Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1900-10-05
WHAT BRYAN'S ELECTION
means TO LABOR,
Only Question Is Whether Wage.
Farmers Want Hard Times.
Democratic Policies Drove Thousands to
the Streets Before and Will Do So
Again if Bryan Is Successful.

shS Siu NE HSHt. IIilu Niu ilu lOus
of the fallen guns of imperialism and
militarism, there is danger the people of
this country may lose sight of the fact
that the election of Mr.. Bryan means the
overthrow of the protective tariff system
and the introduction of 81 frrr-iradc pro-
gram into the policy of ,!:r government.
Our people have Short memories and they
sometimes forget and need to be remind
ed.
MIR. Bryan was Il member of the Fifty
second and Fifty-third Congresses and
took II very active part nj one" upon TAX
ing his seat. In the l'ifty-third Congress,
OF which l was a member. the Wilson bill
was under consideration. 1t was the pas
sage of that bill which plunged this coun-
try into ruin. 1t does not make any differ
cnce what people say about the origin of
hard times, the intelligent laboring man
of this COUNTRY knows very we'll that he
ceased to earn II living for himself and
family because of the Generalization of
business caused by the repeal of the Me
kinley law and the passage of the Wilson
act. 1T was that which prccipitatcd
wages to the lowest cbb that they have
been for many IL year. 1t was that which
sent marching columns of hungry men
over the country demanding food. 1t WAS
the passage of that bill that made it pos
sible for any intelligent man to listen for
a moment to the speeches of such men as
Bryan in 1896.
On the floor of the House in the de-
bates on the Wilson hill Bryan took the
extreme fl.np-frn1n r,ounI His suno.bnv
are on record and the laboring men of
the country can find them and read them.
He especially announced himself as in ia
vor of absolute ircc-trade upon many of
the leading products of the farm. notably
wool, which he insisted should be put
upo the free list of the Wilson hill.
When that bill was passed by the con-
currencc of the House in Tho six hundred
amendments of the Senate it was Bryan
a Hon. Jos. Bailey, IL representative,
from the State OF Texas. who in their
ecstasy seized the champion, who was the
putntivc father of the law. the Hon. w.
l.. Wilson. of West Virginia. and carried
him on their shoulders in Il triumplal pro-
cession through the House of Representa-
tives into the clOak-room anu IL %saturnaiia
of joy resounded from those premises. 1t
was Bryan who favored the introduction
Of foreign material into this country free
of charge. 1t was Bryan who demanded
that all raw material such as wool, coal.
Iron. and everything which entered into
the manufacture of goods, should he i'm
ported free. and it was his influence.
more than amy other mans. that brought
about the terrible result with which we
are so familiar.
1t was Bryan's earnest demand that
800 ...-l r a.
bate he declared that he did not care
whether it benefited or hurt the wool
grower. 1t was Bryan who drove the
tariff on coal down to such am extent as
to flood the Eastern markets with coal
and stimulate the growth of the develop
mcnt of coal in the British possessions in
the northeast. and practically drove us
out of the scahoard markets with the soft
coal of Central States. 1t was Bryan
who advocated the low tariff ON asricml-
tural products and utterly refused To dis
criminate or allow discrimination i'll favor
of the products of the West and Middle
West. The laborins men of the country
n the farmers of the country, before
they plunge themselves into the vortex
that is being held out. should get Bryan's
record and read it. 1t is Il very interest
ing chapter in the personal politics of that
gentleman. The platform made at Kan
sas City is very adroit in laying the foun-
dation for an enactment in Congress.
should Bryan he elected. satisfactory to
his history and record. MOI larins to as
sail protection directly he came at it in
the platform which lie personally con-
Quoted as follows:
'Tai'itf laws hould he amended by put
ting the products of trusts upon the free
list. s. * - We condemn the Dingley
tariff law as Il trust breeding measure,
skillfully devised. etc."
That is the platform of the party de-
nominated the Democratic party and
whose nomination Mr.. Bryan accepted.
The original Populist party. whose candi-
date MIR. Bryan now is. ! refer to the
Sioux Fails nomination.. also places itself
on record in n similar attitude. So Mr..
Bryan, without any apology for the past.
stands upon Il series OF platforms nil
squirting ia the direction Of free trade.
and in the event of his election, with IL
Congress subservicnt to his dictation, MS
was the convention at Kansas City, we
may look for just such legislation as pre-
cipitated this country into the condition
with which we are all familiar. 1t is
therefore very nnwise for the people of
the country to be led away from the two
greet propositions of Mr.. Bryan's life.
the Two propositions for which he stands.
the t@o propositions which make up Bry-
anism. to wit. free and unlimited coinage
Of silver, and free trade. and follow off
after the illusion and dclusion of inl-
peria1ism.
III the intelligent agricnlturist will take
the prices of his products in 1896 and
ompare them with the present prices of
the commodities. and then take the Ding.
ley tariff Law. he will at once discover to
what he is indebted for the advauce in
prices. III the laboring man will take first
the price Of his labor in 1896 and then the
price of his labor in 1900 and then tske
the table of imports OF foreign manufac-
tured goods in 1896 and back of that time
n then take the imports of foreign
goods now, as shown by the statistics of