Milford chronicle., 1908-10-09
THE REAL INTERESTS
OF W0RKINGMEN
Question Of Vote Must Be Answered
by Effect on Opportunities
For Labor.

" A4AANNN OAA OBBoANaAANA~S
For Labor.
It lies with the workingman who
desires to vote II lligently in the
coming election to SIT down and rea-
son out the probable effect of the cleo
ton of Mr.. Taft or Mr.. Bryan. In
so far as 1t is a business question
/ which affects his opportunities for
employment, the comfort of his fam
lily, and the bringing up of his chill
| dren, it is a question which should be
considered without passion and with
out regard to class prejudice. Mr..
/ Bryan or Mr.. Debs may succeed in
/ demonstrating to their own satisfac-
! ton that they are the only friends OF
| labor. The real question for the in
| telligent laboring man is not merely
| the genuineness of their friendship,
but what good it is likely to do him.
The question which the business
man is asking himself in regard to
! the election is, what assurance 1t Will
give him of the opportunity to en-
| bark with safety and success in new
enterprises. If he believes that the
election of Mr.. Bryan will keep the
country in a state of unrest and anX-
iety, then it is certain that he will
make no plans to extend his plant or
establish a new one. It is certain also
that he will keep the product OF his
mills down to the minimum of visible
demand. Railways. deprived OF
traffic in new building materials and
manufactured goods. will find their
earnings at low ebb, and Will make
no effort to improve their equipment
and extend their lines. If Mr.. Bryan
should be elected, even if no serious
panic ensued, it is practically certain,
from the attitude of the business COM
munity, that there would be doubt,
hesitation, curtailment of output, and
the abandonment of projects now be-
ing formed for adding to the produc-
ing and distributing equipment of the
country.
What do these things mean to the |
When the American |
Locomotive Works passes its dividend |
it means a serious loss to those who
have invested in its stock. When 1t
goes further and closes its plant at
Providence, as 1t has recently done,
it means that working men are
thrown out of employment. Already
as a result of the shock of last au-
tumn business generally has been
curtailed about fifteen to twenty per
cent. This is disclosed by the falling
off in the gross earnings of the rail-
ways, as well as by the receipts of
the government. 1t required some
months for the railways to pull down
operating expenses to compensate the
reduction in gross earnings and bring {
net earnings into a corresponding
This is being accom-
1lished, in many cases, by the dis
charge of competent employees and
he reduction of wages. Every such !
went diminishes the consuming pow
n of the country and tends to accen- !
uate the evil of diminished produc- !
ion and stagnant trade.
The influence of the election of Mr.. t
Bryan would be disturbing to the {
business community. Whether there
5 Justice in the distrust which is felt /
or Mr.. Bryan is not the practical I
question. It is a question of fact. I
Ir. Bryan has not only committed i
imself in the past to projects like T
rec silver, which every other civil P
zed country has abandoned, and to t
overnment ownership of railways,
ut he has not sought to reassure
usiness men recently as to a definite v
nd sincere change of attitude on p
lese questions. On the contrary, the fl
invention which nominated him at 81
enver declared that if an emergency
gain arose requiring the issue of n
1rrency there should be currency
issued and controlled by the Fed
raj Government. In other words,
he panacea which Mr. Bryan offers, "
DIV that he has abandoned free sill y
er, is another plunge into the mire q
greenback imitation. y
Whether this is right or wrong in T
self it means an upheaval in our ex- ~
ting monetary system, which If 1t y,
ere within the range of practical
gisIation would lead every prudent ~
iancier to convert his resources into "
I'D obligations or to transfer them ~
road. It is this sort of pronounce u
ents which have hardened the heart a
the business community against Il,
r. Bryan in spite of his many at ~
active qualities and which would On
nd to make four years of his admin "a
ration years of restricted trade, ST qt
1T mills. idle cars, and perhaps even N "a
and panic approaching the pi
verify of those gloomy years which "
lIouyad tho manic Of 1893 lie