The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-08-16
SOURCE OF PROSPERITY
Col Bryan Declares Lies In the Klon-
dixie Mines.

Des Moines, Ia, Aug. 16.-William J.
Bryan spoke for two hours at the audi
forum last night to an audience of
4,5OO people. The house was crowded
and the audience, which included prac-
tically all the delegates to the Demo
cratic convention to be held today took
every opportunity to applaud.
Mr.. Bryan took up the silver ques-
ton, saying prosperity did not set In
until six months after the election,
when the KlOndibe gold mines began 10
be heard from. The Republicans who
claim that times are better because the
balance of trade is in favor OF the
United States give away their own .a
position, he said, and admit that the
Democratic view Of the quantitiVe char
acter of money is correct
The $500 600 voters of the Democratic
party in 1896, were for silver. The T.
600, 900 Republican voters were for q
platform which called for international
bimetallism. Only the Palmer ana
Buckner voters were for the gold stan
dard-less than I per cent, yet now the
Iowa Republican platform goes a step
farther and is mainly for gold alone
Moreover, the Republicans threaten to
retire the greenbacks, though they have
never been before the people on that
issue.
The speaker next went after the
trusts but said if the Democratic party
neglected the silver question to attend
the confidence of the people. The money
trust, is the biggest trust of all He
was glad the travelling men were fight
ing the industrial trust now, but sorry
they had not seen the logic of events
in 1896 and helped to fight the money
trust then. The men who make trust
speeches and applaud them are bank
ers. A new danger of the trusts has
Just been developed. When a trust gets
control of all the factories in given
line and the hands in one factory strike,
r,e-4e III !.
ment and make its goods at the other.
When the WOrkmen at that place are
starved to the point of working for any
wages offered, that factory will be re-
opened and a lock out to reduce wages
will be inaugurated at another factory.
Mr.. Bryan closed his speech by a
lengthy discussion of imperialism. The
difference, he said, between a republic
and an empire is this: A republic
needs an army of $4,000 for 10000, coo
people. An empire needs four times
that large an army when 10000, 900 pop
ulatiOn is added. This suits the yOun g
not the people who pay the $1,000 a
year needed to maintain each soldier in
the Philippines. Mr.. Bryan gave figures
to show that England and other nations
do not coIOnize rapidly and said that
with 20 people to the square mile in
America and 60 to the mile in the Phil
IpPlnes, there IS no opportunity there
Even if we succeed in killing off all
the natives you can not get young
Americans to go there-they prefer to
live in Iowa and Nebraska. The profit
will not equal the cost and the profit
will not go to the right people, but to
investment syndicates. Even if any
man is willing to trade for pOttage and
does not have a taste for birthright, he
had better investigate the pOttage. As
the TagalS are largely Christians and
our native allies are largely MOhamme-
dan we ought to ask the sultan to help
US to subdue the Christian insurgents
crTaT ar-r7rr ant
declaration of good intentions iowa ds
the Philippines as it did toward Cuba
The president ought to have done So
or if he did not have the power. should
have asked congress for it. Now he
might call special session to ask for
the power. Cleveland called a special
session to repeal this Sherman act and
Mckinley called one. A special session
now would cost much money, but not
nearly so much as the continuance of
the war.