The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1896-09-09
DEPE w AND HIS PLATITUDES.
HIS FALLACIES EXPOSED.

crat, made a speech recently in New
York city, at the same meeting at
which President Harrison spoke. His
utterances were trumpted all over the
country as wonderful triumph of
eloQuence and wisdom. We take the
following extract from his remarks TO
comment upon:
There are no classes, thank God, in
this country. There are no places of
power or wealth to which the hum
blast boy may not aspire. Every
president since Washington has come
from the ranks, and all our prosper
Gus business men are of the people
and have climbed from the bottom.
The pretenSe that 100, 900 bankers and
money lenders will be at each one Of
the 10000 voting places, influencing
or controlling the vote OF 1900, coo
voters, or that there have been in
prior presidential or congressional
elections, is an assumption more mon
strous than the destruction Of this
earth by having swung around it the
atmospheric tail of a flying comet. AT
Albany Mr.. Bryan spoke sneeringly of
confidence as the confidence man,
evidently meaning that the gold
standard was confidence man and
the free coinage Of silver at 16 to l
was industrious and financial pros
perty and happiness. The gold CON
tidence MIN who has been governing
this country since the war has paid off
most OF our national debt, has more
than doubled the mileage Of our rail
ways and telegraphs and nearly
doubled the nun Der Of states, has
furnished homes and employment for
70,0JO,0O0 of people to live better than
$4,000, 900 did before; has created the
new South. has advanced wages and
decreased the cost of living. What
has the free coinage of silver con
fldence man done simply by the
promise OF what he will do? Let the
distressed farmer and the unemployed
millions of the United States answer
at the ballot Lox. Lack of confidence
has destroyed the purchasing power
Of the country, destruction of its pur-
chasing power has ruined it's market,
the ruin of it's market has left the
farmers product unstable on his
hands. What the farmer wants is not
more coinage, but more customers;
what The wage Garner wants is to eX-
change his labor for the best dollar in
the world and the opportunity when
ever he wants to get that dollar with
his labor. Every day l received
marked copies OF PopuliStic papers at
lacking me as one Of the enemies Of
mankind because of my presidency Of
the New York Central railroad, and Of
my clients as lawyer. Their candi-
dates for president and vice president
both started in life as l did, with 20
other capital than education and a
profession We all three hustled for
clients, for income and careers. That
the business Of one is reputed to yield
larger returns thln that Of the other
two is not regarded by law as either
reproach or a misfortune. There are
IS, 900 Of us on the pay roll of that COM
pany, and we neither want to rccei We
money worth half as mucn as that
which we get, nor to be compelled to
pay for the necessities of life twice
as much as we pay now.
Mr., Depew is Of the opinion that
there are no classes in this country
and that there is no place of power or
wealth to which the humbest boy
may not aspire. This is all very pref.
ty in theory, but it is not true. There
are classe, in this country, as widely
separated and as distinctly marked as
those of Europe: and no man can
aspire to the higher Offices in the
United States unless he is very rich
himself or represents those who are
very rich. 1t is notorious fact that
for many years past the United States
Senate is CLUB Of millionaires, or the
attorneys and representatives of mil
lionaires. In our own sta te Hon, c..
*. Davis, after having made patriotic
speeches about the horrors of
Modern Feudalism' was elected by
the corporate Influences to the United
States Senate, and today has nothing
more to say about the Barons of
Piutocracy.
Mr., Depew seems to think that it is
mOnStrOuS abSurdity to say that the
hundred-thouSand money-lenders and
bankers will be at each one of the
hundred-thousand voting places, in
fiuencing or controlling the fourteen
million voters. Every sensible man
knows that the influence of the
Money-Power does not pass directly
from the capitalists to the people, but
reaches them through the powerful
inStrumen tality Of the newspapers of
this country, with their billions of
readers, to be found in almost eyery
house in the land. If anything farth-
err than this was needed, the Money
Power would find it in the hundred
thousands of politicians, and the mil
lions Of blinded partisans. There
never was so gigantic and so omni-
present power on earth, since civil
ization began, as this influence of
wealth, exercised through these DOW.
erful agencies.
Mr.. Depew says: 1.-THE gold conf
dence man who has been governing
this country since the war has paid
off most Of our national debt" Yes,
that is to some extent true, but
rated at the price Of the commodities
produced by the industry of the coun-
try, the debt has not been paid off at
all. In other words, it will take more
of the wheat, corn. cotton, beef, pork
and other products TO pay what is left
of the national debt than it would
have taken twenty-five years ago to
have paid the whole Of it. This be-
cause Of the shrinkage Of the value of
the productions Of the country.
Mr.. Depew says: IT." (the gold
stqndard), "has more than doubled
tho mi1oaoo of railroads a,1 ~.