The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1896-09-12
BILL ARP ON BRYAN.
sage Of Barlow Predicts Demo-
cratic Success in November.
age Il Not . Drawback-GoId IL SO
scarce That He Fears His
Golden wedding win BE
q Failure

now. Never such bitterness and ir-
reconcilable differences in the press
concerning a platform and a candidate.
Some of their u~tterances II shameful,
intolerant, disgusting. They speak of
the Chicago platform as born of an
archy and reputation and use all the
odious adjectives they can find in the
dictionary. The New York World is es-
pecially bitter againstb othplatforman
candidate, and because it cannot find a
blemish in Mr.. Bryan's life or record
tries to belittle him as the boy orator.
When Jobs three aged friends charged
him with self conceit and rebellion
against his Maker a young man listened
and at last ventured to speak. He
apologized for his youth, but added:
"Great men are not always wise, nor
does old age always understand judg-
ment." The Lord was wroth against
Jobs three friends, but had no word of
condemnation for Elihu.
1 don't know how old these belliger-
emit editors are who denounce Mr.. Bryan
for his youth, but they seem to have
forgotten that jefferson was only SO
Cyears old when he wrote the declara-
ton Of independence, Madison was only
40 when he and Hamilton wrote and
published the F~ederalist, which is still
said to be the greatest treatise on po-
litical science that has ever appearedin in,
the world. John Marshall was only 80
when appointed attorney general by
Washington, Patrick Henry was but
20 when he made the speech that first
made him famous, and was SO when
George Mason said of him: HE is by
far the most powerful speaker 1 ever
heard. Your passions are no longer
your own when he addresses them. He
is the first man upon this continent, as
well in abilities Is public virtues"
james Monroe was sent to congress
when he was but 28 years old, and when
he was but % Bancroft says he was the
most conspicuous representative upon
the floor of the house. Henry Clay was
sent to the United, States senate when
he was 29. John Randolph was leader of
the house in 1900 when he was only 20
years old.
One thing is certain. Mr.. Bryan is
old enough to capture and lead the old
and the young who are so fortunate as
to hear him; and Alfred Lewis, of the
New York Journal, who has heard all
his speeches, says he has never made a
failure or n mistake; that he is a stu
dent of all history and burns the mid
night oil. Every newspaper correspon-
dent at Chicago accord to him eXtraor-
binary abilities and have dared to say so
even to the disgust of the old stays who
stayed at home.
AS to the platform / cannot see any
thing in it that should arouse such de-
nunciation. One platform is for gold
and the other for silver and gold. Great
and good men differ honestly about
chat and they have a right to differ.
The best editorial / have seen from a
gold standard paper was in the Rich
mond Dispatch under the caption of
"Don't Exaggerate"- the spirit of
which was Don't try to alarm the peo-
pie with predictions of ruin and panic
and national distress should silver be
restored to its former condition. While
we are for a single gold standard yet we
cannot predict any such evils. The
transition will come gradually if it
comes at all, and our bankers and COM
mercial men are smart enough to pre-
pare for it and let it come by degrees.
Don't eNaggerate the situation"
That is the way to talk and to write.
Let everybody do like my friend LARA
more, who has all the time been a gold
bug, bus says he shall support Bryan
and the platform. / tried, said he, to
keep them from putting that silver
plank in the platform, but they would
do it, and now / ann going to stand on it
until it breaks down, and then / can tell
the boys, II told you So" And then he
whispered to me: sand, besides being a
democrat from away back, my mother
was a Bryan and her father was from
Culpepper comfy, in old Virginia, don't
you see." 'Of course, of COURSE said
], "you are right; you are always
right
There are bigger things than the cur
rency and the country has survived
them. I haven't seen ten dollars in gold
In five years and have survived that. 1t
surely has ceased to be the common
currency of the country. In two years
more my wife and 1 are to have a
golden wedding, il we live, and I'm
afraid there won't be enough gold in the
country to make the event respectable.
The bankers keep it all locked up and
out of sight, except when they have to
Ship It to England to pay our gold
coupons. History tells of the time in
this country when coonskins and deer
skins and tobacco were the currency,
and the people got along.and there is
still some remains Of the continental
mone that circulated during the rev.
.~olutionary war. and kept on getting
worse and worse Just like our confeder-
ate money did. But we got along finely
with confederate money as long as there
was anything to trade on. The higher
the price Of things the more money
there was ia buy with and a man felt
ssorter rich with a big roll Of it in his
pocket, ever if it did take $500 to buy
a pair of cotton cards. In times OF
trouble the people have to get used to
things, you know, and coffee made Of
parched rye or COOLERS was better than
no coffee. It is all in getting used to
things. Thewarwasso much worse than
the currency that we didn't complain