The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1908-09-08
BRYAN AS PROPHET
FAILS TO QUALIFY
Disasters He ForetoId Never
Come to Pass.
OPPOSITE is ALWAYS TRUE.
Gold Standard Does Not Stay, Nor
Does II Write Future In Blood.

Gold Standard Does Not Stay, Nor
Does II Write Future In Blood.
| AS a prophet William Jennings bry-
an has never been a 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
IT is well 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-
lieyed by those who have found that
In the past his vaccinations have been
but empty air.
1 9ftNttt6 OS0at~tJ sa0''e
For instance, when Mr.. Bryan was
member of the house Of representa-
lives 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
year he drew the. following agonizing
i pictures:
i Protection has been our canmDal
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, so far as these statis-
tics have been collected the proportion
Of home owning farmers is decreasing
and that Of tenant farmers increasing.
This means but one thing. II means a
land Of landlords and tenants, and,
backed by the history of every nation
that has gone down, l say to you that
no people can continue a free people
under a free government when the
| great majority of its citizens are ten
! ants of a small minority. Your sys-
tenn 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.. Bryan's 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
had raised in his own Imagination hide
with diminished head. for in 1896 he
again saw restitution threatening the
country. He had remedy for 1t, a
panacea, fetish which he held up for
worship-free silver. Here are some
Of the things Mr.. Bryan said woull
happen If the gold standard were con-
tinued:
81 reply that If protection has slain
Its 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
d."-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. 49, Mark my wordsl If 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 win 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 calm reply confuting
the impassioned orator.
Campaigning again In 1900 Mr.. Bry
an decided that Imperialism was an
other danger to the country. If it were
continued the Fourth of July would be
forgotten by all Americans and the
spirit Of &c" would become thing
of the past Speaking at Lincoln Mr.
Bryan said:
Sees Death of Patriotism.
~fhe fight tins gear will be to carry
out the sentiment Of that song we have
SO often repeated, My Country, IT'S OF
Thee If we lose, our children and our
children's children will not succeed to
the spirit of that song, and celebrations
of the Fourth of July win 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 1770 is dead
and forgotten and the Fourth Of July
a 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 1t that
military despotism was sure to follow
the decrease In tie size Of tie standing
army. In this speech Mr.. Bryan also
emphasized the fact that he was then
and always would be a firm believer In
the principle of free silver. He sum-
med up his position on this question in
the following sentence:
Il believe today In the principles set
forth at Chicago and Kansas City DC
to u and shall continue to fight for