Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1900-10-18
BUS S III EREsjS
INF ERlLED. BY BRY AN

~ sis ~ = y. tll-s1 sa
NE / g E !. I ed BY BRYAN
HIS ELECTION WOULD MEAN 4
TRYING; REIMBURSEMENT
Voters should Rem ember the Fear
ful Storm Which Passed over
the Country When Cleveland
Was Elected in 1892.
The timely and pertinent article
| from n y the pen Of Secretary Gage on
the subject of the gold standard law
and the opportunity that the presi-
dent would have to 5nullify it's effects.
and his reply to Mr.. Schurz, suggests
g danger that is not only imminent,
out IS apparent, when considered with
the conditions resulting from the last
administration under Mr.. Cleveland.
N the campaign that ended in the
election Of that gentleman the issue
was vas the tariff, The Democratic plat
form had denounced the Mckinley
llial law IN the usual terms; had pledged
the country that If given power, it
would repeal the protective tariff and
substitute tariff for revenue only;
denouncing the reciprocity clause as
fraud, etc.
MS was a pledge on the part of
the democracy which, if elected, it
was IN duty bound to fulfill, and con-
lrary TO the general expectation Of the
business men Of the country Mr.
Cleveland and both houses of congress
favorable to the Democracy, were
elected. -
Inc questions that presented them
selves to the minds Of the business
men were: (. =. =. 4 e. .==
What changes will be made in the
tariff ?" NJ {. ,5,g.- :. /
TO what extent will those changes
go?'' 55% s. ~ i =" .>.1S''1'E
How will it affect the industries Of
the country?'' ..,.s If z
will my business be affected and
to what extent?" .|s& q
Then followed the inevitable re-
trenchment on the part Of the business
men to make themselves safe and to
|
the consequences Of the changes that
the democracy was pledged to make.
NO country could undergo the pre-
paratory. stage of such radical changes
resulting from the election without
feeling the effect, and the sudden halt
to which all business interests were
brought precipitated the panic.
Mr.. Cleveland and his advisers
failed to see the cause, and as con-
sequence the Democracy went off on
the wrong scent. When congress was
called together in the spring of 1892 by
Mr.. Cleveland it. was to consider the
adv1sahility of repeating the Sherman
law, as measure Of relief in staying
the storm. Instead of making the
changes pledged to be made in the
tariff laws. and after spending several
months quarreling, during which time
the business interests of the country
were trying to adjust themselves to a
change they could only anticipate, and
the smaller concerns We're collapsing
like frame houses in a tornado, con-
gress managed to repeal the purchas-
ing clause, and adjourned
+ Newspapers attributed the panic to
first one cause and another, and the
Democratic party was all at sea.
Values were shrinking, prices were
going down, mills were closing, fur
naces We're being banked, mercantile
houses of all kinds and sizes were
breaking, banks were closing their
doors. thousands and thousands OF
wOrk1ngmen and laborers Of all kinds
We're thrown out Of employment, and
went In good many instances as
charges to the charitably inclined
every city of any consequence opened
soup houses to help the starving; in
fact, to use a figure of speech, it was
! the wreck of a, cyclone in the business
houses of the United States, and the
party in power not only failed to APP
ply the necessary relief, but was ut
terly unable to comprehend the cause
of the disaster, and tried to shift the
responsibility Of their vacillating, sell
fish. ofhce-gra bling, business-wreck-
Ing policy upon the shoulders Of the
previous administration.
The cause of the panic, as viewed
from a business STANDPOINT, was the
inability Of the Democratic party to
handle the affairs Of the government
in a crisis. A prompt and decisive
action on the part of the party In
power In fulfilling its pledges would
have in a measure saved the country
millions of dollars loss. But, instead
of this prompt action. there was Moth
ing but needless procrastination, ana
when the Wilson bill was finally
passed it was so unsatisfactory that
the president refused to sign it,
The same kind Of danger, in worse
form, vii. threaten the country should
Mr.. Bryan be elected. The Democratic
party is pledged t to free coinage Of
silver at the ratio Of 1e to 1, both in
the Chicago and Kansas City plat
forms, and Mr.. Bryan, in his speech
delivered at Knoxville Sept 18, 1896,
said If
M IT there is any one who believes
that the gold standard is a good thing,
or that It must be maintained, I warn
him not to cast his vote for me, be-
cause I promise him it will not be
maintained in this country longer than
/ am able to get rid Of it,
D Suppose he is elected president, and
should have congress his way OF
thinking, would not the country be
justified in believing that the Demo
cratic party would attempt to carry
out its pledges? Would not the bust
ness interests be justified in trying to
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