Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1898-01-28
OUR CANDIDATE IN 1900


an, now of Mexico, to explain how it
is that 1897 proved to be the best
business year in the United States
witnessed by the present generation.
The explanation from Mr.. Bryan
would be especially fitting in view of
his statement during the last cam
paign to the effect that the free coin
age was the only means by which this
country could hope or expect to at
tain any degree of prosperity. 1t may
be that Mr.. Bryan yet fails to see
anything but signs of Temporary"
prosperity, but as he has not said
anything on this subject for a couple
of months, it is to be presumed that
he admits what the rest of the Unit
ed States has gladly proclaimed. Mr..
Bryan might obtain some assistance
from Dunn's Review, n generally &c
cepted authority, which, among Il
host of figures Indicating prosperity
in various branches, shows that in
failures 1897 was not only the best
year since 1892, hut OH Tie whole the
best ever definitely known-Riceyi.le
Recorder, Jan. 30, '9s.
The foregoing article appeared as
editorial matter in the Ricevi,le Re-
corder, Jan. 20th, and in the Postville
Review on the 81. 1t was prepared
be neither of them but by syndicate
organized in the interest of Wall
Street, the same article appearing in
the country press which is prepared
to surrender the interests OF the peo-
pie to the tender mercies of their
plunderers.
The measure of prosperity is the
increase i'll profit for the productions
of the farm, the mechanic and the
merchant. That they have increased
products or sales is not evidence of
better business. unless there has
been increased profit from the
increased labor incident to larger
business transactions. This has come
only to those who are members of
some trust or combine for handling
the products others have created.
The conditions which exist to-day
pour the fruits of increased product
iveness into the pockets of en-
ployees, who gather wealth at the
expense of, and by preying upon the
accumulation of honest employers
upon the one hand, by impoverishing
wage earaers on the other. The con-
dition which tend to these results are
the perverted laws of exchange,
transportation and finance, conceived
in the spirit of injustice, building up
monopolies and wrecking the indus
tries that rely upon legitimate bust
ness .relat tons with the world, trans
forming honest wage earners into
paupers and tramps.
The closing sentence in the syndi-
cate article, like the others is untrue,
though it is assumed to have the en-
dorsement of Dun's Review of bust
ness. Bradstreet reports the bust
ness failures for 1897 at over 1903 in
the United States, the largest with
one exception since 1857. The liabili-
ties for 1897 are reported at $15S, $685.
500, a pretty handsome sum for a
year of prosperity. During the period
when there was not a gold or silver
dollar in circulation in the United
States from 1862 to 1865, the annual
business failures in this country are
reported by Dun's commercial agen-
cy at but 500 to 600 annually. These
facts ought to be within the recollec-
ton OF the present generation and
would be if the republican papers of
the country were as much interested
In spreading facts as they in dissent
mating falsehood.