The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-09-18
THE REACrIoNARY TIDAL WAVE


An old resilient OF Seattle, now In VS.
consin. takes most hopeful view OF the
political situation. He Is {. r Whittier.
Writing from Racine under data OF Sep
tem5er he saws:
Il am afraid you ar. unnecessarily
alarmed over the silver craze due 7
think. 10 the fact that the reactionary
tidal wave has as yet Tot reached tbs
state OF Washington, but I venture tia
p-edlct.on IL viii come before November ;
just as II has come 70 this part OF the
country. am perhaps in a better position
10 judge than yol are, having, within
the last two months visited nearly every
state east Of the Mississippi river, from
Boston. Mass, 70 Jacksonville, Fla from
New Orleans. La, 10 ST. Paul. Mimi.
and my conclusions are about as follows
w hen Bryan was first nominated the
silver avalanche seemed 10 sweep the
country TO its very foundation: the idle
laoorers and mechanics seemed 10 rush
10 II as a refuge for d change. The far
mer. ever ready 10 entertain any kind OF
ism that ne thinks may promise better
prices, thought he saw the long looked for
rdnacea in free silver. The politician who
had been striving for years 20 gain Office
oy all manner OF new doctrines iocked
TO Bryan's banner, mixing IN with the
grand shuttle. hoping 10 be boosted inro
the long looked for haven with the rush
In my opinion Bryan belongs to the lat
ter class himself, for he seems able 20
embrace any kind Of platform that prom
ises votes. The mine owners-being alb
so.utely the only class benefited by free
silver-saw in it the opportunity OF dis
posing Of their 61c silver al S1a9
Inc merchant, the manufacturer and
the fnanclers were overawed and didn't
know where they We're at but from the
time that Bryan delivered his Madison
square garden speech the tide began 10
turn In favor OF Mckinley and honest
money. The American people had had
time 10 take sober thought, the laborar.
the mechanic, the farmer. had read and
studied the problem, decided against the
oN-ceni dollars and Bryans speech en-
phaslzed rather than weakened their de-
cisions, for you viii have noticed that Rry-
ans speeches contain 'haberdash' rather
than convincing facts. The change Of
sentiment was so sudden that banks re-
sumed dfscounting, New York clearing
house certificates ceased being Issued. ex-
ports Of gold stopped and importing Of
gold commenced ard has since continued.
The election in Vermont, the placing OF a
strong gold ticket in the field by the hon.
est money Democrats. which insures Ken
lucky and Illinois TO Mckinley. are chain
or events that no longer leaves any doubt
as TO the result In November.
Bryan arrived in Chicago yesterday ana
was met a. kHe depot OS only Twelve peO-
pie instead Of thousands formerly His
train passed through this town about TWO
hours ago. he being en- route 70 Milwau-
kee, and there were just seventy-three
people at the depot out OF population OF
2l,ol4. Last Friday I was a passenger on
train in Southern Illinois. where Altgeld
tand Bryan is supposed 10 carry the votes
OF coal miners in his pockets by reason Of
his aiding the labor unions last year in
the Chicago riots. \ poll vas taken Of
the car CT being the smoker and containing
many miners and railroad laborers), which
resulted as follows: Mckinley, -: Bryan
-. on the fence 9. Last night poll was
taken on train between Waukesha and
Milwaukee, which resulted: Mckinley. IS;
Bryan, t.
Il personally feel certain that Mckinley
will be elected. nor Will Il depend on our
fair young state OF Washington But I
sincerely hope that ii may roll up a hand
some majority for Mckinley and honest
dollars, for Republican success means
restoration OF confidence. the unlocking %
Eastern and European money Golfers. the
starring OF new developments. the popu-
lating OF Western states by the rising
coal and lumber for the United States
America for Americans and If then we
can point to Washington as the oasis in
the desert. not only a. the Evergreen,
bu, also az the Ever Republican state.
yo1 VIII again see me back IN Seattle
not as a visitor, as I expect TO be this
month but for keeps and half score
Of other St. Louisians with me-