The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1896-09-24

representatives who have foresworn their
duty and betrayed their trusts. We believe
that this Is the best governments: we believe
this Is the fairest land, that ii has the most
fertile soil. that its citizenship embraces
the proudcst men and the purest women.
and It's Nag floats over the most beautiful
land that the Creator has permitted to OK
list on the surface of this globe.
Mr.. Bryan would have you believe that
we are suffering from various injuries per-
petrated by what he calls the crime of 1874.
He declares that the people of this country
have been outraged by bad legislation. that
the laborcr has been despoiled ana that the
farmer has been oppressed. Is that state
ment truet ! put il to the citizens Of this
town, | put 1t to the people of the United
States wherever | have met them. is the
American republic an engine OF oppression
Of its own citizens. Cries Of "No.'O Is the
American republic which has been saved
upon the field of battle worth preserving
now by the battles of free men? Cries of
"Yes.")
What are those grievances of which Mr..
Bryan complains? Can anybody make them
out? Cries of C"No.'D Can anybody under
stand just precisely what 1t is that he
claims the people of the United States are
suffering from Cries of "No.") Can any
body understand the remedies which he has
suggested? (Cries OF MOI
III | understand the question he proposes
to enrich the people Of the United States
by cutting down the wages of the labOrer.
He proposes to the laborers Of the United
States that they should engage In a strike
to reduce their own wages. Now. my
friends. this is not my statement, 1t is
His own statement
In his speech at Madison Square Garden he
laid 1t down as a rule that II the laborer
would consent to take a cheaper dollar he
would have a better opportunity for employ
Input. and If no took n chn1nnr dollar he
would have a better chance for ~re-employ-
ment after he had been discharged.
Now that statement Is not original with
Mr.. Bryan. There never yet was an en-
ployer Of labor who sought to cut down the
wages Of his employees that did not declare
that unless he accepted q reduction OF
! wages they would have TO employ them on
half time. And Mr.. Bryan's whole sugges-
ton, as explained by himself In his DELHI
crate speech of acceptance, is simply that
If laborcrs take less pay they will get more
work. Now | am perfectly ready to accept
more work, but | should insist upon more
pay as a condition of my activity. If !
were a laborer throughout the United
States.
But, my friends, Mr.. Bryan entirely mis-
apprehcnds the condition under which the
wages for labor ara fixed. On that subject
he is as innocent as might well be expected
OF any young gentleman who has never trav-
clcd very far from a Nebraska farm.
The wages of labor are not stimulated by
reduction of their prices. When wages are
less, employment is hardest TO find; when
wages are high employment Is easiest to
find. For, my friends, YOU see it must
stand 10 reason that labor can only be
high when there is an extensive demand
for labor. You cannot get 81 n day for
labor If there Is any man willing 10 WORK
for SlS per day. When after the panic or
1873 wages sunk to 90 cents "a day 1t was
almost impossible to obtain employment
anywhere, and the highways OF this country
were lined with honest, industrious men
seeking a market for their labor, and re-
turning night after night unsuccessful TO
their homes unable to find an opportunity
to sell their toll for even 90 cents or 81 a
day.
Now In this country since 1893 we have
passed through a period Of great stringency,
and We were on the verge OF recovery as
every one before me knows, until about SIX
months ago this dark cloud appeared In the
sky. This threatened agitation for deDase-
mcnt of the currency took shape and FORM
In the Chicago convention, and capital.
alarmed at the insecurity OF investments,
fed from market places. trade has IAN
gulshed, employment Is killed and the peo-
pie plunged into a condition or distress
greater than any known since 1873.
Now in order TO get relief from this con-
dition Mr.. Bryan proposes TO cheaper that
dollar and cut down the rate OF wages
aye, and the Democrats who believe with
me insist that the true policy Is not TO
debase the coinage, but to strengthen II;
not TO coin bad dollars, but good dollars;
not TO destroy confidence, but 10 restore 1t;
not to p~aralyZe credit, but to invigorate u,
so that all men working together, aiding
each other, lending their capital to each
Others enterprises, once more the factories
may open, labor may be In demand, and
prosperity and activity go together hand-in-
hand into every home that thrives by Amer
lean labor throughout this country.
What Bryan Means.
Well, let us see IL we can understand
what Mr.. Bryan means, and l am not quite
sure that he understands Ii himself. You
mast bear in mind. my friends, that since
this Populistic agitation took form through
out the United States there has been n new
and weird literature liberated over the
heads Of men for the confusion OF their
intellects and often for the pcpversion of
their Judgment. 1t deals largely with ex-
pres,ions which no living being can inter
pref. We hear them talking Of the crime
Of 1873, about a battle Of the standards,
about the parity between money and prop
erty about gold bugs, who destroyed the
prosperity Of the farmers crops by the
wicked money power that Is tied up some
where In New York and breaks loose at
intervals and causes absolute destruction
of the peace of mind Of agriculturists In
Nebraska and Kansas. When they get
through | do not believe there Is one OF
them who knows what the orator means.
1t Is hard to confess that you do not IN
derstand what your neighbor says to you,
but | desire TO say to you here tonight
that YOU should not be discouraged II at
any time you find a Populist orator talk
ing beyond your comprehension, because,
In the moment of your deepest mystiica-
ton. YOU are In exactly the position Of all
your fellow citizens, including the orator
himself. There is little meaning. there is
little sense In the expressions with which
they have managed 10 keep the popular
mind agltatcd for the past four years; but
IL they mean anything, Mr.. Bryan means
that no will enrich the farmer by increaS-