Evening star., 1896-10-29
CHARGES DISCUSSED
Bryan Replies to Assertions Of His
Opponents.
DENIES THAT he Is A REPUDIATOR
Declares That He is for Peace
and Order.
TO CHICAGOANS

In addressing the business mems meeting
graphic report closed. Mr.. Bryan, the demo-
cratic candidate. said:
IF the republican party has plan which
will relieve US from our present financial
condition. why does not the republican
party submit that plan to the American
people for their verdict, and If they have
no plan, what presumption it is for them
to ask you to trust them first, and let them
find out afterward. Great applause and
cheering.) say we are advocating a sound
er financial system than they, because
when you go to construct anything,
whether it be a house or a financial sys-
tenn, you have got to have foundation for
1t to rest upon, and our opponents are try
Ing to construct a commercial fabric rest
ing upon gold, when they cannot find the
gold to serve as the foundation for the
fabric. ApplauseD
You ask them how much gold there is
in the country. Why, they tell you, the
treasury reports say there are six hundred
millions. You ask them where it is. They
tell you much in the national bank
vaults, so much in the treasury at Wash
1ngton. They estimate so much in state
banks and trust companies, and they will
figure up something more than half of the
estimated amount in the country and then
you ask them where is the rest They tell
you that 1t is the invisible supply in the
country. Applause and voice, In the
stockings.O
My friends. you cannot build house
upon an invisible foundation. neither can
you rear a sound financial system upon a
foundation which you cannot find. Ap-
plause) You go to your bankers and ask
them where the gold is. Why, they tell
you that silver agitation has scared it out
Qaughter): that gold has gone into hiding
because somebody has raised question
as to whether there is enough gold to fur
nish foundation. The very moment you
question the quantity of gold, gold be-
comes scarce and proves that you are
right by getting out of sight applause
and laughter) l have illustrated 1t in this
way: No man would stand with q rope
around his neck and the other end of the
rope held by some unseen man away off
In the distance, and the man not know
when the man over there was going to
pull the rope. daughter and appause)
You could tell that man not to be agitated,
but the heart would fiutter as long as he
did not know when the rope was going to
be pulled. (Applause)
MY friends, such Is our condition. Here
is a great financial system resting upon a
handful of gold, and people in a foreign
land have string to the gold and you
never know when they going to pull
the foundation out from under your fabric
and let your entire commercial structure
collapse. Applause) Tell the people not
to be agitated, my friends! You cannot
i
is to attempt to calm troubled society by
telling them to be quiet when they know
that catastrophe stands just in front of
them all the time. Great cheering)
Increase in the Money Supply.
Il want you to note this proposition.
When We talk about wanting more money,
why. they tell you there is money enough
in the country; plenty of money in the
country! The moment you begin to argue
that there should be more, they will silence
you by pointing to the amount of money
in the banks awaiting 10 be loaned and
then you say, All right. If We have
enough money in this country now let us
have financial system of our own; and
they say, oh, no, no; can't do that, be-
cause If you do that then we cannot bor-
row from abroad daughter and cheers)
Why do we want to borrow If We have
enough? prolonged cheering) Now, my
cannot escape both of them. If we have
enough money now then we do not want
any money to come from abroad, because
then We would have too much, and nobody
wants too much. daughter and applause
If We need money from abroad it is con-
elusive proof that We have not enough
money now in this country, and if we
haven't enough now, assert that it is bet
ter to have an additional supply come out
of cur own mountains and be our own mon
ey instead of borrowing and then pay it
back to the foreign nations of the world
Great applause.) The republican platform
pledges the republican party to use every
effort to promote international bimetallism
How Is 1t going to promote 1t? By making
1t profitable for foreign creditors to object
to It, How are they going to promote in
profitable to foreign financiers to refuse our
petition. 1 promise you to promote inter-
national bimetallism, and 1 promise 10 do
it in a more sensible way than by making
refuse
me what our plan is. 1 will tell you. They
have tried our plan for twenty years and
we are further off now than when We COM
menced to try your remedy. (ApplauseD
Il propose a different plan. You have
said to foreign creditors that if they will
object to bimetallism we will join with
them in making their mortgages more val
liable and their notes more valuable and
their dollars buy more. l propose that the
United States buy at the mints of the
United states and open them to the free
and unlimited coinage of silver on equal
terms with gold at the present ratio, and
the money coined shall be alike legal ten
Ger for all debts, public or private (Great
applause) And then 1 propose that we
shall say to our foreign creditors that We
intend to pay our coin obligations in either
gold or silver. ApplauseD
Il propose that we shall say to them:
Gentlemen. if you conspire to make that
silver dollar worth less than the gold dol
lar we shall pay you in that silver dollar.
(Great applause and cheerS.)
You say that is reputation? I deny it,
They bought our bonds only a short time
ago, and they made a difference between
coin bonds and gold bonds, charging for
the risk they took, and now let them have
the risk they were paid for
You say they have right to charge us
more because of the risk they took, and
then we haven't the right to exercise the
option which they calculated on All, INV
friends, that idea comes simply from those
who think that all society should te care
full to guard the interest of the creditor
and neglect every right that a debtor has
(Cheers)
SOundness of Contracts.
Il notice that some Of our cities are
very much excited because the Chicago
platform: says that we pledge ourselves to
secure such legislation as will for the
future prevent contracts for a particular
kind Of money. Why, they say that we
are not going to let people contract. We
are not going to let them make contracts
that are against public policy; we do not
intend that they shall demonetize Ey pri-
vate contract what this government makes
money by universal law. Great cheer.
ing) You say we have no right to inter-
fere with private contracts. 1 ask one
! NJ