Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1908-01-10

EDIToR STANDARD:
have been taking the Tacoma Ncms
P.-I. and Olympia Recorder for some
time and in most every issue | find
Osme slur on the name of w. J. Bryan.
am getting little tired of it. l
admit it is nothing unusual, for the
leading men of all ages nave been sub
jected to the slanderOus tongues of
malignant dupes of the subsidized
press.
Now it seems to me that absolute
justice would prompt those maligners
of virtue and honor, to give reason
for their petty assaults, and l demand
that they do, or stop their abuse of a
worthy man. The man that ISLANDERS
Bryan, ISLANDERS me and every good
Democrat. for our principles are the
same. ask in the name of common
sense and decency. what has Bryan
done as citizen, legislator or states
man. to call for the abuse of venal
press? Has he ever uttered one single
sentence derOgatOry to the best inter-
ests of the people among whom he
lives? Has he not, from the inception
of his political career espoused the
cause of the common people, the pro-
ducers of wealth, the bone and sinew
of the republic? Perhaps he has made
mistakes-he would be a god If he
didn't-but where is the man that has
made fewer mistakes than he? | don't
recall 2 single sentence he ever uttered
take back He weighs his words we'll
before he utters them. and never
ON a political question that he had to
before he utters them, and never
speaks without conveying some useful
idea. No doubt each one of those
papers are of the opinion, from
d. o. p. standpoint, that his free silver
heresy, as they call it, is sufficient to
damn him. l say In reply, there is
not a sensible man on earth who is
willing to stultify himself by assert
ing positively that the free coinage Of
silver would not have been a good
thing for the country. and why? Be-
cause the test has not been allowed
to be tried and you can't assert posi-
lively that thing Is good or bad till
1t is tried. We have tried the gold
standard, and it don't fill the bill 1t
is too exclusive, like New York's four
hundred.
Now. what else have you against
him? Is it because he has for years
advocated railroad legislation? This
is Democratic doctrine. and after
continual prodding by Bryan for two
or three years, Our Teddy" has adopt
ed Bryan's ideas and proceeded to en-
force the law. Is it because he has
presumably arrayed himself against
the trusts and has always contended
that they should be curbed by the law? ?
Behold! Our Teddy" has found out
he was right and the trusts are hunt
ing their holes to escape the fury Of
the big stick" Your party don't sup
port him in his efforts to execute law,
but Teddy is right on that point, allie
same. Is 1t because he is an advocate
Of the income tax? Why, bless your
heart, Our Teddy" advocates that now
and 1t Is good Democratic doctrine
OF course. it is not endorsed by our
party. 1t could hardly be expected
from a party whose policy is to estab-
lish an oligarchy of aristocrats TO
look after the interests of the common
people," a la Baer and Rockefeller. Is
1t because he has advocated arbitra-
tion as a means Of settling labor dis
putes? Our Teddy" has been guilty
of the same crime. and yet this doc
trine was taken bodily from the Demo-
cratic platform and for that reason
perhaps is unpopular with d. o. p. lead
ers. They can't bear anything that
savors of Democracy or the rule of the
people. 1t is annoying to their aristo-
cratic olfactories.
You will observe from the foregoing
that there are about four propositions
on which Bryan and "Our Teddy" agree
pretty we'll. and l can't see how you
can find SO much fault with a man
whose ideas conform so we'll with Our
Teddy" for Our Teddy" Is It with a
big a." But there seems to be some
Democratic doctrine that Our Tedly'
has not endorsed as yet. He has not
yet endorsed tariff reform. He can't
consistently with his affiliation for it
is the cardinal principle of his party.
He knows as we'll as the publishers
of those papers that 1t is only a slick
and gentlemanly style of plundering
the people without their knowing it
but he can't 60 back on his platform.
He knows that the tariff has been in
strumental in creating horde of capt.
talists, that virtually controls the gov
ernment and dictates its policies but
he is glued to his platform and must
submit to the extortion. Bryan is a
radical anti-protectionist, and that
alone is sufficient to damn him in your
egotism. Bryan favors the election Of
United States Senators by vote of the
people. OF course you don't like that,
and yet it Is a fact that the House Of
Representatives has declared for 1t five
times. by a nearly unanimous vote.
Bryan opposes government by injunc.
tion as imimical to the best interests
Of the country. He has from the first