The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-09-27
j. Ham LEWIS.

= CONGRESSMAN J. HAM LEWIS of Wash
ington has passed across the stage OF California
politics like respondent pageant. He has
faded i'll the distance vision OF hair, whskers and
fine ranent, and the odors of Araby lnger in his
trail For too brief night he stood upon the plat
form OF Metropolitan Temple and shed sumptuous
illumination upon local campaign and then re-
tired into his handbook and left us, creased trousers
and all, for the appreciatve precincts OF Puget
Sound
His business here was to arraign the Republican
party for not keeping its pledges. He did not sob
forth his sorrow. 1t is not narticuate grief with
J. Ham It's expression requires resort to all the
parts of speech But his set and permanent melan-
choly over Republican shortcomings did not hinder
him in taking his audience into his confidence when
he came to boast that he had taken away the Demo
cratic leadership from Bailey the tall Texan, and ap
propriaed to himself with all the Entertainments and
munments of power. This part of his speech pre-
scented himself, ]. Ham Lewis, the Dewey OF the
campaign, who manned the parliamentary coming
tower, and by of telephone, speaking tube and
wgwag, silenced the guns and drowned the ships OF
Montijo Bailey and made him take water in a
boat and leave his flag behind him. 1t pleasure
to look upon the and radiant the airy, fairy and
ridescent person Of the victor in this fight for lead
ership the stormy Congressional waters.
Having captured leadership by the of the smoke
less powder of oratory, J. Ham must hold it by turn
ing his vocal Krupp upon the Republicans, and he did
it. They have not kept their pledges is the casus bel
which this land and water, marine and submarine and
ultra marine, warrior asserted the for his
devastating presence the platform Of Metropolitan
Temple
An examination of the record since McKinley's in
auguraton, shown in the reliable, non-partsan sta
tstics of commerce and finance, may be the of
combining this opalescent and scintating statesman
to account OF his victory Bailey to the aban-
donnent of discussion of mere politics
The day Bryan was nominated in 1896 the money in
circulation in this country was $I,5oo434o66. Just
two years later it $I843435,74o increase OF
than half million dollars day for the whole
period, or $4,000 an hour. Yet Mr. Bryan and his
declared that in 1896 the only way increase the
volume OF circulation by the free coinage OF silver
10 to and the Republican party said the way to
increase it by sound credit and restored conf
dence. The gold in circulation when Mr. Bryan was
nominated amounted to $454oo5 o64; when he de-
feated it increased once to $50, 34o27o month
after McKineys Inauguration it $5I7,I25,757 By
December I, 1897, it $544,4o4748 1t on in
creasing last winter in the face of certain with
Spain, and April I, after the Maine was destroyed
and war resolutions pending. it $5S2 1924
Then came the war, and in the midst of it, on July l.
1893, when Shafter hammering at the walls of
Santiago the gold circulation stood at 5000 $780,
the largest in the history of this country The
total circulation at the date Of all kinds Of money
and every dollar OF it at par in gold was $I843,-
43574o This is the largest circulation in the history
of the country and the largest per capita, for it
amounted to $24 "a per head of population
In 1896 Mr.. Bryan and the prismatic J. Ham Lewis
said that low prices caused by the denial of free
coinage of silver ratio of I6 l. and that prices
would never rise until the country had free silver
Bradstreets comparison of prices for July 1906 and
July, $685. proves that this pot of silver the raise in
prices, not at the place where the Bryan rainbow