766 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



campaign on the issue of the McKinley tariff, and 

 was elected by 32,376 votes to 25.663 for his Repub- 

 lican opponent, the actual Republican Representa- 

 tive Connell. Mr. Bryan took his seat in December, 

 1891, and after laboring hard in support of the can- 

 didacy of William M. Springer for the speakership, 

 was placed on the Committee of Ways and Means, 

 of which Springer was chairman. His speeches in 

 Congress in support of the Democratic views of the 

 tariff were so eloquent and effective that he was re- 

 tained as a member of the Ways and Means Com- 

 mittee when it was reconstituted in the Forty-third 

 Congress, to which he was elected in 1892 by a plu- 

 rality of only 140. In this Congress he was the 

 most conspicuous advocate of the free coinage of 

 silver after Richard P. Bland, whom he aided in 

 the manoeuvres in behalf of silver with all his skill 

 and readiness in debate and mastery of parliamen- 

 tary tactics. In opposing the repeal of the silver- 

 purchase law he held the attention for three hours 

 of the House with a brilliant speech. When his 

 second term drew to a close Bryan declined to be 

 renominated, pleading the necessity of looking after 

 his private affairs. He accepted the editorship of 

 the Omaha " World-Herald for the purpose of 

 promoting the silver cause, beginning his duties on 

 Sept. 1, 1894. He was a candidate for the United 

 States Senate, but was defeated by the Republican 

 John M. Thurston. He retired from the editorship 

 and resumed his law practice, but continued to take 

 an active part in the party management, and was 

 the principal author of the fusion of the Democrats 

 and the People's party in Nebraska. In the Chicago 

 convention Bryan was not a prominent candidate 

 for the presidential nomination. He was not thought 

 of, indeed, by the leaders and the party at large un- 

 til he captivated the convention by an impassioned 

 speech in reply to Senator David B. Hill and other 

 advocates of the gold standard, ending with the 

 apostrophe : " You shall not press down upon the 

 brow of labor this crown of thorns ! You shall not 

 crucify mankind upon a cross of gold ! " 



Socialist Labor Convention. The national con- 

 vention of the Socialist Labor party was held in 

 New York city on July 9, 1896. The platform was 

 as follows : 



The Socialist Labor party of the United States, in con- 

 vention assembled, reasserts the inalienable right of all 

 men to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 



With the founders of the American republic, we hold 

 that the purpose of government is tq^ecure every citizen 

 in the enjoyment ot this right; but in the light of our 

 social conditions, we hold,' furthermore, that" no such 

 right can be exercised under a system of economic in- 

 equality, essentially destructive of life, of liberty, and of 

 happiness. 



With the founders of this republic, we hold that the 

 true theory of politics is that the machinery of govern- 

 ment must be owned and controlled by the whole peo- 

 ple; but in the liirht of our industrial development we 

 hold, furthermore, that the true theory of economics is that 

 the machinery of production must likewise belong to the 

 people in common. 



To the obvious fact that our despotic system of econom- 

 ics is the direct opposite of our democratic system of 

 politics, can plainly DC traced the existence of a privi- 

 leged class, the corruption of government by that class, 

 the alienation of public property, public franchisee, and 

 public functions to that class, and the abject dependence 

 of the mightiest nations upon that class. 



Atrain. through the perversion of democracy to the 

 ends of plutocracy, labor is robbed of the wealth which 

 it alone produces, is denied the means of self-employ- 

 ment, and. by compulsory idleness in wage slavery, 'is 

 even deprived of the necessaries of life. 



Human power and natural forces are thus wasted that 

 the plutocracy may rule. 



Ignorance and misery, with all their concomitant evils, 

 are perpetuated, that the people may he kept in bondage. 



Science and invention are diverted from their humane 

 purpose to the enslavement of women and children. 



Against such a system the Socialist Labor party once 

 more enters its protest. Once more it reiterates its fun- 

 damental declaration, that private property in the natural 

 sources of production and in the instruments of labor is 

 the obvious cause of all economic servitude and political 

 dependence. 



rhe time is fast coming when, in the natural course of 

 social evolution, this system, through the destructive ac- 

 tion of its failures and crises on the one hand, and the 

 constructive tendencies of its trusts and other capitalistic 

 combinations on the other hand, shall have worked out 

 its own downfall. 



We therefore call upon the wage workers of the 

 United States, and upon all other honest citi/eiis, to or- 

 ganize under the banner of the Socialist Labor party into- 

 a class-conscious body, aware of its rights and deter- 

 mined to conquer them by taking possession of the pub- 

 lic powers; so that, held together by an indomitable 

 spirit of solidarity under the "most trying conditions of 

 the present class struggle, we may put a summary end to 

 that barbarous struggle by the abolition of classes, the 

 restoration of the land, and of all the means of produc- 

 tion, transportation, and distribution, to the people as a 

 collective body, and the substitution of the Co-operative 

 Commonwealth for the {'resent state of planless produc- 

 tion, industrial war, and social disorder: a common- 

 wealth in which every worker shall have the free cxer- 

 cise and full hem-tit of his faculties, multiplied by all the 

 modern factors of civilization. 



With a view to immediate improvement in the condi- 

 tion of labor we present the following demands : 



I. Reduction of the hours of labor in proportion to the 

 progress of production. 



J. The United States to obtain possession of the mines,, 

 railroads, canals, telegraphs, telephones, and all other- 

 means of public transportation and communication; the 

 employees to operate the same co-operatively under con- 

 trol of the Federal Government and to elect their own 

 superior officers, but no employee shall be discharged for 

 political reasons. 



3. The municipalised to obtain possession of the local 

 railroads, ferries, waterworks, gas works, electric plants, 

 and all industries requiring municipal franchises; the 

 employees to operate the same co-operatively under con- 

 trol of the municipal administration and to elect their 

 own superior officers, but no employee shall be dis- 

 charged for political reasons. 



4. The public lands to be declared inalienable. Revo- 

 cation of all land grants to corporations or individuals, 

 the conditions of which have not been complied with. 



.">. The United States to have the exclusive right to- 

 issue money. 



''. ( Yingivssional legislation providing for the scientific 

 management of forests and waterways! and prohibiting 

 the waste of the natural resources of the country. 



7. Inventions to be free to all; the inventors to be 

 remunerated by the nation. 



8. Progressive income tax and tax on inheritances; the 

 smaller incomes to be exempt. 



9. School education of all children under fourteen years 

 of age to be compulsory, gratuitous, and accessible to all 

 by public assistance in meals, clothing, books, etc., where 

 accessary. 



10. Repeal of all pauper, tramp, conspiracy, and sump- 

 tuary laws. Unabridged right of combination. 



II. Prohibition of the employment of children of 

 school age. and the employment of female labor in occu- 

 pations detrimental to health or morality. Abolition of 

 the convict labor contract system. 



12. Employment of the unemployed by the public au- 

 thorities (county, city. State, and nation i. 



13. All wages to be paid in lawful money of the United 

 States. Equalization of woman's wages with those of men 

 where equal service is performed. 



14. Laws for the protection of life and limb in all oc- 

 cupations, arid an efficient employers' liability law. 



15. The people to have the right to propose laws and 

 to vote upon all measures of importance, according to the 

 referendum principle. 



li!. Abolition of the veto power of the Executive (Na- 

 tional, State, and Municipal) wherever it exists. 



17. Abolition of the United States Senate and all upper 

 legislative chambers. 



18. Municipal self-government. 



19. Direct vote and secret ballots in all elections. Uni- 

 versal and equal right of suffrage without regard to col or, 

 creed, or sex. Election days to be legal holidays. The 



