Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1905-10-09
BRYANY0ROOSEVELT OUR COUNTY DADS
v. ]. BRYAN ADDRESSES AN Open
LETTER TO The President
On the Eve of His Departure on
Tour Around the World. Stand
bY the People and the People will
Uphold You. An Interesting and
Patriotic Letter.

To President Roosevelt: Permit
parting word. You have the contest of
your life before you and desire to rem.
der you all the assistance in my power
You have asked congress to enact a law
so enlarging the powe,s of the interstate
commerce commission as to permit it to
fix and enforce reasonable freight rate,
and the railroad lobby was strong enough
to stop in the senate the bill passed by
the house. The railroad magnates ex-
pect to block the passage of the bill
again. The National City Bank of New
York has advised its patrons that no
rate legislation is probable; the railroads
have been at work all summer circulating
literature against railroad regulation,
and the senate contains number of
members so intimately connected with
railroad interests that they can not be
expected to take the peoples side. The
railroads will try to persuade you; if
they fail in this they will try to scare
you; if they fail in this also they will
try to defeat your recommendation. 1t
will embarrass YOU to have strong party
leaders against you you may even be
embarrassed bv having so many demo-
Gratis cooperating with you, but you
must reconcile yourself to both. In this
fight your strength lies in the fact that
you have large majority of the voters
OF all parties with you.
Pass over the rnilroad representatives
and appeal to the people. Compel the
opponents of railroad legislation to meet
the issue in the open. There is no logical
or even plausible argument against the
legislation which you recommend. A
railroad corporation is creature of law;
it has no rights except those conferred
upon it by the people. 1t is inconceiva-
BILE that the people should create cor
poration without reserving the right to so
control it as to make it subserve the pub.
lie interest The right of the people,
acting through organized government, to
control according to their own pleasure
every corporation created by them must
be conceded and the necessity for the
exercise Of that control is clearly demon
strated. Extortion in rates, unfarness,
discrimination against persons, discrimi-
nation against places. midnight tariffs
and rebates galore-all these iniquities
have resulted from lack of regulation
They are IN olerable and must be stopped.
Will yon use the great influence OF your
high office to secure the regulation now,
or will you leave the honor to sue
cessor?
They will tell you that effective rate
legislation will disturb the harmony of
your party. You can answer that a re-
fusal to respond to he just demands of
the public means not harmony but po
ltical death.
The democrats, if they had no higher
purpose than to secure control of the
offices, might wish you to lead the rail-
road element Of your party, but they are
citizens first and democrats afterward.
They are more interested in securing
needed reforms than they are in securing
credit for the reforms. If, as think
probable, it is found necessary to change
the method of electing senator's before
that body is brought into sympathy with
the masses You will find enthusiastic
support in the advocacy Of this reform.
-Four times the house Of representatives
has by an almost unanimous vote de-
clared in favor of the election of senators
by direct vote, twice when the house was
democratic and twice when it was repub.
lican.
If, in your fight you deem it wise to
attack the trusts, you will find that they
have few friends---none worth cultivating.
If you are willing to help reduce the
tariff where it shelters trust you will
find the democrats ready to aid you, and
with them an increasing number of re-
publicans. If, encouraged by the success
of your efforts in the anthracite coal
strike you decide to urge the establish
nent OF permanent board for the arbi- !
tration of differences between labor and |
capital, you will find growing force be. !
hind you.
Stand by your guns! You have de. !
veloped reform element in the repubIi.
can party; you must lead it or suffer the |
humiliation OF seeing the leadership pass
to someone else.
Your words have excited great ex pecta.
tions which must be met, for you will be !
measured by your own words. The
Commoner commended your message of !
last December and will lend you any in.
fuence it may have so long as you advo-
cate reforms. Go forward, you owe it to
yourself, you owe it to YOUR party, and,
more than all, you owe it to your country.
-. w. ]. BRYAN.
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