Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1908-09-19
Bryan Against His Former Self.

peal for. campaign funds. 1T
was a joint. call for cash, and it
was signed by both the Demo
cratic candidates. From that
interesting bit of beggary we
quot the following:
There are hundreds of thou
sands of farmers who are abund-
antly able to contribute to the
campaign fund. There are thou
sands who could give 500 a
piece without feeling it; there
are tens of thousands who could
give $50 apiece without sacrifice;
and still more who could give $25
or SO or s..
The condition of that country
whose farmers are able to give
so largely and so easily toward a
campaign fund as is indicated in
the above quotation is surely not
such as to call very loudly for a
change of administration. 1t is
worthy of note that we are now
nearing the closing months of an
unbroken period of twelve years
of Republican rule It is also
quite proper to contrast Mr..
Bryan's testimony on this oc-
casion with his own testimony as
to the conditions prevailing at
the close of a four year period of
his own party'S administration
in 1896, when he was first pres
Dental candidate
Prolific of speech, as he was,
it is not difficult to find his own
and other utteranceS on the sub
ject, and we refer to just a few
of the many which are obtainable.
For instance, in the fall of 1896,
at Lexington, KY, he comment
ed on the banners carried in a
procession, challenging his OPP
ponents to find a Republican
speech which contained as much
truth as this: High Money
Low Times" Or this: Our
Barns are Full, but Our Pockets
are Empty" At that time he at
tributed all this sad condition to
the gold standard, which he de-
clared, "starveS everybody ex-
cept the money changer and the
money owner" Imagine Bryan
during those Democratic -times
telling the farmers that thou
sands of them could give hun
dred dollars each and not feel it.
And yet he is begging these
same farmers for funds to help
bring about another four year
period of Democratic conditions.
In the same year Senator Tell
er in his famous farwell address,
in which he forsook Republican
ism and fed to Organism, said:
I'm this year of 1896 the Ameri-
can people are in greater dis
tress than they ever were in
their history" In that year the
gentleman who was the temper
ary presiding officer of the con-
vention which nominated Bryan
said:
THE prices of land and manu-
factured goods and all kinds of
agricultural and mechanical pro-
duce have fallen, the public rev.
enues have fallen, the wages of
labor have fallen, and everything
has fallen but taxes and debts. .
If our Democratic friends will
carefully persue their party S
platform for that year they will
find a condemnation of the
''Cr1me of '73" and a charge
that this % years old crime"
was responsible for the pros
tration of industry and impover-
ishment of the people," and had
locked fast the prosperity of an
industrial people in the paralysis
of hard times in 1896" OF this
platform Mr.. Bryan said; Il un-
qualifiedly endorse each plank. =
It was at that time freely and
solemnly prophisied by him that
if we (the Democrats) are defeat
ed in this campaign there is
nothing before the people but
four years more of harder times
and greater agitation, and then
the victory will come" Con
ditions cannot be improved. he
declared, by following the Re
publican policies. Yet, notwith-
standing this dark prophecy. con-
ditions did improve, and they
have improved so greatly that
we can now hear Mr. Bryan him
self declaring:
There are hundreds of thou
sands of farmers who are able to
contribute to the campaign fund.
There are thousands who could