Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1900-10-26
COMSI0CK'S SPEECH.
Able Presentation of the Issues of the
Campaign by SIG. comstock
Wednesday Evening.
Democratic Hypocrisies and 1nconsist-
encies Laid Bare in a Mastery
Manner.
Large Audience Hears one of the Best
Expositions Of the Real Issues
of the Campaign.

ton of the issues of the presidential
campaign this year was that of Hon,
S. G. Comstock of Moorhead at the
Atheneum Wednesday night. II is an
address that every voter in the counrv
should have heard. Devoid of flour.
lsh or %oratorical effort, Mr.. Comstock's
speech was full of force and common
sense. He was not on the defensive.
He was on the aggressive and he
stripped the shams and deceits from
the alleged democracy of TODAY and
showed up the fallacies and inconsist-
encies, not to say dishonesties. of the
professions of the democratic leaders.
Beginning, Mr.. Comstock alluded
briefly to the changed conditions that
prevailed now and at the time he
spoke in the city four years ago.. Then
business was stagnant-industry dead.
Today business was never so good. ev-
cry industry is Furnishing, and the
country rejoices in such prosperity as
IL mas never seen before. He would
refer to a single fact to prove his
a In the 1O7 years prior to 1897.
the balance of trade of this nation
with foreign countries was 1888 O
ONO. In the three years of Mr.. Nc
klnley's administration the balance
OF Grade was over 1,4OO millions of dol
lars. Thus we had made greater
strides in advance in business by over
1000 million dollars in the past three
years than we had made in the pre-
o lo1 years. The policies of the
republican party were responsible for
this. Where five years ago we were
selling bonds in Europe at four and
live per cent to raise money, this year
we are the financial center of the
world and foreign countries are COM
ing to us for financial assistance. In
The past few years we have sold bonds.
under the administration of McKiu-
ley, for the payment of war expenses
and for refund.ng of other debt, at
U n , per cent bonds at that.
viii e England recently sold 3 per cent
bonds at a discount. These are facts
that prove the financial standing of
the country.
Mr.. Comstock said it grieved him
to note that nowhere in the speeches
OF the democratic opposition could he
find an expression of qualification or
pride for the wonderful achievements
OF this nation-for it's financial adj
vances-for it's prosperity. The op-
position leaders seemed to have plenty
OF feeling for the Filipinos but none
for the United States-no pride in it's
institutions.
The speaker then took up seriatim
the issues of the campaign as RAISED
by the democrats. He said he had
heard Mr.. Bryan speak at Fargo and
he regretted to say that he was con-
WINGED that the democratic candidate
for the high Office of president was in
sincere. He was out after votes. It
reminded him of a story he heard of a
party on Summit avenue in st. Paul.
A democratic statesman was there and
as he gazed across at his fair partner
at the card table he observed: Miss.
we are after tricks and don't care a
d how we get EN-" This was
the case with Mr.. Bryan. He was
after votes and he didn't care how he
got them.
Mr.. Bryan began his speech, he said,
by telling about his farm. He stated
that he had five acres of oats but he
had done no threshing yet. Possibly
he made this statement to excite SYM
pathy, but if so he failed, because ev-
eryone down that way was convinced
that he would get all the threshing he
wanted in November (laughter). Then
Mr.. Bryan went on to tell the horrors
of militarism. He said it was the
intent of the republican party to build
a fort neal every large city and use
the soldiers to overawe all the people
whose rights were not protected by
special legislation. Mr.. Comstock
did not think there was any great oo-
lection to the building of forts near
cities, judging from the fact that Bis
marck had just had one established
and didn't seem to be at all sorry
about it. He supposed that every
Bryanite in Bismarck was opposed to
the establishment of the post Qaugl-
teri.
Now, said Mr.. Comstock, MI. Bryan
knew that there was no such danger
as he pictured, but he thought it a
good way to delude recent arrivals to
this country who did not know N 1t
i. would be impossible to govern this
people with %soldiery. He said that
a populist friend of his in Moorhead
admitted to him after the speech Of
Bryan that there was no such danger,
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