The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-08-18

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17.-This after
4oon Senator w. NJ. Stewart gave out
Tor publication a reply to Senator
Thurston's letter To him, published in
the papers this morning, regarding che
charge that Mr.. Bryan had been a
paid lecturer in the employ of silver
mine owners. The letter quotes Thur
ston's statement that he had not as
sailed Bryans character in any in
stance, or by ANY word, and Stewart
asks Thurs.oH how he can reconcile
that statement with the following Ian
guage used by him in the speech which
gave rise to the controversy.
THE proprietors of big bonanzas
have found II profitable to keep large
number of lecturers and other spokes-
men on the road preaching to the peo-
pie. Among the many who have thus
been employed and carried on the pay
rolls of the big bonanzas for a number
ofSyears is William J. Bryan, of Ne
braska, a paid agent and spokesman of
the free silver combine
The letter then continues:
'-Your disclaimer in connection with
the foregoing statement requires expla-
nation, provided you consider
YOUR REPUTATION FOR TRUTH
and veracity valuable; but your expls.-
nation that you would be the last man
TO assail the character of Mr.. Bryan
reflects either upon your veraci1y or
upon your knowledge of the law of
libel.
IF you are a lawyer, and the fact
that you have been retained by the
Union Pacific railroad for so many
years indicates that you are useful in
some way to that institution, you
ought to know that repeating a Islander
or libel is equally as slanderous or
Mbelous as the original matter.
You assume that you are not assail-
ing Mr.. Bryan when you quote what
irresponsible newspapers say of him,
and giving 10 such statements all the
credit your official position can confer
You belittle your understanding, when
you say it is the duty of Mr.. Bryan
to enter into personal. controversy
with a hireling newspaper scribbler
who is employed TO
ISLANDER OR DEFAME HIM.
The people understand the animus
Of partisan newspapers and make
proper allowances for their assertions:
but when you clothe their ISLANDERS with
your official robes. it is d lame and
cowardly defense on your part to pro-
tect yourself by skull1ing behind miser-
able newspaper scribblers. 1 called
your attention to the injury of your
charge, not the charge of the newspa-
pers. which / have again quoted for the
purpose Of calling your attention to the
Charge you made, supposing you were
an honorable man and would retract
the charges at once if you were unable
10 prove them.
Instead Of doing so, you repeat other
ISLANDERS against Mr.. Bryan, myself.
Senator Sharon, Governor Stanford and
others. which, if true,
DO NOT PROVE YOUR CHARGE
against Mr.. Bryan.
Il shall not reiterate in kind, or quote
what venal newspapers, or even re-
spectacle men say of you. because it is
not pertinent TO the issue.
1.-THE issue is whether you have I'M
5ustly. and without truth, assailed the
character of Mr.. Bryan
You cannot avoid that issue by pre-
tending that you only repeated a false
hood, which somebody else originated.
Do you fear the repeating of faisehood
and repeating it to irresponsible par
ties viii impair your influence in favor
of L cause you are advocating? You
must remember. my dear senator, that
tfsre is a sense of public justice which
OUTRAGED BY SANDER AND Ii
BEL.
which you cannot justify by claiming
you have right to repeat it because
you had not the courage to originate
it, If you have no case against Mr.
Bryan, which you have already virtu-
ally admitted by citing incompetent
hearsay to prove your charges. your
ISLANDERS will be harmless so far as ne
is concerned; but can you afford to
be published to the world as a peddler
of ISLANDERS which you cannot prove?
II you have any friends who sup
posed that you were both honest and
brave, tbey wiz be soreIy disappointed
if you fail TO frankly avow your error
!. and retract your ISLANDERS, or prove the
Struth of your charges which I have