Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1896-10-17
REED. TO BRYAN.
Senator Reed Propounds Some
Difficult Questions
m HIS ABLE NEWSPAPER.

OF Course They wer Not Answered be-
cause They Could Not BE and Because
Mr.. Bryan IL Not Arguing Matters as a
Rule But Seeking to Mislead and Fool
the People and Appeal to Passion and
Prejudice Letter Worth Reading.
In an open letter to Candidate Will
liam j. Bryan, published few days be-
fore his recent visit to Clarksburg, the
able editor of The Telegram of that
city, Senator Reed, put IA questions at
the popocratic nominee that are worthy
of a wide reading and careful study
The letter in full was as follows:
Several thousand Republicans and
Democrats will be here ON that occasion
to hear what you may have to say. Peo-
pie are anxious to see you, becauae you
have been advertised as great curl
osity They have heard of the crown
of thorn and cross of gold speech. You
are known to be pure man SO far as
your personal character is concerned.
Your handsome face. coupled with the
fact that you are advertised as one of
the greatest orators on earth, will bring
a vast crowd to see and hear you. You
will have an intelligent audience and
they will expect to hear the greatest
speech that ever fell from the lips of a
mortal man. But mark you The peo-
pie of Central West Virginia demand
that you explain some things very care
fully. They have a number of ques-
tions to PROFOUND to you and they will
! take no evasions. They have been
fooled by glittering promises i'll the past
promises made by you and your party
4 Your speech must be something more
/ than buncombe. whooperer- and
/ shimmering effervescence. No appeals
! to passion or prejudice, no arraying of
class against class, no pyrotechnic de-
LUCE of English adjectives will satisfy
4 our people. Here are q few things they
want explained:
'First--In speech in Congress some
time ago you said: Speaking for myself,
it is immaterial i'll my judgment wheth-
/ er the sheep owner receive any benefit
/ from the tariff or not.
"Did you utter such an I'M American
! sentiment? Then you apparently care
very little for our farmers. In Harrison
county our sheep were valued on the
assessors books i'll 1892 at $S2,577 This
year under your don't care policy our
/ sheep are valued $42, 945, loss of $780,
! 632 for this county alone Wool dropped
from 26 cents per pound to II l2 and
your don't care for the farmer policy
caused loss in this State on sheep and
1 ~ Of eDAD oil g,,l
favored free coal and free lumber and
/ this hobby of yours under your low
tariff policy. caused a lost to West Vir-
/ ginia of not less than $4,000, 900, or Il
/ total loss on wool, lumber and coal of
about $5,000,000 since President Harri-
son left the White House. Did the gold
standard cause this loss? If it did tell
them how it happened that the decline
did not begin until the reign of Democ-
racy, although we had had the gold
standard since 1878?
"Second-You will please explain just
how the West Virginia farmer is to get
his share of the new silver dollars you
propose to coin for Messrs. Stewart,
Teller and others of the millionaire sill
yer mine owners?
"Third--How will your policy open a
mine i'll Harrison county to restore to
US the $630.5l9 decrease in the value of
our personal property, such as horses,
cattle, sheep, etc, since 1898?
"Fourth-Explain how your tariff
policy-the one you championed so ably
in Congress, has benefited a single in
dustry i'll West Virginia?
"Fifth-You ridiculed the Mckinley
tariff on tin plate and said in Congress
that the only tin plate factories it would
build up would be ON paper You
know or at leaEt ought TO know that III
tin mills were constructed as result of
that law, thus keeping thousands of dol
lars at home and giving employment to
II, 600 Americans VIII your prophecy
about free coinage be as erratic as it was
about protected tin?
''Sixth-.You hold that free coinage
of silver at l6 to / will cause all the
worlds silver to advance to 81. 30 per
ounce and that we will have both metals
circulating side by side on parity
When in the history of this world have
gold and silver been kept on parity
under free and unlimited coinage /?
Mention single nation that has been
able to do so.
"Seventh-Why did silver continue
to fall in price when under the Sherman
law we were coming all the American
product and all that our mints could
handle?
"Eighth-Wheny you were nominated
few weeks ago, Mr. Bryan, silver was
worth go cents per ounce, and the silver
dollar was intrinsically worth % 34-I00
cents Today the market price of silver
is GA 3-4 cents per ounce, and the silver
dollar 80 6-100 cents Either the great
spectators Of the world have little CON
fdence in your election or they consider
your $l.29 theory "A fraud. How about
this?
"Ninth-Will you name one free silver
nation on earth where silver circulates
at more than its bullion value?
: "Tenth-Wiu you mention nation
III the world that has, without uepre-
ciatlng its purchasing power, put more
silver into circulation than the United
States since 1873?
"Eleyenth--Do you favor protective
tariff on coal lumber and wool
"Iwelfth-Will you be honest with
your audience and tell them how much
silver we coined and held in circulation