Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-10-29
FRYE SCORES BRYAN
Maine Senator Calls Attention to
Candidates Evasions.
OPEN LETTER TO TIE NEBRASKAN
Called on to Explain Some Of His
Inconsistencies.
DEMAND FOR FRANKNESS

United States Senator William P. Frye
of Maine president pro tenn. of the United
States Senate, has been campaigning in the
middle western, northwestern and Rocky
mountain states. On his return to New
York the other day he decided to prepare
a review of the salient issues of the cam
paign in the form of an open letter to Mr.,
Bryan. Senator Frye's letter is as follows:
Hon. William ]. Bryan:
The people Of the United States have the
right to expect a presidential candidate to
meet the issues of the day with frankness
and candor. Above all they desire that he
shall not attempt to deceive them with false
statements or with assertions which by
stating half the facts and concealing the
others give them a false impression. Many
of them have not the time or the opportu-
nifty to learn from the public records the
details of the questions under discussion,
and it is only just to them that those who
appeal for their support should tell them
the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
l have followed with great care the pub
lished accounts Of your addresses since the
campaign began, and assuming that you
are quoted with reasonable accuracy, am
forced to the belief that you are doing
yourself a great injustice and creating the
conviction that you are not dealing as
frankly with the people as you have been
accustomed to do in the past.
l assume, of course, that you yourself
know the facts and all the facts relating to
the subjects which you attempt to discuss.
They are entirely accessible and as you
have devoted your entire time to matters
of this character since your entrance upon
public life ten years ago, it is reasonable to
assume that you are familiar with the sub
jectS which you discuss.
You have constantly criticised the course
90 %l,n
rection in the Philippines; yet you know
that the insurrection had been actually be-
gun when the treaty with Spain was rati-
fled by democratic votes which were cast
for it by your advice, and that by that very
act you aided in placing this responsibility
upon his shoulders.
You crticise the size of the army. Yet
you know that conditions In the Philippines
were critical and the lives of our troops
there in great danger when temporary in
crease was asked by the President, and
you also know that the act, which was sup
ported by democrats and republicans alike,
is but a temporary one and itself provides
that the additions to the force shall termi-
nate on July 1 of next year.
Buying the FiIipfnos.
You talk of buying the Fiipinos and of
extending government over new territory
without the consent of the governed, when
you know that every foot of territory west
of the Mississippi was acquired by your
own party in precisely the same way and
the people temporarily governed by pre-
cisely the same methods, and that the OPP
portunit!es for local self-government which
have been offered the Porto Ricans are
vastly better than were given the inhab-
itants Of the Louisiana territory, Florida
and the territory obtained from Mexico.
You talk about governing people without
their consent, yet you know that your own
party is governing millions of people in the
southern states without permitting them
the voice in their local or national govern
ment which the Constitution and laws guar
anlee them: and when the matter is
brought to your attention, you have not
one word of condemnation for it, but meet
the issue with evasion worthy only of the
mereSt pettfogger.
You talk Of trusts and charge the repub-
lican party with responsibility for them;
yet you know that during your own term
in Congress you did nothing except intro
duce two bills which you permitted to die
in the pigeonhoes of your own ways and
means committee. You also know that the
republican party enacted the only anti
trust law ever passed by Congress and
that your own party in the last session of
Congress defeated the only remaining rem
edy a constitutional amendment, which
was proposed and urged by the republicans.
and which required for its adoption two
third vote.
on articles passing between Porto Rico and
the United States, amounting to Is per cent
of the Dingley law rates. when you know
that the real purpose of that was to de-
clare the right to regulate matters of this
character in regard to the Philippines and
so protect our workingmen of the United
States from the cheap labor of the orient,
and that every cent of the duty thus col
lected in this country, as well as in Porto
Rico, goes to the benefit of the suffering
Porto Ricans for whom you profess SO
much sympathy-you know also that this
duty is but temporary and that the present
lor.r Oh 1,1ta wi
islands in less than seventeen months from
this time.
You said at Milwaukee,: who says that
we can buy sovereignty over human be-
ings?" Yet you know that this is just
what the greatest leaders Of your party did
in the case Of Louisiana territory. Florida
and the enormous territory obtained from
Mexico, and what it tried to do in Cuba and
the Hawaiian Islands; and you know when
you recommended the ratification of the
treaty with Spain that you were recon-
mending this very action.
Anent the BOer War.
At Indianapolis you complained that "a
republican President could send telegram
of coincidence when a king dies, but when
two republics expire no REPUBLICAN sheds
tear referring of course to the South Afr-
can republics; yet you know that the United
States government did more than any other
nation on earth to bring about a cessation
VI lOSllllllSS III ooulH <AlIICd, tHdl IL was
the only government to tender It's good Of
fees as mediator, and that it was impos-
sible under articles of The Hague peace
convention for it to do more. The telegram
of coincidence upon the death Of the Italian
king, to which you sneeringly allude, re-
quires no defense or explanation. as you
must know that International courtesies of
this kind are always observed, and that the
failure to observe them would justly have
subjected this nation to criticism.
You said in St. Louis that under the
trust system the travelling men will not be
needed yet you know that Investigations
by the department Of labor show that the
so-called trusts have increased instead of
decreased the number Of travelling men and
other employees, and that they have in
creased and not reduced the wages of their
workingmen or statesmen; and you know
from your constant travelling upon the rail-
roads that the number of travelling men
now employed, in what you consider an era
Of trusts Is greater than ever before. and
that this is shown by the records of the
railways and their sales of the class of
tickets used by travelling salesman