Arizona silver belt., 1900-02-15
THE REAL ISSUE.
Col. William Jennings Bryan Says the White Metal is
 the Paramount Issue.
SOME PERTINENT QUESTIONS,
"The Trusts Can Only Be Destroyed By Those Who Oppose the Prin- ciple of Monopoly Wherever
 Applied,n Says Mir. Bryan,

Williams Jennings Bryan said:
 "The money question is still an is
 sue. It IS often suggested by golC
 democrats, by republicans who op
 pose the trusts, or by republicans wh'
 oppose imperialism, that the demo
 cratic party should drop the money
 question and make the fight in l90C
 upon new issue. That the money
 question will not be dropped is now
 apparent to every careful observer
 The republican party now seeks tC
 make the gold standard permanent by
 legislative act. The advocates of the
 gold standard have no plan for Secur-
 ing the necessary increase in the vol
 ume of standard money. Their ulri
 mate purpose is to withdraw from
 silver its legal tender qualities and make gold the only legal tender.
 "Then every dollar of debt will be paid in gold alone and every debtor will be compelled to find the gold, no matter how scarce it may be, or how difficult to secure. Every disturbance in gold standard countries will shake our financial system and the debtors will be the first ones upon whom dis aster will fall Since 1896 We have secured large amounts of unpromised and unexpected gold from the discoy- cries in Klondike, and also because of the famine in Europe, which created a demand for our breadstulfs at in- creased prices.
 The secretary of the treasury eX- cuSeS the loaning of government money without interest to national banks on the ground that this is neceS- sary to prevent an injurious contract ion of the currency. If, with this in- crease, the secretary is afraid to keep the revenues in the treasury for fear of disturbing business cOndi tiOnS, what would have been the condition but for the unpromiSed addition to the money supply, and what would be our condi- tion if any European disturbance caused an outflow of gold:
 'How can the democratic party avoid the issue without confessing the gold standard to be desirable:
 "The republican party not only seeks to make the gold standard per manent, but in the same bill it seeks to take from the Federal government the right to issue paper money and to surrender that right to the national banks The people never voted for such a proposition at an election.
 "The power to control and expand the currency at will enables the tinan- cial magnates to control the markets and secure for themselves fabulous fortunes at the expense of their victims.
 "The democratic party cannot drop the money question without turning the people over to the tender mercieS of the bank presidents, who will con trol business conditions by controlling the money supply.
 "There is no party, there is no group of men, working earnestly and dili- gently for the restoration of bimetal- | lism at any other ratio than l6 to l. | If the opponents of industrial trusts think that such trusts can be destroyed l by making peace with the money i trust, they deceive themselves.
 Behind the industrial trusts stand | the money magnates, who defend the gold standard. To make terms with the advocates of the gold standard in order to center the fight against in- dustrial trusts would alienate a ma jority of the sincere opponents of all private mOnoDOleS without cOrre- spending gain from the ranks of advo- cates of the gold standard.
 During MT. Cleveland'S administra- tion the gold democrats were in con trol, but the trusts were not interfered with. Under the present adminiStra- tion the gold republicans are in con trol, but the trusts are not .interfered with. The trusts can only be de- stroyed by those who oppose the prin- ciple of monopoly wherever applied.
 Advocates of the gold standard use the same epithets against the oppon- ent of trusts that they used against the opponents of the gold standard. If man opposed the gold standard in 1896 he was demagogue: so, it seems, is the man who opposes trusts now.
 'It is suggested that some gold democrats will return to the party if the party will give up silver and fight Who are the supporters of imperialism? The same people, as a rule, who support the gold standard, national bank currency and industrial l do not mean to say that all the advocates of the gold standard favor either imperialism or the trusts, but I do say that both imperialism and the trusts find the majority of their supporters among the supporters of the gold standard. "The republican party opposes the