October 12

Minneapolis, MN (Excerpt)

"I have received a letter dated October 12, and signed by W. D. Washburn, who is, I understand, an ex-senator from this state. (Hisses and groans.) In this letter he asks me certain questions about my action in the house of representatives on the tariff bill, for which I refer him to the Congressional Record. But when he asks me to enter into a discussion of the tariff question, I tell him that there is a question before the American people which is far more important than the tariff question. There is a question that can be settled now; the tariff question can be settled any time. If he wants me to discuss tariff, I tell him to join with me in a prohibitive duty on foreign financial policies, and then I will discuss the rest of the schedule. (Great cheering.) OR if he is not willing to discriminate against that foreign product by a prohibitory duty, I will ask him to wait until he has settled the money 1uestion by international agreement, and then submit the tariff question to international agreement.

Laboring men, I want to ask you why it is that every goldbug says that you are selfish and that you are influenced by selfish considerations, while every goldbug pretends to be a philanthropist, who simply loves honest money because it will help other people. (Laughter and cheers.) I want to know why it is that these goldbugs are so sorry that everybody else will be influenced by personal interests and so positive that personal interests cannot affect them. (Applause.) Why is it? I will tell you why: if a man believes a thing is good for himself and also good for others, he will admit that it is good for himself. If he thinks a thing good for himself, but bad for others, he will never admit that it is good for himself. (Cheers.) That is the rule that I lay down and you can examine it and apply it to every day life. You will find that men never deny that a thing is good for them if they also believe that it is good for others. It is only when they believe that they prosper by others' adversity that you hear them standing up and denying that they have any pecuniary benefit." (Applause.)