The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-10-06
BnYAN1Sm 1N VIRGINIA.

BRI ANISM IN VIRGINIA. Extracts from Letter Received by Fair Haven GentIeman-Bryan's Spacious and Pernlcious Speeches-Their Calamitous Tendencies Hide-Bound Partisanship and Dense Ignorance-Some Dark Spots in the Old Dominion.
 A letter received from Virginia by a prominent Fair Haven gentleman from @ cultivated republican resident, having property interests in the south. A friend commenting on the letter says: It gives a most truthful and tell ing picture of the deplorable ignorance prejudice against the north and dense sectionalism which prevail in some of the many belts of ignorance and super stition in various of the southern states No amount of sound argument can penetrate such lamentable partisanship as he depicts. Happily, however, as he hints, it is not thus in all parts of the south, for the unbiased facts he pre- sents so dispassionately are chilling and mournful to contemplate from a patriotic standpoint. The almost en- tire absence of northern sound money literature and sound money newspa- pers in big sections of the southern states, and the inability of thousands to read them if they had them, are matters to be greatly deplcred. Northern peo- pie unacquainted With the benighted sections of the south have little idea of the hide-bound ignorance which pre- vails outside of the cities and large towns The letter in question is as fol- lows:
 Sept, 21st, 1896.
 Virgiaia.
 There is no politics, and I don't be- lieve one in ten of the people here knows yet the least thing about what is at issue. I talked little with R. Ca re- publican) Thursday, and he says he thinks it is nonsense to talk about Vir- ginla going republican, or any other southern state. They are crazy on the silver question, simply because the bankers and merchants of the north are against it; and it Is no use to tell him or me that sectionalism is dead. They grow "fooler and fooler" here every year, and Bryans talk is increasing it continually. The moral question in volved they care nothing about Not even the ministers can see anything wrong in bringing disaster on the north.
 The "niggers'' are the natural repub- licans, and they can't read. My ob servation is that about ten papers are taken in this township, and all are pop ulist except perhaps two.
 Thursday was court day and there were meetings of both republicans and democrats; three speeches at each, and at the same time The democrats had the court house and the republicans /. | large tree, and it was curious to notice 1 the audiences. The court house had nearly all the whites, and the others were nearly all blacks; but it was still more curious to notice the style of ar gument. One of the republican orators was Thorpea, Virginia, congressman. He gave a very sound talk, of course, adapted somewhat to the ignorance of his audience, but not to their preju- dices. ! was made utterly sick by | l ton ot a crowd of fine looking white men.
 | The speech was lively and humorous with various sarcastic filings at the other crowd, which, by the way, was much the largest It was Bryan en- tirely. Not a mention of any split, al- 1 though six months ago tkey were down on the populists and free silver-except a very few like MT J. The lawyers and judge and high toned democrats were all there with Dr. and Mrs. F.. 1 MT. and Mrs. S., and they applauded and seemed trying to be happy The speaker did not claim success this year but predicted that the country would have to come to it next time. I A fine looking man, a doctor whom met before the talk, said he cared moi a d-n for Bryan or anybody else, but he did for Virginia, which he wished tt see continued ruled by white men ant the democratic party. l was itching tC ask him which democratic party, but forbore.
 The speech was the old populistic ac cusation against John Sherman of sell | lIiB tHe country III 1ofO lO lUe IIlOLDy barons and demonetizing silver, omit ting altogether to notice that nearly al the silver coined in this country ha. been by republicans since 1873. I d. not see that they notice that the olt fathers o- the democratic party, a: they call them, twice changed the ratio between gold and silver in the dolla when their values varied in commerce and on the same principle we should now have silver dollars with over 60 grains oe silver When they mad them 15 to l the gold left the country and when 16 to 1. which at first was tot much, the silver left. There can b. no doubt that free coinage at 16 to now would immediately leave us III other currency.
 Nothing hurts the republican part, so much here as the prediction that ire silver would ruin the money interes of the big cities-that is what the, would like to see, and Bryan and hi crew know that and cater to that preju dice. I suppose I may be mistakeI about their being no hope of any par of the south. It may be that eve some parts of Virginia are gainin