The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1896-08-21
MIR. BRYAN a FAILURE,

MIR. BRYAN A FAILURE.
Suf- cient time has now elapsed foI
a er and candid estimate OF Mr.
Rryar's great speech OF acceptance
The r,asterly reply Of Bourke Cochran
with the tenor Of the press comments
in all sections Of the country, leave nc
room sor doubt that Mr. Bryan's much
heral ed effort was dismal failure. II
Is aJologetic from the beginning
throu h all It's weary columns to the
end, snd there is not in 1t single ag-
gressi e assertion such as should come
from the leader in a great political
revor lion. When Mr.. Bryan was com
pellec TO devote two hours to apologies
and explanations as 10 the attitude and
faith Of the party he represents, he
confe sed that his lines were broken al
every point and needed the most ex-
haust.ve preparation for the assaults
about to be made upon him.
Anc even in Mr.. Bryan's apologies
and explanations he is strangely at
fault in his premises. He assumed
throughout his speech that he is max
ing e battle to restore this nation to
bimetallism. when in point Of fact ii
has never been any other than b.
metal country, and today it has more
silver money than either gold or paper.
This money is all issued by the govern
ment, and stamped at its value, and
all the credit and resources Of the
government are pledged TO its mainte-
nance. 1t has greatly strained its cred
It TO maintain a silver circulation Of
over 425. 600, 900 legal tender dollars: but
it has been enabled TO do so solely
because the government has been faith
full to its credit and faithful TO the
people. while financial revolutionists
like Mr.. Bryan have been denouncing
every public officer who has saved the
government from discredit We have
always been a bimetal country, and
never so much as since 1878. Thus
nearl.; or quite one-half OF Mr.. Bryan's
speech in New York was devoted to an
a-gul .ent in favor of obtaining what
the Cluntry has today undisputedly
and hat it has had since its founda-
tion.
The public have been waiting anx-
iously to hear from Mr.. Bryan on the
subject OF the degradation OF our cur
rency by the free coinage OF silver. He
answ, red that in New York, but some
what differently from the way in which
he a swers it in the West. He has
been teaching throughout the West
and { Couth that free silver would en-
able The farmers and others L pay
their debts with double the ease with
which! they can be paid at present.
He his taught them that they may pay
back The honest dollars they have bor-
roweC under a free silver coinage at a
reduC ion of nearly one-half; but in
New York he distinctly repudiates the
theor- that he and his associates ARE
advoC lting the payment Of debts in
80 cert dollars" The reason he gives
for tie free silver payment of debts
in he lest dollars is that the adoption
Of fr, silver would make silver bull
lion worth s1.29 per ounce in gold
throu -hout the world"
No intelligent thinker need be told !
that me government could not, by any
ligisls ion, make silver bullion. now
worth e9 cents per ounce, worth Sl29 |
per ounce in gold throughout the /
world any more than they could legis- /
late & half-pint into pint, or a half /
yard INTO a yard, or a half pound into /
a pou;d, or a half bushel into a bushel. |
But Gr. Bryan gives this argument
solely because he can give no other
He T cans to tell the honest money
people Of the East that under free sill
yer u ~ would get honest dollars back
for every dollar due them; but If he
were 20 tell the farmers Of the West
that he free coinage Of silver would
make silver worth $L25 per ounce in
gold hey would turn upon him as a
hypocritical pretender. for he has been
teaching them for years that only by
cheap money and plenty Of it can they
be relieved Of their present oppressive
debts. To which Of these sections does
Mr.. Tryan mean TO be faithful? To
which has he told the truth?
His appeal to the common people"
is unworthy Of presidential candidate.
Nine-tenths Of all the men conspicu-
Gus in statesmanship, in science, in
in trade, in finance, and in
fortune have sprung from the common
people Of the land and they illustrate
the opportunity offered to everyone un-
Many Of the common people" Of today
will be the uncommon people Of the
next generation. 1t is not deemed un-
manly for candidates for constable to
scour the pot houses and appeal to the
common people, but the presidential
candidate who does it, as Bryan did
Il over and over again during his jour
ney, distinctly proves his utter unfit
ness for the responsible trust he seeks.
As an illustration of Mr.. Bryan's
naked assertion without presenting ma
terial facts. we quote the following
from his New York address: when
we ask that our mints be opened to the