The merchant at the corner store is as much a businessman as the
merchant of New York. The farmer who goes forth in the morning and toils all day...is as much a businessman as the man who [works on Wall Street].
We come to speak for this broader cla** of businessmen....It is for these that we speak. We are fighting in the defense of our homes and our families. We have petitioned, and our petitions have been scorned. We have entreated, and our entreaties have been disregarded. We have begged, and they have mocked us.
We beg no longer; we entreat no more; we petition no more. We defy them!
You come to us and tell us that the great cities are in favor of the gold standard. I tell you that the great cities rest upon these broad and fertile prairies. Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic. But destroy our farms and the gra** will grow in the streets of every city in this country.
Having behind us the commercial interests and the laboring interests and all the toiling ma**es, we shall answer their demands for a gold standard by saying to them: you shall not press down
upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns. You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.