The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-11-02

assumption that underlies 1t and makes
| 1t effecting Is that these Glasses thrive
on general adversely. that they are
| thoroughly selfish and that gold will
| make them rich, while it makes the
masses poorer. This is the only campaign
in our history, We think, where it has
been deli berately and solemnly argued by
the representative men OF party on the
stump that the business of portion OF
the community could thrive while the
great mass of it was Impoverished, and that
that portion was deliberately plotting to
| produce that condition. In this respect
this campaign has bean uniq ne. 1t has
| been argued in many of our campaigns
that an economic policy which some
party was supporting would prove dis
nstrous to ths country. but never before
has 1t been rersistently commended that
the party that supported it knew that
that would he its result and supported 1t
because of this knowledge.
How absurd such a contention Is only
very brisf consideration of certain facts
is needed to show. The business of all
but g very small percentage of the people
who have any business in this world is
that of ministering to the needs and
wants and desires of other people. That
is the basis of the bankers business just
as much as of the butchers or the
bakers. Nobody would borrow the
bankers money to build railroads, or put
mp big factories with, if he thought the
people were going to stop travelling, OF
were going to be content with the home
spun garments Of our ancestors in the
good old tiines,' and the banker would
soon be driven out of business. Practi-
oally all the enterprises of this world are
started on the assumption that there will
he great mass Of people anxious and
able TO patronize them. If this assump-
ton proves unfoundsd then the enterprise
fails and the money invested in il Is lost.
Now according to Mr.. Bryan all the
capitalists and bankers and big corpora
lions, who have millions of dollars In
vested in enterprises, whose business.
and only business, is ministering to the
wants and desires of the masses, for pay.
and who have millions more perhaps,
out of which they can get no return ex
I oept by investing them directly or In.
directly in the same way, are working
for the gold standard because 1T will I'M
poyerish the people whom they must rely
upon to purchase this products Of these
enterprises, or avail themselves of tbs
comforts and pleasures which they car
furnish. If a merchant should hire {
man to stand at his stor, door with or
ders to steal his customers pocket book,
and throw them into q neighborine
sewer, people would say that he was moi
merely villain but fool as well. But
there are hundreds Of persons supposed Il
| be sane, going about the country todAy
solemnIy arguing that banker BY an
other no less effeotiveEprocess can impov
erish his customers and the people upoI
VIII ON his customers depend and get ricl
at very rapid rate and what is wors
there are Thousands of people who hay,
had the benefit Of com mon schools AND
have been supposed to be possessed Of
ordinary common sense who can be mad,
to swallow such nonsense. A good den
is said about the immortality of tn,
doctrines Bryan has been preaching o
late. Even moro striking is theiy in
tellectual stupidity. Certainly nothing
can be more absurd than the idea tha
crops out in almost all his speeches tina
1t Is for tho advantage of banks ant
railroads and trusts to have the peopl
impoverished, and that they are trying
to bring about the condition by oontinu
ing the gold standard. And yet tens o
thousands of people are going to vote TO
free silver ON the strength of this idet
and nothing else. When they recoye
their senses, as many of them will ii
course of time, 1t will be a source o
amazem ent to themselves how they eve