The Republican., 1900-09-13

Senator Louis E. McComas was
specially requested by the Baltimore
american to set forth his reasons why
President Mckinley should be re-
elected this fall. The Senator sub
1nittet the following:
81 think prosperity and the full
dinner pail are good reasons. Said a
good Democrat in Baltimore city,
who employees nearly 300 men, and
who works as hard as any of them:
L shall vote for Mckinley, and | be-
lieve that nearly all of the 300 work
ingmen with me will do the same.
They are Democrats and Republicans,
but they will vote for Mckinley. l
examined my books for the four years
before McKinlev's Inauguration, and
| have examined them carefully for
the three and half years of Mckin-
ley's administration. l had less work +,
L lost money, my workingmen lost
money and time in the first period;
in the last period have made money.
more and more each year; l have ad-
vanced wages, have increased time,
and every man working for me is
working on full time and full pay,
better than he has known for years.
These men and have discussed this
matter, and we are nearly unanimous
that we do not want a change of con-
ditions, and l believe the election of
Bryan will end this unexampled pros
perity and plunge the country into a
panic; we are going to vote for the
country and ourselves and continued
prosperity and the full dinner pail
"This is the substance of an actual
statement made to me. Some of your
readers may easily verify this in
stance. A young workingman in the
iron industry, to whom l was speak
ing of the full dinner pail card, said:
My own experience in Baltimore
makes me voter for Mckinley and
prosperity. Before Mckinley was
elected our work was reduced until
received twenty per cent. less wages,
at reduced rate, at one-half time. |
am now working full time, with the
twenty per cent. added and a five per
cent. increase So said this young
and intelligent iron worker in Balti-
more, and added, i am going to vote
against changing the administration
and changing conditions. am afraid
of Bryan. lam satisfied with McKin-
ley.'
Each workingman in Baltimore
and the state knows the prosperity
argument in his own experience and
his environments. Mr.. Bryan in his
arguments four years ago appealed to
men in distress to vote for q change
to get prosperity. He now appeals
to men enjoying unexampled pros
perity to vote for a change. What
change can they want? Men in bust
ness and wage earners tried this ex-
pertinent in 1892. Then they had
Harrison and prosperity. They were
apathetic and independent. They
voted for a change. They had it for
three years; change which the young
man vividly remembers and the old
ought not to forget. They were all
busy, their employers were making
money. They insisted their employees
were making too much money. They
voted for change, and soon they
settled their employers. The en-
ployers made no money, the work
ingmen who voted for a change were,
therefore, getting no money. and with
reduced wages and an army of tramps,
those who voted against prosperity
bewailed its loss. do not believe the
sensible workingmen of the country
are going to vote against full dinner
pail this year. What higher praise
for an administration can there be
than universal prosperity; when the
poor are most employed and workers
receive most wages, and the masses
of men, women and children are well
off.
Business men must be reckless
who vote for Bryan. He is pledg-
ed to free silver. 1t is the para
mount issue, because it is the sole is
sue whereby he is the candidate OF
the silver Republicans, the Populists
and the Democrats. Mr.. Bryan, by
his speeches, appears to be a socialist.
The Populists are socialists, and Mr..
Bryan seems to have transformed the
conservative Democratic party into a
socialistic party. If Ire be elected he
must apply his free-silYer opinions in
administration. 1t would not take
long for Mr.. Tillman or Mr.. Towne,
as Secretary of the Treasury, to pay
off government obligations in silver
and maturing government bonds in