The labor world., 1899-03-25

to consideration Of tie money ques-
ton. He arraigncd the bankers and
opened the eyes Of the people to the
fact that bankers were as good as any
body else as long as they behaved
themselves.
Rryan's speeches on bankers were
the first of the kind that had appear
ed since the days Of Christ. Christ
went down to Jerusalem, according to
the twentyfrst chapter of Matthew
with Il large following. In his investi.
CAT ion Of the conditions in the Temple
he found the bankers, or money chang.
ers as they were called at that time
shaving money so close that the peo.
pie didn't have any left after the bank.
crs got through with them.
Christ was so indignant at the skin
game that he saw going on that he
drove the bankers out IT the Temple.
This was a high-handet piece of bust
ness for Socialist like Christ and the
bankers arranged with the chief
priests to call him down. They
brought up his case before Pilot who
considered the affair in all it's bearings
The result was that Pilot could see
nothing wrong in the action of Christ
in the Temple. He knew that the
bankers under cover Of law were steal
ing from the people, right and left,
and he proposed that instead of put
ting Christ to death, FOR interfering
with the bankers, that he be allowed
to take the life Of Barnabas a well
known criminal who ought to die on
general principles. Pilot submitted
he case to the people, nut the priests
had received their in*iructions and
would hear to nothing { the kind.
1t was Christ they wanted and
Christ's life they woult have, and SO
in spite of Pilots BET er judgement
they nailed Christ upon the cross.
Christ's death made {, profound i'm
preston on the people. who were in
clined to question the acts Of the bank
ers after that. That was the last
squeak heard in opposition to bank
ers. For nineteen hundred years since
then they have piled t:eir calling en-
tirely unmoested, being regarded with
awe by the common people, and as a
superior race by people in general.
Bryan came upon the stage, and find
ing that the people ,sould sestain him,
if he drew his lance on. the bankers,
he unsheathed his sword and went at
them. But all he accomplished was
to set people to thinking, his difficulty
being that he was on the wrong side
of the question himself.
He never seemed to understand that
silver had nothing whatever to do with
the impoverished conditions of the
people He never seemed to know
that. with ten times more silver in the
country, the whole would be hidden if
| banks failed and precipitated finan-
cial panic whereby people would hide
all their money, stop its circulation
and make If scarce
| We are sorry that Bryan cannot un'
derstand, that if the bank was owned
and operated by the government, with
every banker under bond the same as
a county treasurer or town collector
that then, all the gold and all the sIi
YER and all the paper money would
come into the bank and nobody would
ever take it away. Because at the
government bank as soon as the in
dvidual borrowed money he would
Immediately deposit the same, go Out
and do all his business with checks.
Nobody would ever run on govern
ment bank, nobody would take much
money away from it, and thus i
would be always full of money.
What nonsense, therefore, to be talk
ing about free silver, when you coult
never get silver enough to preven
people from hiding all they had i
banks failed. whereas, with govern
ment bank-a bank that would neve
fail, the bank would be always full o
money.
What pity that Bryan can't SCI
this. II he knew this and would talk
up the cause Of the government banl
his arguments would be invincible
But he will not. He is ''sot'' in hi
way. The world will move on withou
him.