The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1899-04-29
PROSPERITY AND BRYAN,
Good Times Have n Depressing Ef.
feet on the Free Silver
Booster.

Mr.. Bryan has been down in Hous-
ton, Tex, telling the people that pros
perity has not come" Just what mean
ing Mr.. Bryan attaches to the word
prosperity" we do not know If it
conveys to his mind nothing more than
the present or prospective realization
of his personal political ambition, it
must be admitted that he proclaimed
the truth to his hearers in the south.
But If the word signifies good times in
industrial and business circles, Mr.. Bry-
an is either helplesslS or willfully blind
to the conditions that exist all around
him.
For some of the undeniable facts of
the situation are these: Most of the
shops and factories of the country are
working at their full capacity. The dis
tributive movement of goods through
out the United States is larger than
ever before. The masses of the people
are selling what they produce and buy
ing what theywant in quantities which
in the aggregate are immense beyond
all previous records. The export trade
OF the United States is of magnitude
never before attained Our domestic
needs are supplied from domestic
sources to an extent never before
known. These large sales abroad and
this large consumption of home prod
ucts bring and keep money in our own
hnr lie e Hz11
Money, in fact is abundant and avail
able for all legitimate and proft-yield-
ing enterprises. A million more men
are at work now than were employed
in 1896, and the wages in the majority
of their industries are ten to twenty
per cent. higher than they were then.
These are facts recognized and pro-
claimed by all newspapers of all par
ties and easily verified by anyone who
goes around with his eyes open. And
the great change from hard times to
good times has come about without the
aid of those policies which Mr. Bryan
advocated in 1896 and which he de-
clared were necessary to the restora-
ton OF prosperity.
The aforementioned fact is probably
the one which keeps Mr.. Bryan in the
| dumps. He has seen his theories shat
tered and his prophecies brought to
naught. He is unhappy because pros
| perity has come in company with poll
cies exactly opposite to those on which
he staked his presidential hopes. Con-
sequently he denies that there is any
prosperity. Possibly he is honest in
the matter. He may be organically in
capable of perceiving that anything can
flourish as long as the country refuses
to ride his own political hobby. He may
actually believe that adversely must
reign as long as Organism is under a
cloud; that the personal prosperity Of
the political Bryan cannot be separated
or differentiated from the general pros
perity of his countrymen; just as he
once professed to believe that the prices
of silver and wheat must go up and
down together.
To be subject to these delusions is a
great misfortune, and perhaps Mr.. Bry-
an is to be pitied rather than blamed.
However this may be, the people at
large do not share in his delusion. They
know prosperity when the see it and
experience it. They can recognize the
real thing as distinguished from the
bogus article which Mr. Bryan evident
ly has in mind. The latter may deny
the existence of prosperity to his
hearts content, but by Sc doing he only
furnishes accommodating proof that his
friends and admirers builded better
than they knew when they constructed
for him the title of "boy orator.
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.