The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-09-15
THE HICKORY ELM CLUB
A DRIEF DEBATE ON MARK HANNA's
REMARKS ABOUT MIR. BRYAN.
BOutclrs Embarrassing Challenge to
take of Having Amy Issues.

the president ''but if he isn't a speaker,
or an orator, he comes mighty near being
one"
Major Biff said he had been reading some
of Hanna's so-called speeches, but" said
he, there is length to them Why, he
doesn't talk one-eighth as long as Colonel
Bryan. About all he said on the labor
question the other day was, the labor
question is. shall we run our mills. mines
and factories full time and find a mar
ket for our surplus abroad, or, shall we
shut down one-third of our producing ca
pacity in order to oblige Mr.. Bryan l
don't call that oratory."
NO. 1t isn't exactly oratory," said the
president, 'but 1t is a very succinct state
ent of a very important interrogatory that
none of us can answer. 1t is the whole
labor question in a nutshell. and the
smartest Democrat we've got in the party
couldn't answer 1T in three months-thats
the trouble.
Il am beginning to get little nervous
as the campaign proceeds. i honestly be-
lieve that Bryan is in hole on every
| question he has raised since he was nom-
mated. Take l6 tod. for instance; he has
| dropped that clear out at the request of
Richard Croker and Chairman Jones.
Croker and Jones have put in the plea of
former jeopardy in bar of the action, and
| they do not propose TO have the case tried
over again. But l notice that the Re-
pubiicans refuse to recognize that plea
as any bar whatever, as long as they find
our platform insisting on a new trial Of
the great question OF free and unlimited
coinage OF silver at the ratio of 10 to
without the consent of any other nation
L fhA
Gage shot IT into Colonel Bryan with that
unfortunate letter of his few days ago.
| not that Z! care cuss about 16 to 1. for L
DO not believe in 1t myself, but L thought
| 1t was unfair in Mr.. Gage to use his no.
| sition as member of the Cabinet to ex-
pose Colonel Bryan, and. as Carl Schurz
SAID, neediessiy alarm the people by in
| forming them that IL Colonel Bryan should
commence to pay salaries and other de-
| mands on the government I'm silver the
| effect would be to destroy the gold stand
ard and put the country on a silver basis
| OF course, that would be the effect. but Mr.
| Gage might have suppressed the fact in
the interest of the people "A panic will
be hard enough to bear when it comes.
| 1t in anticipation
| EMBARRASSED BY BOUTELL
| But the hardest jolt our candidate has
received" continued the president, "since
| this campaign commenced, was that chaI-
| lenge of Boutells at the Marquette Club
| Mr.. Boutell questioned the sincerity of
| Colonel Bryan in his avowed interest in the
| oppressed, in his professed love for the
workingman and in his apparent anxiety
that no one should be governed without his
consent. He then said: Il challenge Will
| liam Jennings Bryan, between now and
| November. to speak in the capital of each
of the old slave States, urging the repeai
| of all constitutions and laws designed to
| disfrancnise the colored population or re-
| strict their suffrage, insisting that the
State and local authorities shall see that
| every colored voter has full opportunity to
cast his ballot and have it counted And
| adding: If Bryan declines this challenge.
then he is sham idealist.' 1 am glad
| that Mr.. Boutell did not use any. stronger
| language at the conclusion of his chal-
| lenge "A sham idealist is not a harsh
| characterization of Colonel Bryan. He will
| submit to that without objection. But IL
| Mr. Boutell had said: If Bryan declines
| this challenge, then he is ID sham
| idealist, a hypocrite, fraud, demag ogue
| a mountebank and an all-around political
| impostor, an issue would have been raised
| at once which would have been paramount
| for the rest of the campaign, and | am not
| sure that ii will not be raised anyway as a
great many Republicans are not satisfied
with Imperialism as paramount issue
| They claim there isn't enough substance
| to it to justify the necessary expenditure OF
muscle in kicking it,
Il
| the issues in this campaign ever boil down
| TO the pure and simple question of Colonel
| Bryans sincerity in politics we are gone
and we might we'll strike tents ana get
ready for the campaign of 1904. | have
| listened to the remarks of your Honor and
other members of the club for some time
and have come to the conclusion that
| Colonel Bryan does not command the con-
hdence of any of you who are not on the
| lookout for an appointment If by any
chance he should be elected. Just between
ourselves here this evening L will say, not
| to be given away the outside, that
regard the situation as deplorable in the
| extreme. We haven't got one issue that
we can stand on for thirty minutes. I'm
| perlallSm has become a hiss and by
word, and l6 to 1-great heavens We've
got no more chance with that issue among
the widows, orphans and hired girls of this
country who have little money in the
savings banks than rat in closed room
with seventeen terriers.
A SERIOUS MISTAKE.
1T was great mistake to go into thi.
campaign with an issue at all. We should
have thrown ourselves upon the charity
and good nature of the people, and asked
them as a matter of justice and fair deal
ing to give us our share of the spoiis pre-
rata. Or We should have appealed to tn,
people and said: Mckinley has had it foul
years, and as Bryan is a heavy taxpayer
|
than right that he should have it thi.
| time
In my judgment, it was mistake fol
Croker, Jones, Altgeld and Webster Davis
to claim that Tammany and the rag-tag
and-bob-tail or creation in New York, Chi
cago and the other great cities are NOR,
capable of governing the country than tn,
Republican party. We should have con
tented ourselves with modestly asking 70
change, for the sake of change, with
out promising to make things better OF
| worse
| AS an argument in favor of a chang.
| we could nave said: We want to look a
the books. The people ought TO know how
the accounts in the various department,
of the government stand. and the best wa,
for them &c find out, is 10 employ new sc
| of bookkeepers.' If We had done this Col
Bryan wouldn't have exposed his ignor
ance of the Monroe doctrine by insistin,
| that II applied to Asiatic islands as wei
as 10 the western hemisphere. He wouldn'
have been compelled TO back down on tn
l6-to-1 proposition, and he wouldn't hav
got his foot in IL clear up to his ears will
Boutelle on the doctrine of the consent o
| the governed w. S. H.