Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-06-23
H TRUST ISSUE.
IT IS NOT LIAAELY TO HELP BRY.
AN IN THE WEST.
In Favor of Regulation-Traveling
Men Opposed to the Silver
Champion.

Boston Transcript: The plan of the
emocratic campaign mas already been
fairly we'll outlined by Mr.. Bryan and his
Eentenants. In a recent conversation
with your correspondent, Mr.. Bryan took
the position that all the prosperity which
prevailed throughout the United States
was only apparent, and that If the farm
ers n others really knew the truth
they would find they We're not as pros
porous as they believed themselves to be.
In the opinion of Mr.. Bryan the elements
which will work together for the success
Of the democratic party in November
will be opposition to trusts, a desire on
the part of the people for the free coin
age of silver. opposition to expansion
and Imperialism, criticism of the atti-
tude of the administration towards the
Beers, it's too friendly attitude towards
Great Britain, condemnation of the
course of the government in the Philip
pines and the r~ottenness of the admins
t1atlon of the colonies as shown by the
s~candalous disclosures in Cuba, and the
imposition of a tariff upon the products
of Porto Rico.
1t would be very difficult to find among
the masses Of the people a voter who is
not opposed to what he calls the trusts.
Some of these voters possess a very
vague understanding what a trust is or
how it operates, but they are ready with
the fiercest condemnation notWith stand
puts the money trust at the head of The
list as the greatest of all, but this is not
the one which appeals most vividly his
year to the imagination of the ordinary
citizen. Mr.. Bryan ropos to destroy
the so-called one trusN by taking
from the banks the OF issue and
adopting the free coinage of silver at a
ratio of 16 to l. The people at large ave
unquestionably lost their interest in the
money question as a political issue.
Voters of populistic leanings are eager
in their attempt to keep alive III money
issue for the reason that it bears close
relatin to their beloved greenback plat
form of not SO many years ago. The
average democrat, however, or the popu-
list who became such through pressure
of circumstances in 1896, now believes
that the money question is a minor issue
and therefore disagrees with Nj. Bryan
upon his most fundamental proposition.
To the average voter the trust means
something more tangible something
which comes home to him and is fam
lily in the increased cost of living. A
trust means to these people the extern
son of the corporation idea to the en-
tire control of some staple article of
family use. During the past two years
he has read about and perhaps eXper-
fenced increased prices for many things
in economy. To counteract this however,
the man who has had something to sell,
be it skilled labor or products of labor,
has reaped the benefit of the higher
prices which have prevailed all along the
line. L. is a well-known Western say
ing that when prices are high times are
good, and it is difficult to CONVEX a
Western man to the theory that when
everything is verv cheap he is better off
when wages are high and the things he
purchases equally nigh in proportion.
The man upon whom falls hardest
the increased cost Of living is the clerk
with fixed wages, Which are the last tn
respond to an upward tendency. The
general utility man, therefore, has per-
haps a just cause for complaint at boon
prices, for excepting the increased mum
Der of such men which find employment,
he derives little benefit therefrom. The
farmer, the skilled mechanic or the man
who has anything to sell which is in the
nature of a small monopoly, has been
of which Mr.. Bryan complains. 1t may
be stated, therefore. as a general prop
~osition, that a majority of the people
are better satisfie4 with active markets
at good prices for everything which is
salable, than they are With the mar
rover proposition of getting more FOL
their money, the money being harder te
get.
A great deal has been printed in thu
way of campaign literature in regard tt
the influence the travelling or CONNER,
clan man will have in this approaching
CdIlpdlSH. 1NI. bryan SpCoho VI eAS
as a great army, securing the countr.
in his interest; taking democratic doc.
trine to every customer and in ever,
country cross-road. He is counting with
out his host. In the first place the travel
ing maj as a rule does not talk politics
his customers are of varying politica
creeds and one of his most importan
functions in duty to his employer is t.
steer clear of endangering prejudice o
controversy. Apart from their work
however, the intelligent travelling ma
is willing to tell you what he thinks o
the political situation. In the course 0
the past two weeks our correspondent
in travelling through eight states in tn
middle West has interviewed over >
commercial drummers in good standin
in almost every imaginable line of trad
and representing every section of tn
United States.
These men are not the politicians G
the business, or the organizers of polit
ical cubs, but men who devote the
most intelligent and earnest efforts I
the advancement Oh their employers in
terests and incidentally of their owl
were not over five ardent supporters {
Bryan and perhaps 10 more who gay
him a mild Endorsement: all of thel
were opposed to the trust, inasmuch a
it concentrated the business of the cour
try and deprived a great many in the
calling of profitable employment.
great many of these men were demt
Gratis, but there argument is not hat
Mr.. Bryan. They say emphaticala
they are in favor of some control of IL
trusts which would prevent monopo
and encourage competition, but they Sc
with equal emphasis that Mr.. Brys
offers to them no remedy except the fr
coinage of silver, which their experien,
in business leads them to believe a futi
measure and one which would destrt
far more business than 1t would reg
late or create. The legitimate travelil
mems organizations are not political
any sense of the word, and politics
barred from discussion in their gathe
ngs. The commercial travellers organ
cations which have entered the polite