Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1899-10-26
BRYAN EXPOSED.
Writes q Brutally Frank Letter
to a Fellow Democrat,
WHY He SOUGHT A POSITION
The Money In the Office Not the
Honor That Attracts Him,
"A BIG POLITICAL SENSATION.
Hon. J. Sterling Morton, Ex-Secretary
Of Agriculture, Exp Hin.
WHY he SOUGHT A POSITION
A BIG POLITICAL SENSATION.
THE FACTS BROUGHT HOME HARD

Ihb tAOlo bhOU nj hUMb dA hU
The Man who Poses as the Great Friend
aud Champion OF "the Comm Peo-
Pile" Is Proved to he an ordinary Every
Day one SesKer-A, other Democratic
Idol VIII se Feet Are Made of Com.
mon Clay.
LINCOLN, NEB., Oct. 27.-(special)
The sensation of the campaign in
this state is the publication in The
Conservative, a paper owned and pub
lished by Hon. j. Sterling Morton, Mr..
Cleveland's secretary of agriculture, of
letter written to Mr.. Morton by Will
liam Jennings Bryan in 1889, when
Bryan was an applicant for the posi-
ton of secretary of the Nebraska
state board of transportation. In it
Mr.. Bryan makes this bold confession:
81 ASSURE YOU THAT IT is THE
MONEY THAT is IN THE OFFICE
AND NOT THE HONOR THAT AT
TRACTS ME-"
The letter in full is as follows:
LINCOLN, Neb., Jan. II, 1885,
Hon. ]. Sterling Morton, Nebraska
City, Neb.: Dear Friend - Your kind
letter to Mr.. Lease was received and
delivered. l think it was well receiv-
ed. The P. S. was judicious, 1 think.
am grateful to you for your indorse-
ment. Had hesitated to write you be-
cause l dislike soliciting aid. l assure
you that it is the money that is in
the Office, not the honor that attracts
me. If successful in getting it, it will
tide me over my beginning here. With
regards to the ladies, l am, yours very
truly, w. ]. BRYAN"
Failing to secure the appointment to
the railway commission Mr. Bryan
continued the practice of law but in
1890 he announced his candidacy for
congressman, and in fact, has been q
candidate for Office ever since. A. j.
Sawyer and number of other promi-
nent First district Democrats asked
Mr.. Morton to come out as a candidate,
but he replied: mo; not to go and ask
any one to vote for me or work for
me-" His refusal to run made the
nomination of Bryan possible, and
those in charge of the Democratic ma
chinery turned to the young orator
and he was nominated.
Bryan's repeated utterances concern
ing the Nervousness of the money pow
er and the greed for wealth recalled to
]. Sterling Morton's mind the asser-
ton made in 1889 and a search was in
stituted at Arbor Lodge for the letter.
It was found among a number of other
letters written by Mr.. Bryan, all some
what similar and equally interesting.
Bryan denied having made the state
ment as claimed by Morton. Mr. Nor
ton was interviewed in Omaha and
made the following statement:
"As an economist Colonel Bryan is
prestidigitator While lecturing on
,ree trade he denounced and bemoaned
high prices and lauded low prices.
But while lecturing for free silver he
1amrs low prices as the bane of pros
perity and praises high prices as the
sole tonic and test of prosperity. As
a self-adjusting, reversible yote-catch-
Ing economist Colonel Bryan is with
out a peer. He wanted free trade be-
cause it would make prices lower; he
wants free silver because it will make
them higher; but he wants Office
more than he wants anything else,
not to bestow good upon the country,
but money upon himself"
]. Sterling Morton suggests this
question: "Did Bryan tell the truth
when he denied my declaration, or did
he tell the truth when he made the
assertion: assure you that it is the
money that is in the Office and not
he honor that attracts me-"