Iron County register., 1899-04-06
DEMOCRATIC ISSUES.
Protection and Monopoly Are 10
BE Fought the Same as
in 1896.

The text OF Mr.. Bryan's letter written
IN November, 1897, and made public by
the New York Verdict, is very interest
ug. Indeed, it may be described as an
echo of the present situation, although
1t was written a year and half ago. 1t
falls, as it were, pat to the occasion.
In the course of his remarks, Mr.. Bryan
says that events have forced certain is
sues into the foreground, and the peo-
| pie are ready to act upon them," and
he adds: ITO invite them to pass over
these questions and take up new ones,
Will be confession that we were wrong
last fall, and weaken the force of our
arguments" This is just as true now
as it was when Mr.. Bryan wrote it, and
j the following describes the necessities
| Of the hour from the party point of
! view as aptly as it did a year and half
| ago. Those who are trying to over
| throw the reign of plutocracy inaugu-
rated by the republican party will have
to do the best they can, each following
his own Judgment. and l trust that our
forces may. be concentrated upon GER
tain reforms held in common. rather
than divided. when the next battle be-
gins
By far the most momentous outcome
Of the reign of plutocracy inaugurated
by the republicans is to be found in the
growth and development of the trusts,
and. so far as the welfare of the people
is concerned, this trust growth is very
great issue. TO discuss it is to discuss
in part, if not in whole, the very great
est of all the issues before the people.
which is the money question. writes
Clark Stowell in the Atlanta Constitu-
ton. We believe that no political stu
dent now contends that the tariff is re-
sponsible for the growth of trusts.
That view may be held by editors in
Ohio or Indiana, but it has been practic
ally discarded by thoughtful men since
recent events nave shown that the tar
IF has no possible effect on prices. To
day the wool industry, which was es-
pecially taken care of" by the Dingley
tariff is in a worse condition than any
other productive industry in the coun-
try. 1t is very clear, therefore. the
growth of trusts is due to the fact that
the great bulk of the available money of
the country is concentrated in a few
al the important railways in the coun-
try; one firm will soon control the coal
supply of the east; a great banking
firm with international connections has
financed more than half of the nu-
merous trusts and combines that have
been formed during the past II months.
AS we have said many times before. the
growth of trusts is due to the red-sG-
ton of the money supply which has fol-
lowed the demonetization OF silver. The
increase in the gold supply, which our
mint directors have exploited with so
many tiourishcs, has either been pock-
eted by The gold syndicates, or it has
gone into the arts. Vt amy rate. it has
had no aPpreciabl effect on prices. 1t
is idle to lay the blame OF trust building
to those who engage in il. The indi
viduai firms go into it not merely to in
crease their profits, bit as a matter of
self-protection. Once in, they no longer
have to fight against the competition OF
rivals. More than that, if they need
money to carry on their business, they |
do not have to pay costly discounts to
the local banks; they are able to bor-
row at low rates from the institution |
to which they belong. The Constitu-
ton expressed its surprise in 1897 that /
more trusts had not been formed, all |
the conditions being ripe for them. 1t |
seems that they were then in contem- |
plation by the very plutocracy which |
financed the republican party in 1896, |
and they blossomed out vigorously in |
the latter part of 1898. In the first two |
months of the present year they have
surpassed all expectation. Thirty or /
forty industrial combinations have been
formed with capital amounting to overa
billion of dollars. Some of our esteemed
contemporaries who have aided to
bring about a state of affairs which
they are now inclined to resent, solace
themselves with the belief, real or pre-
tended, that this great trust movement
is a bubble which is bound to burst with
a crash. The truth is, that, while some
of the combines may be on an insecure
footing, the great body of them are as |
solid as the gold standard itself. are
based on its operations, and are direct
results of the conditions which that
standard imposes on general business.
This being so, what are the people GO
ing - do about it? What are democrats
going to do about it? Trust expansion
is a definite part of the money question
lis the direct and inevitable result of
the gold standard, which places every
business and industrial enterprise in
the country completely at the mercy of
those who control the available supply
of gold. So far as this money question
is concerned, the party is practically
unit. Those who favor the gold stand
nrd are so insignificant as to numbers
and influence that they have no infiu-
ence whatever in the councils of the
party. Under these circumstances, and
with the rapid progress of trust expan-
sion menacing the interests of the peo-
pie, would it not be a dangerous piece of
folly fer the organization to overshad-
DIV this great issue with others on
which it is by no means unit ? 1t is nee
assary to the interests of the people
that all who are opposed to plutocracy,
all who are opposed to the aggressions
Of monopoly, all of whom are opposed to
trust expansion. all who are opposed to
he gold standard. all who believe in the !
vital principles of Jelfersonian democ-
-acy, should gather under one banner
md present united front against the
corrupt and corrupting agent of the
the republican party. Can I
his be done by taking up new issues
md overshadowing those which are
most vital and insistent, and which I
most directly affect the domestic inter
ssts of our people? Would it not be the
,art OF folly to oyershadow the money