Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1900-11-03
IspeclaI washington Letter.l

Overconfidence has taken the place
of the cautious anxiety which the Re
publlcans displayed during the early
portion Of the campaign. They are
claiming everything.
Yet not Il single incident has hap
pened to justify the change of attitude.
On the contrary, the drift Is entirely
Democratic. Never in the history Of
the country has there been such an
OutpOuring of people as that which
greeted Bryan on the occasion of his
recent visit to New York. He was but
duplicating on a larger scale the expe
rience which has been his during the
entire campaign. Bryan is talking
common SENSE and justice. The plain
people appreciate that. His audiences
do not have to be attracted by reduced
railroad rates and red fire and brass
bands
1t has been admitted all along that
the election hinges on the vote of the
great Industrial centerS. The Repub
leans are pretending that they fOresee
an easy victory for themselves. yet
they are using every variety of cOer-
ciOn Oh skilled wageworkers and clerks
in all lines OF business.
There has been no recent develop
mcnt which would indicate that the in
dustrial vote is going to be Republic
an. On the contrary. il finds Bryan its
champion and the mouthpicce OF Its
protests against trust domination.
The workingmcn are not saying how
they are going 10 vote. To do this
would be to invite more active meas
urcs Of coercion from their bosses.
They have had too many severe les
sons, however, not to fear another four
years Of trust control
The settlement of the miners strike |
has dragged in a fashion which rObs I
1t OF any valve 10 the Republicans. |
After the miners held their conven- |
ton and accepted in good faith the Of |
fer of Il 10 per cent advance in wages |
IL then appeared that the operators had |
not actually meant to give even this |
slight advance. They have been quib- !
bling for ten days, saying that the adj |
vance I'm wages must be computed as 4 |
factor in any reduction in the price OF |
blasting powder.
Tie price OF powder was one of the |
things which the miners offered to sub |
NIT to arbitration. They waived recog- |
milton of their union. but they stand |
for Il straight advance of 10 per cent in |
wages If they are TO go back to work. |
Whatever Inconvenience the public |
feels in the future over the price or /
amount OF coal must be charged TO the
operators The miners have acted in /
good faith. and their conditions have
been reasonable.
Perry Heath made himself ridiculous
by hurryinG to grab credit for Hanna
for the alleged settlement OF the strike.
There has been no development so far
which has been ut all creditable TO
Hanna. The public Is still paying the
advanced price on coal and will do so
The coal combine has
made ut least $40 100000 in extra prof
its since the strike began. The miners
are no better satisfied than they were
the day they went on strike. The Dem
ocratic press has called attention to the
conditions OF employment forced upon
the miners 10y the coal combine, and az
n result wageworkers all over the
not only ridicule the Repub-
lican plea OF prosperity" but they
fear that practically the same treat
mcnt will hc melted out to them If the
trusts continue to grow during the