I recall a remark made in the campaign of
1896 by a very distinguished, highly educated
man, who had had a wide experience in public
affairs, to the effect that if Mr. Bryan should
be elected President, he believed there would
be serious danger that the Constitution of the
United States would be violated. Many will
recall that in the discussion of the silver issue
in that campaign the Republicans referred

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ACTION FOR SOCIAL WELFARE

constantly to the "dishonesty'* of the silver
men and of Mr. Bryan, while, on the other
hand, the Democrats declared that those who
advocated the gold standard were attempting
to get their debts paid twice over, and that in
consequence they were dishonest. The strik-
ing fact is that both classes of people believed
sincerely what they were saying. Neither
party seemed to realize that the members of
the other party were all citizens of the same
country; that all alike were interested patri-
otically in the country's welfare. It might well
be that some mistake might be found in th^ir
reasoning or in their judgment,* but in the event
that they found afte^r the election that there
had been a mistake made ; if experience showed
that the winning party had been in error, they
could reverse their action after they were in
power ; and any group of office-holders, seeing
that their policy was directly injurious to the
country, would doubtless change that policy.
