davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-07-05

to the oppressed people of that island
the right of self-government. Our ul-
timatum delivered, we solemnly and
officially declared them to be free and
independent and 'disclaimed to the
world any disposition or intention I'D
exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction or
control over the island, except for the
qualification thereof, and asserted our
determination when that was accom-
plished to leave the government and
control of the island to it's people
''The conditions of the ensuing war
sent Admiral Dewey to the distant
Philippines, where another people en-
gagged in the same struggle with the
same. oppressor, appealed to the same
impulses of our nature. There he
broke the power of Spain, which suing
for peace, submitted to the liberation
OF Cuba and the cession of Porto Rico.
Our government disdained the spirits
of its manifesto OF April, and became
the purchaser of the Philippines IN
January. Since then, we have given
Cuba the benefit of our civic institu-
tions by governing her thru the war
department. We have kept faith with
Porto Rico by substituting the sugar
h.ron for the Castilian duke, and con-
firmed the Philippine estimate Of the
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-07-05

ed to the general stock of primary
money and relieves some part of the
stress of contraction which succeeded
the closureNof the Indian mints to sill.
yer in 1898. The consequent improve
ment in business and industrial condi-
tons may be traced directly to this
fact, altho the failure of crops in vari-
Gus portions of the world, and the wag-
ing of a great offensive war with its
accompanying expenditure of treasure,
have contributed to the general result.
The enlargement of the sum of our me-
tallic money, has cheapened its value,
stimulated prices and set the wheels of
enterprise again in motion.
No more signal demonstration of the
bimetallist contention was ever wit
messed. Had the concurrent coinage
and circulation of the two metals been
uninterrupted, they would have kept
the quantity OF our money of redemp-
ton in harmony with our national
growth and our development apace
with the increase of wealth and popu-
lation. The terrible crises of the past
quarter of century with their atten-
dant miseries and bankruptcies would
have been avoided, and prosperity
would have remained with us, unbrok-
en- and enduring. The false plea Of
1896, that the monetary vo.ume was
sufficient and the world supply of gold
ample for it's needs, is now transpar-
ent. It's error is admitted in the boast
of our opponents that they have in
creased our per capita circulation.
The vast quantities yielded by the
mines are readily absorbed by the
ceaseless demands for its use, and its
multiplied increase is earnestly hoped
for. No voice is raised against it's con-
tinled production. No fear is express
ed that we can be embarrassed by its
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-07-05

obligations 10 gold, stricken from its
contracts The reserved right of the gov
ernment to use its own money for the
payment of debts, and delegated to
private interest the power to supple
ment all deficiencies in the circulating
medium by the paper money whose
volume they shall regulate, and which
the people are taxed to support. The
greenback and the treasury note are
retired, an inert mass of $3.50, 00O, 900 in
gold, is to be kept in the treasury by
the issue of bonds whenever necessary,
the currency must shrink and swell as
the judgment of selfishness shall die
tate, and the pretended menace of BIZ
metallism against sound money and
the national honor has been evaded.
''This law, commended by the money
changer and the holder of idle capital,
seeking investment where taxation can
be avoided, is the elimination of Sc
ries of enactments beginning with the
measure of 1869 to strengthen the pub
lie credit, by which the financial affairs
of the Union have been placed wholly
within the control of a select few and
the burden of debt is constantly in
creased by the sacrifice of property
values. IT. is the logical sequence of
that sinister influence which has from
time to time introduced changes in the
public obligation where by every cove
nant in the public interest has disap-
peared. 1t contains within itself a
Pandora's box of evils which time will
surely open. Those who now applaud
will live IN ourca ;<.Gi+ci bona nj, -: nc,
will repudiate it when the wrath of an
outraged people shall be aroused by
the experiences Of its operation. The
skies are smiling now and the hills are
green, but the storm-cloud already ga
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-07-05

but united in condemning an unsound
and artificial financial system, the logi-
cal outcome of whose operation was
inevitable disaster.
"The line of division between politi-
cal forces became therefore sharply de-
fined in 1896 upon what was called the
money question. That question involv-
ed, as we then asserted and as we now
know, every other economic problem.
1t embraced within its wide limitations
the issues of labor and capital, of com
bination. and competition, of produce
ton. transportation and distribu-
tion. 1t was predicted that
the defeat of bimetallism would
be followed by the retirement
of all forms of government
currency, by the dedication of
thepower of note issue to the holders
of the national obligation, the practi-
cal consolidation of all lines of trans
portation, and the consequent domina-
tion Of every commercial pursuit by a
score Of colossal monopolies. These
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-07-05

predictions have in general been veri-.
fed.
Democratic defeat had scarcely been
recorded when the march of consolida-
ton was resumed. Every pursuit that
engages the attention of man has been
exploited. capitalized and appropriate
ed. The earth and the waters round
about it have been explored for sub
Jects OF. monopoly, and those who have
Numbered against unsound money
have used the printing press and the
engravers' art to turn out thousands
OF millions of fictitious values, to whose
profit the toilers and consumers pay
constant tribute. Every avenue of in
dustry is closed to the competitive en-
ergies OF the citizen, has been listed on
the stock exchange and rises and falls
with the turn of the gamblers card.
Consultations succeed consultations,
and as they lessen in number, they en-
large in the volume of their real and
fictitious accumulations, and their
more despotic sway over all material
and political interests. These. evils,
startling in their magnitude and inevi-
table in their consequences, must eth
er eliminate in one immense aggrega-
ton, all powerful and all absorbing, to
be arrested and dissolved by the force
of an aroused public opinion finding
expression ut the polls in support Of
the nominees of this convention.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-07-05

but for the millions who believe in the
money of the constitution, and in the
ability Of their countrymen to legis-
late for themselves without the previ-
GUS permission of foreign parliaments,
potentates or princes.
"'We are in very truth the party of
the people. Our declaration of faith
and purpose given to the world four
years ago, has been strengthened by
the passage of years, and is enshrined
today in our hearts and hopes. 1t
marked an epoch in political history
and symbolzed the regeneration of the
party whose birth was coeval with the
birth Of the Union, whose death that
Union cannot long survive. 1t crystal
lized into an undying creed the pre-
cepts of our founders -reaffirmed the
objects of democratic organization and
proclaimed democracy to be no longer
name, but "a great spirit and a lv-
ing heart
"The close of President Harrison
administration found the country face
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-07-05

theirs over those who have bartered the
dearest interests of the people to the
organized greed of a power whose av-
arice cannot be satiated with the uni
verse.
Against this iniquitous scheme of fl
nance, democracy protests. We will
have no money system founded upon
the public debt, and dictated by those
who hold it. We stand for the gold
and silver of the constitution. For a
paper currency founded upon them and
issued by the government as the en-
bodiment of our sovereignty. We will
not tax the people for the maintenance
of a private money system. We would
pay and not perpetuate our public debt.
We will dig our metals from the hills,
and open our minis to their coinage.
We will pay no tribute to Caesar for
that which is our own. We will
scourge the money changers from the
temple of our treasury, and reconse-
crate it to the service and the welfare
of the. common people.
''Those who assert that the money
question is dead have given but little
heed to the lessons of experience. 1t
can never N.le, uHlll IL SHdil IecelNeAlle
righteous solution. If it be true that
our monetary circulation is the life
blood of our commercial system, it
must follow that upon its wholesome
quantity depends our continued well
fare. Nostrums administered in time
of stress may postpone but cannot de-
feat the demand for complete and tho
TO renovation of vicious and destruct-
i've policy. The democratic party will
accept nothing short of this. No sub
stitute for the bimetallic principle up
on which substantial and enduring
prosperity must depend. Thru all Vi
cissitudes of political fortune, the need
lie of it's compass points to that as the
magnetic star of sound national policy.
"The phenomenal increase in the an
nual output of gold has materially add
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-07-05
zS.sS65YS0@EH01
WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN.

1.-The party in power carried the last
election by and thru the support of the
influences we now criticse. Having
purchased the right to pursue their va
rious objects, the government has been
at all times their powerful ally. Hence
the onward march of organized wealth
to absolute power and the eNaltation
of the dollar above the rights and the
welfare of the multitude. Hence the
crisis in our commercial affairs, whose
issue, presented in acute form to the
voters of 1900, is that of industrial des-
potism as against the liberty of the
citizen.
Democracy wages no war against
wealth. Under her benefcent rule, it's
creation and amusement have ever been
among the most worthy objects of hui
man effort. The desire for material
comfort and well being is the very
handspring of progress. The wealth
that comes as the reward of honest in
dus1ry and thrift commands and must
receive the encouragement and protec-
ton to all. But the wealth that comes
thru partnership with the government,
which usurps its prerogatives and per-
rerts its agencies, which absorbs the
resources and blasts the opportunities
of the individual, brushes competition,
levies tribute on the producer and con
sumner, corrupts and poisons all
branches of official life, and reduces
the citizen to dependence upon its will
excites our just apprehensions. Free
institutions must anguish in a
| -
rity cannot survive it's temptations.
| Against its continued prevalence the
conscience of the nation must be
quickened and aroused if it's bale
ful influences are to be destroyed. Mod
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-07-05
CARTER H. HARRISON.

ducers of wealth in every state and
territory of this mighty nation, to reg
isfer . decree they have already deter
mined, to proclaim a candidate they
have already chosen. We come. not
with the pomp and circumstance of
ccnsolidatelf wealth, but as the dele
gales ot tbs plain people who believe
that all men were created equal, and
that nj governments derive their just
powers from the consent of the gov
erned. We are not here as the repre-
sentatiyes of the vast interests which
dominate our industrial life, but as the
champions of the individual citizen who
stands helpless in their presence. We
speak not for those who would pivot
the finances of the world upon a, single,
metal. supplementing its inadequacy by
q paper currency issued by IL private
monopoly at the expense of the, people,
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-07-05

abundance, yet it's annual output ex-
ceeds that of gold and silver in the
years when the latter was repudiated
because of its threatened inundation.
Our opponents stand COMPOUNDED by
the irresistible operation of law they
have denied. Industry breathes with
more content because there is more
money for her purposes, and her votar-
les in the presence of its operation
unites with democracy in proclaimlng
the great truth that civilization gains
and humanity advances with every adj
dition to the worlds stock of gold
and silver, that each is the hand maid
of the other and both essential to the
constant and harmonious progress and
development of the world
'If the enormous gold yield of the
past five years were Indefinitely pro-
longed and the area of the gold staad-
ard were not extended the needs of
bimetallism would be relatively incon-
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-07-05
WILLIS D. OLDHAM.

the ebb and flow of the surging tides
of public opinion that soon shall over
whelm all who have used the machir-
erv OF the republic for The extinction
of commonwealth.
We have cheerfully submitted to
a burdensome taxation that Cuba
might be free;i that Porto Rico might
enjoy the heritage of our constitu-
ton. We have consecrated our sons 10
the cause of liberty and sent them
freely forth to extinguish the last ves-
tige of despotism in our hemisphere.
We protest against payment OF tribute
or the devotion of life to the cause of
empire. We will emulate monarchy
neither in conquest nor in govern
ment. We would perpetuate the Nom
roe doctrine, and realize with jefferson
that it's first and fundamental maxim
is never to entangle ourselves in the
broils OF the old world. We need not
despoil the helpless that we may trade
with them. We realize that stand
ing army is the attendant of imper-
ialism. We would avoid the latter pe-
cause once ayowed as a ma
tional policy, it must UNDER,
mine of our domestis institutions.
.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-07-05

sequent. But the production of gold
and silver oscillates, one or the other
always preponderating. The pendulum
will again swing to the other extreme.
Bimetallism knowing this, knows also
that the crisis returns if man shall re-
ject the offering nature presents for
our continued prosperity. Looking
backward over the past and forward
to the coming years, we ask this great
nation to provide against recurrence OF
disaster by adhering to the system of
finance which the fathers crystalized
in the constitution and base its future
policy on that secure foundation.
THE prevailing sentiment of demo-
cratic sympathy for all people strug-
Cling for the blessings of liberty COM
PEELED the administration two years
ago to interfere with the despotic ty-
ranny of Spain over Cuba, and secured
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-07-05

4 g Ut
white man by prolonging the Span
iard's method of colonial government
in those islands of the far-off seas.
The national sympathy for all who
seek self-government has been made
the instrument by which cupidity and
greed hold feeble nation in thrnll-
dom. The right of purchase is inyok-
ed to justify the adoption of So
called colonial puolicy oy the great
western republic, and her glorious in-
stitutions are declared to be for home
consumption, with prohibitive duties
against THEM expectation. The consti-
tuition is bounded by the domain OF
the As states, and the congress it cree
ated has absolute jurisdiction over all
that lies beyond them. The bill d
rights has become a bill OF platitudes,
the military governments centralized
in the war department IRE the agen-
cies of benevolent assimilation wher-
ever the flag floats beyond the confines
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-07-05

ern monopoly is the offspring of the
republican party 1t is the genius of
organized commercialism. 1t has nei-
ther conscience, sentiment nor patriot
ism. 1t knows neither justice nor NOR
atty. Its inspiration is greed. and it's
purposes accumulation. Corruption is
its necessary instrument. No public
service is too high, none too low to es-
cape its influences. Its hand is on
the throat and in the pocket of every
human being in the. nation. 1t sneers
at the rights of man, and 'defies the
sovereignty of states. 1t regulates
wages, and the prices of life's necessi-
ties. 1t divides the territory of the
Union into commercial provinces, pun
ishes integrity and rewards the UNI
scrupulous. 1t gives or refuses en-.
ployment at its pleasure. 1t blacklists
the workingman and sets him adrift to
starve in the midst of plenty. 1t
marches it's batallions OF, employees to
the polls, places its chosen ballot in
their hands, and coerces their support
for its fayorite instrument. 1t is en-
throned iii the councils of the nation
aud the states, sits upon the bench,and
makes and eNpounds the law. II gives
millions to its political protector to de-
bauch the consciences of freemen and
receives ten-fold return thru the legis-
lation that it dictates. 1t is marching
to despotism under the canopy of the
republic. 1t is the enemy of democra-
cy. which has accepted its gauge of
battle. Either the trust or the govern
ment must disappear. At the demand
of the so-called financial interests, the
present congress has enacted a new
currency law. BY its terms the
government has presented to the ma
ticpal banks $25,oOo.Oo0, giving them
control of our circulation, provided for
the payment in cash of the premium
values of the greater part of its bonds,
and created perpetual national debt.
1t has declared for the payment of all
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-07-05

of the ocean, Imperialism has become
a favorite word in the national voeab-
ulary. Destiny is the name Of it's fate
full brother. Trade expansion is the.
mystic verbal tie that binds them. All
are paradedfas the cause or the excuse
for every sin against the organic law
of our fathers, while ciamorous ap-i
peals to the so-called patriotism down
the solemn warning of sages and OF
statesmen against the certain tenden-
cies of the new dispensation. The salva
of unavoidable necessity is applied to
the national conscience, while its crit
ieisms are stilIed by the incantations Of
trade statistics compiled in the inter-
ests of monopoies which pursue their
pathway of constant accumulation
thru all the vicissitudes of the event.
full years, unmindful of the decay OF
our institutions and unperturbed by
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-07-05

in fury upon the continent. It shock
the foundations of our commercial fab
iric overwhelmed every branch of trade
and industry and spread bankruptcy
and desolation everywhere Its sub
sidance was the work of years. The
misery and ruin it inflicted are fresh in.
the minds and hearts of the people.
The country slowly emerged from the
leceding flood, the stricken Tation
struggled to its feet and painfully be-
gan the work of economic of recon-
struction, while statesmen discussed
the cruises of our calamity. In the ag-
.ony OF our suffering they clearly per-
ceived and freely acknowledged its pri-
nal source, vicious and indefensible
monetary system. Men differed as to
the method of its reformation not as to
the necessity for change. They
wrangled over the merits of standards.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-07-05
SPEECH OF GOVERNOR c. S. THOMAS
Address Delivered Today by Temporary Chairman Of the Demo
cratic National Convention

Kansas City, July An opening the
democratic national convention here to-
day Governor C. S. Thomas, of Colora-
do, temporary chairman, said:
sWe meet under most auspicious in
fuences. On the nations birthday, in
a great central city of the republic, at
the close and opening of a century, we
come together to reaffirm our ale
glance to the principles of Thomas JEFF
ferson and our loyalty to their great
est living exponent. We have been Sc
lected by the farmer and the artisan,
the miner and the mechanic, the pro-
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-07-05

acontinued on page 1s.l
The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1900-03-01
WANTS PREPARATION.
Batisford Says That He Was Appreciated
BY the Police without Any Reason.

It is reported this afternoon that E.
Batisford, who was recently appre-
hended by the police as a suspect of the
robbing of the Northwestern ticket
office, has employed an attorney and
will demand reparation from the COM
pany for what he has termed false
arrest.
Batisford was one of the men who
were hanging around the station at the
time of the robbery and he left on an
ice train for Chicago shortly after the
robbery is supposed to have occurred.
When he returned from Chicago he
was taken to the police Office and put
through the ''sweat box by the police
and railway detectives. He denied all
all connection or knowledge of the
crime, but the police held that the
stories told by Batisford were conflict
ing. He was not formally arrested and
was allowed to go unmolested.
The attorney for Batisford has writ
ten a letter to the Northwestern COM
pany asking that they make some
reparation to the fellow, but the COM
pany didn't see it that way and now an
effort will be made to force them to
recognize the claims of Batisford.
It is not thought that Batisford has
any claim against the company as the
police say that he was not placed under
arrest ard that he voluntarily came to
the police office in connection with the
robbery story.