People's party paper. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1891-1898, 1896-11-13

was Mr.. bryan sincere IN tnls
Most assured y he was. Were
the people who followed him sim
cere?
Most assuredlY they were. Does
Mr.. Bryan still believe that the poll
cies represented by Mckinley are
c'uelly oppressive to the masses of
the people?
Certainly he does. Then how can he
have the heart to congratulate" Nc.
Kiuley upon his SUGGEST
If congratulations are not sincere,
they ought not to be given. If Mr..
Bryan did not mean to say he re.
joiced with Mckinley in MoKinley's
victory, the message should never
have been sent. To say to another
that you congratulate him upon a
given event, means that you sympa-
thise with his pleasure therein, just
as message OF coincidence, in the
hour OF misfortune, means that you
share in his grief.
Did Mr.. Bryan mean to tell Maj
Mckinley that he sympathized with
McKinley's joy in having led the
"British Shylocks'' and "Wall Street
Trusts" to success?
Surely not.
Then why send the telegram?
Poli.ene is good thing, but
enough of it is enough.
Mr.. Bryan led great fight, and
led it grandly, Mistakes he made,
as all mortals will make them, but
those who followed him love him for
his valor in meeting their enemies.
The battle is lost, and in the de-
feated army there is bitter disappolnt.
ment. 1t was no child's play to the
soldiers in the ranks. To them it
was a matter of life and death. In
losing the fight, they feel that their
loss is something to wiring their hearts
and sadden their very souls. They
are not in any mood to congratulate"
Mckinley.
To them, his election means deeper
depths of poverty, heavier burdens,
debt and taxes, gloomier years to
toll and struggle.
Congratulate Mckinley! How
can any sincere folio wer of Mr.. Bry-
an congratulate man whose victory
means "orown of thorns" for
''labor's brow" and ga cross of gold"
upon which ''man-kind" is to be cru
l'c,fi5d2 rv T''~--r--'
To congratulate a candidate whose
election is so disastrous as we be-
lieve it to be, and as Mr.. Bryan be-
lieves il to be, might be exous able ii
there were some custom which re-
quired this act OF formal inslncerity.
But there is no such custom.
Harrison did not congratulate"
Cleveland in 1892, nor Cleveland
Harrison in 1888, nor Blaine Cleve-
land ia 1884.
When Andrew jackson was de
feated by the New England money
power and the Ciay-A lams combine,
he did not congratulate" Adams.
Not he. Ga the contrary he went
away from Washington in tower
ing passion, "cussing" his way back
to Tennessee with sincere and con.
tinuous en- phasis; and he immediate
ly began the hot campaign which
carried him into power four years
later.
Mr.. Bryan, in the great contest
just ended, stood for principles which
every Populist holds sacred. Had
he ran alone, or with fit companion,
he would have received every Popu-
list vote in the Union. Most unfor-
tunately, we could not vote for Bry-
an without voting for Sewall, aud we
could not vote for Sswall without
violating our principles.
But 80 far as Bryan himself is con
cerned, he was the champion of as
noble creed as people ever fought
for. He was defeated, but we can
not see where the congratulations"
to those who won come in.
We very much regret that Mr..
Bryan sent that message.
In our poor judg ement, Mr.. Bryan
was dangerously near the truth when
he referred to the "crown of thorns"
and ''the cross of gold; and, now
that the tragedy is assured it does not