The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1896-09-04
|THURsToN AFTER BRYAN

THURSTON AFTER BRYAN
Replies to senator Stewart in an Open Lett
tcr-Repeats Old Charges.
OMAHA, Neb., Aug. ls.-Senator
John M. Teurston has mailed the fol-
lowing open letter to Senator Stewart
of Nevada:
"On my return from q recent cam
paign tour l find your open letter OF
August l, which you SO kindly gave to
the press of the country before await
ing its receipt by me.
I'm your letter you refer to the
address delivered by me at the Chau-
tauqua assembly at Madison, Wis, on
July 81. You must have known when
you penned your letter that did not
make any charge against Hon. Will
lam j.. Bryan of any kind whatever;
that l did nothing except to read por-
tions Of IN editorial published in the
greatest Democratic journal of the
West, the Chicago Chronicle, on the
18th of last July. The editorial as
read by me is as follows:
"'There was a time when the own
crs of the big bonanzas of the far
West were glad to occupy, by pur-
chase, seats in the United States SEN
ate. Sharon, Stanford, Fair, Jones,
Stewart and others g%ratihed their
fancy in this manner, until the nov
city wore off, and then they deputized
attorneys and other employees TO take
their places and vote for protective
tariffs and free silver.
kttnf Ia 70 a VIC ny,inr 70 tho or-
enlargement hat they have received
from the Repu bllcan party, which al
ways does something for silver when
it passes a tariff bill, the proprietors
Of the big bonanzas have found it
profitable to keep a large number of
orators, lecturers and other spokes.
men on the road, preaching to the
people. already limping as a result of
bites by the free silver cur, the sover-
eign remedy Of applying the hair Of
the dog to the wound.
"'Among t he many who have been
thus employed and carried on the pay
rolls Of the big bonanzas for a num-
Der of years is William j. Bryan of
Nebraska. The paid agent and
spokesman for the free silver com
bine, he has not, since his retirement
from Congress, had any other visible
means of support
81 did not, directly or indirectly,
even express an opinion as to the
truth or falsity Of the charge thus
clearly, explicitly, unequivocally and
editorially made by a great Demo.
cratic newspaper, reputable and re-
sponsible. l did say, and / still say,
that the man posing as the advocate
of the d~owntrodden masses Of his
countrymen, holding the crown of
thorns in one hand, and the b%ugaboo,
a cross of gold, IN the other, owes it
as a duty to every man, woman and
child in this country to say whether
that charge, thus publicly and DELHI
erately made, is false or true.
sin a recent issue of the Chicago
Post, another prominent, responsible
and reputable journal, 1 find the state
ment that Mr.. Bryan's stated salary
from the silver mine owners, or the
silver league. was Sc, 900 per annum,
paid to him in monthly checks, which
went through the Lincoln bank"
Mr.. Thurston quotes at length a
similar charge made hy the Washing
ton correspondent of the Philadelphia
Ledger. Continuing he says:
"These are only a few Of the direct
ana POSITIVE charges OF a similar KIND
which have appeared from time to
time IN the most reputable and re-
sponsible newspapers Of the United
States.
II would be the last man in the
world to assail the character of Mr..
Bryan. l have not done SO in any in
stance or by any word of mine. Mr..
Bryan is the candidate of a great
party. It is not just to the American
people that charges of this kind
should go unanswered. He is the man,
and the only man, who can make
definite and conclusive answer.
II cannot refrain from expressing,
in this connection, my surprise at the
long continued and ilnpenetrable ST.
lence of yourself and fellow silver
mine owners with respect to the
charges SO publicly n distinctly
made in the editorial columns of the
Chicago Chronicle, which I have
copied above; and my still greater
surprise at the immediate futter in
the flock by my simple discharge Of
the same article, with appropriate
quotation marks, some weeks after Its
frot ,h1;oo+iop