Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1900-09-06

bOlu Warp -
what might and very probably r vaa,,
happen to the finances of tho "Ouh
Bryan should be elected. He show. ,, !,
Mr.. Bryan as president could sooa 'a
the country on n silver haste put
MIR. Bryan is a fanatic and has -. NV y
his intention to rehabilitate silvo. s'ed
earliest possible moment, no ons s : ne
that he would carry out the program sa y.
out by Mr.. Gage and DESTROY ~ 'ad
of the nation in his blind dons ''eof
silver. NAoa TO
But 1t is not necessary 70
what would happen if Bryan sbona usf
elected as a result of executive i. 70
his part. What would happen befor. ,
should be inaugurated and before - "
fore, he had time to act? 1t reouisa
gift of prophecy to say that %
would follow Immediately after ,h a'aS
nouncement OF the result. Stocks wo',,
fall as on Black Friday. The nonn,,'
no doubt think there would be ~
harm in that, the losers being the can't, sa'
lists, against whom they main,a;.
special grudge. But would the CAN'T,
lists suffer? The rich men owpinc -
outright would hold onto tboi,
sions awaiting a reaction: nav {
would become richer by buying a. =.
inai prices the stocks thrown upon 4.
market by the small holders ana j,
who happened to hold stock on ms,.,s
The brokers would not suffer, but won,s
do a land Office business on comm;.s,
and again by. the activity of the m.,r.
even though it should be a fallin, i.
There would be some failures, no douht
but always in the debtor class IT,
who happened to have command Of mo,..
would have the opportunity to mai.
fortunes. Following this panic vo,p
come a withdrawal of capital from bu,i
ness enterprises, partly for immedls,.
speculation in stocks, partly to be hoaa,
ed for a safer season of investment.
But this withdrawal of. capital f,on
business would involve the closing :,
industrial establishments and the n,
charge OF workmen. Reductions in ths
rate OF wages, discomfort aad strike,
grow naturally out of this situatio,
There Is no power known to man tb,,
could avert these immediate consequences
oil the election of Bryan. They would
be made manifest before his inauru,,.
ton. He might make conditions worse
by putting the country on a silver basis.
the best he could do in four wears Of
good administration would be TO reusir
the damage caused by his election
There would be a recovery, of course,
from the first depression, but no man
who has had experience IN such matters
would look for a quick recovery, unlss
Bryan should repudiate the democrats
and populistic platforms, and even then
the nation would have little confidence
In his declarations. We can say with
perfect confidence that if "a lighted match
is applied to a pile of wood saturated
with coal oil a hot fire will resultant
because a trust is manipulating the coal
oil market, but because of what are called
natural laws. In just the sam way we
can prophesy that the election Of Bryan
would create a disastrous panic and re.
suit in much distress, not because Of
anything done by Mr.. Bryan, or Of any
concerted action In Wall street, or else.
where, but because investors would BE-
come alarmed and get into a panic BY
reason of the just fears they entertain
respecting the administration of the gov.
ernment by the populists .-Philadelphis
Ledger (ind.)