Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-11-15

Gives His Reasons For Supporting Bryan
in Preference to Nc
Kinley.

that he give his reasons for supporting
Mr. Bryan in preference to Mr.. McKin-
ley. BY permission of the governor, the
State Herald presents the following ex-
tract from his letter in reply, which will
furnish food for thought when the re-
cent contest shall have passed into his
tory:
Il note what you say about being
shocked upon learning that l had issued
an address to the people of Alabama re-
commencing them to support Bryan.
When made up my mind that it was my
duty to my country to support Bryan in
stead of Mckinley, it presented a great
trial to choose between the judgment of
my old party friends and associates,
and my own judgment and conscience,
as to which would best promote The well
fare of the toiling millions of American
people; in fact, the same class of people
all over the civilized world. Believing
as l did then, and as 1 do now, that the
present gold standard is the result of
great International gold syndicate formed
by the civilized nations of Europe in 1872
to make the rich richer and the poor
poorer, took my stand in the interest of
what / believed to be for downtrodden
humanity already as the result of the
present gold standard in this country
and In Europe.
This syndicate was intended to make
boarded gold, because of its scarcity, the
only money of final redemption, there
FORE high, and all the products of the
earth cheap in order to do business as
advocates of the gold standard, say on
95 per cent. of confidence and per cent.
of money, with such control of the 5 per
cent. of the boarded gold as to compel the
cultvators of the soil and the ordinary
business people of the world to pay trib-
hlte in the Way of interest to the great
International syndicate for the amount
and kind of paper money doled out to
them by hoarders of gold secured by
mortgages payable in gold, with not suf-
ficient gold in the world to pay them.
This Is the system of business which was
established by the demonetizat ton of sill
yer in 1873; the operation of which was
somewhat frustrated by the Bland-Alli-
son bill and the Sherman law Hence the
clamor for the repeal of the purchasing
clause of that law and the restoration of
confidence. Confidence to be restored is
to retire the entire volume of paper
money, melt the silver dollars into bullion
and coin no more silver. and thus allow
the banks and money hoarderS to take
control of the currency of this country
so that they can expand and contract 1t
at their will-lend out the money when
they want to expand it, at such rate of
interest as may be allowed by law, or
their interest may require to be paid
back in gold, with no gold in circulation,
al the command Of the debtor, without
submitting to the terms dictated by the
nOdrQefS OF SOlO. Inc DdnkeTS anu money
lenders want that kind of confidence re-
stored which enab led them to obtain
about 10000 more mortgages in six states
of the northwest, including Kansas and
Nebraska, than there are farms; nearly
half of the western states have half as
many mortgages as farms, and nearly
half of all the farms in the gulf states
are under mortgage, with farm products
In all the states greatly reduced in price
and most of their products reduced be-
low the cost of production, while the
lands have fallen price at least 80 per
cent
These mortgages, presume, are nearly
all to secure debts payable in gold, and
If SO it can never be done with this kind
of business confidence restored. These
lands must ultimately be sold and pass
into the International syndicate or some
other syndicate, and if this confidence
business is to go on much longer it will
not be long until nine-tenths of the west
ern and southern states will also pass
into the hands of the syndicates and we
will have the tenantry system here as
they have 1t in civilized Europe. No
republican government can long exist
without large per cent of independent
and prosperous owners and cultivators of
the soil. Mr.. Bryan struck the key note
of the situation when he said Farming
is a business and labors of all kinds is
a business" When farming is prosper
Gus it is possible for all other business to
be prosperous, but when it fails to pay
dividends it is only a question of time
when all other business must share the
same fate; unless we abandon our repub-
lican form of government and establish
system of a few wealthy bankers and
syndicates and a few great landed es-
tateS in the hands of the few while the
great masses of mankind must look to
them for employment on such terms as
may be dictated. The conclusive proof
to my mind of the formation of an inter-
national gold syndicate is that in 1916
England established the gold standard
which had but little effect on silver until
in 1894 the other civilized nations of
Europe and the United States did the
same thing. This result must have been
prearranged. 1t is most unlikely that
1t was co-incidental.
The evils which the contraction has
done, can never be relieved by a high
tariff AS you know, l have been, and
am now, in favor of a protective tariff,
as heretofore contended for, by the re-
publican party, but protection to man.
ufacturers with gold as the only money
Of final redemption for the reason that
there is not enough of 1t on which to base
sound and stable currency sufficient to
do the business of the country on the
basis of a proper amount of money in cir
culation, instead of waive notes and
mortgages which have already Frustrated
the agricultural and ordinary business of
the country, an opposed.
Mr.. Mckinley says raise the tariff
and start up the factories" This sounds
very nice, but is all sound suppose he
thinks that the reason why the New
England factories had to shut down or
run on short time is that their product
was being driven out of market by the
cheaper English goods. Not so. The
truth is the people on account of the low
prices for farm products have been I'M
able to buy their goods. Last summer
! travelled over a large portion of the
mountain district of Alabama, where the
white people do most of the farm work.
] saw thousands of white women and
girls chopping in cotton fields bare-footed
and otherwise badly clad, and / often
saw an infant on bed quilt in the cor
ner of the fence while the mother hoed
the cotton behind bare-footed boys and
men who were in the same condition.
I have just returned from visit
through the black belt, where saw the
negro women picking cotton badly clad
and without shoes and babies in the cor
ner of the fence. The women, white and
black who work in the cotton fields. and
they are many thousands, do not work
without shoes and gloves as matter OF
choice, but 1t is because they are unable
IN.