Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1908-10-28
vas called you showed no disposition

O make GOOD OF even TO COuceQe Lne
courtesy of reply.
Perhaps it is too much to expect
courtesy from you. A great many
equitable citizens of Waterloo unite
n testifying to your constant and
studied neglect of the ordinary amen
ties of life during your many years
Of residence in this city, up to the
time that you became q candidate for
office. Not until then did you begin
to give recognition to hundreds of
your neighbors whom you daily met
on the streets but to whom in all
previous years you had given the
Geld cut. Something of this sort must |
have been in the mind of that prom
inent republican of Waterloo, who
said on first hearing of your candi-
dacy:
ut wouldn't do to send Pickett to
congress, for we. should have to wild
en- the side walks OIL his return or
else the rest of us would have to
step off into the street when meeting
him.
To return however to the matter
Of your failing to accept my propo-
sition for debate. am beginning
to learn some of the reasons why
you would naturally avoid meet
irg of the kind proposed. What little
has been reported of your speeches
affords good reason for your hesitan-
c, in this respect. For instance, in
ycur speech at Des Moines on Fri
day. September %, you are reported
liz the Register and Leader, a repub-
lican newspaper as saying that "Bry-
an started his career by advocacy
lo the free trade bill which wrecked
business in $685."
Now you know or ought to know
that the Mckinley tariff bill was in
4 full force and effect in 1898 and up
to August 81, 1894. You also ought
4 to know that there was no free trade
bill that could have possibly caused
the financial and industrial depres'
i sion of 1898, because no such bill
had even been framed at that time
liz YOU referred to the Wilson-Gormar
bill. which became law August rs
) 1894. you are either doubly ignoran
or doubly mendacious. For the VIII
Z scn-Gorman bill never was FREE
: trade measure and did not become
: l:w until whole year after the pan
/; lit took place which you attribute t
, La
} If you do not know that you
/ statement was false, you do not kno'
/ enough to represent the third di.
Ii tr.ct in congress. If you did know
to be false and were trying to d.
i ceive your auditors, then you are III
: worthy to represent the third distrit
9 lin congress. 1t is perhaps inmate
I'll ial upon which ground the voters
It tie district shall reject your cand
dacy. AS a matter of curiosity, how
!. ever, many of us would like to hav
Z, al answer to this question:
l. Did you make that statement b.
A.. ause YOU were ignorant or was
]. 70 ur deliberate purpose to deceive:
J. Your statement, false as it il
points clearly to at least one reaso
5. u had for not wishing to engage
5. a joint discussion. You know thu
l. 10 such mis-statements would pas
~ Lnchallenged in debate with ar
e, fairly we'll posted opponent. Yc
}. did me the credit to believe that
/. was we'll enough posted i'll the polit
= cal history of the country to be alb
t. to- call you down on this and othe
|. mis-statements with which 20,
l. ST eeches are filled. You preferred
be in position where you could mi
d represent the attitude of the Der
S. ocratic party and mis-state the fac
ID oe history without your mis- statemel
N being challenged.
TX The reason you had for not wis
t. ing to debate was to me the stron
i'd est reason for it. | knew the i.
lie pregnable strength of the positit
lie my party had taken and foresaw tn
&. the only possible method of Alta
9. on it's principles or its candidat
n would be by Misrepresentation al
Of calumny. l knew that the defande
of lof the high tariff would renew the
Of claim that the nation has always e
joyed prosperity when their poll
was in force conveniently forgetti
that every panic of the last half &c
I'd try has occurred under high ts
if law. knew that they won
I'd charge all the financial disasters t
st nation has experienced to democr;
ar If legislation suppressing the +,
that the panic of 1873 took place u
ny der the Morrill, tariff, the panic
1898 under the Mckinley tariff a
II, the panic of 1907 under the Dingl
IN tariff, each of these tariff laws bel
he the product of republican legislatic
know your boosted reputation
er an orator and apprehended that y
in might succeed in deluding some
Those who came to hear you by 70
lfalsifications of history If there we
nc one at hand to correct and refu
r, your statements. also knew til
It. there would be no need for more til
Il a clear and truthful statement of t
fleets to establish the soundness
lie 1.-THE democratic position and such
statement felt that could mai
lie even il am not able to confuse t
is listener by the arts Of the rhet'
ician.
n From the standpoint of political {
of pediency you were probably wise
avoiding debate. In a debate v
IS would certainly have had to make
I'd different sort of a speech from TIL
which you have been making. Y
would necessarily have had to sti