Grand Rapids Herald-Review Newspaper, September 22, 1900, Page 3

' } 2 BRYAN’S LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE FAVORS FREE COINAGE AT THE RATIO OF 16 TO 1, Col. W. J. Bryan in His Official Let- ter of Acceptance Hits the Trusts —Is no Enemy to Corporations— Calls Imperialism the Paramount Issue. " Chicago, Sept. 17.—The letter of W. J. Bryan accepting the Democratic nomina- tion for president was given out to-day and is as follows: ; Hon. James D. Richardson, Chairman, and Others of the Notification Committee of the Democratic National Convention— Gentlemen: In accepting the nomination tendered by you on behalf of the Demo- cratic party, I beg to assure you of my appreciation of the great honor conferred upon me by the delegates in convention assembled, and by the voters who gave instruction to the delegates. I am sensible of the responsibilities which rest upon the chief magistrate of 8o great a nation, and realize the far- reaching effect of the questions involved fn the present contest. Wants Only One Term. In my letter of acceptance of 1896, I made the following pledge: “So deeply am I impressed with the magnitude of the power‘ vested by the Constitution in the chief executive of the ngtion and with the enormous in- fluence which he can yield for the ben- efit or injury of the people, that I wish to enter the office, if elected, free from any personal desire, except the desire to prove worthy of the confidence of my countrymen. Human judgment is fall- ible enough when unbiased by selfish con- siderations, and, in order that I may not be tempted to use the patronage of the office to advance any personal ambition, I hereby announce, with all the emphasis which words can express, my fixed de- termination not, under any circumstances, to be a candidate for re-election, in case th campaign results in my election.” rther reflection and observation con- strain me to renew this pledge. With the Chicago Platform Added. The platform adopted at Kansas City commands my~ cordial and unqualified approval. It courageously meets the is- sues now before the country, and states | clearly and without ambiguity the party's Position on every question considered. Adopted by a convention which assembled on the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, it breathes the spirit of candor, independence and patriotism which characterizes those who, at Philadelphia in 1776, promulgated the creed of the republic. Having in my notification speech, dis- cussed somewhat at length the par- | ameunt issue, imperialism, and added some observations on militarism and the Boer war, it is sufficient at this time to | review the remaining planks of the plat- form. As to Trusts. | The platform very properly gives | prominence to the trust question. The | appalling growth of combinations in re- | straint of trade during the present ad-| ministration, proves conclusively that the | Rpublican party lacks either the desire or ability to deal with the question ef- | fectively. If, as may be fairly assumed | from the speeches and conduct of the | Republican leaders, that party does not | intend to take the people’s side against | these organizations, then the weak and | qualified condemnation of trusts to be | found in the Republican platform is de- signed to distract attention while in- dustrial despotism is completing its work. A private monopoly has always been an outlaw. No defense can be made of an industrial system in which one, or a few men, can control for their own profit the output or price of any article of merchandise. Under such a system the consumer suffers extortion, the producer of raw material has but one purchaser, and must sell at the arbitrary fixed price; the laborer has but one employer, and is powerless to protest against injustice, | either in wages or conditions of labor; the small stockholder is at the mercy of the speculator, while the traveling salesman contributes his salary to the overgrown profits of the trust. Since but a small proportion of the people can share in the advantages secured by pri- vate monopoly, it follows that the re- mainder of the people are not only ex- cluded from the benefits, but are the helpless victims of every monopoly or- ganized. It is difficult to overestimate the immediate injustice that may be done or to calculate the ultimate effect of this injustice upon the social and political welfare ‘of the people. Our platform, after suggesting certain specific remedies, pledges the party to an unceasing war- fare against private monopoly in nation, state and city. I heartilysapprove of this promise. If elected, it shall be my earnest and constant endeavor -to fulfill the prom- ise in letter and in spirit. I shall select an attorney general who will, without fear or favor, enforce existing laws. I shall recommend such additional legisla- tion as may be necessary to dissolve every private monopoly which does busi- ness outside the state of its origin; and, if contrary to my belief and hope, a con- stitutional amendment is. found to be necessary, I shall recommend such an amendment as will, without impairing any of the existing rights of the states, empower congress to protect the people of all the states from injury at the hands of individuals or corporations en- gaged in interstate commerce. Protection Denounced. The platform accurately describes the Dingley tariff law when it condemns it as a “trust breeding measure, skillfully devised to give to the few favors which they do not deserve, and to place upon the many burdens which they should not bear.” Under its operation trusts can plunder the people of the United States, while they successfully compete in foreign markets with manufacturers of other countries. Even those who justify the general policy of protection will find it ‘difficult to defend a tariff which enables a trust to exact an exorbitant toll from | the votes are counted, but neither | the present nor the future political find it to their advantage to aid in the enactment of such legislation as will pro- tect them from the undeserved odium which will be brought upon them by those corporations which enter the political are- na. Interstate Commerce. The Republican party “has persistently refused to comply v h the urgent re- quest of the interstate commerce commis- sion, for such an enlargement of the scope of ‘the interstate commerce law as will enable the commission to realize the hopes aroused by its creation. The Demo- cratic party is pledged to legislation which will empower the commission to protect individuals and eemmunities from discrimination, and the public at large from unjust and unfair transportation rates. For Free Silver. The platform reiterates the demand contained in the Chicago platform for an American financial system made by the American people for themselves. “ The purpose of such a system is to restore and maintain a bimetal- lic level of prices, and in order that there may be no uncertainty as to the method of restoring bimetal- lism, the specific declaration in fu- vor of free and unlimited coinage at the existing ratio of 16 to 1, in- dependent of the action of other nations, is repeated. In 1896 the Republican party recognized the necessity for bimetallism by pledg- ing the party to an earnest effort to se- cure an international agreement for the free coinage of silver, and the president, immediately after his inauguration, by authority of congress, appointed a com- mission composed of distinguished. citi- zens to visit Europe and solicit foreign aid. Secretary Hay, in a letter written to Lord Aldenham in November, 1898, and afterwards published in England, de- clared that at that time the president and a majority of his cabinet still be- lieved inethe great desirability of an in- ternational agreement for the restora- tion of the double standard, but: that it did not seem opportune to reopen the negotiations just then. The financial law enacted less than a year ago contains a concluding section declaring that the measure was not intended to stand in the way of the restoration of bimental- lism, whenever it could be done by co- operation with other nations. The plat- | form submitted to the last Republican convention, with the indorsement of the administration, again suggested the pos- sibility of securing foreign aid in restor- ing silver. ‘ Now the Republican party, for the first time, openly abandons its advocacy of the double standard, and indorses the monetary system which it has so often | and so ‘emphatically condemned. The | Democratic party, on the contrary, re- | mains the steadfast advocate of the gold and silver coinage of the Constitution, and is. not wiHing thatyother nations shall determine for us the time and man- ner of resgoring silver to its ancient place as a standard money. The ratio of 16 | to 1 is not only the ratio now existing between all the gold and silver dollars in circulation in this country, a ratio which even the Republican administration has not attempted to change, but it is the only ratio advocated by those who are seeking to re-open the mints. Whether the senate, now hostile to bimetallism, can be changed during this campaign or the caxpaign of 1902 can only be determined ufter complexion of congress has pre- vented or should prevent an an- nouncement of the party’s position npon this subject in unequivocal terms. The currency bill, which received the sanction of the executive and the Re- publican members of the house and sen- ate, justifies the warning given by the Democratic party in 1896. It was then predicted that the Republican party would attempt to retire the greenbacks aithough the party and its leaders stu- dicusly concealed their intentions. That purpose is now plain and the people must choose between the retention of the greenbacks, issued and controlled in vol- ume by the government, and a national bank note currency issued by banks and «ontrolied in their own interests. ‘If the national bank notes are to be secured by bonds, the currency system now sup- ported by the Republican party involves a permanent and increasing debt, and, so long a3 this system stands. the financial classes will be tempted to throw their powerful influence upon the side of any measure which will contribute to the size and permanency of a national debt. It is hardly conceivable that the Ameri- can people will deliberately turn from the debt paying policy of the past, to the dangerous doctrine of perpetual bonds. Election of Senators. The demand fora constitutional amend- ment providing for the election of sena- tors by direct vote of the people, appears for the first time in a Democratic na- tional platform, but a resolution /propos- ing such an amendment, has three times passed the house of representatives, and that, too, practically without opposition. Whatever may have been the reasons which secured the adoption of the pres- ent plan, a century ago, new conditions have made it imperative that the people be permitted to speak directly in the se- lection of their representattves in the senate. A senator is no less the repre- sentative of the state because he re- ceives his commission from the people themselves, rather than from the mem- bers of the state legislature. If a voter is competent to vote for a member of congress, for state officers and for presi- dent, he is competent to choose his rep- resentative in the senate. A system which makes the senator responsible for his election to the people, as a whole, and amenable to them if he misrepresents them, must commend itself to those who have confidence in the intelligence, and patriotism of the masses. Direct Legislation. The platform indorses the principle of direct legislation. This is already ap- plied to the more important questions in nation, state and,city. It rests upon the sound theory that the people can be trusted, and that the more responsivé’ the government is to the will of the peo- ple, the more free it will be from mis- use and abuse. : As to Labor. Several planks of the labor platform are devoted to questions in which the laboring classes have an immediate in- the citizen. The Democratic party makes no war upon honestly acquired wealth; nefther does it seek to embarrass corporations engaged in legitimate business, but it does protest against corporations enter- ing politics, and attempting to assume control of the instrumentalities of gov- ernment. A corporation is not organized for political purposes, and should be com- pelled to confine itself to the business described in tts charter. Honest corpora- tions, engaged.in an honest business, will terest, but which more remotely affect eur entire population, While what is generally known as governinent by in- juretion is at present directed chiefly against the employes of corporations, when there is a disagreement between them and their employer, it involves a principle which concerns every oné. The purpose of the injunction in such cases is to substitute trial by judge for trial by jury, and is a covert blow at the jury system. The abolition of government by injunction is as necessary for the pro- | enough little books, tection of the reputation of the court, as it is for the security of the citizen. Blackstone in defendirg trial by jury, says:/ “The impartial administration of jus tice, which secures both our persons and our properties, is the great end of civil society, but if that be intrusted entirely to the magistracy, a select body of men, and those selected by the prince, such as enjoy the highest offices of the state, their decisions in spite of their natural integrity will have frequently an invol- untary bias toward those ef their cwn rank and dignity. It is not to be ex- pected from human nature that the few should be always attentive to the futer ests and good of the many.” If the criminal laws are not sufficient for the protection of property they can be made more severe, but a_ citizen charged with crime must have his case tried before a jury of his peers. The blacklist as now employed in some places enables the employer to place the employe under practical duress, for the skiMed laborer loses his independence when the employers can not only dis- charge him but prevent his securing any similar employment. The blacklist en- ables employers to secure, by mutual agreement, that control over the wage- earners which a private monopoly ex- ercises without contract. The writer favored arbitration, the establishment of a departmentof labor and exclusion of the Chinese. He ad- vocated a liberal policy in the pension bureau and the control of the Nicra- guan canal by the United States. He strongly objected to any fgreign alli- ances, and realized that the Monroe doctrine was essential to the welfare of the United States. He charged the Republican party with extravagance, and favored the income tax. Continuing, he said: ‘ The subjects, however, treated in this letter, important as each may seem in itself, do not press so imperatively for solution as the question which the plat- form declares to be the paramount issue in this campaign. Whether we shall ad- here to, or abandon those ideas of gov- ernment which have distinguished this nation from other,nations and given to its history its peculiar charm and value, is a question the settlement of which cannot be delayed. No other question can ap- proach it in importance; no other ques- tion demands such ‘immediate considera- tion. ic is easier to lose a. reputation than to establish one, and thia nation would find it a long and laborious task fo regain its proud position among the nations, if, under the stress of tempta- tion, it should repudiate the self-evident truths proclaimed by our heroic ancestors and sacredly treasured during a career unparalleled in the annals of time. When the doctrine that the people are the only source of power is made secure from fur- ther attack we can safely proceed to the settlement of the numerous question\ which involve the domestic and economic welfare of our citizens. Very truly yours, —wW. J. Bryan. Last of England's Rustics. Here is a readable lament (with a lesson in it) from English Country Life: In the only heart of the country left to the home counties, so far from the appurtenances of town life that the rattle of railway trains can only be heard faintly when the wind is in a certain quarter, or the night very still, you may find, even yet, genuine rustics. They are old folk, full of old wisdom and old civility, and they dwell among a younger folk full of new information, and infinitely less civil. It is strange and unreasonable that’ after a few years’ study of the primers 0; the board school, harmless a man should find it deregatory to give you a civil “good evening” as you pass, but he does. A Story of Matthew Arnold. Matthew Arnold, next te Whistler, was perhaps the most colossal egotist of his time. After his return to London from his first lecturing tour in America, he vis- ited old Mrs. Proctor, widow of the poet, “Barry Cornwall,” and mother of Adelaide Proctor. Mrs. Proctor, who was then eighty years old, in giving Mr. Arnold a cup of tea, asked him: “And what did they say about you in America?” “Well,” said, the literary autocrat “they said I was conceited, and they said my clothes did not fit me.” “Well, now,” said the old lady, “I think they were mistaken as to the clothes.”—New York World. Great Minds, “Another bungling job of hanging, yesterday,” remarked the lop-eared fanatic. The other boarders looked interested. But the freckled idiot looked up from his plate long enough to say: “Do not work yourself into a* frenzy. There has probably been another bung- There has probably been another bung- ling job of paper-hanging some place.” Thus we see that great minds run in the same channel, as, in all probability. the lop-eared fanatic was thinking of the same as the freckled idiot, while the other boarders—poor fools—thought that a real execution had taken place. —Indianapolis Sun. Queer River. Mr. Cadbury and Mr. Rounsbury, two gentlemen of Loffdon, were discussing their recent American tour. “I saw a queer river in the States, donceher know,” said Mr. Cadbury. “What river was that?” Mr. Rouns- bury asked. “The Ohio.” “I saw that river, too, but did not notice anything queer about it.” “Well, when that river goes down coal goes up, and when the river is up coal is down.”—Pittsburg Chronicle. Where Women Are Pilots. In Norway, Sweden and Finland women are frequently employed as sailors, and do their work excellently, and in Denmark several women are employed afloat as state officials, generally in the pilot service. They go far out to sea in their boats and meet the vessels coming into port, and having nimbly climbed on board and shown their*official diploma, they calm- ly and coolly steer the newcomer into harbor. ‘ His Hanging-Out Place. “What did Scummins say when you told him of our scheme to make him alderman?” asked the political leader. “It took him clean off his legs,” said the faithful henchman. “He wante time to think about it.” “In a quandary, was he?” “No: he was in a saloon.”—Chicago ‘Tribune. LINCOLN TO HANNA. REPUBLICAN PARTY OF TODAY. AND YESTERDAY, Charles A. Towne Shows How Each In- terpretd the Declaration of Independ- ence—Contrast Shows Decadence—A Sorry Contrast, Indeed. BSE SE Historically, as all the world knows, the Declaration of Independence is the document in which the American colo- nies in 1776 proclaimed their inde- pendence and nationality and in which are recited the reasons and justifica- tion for that step, Considered as a contribution to the literature’ of the science of govern- ment, it is a formulation of the gener- al principles of liberal institutions. Its spirit has been for 124 years the greatest force in the political world. It has shaped the policy and formed the ideals of the American people. It has made our example more potent on the institutions of Europe than all other influences combined. It is today More powerful than all our fleets and armies. Parliaments, representative governments, liberty of the press, re- ligious toleration, increasing guaran- tees of personal freedom bear witness to in the uttermost parts of the earth. Source of Information. To it are largely due the humanities of modren art and literature and the subjugation of science to the practical utilities of everyday life. The promul- gation of it and the defense and ex- emplification of it have given us our peculiar place in human history. The Christian gospel has forever sanctified a small Roman province. The art and philosophy of Greece have. dedicated a petty European peninsula to the im- mortal regard of all mankind. Future ages will cherish endlessly the bequest by the United States of the principles that all men are created equal and that just government can exist only | by the consent of the governed. Twice only in our history has the doctrine of this great instrument been openly assailed. It was the duty and glory of Abraham Lincoln to defend the Declaration of Independence from the charge that it did not apply to black men, Today the party that he founded is engaged in attempting to prove that it does not apply to brown men. But by its language it applies to all men, and to admit an exception is to de- prive it of its place in th history of liberty and to remit the world to the old doctrine of force as the basis of government, justifying the divine right of kings, the institution of slav- ery and wars of mere conquest and subjugation. A Sorry Contrast. When the first national convention of the Republican party met, in June, 1856, in the city of Philadelphia, it adopted a platform, of which the very first resolution was as follows: “Resolved, That the maintenance of the principles promulgated in the Dec- laration of Independence and embod- ied in the Federal Constitution is es- sential to the preservation of our re- publican institutions, and that the Federal Constitution, the rights of the states and the union of the states shall be preserved.” When the last Republican national convention met, ih June, 1900, in the same historic city, it adopted a platform wherein there occurs not one syllable of refer- ence to the Declaration of Independ- ence. How can this be accounted for? No American citizen can go to Phil- adelphia without feeling the hol in- fluence of the place. The immortal Declaration lives in every nook and corner of the old colonial capital. The convention of 1856'was in harmony with this sacred association. That of 1900 was insensible to it. The reason was that the party between 1856 and 1900 had changed character com- pletely. From being the champion of free- dom it had become the defender of opp! ion. Its high ideals had given placé to sordid ones. From Lincoln to Hanna. It had measured the awful distance from Abraham Lincoln to Marcus A. Hanna. Forty-four years ago it reaffirmed the Declaration of Independence. This year it not only fails to reaffirn that great instrument; it actually repeals it. Note the following language of .its platform on the subject of the gov- ernment of the islands taken from Spain: “The largest measure of ‘self- government consistent’ with their wel- fare and our duties shall be assured to them by law.” This makes the Republican party the source and origin of whatever “measure of self-government” these people may Secure. The Declaration of Independence says that liberty is an inalienable attribute of manhood. The Republican ty declares that McKinley may give liberty to some men. The Declaration of Independ- “ence maintains that God gives it to all men. The Tyrant’s Excuse. This complacent announcement of penevolent guardianship over inferior races is in the very spirit of despot- ism, No tyrant in the world ever confessed that his own glory and ad- vantage were the objects of his sway. Always and everywhere the plea of absolutism has been that it aimed at the welfare of its victims, which they were powerless to achieve pe re ni in equal measure. This changed for the calamities of war and the arbitrary tyranny of their chiefs.” -It was of such presumptions as these of George III. and William McKinley that Abraham Lincoln said: What Lincoln Sald. “Those arguments that are made that the inferior races are to be treat- ed with as much allowance as they are capable of enjoying; that as much is to be done for them as thelr condi- tion will allow—what are these argu- ments? They are the arguments that Kings have made for enslaving the people in all ages of the world. You will note that all the arguments of kingscraft were always of this class. They always bestrode the necks of the people, not that they wanted to do it, but because the people were better off for being ridden. Turn it every way you will, whether it comes from the mouth of a king as an excuse for enslaving the people of his country or from the mouth of one race as a reason for enslaving the men of an- other race, it is all the same old ser- pent.” Some of the present day critics of the Declaration of Independence think they have discredited its authority when they trace its inspiration to Rousseau and the French philosophy of the eighteenth century. But they wholly misconceive the nature and purpose of the instrument. It does not aim to state historic fact, but civic justice; not so much what has been as what ought to be and will be. Lincoln has somewhere said that the framers of the Declaration aimed to set up for mankind an ideal standard and maxim of government, toward which by ceaseless effort and strpg- gle we should constantly more and more approximate. When that goal shall have been reached indeed, then shall we behold that haleyon era of the world of which poets have dreamed and philosophers have theorized, and for which all history is a preparation. To the glory of advancing that con- summation under Lincoln can it be possible that the Republican: party is to add the infamy of retarding or de- feating it under Hanna? All the traditions of our history, all the aspirations of our people cry out against this madness. The patriotism of America is today the hope of the world. BRYAN’S SPEECH. (Chicago Letter.) Mr. Bryan’s speech of acceptance is without doubt the political event of paramount importance in the present campaign. Mr. Bryan received at the hands of the Democratic party the nomination for the presidency. A par- tisan utterance upon this occasion would have been pardoned, nay more, was even expected by the country at large. Tradition and precedent exist to justify a candidate in such a course. He of Canton—Mark Hanna’s man— who was recently notified of a nomi- nation, took occasion to plead for the principles of a party and in the cause of an administration. In multifarious terms he told what “we” had done, and fairly reveled in the deeds of “us.” The Republican party was defended— even apologized for. And Wm. Mc- Kinley accepted at the hands of those who bore the stamp of the Republican party, the nomination for the presi- dency of the United States. Mr. Mc- Kinley’s speech of acceptance will go down in history as the statement of a party chief to his party followers. But how different the tone and tenor of Mr, Bryan’s Indianapolis address. Mc- Kinley spoke to a party—Bryan to a nation; McKinley plead the cause of an administration—Bryan the cause of a people. McKinley defended the principles of a party—Bryan spoke in defense of the principles that are at the foundation of free government; McKinley spoke as a candidate,but Mr. Bryan spoke as an American citizen. In the face of existing circumstances it is a fact of peculiar significance that Mr. Bryan could reply to the notifica- tion committee in a speech bearing as little trace of partisan politics as the constitution of the United States or the Declaration of Independence. This does not indicate that Mr. Bryan is not a good Democrat, but rather that the Democratic party is contend- ing not so much for certain theories of administration in a free goverument as for free government itself. Hence it is that, fighting for the very exist- ence of the republic, the position of the patriotic citizen who stands for free government and the position of the Democratic party became iden- tical. Mr. Bryan was great enough to recognize this. Mr. Bryan’s speech was remarkable enough on account of the things he said. Mr. McKinley’s Can- ton speech was* chiefly remarkable on account of the things he did not say. The Canton speech abounds in vague intimations ang promises. It does not hold out to the Filipinos the faintest hope either of independence on the one hand or of the freedom and rights of American citizenship on the other. The voter has only to read so much of Mr. McKinley’s speech as relates to this subject in order to find this state- ment to La correct. He will find some- thing about giving the Filipinos. as much self-goyernment as they ure fit for—as though the right of people 10, 000 miles away to self-government was not 4 God-given right, but a right to be granted by sonie authority in Wash- ington. But he will find not the faint- est whisper of such-a thing as inde- pendence for a people over whom we have fio authority except such as Spain somehow is supposed to have had a right to give us. In Mr. Bry- @h’s speech, however. the voter may find a pledge that if he is elected he will convene congress at the earliest f { moment.to declare the nation’s pur- poses. “First, to establish a stable form of government in the Philippine islands, just as we are now establishing a sta- ble form-of government in Cuba. Sec- ond, to give independence to the Fili- pinos, just as we have promised to give independence to the Cubans. Third, to protect the Filipinos from outside interference while they work out their own destiny, just as we have protected the republics of Central and South America and are by the Monroe doctrine pledged to protect Cuba.” This is a sufficiently clear and suc- einct statement of the Democratic position. Of its correctness, of course there can be no doubt. This, with what McKinley says, and with what he significantly omits to say, sufficiently defines the issue as to the Philippines. The broader issue of imperialism, which includes that of the Philippines» May be stated thus: Mr. Bryan stands upon the doctrine of the Declaration of Independence, that governments deriye their just powers from the consent of the gov- erned. Mr. McKinley stands for the utter repudiation of that doctrine and for “the doctrine of thrones, that man 1s too ignorant to govern bimself,” and must be subject to those who rule by superior might and divine right.” ~ Mr. Bryan upon leaving Indianapo- lis came to Chicago, where he has been in conference with the leaders of the party here at headquarters. To say that the outlook for the Democratic party at the present time is hopeful would be putting it mildly. Mr. Bry- an’s speech seems to have put a new aspect upon the campaign. Telegrams of congratulation from Republicans and gold Democrats have been literally pouring in upon Mr. Bryan and the executive committee. Influential pa- pers that have been hesitating as to their policy, upon receiving Mr. Bry- an’s speech, openly endorse the candi- dacy. The converts of the week would fill a column. When such conservative papers as the Springfield Republican become enthusiastic for the success of the party; when such papers as the Boston Post, the New York World and the Baltimore Sun, all of which sup- ported McKinley in ’96, openly in- dorse Bryan, the outlook must be con- sidered bright. But these papers have not been the only additions to the force of the mili- tant Democracy, Wherever large bodies of men have gathered during the past month the events have been produc- tive of much encouragement to the Democracy. The dissolution of the Gold Democracy at a regular meeting and the quick assimilation of all its in- fluential members by the regular party marked the end of the truancy of 1896. When the Ohio Bar association met in yearly convention a few weeks later and the president, Judge A. P. Laubie, a life long Republican, denounced Mc- Kinley’s policy of imperialism, he found no dissenters, though fully half the members were Republicans. Quickly following this Dr, Silas C. Swallow, candidate for president of the United Christian party, addressing his followers in a convention, said: “If we must choose between the two can- didates of the old parties, I must say that I shall support a man who clings to principles and adheres to what he believes to be right rather than the man whom the people never know where to find on any vital issue.” According to press reports, tpis statement was received with remark- able expressions of approval. During the same week Father Heldman, a prominent Catholic clergyman of Chi- cago, in an address before the German Veterans League, brought the entire audience to its feet in a spontaneous expression of approval when he scored the administration’s policy in the Philippines and Porto Rico. In Ohio the defection from Repub- lican ranks has been especially mark- ed. The Germans who gave McKinley such strong support in 1896 are com- ing over in droves to Bryan. Besides this Frank S, Monnett and Cleveland’s former Mayor, Robert McKisson, men with enormous personal followings are fighting Mark Hanna tooth and nail. Then, too, that most independent ele- ment headed by Jones of Toledo are practically a unit for Bryan this year. It will be remembered that Jones polled 120,000 votes when he ran for governor last year. HAWTHORNE. PLAY THE BABY ACT. When the imperialists “plead the baby act” by trying to shift responsi- bility for imperialism upon Mr. Bryan, they expose an unsuspected conscious- ness of the weakness of their cause. Yet that is what they are doing. Be- cause he advised the adoption of the Paris treaty rather than advocate am amendment which would have in- volved a nominal continuance of the Spanish war, they charge him with re- sponsibility for the policy of imperial- ism which McKinley has erected upon the basis of the treaty!—The Public. Republicans Don't Care. (Portland, Maine, Argus.) If Republicans are apathetic over- confidence is not the only possible cause of their apathy. Instead of be- don’t care a hoot whether McKinley . wins or not. ‘? The best way for a woman to get rid ofa to 5 ff