A Documentary Treasure

I would not expect any of you to be surprised by the expectation that valuable things might be found at a bank.  However, who might have expected the discovery of this particular documentary treasure?  

The Peoples Bank in Pratt, Kansas has its own 'history detective' who manages to explore the historic documentary heritage of that bank in spare moments.  Founded in 1887, dating back to both the era in which Isaac Beckley Werner was documenting events in his daily journal and also the era of the Populist Movement, the Peoples Bank has witnessed a great deal of history.  When their in-house detective discovered that I share his passion for history, and specifically history of our region and the time of the Populist Movement, he knew he had met someone with whom to share his discoveries of special documents among the forgotten papers stored at the bank.  What a treasure he found recently!

The story behind the treasure is one of the high points of my manuscript, for the document is from the moment when the People's Party reached its political peak and became a national power, while at the same time splintering because of differences within the party that led to its decline.

The Gold Bugs buzz around Uncle Sam

One group, known as Mid-Roaders, wanted to adhere to the initial goals around which the People's Party had formed, having to do with regulation of railroad rates, breaking up monopolies, and  weakening the political power and influence of the wealthy.  The other group, known as Fusionists, wanted to fuse with one or the other of the two major political parties in order to combine enough votes to elect their presidential candidate.  In Northern states, like Kansas, the populists had sometimes worked with the Democrats to defeat Republicans, but in Southern states the old and more powerful political machinery was Democratic, so populists joined with Republicans to defeat the Democrats.  The Mid-Roaders opposed the tactic, pointing out that once elected the politicians ignored the goals of farmers and other laborers.

However, by 1896, the issue of abandoning the gold standard and returning to bi-mentalism, in which both gold and silver supported our national monetary system, had split all three of the parties--the young People's Party and the established Democrat and Republican parties.

Just as a bicycle needs 2 wheels, the Gold standard needs Silver

In the People's Party, the old-line members, the Mid-Roaders, wanted to adhere to their broader goals, but the newer leadership, the Fusionists, wanted to put old goals on the back burner and elevate Free Silver above above everything else.  The same split happened in the Democratic Party, with the majority favoring Free Silver and the minority splitting to form the National Democratic party.  In the Republican Party there was also a split, but its minority was smaller and had less impact.

President Cleveland can't compete without bimetalism

The People's Party Fusionists believed so strongly in Free Silver that they succeeded in convincing the populists to join with the Democrats to nominate William Jennings Bryan.  In exchange, they asked the Democrats to allow the People's Party to name the Vice-President.  The Democrats refused.  William Jennings Bryan was the Presidential candidate for both parties, but the People's Party nominated a well-known and popular Southern populist, Tom Watson, (hoping to win Southern votes) as their Vice-Presidential candidate, while the Democrats nominated a wealthy New Englander named Arthur Sewall.  Sewall ties to Railroads and Banking, (the archenemies of Populists), thinking his credentials could attract Eastern and non-labor votes from the Republicans.

If you have been counting, that makes five different political parties, and it gets even more complicated.  Back-room deals within the populist delegations, including Kansans, were made to swap votes, in which some People's Party leaders agreed to support the Bryan-Sewall ticket in exchange for Democrat support for down-ballot populist candidates.  (More about that later.)  Those 'deals' resulted in six different tickets.  Add the Prohibition Party, which was a strong third party at that time, and the Independent Party, and eight different choices were included on the ballot.

As I said earlier, my research had made me very familiar with this odd political situation, but I never imagined that I would see this odd ballot.  Now I have!  As the People's Bank 'history detective' has surmised, an actual 1896 ballot may very well have survived because someone at the bank was frugal and decided that the blank backs of the unused 1896 presidential election ballots made perfectly good scratch pads. (See back of ballot above.)

Two ballots, the Middle-of-the-Road Populist ticket and the People's Party ticket, have Thomas E. Watson as the vice-presidential nominee.  That may seem to be a distinction without a difference, but it was not.  The President and Vice-President were the same, but the Presidential Electors were different.  That was important.  In fact, after the election NO presidential electors cast their votes for Thomas E. Watson, regardless of where voters may have marked their ballots.   

Tom Watson had not asked to be put on the ballot as the vice-presidential nominee, and he had not been present at the convention when that was done, but he accepted the decision and campaigned.  The new-comers to the Populist Movement not only engineered the Free Silver strategy and participated in the back-room deals, they openly supported Sewell.   When Watson visited the Kansas People's Party state headquarters, he faced the humiliation of entering through a door over which a banner reading "Bryan and Sewell" was hung.

That, and other such treatment that Watson saw as disloyal to a man who had stood with the People's Party in the past, changed him.  His bitterness caused him to turn away from things he had once championed.  Reading his political history before and after 1896 is like reading the record to two different men.

Bryan lost the election, the strategy failed, and the self-inflicted wounds within the People's Party led to its decline.  The amazing ballot found by the Peoples Bank 'document detective' Phillip Toalston is a unique piece of Kansas political history at a time when the State of Kansas wielded great political power.  Thank you Phillip!

Remember, you can click on the images to enlarge them.  

   

Presidential Election of 1896

Democratic Presidential Banner from 1896

Americans seem to think the Presidential Election currently in the news is the wildest one yet, but last week's blog shared some of the elections that have been called "the dirtiest."  This week I will share events of the 1890 elections, the last Presidential Elections of Isaac B. Werner's lifetime, which were pretty crazy!!

The era most of us know as the Gilded Age was great for a small segment of Americans, but for farmers like Isaac, as well as other workers engaged as miners, small ranchers, and factory laborers, times were hard.  The big issue became whether adhering to the gold standard to keep a stable economy was best or whether implementing bimetalism to include silver would benefit more ordinary Americans.

Cartoon from St. John, KS County Capital

For farmers and other working class people who were suffering most economically, 'Free Silver!' became the rallying cry.  The Republicans had the political wealth and power, but the People's Party believed that if they joined with the Democrats in nominating William J. Bryan as their Presidential candidate that their combined votes could defeat the Republicans. 

The caption on the cartoon showing Uncle Sam trying to ride his bicycle with only one wheel, identified as "Gold" reads:  "The country will never be Prosperous again until Silver is restored to full and unlimited coinage."  The "Silver" wheel lies on the ground, crushed by "Demonitization" with the guiding light of a lamp left behind on the ground labeled "Common Sense."

It was William Jennings Bryan's Cross of Gold speech at the Democratic Convention, with its reference to drip down economics, that probably lifted him above other potential nominees, and it was certainly Bryan's nearly exclusive focus on "Free Silver" that led the People's Party to nominate him, despite the fact that he was not a member of their party!

When it came to selecting the Vice-Presidential candidate, however, the Democrats and the People's Party nominated different candidates.  The Democrats chose a wealthy man from the east coast, hoping he would bring some votes from those Republicans who favored silver (and there were a few who did).  The People's Party nominated one of their own as the Vice-Presidential candidate, wanting to be represented on the ticket. 

The tactic did not succeed.  Republican McKinley received 271 electoral votes while Bryan received only 176.

Four years earlier in the 1892 Presidential Election, bimetallism had also been an issue, with the Democrats choosing Cleveland as their candidate, the Republicans choosing Harrison, and the People's Party choosing Weaver.  Cleveland prevailed with 277 electoral votes to Harrison's 145 and Weaver's 22.  The poor economy during Cleveland's administration was blamed on adherence to the gold standard by many in the People Party and Cleveland's own Democratic party, and they demanded bimetallism.

Political Cartoon from St. John, KS County Capital progressive newspaper

The above political cartoon uses the bicycle theme to illustrate why bimetallism beats the gold standard.  President Cleveland is depicted riding a unicycle, cheered on by the wealthy.  The caption reads:  "Cleveland--'This blasted wheel wobbles too much.  I never can catch that fellow ahead and you might as well save your breath.  I am in a perplexing and delicate predicament as a result of ill-advised financial expedients.'"

The poor economy set the stage for the Democrats in 1896 to nominate Bryan as their candidate.   People's Party candidate Weaver's weak performance in 1892 motivated the populists in 1896 to make the unusual decision to select the nominee of the Democratic ticket for their own Presidential candidate, while at the same time nominating a different man for Vice President. 

The Republicans who favored bimetallism split from their party to form a splinter party, as did the Democrats who favored retaining the Gold standard, while the People's Party nominated a Democrat as their candidate, resulting in William Jennings Bryan having two different running mates.  Talk about a crazy Presidential Election!

So, as you follow the news of the upcoming Presidential Election of 2016, perhaps you can take some comfort in the fact that as crazy as it may seem to you, America has survived crazy Presidential elections in the past.

By the way, although Bryan did receive a strong showing of 47% of the popular vote in 1896 to McKinley's 51%, the electoral vote was McKinley 271, Bryan 176.  That difference shows how important it is that candidates pay attention to states with more electoral votes during their campaigning.  It also explains why we see so many charts on our television screens showing the likely votes of the "Important" electoral states and why Isaac's old home state of Kansas, with fewer electoral votes, is rarely mentioned by the television commentators. However, in the 1896 Presidential election, Kansas was at the heart of political news.

Politician Wm Jennings Bryan as Author

 

"The First Battle" by William Jennings Bryan, pub. 1896

Our small hometown is very fortunate to have a wonderful public library.  During an Open House at the library, I noticed a shelf of books the library was selling to raise funds.  The title, "The First Battle," caught my eye, along with the author's name of W.J. Bryan.  I opened the cover to find a yellowed check-out form with not a single stamp to show that the book had ever been checked out since its acquisition by the library.  Handling it carefully because of its fragile condition, I was amazed to discover a book written by the 1896 presidential candidate of both the Democrats and the People's Party, William Jennings Bryan, and published the same year of that  failed candidacy.  I bought it to add to my research materials of the late 1800s.
 

Preface to Bryan's Book, p. 11

Preface to Bryan's Book, p. 12  



 

                      In an unusual Preface to the book, Bryan's words are presented in his own handwriting.  In part, they read:  "The campaign of 1896 was a remarkable one whether we measure it by the magnitude of the issues involved or by the depth of interest aroused.  I have been led to undertake the present work by a desire, felt by myself and expressed by others, to have the more important incidents of the campaign put into permanent form for the convenience of those who have taken part in the contest and for the use of those who shall hereafter desire to review the struggle.  The amount of work done by the advocates of free coinage is beyond computation and the number of those who took an active part in the contest to [sic] great for enumeration..."  Included in the book are not only texts of speeches and other documents by Bryan but also documents of other men instrumental to the Silver issue, the primary theme of Bryan's 1896 candidacy. 

 

                      In another rather unusual decision, Bryan chose his wife to serve as his biographer, inserting her brief genealogy of his family and following that with her personal biography of her husband's life.  She recorded his birthday of March 19, 1860 and his family's move from Salem, Illinois, to a 500 acre farm outside of town when Bryan was five.  He entered public school at the age of ten and attended there for five years before entering Whipple Academy, the prep school for Illinois College at Jacksonville, IL, where he remained for eight years, acquiring a classical education.  He met his wife, Mary Baird, in September 1879, while they were both students in Jacksonville, (she attending a school for young ladies), and having graduated from college, he entered Union College of Law in Chicago in the fall of 1881.  He began his legal practice on July 4, 1883, and he and Mary wed on October 1, 1884.

 

As for his political biography, he first became interested in politics during his father's Congressional political campaign of 1872, and according to Mary, "...from that time on he always cherished the thoughts of entering public life."  It was the summer of 1887 when legal business took him to Kansas and Iowa, that he made a side trip to Lincoln, Nebraska, and was so impressed with the prairie town that he decided to move to Lincoln and begin a legal practice with a former classmate from law school.  That practice commenced on October 1, 1887, and Bryan immediately became active in Democratic politics in Nebraska.

 

William & Mary's Home

 With his handwritten Preface and his wife's biography having opened the book, Bryan begins his own text with this title to Chapter 1:  "My Connection with the Silver Question Begins."  There is no question that Bryan's political career was built on identifiable issues and skills.  Perhaps foremost was his formidable skill as an orator; without question his principal political issue was Free Silver; and underpinning his reputation was his strong reputation as a Christian man.  His career is bookended by the "Cross of Gold" speech at the Democratic convention of 1896 that probably led to his selection as the party's presidential candidate (See my blog "The People's Party Urged Silver, July 18, 2013) and it essentially closed with the so-called "Scopes Monkey Trial" of 1925.

 

Bryan was well known for lacing his oratory with frequent Biblical references and quotations, just as he did in his stirring challenge to the Republicans not to "press down upon the brow of labor a crown of thorns" nor "crucify mankind upon a cross of gold."



Darrow, left, & Bryan, right, at Scopes trial 

It was surely that reputation that influenced his selection as attorney for the state in The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes in which Clarence Darrow, the famous defense attorney, was hired to defend school teacher, John Thomas Scopes.  The highly publicized trial became a contest between those who believed the Bible took priority over all human knowledge and those who believed evolution could be reconciled with matters of faith.  The Tennessee law made it illegal for any state-funded school to teach evolution, and with two such famous lawyers representing opposing sides, the trial was covered by newspapers far beyond Dayton, Tennessee.  Bryan won, with Scopes found guilty and fined $100, (although the verdict was overturned); however, Darrow took the unusual tactic of putting Bryan on the witness stand as an expert on the Bible, and Bryan's testimony left him feeling humiliated and exhausted.


Images of Bryan selected for his book

While those two events probably bookend his reputation today, in his own lifetime he was well known for  many distinguished achievements.  Not only was he chosen in 1896 as the presidential candidate of both the Democratic and the People's parties, he was chosen as the Democratic presidential candidate again in both 1900 and 1908.  He was the Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson (1913-1915), and people were willing to pay to hear him speak to the extent that he supported his family from speaking engagements for many years.  Despite his achievements, Bryan's star was never again so high as during the 1896 presidential election, and many believe that L. Frank Baum's depiction of the Cowardly Lion in the Oz book published in 1900 was intended to caricature and ridicule Bryan.

By the time of the 1896 Presidential election in which Bryan first ran, Isaac was no longer living; however, the Silver issue was the controlling question for the People's Party even before Isaac's death, and there was no greater champion of that issue that William Jennings Bryan.

Remember, you can enlarge the images by clicking on them.

 




The People's Party Urged Silver

1890 Political Cartoon from the County Capital

During the People's Party movement of the late 1800s one of the most politically divisive issues was bimetallism.  Many members of the People's Party supported bimetallism, in which silver as well as gold would support our currency.

 

Initially, both gold and silver were legal tender of the United States, first with a floating exchange rate that was fixed at a 15:1 ratio in 1792 by Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury.  During the Civil War money was needed to pay soldiers, and "Greenbacks" were issued, but the bonds to pay for the War were redeemable in gold.  This was pointed to by the People's Party as an example of the wealthy getting their bonds repaid in valuable gold while the soldiers were left with the deflated paper money.  It was in 1873 that the free and unlimited coinage of silver ended, putting the country on a gold standard.  When the Panic of 1893 struck the nation, the schism between the wealthy and the working classes intensified, particularly regarding the continuance of the gold standard.

 

1890s Political Cartoon from the County Capital

Membership in the People's Party consisted largely of farmers, laborers, and miners, and the majority believed that a return to silver would inflate the money supply, giving more cash to everybody.  Farmers especially saw a double benefit from inflation--higher prices for their crops and repayment of their outstanding loans with deflated dollars.  Bankers and other investors obviously opposed the idea of accepting deflated dollars in payment of the notes they held.  Politically, this translated into Republicans supporting candidates and policies that adhered to the gold standard while Democrats and the People's Party supported candidates and policies that supported bimetallism.

 

The political cartoon at the start of his blog shows rich men in top hats, holding government bonds as they cheer for President Cleveland, who is struggling to compete on a unicycle representing the single metal gold standard.  The common man, on a 2-wheeled bicycle representing bimetallism, stays in the lead.  The political cartoon just above uses a one-wheeled bicycle, showing how impossible it is for Uncle Sam to make any progress toward prosperity when the rear wheel, labeled "silver" has been removed.

 

Abandoned silver mines near Creede, Colorado

The prosperity of  silver mines declined as an oversupply of the metal caused the market to fall.  In an effort to prop up the market and appease those calling for a return to bimetallism, the government agreed to buy a certain amount of silver each month at a fixed price.  Naturally, this caused silver mines to reopen and increase operations, driving the silver market below the government price to the extent that the government program was ended.  When we visited Creed, Colorado, we saw the evidence of that tumultuous period for miners in the form of abandoned mines.

 

In 1896 the Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan, and the People's Party also nominated Bryan, believing that the combined votes of the two parties would defeat the Republican candidate and put a "Free Silver" president in the White House.  Bryan's focus on the silver issue was apparent at the Democratic Convention, where he delivered his famous "Cross of Gold" speech, declaring:  "The gold standard has slain tens of thousands."  He contrasted "idle holders of idle capital" with "the struggling masses, who produce the wealth and pay the taxes of the country."  

 

Regional voting in 1896 Election

 Bryan's speech takes its familiar title from his rallying challenge to the Republicans:  "You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold."  (To read the full text of this speech you may go to http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5354.)

 

Disagreements about the silver question resulted in groups splintering off from both of the major parties, but on election day Bryan swept the rural South, the heartland states, and the upper Northwest, areas where farming, mining, and lumbering were dominant.  However, McKinley held the banking, railroading, and manufacturing states and gained the presidency with 51 % of the vote.

 

The push by the People's Party to join with Democrats to gain the White House and put a Free Silver President in office failed.  (For a good explanation of the 1896 Currency Question you may visit http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/currency.html.) 

Next week's blog will share more about William Jennings Bryan from his own book published immediately after the 1896 campaign and titled "The First Battle."