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lub。 Bryan was running for president on a platform declaring that the laboring man should 〃not be crucified upon a cross of gold。〃 No laboring man wanted to be。 I was on the same side of the fence with Bryan when it came to the crucifixion question； but on the opposite side of the fence regarding the gold question。 Of course I knew little about finance； and could not answer the Nebraskan。 But had he advocated the free and unlimited coinage of pig…iron I could have talked him into a gasping hysteria。 For； we mill fellows figured that this was exactly what Bryan's money theory amounted to。 His farmer friends had borrowed gold money from the bankers； spent it in drought years plowing land that produced nothing； and then found themselves unable to pay it back。 They wanted to call silver and paper cash and pay the debt with this new kind of money。 He wanted a money system by which a farmer could borrow money to put in his crop； then having failed to raise a crop （I have mentioned the great drought years） could yet pay back the money。 But no farming nation can suffer great crop losses without being set back financially and starved to where it hurts。 You've got to figure God's laws into your human calculations。
〃Bryan might as well try to dodge the hungry days by advocating the free and unlimited coinage of tomato cans；〃 is the way one of the fellows put it； 〃then every man could borrow a dollar and buy a can of tomatoes。 After eating the tomatoes he could coin the can into a dollar and buy another can of tomatoes。 And so on until he got too old to eat； and then he could use the last dollar from the tin can in paying back the banker。〃 Schemes like that are all right for orators and agitators who make their living with words。 But farmers and iron workers know what it is that turns clods into corn and what makes the iron wheels that bear it to market。 It is muscle applied with the favor of God。
Without labor； no crops。 Without rain； no crops。 It was world…wide crop failures that finally brought the lean years of the nineties。 The return of big crops was already reviving the sick world。 It rejected the radicals' 〃remedy〃 and next year it was well。 Had we taken that wrong medicine in the dark it would have killed us。 Thirty years later Russia let them shoot that medicine into her arm and it paralyzed her。 The rain falls upon her fields and the soil is rich； but it brings forth no harvest and the people starve。
Russia has had famines before； but they were acts of God。 The rain failed and there was no harvest。 Their present famine is an act of man。 Labor ceased。 And the ensuing hunger was man's own fault。 Nations that think labor is a curse； and adopt schemes to avoid labor； must perish for their folly。
In 1896 we came within an inch of adopting financial bolshevism。 This taught me that a people are poorly schooled who can not tell the good from the bad。 The wise heads knew what was good for the country。 Hard work and good crops would cure our ills。 But millions voted for a poison that would have destroyed us。 From that time on I dreamed of a new kind of school； not the kind we had that turned out men to grope blindly between good and folly。 But a school based on the fundamental facts of life and labor； the need of food and housing； and the sweating skill that brings man most of his blessings。 A school from which no man could come out ignorant。 That school should teach the eternal facts； and he that denied the facts would then be known for a fool or a rogueand not be thought a Messiah。
I love sentiment； and I believe in God。 And I believe that facts are God's glorious handiwork。 〃Ye shall know the truth； and the truth will set you free。〃 The man who shuns realities because they belittle him is on the wrong road； he is hopelessly lost from the beginning。
CHAPTER XXX VIII
THE EDITOR GETS MY GOAT
Madison county； Indiana； was a Democratic stronghold outside the mill towns； and a few farming townships。 Free silver orators were telling the farmers that under a gold standard no factory could run。 The farmers could see the smoke of the tin mills which had built a great city just beyond their corn…fields。 The silver men explained that smoke as 〃a dummy factory set up by Mark Hanna with Wall Street money to make a smoke and fool the people into thinking that it was a real factory and that industry was reviving under a Republican tariff。〃 The orators said the best proof that it was a sham mill lay in the fact that the plutocrats claimed it was a tin mill； while 〃everybody knows it is impossible to manufacture tin plate in America。〃
My method of getting votes for the tariff was to take young Democrats from the mill and transport them to Democratic rallies in the far corner of the county where they heard their Democratic orators saying that the mill was a sham put up to fool voters and that it was not manufacturing any tin。 When the young Democrats heard such rot they turned against their party。 They were farm boys who had been brought up in that county and had quit the farm and gone into the tin mill because they could earn twice as much making tin as they could farming。 A worker at work is hard…headed enough to know that when an orator tells him he is not working and not earning any money； the orator is an ass。 These lies about fake factories hurt the Democrats by turning all the mill Democrats into Republicans。 This is the only method I have ever used in campaigning。 The Republicans carried the town。 When； two years later； I ran for city clerk； they passed around the rumor that I was a wild Welshman from a land where the tribes lived in caves and wore leather skirts and wooden shoes； and that I had had my first introduction to a pants…wearing people when I came to America。 They said that I had not yet learned to speak English； could not spell my own name； and was unable to count above ten。
These charges printed in the opposition paper offered me my only chance for election。 I went to all my meetings with a big slate。 I asked my audience to call out numbers。 I wrote down the figures and then did sums in arithmetic to prove that I could count。 I would ask if there was a school…teacher in the audience （there was always one there）。 He would rise； and I would ask him to verify my calculations。 I would also have him ask me to spell words。 He would give me such words as 〃combustion；〃 〃garbage disposal；〃 〃bonded indebtedness〃 and so on。 I would spell the words and write them on the slate。 He would then ask me questions in history； geography and political economy。 Then the school… teacher would turn to the crowd and say：
〃Friends； I came to this meeting because I had read that Mr。 Davis is an ignorant foreigner unfitted for the duties of city clerk。 I find to my surprise that he is well informed。 I am glad we came here and investigated； for we can all rest assured that if he is elected to the office； he is entirely capable of filling it。〃
I handled the money and kept the books for the union； and this work in addition to my campaign efforts wore me down at last。 Two nights before the election I decided that I had small chance of winning。 I was on the Republican ticket； and the Republicans had been in office four years and