The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-09-21
BRYAN,S COMMUNIST.
Hls speeoh d the ohIcago Trnst Con.


ference Thoroughly Diaseuted-A
Man ofPhrases and ALTERATION.
New York Journal OF Commerce; Mr..
Brynn's speech at the Chicago trust
conference will deepen the impression
that he 10 rhetorician to whom phras-
es serve the purpose of facts and allit-
Grafton takes the place OF Information.
Like the speech which nominated him
for the presidency, It was Characterized
by sonorous sentences that evoked tu-
multuous cheers from the emotional
ana thoughtless, but which either mean
nothing or threaten the foundations OF
all civilization.
The Declaration of Independence has
been sometimes criticised because It
stated that all men were born free and
equal. But the criticism Is not quite
fair, for 1t is perfectly apparent that the
document dealt only with men in their
political relations, ana as to those It
Is substantially true. Mr.. Jefferson
only meant to say tat Americans had
the same right as Engllshmen to con-
troll their own political destinIes; It
never occurred to him or to any man
Of his time to afiirm this equality OF
man intellectually or economically. Mr..
Bryan applies 1t TO man in his econ
omic relations, and 10 therefore a COM
munlst II he means what he says, or a
sophlst II he does not. He said that
he did not believe that the Creator
En-
and knees and others 10 fide upon their
backs" That means nothing. or II Is
a declaration against Inequalities OF
fortune which not only exist In all civ
lllzed communities, but even among the
saVageS, for in an Indian tribe there
are those who have more horses and
ponies than others. Mr.. Bryan was a
little more specific when he said: II
have no fear that any man by his own
brain or his own muscle Will be able
to secure fortune so great as TO be
q menace to the welfare OF his fellow
men," We do not now argue that a
very great fortune Is not menace, we
waive this; we also waive the argument
that might easily be made that MI.
Carnegie and Mr.. Rockefeller made
their fortunes by their own brains. We
concentrate attention for the moment
upon the fact that the death last week
OF an eminent citizen Of New York con-
ferred upon q young man just out OF
school, and now charging his mind
with foreign travel. q fortune larger
than one man In ten millions can ac-
'quire by the most successful use OF the
most unusual talents. In the sense In
which Mr. Bryan used the phrase. he
was born to ride on the backs OF other
men who were born to crawl on their
hands and knees. We repudlnte the
language, but 1t IS Mr.. Bryan's; and,
considering his prominence In the poit-
ical world, we are entitled to ask
whether his words are mere sound or
whether they mean something. II, as
Mr. Bryan assumes, a large fortune be
a menace to the welfare Of mankind
then the young heir comes into possess
sion OF a fortune that Is dangerous to
society and acquires It without the
use OF a muscle or a thought. VIII
Mr.. Bryan come out of his wilderness
OF words into the open and denounce
the right Of n father to accumulate a
fortune and leave 1t to his son, and the
right OF that son to add to 1t and trans
nit 1t to the third generation, and so
on?
Equally empty or dangerous. the one
or the other, are Mr.. BTyon's applause
nrouslng sentences about the relation
OF man to money. II 1t were worth
while to utter platltudes we might all
concur with him that man is greater
than money. but when we try 10 get
some meaning out Of this we find that
there is none, or else. which Is quite
evidently what was In Mr.. Bryan's mind
that the accumulation OF capital must
be restricted In the interests OF hu-
mainly. But where Is the poor man
most likely to find employment and OPP
portunltIes OF acquiring competence
where there nre, or where there are
not, men OF large fortunes? The reduce
ton OF prices, which Nr. Bryan still
supposes to be an evil, enables the man
OF small wages to live comfortably In
stend Of barely escaping starvation:
the accumulation Of capital puts within
the reach OF the industrious and enter
prIslnE the means Of becoming capital
lists which they could not accomplish
otherwise. To one who looks below
the surface and really studies the econ
omIc conditions OF the world the strik-
Ing feature Of the present economic
age Is not the few great fortunes, but
the many small completeness and the
great multitude Of what may be called
Giving wages" With great eloQuence.
and with not less truth, Mr.. Cochran
recIted the evidence that capltRl is the
absolutely essential condition of civil
ization. and that It Is civilization that
makes the lot OF the workinSman toler-
able and opens possibilities OF improve
ment before him.
This paper has always looked with
decided dIsfnvor upon efforts to monop-
ollie any Industry or to defeat the force
OF competition, and 1t has pointed out
serious evils In the financial methods OF
the modern combinations; but Mr..
Bryan Is Of no assistance TO aghtlBg
against the evils of combination, be-
cause In his clumsy use Of weapons he
selects those that are hostile to the nc