Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1896-09-08
BRYAN'S CREED.
The Gist of His Long Argument in a
Few Short Para
graphs.

believe it win he blessing TO the
United States to lose five hundred mil
lions of gold.
believe it will be blessing to the
United States to take half the purchas-
ing power out of its five hundred millions
of silver dollars
l believe it will be a blessing for the
United States to take half the purchas-
ing power out of its billion dollars worth
of paper money.
l believe that to cut dollar In two Is
TO double It's value.
l believe that 80 cents is twice as much
as 100 cents.
| believe that the farmer win be better
off when he sells half as much of his
produce as he does now at the same rate.
i believe the farmer will be benefited
by having to pay twice as much as he
does now for everything he does not raise
and must buy.
Since l hold that the farmer woud be
better off if be sold half as much rs he
does now at the same rate. it follows
that | hold the farmer will be still bet
ter off if he sold quarter as much as he
does now at the same rate.
Therefore, it follows that | bold it
would be better for the farmer if he sold
nothing at all, but let his produce rot on
his farm.
hold that the city workingman would
be better off if he earned half as much
as he does now.
l believe that all the widows and or
phans whose means of support is invest
ed in loans will be blessed by getting
back so cents on the dollar their bread
winners toiied for at 100 cents in the
dollar, and that they would be still bet
ter off if they had to go TO the poorhouse.
believe it would be blessing for s.
100000 depositors in savings banks who
have laid up $1,000, 100000 by toll at
100 cents to the dollar TO get back half
the amount of their savings instead of
the whole.
hold that the country would be bet
ter off if half the value Of the capital
Of the 1000 national banks, amounting to
nearly $100,000000, were extinguished.
1t would help business all over the coun-
try.
| believe il would be blessing on the
states of the American union il the $780,
0O0,0 deposited by private persons in
1000 state banks were reduced to 80
cents on the dollar or largely lost alto
gethef. This would encourage thrift and
animate enterprise.
i hold that the states would be fur
Their blessed IL half of the $25O,OOO, 600
capital in state banks We're shrunken to
half their debt-paying power. This
W0ulQ neIp the
l believe it would be a blessing TO
towns if the fire insurance companies
were so crippled that they could pay only
half the face value of risks.
j believe that 1t would fall like bene-
diction upon the holders of thirteen bill
lion dollars worth of life insurance. on
which they had paid 100 cents to the dol
lar, to learn that they can realize only
so cents on the dollar of their policies.
! believe that it would be an en-
enlargement to home makers to know
that the four hundred and fifty million
dollars in building association shares
were to shrivel to half their value.
l believe that, although owners of
silver would not permit the metal to be
coined into dollars for Americans when
it was worth more to export than TO
coin, although coinage was free and I'M
limited, owners of silver are unselfish
patriots in desiring to coin unlimited sill
yer into dollars now when they can get
a chance to do so at twice the worth of
the silver at the market price and half
the value In the dollars to the people.
/ hold il to be a solemn duty to the
100000 invalids and the 100000 widows
and orphans on the pension roll of the
nation to deprive them of half the
amount paid each monthly. 1t will he
especially heroic for those who get along
now on $40 month to contriye to live
on S. a month.
believe that it is better for the United
States to grade down with China and
Mexico than up with Great Britain.
Germany, France, Austria Hungary,
Holland, Belgium.
mold that expulsion of all our gold
and contraction of half our silver and
paper Is expansion of our currency
hold that the law of gravitation can
be suspended by act of Congress.
believe financial quicksand is rock
bottom for a nation.
believe that the best way to build up
a country is to destroy it.
l believe my wife has more political
sense than all the politicians in the coun-
try. God bless both of us. Amen
Chicago Times-Herald.