Etext of Two Reasons in Favor of the Election of William Jennings Bryan
by Josephine Shaw Lowell 
    

          
Two Reasons in Favor of the Election of William Jennings Bryan 
By Josephine Shaw Lowell 
City and State 9 (Sept. 13, 1900).

To the Editor of City And State:
 
As it appears by your editorial of August 30th that some of your subscribers
regret the position you have taken on national politics, I desire to express
my extreme satisfaction in regard to it, and also to bring to the attention of
your readers two imperative reasons in favor of the election of Bryan, which
have not, I think, been sufficiently dwelt upon.
 
1. When the government of the United States, in entering upon the war with
Spain, proclaimed that its only object was the liberation of Cuba, denying all
desire for national gain, its statement, although strictly true, was
discredited by the civilized world, and the conduct of the Administration
during the past two years has, unhappily, justified the cynical distrust with
which that declaration of unselfishness was received. The United States, in
consequence, stands now convicted not only as a "criminal aggressor," but as a
hypocritical aggressor, and the only way in which the fair name of our country
can be restored is by the repudiation of the acts of the present
Administration by the people at the polls.
 
2. Many persons who regret the course of the Administration, and some even who
regard it as wicked, excuse themselves to their oven consciences for their
intention to vote in support of it by the argument: "After all, Bryan would
have to do almost exactly what McKinley is doing; there could be no very
radical change so far as actual conduct in the Philippines is concerned,
however different the intention might be."
 
I do not concede that this reasoning is correct, but assuming that it is and
that McKinley should undertake to do exactly what Bryan would have done if
elected, the result would by no means be the same, for in the one case the
Filipinos would respond and in the other case they would not. In other words,
McKinley can not pacify the Filipinos, however honestly he may desire to do
so, because they will not be pacified by him. His past acts, whether sins or
only mistakes, preclude it, whereas were Bryan elected, the Filipinos would
joyfully recognize that the people of the United States mean to do them
justice, and all the efforts of the Bryan administration would be met by them
in a trustful and pacific spirit. As Sixto Lopez, speaking for the Filipinos,
says: "If Mr. Bryan were elected, we should throw our arms into the sea."
 
Thus it seems to me that the election of Bryan is necessary both to clear the
United States of the imputation of hypocrisy and greed, and also to render
possible the end of the wicked war now being waged by our great country
against the miserable Filipinos.

Josephine Shaw Lowell.
New York, September 8th.