The Saint Paul globe., 1900-05-06

directed against class distinctions. and.
Indirectly. against the possessOrs Of great
wealth. on the theory not only that riches
foster social distinctions but that those
| who have money seek invariably to
make use Of the government for their
own ends, and are therefore enemies of
Democracy and Of Republican institu
tons.
IT was In such an atmosphere that Mr.
Bryan was born and bred. He has heard
all his life the song Of the people-thcir
! virtues. their wrongs and sufterin3s He
has been impressed with the rapacity Of
the money lender, because his home has
| been among borrowers. The enmity felt
in some parts Of the West against the
lenders embraces bankers, land grant
railroads. and all who live upon their In
vested capital, as well as dishonest and
bankrupt mortgage companies 1t nat
urally expresses itself in an attack upon
all legislation which helps capital to
thrive by lending to it the aid Of govern,
ment. Because the land grant roads SOLD
land on mortgage to Nebraska farmers,
and charged what the farmers thought
were unjust freight rates for carrying
their produce to the market there IS q
demand for government ownership and
control of all railroads. Because tie
homes of men have been sold on fore
closure in order to satisfy mortgages held
by Eastern men; because the manu-
factuTers of the East have been protected
by tariff laws; because he great ac-
cumulationS Of money are in Eastern
cities; because most of the government
bonds are held III the East, the East is
the ''enemy's country
Mr. Bryan represents the people who
honestly believe that the wealth, and
especially the corporate wealth, of the
United States employs its power over
.,al,,
at the expense Of the agriculturists of the
country. 1t was inevitable that Mr.. Bry-
an should be Obsessed by this ignorance
for it IS ignOrance-becauS he never
opened his eyes to the virutes of people
dwelling beyond his own social and geo.
graphical surroundings. He never came
out of the West. He was taught at a
Western school and a Western college,
and he studied his profession at q West
ern law school. He is not ignorant sbe7,
cause the West does not educate 1.-The
mind with The teachings of the school,
books. it does. He is ignorant because
he mas not learned the virtues of other
people than his own. He Is as ignorant,
for example, as the Eastern man who
has never been west of the Allegheny
mountains, and who regards Bryan as
dishonest simply because he says and
does what no intelligent Eastern man
can say or do unless he be dishonest.
Bryan is the leader OF movement
which is the elimination Of a lOng-exist-
ing evaporation against the partnership
between the government and -he pro-
tccted interests. The silver question was
an incident. In 1896 it had come to this
with Bryan and his supporters: anything
70 beat the Eastern capitalist. This
evaporation had been inaugurated and
intensified by the betrayal of the Demo-
cratic party on the tariff issue by Eastern
Democrats. Men OF very fine character
but of strong and irrational prejudices are
enlisted il this movement, which prob
ably would not have reached its present
unfortunate Importance If the East had
been wise in its turn.
In the coming campaign Bryan must
be dealt with seriously His personality
viii not be so much in question as 1t was
four years ago, and, while it will perhaps
count for a good deal at first, it is not
likely to count for as much as the cam
paiSn progresses. He will always be the
orator Of class jealousy against the East
and the enemy of class legislation which
increases Wealth-Whether Of manufac-
turers or of the seekers Of bounties. In
his war against this kind of class legis
lattOn he has come TO favor class Iegisla-
ton for those who have hitherto borne
the burdens. He Will probably never
cnange, because he is mature at forty.
and his sympathies and thoughts will re-
main those of the people among whom
he was born and reared On his views
and theories touching domestic and eco
nonlic questions, the votes of the East
and the strongholdg5 of the Middle West
would be against him now as they were
four years ago; but he will seem 10
many who do not usually agree with