Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1900-03-10
Mr.. Bryan's Chances.

Four years ago Mr.. Bryan stood
for what many regarded as a pro-
paganda Of anarchy. The silver
plank in the Chicago platform. which
was, unfortunately for the Demo-
Gratis, made the most conspicuous
and threatening feature OF the con-
fict, enabled the orators and organs
of the capitalistic combinations OF
the country to proclaim that Bryan's
success meant dishonest money"
1.-The degradation of the dollar" and
the robbery of the horny-handed
son of TOLL What dreadful pictures
were drawn of the consequences of
Democratic success, 1t is now impos.
sible to adequately describe. The
wreck of enterprise and industry,
the ruin of the poor man, the ex-
termination OF agriculture and the
dawn of a hellborn carnival-these
were only few Of the gruesome
prospects dangled before the eyes OF
the ignorant and timid voter. News
papers ranted about the "fifty.cent
dollar" stump speakers brayed and
howled over the infamy OF paying
the laborer only half his wages.
Pensioners, persons depending upon
limited annuities, all the swarms OF
the salaried, were told that they tot
tered on the brink of perjury. Never
was there so simple and so sharply
defined an issue, and never was the
opportunity for blatant and insensate
cutlery so inviting. We all remember
how it ended.
But what difference nowl The
Republicans themselves have de-
liberately removed the bugaboo OF
free silver from their property room.
The enaction of the law fixing the
gold standard as part of our national
policy makes silver coinage impossi-
BILE for at least six years to come. No
manufacturer or capitalist or great
merchant or employer need be
frightened into heavy contribution
to the Republican campaign fund.
Were Bryan to be chosen President
next November, and were Demo
cratic House to be elected simultane.
ously, the peril of free silver, like
that of free trade, would be no nearer
or more real than it is at this mo-
ment. There would still be majority
in the Senate capable of preventing
either calamity, and no power at the
disposal of the Executive to overcome
the obstacle. Those two grisly night
mares no longer throng the atmos
phere. No one outside of nurseries
and asylums can now be frightened
by these buckram spooks.
On the other hand, what strength
has the Republican party gained to
offset this loss of weakness by the
Democracy? Very little, we fear. The
splendid and successful conduct OF
the war with Spain has been sadly
clouded by the scandals of mismana-
cement and favoritism which at
tended that glorious contamination.
The course of the Administration
with reference to Cuba and the
Philippines has lost the party many
stout and potent friends. The
strange policy recently adopted
toward Porto Rico has outraged
practically the entire country. The
Hay-Pauncefote treaty has still
further impaired Mr.. McKinley's
prestige, and the rumored purpose of
the President to compel it's ratifica>
ton will, if it should be realized, not
only discredit the Government, but
bring contempt and odium upon the
party. In a word, the situation, as
it seems to us, is far more favorable
to Mr.. Bryan and far less favorable
to Mr.. Mckinley than it was four
years ago.
What will happen within the next
six months, it is not for us to prophe-
sy. We deal with the facts as they
are at this moment. In our opinion,
the Republican party has lost ground
10 an alarming extent within the
past three months. Its best friends
and ablest opponents have not been
able to explain the betrayal of our ma
tional integrity involved in the Hay
Pauncefote treaty, or to defend the
bad faith and cruelty involved in our
treatment of Porto Rico. We say
nothing of the stupid mismanage-
ment in Cuba and the Philippines,
the ugly and appalling suspicious cur
rent with reference to both them and
Porto Rico. Having no certainty, we
speak no word. But We assert, with
out fear of contradiction, that the
is daily losing strength
on all these scores, and we know for
a certainty, that thousands of men
who, four years ago, regarded Mr..
Bryan with terror and aversion, now
consider him favorably as the lesser
of two evils, Washington Post.
.