Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1900-04-04
S0phistrleS of Bryanlsm.

usual NtStOUI VI ibplS " hlSI nav (
crept into the understanding
through alliances of words and
His statement fits ex-
actly the intellectual processes Of
men like Mr.. Bryan. For, he
"men believe that their
reason governs words; but it is also
true that words react on the under
standing. Now words, being COM
monty framed and applied to the
of the vulgar, follow those
lines Of division which are most
obvious TO the vulgar understand |
ing" Further, OF the Idols" inn
posed on the understanding by |
loose use OF words, he says: They |
are either names of things which |
do moi exist !soE D there are things
let unnamed through lack of OBJ
scrvatson, SO likewise are there
names which result from fantastic
supposi,ions and 10 which nothing
in reality corIespondsl; or they are
names of things which exist. but
yet confiaed and ill-dehned, and
hastily ami irregularIy derived
from realities" Here you have a
photograph of The Bryan mind,
which unfortunately is not con-
fined to Colonel Bryan himself. 1t
permeates much of the general
mind, through and through.
Against no kind OF error is il more
necessary to be on our guard than
against the specious fallaceS and
false appearances generated by use
of words after the Bryan fashion.
The most recent Illustration OF this
misuse of words is this remark,
epitonizing the Bryan view Of the
Philippine problem:
II we hold the Philippines, the
Fiiipinos must be either citizens or
subjects. They cannot become cit
liens without endangering our
civilization they canno, become
subjects without endangering our
form o. free government.
Mr.. Bryan, we will assume, is
sincere in his apparent differentia.
ton of the two things, subject
and citizen" Blu. the distinction
is purely one of his own mental
creation, aud he relies for its gen
eral acceptance upon the willing,
ness OF the people to take his dis.
tinction for granted and their
inability to detect the flaw in It.
If the Filipinos participate in oui
government, he thinks, they will
be citizens if not, subjects. Thi.
is very far from the fact. We are
all citizens of the country, yet We
are all subjects OF our government
The Frenchman who declares hi.
intention to become an American
citizen is subject of the +. encl
republic. The Swiss applicant i.
n subject Of The Swiss republic
The citizen of Great Britain or o
Canada is subject Of Queen Vic
toria, but his liberties are as secure
his participation in government i,
as full as the Frenchman enjoys
or, in most ways, as the citizen o
the United States.
Whatever seriousness attaches I,
Mr.. Bryan as political figure il
due to the vote of eleven Southern
States, who were retained as sub
iects of the United States agains
their will. They became subjects
without endangering our form o
free government" except in so ia
as they support dangerous dema
gogues like Mr.. Bryan Tor tn,
presidency.
We have citizens without voic
in the federal government, in tn
District of Columbia, in Alask a
in New Mexico ard other terri
tories. They are citizens "withou
endangering our civilization" an,
at the same time they are subject
without endangering our form O
tree government As citizens the,
are subject TO the reigning author
isy at Washington; as subjects the,
have all the privileges of life, lib
crty and property to which tn
constitution entities them. Wha
comes then of Mr.. Bryan's drea,
alternative between ''citize en- an,
Subject ?" 1t vanishes into air
1t is the chimera of mind deal
ing in the words Of whose meanins
it has 10 real or accurate knowl
edge.
Aa.f ,t;. A. D. ::