The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-10-21
BRYAN IS IN OHIO
Makes a Point About Coercion
of Railroad Men.
Reads Dispatch Concerning Ac-
tiOn OH the Big Four.
THREATEN WITH CUT
Wages Go Down Ten Per Cent
If He Is Elected.
Worse Than Act of Ward Heel
ers He Says.
THREATEN WITH ACU1

Newark, O., Oct. Ell say to you
that the little ward heeler who goes
around and bribes a man for five dol
lars is a moral character beside the
man who attempts to use his power to
threaten those who work for him and to
buy them by a promise of increase or
threaten them by a promise TO de-
crease"
Thoroughly aroused by what he
termed a new menace" through the
publication today of a press dispatch
stating that the officials of the New
York Central lines had summoned
their workmen and informed them that
If the Democrats won the election there
would be a 10 per cent reduction in
wages, bus that If they lost there would
be an Increase, William j. Bryan in
before breakfast speech to a vast
throng poured a volley of criticism into
the Republican party for its campaign
tactics. He threw into his utterances
all the vigor he could muster and his
words were greeted with loud cheers.
The second invasion of the native state
of his Republican opponent was begun
by Mr.. Bryan at this place. he having
coming direct from Louisville, KY,
during the night The programme for
the day includes stops at Mount YER
non. Mansfield. Ashland. Creston. Akron.
Ravenna. Warren Niles. Youngstown,
East Liverpool. Belaire. Wellsville.
Stuebenvllle. and Marietta. o.. conclud-
ing at 9:45 tonight with a stop at VIII
Jamestown, w. Va. In his remarks here
Mr.. Bryan said in part:
Glad to BE I'm Ohio.
Il am glad to come again in Ohio.
/ am glad to come at a time when
Democratic prospects are so bright that
even the Republican national commit
tee is compelled to confess that the
Republican candidate must come back
to fight for his own state. He went out
west to fight for the west. but he now
finds that he has difficulty enough at
home and can not spare any time for
the west. 1 am glad they are begin
ming to realize the forces that they
have to contend against and the great
est obstacle they have Is the record of
the party that they must defend.
Twelve years of power with president
eulogized in the platform and senate
that they can not apologize for and q
house presided over by a despot and
yet they can not defend their record.
Twelve years of power complete. they
have been able to pass every law they
wanted to pass, to repeal every law
they wanted to repeal and they have
had Republicans on nearly all the fed
eral benches and yet what is their con-
dition. They feel that in every state
of this Union the tide is running
against them and they face deserved
defeat for their betrayal of the Ameri-
can people by their officials. They have
disappointed the laboring man; they
have refused to listen to his plea; they
have denied him the remedies that he
deserves and now when embittered by
disappointment and indignant at mis-
treatment the laboring man attempts
to SNOW his citizenship. declare his in
dependence and register his protest at
the polls they proceeded with their at
tempts at coercion.
This mornings paper gives an i'll
lustration of attempted coercion
Threat TO Railroad Men.
He then read from a dispatch in d
Columbus paper which stated that 500
workmen of the Big Four railroad at
Bellefontaine, part of the New York
Central system. had been called to-
gether in the shops and notified that If
Bryan was elected there would be q
10 per cent reduction in wages and
that If Taft was elected there would be
an increase in both pay and work The
dispatch stated that these officials were
making a tour of the entire system for
the purpose of making the same an
nouncement to all the employees.
There, my friends" said Mr.. Bryan.
'is the statement in Republican paper
of the threats made by the officials of
a great railroad system. They threaten
to punish men for voting the Demo-
cratic ticket by a 10 per cent cut in
their wages and they promise to in
crease their pay and their work If they
will vote the Republican ticket. I say
to you that the little ward heeler who
goes around and bribes a man for five
dollars is n moral character beside the
man who attempts to use his power to
threaten those who work for him and
to buy them by a promise of increase
or threaten them by a promise of de-
crease. 1 want the American people to
understand that we have something
like a million and a half of railway en-
ployes and If the managers of these
roads can enter politics and coerce that
many men then Independent elections
are passed in this country and If these
men can put into office men hostile to
the laboring man any antagonistic leg
islation that they desire they can Sc
cure.
That Cabinet Place
"The Republican party has refused
to give the laboring man place in the
presidents cabinet when our party
promised him that If we succeeded
there will be spokesman for the
wage Garner in the presidents coun-
Gil chamber. When ] say to the labor
ing man that If 1 am elected l want
one OF their representatives in my
cabinet to advise with me about la
representing the railroads go out and
tell you that unless you are willing to
relinquish your claim to representa-
tion in the cabinet they Will reduce
your wages anu MAKE your cOnpenSa-
ton smaller than II is. we tell the
laboring men that if we win we will
amend the antitrust law so as to take
the labor organization out from under
the operation of that law and now
come these heads of railroads to tell
their employees that If they dare to ask
for relief from this antitrust law they
will be punished by a reduction of
wages. We say in our platform that
II we win we will limit the writ OF in
junction so that a labor dispute will
not in itself be a sufficient ground for