g.
Judge Lansing was the next speaker.
He began by saying he was a neighbor in
Lincoln, Neb., of W. ]. Bryan, the Dem
ocratic Presidential candidate, and as a
ueighbor he was a first-rate fellow, but
be was a failure as a lawyer, and as a
Presidential candidate a schemer and a
demagogue. By the way, he said he had
a Presidential candidate or each side of
him-Judge BeDtly, the candidate of the
National Prohibition party, on one side,
and Mr.. Bryan on the other. While
looking for Presidents they passed right
by him.
He then presented facts to prove his
statements, taking Bryan's speeches, in
which he advocated cheap money for the
farmers, to raise the price of their pro-
Auato Dhila ha told tho 10 hn rinn mon
that free silver would give them more
money and lower the price of the articles
they consume. He said Mr.. Bryan was
much like a large ravenous dog he saw
in a baggage car the other day, as he was
travelling in a railroad train. He asked
the baggage man what he was going to
do with the dog. The man replied that
be didn't know and the dog didn't know,
for the animal had eaten his tag. So
with Mr.. Bryan, he has eaten his tag and
don't know where he is going. He is
simply following his wild theories.
Judge Lansing mex addressed himself
to the money question, showing clearly
that the free coinage of silver would
benefit no one out the silver mine owners;
that it ia not more money that is wanted,
bnt an opportunity for every man to earn
an honest dollar. He showed how little
a figure the volume of money or the per
capita of circulation plays in the ques-
tion of good times; that prices are regula-
ted by demand and supply, AID not by the
money volume; that there is more money
in the country now than ever before. He
said it is not circulation we need, but dis
tributiop, and illustrated the point by a
story. He said he had quite a family of
children who were very fond of milk,
and in order to crafty them he bought a
COW. He fed her on the best bran and
mashes aud she gave lots of milk. 1t
was not long, however, before she began
to suck herself, then his children didn't
get any milk. The circulation of the
milk, nevertheless, was perfect, but it
was not properly distributed.
From this the speaker turned to the
tariff question, and showed very clearly
that the cry of free silver now was but
the regalvauized cry of free trade in '99,
and the bitter experience of free trade
has been enough to convince all that it is
protection to American industries that is
needed to restore confidence and bring
again the prosperous times prior to 1892,
and an increase in the volume of money.
He spoke of the effort made in Ne
braska to diversity their industries and
relieve the growers of wheat and corn.
Under the Mckinley tariff act they Sc
cured a duty on sugar and also a small
bounty, and at once two sugar ~refineries
were erected and their farmers began to
raise beets, taking about 450. 600 acres
out of the wheat and corn belt. A like
change was made in growing hemp, for
making binder Irvine, when a like number
of acres were taken for this purpose, and,
in consequence, better times came to the
farmer; but Mr.. Bryan wanted to go to
Congress, and the people of Nebraska
sent him, and he was instrumental in
passing the Wilson-Gorman tariff act,
which took the duty off these articles,
and, in consequence, the sugar refineries
shut up and also the hemp mill, and the
farmers could no longer raise beets or
hemp. but had to go back to raising
wheat and corn, and the consequence was
the supply was greater than the demand,
and, of course, prices were low, and, as
a result, they had hard times in Nebraska.
The speech was full of telling points,
and ought to be given in full to be appre.
ciated. Both speakers were frequently
applauded, and the audience evidently
was in full sympathy with the arguments
presented.