The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1900-10-05
WHAT BRYAN'S ELECTION
MEANS TO LABOR.
Only Question Is Whether Wage
Earners Want Hard Times.
Democratic Policies Drove Thousands TO
the Streets Before and Will Do So
Again II Bryan Is Successful.

III Tue GUY tbE hbhAt N'h "'N' '~'-
of the fallen guns of imperialism and
militarism, there Is danger the people OF
this country may lose sight Of the fact
that the election OF Mr.. Bryan means the
overthrow Of the protective tariff system
and the introduction Of free-tradc pro-
gram into the policy Of the government.
Our people have short memories and they
sometimes forget aud need to he remind
ed.
Mr.. Bryan was member Of the Fifty
second and Fifty-third Congresses and
took q yery active part Mt once upon TAX
ing his seat In tic Fifty-third Congress,
of which was member, the Wilson bill
was under consideration 1t was the pas
sage of that bill which plunged this oonn-
try into ruin. Ii does not make any dliter
cnce what people cay about the origin OF
hard times, the intelligent laboriDg man
of this country knows very well that he
ceased to earn living Tor himself and
family because of the Generalization of
business caused by the repeal OF the Me
Kinloy law and the passage OF the Wilson
net. II was that which precipitated
wages TO the lowest ebb that they have
been Cor many year. II was that which
sent marching columns OF hungry men
over the country demanding food. 1t was
the passage of that bill! that made It pos
sible for any intelligent man to listen for
a moment to the speeches Of such men as
Bryan in 1896.
On the floor ~ t!Ir House In the DO
bates on the Wilson VII Bryan took the
extreme freo-trade ground, His speeches
are on record and the aboriug men Of
the country can find :hcm and read them.
He especially announced himself as in IA
vor of absolute tree-trade upon many Of
the leading products of the farm, notably
wool, which he insisted should be put
upon the free list of the Wilson bill.
When that bill was passed by the con
currence Of the House in the six hundred
amendments Of the Senate ii was Bryan
and Hon. Jos. Bailey, a representative
from the State Of Texas, who in their
ecstasy seized The champion, who was the
putative father of the law, the Hon w.
l.. Wilson, OF West Virginia, and carried |
him On their shoulders in u trlumphal pro-
cession through the House of Representa-
tiyes into the clolk-room and a saturnalia
of joy resounded from those premises. 1t
was Bryan who a,ored the introduction
Of foreign material into this country free
OF charge. 1t was Bryan who demanded
that all raw material such as wool. coal,
iron, and everything which entered into
the manufacture Of gcods, should be i'm
ported free, and 1t was his influence,
more than any other mans, that brought
about the terrible "asult with which we
nre so familiar.
1t was Bryan's earnest demand that
put wool on the free lisr, and in that de-
bate he declared that he did not care
whether it benefited or hurt the wool
grower. 1t was Bryan who drove the
tariff on coal down to such an extent as
10 flood the Eastern markets with coal
md stimulate the growth of the develop
ment OF coal in the British possessions in
the northeast, ard practically drove us
out of the seabonrd markets with the soft
coal of Central States. 1t was Bryan
who advocated the low tariff on agricul
tural products and utterly refused 10 dis.
criminate or allow discrimination in favor
of the products of the West and Middle
West. The laboring men of the country
and the farmers of the country, before
they plunge themselves into the vortex
that is being held out, should get Bryan's
record and read it. 1t is a very interest
ing chapter in the personal politics of that
gentleman. The platform made at Kan
sas City is very adroit in laying the foun
datiOn for an enactment i'll Congress,
should Bryan be elected satisfactory to
his history and record. Not daring to as
sail protection directly he came ut it in
the platform which he personally con
Quoted as follows:
Tariff laws should be amended by put
ting the products of trusts upon the free
list. We condemn the Dingley
tariff law as a trust breeding measure,
skillfully devised, etc"
That is the platform Of the party de-
nominated the Democratic party and
whose nomination Mr.. Bryan accepted
The original Populist party, whose candi-
date Mr.. Bryan now is, l refer to the
Sioux Falls nomination, also places itself
on record in a similar attitude. So Mr..
Bryan, without any apology for the past
stands upon series OF platforms all
squirting in the direction of free trade,
ana IN Ine event Oh MS eiectlOn, WIFI II
Congress subservient to his dictation. as
was the convention at Kansas City, we
may look for just such legislation us pre-
cipitated this country into the condition
with which we are all familiar. 1t is
therefore very unwise for the people OF
the country to be led away from the two
great propositions OF Mr.. Bryan's life,
the two propositions for which he stands,
the two propositions which make up Bry-
anism, to wit. free and unlimited coinage
OF silver, and free trade, and follow of
after the Illusion and delusion OF i'm
perialism.
III the intelligent agriculturist will take
the prices Of his products in 1896 aud
compare them with the present prices OF
the commodities. and then take the Ding
ley tariff law, he will at once discover TO
what he Is indebted for the advance in
prices. IL the laboring man will take first
the price Of his labor in 1896 and then the
price Of his labor in 1900 and then take
the table OF imports Of foreign manufac-
tured goods in 1896 and back Of that time
snd then take the imports Of foreign
goods nov. a. shown b. the statistics Of