Virginian-pilot. (Norfolk, Va.) 1898-1911, 1899-12-03
JEFFERSON And BRYAN.
Continued from Page IL.

ruthlessly employed in the fight for
their own existence. There is no more
republican party with principles APP
pealing to the support of the ordinary
patriotic citizen. 1t ceased to exist
when Mr.. Hanna took possession at St.
Louis, and the organization of that
name was turned over to the exclusive
use OF the trusts and great Inoneyed In
terests; then, for the first time in our
history, combined for political purposes,
to seize the Federal Government and
exploit 1t for private gains. No true
American wishing to save our institu>
lions unimpaired can, with eyes open,
vote for the trust party's candidates.
AS matter Of fact, few, or none, will do
so OF their own free will. Nothing, not
single iota, can be discovered In the
trust party's programme which appeals
to the conscience, the heart or the in
tellfgence Of any part or class of the
American people, A great majority OF
the voters are now and will be next
year In sheer self-defense opposed to
the trust party's national ticket. The
political managers OF the trusts know
this very we'll. But they are not dis
turbed by. so trifling Il circumstances.
They know what was done In '9S, and
they propose to repeat that campaign
of bribery, intimidation and threats of
financial and Industrial disturbance up
on scale increased In proportion to
their increased means. They calculate
that almost any majority Gun be whit
tied down to n minority by such meth
DDS, end. although Mr. Bryan should
start out, as he undoubtedly will, with
two-thirds or three-fourthe of the quail
flied voters Of the country convinced
and very earnest In his cause, the ques-
ton remains, how many of their votes
Will get into the boxes and be counted
for him? The contest will be q dread
full wfnnowing. 1t will try mems pa
triotfsm and civic integrity as they
never were tried before. The weak, the
hopelessly dependent, the corrupt will
all fall away. Only the noblest types
of American citizenship will stand fast
and bravely cast their ballots with the
sacred Bryan veterans of '96. Heaven
grant there may be enough of them to
save the Republic-to save themselves
and their children from the coarse, the
remorseless, the loathsome despotism
of government by trusts.
Thus far all signs point toward q vic
tory for the people. The State cleo
tons of this month indicate increasing
Democratic strength. Wherever an APP
probable Democratic loss appears it is
accounted for by local circumstances,
while in Nebraska and Ohio, the homes
Of the antitrust and the trust leaders,
respectively, where the battle was
pitched on national issues, the results
are of kind to gladden. every patriotic
heart. Nebraska sustains Bryan by a
largely increased fusion majority; while
In Ohio. the combined opposition to Mr.
Hanna, the head of the trust party and
of the National Administration, shows
$4,000 majority. Had these elections
been conducted throughout upon ma
ttonal issues, the trust issue naturally
leading, as will be the case next year,
there is every reason to believe they
would have gone Overwhelmingly DEM
ocratic.
Honest Democrats. who were misled
into voting one or the other Of Mr..
Hanna's two tickets in 1886 will, to a
man. vote for Mr.. Bryan in 1900.
The manufacturers of the country
were united in 1896 against Mr.. Bryan
They Will not be united against him
IN 1900. The reasons for a change of
ground arise from q change of circum-
stances. To-day they are invading the
markets Of the world. underselling their
rivals In their own countries, and in
many cases selling goods abroad To.
less than they sell them at home. They
want free raw materials and open mar.
kets un9exed by retallatory duties. AS
class. in SO far as they are free from
the grasp OF the trusts, and have our
lie with the party which would unfet-
ter trade and give to American indus
tries the broadcast and fairest fields in
competition with the world The man.
ufacturing interest. as n whole. is no
longer dependent. no longer solid.
1t Is hoped and believed with some
evidence to support the charitable opin-
ion. that some of the seml-public COR
porationS which raided the people In
company with the Industrial trusts In
1895. have learned that their course
then was neither lawful nor wise; that
The appropriation OF corporate funds,
or the assessment OF stockholders, or
the intimidation of customers and en-
ployes for campaign purposes cannot be
undertaken by an honest management
and would not be undertaken by q pru-
dent one. and, also, that n corporation,
or any other business which allies itself
with q political party. and especially
with party so obnoxious to every in
stlnct OF q free people as is the trust
party, must be content to go up or down
with that party, and to share its for
tunes for good or bad. 1t was dam
gerous experiment upon which some at
least, are not disposed TO venture again.
1t must be plain to n sensible man of
business that an institution doing busl-
ness under public favor, which per-
sistently takes part, and sometimes n
very scandalous part. in partisan polit-
les. invites retaliatory measures of
which 1t could not Justly complain.
Such concerns have no right to exist.
The conduct of some or them in '96
would amply justify their extirpation,
and they cannot afford to repeat II.
Again: No one, at this time, can
measure definitely the effect upon the
popular mind of the ostentatious "Brit-
ish alliance" into which the trust
party has rushed with extreme eager
ness and which its chiefs appear to re-
gard as the single great positive
achievement of the executive admins
t,.nl i1.s, 10 Il To- f I.4. IL