St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1900-02-21
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.

Democratic DeleeatiOn-RePOrt for th
Hawaiian IsIands-WOman'sE Suffrae
l. Convention.
i From our regular correspondent
Much surprise has been expressed
i here because Mr.. Bryan is reported
to have had such large au diences il
r his late tour through the New England
States. Curiosity has doubtless beer
leading motive to attract people te
hear him; for he is gifted with ora
toy and may hypnotic some by bis
plausible talk. But New England
men and farmers are as class too
intelligent and have too much com
mon sense, not to look at business
matters from practical standpoint.
Populists pride themselves upon talk
ing by the hour or yard, but it is
necessary to sift down all of their
specious reasoning, to learn what
has been the result in the past and
what will be the probable outcome
for the future. Not only hundreds of
thousands of dollars but many mill
lions have been lost or sunk in the
western securities, especially in Kan
sas and Nebraska, where the Popu-
list doctrines prevail. Many western
men believed that the east have be.
come immensely wealthy, as result
of the protective tariff and have
openly repudiated honest debts,
which is largely owing to Bryanite
teaching.
Many farmers in Kansas and Neb-
raska fully determined never to pay
up the mortgage loans which they
had borrowed, neither interest nor
the taxes in arrears, which were often
doubled and tripled for non-residents,
and eastern parties must redeem or
loose the whole amount. Sometimes
eastern farms were mortgaged in
order to receive more income from
the gilt-edged investments in the
west, which often proved worthless,
leaving aged men and women
cramped in their income or dependent
on friends. Generally the money of
those New England men, women and
children had been gained by years of
frugal economy and honest toll or
received as an inheritance from rela-
tives. The management of many of
the western railroad companies was
so extravagant that their bonds and
stocks did not prove to be fortunate
investments. Many of the national
and savings banks of New England
were burdened with many such secur.
tiles and found it difficult to pay
dividends. A manager of one of the
oldest and largest western firms in
Boston told me four or five years
since, that he had seen SIS western
firms near him 60 under. If one of
the eastern capitalists would sum-
Marie those losses and prove the
fallacy of their teachings, it would
electrify the country. They would
thus refute the mistaken idea that
people in the east are so immensely
wealthy. Eastern people as rule
practice economy, save up their
money and give largely to churches
and educational institutions in the
west, while western people in many
of the cities, think it imperative to
spend more money in buildings in
their own cities and express great
surprise at the small and inferior
buildings in many New England cities. |
The Finance Bill has been the
leading topic in the Senate the past
week, bringing out many able ad-
dresses. Senator Elkins took the
ground that the refunding of the
public debt should not be a part of
the bill three years before bonds ma
ture, but it ought to be a seperate
bill there might be reaction from
the prosperous conditions of the
present time, and he would allow the
Secretary of the Treasury some dis
erection in the matter. Senator Vol. |
colt of Colorado declared that BIZ
metalism had received its chief injury
at the hands of the Bryanites, allied
with the Populist party who demand |
16 to and not to maintain the full
hllment of promises. Many short
speeches were made before taking the
vote, but only two of the amend.
ments were adopted. The gold stan
dard bill passed by majority of II,
the vote stood 46 to 20. Senator
Chandler voted with the Democrats
against it. The bill now returns to
the House, Representative Boutell