The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1908-09-10
BRYAN As PROPHET :
FAILS TO QUALIFY
Disasters He ForetoId Never
: Come to Pass.
OPPOSITE is ALWAYS TRUE.
Gold Standard Does Not Stay, Nor
OPPOSITE is ALWAYS TRUE.
Gold Standard Does Not Stay, Nor
Does It Write Future In Blood.

an has never been q success. The ca
lamities which he has foretold would
have brought unlimited disaster to the
country if they had ever been realized.
But they never came to pass. The har-
rowing pictures which he painted were
merely Pigments of his Imagination.
based on absolutely no foundation
whatever.
1t is we'll to have Americans remem-
Der that prophecies uttered by the ora
tor of the Platte must be discounted
fully 100 per cent, for all signs indi-
cate that he feels the fates once more
and is about to begin prophesying
again. A male Cassandra, Mr.. Bryan
might by this time have learned that
the forecast of evil will never be be-
lieved by those who have found that
in the,past his Vaccinations have been
but empty air.
"Driving Country to Ruin"
For instance. when Mr.. Bryan was
member of the house of representa-
tives in 1892 he was absolutely certain
that protection was driving the coun-
try headlong to rack and ruin, and in
his speech delivered March 16 of that
pictures:
"Protection has been our cannibal
tree, and as one after another of our
farmers has been driven by the force
of circumstances upon that tree and
has been crushed within its folds his
companions have stood around and
shouted, Great is protection. Thus
in every state, 50 far as these statis-
tics have been collected. the proportion
of home owning farmers is decreasing
This means but one thing. 1t means
land of landlords ana tenants, and,
backed by the history of every nation
that has gone down, | say to you that
no people can continue free people
under a free government when the
great majority of its citizens are ten
ants of a small minority. Your sys-
TEN protective tariff has driven the
farm owner from his land and sub
stituted the farm tenant"
How far this picture portrays the
America of today or the America of
any year since he made that speech
any American can answer Even in
Mr.. Bryans own state he can find an
answer right at his doors. for the farm
lands of Nebraska have doubled in
value.
"Murderous Gold Standard"
But during the four years succeeding
that speech Mr.. Bryan's agitation grew
no less nor did the demon which he
with diminished head, for in 1896 he
again saw restitution threatening the
country. He had a remedy for it,
panacea, fetish which he held up for
worship-free silver Here are some
of the things Mr.. Bryan said would
tinued:
Il reply that if protection has slain
it's thousands the gold standard has
slain its tens of thousands" - From
Speech at Democratic National Con-
vention July, 1896.
DO not let the Republicans beguile
you about the future. The future is
written in blood crushed out of you by
gold. From Speech at Erie, Pa, Au-
gust, 1896.
'Ah, my friends, there is another rea-
son why people have gone into the
cities and left the farms. 1t is because
your legislation has been causing the
foreclosure OF mortgages upon the
farms. = = i Mark my words! Ii the gold
standard goes on and people continue
to complain the gold standard advo-
Gates instead of trying to improve the
condition Of the people will be recon-
mending that you close your schools SO
that the people will not realize how
much they are suffering" - From
Speech at Monmouth, ILL.,, October,
1896.
But whom has the gold standard
slain? What future did it write in
blood? What district schools did it
close? Again the condition of the
country makes a calm reply confutins
the imprisoned orator.
Campaigning again in 1900 Mr.. Bry
an decided that Imperialism was an
other danger to the country. If it We're
continued the Fourth of July would be
forgotten by all Americans and the
spirit of &c" would become a thing
of the past. Speaking at Lincoln Mr..
Bryan said:
Sees Death of Patriotism.
"The fight this year will be to carry
out the sentiment of that song We have
10 often repeated. My Country. lis Of
Thee If we lose, our children and our
lhidren's children will not succeed to
the spirit of that song, and celebrations
Of the Fourth of July will pass away,
for the spirit of the empire will be upon
u.s."
Is there any spot in these United
States where the spirit of 17T6 is dead
Snd forgotten and the Fourth of July
Il meaningless date on the calendar?
One of the most ridiculous of these
prophecies was contained in a speech
Mr.. Bryan made in support of Judge
Parker during the campaign of 1904,
when he attacked President Roosevelt
bitterly. This prophecy had it that
military despotisr' ~as sure to follow
the decrease in +n-- -iZe of the standing
army. In this speech MI. Bryan also
emphasized the fact that he was then
and always would be a firm believer in