The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1896-10-29
spessh III Congress con.radic.s
Present. Arguments.
THEN CAUSE or lard TIMES
was Laid solely Upon a Protective Tarim.
Statements Made IN 1901 by Candidate
hryan wrrs blamstrieaiiy oppp,ci to
Those iies Making Now"iil. pru,asosy
shawn up.

to BE- rlilnously cheapened In value. This
Is tho burden OF his speeches made In be-.
half of himself Is a presidential candi.
date.
Two years ago "a a member Of Con-
Kress, he attributed all the troubles OF
me farmer to high protection, ana de-
ctanN4 chat tariff reform would cheap.n
every necessary OF lIfe." Now he de-.
clares that prices are too low.
When Mr.. Bryan made his grra,
speeeh IN Congress. on Saturday, Jnnua-
~ IL, 1891. It was not gold which, In his
view, was depressing the toiling masses,
oue an infamous protective tariff. He
wanted cheap things, Now things IRE
cheap under q revenue tariff and he
rails At their chcapness and claims that
me currency Is pressing down a crown OF
thorns upon the brow OF iaoor.
Many listeners to Mr.. Bryans e,o-
Quence have wondered why he does not
talk, t1rln in answer 10 arguments I'D
rarccd by Mckinley.
When Brypn's tariff speech In Con-
greSs Is Consulted, the reason Tor his fail
ure TO answer Mckinley Is manifest.
MIR. Bryan began this troublesome
speech-his greatest effort In Congress-
with u quotation from the Bible, and
ended It with poetry. His text was from
Proverbs, US follows:
Better Is little with Righteousness
than great revenues without right"
The poetry was 4 stirring verse rejole-
Ing over the complete rcupI0n OF the
north and south, and denounclng us
traitors all who seek 10 array one sec
ton against another. Ona OF the most
loudly a.opiGuded sentences occurred just
before the poetry, anu reads as follows:
These gentlemen from the south. sir.
who speak for union and traternal love,
and the men from the north. VINO echo
their sentiments, reflect the wishes OF
the people OF the country far more accu-
rately than the political volcanoes which
break into active eruption every two
years"
The whole trend OF the speech WIS., an
appeal for the chcapening OF all things
consumed by the ''tpIlIng Masses
Mr.. Bryan Is now saying that the high
price OF farm prooucts before the crime
OF '13 was due 10 the fact that silver had
not then been denonetlzcd. Here Is
what he said on the subject In his speech
on the tariff tpage 80 on January Ii,
1894:
The export price OF wheat In 1891 was
50 cents per bushel: in 1892, 81 %, and In
1893, so cents. The export price OF corn
meal and wheat -four rose in 1892 and fell
In 1898. Thd high price OF certain aSr,-
cultural products, as every one knows.
was due tn the short crops abroad, and
the advantage thus accrutns to the farm
erS Of the United States can only be at
tributed TO the Mckinley bin on the
ground that 1t blighted the crops In for
eisn lands"
And here follows most extraordinary
statement from Nr. Bryan, who has
maintained all through his campaign
that England has nothing to do With the
price OF our silver and other products.
and that the amount OK silver In circul2-
ton in this country alone regulates the
price. This sentence follows Immediate
.ly after the last one quoted nhove:
"These figures also show tho price re-
ceiyed for these great staples OF aYrl-
culture depends upor the price In for
eign markets, and not upon a tariff up
on these products"
An explanation OF what tariff for
revenue Is was then given BY Mr.. Bryan
who described how the Wilson bill was
drawn. He said:
Many duties upon the agricultural
products. which afford neither revenue
nor protection were reduced or abolish
ed One very important feature Is the
addition TO the free list OF several arti-
cles classed as raw materials.
Wool. for. instance, Is the chief raw ma
teriAl In the wooden industry. and 1t has
been placed upon the free list.
am for free wool In order chat the vas:
majority OF the people who do not raisc
sheep, but who do need warm clothing,
to protect them from the blasts OF win
ter, may have their clothing cheaper"
Wanted Cheaper Clothing.
Mr.. Bryan wanted cheap clothing.
and his reason was the same that he
now advances for wanting dearer
clotiring-,he greater employment, OF
labor. Here Is what he said:
'.Ii we cheaper the price OF wooden
goods we shall not only be able TO ex-
port woolens as we now export manu-
features OF cotton, OF leather and OF
iron. but we shall increase the con-
sumption OF such goods among our own
people; and every increase in consump-
ton increases the demand for labor To
produce, and an increase IN the de-
mand for labor will result In more con-
slant employment and better wages"
According TO Mr.. Bryan's silver
speeches, free coinage will Increase the
price OF WOODEN goods and people will
have SO much silver that We shall In
crease the consumption among our
own people, and labor will have more
constant employment and better
wages because woOlens are dearer.
4 little further along In his tariff
speech OF 1894, Mr.. Bryan asserts that
he would like TO force the manufaCtur-
ers OF the east TO sell cheaper to the
people OF the other sections OF the
country. He said:
They tell i!s that free coal cannot
benefit the interior. Take the tariff
off from coal 80 that thu New Eng
land manufacturers can buy 1t for less
and they can manufacture more cheap
Is: and then, by cutting down the tar
IN on the products OF their factories.
we can compel them to sell nj lower
price to the people OF the south and
west"
Again In his speech Mr.. Bryan rccog-
n,zed that the American farmer Is In
competition with the foreign agTlcul-
turiSts. and that that fact has much to
do with the prices obtained for Amer
lean products. He said:
Eve export agricultural products
from this country, and the tariff on
them makes no difference to the farm
ers: and yet, In order to give the farm
er tho useless tariff on wheat and corn
and oats, the gentlemen have favored
putting tariff upon those t!.IaSs
which the farmer consumes. We have
put wheat upon the free list because
we are selling It In Liverpool In COM
petition with the cheapest labor in the
world, and Il we can sell 1t there we
can sell 1t here. You cannot
help n farmer except by bounty. and
no one proposes to pay bounty on az
rcultural products. The farmer can
only be aided by reduction OF the tax
es on what he buys"