The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-04-10
BRYAN ON BELMONTs BOOK.
Asks PERTINENT QUESTIONS AS TO
HIS PRINCIPLES.

| Observation-Disclosures Par
~ Has the Right 10 Determine
What Is DemOcratie-MinOrit
voted One Way at Chicago and An
other Mt indianapolis.
lincoln, Neb., April s.-Col. w. ]. Bryan
,o-dav mailed his answer to the last letter
received from Hon. Perry Belmont some
weeks ago.
The correspondence thus far has dealt
largely with the rival jefferson dinners to
he ned in New York, but Mr.. Bryan ig-
rores that matter and devotes his atten-
ZION to the differences existing be-
+v,een himself and Mr.. Belmont on
Questions of Democratic party policy. His
letter, in part, follows:
lincoln. Neb, April 8, 1890 Hon. Perry
belmont New York. Dear Sir: Upon my
ret,,rn to Lincoln 1 found your letter con-
tanning the original letter and postscript
given to the press some days before can
not find anything in my letter to which
Won can consistently object.
Won began your speech in Madison
SQUARE Garden on Aug. s, 1896, by saying
&, was time for plain speaking" and
proceeded to accuse the Chicago conven-
t,on of a betrayal of the Democratic
marty. In your Brooklyn speech on Sept.
* 1876 YOU spoke of the Chicago plat
form as 1.-The strange doctrines born in
chicago of a coalition between the I'M
thinking element of the old party and the
socialists who masquerade as Populists.
Used BeImOuts Style.
II seems that in using the words "be
travail" and "masquerading" 1 uncon-
sc,ously fell into the style which you en-
Moved In 1896, but / did not reflect upon
the intelligence of the gold standard advo
Gates by characterizing them as an "un
thinking element.
You ask first that I point out wherein
YOUR utterances are "unpatriotic, I'M
Il Democratic, un-American and in conflict
Fl with the Democratic creed as set forth in
Jeffersons first inaugural address. We
have no accepted standard by which 20
Il determine whether a given opinion is pa
n triotic or American, but we have means
Il of determining whether an opinion is
Democratic and in accord with the teach
ings of Jefferson. I presume you use the
word Democratic in the party sense, other
Il wise that term would be as difficult to
define as patriotic" or American"
The right to determine what Is Demo-
. cratic in a party sense belongs TO the
H Democratic party. The Chicago conven-
Il ton was more purely representative than
any other convention held in recent years
h because the rank and file of the party
spoke on public questions through instruct
Il ed delegates. The Chicago platform is the
latest authoritative definition of Democra-
cy as applied to existing conditions If a
minority of the delegates to a national
convention representing minority Of the
members of the Democratic party has
right to determine what Is Democratic
then each member of the party has a
d right to define Democracy for himself and
10 assert that he is a better Democrat
IA than any one else.
BeImOnt's Principle Applied.
"a Let me apply this principle to three ques-
tons upon which you have taken a POSI-
a ton in the volume sent me: First, stand
ard money; second, paper money; third,
"a income tax.
n AS a delegate to the Chicago convention
81 you voted for minority report which de-
clared against independent free coinage on
IA the ground that 1t would not only imperi
"a our finances but would retard or entirely
prevent International bimetallism to which
n the effort of the government should be
IA steadily directed"
As a delegate to the Indianapolis con-
4 vention two months later you supported
a platform which declared in favor of the
Il gold standard without any declaration in
n favor of International bimetallism. Now
II you may be able to explain why the minor
n ity rejected at Indianapolis the plank for
which 1t fought at Chicago.
After the election, Mr.. Mckinley sent a
4 commission to Europe TO secure interna-
tional aid in getting rid of the gold stand
ard and a Republican Congress appro-
4 priated money to pay the expenses of the
commission. The commission failed because
IA of English opposition. and English oppo-
sition was due to the opposition of English
Ia financiers Jeffersonian Democrats must
t have a better reason for submitting to the
gold standard than the fact that the Eng
fish flnanciers favor il as a means for rails
ing the purchasing power of their money.
Bryan Makes Suggestions.
I have selected these three questions be-
cause they are important, and your position
upon them has been clearly defined.
III Your prophesy that "a law to prevent
wage earners and salary earners from de-
manding and securing payment in gold
III dollars would not be a winning issue,
evinces tender solicitude for the labor
ing man. might suggest that blmetal-
ism alarms you more than it does the
\ wage earners. II was not the employees
who were frightened at the spectre of free
I silver in 1896; neither did the laboring men
share your desire to add to the privileges
of the banks.
Mr.. Bryan quotes from resolution OF
the Federation of Labor of Dec. 20, 1897 a
year after the election, declaring against
4 the Gage financial bill as an undisguised
effort 10 retire greenback currency and all
II government paper money, with a view to
fastening the national bank system for
years upon the American people.
III Mr.. Bryan concludes: Il am not willing
10 believe that you are more interested in
the laboring men than they are in them
selves, or that you know better than they
what is good for them. Yours truly,