The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1899-03-25
William
J.. Bryan
+ Il seems singular that William Jen-
nings Bryan will sit on the fence
+. IS Politically Dead Issue. The
= World Will Move on without
@ Him.
BY T'hOs. e. Hill.

+ Il seems singular that William Jen-
nings Bryan will sit on the fence
and allow the political procession
to go by him, insisting that he will
only join in the parade when they
carry a banner inscribed ''The Chicago
Platform with Free Silver at 16 to II
Mr.. Bryan ought to know that free
silver is one of the deadest issues that
was ever laid out as corpse.
It was only an issue in 1896 because
the country was in the throes of finan-
cial distress, the result of a thousand
bank failures in the United States
from 1892 to 1896, and through an in
genious 'argumentby Coin Harvey that
these failures We're the result of de-
monetizing silver in 1878. -. - i n
= All; business ahad been shut down in
consequences of these bank failures.
The rich were buying up property at
their own price and rapidly becoming
richer, while several millions of ,peo-
pie stood impoverished and in idle
ness. ,... .. 0.., .... =
The people were ready to clutch: at
sggoything which might possibly be a
remedy for distressed conditions and
it was easy to make an unthinking
multitude believe that if you could
dump in upon the. country a double
amount of; money in! the shape of sill
yer that all would be we'll. E.a.
" It was at this juncture that the
Democratic party was looking around
for an issue. Cleveland had sunk the
whole party 50 nearly out Of sight
that there seemed to be nothing left Of
it. The case was desperate. But
luckily the free silver brig hove in
sight and there. seemed hope. The
Democratic i. convention convened in
Chicago. The situation was critical.
The leaders fixed up q platform with
freei silver as tra1 plank,
am opportune time Bryan. made a
speech to the convention which SO
treated on evils known to exist as to
be received with great favor by the
masses. ILL. 5..,,,5E. IS $ ,a Z
Everybody is familiar with the vigor1-
GUS canvass which Bryan made
throughout the country, and at one
time it looked so strongly in; Bryan's
favor that the Republican managers
had to 60 right down in their pockets
in order to beat him and they did. Mr..
Bryan was left. But he has an idea
yet that he was right, notwithstand:-:
ing that money is so abundant in the
banks that it is a drug in the market.
r. We are sorry for. Mr.. Bryan, sorry
that he does not know that he is poli-
tically dead. True, he has made a
little stock out Of anti-imperialism,
but that will be short-liyed; and as an q
issue, is, so weak today that when
Senator Mason came, on to Chicago a
few days ago and made an address at
Central Music Hall on the subject, less
than three hundred people came out
to meet him.
Mason was a. good deal chagrined to
think that he, a senator, speaking in
behalf Of a benevolent cause in his
own city should have such a small
audience-so small that he called at
tention to the fact, several times in
his discourse. But the facts are that
the people are tired of hearing the SUBJ
ject discussed. They know that Ma
son, the yellow journals and a lot of
jealous orators drove Mckinley into
the war against his will. A war that
has already cost the country over
6,OOO lives, hundreds of millions of dol
lars, with the end not yet. They know
that in the shuttle we have the Philip
pines on hand with a lot of half civil
lied natives which they must control
in order to protect white people in
Manila. The people know all this and
for Bryan and Mason to be spending
their time now, harping, on antrim
perialism is like post-mortem review
of battle telling what might have
been done if the battle had been
fought another way. -...s.a...
The facts are that the administra-
ton will settle the difficulty with the
Filipinos as cheaply and as quickly
as they can, the whole advancing the
civilization of the people Of the Philip
pine Islands.
u =
We repeat we are sorry for Bryan.
Sorry, because, we once had great adj
mirafion for him. He did really q
great educational work in his canvass
Of the country. He led the people