Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1897-06-22
Rouss on Bryan.
The Millionaire Refuses to Meet the Late
Candidate At the University of Virginia.
New York Herald june Isl

OuarleS bIOauWay ROuSS, WHO mas
presented to the University of Virginia
at Charlottesville, Va, handsome build
ing, superbly equipped for scientific
research, will not be present at the dedi
catory exercises, which take place to-day
Scientists and scholars will be there tc
inspect and praise the Rouss Physical
Laboratory. but the donor has declined
to be present.
THE reason that Mr.. Rouss refused tc
assist at the Inauguration of the labora
tory is that William Jennings Bryan will
at that time address the literary societie:
of the university of Thomas Jefferson
To allow Mr.. Bryan to become the
champion of the founder of democracy
appears to Mr.. Rouss monstrous, un.
patriotic and criminal These are his
own words.
= The dedication of the laboratory will
be coincident with the annual exercises
of the university. and the faculty natur-
ally invited Mr.. Rouss to be present.
Prof. J. B. Green offered his hospitality
to the millionaire merchant for the oc-
casion, and it was in his letter of fdeclina-
ton that Mr.. Rouss took occasion to
inveigh against Mr.. Bryan, whose pres
ence as a speaker was sufficient to keeg
him away.
While it would give me great
pleasure, he writes, to enter into the
enjoyment of the proceedings, 1 would
not be able to listen with any satisfaction
to an address delivered by Mr.. Bryan
upon Thomas Jefferson. He and hi.
coconspirators succeeded at Chicago IL
stealing the time-honored democratic
party organization and now they want tc
steal its great founder.
No, he and his conglomeratep political
fusion will not be permitted by my pres
ence and silent acquiescence, humble
citizen though be, to become the cham.
pion of Thomas Jefferson Let us al
least prevent this monstrous usurpation
and robbery. Thomas Jefferson is about
all that true and loyal democrats have
left of the great party. Let us at least
hold on to him until we can right our
selves. To permit heterogeneous COM
bination of anarchists and party wreck
ers to use Thomas Jefferson as 4 shield
for their disloyalty to the public veal
would be unpatriotic and criminal in the
highest degree.
This merciless arraignment of the
silver leader comes from Southerner. a
native of the State that gave Thomas
Jefferson to the nation. Mr.. Rouss was
born in Winchester, Va, and Monticello
is to him shrine.
Nevertheless, Mr.. Rouss' devotion to
the principles of Democracy leads him to
dissect at length the political tenets of
the young man who came out of the
West to teach the world finance and the
economy of government. lie draws a
sombre picture of the events which he
believes would have followed Mr.. Bryan s
election. He says:
1.-The banks throughout the country
would have suspended specie payments
instantaneously, the United States treas
ury would have been depleted of all its
gold between sun and sun, and the abili-
ty to preserve the parity of the metals de-
stroyed. Thus would have followed in
dividual, institutional and national bank
ruptcy. Confidence would have been
destroyed everywhere. Our securities
would have come back from every direc-
ton to be dishonored, and obligations of
every description would have demanded
immediate settlement. These things
would have produced universal business
paralysis. including stoppage of facto-
ries, followed by industrial discomfort be-
cause there was no work; then the logi-
cal climax of bloody revolution because
there was hunger in the land which
could not be satisfied by the employment
and earnings of labor; finally would
come the swift and terrible reckoning for
those reckless men who had brought on
the terrible troubles
lin consequence of this state of af-
fairs, says Mr.. Rouss, Mr.. Bryan would
never have been inaugurated, and he and
his followers would have been remem-
bered only as the instigators of policy
which had threatened the life of the re-
public. Mr. Rouss believes. however,
that one good result would have come
out of the wreck in that free coinage,
with all of its sophistries and misleading
plausibilties,' would have received its
death blow. and he explains minutely
and clearly the reasons why such a con
summation should be desired After
showing that gold and silver were adopt
ed as metals for coinage by reason OF
their recognized value in the arts. theiI
relative value being based upon the de-
mand for them, he points out that no hu-
man power could have made gold and
silver materials for money had not nat
ura1 law and conditions made them such.
The parity of gold and silver as money
being fixed in relation to their value as
commodities, it could remain fixed
only so long as the supply and demand
remained uniform. The stamp of the
Government, says Mr.. Rouss. guarantees
the genufneness, weight and commodity
value of a coin. not its purchasing power.
He continues:
The operation of the inexorable law
of supply and demand. which determines
all values and which no human power
can successfully resist. is responsible for
these results, and legislation can only
give the needed help by furnishing an
equivalent in some way for the differ
ence in parity As the indorser ofa note