HON. WILLIAM J. BRYAN,
 
 THE GREAT FIGHT 
 
 . . FOR . . 
 
 FREE SILVER 
 
 An Interesting History of the first great struggle in which 
 
 the Fearless and Brilliant Leader of the People 
 
 championed the cause of humanity in the 
 
 memorable campaign of 1896. 
 
 It recounts his heroic and untiring efforts in the Halls of Congress, at 
 
 the Chicago Convention, and in his great campaign throughout 
 
 the country; his matchless oratory; the splendid 
 
 achievements won, and the brilliant outlook 
 
 for the future of Bi-Metalism, and 
 
 a Biographical sketch of 
 
 MRS. BRYAN 
 
 IT CONTAINS AN 
 
 AUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY 
 
 OF HON. WM. JENNINGS BRYAN, PREPARED BY R. L. METCALF, ESQ., 
 OF THE OMAHA WORLD-HERALD, ASSISTED IN OTHER PARTS BY 
 R. C. MINDILL, OF THE N. Y. JOURNAL. 
 
 PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED 
 
 EDGEWOOD PUBLISHING COMPANY
 
 Copyright 1897, t>y M. J. COGHLAN.
 
 AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 In the services to the nation of Abraham Lincoln, the 
 rail-splitter ; of James A. Garfield, the canal-boy ; of 
 James G. Elaine, the school-master ; of the hosts of men, 
 who have risen from poverty and obscurity to place and 
 power, the splendid possibilities of American citizenship 
 have been amply demonstrated. 
 
 It is with these possibilities that this little book has 
 to do. For it no literary merit is claimed. It goes to 
 the public as the simple and hastily-written life-history 
 of one who, unaided by inherited wealth, or environ- 
 ment, other than that of the great common people with 
 whom he has cast his lot, has risen from obscurity to 
 world-wide fame. 
 
 This book deals with facts, not surmises or idle com- 
 pliments. It is not intended as a feather in the plume 
 of knighted hero, or banner upon the wall of moated 
 castle. Its only purpose is to familiarize the people of 
 to-day with one who, by force of ability, and unswerving 
 honesty, has, like the martyr, Lincoln, won his way to 
 fame. 
 
 Lincoln said that he knew that God loved the common 
 people because He made so many of them. William 
 Jennings Bryan has manfully fought their battles, un-
 
 AUTHOR'S PREFACE, 
 
 dismayed by organized opposition, and unswerved by 
 temptations of place and power. The honors that have 
 come to him have come because the people have recog- 
 nized in him the nearest approach to that high ideal of 
 the Christian statesman, which was held up by the 
 founders of the Republic to be the guide of future 
 generations. 
 
 To the cause of popular government, represented by 
 its ablest defender William J. Bryan this book is 
 respectfully dedicated. 
 
 R. L. METCALFE.
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Bryan's Early Days 19 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Bryan's Power Over Men 45 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Bryan in Nebraska 67 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Bryan Enters Congress 100 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Bryan as "Eland's Lieutenant" 122 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Bryan's Determined Fight 138 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 " The Grave Gives Up Its Dead " 165 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 How Nebraska was Redeemed 195 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 Bryan at Arlington . . .218 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Bryan as a Lawyer 238 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 Bryan as an Orator 246 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Bryan at Home 260 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 Perils of the Gold Standard 269
 
 7'ABLE Of< CONTEXTS. 
 
 CHAPTF:R xiv. 
 
 A Voice from Boston 277 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 Cernuschi on the Issue 284 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 John M. Thurston on Money 290 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 Moreton Frewen on the Issue 298 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 The Chicago Convention 311 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 Bryan's Speech 318 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 Convention Continued 332 
 
 CHAPTER XXL 
 Bryan's Speech at Madison Square Garden, N. Y. . . . 358 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 Bryan's Letter Accepting Populist Nomination .... 405 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 Bryan's Speech at Lincoln, Neb 408 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 Bryan's Speech in the House of Representatives . . . .419 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Bryan's Speech on the Rothschild-Morgan Bond Con- 
 tract 433
 
 TABLE OP CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 Speech of Claude A. Swanson 457 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 The Fires Still Burn ^82
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 HON. "W. J. BRYAN FRONTISPIECE. 
 
 MRS. W. J. BRYAN .*.... 17 
 
 MRS. AY. J. BRYAN AND CHILDREN . . , 18 
 
 HON. "W. J. BRYAN'S EESIDENCE AT LINCOLN, NEB. . 35 
 HON. "W. J. BRYAN'S FARM RESIDENCE NEAR SALEM, 
 
 ILLINOIS 36 
 
 HON. W. J. BRYAN AT THE AGE OF 30 53 
 
 HON. B. K. TILLMAN 54 
 
 HON. DAVID TURPIE 75 
 
 HON. SAMUEL PASCO 70 
 
 HON. H. M. TELLER 85 
 
 HON. KICHARD P. BLAND 86 
 
 HON. JNO. W. DANIEL 95 
 
 HON. J. C. S. BLACKBURN . 96 
 
 HON. JAS. K. JONES 105 
 
 HON. F. M. COCKRELL 106 
 
 HON. CHAS. F. CRISP 147 
 
 HON. EOBT. E. PATTISON 148 
 
 HON. HORACE CHILTON 157 
 
 HON. E. C. WALTHALL 158 
 
 HON. "W. J. STONE , 199
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 CLARK Ho WELL, ESQ. .,.... . 200 
 
 J. E. MCLEAN, ESQ 209 
 
 HON. G. G. VEST . . 210 
 
 HON. STEPHEN M. WHITE 235 
 
 HON. J. P. ALTGELD 286 
 
 HON. CLAUDE MATTHEWS ......'. 245 
 
 HON. ALEX. M. DOCKERY 246 
 
 HON. HORACE BOIES 355 
 
 HON. ADLAI STEVENSON 356 
 
 Miss MINNA MURRAY (The Girl in White) .... 365 
 ARTHUR J. SEW ALL . .366
 
 r v
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 BRYAN'S EARLY DAYS. 
 
 William Jennings Bryan, the Democratic nomi 
 nee for President of the United States, was born 
 in the town of Salem, Marion County, Illinois, 
 March 19, 1860. He is the descendant of the 
 Jennings and the Bryan families, whose men and 
 women made the world better by their existence. 
 None of these achieved national distinction, but 
 each appears to have performed his or her part 
 in life with strict fidelity to duty. Along all the 
 branches of the very numerous family it is not 
 difficult to observe the existence of a strong fam- 
 ily pride. Not that pride which comprehends an 
 aristocracy, nor, indeed, that which considers 
 genius, but a pride that contemplates the ances- 
 try of honest men and women, who provided 
 well for their families, educated their children, 
 bestowed charity where charity was deserved and 
 contributed materially to society in their respec- 
 tive spheres. 
 
 The father of William Jennings Bryan was 
 Silas Lillard Bryan, and his mother's maiden 
 name was Mariah Elizabeth Jennings. The 
 American history of the Bryan family begins in 
 
 2 19
 
 2O 
 
 Culpepper County, Virginia. A church still 
 standing in that vicinity is known as the " Bryan 
 Church," and the house in which Silas Lillard 
 Bryan was born is also intact. 
 
 William Bryan, the great grandfather of the 
 presidential nominee, the first of the family known 
 to the descendants, lived in Culpepper County, 
 Virginia. Five children were born to this couple. 
 One of these was John Bryan, the grandfather of 
 William J. Bryan. In 1807, John Bryan married 
 Nancy Lillard. Miss Lillard was the daughter of 
 one of the best families in Virginia, and she was 
 a woman of unusual talent and strength of char- 
 acter. In 1828, John Bryan and wife moved to 
 Cabal County, living there two years, finally 
 locating in Mason County, Virginia, where they 
 resided until their death. To this couple ten 
 children were born. Of these children two are 
 living to-day. One of these children was Silas 
 Lillard Bryan, the father of the presidential 
 candidate. 
 
 Silas Lillard Bryan was born near Sperryville, 
 in what was then Culpepper County, Virginia, in 
 1822. He located in Illinois in 1842 and lived in 
 Marion County until his death. Silas Lillard 
 Bryan was purely a self-made man. He worked 
 his way through McKendree College and ob- 
 tained for himself an excellent education. For 
 thirty years Silas Lillard Bryan was an honored 
 member of the Marion County bar. He served
 
 21 
 
 eight years in the Illinois State Senate, and for 
 twelve years from 1860 to 1872 was circuit 
 judge. Judge Bryan was a member of the con- 
 vention of 1870, which framed the present State 
 constitution of Illinois. 
 
 Silas Lillard Bryan married Mariah Elizabeth 
 Jennings. Israel Jennings, a native of Connecti- 
 cut, the founder of the Jennings family in Illinois, 
 was married to Mary Warden, in Maysville, Ken- 
 tucky, in 1800. In 1819, he removed, with his 
 family, to Marion County, Illinois, settling near 
 Walnut Hill. He was a member of the Illinois 
 Legislature in 1827. The union of Israel and 
 Mary Jennings was blessed with five children, one 
 of whom, Charles W. Jennings, was the grand- 
 father of the presidential candidate. Charles W. 
 Jennings settled near his parents' home and was 
 united in marriage to Mariah Davidson. Eight 
 children were the fruit of this union. One of 
 these was Mariah E., the mother of William Jen- 
 nings Bryan. 
 
 Russell Bryan, the youngest brother of Judge 
 Bryan, located in Salem, in 1841, and still lives in 
 that vicinity. Elizabeth Bryan, Judge Bryan's 
 youngest sister, married George Baltzell, and 
 lives at Deer Ridge, Lewis County, Missouri. 
 
 Zadoc Jennings, brother, and Mrs. Harriett 
 Marshall, Mrs. Nancy Davenport and Mrs. Docia 
 Van Antwerp, sisters of Mrs. Judge Bryan, still 
 survive. The descendants of the Jennings and
 
 22 
 
 Bryan families are numerous, and they have con- 
 tributed materially to good government and the 
 welfare of society in Virginia, Kentucky, Illinois, 
 Ohio, Arkansas and Missouri. Nine children 
 were born to Judge and Mrs. Bryan. Of these, five 
 are living. Frances, the eldest sister of the pres- 
 idential candidate married James W. Baird. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Baird reside at Salem, Illinois. Two 
 other sisters, Miss Nanny Bryan and Miss Mary 
 Bryan, also reside at Salem. Charles W., the 
 only brother of the presidential candidate, is a 
 citizen of Omaha. He is six years younger than 
 William, and was married four years ago to Miss 
 Bessie Brokaw. Judge Bryan, the father of the 
 presidential nominee, died March 30, 1880. Mr. 
 Bryan's mother died three weeks prior to the 
 Chicago Convention. 
 
 A pathetic feature is found in the fact, that the 
 mother had in recent years believed that a great 
 future awaited her distinguished son, and whatever 
 claims may be made and established concerning 
 the "original Bryan man," there can be no ques- 
 tion but that the devoted mother of the presiden- 
 tial candidate was the original Bryan woman. Bryan 
 gets his even temper and his sunshine from his 
 mother, who was one of the most lovable of 
 women. He inherits his eloquence and his courage 
 from his father, whose platform speeches and 
 whose bravery yet live in the memory of the 
 people of Salem. His high character comes from
 
 both parents, whose careers are full of good 
 deeds and whose lives are those of consistent, 
 earnest Christians. One of the oldest inhabitants 
 of Salem, says: "Judge Bryan, William J. 
 Bryan's father, had one weakness. He was not 
 content with family prayers, morning and night, 
 but he prayed at noon as regularly as the clock 
 struck twelve. I have seen him adjourn court 
 before twelve o'clock and then kneel at his seat 
 in prayer. I saw him once about to mount his 
 horse in the public square ; he took out his watch, 
 observed that it was twelve o'clock, and kneeled 
 beside his horse and prayed. Judge Bryan was a 
 very devoted man, and observed what he consid- 
 ered to be his religious duty, as strictly as he did 
 every official and personal duty. 
 
 It has been related that Judge Bryan had the 
 habit of opening court with devotional exercises, 
 but this tale is without foundation other than as 
 related above. But Judge Bryan had a firm reli- 
 ance in divine guidance and inculcated in the 
 breasts of his children the same supreme faith in 
 the Creator. The same Christian spirit domi- 
 nated the life of Mrs. Bryan, mother of the pres- 
 idential candidate. There are very many tender 
 recollections among the people of Marion County 
 of the practical and consistent Christianity prac- 
 tised by Judge and Mrs. Bryan. Their purses 
 and their energies were always available for the 
 advancement of the Christian religion, and their
 
 M 
 
 store-houses were always open for the relief of 
 God's poor. 
 
 It is not surprising that such parents as these 
 should have been able to rear up a son whose life 
 is modeled after their own good careers, and 
 whose public services are dedicated to the cause 
 of popular government, as his private life is dedi- 
 cated to the service of his parents' Master. 
 
 It is related of Judge Bryan that on one occa- 
 sion his poultry house was broken open and a 
 large number of prize hens were stolen. Certain 
 indications led the Judge to suspect a certain 
 worthless resident of the neighborhood. Several 
 weeks afterward this worthless resident met the 
 Judge while the latter was on his way to court. 
 " Judge," said the worthless resident, "I under- 
 stand you lost some chickens." " Sh ! Sh ! " re- 
 plied the Judge, as he placed his hand upon the 
 shoulder of the worthless scamp, " don't say a 
 word about it, don't say a word about it, there is 
 only three people that know anything about that, 
 God, yourself and myself, and I don't want it to 
 get out." 
 
 When William Jennings Bryan was six years 
 old, his parents moved to a farm in the vicinity of 
 the town of Salem. Until young Bryan was ten 
 years of age his parents taught him at home, 
 hoping to mould his young mind to better advan- 
 tage under such circumstances, in his more tender 
 years. At the age of ten, young Bryan entered
 
 25 
 
 the public school of Salem. There he attended 
 until he was fifteen years of age, when in the fall 
 of 1875 he entered Whipple Academy, Jackson- 
 ville, Illinois. Two years later, in 1877, he 
 entered Illinois College at Jacksonville, and com- 
 pleted a classical course, being graduated in 
 1 88 1, at the age of twenty-one, as valedictorian 
 and class orator. 
 
 The graduation oration of William J. Bryan, 
 with valedictory address, delivered at Illinois 
 College, Jacksonville, Illinois, Thursday, June 2, 
 1 88 r, was as follows : 
 
 "It is said of the ermine that it will suffer capt- 
 ure rather than allow pollution to touch its glossy 
 coat, but take away that coat and the animal is 
 worthless. 
 
 "We have ermines in higher life those who 
 love display. The desire to seem, rather than to 
 be, is one of the faults which our age, as well as 
 other ages, must deplore. 
 
 "Appearance too often takes the place of 
 reality the stamp of the coin is there, and the 
 glitter of the gold, but, after all, it is but a worth- 
 less wash. Sham is carried into every department 
 of life, and we are being corrupted by show and 
 surface. We are too apt to judge people by 
 what they have, rather than by what they are ; 
 we have too few Hamlets who are bold enough 
 to proclaim, ' I know not seem ! ' 
 
 " The counterfeit, however, only proves the
 
 26 
 
 value of the coin, and, although reputation may in 
 some degree be taking the place of character, 
 yet the latter has lost none of its worth, and, now, 
 as of old, is a priceless gem, wherever found. 
 Its absence and presence, alike, prove its value. 
 Have you not conversed with those whose bril- 
 liant wit, pungent sarcasm and well-framed 
 sentences failed to conceal a certain indescribable 
 something which made you distrust every word 
 they uttered? Have you not listened to those 
 whose eloquence dazzled, whose pretended 
 earnestness enkindled in you an enthusiasm 
 equal to their own, and yet, have you not felt 
 that behind all this there was lurking a monster 
 that repelled the admiration which their genius 
 attracted? Are there not those, whom like the 
 Greeks we fear, even when they are bringing 
 gifts ?. That something is want of character, or, to 
 speak more truly, the possession of bad character, 
 and it shows itself alike in nations and individuals. 
 44 Eschines was talented : his oration against the 
 crowning of Demosthenes was a masterly pro- 
 duction, excellently arranged, elegantly written 
 and effectively delivered ; so extraordinary was its 
 merits, that, when he afterwards, as an exile, de- 
 livered it before a Roadian audience, they ex- 
 pressed their astonishment that it had not won for 
 him his cause, but it fell like a chilling blast upon 
 his hearers at Athens, because he was the ' hire- 
 ling of Philip.'
 
 27 
 
 " Napoleon swept like a destroying angel over 
 almost the entire eastern world, evincing a military 
 genius unsurpassed, skill marvellous in its perfec- 
 tion, and a courage which savored almost of rash- 
 ness, yet ever demonstrated the wisdom of its 
 dictates. For a while he seemed to have robbed 
 fortune of her secret, and bewildered nations 
 gazed in silence while he turned the streams of 
 success according to his vascillating whims. 
 
 "Although endowed with a perception keen 
 enough to discern the hidden plans of opposing 
 generals, he could but see one road to immortal- 
 ity a path which led through battle-fields and 
 marshes wet with human gore ; over rivers of 
 blood and streams of tears that flowed from 
 orphans eyes a path along whose length the 
 widow's wail made music for his marching hosts. 
 But he is fallen, and over his tomb no mourner 
 weeps. Talent, genius, power, these he had 
 character, he had none. 
 
 " But there are those who have both influence 
 through life and unending praises after death ; 
 there are those who have by their ability, inspired 
 the admiration of the people and held it by the 
 purity of their character. It is often remarked 
 that some men have a name greater than their 
 works will justify ; the secret lies in the men 
 themselves. 
 
 " It was his well-known character, not less than 
 his eloquent words ; his deep convictions, not less
 
 28 
 
 than the fire of his utterance ; his own patriotism, 
 not less than his invectives against the Macedon- 
 ian that brought to the lips of the reanimated 
 Greeks that memorable sentence, ' Let us go 
 against Philip.' 
 
 "Perhaps we could not find better illustrations 
 of the power and worth of character, than are 
 presented in the lives of two of our own country- 
 men names about which cluster in most sacred 
 nearness the affections of the American people 
 honored dust over which have fallen the truest 
 tears of sorrow ever shed by a nation for its heroes 
 the father and savior of their common country 
 the one, the appointed guardian of its birth ; the 
 other, the preserver of its life. 
 
 " Both were reared by the hand of Providence 
 for the work entrusted to their care ; both were 
 led by nature along the rugged path of poverty ; 
 both formed a character whose foundations were 
 laid broad and deep in the purest truths of 
 morality a character which stood unshaken amid 
 the terrors of war and the tranquillity of peace ; 
 a character which allowed neither cowardice upon 
 the battle-field nortyrannyin the presidential chair. 
 Thus did they win the hearts of their countrymen 
 and prepare for themselves a lasting place of rest 
 in the tender memories of a grateful people. 
 
 "History but voices our own experience when 
 it awards to true nobility of character the highest 
 place among the enviable possessions of man.
 
 29 
 
 " Nor is it the gift of fortune. In this, at least, 
 we are not creatures of circumstances: talent, 
 special genius may be the gift of nature ; position 
 in society, the gift of birth ; respect may be bought 
 with wealth ; but neither one nor all of these can 
 give character. It is a slow but sure growth to 
 which every thought and action lends its aid. To 
 form character is to form grooves in which are to 
 flow the purposes of our lives. It is to adopt 
 principles which are to be the measure of our 
 actions, the criteria of our deeds. This we are 
 doing each day, either consciously or uncon- 
 sciously ; there is character formed by our associ- 
 ation with each friend, by every aspiration of the 
 heart, by every object toward which our affections 
 go out, yea, by every thought that flies on its 
 lightning wing through the dark recesses of the 
 brain. 
 
 "It is a law of mind that it acts most readily in 
 familiar paths, hence, repetition forms habit, and 
 almost before we are aware, we are chained to a 
 certain routine of action from which it is difficult 
 to free ourselves. We imitate that which we 
 admire. If we revel in stories of blood, and are 
 pleased with the sight of barbaric cruelty, we find 
 it easy to become a Caligula or a Domitian ; we 
 picture to ourselves scenes of cruelty in which we 
 are actors, and soon await only the opportunity 
 to vie in atrocity with the Neroes of the past. 
 
 "If we delight in gossip, and are not content
 
 30 
 
 unless each neighbor is laid upon the dissecting 
 table, we form a character unenviable indeed, and 
 must be willing to bear the contempt of all the 
 truly good, while we roll oUr bit of scandal as a 
 sweet morsel under the tongue. 
 
 " But if each day we gather some new truths, 
 plant ourselves more firmly upon principles which 
 are eternal, guard every thought and action that 
 they may be pure, and conform our lives more 
 nearly to that Perfect Model, we shall form a 
 character that will be a fit background on which 
 to paint the noblest deeds and grandest intel- 
 lectual and moral achievements ; a character that 
 cannot be concealed, but which will bring success 
 in this life and form the best preparation for that 
 which is beyond. 
 
 " The formation of character is a work which 
 continues through life, but at no time is it so 
 active as in youth and early manhood. At this 
 time impressions are most easily made, and mis- 
 takes most easily corrected. It is the season for 
 the sowing of the seed ; the springtime of life. 
 There is no complaint in the natural world because 
 each fruit and herb brings forth after its kind ; 
 there is no complaint if a neglected seed-time 
 brings a harvest of want; there is no cry of in- 
 justice if thistles spring from thistle-seed sown. 
 As little reason have we to murmur if in after-life 
 we discover a character dwarfed and deformed 
 by the evil thoughts and actions of to-day; as
 
 little reason have we to impeach the wisdom of 
 God if our wild oats, as they are called in pal- 
 liation, leave scars upon our manhood, which years 
 of reform fail to wear away. 
 
 " Character is the entity, the individuality of 
 the person, shining from every window of the 
 soul, either as a beam of purity, or as a clouded 
 ray that betrays the impurity within. The contest 
 between light and darkness, right and wrong, 
 goes on : day by day, hour by hour, moment by 
 moment our characters are being formed, and 
 this is the all-important question which comes to 
 us in accents ever growing fainter as we journey 
 from the cradle to the grave, ' Shall those charac- 
 ters be good or bad ? ' 
 
 "Beloved instructors, it is character not less 
 than intellect that you have striven to develop. 
 As we stand at the end of our college course, and 
 turn our eyes toward the scenes forever past as 
 our memories linger on the words of wisdom 
 which have fallen from your lips, we are more and 
 more deeply impressed with the true conception 
 of duty which you have ever shown. You have 
 sought, not to trim the lamp of genius until the 
 light of morality is paled by its dazzling brilliance, 
 but to encourage and strengthen both. These 
 days are over. No longer shall we listen to your 
 warning voices, no more meet you in those famil- 
 liar class-rooms, yet on our hearts 'deeply has 
 sunk the lesson ' you have ' given, and shall not 
 soon depart.'
 
 32 
 
 "We thank you for your kind and watchful 
 care, and shall ever cherish your teachings with 
 that devotion which sincere gratitude inspires. 
 
 "It is fitting that we express to you also, hon- 
 ored trustees, our gratitude for the privileges 
 which you have permitted us to enjoy. 
 
 " The name of the institution whose interests 
 you guard, will ever be dear to us as the school- 
 room, to whose influence we shall trace whatever 
 success coming years may bring. 
 
 "Dear class-mates, my lips refuse to bid you a last 
 good-bye; we have so long been joined together in 
 a community of aims and interests; so often met 
 and mingled our thoughts in confidential friend- 
 ship ; so often planned and worked together, that 
 it seems like rending asunder the very tissues of 
 the heart to separate us now. 
 
 " But this long and happy association is at an 
 end, and now as we go forth in sorrow, as each 
 one must, to begin alone the work which lies be- 
 fore us, let us encourage each other with strength- 
 ening words. 
 
 "Success is brought by continued labor and 
 continued watchfulness. We must struggle on, 
 not for one moment hesitate, nor take one back- 
 ward step ; for in the language of the poet 
 
 'The gates of hell are open night and day, 
 Smooth the descent and easy is the way ; 
 But to return and riew the cheerful skies, 
 In this, the task and mighty labor lies, '
 
 33 
 
 " We launch our vessels upon the uncertain 
 sea of life alone, yet, not alone, for around us are 
 friends who anxiously and prayerfully watch our 
 course. They will rejoice if we arrive safely at 
 our respective havens, or weep with bitter tears, 
 if, one by one, our weather-beaten barks are lost 
 forever in the surges of the deep. 
 
 "We have esteemed each other, loved each 
 other, and now must with each other part. God 
 grant that we may all so live as to meet in the 
 better world, where parting is unknown. 
 
 "Halls of learning, fond Alma Mater, farewell. 
 We turn to take one ' last, long, lingering look' at 
 thy receding walls. We leave thee now to be 
 ushered out into the varied duties of an active life. 
 
 "However high our names may be inscribed 
 upon the gilded scroll of fame, to thee we all the 
 honor give, to thee all praises bring. And when, 
 in after years, we're wearied by the bustle of a 
 busy world, our hearts will often long to turn and 
 seek repose beneath thy sheltering shade." 
 
 During his six years at Jacksonville, young 
 Bryan made his home with a relative, Dr. H. K. 
 Jones, a man of profound learning and high 
 character. Mr. Bryan never loses an opportu- 
 nity to express his gratitude for the good 
 fortune which led him into the Jones family, and 
 placed him under the influence of the learned 
 doctor and his noble wife. 
 
 In the fall of 1881, young Bryan entered the
 
 34 
 
 Union College of Law, at Chicago. During his 
 attendance at this school his spare time was em- 
 ployed in the law office of the late Lyman Trum- 
 bull. Mr. Trumbull had an extensive library, and 
 as he had taken quite a fancy to the young student, 
 Mr. Trumbull gave him every possible advan- 
 tage. 
 
 Mr. Bryan's expenses through law school, as 
 well as through college, were defrayed by his 
 parents. His independent spirit, however, would 
 not permit all of the load to rest upon his family, 
 and he scrubbed the floors of the Trumbull law 
 office, cleaned windows and performed other lit- 
 tle services during his spare moments for the 
 purpose of obtaining odd wages and thus lessen 
 his demands upon the family fund. Newspapers 
 have been full of stories intending to show that 
 Mr. Bryan worked his way through college and 
 law school entirely by his own efforts, paying his 
 expenses by dint of hard work. It is true that 
 Mr. Bryan's education was not obtained with ease, 
 and it is also true that he lost no opportunity to 
 lighten the burden his good father had assumed 
 in his behalf, but it is no less true that Mr. Bryan 
 owes his education largely to his parents, who 
 lost no opportunity to push their son to the front 
 and to give to that son every possible advantage 
 whereby his splendid manhood could be devel- 
 oped. No man was ever blessed with parents 
 more devoted or more self-sacrificing in their
 
 HOME OF HON. W. J. BRYAN, AT LINCOLN, NEB.
 
 37 
 
 children's interests, and no parents ever reared a 
 son more worthy of filial devotion than is William 
 Jennings Bryan. 
 
 Mr. Bryan remained at Union College for two 
 years, graduating there in June, 1883. Relocated 
 at Jacksonville, July 4, 1883, and swung this 
 shingle to the breeze : 
 
 W. J. BRYAN, 
 
 LAWYER. 
 
 Mr. Bryan was married October i, 1884, to 
 Miss Mary Baird, of Perry, 111. The young law- 
 yer very soon built up a paying practice and he 
 remained at Jacksonville until 1887, when, with 
 his young wife and child, he removed to Ne- 
 braska. 
 
 Young Bryan early manifested a love for pol- 
 itics. In 1880, at the age of twenty years, he 
 took the stump for Hancock, and delivered Dem- 
 'ocratic speeches at Salem, Centralia and two 
 other points in Illinois. In the campaign of 1884 
 young Bryan, at the age of twenty-four, took the 
 stump for Grover Cleveland. Mr. Bryan's first 
 political speech was delivered in 1880, at the 
 court house in Salem. But there is an interesting 
 story about the first political speech that he did 
 not deliver. Several weeks before the Salem 
 speech young Bryan was working on the farm of
 
 N. B. Morrison, of Odin, Illinois. A political 
 meeting was arranged for a grove several miles 
 away. Hand-bills were distributed, announcing 
 that two distinguished men, giving their names, 
 and " Mr. W. J. Bryan " would address the 
 "gathered hosts." When the day came young 
 Bryan and the distinguished orators drove to the 
 grove. When they arrived they found a man in 
 charge of the grove, one man with a wheel of fort- 
 une, and two men presiding over a lemonade 
 stand. With the exception of a few children 
 from the neighborhood that was the extent of the 
 " gathered hosts." The orators waited until late 
 in the evening and no one came to hear them. 
 Young Bryan returned home, possibly greatly 
 disappointed, but he was rewarded within a few 
 weeks by being able to deliver that speech before 
 a great gathering at Salem. 
 
 Bryan's boyhood is without sensational features. 
 If he ever robbed a melon patch, it is not a mat- 
 ter of record. If he was ever guilty of mischiev- 
 ous pranks, no one recalls the fact. He was a 
 light-hearted, good-natured lad, who, in his more 
 tender years, devoted himself to two things : 
 hard physical work, and earnest, persistent duty. 
 
 Bryan's splendid physical development, is due to 
 his out of door exercise, and work on the farm dur- 
 ing his boyhood. His first employer was John 
 Odin, and in the days of his youth, John W. Pat- 
 rick, now a railroad freight clerk, at Cincinnati,
 
 39 
 
 finds considerable pride in the fact, that he was 
 the second employer of William Jennings Bryan. 
 Mr. Patrick several years ago lived in Salem, 111. 
 He was a neighbor of the Bryan's, and at one 
 time purchased a field of hay from the elder 
 Bryan. While the harvesting was in progress, 
 young Bryan was employed by Mr. Patrick, to 
 carry water to the farm hands. 
 
 Professor S. S. Hamill, of Decatur, Illinois, is 
 the teacher under whom young Bryan studied 
 elocution, while attending Illinois College at 
 Jacksonville. Speaking of his pupil recently, 
 Professor Hamill said : " He was a good student, 
 and stood first in all his studies, but he was an 
 awkward speaker. I had many pupils, but few 
 that made the lasting impression on me that 
 Bryan did. That was because of his intentness 
 and earnestness in that particular study. There 
 were not many who studied elocution long, but 
 with Bryan, that seemed to be the one thing in 
 which he desired to excel. He was not satisfied 
 with the instruction in the class, but took a term 
 in private, for which he paid me twenty dollars. 
 While others were trying to beg off the pro- 
 grammes of literary societies for orations, he took 
 extra assignments and worked on all of them with 
 the greatest earnestness. He made political 
 speeches about Jacksonville in the following cam- 
 paign, and made some reputation for himself. 
 After that, he was often selected to represent the
 
 40 
 
 colleges in oratorical contests, and won honors 
 for both the college and himself in them. I have 
 rarely had a more determined or brilliant student. 
 I recognized him then as a bright scholar, who 
 was bound to make his mark, by reason of the 
 determination with which he went at all he did." 
 Mrs. A. V. Beville, of St. Louis, was a Sabbath- 
 school teacher of young Bryan. Concerning her 
 pupil, Mrs. Beville recently said : " He attended 
 my Sunday-school class for years and was a fre- 
 quent visitor at our house. Mr. Bryan has never 
 missed writing to me of his doings and of his 
 progress. He is still to me one of my boys. He 
 was a great favorite with all who knew him. He 
 was always full of fun and dearly loved a joke. 
 He could tell a capital story, and was moderately 
 fond of out-door sports. Although he came to 
 Sunday-school regularly, he was not by any means 
 a meek boy. He was full of spirits and seemed 
 to have a natural fund of goodness in him. He 
 was always fond of reading. He was a good 
 student as you can tell when reading of his record 
 in college. However, his great application to his 
 books did not render him either unhealthy or 
 morbid. He was one of the heartiest, most 
 wholesome of boys and the apparent contradiction 
 of his studious bent and his jolly nature endeared 
 him doubly to me. He was a very considerate 
 fellow. I remember once when I was sick in 
 bed and he and three other of my scholars
 
 came to see me. They were told that they 
 could not see me, but I heard their voices, 
 and called down to say they might come 
 up if they did not stay long and did not do 
 any talking. They came and gazed at me as 
 though I was a dead person. William overcame 
 the situation by approaching the bed and asking 
 in a deep voice, ' Are you better? ' The simple 
 question was very characteristic of him, and after 
 I had assured him that I was better, he went 
 away satisfied. One thing about Mr. Bryan I 
 think has, in a great measure, contributed to his suc- 
 cess. He was always willing to listen to advice. 
 He used to give the most careful attention to 
 what others said. Even as a little boy this trait 
 was very marked. From his earliest childhood 
 he has been the soul of honor, honesty and truth. 
 I never heard of any unkind or unfair action of 
 his. His life seemed to have been cut from very 
 pure material. He inherits much of this rectitude 
 and beauty of character from his father, Judge 
 Bryan, who was noted for his piety and goodness. 
 William had set his heart on going to Oxford. 
 His father.also, who always took an active interest 
 in the boy's education, had likewise determined 
 that his son should attend the great English Uni- 
 versity when he finished his college course here. 
 It was supposed to be a settled fact, but Judge 
 Bryan's death changed everything, and William, 
 without a moment's hesitation, gave up all
 
 42 
 
 thoughts of Oxford because the family could not 
 spare the money. William never went to Oxford; 
 so the credit of his cultivated intellect must re- 
 main on this side of the water. His oratorical 
 powers are the result of his careful study of 
 human nature. In his numerous letters to me he 
 mentions getting ready for his examination days, 
 the orations he had to study and all that. 
 
 "Whether speaking came naturally to him when 
 he jumped into manhood, I cannot say, but I am 
 sure he never would have succeeded in the way 
 he has if it had not been for his untiring energy. 
 He has not a lazy bone in his body, and he seems 
 to be a stranger to fatigue. When we moved 
 to St. Louis, William always stopped a day with 
 us on his way home from the college at Jackson- 
 ville, and, I remember, we were reminding him 
 one day of the agreement made between the 
 Sunday-school boys to read the Bible through 
 during the year. He replied that he had not for- 
 gotten, and that he and some of the fellows at 
 college had agreed to read the Book of Proverbs 
 through once a month for a year. He must have 
 kept the agreement very well, for I don't know 
 anyone fuller of proverbs than Mr. Bryan. He 
 is also full of jokes and stories, and never seems 
 to lack matter for conversation. Judge and Mrs. 
 Bryan were Baptists, but William belonged to the 
 Presbyterian Church. He is a religious man, 
 and a moral man in every sense of the term, and
 
 43 
 
 while attending church with punctilious regularity, 
 he never offends people with a parade of piety. 
 The combination of natural goodness, wit, good 
 humor and eloquence, topped by his cultivated 
 and commanding intellect, render Mr. Bryan to- 
 day the most remarkable man of my acquaintance. 
 I remember, I told him one day that, when the 
 capital was moved to St. Louis, when he was 
 nominated for president, and when women could 
 vote, I would be perfectly happy. He replied, 
 with his charming and quizzical smile: ' Ah, you 
 are looking far into the future.' While never 
 indulging in extravagant apparel, Mr. Bryan was, 
 nevertheless, always very carefully dressed. As 
 a boy, he was neat, and paid careful attention to 
 his linen and cravats. He was fond of society, 
 and found time to indulge in social frolics with his 
 many less studious friends. In short, you will 
 see that Mr. Bryan's success is the result of 
 application, earnest endeavor, and high resolves. 
 He was reared upon a sure foundation. He had 
 health to begin the race with, and intellect to 
 enable him to forge ahead. The present glorious 
 culmination of his career should be a shining ex- 
 ample to all men. Mr. Bryan's life has not been 
 marred or blotted by any. vice. He is not addicted 
 to the use of any stimulants, such as liquor or 
 tobacco. His manners are easy and graceful in 
 the extreme, and with his ringing voice and 
 sparkling eyes, he represents a magnificent speci- 
 men of manhood."
 
 44 
 
 In closing her glowing description of Mr. 
 Bryan, Mrs. Beville said: "I am not saying all 
 this simply because I am fond of him, but because 
 it is the conviction of all who know him. You 
 can't say anything too good for William J. Bryan ; 
 and, oh, I hope he will be elected ! " 
 
 This is the story of "Bryan's early life." 
 There is to this portion of his career no romance, 
 and little of more than ordinary interest. The 
 greatest interest will, however, attach to his sub- 
 sequent career, which has been remarkable in 
 many respects.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 BRYAN'S POWER OVER MEN. 
 
 When William J. Bryan was nominated to be 
 President of the United States by the Democratic 
 National Convention at Chicago, his political op- 
 ponents and newspapers whose editors were not 
 in sympathy with the principles he has so gallantly 
 represented confidently declared that his nomina- 
 tion was due entirely to his admirable speech upon 
 that occasion. Many people who are not familiar 
 with Mr. Bryan's remarkable record readily ac- 
 cepted this idea as a fact. It is true, however, that 
 Mr. Bryan had already established a national rep- 
 utation among the champions of bimetallism as an 
 able advocate of the restoration of the coinage of 
 
 o 
 
 the Constitution. When the Chicago Convention 
 
 o 
 
 assembled, there were hundreds of delegates 
 
 o 
 
 present who had closely watched Mr. Bryan's ca- 
 reer, who had either read or heard delivered 
 many of his splendid speeches upon the money 
 question and who had learned that this young 
 man had fought the battles of free coinage when 
 his followers were few and weak and his op- 
 ponents numerous and strong. They knew 
 that his private character, no less than his pub- 
 lic record, was entirely creditable. They knew 
 
 (45)
 
 4 6 
 
 that he was a man conscientiously committed to 
 the principles he had espoused. It is perhaps 
 true that his splendid speech before that Conven- 
 tion turned the tide immediately in his favor, but 
 it is no less true that the tide had already set in 
 that direction among the people who were repre- 
 sented by the delegates to that Convention. The 
 unprecedented public demonstrations which have 
 been accorded Mr. Bryan since his nomination 
 show that upon the hearthstones of the people 
 the fires of enthusiasm in his behalf had been 
 kindled by the grateful men and women v/ho had 
 carefully observed his career. 
 
 It is true that William J. Bryan is a great 
 orator, perhaps one of the greatest this country 
 has ever produced, but had he been only an 
 orator, he would not occupy his present distin- 
 guised position. Behind the orator is the man, 
 firm in his adherence to principle, devoted in his 
 observation of the rules which guide the good 
 citizen in private life. The mighty demonstration 
 at Chicago which was produced by Mr. Bryan's 
 speech was a strange sight to the world. But 
 the people of Nebraska during the last eight years 
 have often seen the same public demonstration, 
 on a smaller scale it is true, but no less intense in 
 character. 
 
 In 1888, on the occasion of Mr. Bryan's first 
 public appearance in Nebraska, he drew men to 
 him by the power of the orator, and held them
 
 47 
 
 there in subsequent years by the virtues of the 
 man. Since that time he has undergone, as a 
 public speaker, a steady course of improvement. 
 It has been the privilege of the writer to hear 
 every important political speech made by Mr. 
 Bryan in Nebraska, and including his Congres- 
 sional efforts, and to this writer perhaps this im- 
 provement has been more noticeable than to any 
 other of Mr. Bryan's auditors. As a newspaper 
 correspondent the writer has witnessed Mr. 
 Bryan's joint debates and observed his complete 
 triumphs over his opponents and his complete 
 capture of the hearts of his auditors. 
 
 Bryan's power overmen was well demonstrated 
 in Nebraska, before the Chicago Convention was 
 called to order. 
 
 In 1890, when he accepted the nomination to 
 Congress in the First Nebraska District, he led 
 what seemed to be a forlorn hope against what 
 appeared to be an invincible foe. But Bryan 
 triumphed. He beat down an overwhelming op- 
 position majority, because of his power over men. 
 
 Two years later, when his district had been re- 
 arranged, with a special view to his certain defeat, 
 and when money in unlimited sums was distributed 
 against him, Bryan won because of his power 
 over men. 
 
 In 1894, when he fought at the head of the loyal 
 Silver Democrats of Nebraska in the effort to 
 wrest the temple of Democracy of that State from
 
 48 
 
 undemocratic hands, Bryan won because of his 
 power over him. 
 
 In 1896, when he went to Chicago at the head 
 of a delegation whose seat was contested, without 
 right or reason it is true, but contested, never- 
 theless, when few men had any idea that Bryan 
 would be the nominee of that Convention, Bryan 
 was nominated because of his power over men. 
 
 It is undoubtedly true that this power is par- 
 tially due to Bryan the orator, but the greater 
 part of it is due to Bryan the man. The ability 
 to meet and conquer the ablest of those who deny 
 the correctness of his political principles is cer- 
 tainly a valuable talent. But the fact that the 
 man who is able to draw men to him by the power 
 of oratory is able to retain friendship or admira- 
 tion by his undeviating traits of character is the 
 greatest power that any man may possess. Bryan 
 does that. He has done that in the city of Lin- 
 coln, his home. He has done that throughout the 
 State of Nebraska. He has done that in the halls 
 of Congress, where men are not readily influenced. 
 He has done that among the trained newspaper 
 men of the country, men whose keen eyes readily 
 detect hypocrisy or insincerity. He has done that 
 throughout the States of the Union, wherever he 
 has made himself known, and he will do that in 
 national life if the people triumph in November. 
 
 This estimate is placed upon Mr. Bryan's char- 
 acter by one who has met him and associated with
 
 49 
 
 him under various circumstances and conditions. 
 When it is said that he is a gentle, manly man, it 
 is not with the purpose 'of flattery, but with the 
 desire to state an absolute fact. As a man he 
 would not do his humblest nor his greatest fellow- 
 man an injury or an injustice. As a lawyer he 
 would never knowingly plead a dishonest cause. 
 As an editor he would never knowingly advocate 
 a dishonest or an unpatriotic idea. As a member 
 of Congress he would not cast his vote upon any 
 proposition, great or small, against what he re- 
 garded the interest of the people whom he was 
 elected to serve. As President of the United 
 States he would be the people's executive, the 
 cleanest, the best and the bravest since the days 
 of Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 The most interesting feature of Mr. Bryan's 
 public career is the consistency of his political 
 principles. There is nothing that he represents 
 now that he has not represented in all of his pub- 
 lic life. Every platform upon which he has ac- 
 cepted a nomination for office provided that no 
 caucus dictation should be permitted by a repre- 
 sentative in Congress to interfere with his consci- 
 entious representation of his constituents. 
 
 No one wondered, when his party colleagues in 
 the House determined to unseat a Republican, 
 that Mr. Bryan refused to cast his vote in accord 
 with that decision. He said to the House that he 
 had investigated the circumstances and he be-
 
 50 
 
 lieved the Republican was entitled to his seat and 
 therefore proposed to vote for him, and his vote 
 was recorded that way. 
 
 Every platform upon which he has accepted 
 a nomination for office has protested against the 
 giving of subsidies of any kind from the public 
 treasury. He has maintained the integrity of that 
 plank at every opportunity. The beet sugar in- 
 terests have been an important political factor in 
 Nebraska, but in the State Legislature, in 1891, 
 when the State bounty on beet sugar was to be 
 repealed, and a strong lobby was operating against 
 the proposed repeal, Mr. Bryan visited the Legis- 
 lature in person and gave to the Democrats and 
 Populists of that body his good advice and vigor- 
 ous encouragement. The result was that the 
 bounty was repealed, only to be replaced by a 
 subsequent Republican Legislature. 
 
 Mr. Bryan's platforms have favored an income 
 tax, and his splendid fight in behalf of that meas- 
 ure is a matter of history. 
 
 Mr. Bryan's platforms advocated the election 
 of Senators by the people, and he used his best 
 efforts in Congress to carry that plank into execu- 
 tion. 
 
 Some people were surprised when immediately 
 following the Chicago Convention Mr. Bryan an- 
 nounced that, if elected to be President, he would 
 under no circumstances accept a second term, on 
 the ground that a President should be free from
 
 possible motive to work for renomination, and 
 thus be able to discharge the duties of his high 
 office for the greatest good to the greatest num- 
 ber. But when we look back over Mr. Bryan's 
 political history in Nebraska, we find that in two 
 of his platforms almost the identical words used 
 in this announcement are embodied in the planks 
 of those platforms. 
 
 Bryan's political platforms have advocated rigid 
 economy in public expenditures, and his record in 
 Congress shows that he has lost no opportunity 
 to carry that principle into execution. 
 
 Bryan's home life is that of the ideal American. 
 He is the companion of his wife and children as 
 well as the devoted husband and father. 
 
 Bryan's public interest in the people who suffer 
 under heavy public burdens is not assumed. It 
 is characteristic of the man who has a tender 
 sympathy for every personal woe. Having no 
 vices, he is not extravagant in his public expendi- 
 tures, while he is methodical in his personal affairs, 
 and jealously provides that his expenditures shall 
 never exceed his income. At the same time he 
 has a warm, generous heart and his limited purse 
 has, only too often, been at the disposal of those 
 in distress. 
 
 One of Mr. Bryan's most striking characteristics 
 is his mildness. It may be difficult for those who 
 have seen him on the platform, hurling defiance 
 eloquently at the enemies of popular government,
 
 52 
 
 to imagine that this is a man who was never known 
 to lose his temper. He is temperate in all things. 
 He is open to reason and is entirely considerate 
 of the opinions of others. He is true to his friends 
 and no man would go further than he to accom- 
 modate a worthy acquaintance. 
 
 Because Mr. Bryan is a brilliant leader of men, 
 it has in some quarters been assumed that he is 
 hasty and unstable, if not erratic. Nothing could 
 be further from the truth. His whole private life 
 and his entire public career prove that Mr. Bryan 
 is as deliberate as a philosopher in forming his 
 opinions and that he is firm as rock in standing 
 by his convictions. 
 
 Few men at fifty are as mature in judgment 
 as Mr. Bryan is at thirty-six. Few men at fifty 
 have devoted so much time to the arduous study 
 of the science of Government as Bryan has at 
 thirty-six. Pitt was prime minister of England 
 before he was thirty ; Napolean was crowned 
 Emperor of France at thirty-five ; Alexander 
 Hamilton had attained world-wide fame as a states- 
 man at thirty-three ; Thomas Jefferson wrote the 
 Declaration of Independence before he became 
 thirty-four. Time will show that Mr. Bryan is en- 
 titled to rank among these extraordinary men, not 
 simply as a brilliant leader, but also as a profound 
 student. His powers as an orator are naturally 
 the first to secure public recognition, but it is his 
 intellectual force and firmness of character which
 
 HON. W. J. BRYAX, AT AGE OF 30. 
 
 When he was first elected to Congress. Picture taken at close of a joint debate when he was 
 presented with floral pieces shown.
 
 llox. B. K. TILLMAN, 
 U. S. Senator from South Carolina.
 
 55 
 
 will in the end win for him the lasting glory which 
 is accorded to men truly great. He has all of 
 Jefferson's devotion to the interests of the people, 
 and all of Jackson's courage in defending them. 
 These two statesmen are his models, and in him 
 they may almost be said to live again. 
 
 One of the tender features of Mr. Bryan's 
 private life is his associations with the boys' class 
 in the Presbyterian Sunday School in Lincoln. 
 For a number of years Mr. Bryan has been the 
 teacher of this class, and the depth of the affec- 
 tion on the part of the pupils to their distinguished 
 teacher could not but be gratifying to any one 
 upon whom that affection was bestowed. 
 
 On the Sabbath following Mr. Bryan's nomina- 
 tion the Rev. W. K. Williams, clergyman of the 
 M. E. Church, filled the pulpit of the Presbyterian 
 Church of which Mr. Bryan is a member. 
 
 In the course of his sermon Mr. Williams said: 
 "We are told in the twenty-sixth verse, twelfth 
 chapter, of First Corinthians, that if one member 
 suffers, all the members suffer with it, and that 
 if one member is honored, all the members 
 rejoice. One of your members has been highly 
 honored by the people; he has been honored by 
 God, and I rejoice that a fellow-citizen and a 
 member in Christ has been thus highly honored. 
 I also rejoice in the purity of his life, in the 
 nobility of his thought, in the vigor of his young 
 manhood, in the majesty and grandeur of his im- 
 4
 
 56 
 
 passioned eloquence, and in the fearless manner 
 in which he proclaims to the world the principles 
 that lie deep within his heart. I shall continue to 
 pray that God will keep him pure and make him 
 a yet mightier force for good in this nation, and 
 that Christ shall be his leader always." 
 
 In writing of Mr. Bryan, Hon. Champ Clark, of 
 'Missouri, gave this admirable description of him: 
 
 "Bryan is a collegiate, and has stowed away in 
 his capacious cranium much of the golden grain 
 of wisdom and little of the husks, and it is all 
 there for use, either as argument or embellish- 
 ment. Some men are so ugly and ungainly that 
 it is a positive disadvantage to them as public 
 speakers. Some are so handsome and graceful 
 that they are on good terms with the audience 
 before they open their lips. Of the latter class 
 Bryan is a shining example. His appearance is a 
 passport to the affections of his fellow-men which 
 all can read. He is the picture of health, mental, 
 moral and physical. He stands about 5 feet 10, 
 weighs about 170, is a pronounced brunette, has a 
 massive head, a clean-shaven face, an aquiline 
 nose, large under jaw, square chin, a broad chest, 
 large, lustrous dark eyes, mouth extending almost 
 from ear to ear, teeth white as pearls, and hair 
 what there is left of it black as midnight. 
 Beneath his eyes is the protuberant flesh which 
 physiognomists tell us is indicative of fluency of
 
 57 
 
 language and which was one of the most striking 
 features in the face of James G. Elaine. 
 
 " Bryan neglects none of the accessories of ora- 
 tory. Nature richly endowed him with rare 
 grace. He is happy in attitude and pose. His 
 gestures are on Hogarth's line of beauty. Mel- 
 lifluous is the one word that aptly describes his 
 voice. It is strong enough to be heard by thou- 
 sands. It is sweet enough to charm those the 
 least inclined to music. It is so modulated as not 
 to vex the ear with monotony and can be stern 
 and pathetic, fierce or gentle, serious or humor- 
 ous, with the varying emotions of its master. In 
 his youth Bryan must have had a skilful teacher 
 in elocution and must have been a docile pupil. 
 He adorns his speeches with illustrations from the 
 classics or from the common occurrences of 
 everyday life with equal felicity and facility. 
 Some passages from his orations are gems and 
 are being used as declamations by boys at school 
 the ultimate tribute to American eloquence. 
 
 " But his crowning gift as an orator is his evi- 
 dent sincerity. He is candor incarnate, and, 
 thoroughly believing what he says himself, it is 
 no marvel that he makes others believe." 
 
 One of the closest friends of Mr. Bryan in Lin- 
 coln, who is himself a lawyer, relates an incident 
 which occurred several years after the arrival of 
 Bryan in Nebraska. This was in 1890, when the 
 young men of the Democratic party in the First
 
 58 
 
 Nebraska Congressional district were urging Mr. 
 Bryan to make the race for Congress. Without 
 money and comparatively a new man in the State, 
 it did not seem to his more cautious friends that 
 there was much chance of his success in a district 
 which had gone Republican two years before by 
 a majority of 3400. The Republican member, 
 W. J. Connell, was a candidate for re-election and 
 it was he who in the previous contest had defeated 
 J. Sterling Morton, one of the Democratic pio- 
 neers of Nebraska. These cautious friends en- 
 deavored to show to Bryan that he had but little 
 to hope for in the unequal fight for the seat in 
 Congress. One of these, Judge C. L. Hall, a 
 Republican, but a warm friend of Bryan, advised 
 him to let the nomination for Congress go to any- 
 one who would take it and turn his attention to 
 an endeavor to get the office of county attorney 
 of Lancaster county, where there was a reason- 
 ably good show for his election. Mr. Bryan 
 looked serious for a moment and then replied to 
 Judge Hall's suggestion by saying, with a decision 
 that could not be shaken, " What you say is pos- 
 sibly true, but I had rather be a defeated candi- 
 date for Congress than a successful candidate for 
 county attorney." 
 
 This subordination of certain pecuniary profit 
 and professional advancement to the desire to put 
 before the people his opinions on public questions 
 has been characteristic of Mr. Bryan since he
 
 59 
 
 grew to manhood, and was as well known among 
 his acquaintances in Illinois, when he had his 
 office with the law firm of Brown & Kirky at 
 Jacksonville, as it afterwards became in Ne- 
 braska. 
 
 Little things tell even in the lives of great men. 
 Mr. Charles C. Moore, of Carlyle, 111., relates an 
 incident that happened in the city of St. Louis 
 during the Republican National Convention. Mr. 
 Moore says : 
 
 " Myself and friend were on our way to the 
 Auditorium from the Planters' Hotel and had 
 reached Twelfth street. We were walking along 
 chatting together, not noticing anyone in parti- 
 cular. A one-armed bicyclist attracted our atten- 
 tion for a few moments, and I remarked then that 
 he was in a dangerous vicinity, as there were 
 many vehicles on the street. The bicyclist was 
 not given further thought until we had proceeded 
 on our journey a block and a half, when we ob- 
 served the one-armed man and bicycle piled up 
 in one promiscuous heap. A man was observed 
 to emerge from the surging mass of people and 
 proceed to render assistance to the unfortunate 
 wheelman. 
 
 " We stopped and watched the pair. The man 
 who had so kindly gone forward and offered 
 help was busily engaged in assisting the bicyclist 
 replace his tire, which had left the rim, and other- 
 wise straighten the injured machine. When
 
 6o 
 
 matters had been satisfactorily adjusted, the kind 
 gentleman, with greasy hands and soiled linen, 
 made dirty by the work, returned to the sidewalk. 
 Upon closer investigation it was found that the 
 man was none other than W. J. Bryan." 
 
 Mr. Bryan is quick at repartee. On one oc- 
 casion in a public speech, Mr. Bryan said some- 
 thing about silver falling like manna from heaven. 
 In a public interview J. Sterling Morton remarked 
 that Bryan could not be well posted on the 
 Scriptures. He reminded Bryan that the streets 
 of Paradise and the harps and crowns were all 
 golden, and he pointed with some pride to the 
 fact that the gold standard prevailed in heaven. 
 When these suggestions reached Mr. Bryan he 
 said that that was a severe thrust at Mr. Cleve- 
 land's idea of international bimetallism to come 
 from a member of the Cabinet. "For how," in- 
 quired Mr. Bryan, "can international bimetallism 
 be right if they have a gold standard in heaven? " 
 
 Mr. Bryan added : " I have been told that some 
 of the members of the Cabinet wear diamonds. 
 If they are so anxious to be in accord with heav- 
 enly custom they should put pearls on their shirt 
 fronts, for we read in verse 2 1, chapter xxi., of Reve- 
 lation, that "each gate of the New Jerusalem was 
 a pearl." 
 
 Mr. Bryan does not parade his Christianity, but 
 he adheres strictly to it in every walk of life. He
 
 6i 
 
 is fond of quoting- the last verse of Bryant's lines 
 " To a Waterfowl : " 
 
 " He who from zone to zone 
 
 Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight, 
 In the long way that I must tread alone 
 Will lead my steps aright." 
 
 In a eulogy on a dead colleague in Congress, 
 Mr. Bryan used these eloquent words, full of the 
 beautiful faith which has been his guide in his 
 public and private life : 
 
 " I shall not believe that even now his light is 
 extinguished. If the Father deigns to touch with 
 divine power the cold and pulseless heart of the 
 buried acorn, and make it to burst forth from its 
 prison walls, will He leave neglected in the earth 
 the soul of man, who was made in the image of 
 his Creator ? If He stoops to give to the rose- 
 bush, whose withered blossoms float upon the 
 breeze, the sweet assurance of another spring- 
 time, will He withhold the words of hope from the 
 sons of men when the frosts of winter come ? If 
 matter, mute and inanimate, though changed by 
 the forces of Nature into a multitude of forms, can 
 never die, will the imperial spirit of man suffer 
 annihilation after it has paid a brief visit, like a 
 royal guest, to this tenement of clay ? 
 
 " Rather let us believe that He who, in His ap- 
 parent prodigality, wastes not the raindrop, the 
 blade of grass, or the evening's sighing zephyr,
 
 62 
 
 but makes them all to carry out His eternal plans, 
 has given immortality to the mortal, and gathered 
 to Himself the generous spirit of our friend." 
 
 Mr. Bryan is one of the bravest of men. He 
 never yet dodged a question concerning his atti- 
 tude upon any public affair. He never held back 
 because the hill which it was his duty to climb 
 seemed too steep for a human being to ascend. 
 He never indulged in personalities, but in a con- 
 test of principles he has been relentless and has 
 shown no mercy to his foe. He has never asked 
 for quarter in any contest where duty called him. 
 He has never evaded a political fight and has 
 demonstrated a perfect willingness to lead his 
 forces to battle upon the enemy's territory. 
 Those who are best acquainted with him were not 
 surprised when he suggested Madison Square, 
 New York, as the place where he would meet the 
 notification committee. That is right in the heart 
 of the territory claimed by the enemy as its own, 
 and that was the very point suggested by the 
 courage and determination characteristic of Mr. 
 Bryan's entire career. 
 
 One of Mr. Bryan's marked characteristics has 
 been his absolute confidence that the principles he 
 has advocated will ultimately triumph. The writer 
 has seen Mr. Bryan fresh from a hard-earned 
 victory at the polls, when every politician, as well 
 as the people, was anxious to pay him homage; 
 and he has seen Bryan in defeat. In both instances
 
 63 
 
 it was the same Bryan. True, in the presence of 
 victory the heart was lighter, but it could not be 
 said that in defeat that heart was heavy. There 
 is no room within Bryan's great make-up for 
 despondency. Every defeat he regarded as being 
 of temporary importance. His friends, who mo- 
 nopolized the despondency of the occasion, were 
 reassured by the young statesman's confident 
 declaration, "Our principles are right and they 
 will ultimately prevail. Victory will be all the 
 greater because a few battles have been lost 
 before Appomattox has been reached." 
 
 Commenting upon Mr. Bryan's nomination at 
 Chicago, the Washington City Post said: 
 
 " We do not wonder that on the following day, 
 still palpitating under the spell of Bryan's won- 
 drous eloquence, the convention turned to him as 
 a needle to a magnet. It may not be capable of 
 analysis, it may not be coldly and accurately 
 demonstrable. The fact remains, Bryan swept 
 the floor of the convention as the fire sweeps the 
 autumn prairie. The delegates went to him in a 
 strange passion of desire. Nothing could check 
 the fury of their bent. He was nominated 
 slowly at first, swiftly next and at last, in a wild 
 crescendo of enthusiasm, he was lifted on a white- 
 cap of unanimity and thrown high and dry on the 
 beach of his surpassing triumph. 
 
 "The country at large knows little of this ex- 
 traordinary young man, He has been in Con-
 
 6 4 
 
 gress. He delivered a speech upon the tariff that 
 enchanted and enchained the House. He has 
 spoken many times since with reference to the 
 tariff, and always he has held his audience as the 
 sirens held the fated crew that sailed with Ulysses 
 from the shore of Troy. He is a minstrel, a form 
 of grace, a thing of beauty. What he is beyond 
 that, who knows? 
 
 " He has no record in statesmanship. He was 
 too young to assert his patriotism thirty-five years 
 ago. What schemes of government, what social 
 theories occupy his brain, no human being can 
 disclose. He is young, he is ardent, he is am- 
 bitious, he is gifted with the power to sway men's 
 minds, he is a born leader, an attractive figure on 
 the stage, and that is all we know. Whether the 
 American people, after four months of solid 
 deliberation, will confide their destinies to his un- 
 tried hands, we do not undertake to prophesy. 
 What we do know is that William Jennings Bryan 
 is the most dramatic product of our National 
 politics, the most sensational and picturesque 
 creation of our age." 
 
 William J. Bryan cannot be said to be an "un- 
 tried man." It is true so far as the White House 
 is concerned he is "untried," much as Abraham 
 Lincoln was "untried." But from the beginning 
 of Mr. Bryan's career, from boyhood to manhood, 
 from Lyman TrumbuH's office in Chicago to the 
 Democratic nomination to be President of the
 
 65 
 
 United States, William J. Bryan has met and dis- 
 charged every duty as it arose and discharged 
 that duty with credit to himself. Like Lincoln he 
 was tried and found " not wanting " in small 
 things, and like Lincoln, if he shall be tried, he 
 will be found "not wanting" in great things. 
 Like Lincoln he had the confidence and the love 
 of all men who knew him well, and like Lincoln 
 he will, if given the opportunity, extend that con- 
 fidence and that affection until it embraces the 
 people of the entire Union. 
 
 Mr. Bryan's career will not be regarded as 
 meteoric by one who analyzes that career care- 
 fully. He has developed as political conditions 
 have developed. He has grown in public estima- 
 tion steadily and strongly, first in the hearts of 
 the citizens of his own home, then of his own 
 State, and finally into the broader national field 
 which he entered in the discharge of his duty as 
 an eloquent advocate of popular government. 
 
 In his work on "Abraham Lincoln and Men of 
 War Times," Col. A. K. McClure says, " It was 
 the unexpected that happened in Chicago on that 
 fateful 1 8th of May, 1860, when Abraham Lin- 
 coln was nominated for President of the United 
 States. It was wholly unexpected by the friends 
 of Seward. The campaign in Pennsylvania was 
 really the decisive battle of the contest. A party 
 had to be created out of inharmonious elements 
 and the commercial and financial interests of that 
 State were almost solidly against us. I cannot
 
 66 
 
 recall a commercial man of prominence in the 
 city of Philadelphia to whom I could have gone 
 to solicit a subscription to the Lincoln campaign 
 with reasonable expectation that it would not be 
 refused. Of all our prominent financial men I 
 recall only Anthony J. Drexel, who actively sym- 
 pathized with the Republican cause." 
 
 That condition, in some respects, at least, may 
 be similar to the conditions of 1896. But in spite 
 of all obstacles Lincoln was elected, because he 
 represented principles dear to the hearts of the 
 people; because in his public and private life he 
 had so lived as to win for himself the love and the 
 esteem of his fellow-citizens. 
 
 It is said of Abraham Lincoln, that he never 
 shirked a duty ; that he was a man who knew his 
 countrymen well and sympathized with them 
 thoroughly; that he was equal to every emergency 
 with which he was confronted. The same may be 
 said with equal truth of William J. Bryan. If 
 Mr. Bryan shall be elected to the Presidency, the 
 fathers and mothers of America may point with 
 pride to the fact that the White House is occupied 
 by a man whose public service is dedicated entirely 
 to his people's interest, and whose private life is 
 without a flaw. The ideal President of- an ideal 
 Nation he will be; one whose ear will be "tuned 
 to listen to the heartbeat of humanity," one who 
 will regard his office as a sacred trust to be dis- 
 charged in the hope of accomplishing the greatest 
 good for the greatest number.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 BRYAN IN NEBRASKA. 
 
 Mr. Bryan located in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 
 October, 1887. From his Illinois home he had 
 gone to Lincoln on law business, and while there 
 he had met his old schoolmate, A. R. Talbot, Esq. 
 Mr. Bryan was so captivated with the little city 
 that he entered a law partnership with his old 
 schoolmate, under the firm name of Talbot & 
 Bryan. Returning to his Illinois home he closed 
 up his affairs there and with his family removed to 
 Lincoln, where he has since resided. At that 
 time Lincoln was what is known as a " Republican 
 stronghold." The few Democrats in Lincoln soon 
 discovered that a man of more than ordinary 
 ability had come among them, while the men of 
 other political parties learned that their new fellow- 
 citizen was one capable of gracing any commun- 
 ity. Mr. Bryan devoted himself to the practice 
 of his profession, and he soon became a favorite 
 in all circles. Invitations to address literary soci- 
 eties, college associations, town meetings, and 
 political gatherings came fast, and Mr. Bryan soon 
 established for himself a local reputation, not so 
 much as an orator as for a logician. It did not 
 require long for this reputation to spread over the 
 
 67
 
 68 
 
 State, and when Mr. Bryan was elected as a dele- 
 gate from Lancaster County to the Democratic 
 State Convention, in 1888, he was in great demand. 
 Newspaper reports of that convention contain the 
 following paragraph : " The youngest voter in 
 the convention was Mr. Bryan, a bright young 
 Democrat from Lancaster County. Mr. Bryan 
 was rocked in a cradle made of hickory, and 
 while he never cast a vote for ' Old Hickory,' he 
 has, since his majority, never cast a ballot for any 
 presidential candidate who did not represent the 
 principles of true and tried Democracy." The 
 same report contents itself with this reference to 
 Mr. Bryan's first convention speech in Nebraska : 
 " Mr. Bryan of Lancaster County was then called. 
 He came forward and delivered a spirited address 
 in the course of which he said, that, if the plat- 
 form laid down by the President in his message 
 upon the tariff question was carried out and vig- 
 orously fought upon in the State, it would, in the 
 course of a short time, give Nebraska to the 
 Democracy. He thought that if the Democrats 
 went out to the farmers and people who lived in 
 Nebraska, and showed them the iniquity of the 
 tariff system, they would rally around the cause 
 which their noble leader, Grover Cleveland, had 
 championed." 
 
 The limited newspaper reference to Mr. Bryan's 
 speech on this occasion did not do justice to either 
 the effort or the manner in which it was received
 
 69 
 
 by his auditors. As a matter of fact it created 
 the greatest amount of enthusiasm, and the young 
 orator impressed his personality indelibly upon the 
 public mind of his adopted State. Mr. C. V. Galla- 
 gher, then Postmaster of Omaha, approached Mr. 
 Bryan, and complimenting him upon his effort 
 said: " Young man we will send you to Con- 
 gress." Although Mr. Gallagher did not pretend 
 to speak with authority, his words were in the 
 nature of a prophecy, and the Democrats of the 
 First Congressional District did send William J. 
 Bryan to Congress two years later. 
 
 At that time the great leaders of Nebraska 
 Democracy were Dr. George L. Miller, the 
 founder of the Omaha Herald, and now Collector 
 of Customs for Omaha, James E. Boyd, who 
 subsequently became Governor of the State, and 
 J. Sterling Morton, now the Secretary of Agricul- 
 ture. The Nebraska Democracy had for many 
 years been split into factions by what was known in 
 common parlance as the "slaughter-house" and 
 the "packing-house" Democracy. On one side 
 Mr. Morton and his followers were arrayed, while 
 Dr. Miller and Mr. Boyd were the leaders of the 
 other faction. The rank and file of the party, 
 while true in the factional contests to their leaders, 
 had become weary of the discord and turmoil 
 within their own party ranks, and for this reason 
 perhaps, they turned more readily to the new man 
 who had come among them. At that time no one
 
 yo 
 
 had any thought ol the great prominence which 
 this young man would attain in political affairs. 
 But at that time no one had foretold the great 
 public emergencies that would arise. And right 
 here it is worthy of observation, that as these 
 public emergencies developed, William J. Bryan 
 developed with them. 
 
 In 1888 the First Congressional District of 
 Nebraska comprised eleven of the most populous 
 counties of the State. The cities of Omaha and 
 Lincoln were in this district. In that year J. 
 Sterling Morton, the present Secretary of Agri- 
 culture, was nominated by the Democrats ; the 
 Republicans had nominated W. J. Connell, one of 
 the ablest lawyers of the State. Mr. Connell was 
 elected over Morton by a plurality of 3,400 votes. 
 
 As the campaign of 1890 approached, a few 
 Democrats, who had come to appreciate Mr. 
 Bryan's real ability, believed that with him as the 
 nominee, the Republicans could be defeated. 
 But these confident gentlemen were pointed out 
 as mere enthusiasts ; so when the Democratic Con- 
 gressional Convention met at Lincoln, July 31,1 890, 
 the nomination was not sought by any man. One 
 gentleman, it is true, announced his willingness 
 to accept the honor, but he only received a few 
 votes from his own county. A few scattering 
 votes were distributed to favorite sons, but Mr. 
 Bryan was nominated on the first formal, by a 
 majority of 115, out of a total vote of 159.
 
 There were a few gentlemen who came out of 
 that convention who entertained and expressed 
 some hope that Bryan would be able to overcome 
 the overwhelming Republican majority. But 
 their predictions were simply laughed at, even by 
 many of their own party associates. 
 
 The platform upon which Mr. Bryan was first 
 nominated for Congress declared for tariff for 
 revenue only, condemned the giving of subsidies 
 and bounties of every kind " as a perversion of 
 the taxing power," favored liberal pensions to the 
 disabled veterans, favored an amendment to the 
 Constitution, providing for the election of United 
 States senators by the people, declared for the 
 Australian ballot system, declared against trusts 
 in all their forms. That platform also contained 
 these two planks : "We demand the free coinage 
 of silver on equal terms with gold, and denounce 
 the efforts of the Republican party to serve the 
 interest of Wall Street as against the rights of 
 , the people." Also : " Believing that the duty of 
 the representative is to represent the will and 
 interests of his constituents, we denounce as un- 
 democratic, any attempt by caucus dictation to 
 prevent a congressman from voicing the sentiment 
 of his people upon every vital question." 
 
 These two planks serve as an index to Mr. 
 Bryan's subsequent political course. Unswerving 
 in his devotion to the first plank, he has preached 
 the doctrine of bimetallism from the stump in
 
 every State and from his seat in Congress. Al- 
 ways mindful that the people have no voice in 
 legislation, except through the vote and voice of 
 their representative, he has hewn strictly to the 
 line of his people's interest as he learned their 
 interests, and has refused to surrender any prin- 
 ciple in which he believed those popular interests 
 to be involved. Mr. Bryan's speech, in accepting 
 his first congressional nomination, inspired great 
 hope in the breasts of his "enthusiasts." On 
 that occasion Mr. Bryan said in part: 
 
 "Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: 
 
 " I scarcely know in what words to express my 
 high appreciation of the honor which you have 
 conferred, and my deep sense of the responsi- 
 bility which the nomination imposes upon me. I 
 shall cherish in grateful remembrance your kind- 
 ness, which has resulted in this nomination. I 
 accept from your hands and at your command the 
 standard for this district, and, whether I carry it 
 to victory, or, as our President has gracefully ex- 
 pressed it, fall ' Fighting just outside of the 
 breastworks,' it shall not suffer dishonor. You 
 have nominated me knowing that I have neither 
 the means nor the inclination to win an election 
 by corrupt influences. If I am elected it will be 
 because the electors of this district, by their free 
 and voluntary choice, have chosen me for their 
 service, I have read your platform. If elected
 
 73 
 
 I shall consider its conscientious execution as my 
 first duty, and I can follow its directions the more 
 cheerfully because the sentiments therein ex- 
 pressed have my unqualified approval. In mat- 
 ters not covered by the platform I shall feel free 
 to act for the best interests of my constituents 
 and of my country, according to the best light 
 that I have. I cannot promise my course will be 
 free from mistake, but I will promise that every 
 duty devolving on me, whether great or small, as 
 your representative upon the floor or in the exe- 
 cution of the details of the office, will be dis- 
 charged as my judgment shall dictate and to the 
 best of my ability, so help me God. 
 
 "This is the first canvass, I may say, that I 
 have ever been called upon to make, and I lack 
 the experience which frequent contests, whether 
 successful or unsuccessful, would give. I must 
 rely, therefore, largely upon the wisdom of the 
 committee which you select. If it is their wish, I 
 am ready to meet in joint debate, in every county 
 in my district, the champion of high taxes, who- 
 ever he may be, and I shall go forth to the con- 
 flict as David went to meet the giant of the 
 Philistines, not relying upon my own strength but 
 trusting to the righteousness of my cause. 
 
 "Your platform says that the object of Gov- 
 ernment is to protect every citizen in the enjoy- 
 ment of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, 
 unaided by public contribution and unburdened
 
 74 
 
 by oppressive exactions. That is, indeed, the 
 criterion by which every law should be judged, 
 and it is only when that rule is disregarded that 
 laws become unequal. Government is per- 
 verted and its instrumentalities turned to private 
 ends. It is only when that rule is disregarded 
 that class legislation springs up in its multiplied 
 form, and robbery in the form and under the sanc- 
 tion of law begins its work of enriching the rich 
 and impoverishing the poor. To the disregard of 
 that rule can be traced every evil that flows from 
 bad government, and by its wise application can 
 be remedied every wrong which we now suffer. 
 You have condemned the McKinley bill, and well 
 you may ; for of all the wolves that in the cloth- 
 ing of sheep have sought their unsuspecting vic- 
 tims, that wolf is the most ravenous that we have 
 known. Well has the Chicago Tribune likened 
 the effect of the McKinley bill upon the farmer to 
 the treatment of Amasa by his friend Joab. 'And 
 Joab said, art thou in health, my brother ? And 
 Joab took Amasa by the beard to kiss him, and 
 Amasa took no notice of the sword that was in 
 Joab's hand, so Joab thrust him in the fifth rib 
 therewith, and he died/ May we not hope that 
 Amasa the farmer sees the sword in Joab's 
 hand and will escape ? 
 
 "You have demanded the election of United 
 States senators by the people. However wise 
 the founders of our Government may have been
 
 HON. DAVID TURPIE, 
 U. 8. Senator from Indiana.
 
 HON. SAMUEL PASCO, 
 U. S. Senator from Florida.
 
 77 
 
 in making provision for the election of United 
 States senators by the legislatures of the various 
 States, we believe the time has come for a change. 
 A seat in the United States Senate, the highest 
 legislative body known among men, should be 
 given as the reward for labor done in behalf of 
 the people. It should not be an honor sold at 
 auction to the man who is able to purchase it. 
 
 " You have condemned the caucus. Upon no 
 plank do I stand with more firmness than upon 
 this. And I am glad that our party, the repre- 
 sentative of the principles of free government, 
 has taken a position against any caucus dictation 
 that will prevent a congressman from represent- 
 ing freely, fully and fearlessly the interests of his 
 constituents upon every question. But this is no 
 time for speech-making. It is not needed for en- 
 couragement. You who have stood by your 
 party in the hours of adversity, when you found 
 virtue its own and often only reward, could not 
 be aided by any words of mine. Nor is it needed 
 for instruction. For we have it upon good au- 
 thority that the sick and not the whole need a 
 physician. Let us prepare for the work which lies 
 before us. When this convention has adjourned 
 I desire to meet every delegate. And if time 
 permits I will visit you in your homes. I will call 
 upon you upon your farms and help you make 
 hay while the sun shines, and I shall expect you 
 to help me make votes all the time. It is no
 
 78 
 
 small task to shake hands with 70,000 voters and 
 learn the names and ages of twice that number 
 of children, but with your help I will try to ac- 
 complish it. Let us fight shoulder to shoulder, 
 and carry on the battle all along the line, fighting 
 for good government and the interests of our 
 fellow-men. We are inspired by the noblest 
 instinct that can inspire to deeds of bravery, and 
 if you can work half as earnestly and bravely for 
 the success of this ticket as your candidate does, 
 your representative in Congress for the next two 
 years will bear the name which my parents thirty 
 years ago last March gave to me." 
 
 The people generally did not receive the news 
 of Mr. Bryan's nomination with any very serious 
 thought. It was generally believed that the over- 
 whelming Republican majority could not be over- 
 come. And yet the Democratic party was con- 
 gratulated, even by its opponents, upon having 
 selected a clean and able man as its standard- 
 bearer. Gen. Van Wyck, who was supposed to 
 be thoroughly acquainted with Nebraska politics, 
 and whose sympathies with reform measures were 
 well established, said Connell's election was as- 
 sured, and that Bryan stood "not a ghost of a 
 chance." 
 
 The Omaha World-Herald, which newspaper 
 had been Mr. Bryan's consistent champion, took a 
 more hopeful view of the situation and said 
 editorially :
 
 79 
 
 " The action of the Democratic convention of 
 the First Congressional District in nominating 
 William J. Bryan, of Lincoln, for Congress ensures 
 a lively campaign for tariff reform and probably a 
 victory also. 
 
 " Young, eloquent, earnest and able, Bryan is 
 the very best standard-bearer who could have 
 been chosen to lead the recently-aroused masses 
 against the fortifications behind which the favored 
 classes are entrenched. He not only fully under- 
 stands the methods by which the people of the 
 West have been despoiled, but he has a happy 
 faculty of discussing the tariff issues so that 
 even 'the way-faring man, though a fool,' can 
 understand the evils of the present Republican 
 policy on the great national issue. 
 
 "Mr. Bryan is as popular as he is able, and his 
 integrity is as acknowledged as his ability. Ex- 
 emplary and studious in his habits, he has always 
 taken a keen interest in politics not as the poli- 
 tician does, but rather as the statesman should. 
 Upon the national issues, past and present, Bryan 
 will prove himself to be thoroughly informed. 
 His convictions are deep and his manner earnest. 
 He is poor and he has stated in advance that he 
 had nothing to contribute towards the campaign 
 except his own services ; but the World-Herald 
 believes that in the thorough canvass of the dis- 
 trict, which Mr. Bryan will make, an influence 
 more potent in winning votes will be found than 
 the gold of a boodle candidate.
 
 8o 
 
 "The people of the big First may expect to find 
 Mr. Bryan often on the stump for tariff reform, 
 but never up the stump." 
 
 The Republican newspapers of the district 
 thought to cripple the Democratic nominee by 
 ridicule. They applied to him the designation 
 " Young Mr. Bryan." The Democratic news- 
 papers accepted the challenge, and pleading 
 guilty to the charge that their candidate was not 
 old, declared "Young Mr. Bryan would be a 
 credit to Nebraska in the lower house of Con- 
 gress." 
 
 At the Democratic State Convention for Ne- 
 braska, held in 1 890, the name of Bryan was on 
 every tongue, and he stirred that convention to 
 great enthusiasm by an eloquent speech from 
 which these extracts are taken : 
 
 " We have declared in favor of free silver. We 
 demand that the white metal and the yellow metal 
 shall be treated exactly alike. For two hundred 
 years before the Republican party demonetized 
 silver, the ratio between silver and gold remained 
 almost the same. In the seventeen years since 
 demonetization, gold has risen from i to 1 6 to i to 
 22, and values have been shrinking in proportion. 
 
 " We have demanded the election of the United 
 States senators by the people and no answer can 
 be made to our demand that does not deny the 
 right of self-government. 
 
 "We denounce the McKinley bill, which under
 
 8i 
 
 the guise of protection to American industries, 
 seeks to increase the load of an already over- 
 burdened people. What is a protective tariff? A 
 tax levied upon the many for the benefit of a few. 
 (Applause.) What does it mean ? It means 
 that when a man has labored for six days to pro- 
 vide the necessaries for his family, he has given 
 four days for what he buys and two days for the 
 tax. It means that four months out of a year 
 are given for tribute that a third of his life is 
 wasted. It is strange that, under such conditions, 
 so many are unable to lay aside in life's summer 
 enough to support them in life's decline. (Ap- 
 plause.) Some have grown enormously rich, 
 while the many have become extremely poor. 
 Dives has prospered and Lazarus still sits waiting 
 f or the crumbs that fall from the table. (Ap- 
 plause.) The mass of Republicans in this State 
 are as earnest in their desire for tariff reform as 
 we are, but they have hoped for their own party. 
 They have deluded themselves with the belief that 
 the Republican party was only flirting with organ- 
 ized wealth, and that it would finally wed the poor 
 man, but the marriage between the grand old 
 party and monopoly has been consummated, and 
 ' what God has joined together let no man put 
 asunder.' (Laughter and applause.) 
 
 "When Ulysses, returning home, approached 
 the island of the sirens he put wax in the ears of 
 his sailors and had himself tied to the ship's mast
 
 82 
 
 so he could not turn aside. We have no sirens 
 singing to-day, but there is a voice of moaning 
 coming up from the agricultural classes a great 
 wail of distress, and the commanders of the Re- 
 publican ship have stopped the ears of their sail- 
 ors and made them deaf to the cry of the people, 
 while they themselves are so tied to the protected 
 interests by ante-election promises that hearing 
 they cannot heed. (Long-continued applause.) 
 
 " Let us bring light to those that sit in dark- 
 ness. As honest men to honest men present the 
 iniquities of the robber tariff and success will 
 come. How long will our farmers worship at the 
 shrine of a high tariff? 
 
 " In Australia they have a tree called the 
 cannibal tree. Its leaves, like great arms, reach 
 out until they touch the ground, and on the top of 
 tlie tree there is a cup containing a mysterious 
 kind of honey. Some of the tribes worship this 
 tree, and on their great days surround it, dancing 
 and shouting. Then one of their number is se- 
 lected as a victim, and at the point of spears is 
 driven upon the tree. He tastes of the fluid and 
 the cup and he is overcome by a strange intoxica- 
 tion. Then those great arms, as if instinct with 
 life, rise up and, encircling him in their powerful 
 folds, crush out his life while his companions look 
 on with shouts of joy. (Applause.) Have we 
 not seen a like picture in Nebraska? Farmer 
 after farmer has been crushed to death in the arms
 
 of an oppressive tariff, and yet farmers have 
 ( been found who, within sight of their unfortunate 
 companions, have shouted their praise of the 
 great American system. 
 
 "Let us hope that we are on the eve of a 
 brighter day when equal laws will lighten the 
 burden of the toiling masses. (Long-continued 
 applause and cheers.) 
 
 Mr. Bryan immediately took the stump in 
 his district, and drew men to him, on a smaller 
 scale it is true, but in the same way as he drew 
 men to him at Chicago, and as he has always 
 drawn men to him wherever he has appeared in 
 public. 
 
 The Omaha World-Herald sounded the first 
 note of genuine hope to the Democrats of the 
 First Nebraska District, when, in an editorial two 
 months before the election, that newspaper an- 
 nounced: "Mr. Bryan is tearing Mr. Council's 
 fences into pieces, and if Wm. J. Bryan could 
 personally meet one-half of the voters of the 
 First district, the election of the young orator, by 
 an overwhelming majority, would be assured. 
 But Mr. Bryan will make a thorough canvass of 
 the district, and wherever Bryan goes he wins 
 earnest champions to his cause." 
 
 Mr. Bryan's remarkable campaign was well de- 
 scribed in the following editorial in the World- 
 Herald : 
 
 "The campaign which Mr. W. J. Bryan is
 
 8 4 
 
 making in the First Congressional District is as 
 strong and vigorous as it is clean and honorable, 
 and that is saying much. 
 
 "He is speaking five or six times a week, and 
 it is noticeable that he draws large audiences and 
 makes good impressions. He handles the great 
 tariff question in so fair and candid a way and 
 discusses it in such plain and simple language 
 that a child can understand the points and follow 
 the argument. He wastes no time on oratorical 
 flights or glittering generalities, but he talks di- 
 rectly to the point, discussing the question with 
 the earnestness of strong convictions and the 
 eloquence of honest words. 
 
 "If Bryan is not a great orator he is, at least, 
 a convincing speaker, and he deals with his facts 
 so frankly and ably that he wins votes every- 
 where. 
 
 " He is, moreover, not a dodger. On every, 
 thing he is outspoken and explicit. He never 
 fails to announce that he is against prohibition. 
 He tells this to small groups of farmers where 
 prohibition may be in favor as readily as he tells 
 it to city audiences where it is not. In short, 
 Bryan is a strong character as well as a clean one, 
 and he is making a campaign on principle. 
 
 "He is a tower of strength to the cause of 
 democracy and of the people, not only because he 
 is a popular candidate, but because he never fails 
 in his addresses to dwell upon the importance of
 
 Hox. II. M. TELLER, 
 U. S. Senator from Colorado.
 
 HON. RICHARD P. BLAND, 
 
 Ex-Congressman from Missouri.
 
 87 
 
 electing 1 Mr. Boyd and his ticket over Mr. Rich- 
 ards and his. 
 
 " Bryan, as a campaigner, is a success. He will 
 be a congressman." 
 
 Mr. Bryan invaded Omaha, the home of Mr. 
 Connell, and he addressed a great gathering of 
 Omaha people, impressing upon his auditors his 
 earnestness, his eloquence and his ability. 
 
 Republican leaders had by this time become 
 thoroughly alarmed. They realized that a strong 
 man had been pitted against them. 
 
 In that year the Prohibition question was before 
 the people of Nebraska, and in the hope of injur- 
 ing Mr. Bryan, one distinguished Republican 
 orator charged him with being a Prohibitionist. It 
 was charged that at a banquet given by the mem- 
 bers of the bar, in Lincoln, Mr. Bryan opposed 
 the use of liquor on the banquet table. Mr. Bryan 
 met the charge promptly, as he has met every 
 question submitted to him. In a public speech he 
 said: " The use of wine at the Lincoln banquet was 
 abandoned for two reasons. First : Some of the 
 expected guests were known to have a weakness 
 for the flowing bowl which would result in their 
 intoxication. Second : It was a question of hav- 
 ing the banquet without wine or without women. 
 Many of the guests at that banquet could do 
 without wine, but none of them could do without 
 the refining influence of woman, so wine was 
 abandoned and woman triumphed. If this be
 
 88 
 
 treason, make the most of it." It is unnecessary 
 to say that the Republicans were very ready to 
 drop the Prohibition charge against Mr. Bryan. 
 
 Mr. Bryan's committee challenged his opponent 
 to joint debate. His opponent called a confer- 
 ence of his friends, and Mr. Connell was urged 
 to accept the challenge. He was assured that Mr. 
 Bryan was a "one-speech man," and while Mr. 
 Connell might be a little worse for the wear after 
 the first meeting, he would grind his young 
 opponent to powder in the subsequent contests. 
 The Chairman of the Republican Congressional 
 Committee struck upon a happy scheme of ob- 
 taining expert opinion on this subject, and se- 
 lected a committee of three young lawyers and 
 charged them with the duty of listening to Mr. 
 Bryan and informing his opponent as to whether 
 the challenge to joint debate might be safely ac- 
 cepted. These " experts " reported that Mr. 
 Bryan was certainly a " one-speech man," and 
 that his opponent would have easy sailing after 
 the first week. 
 
 A series of eleven meetings were arranged at 
 different points in the district. The opening was 
 had at Lincoln, Mr. Bryan's home. Three thou- 
 sand people gathered to hear the orators and 
 while Mr. Bryan electrified the gathering by his 
 eloquence and his logic, the friends of Mr. Con- 
 nell congratulated themselves and their candidate 
 that he escaped the ordeal with breath in his
 
 9 
 
 body, and they promised that in the next meeting, 
 in Omaha, there would be nothing left to tell the 
 tale of the young candidate from Lincoln. 
 
 One of the greatest gatherings that ever as- 
 sembled, in the history of Omaha, attended the 
 Bryan-Connell debate in that city. The audience 
 was made up, for the most part, of the men one 
 sees in courts, in business circles and among the 
 manufactories. Mechanics from the shops, and 
 attorneys fresh from conventions jostled one an- 
 other. Capitalists were neighbors of laboring 
 men, and the throbbing voice of the politician 
 reached out to exercise itself. It was an interested 
 and an interesting throng. Nobody was there 
 to loiter ; one could readily see that by the atten- 
 tion given to every minor preliminary detail. A 
 few ladies enlivened the monotonous melange of 
 men, but the masculine side had the majority so 
 extensively that they quite overshadowed. By 
 eight o'clock the house w r as without standing 
 room, and 1500 people, it was estimated, were 
 turned away from the door. Mr. Connell learned 
 then that expert testimony may not always with 
 safety be relied upon. He learned that his op- 
 ponent was not a "one-speech man." He learned 
 that he was an orator, eloquent and powerful, a 
 logician strong and accurate, and that in repartee 
 he was without a superior. In spite of the fact 
 that Mr. Connell defended his cause better than 
 any other man could have done, he was com-
 
 90 
 
 pletely overpowered by his young opponent. At 
 the conclusion of the debate men climbed over 
 one another to shake the hand of the young 
 orator. Thousands of people vainly struggled to 
 secure a foothold on the stage. From that mo- 
 ment it was evident that the Republican candidate 
 would be defeated, unless unusual efforts should 
 be put forth. 
 
 At subsequent appointments Mr. Bryan won 
 similar triumphs. The people flocked from all 
 parts of the State to hear the young orator and 
 witness his magnificent victories. 
 
 During the progress of these debates the 
 Omaha World-Herald contained an editorial 
 which is interesting at this time, not only because 
 of its description of Bryan's marvellous power, 
 but as well for it prophetic utterances. 
 
 BRYAN ON THE STUMP. 
 
 " It is very seldom in these days that oratory is 
 met with, for the reason that oratory is something 
 composed at once of eloquence, simplicity and 
 magnetism, and that while eloquence and even 
 magnetism are frequently met with among 
 Americans, simplicity is not. Mr. W. J. Bryan, 
 the Democratic candidate for Congress from the 
 First district, has this quality. He is, without 
 doubt, one of the most impressive men who have 
 ever been on the western hustings. To begin 
 with, he is no diplomat, and in one sense of the
 
 word he does not possess adroitness. That is, 
 he appears to be doing nothing for effect. His 
 remarks are direct. They are unqualified, and 
 they always have the effect of being spontaneous. 
 
 "He is not an apologetic speaker, but a com- 
 manding one. He does not sue for attention. 
 He takes it for granted that he will receive it. 
 He delights in his audience, and inspires in them 
 a sense of exhilaration such as he apparently 
 feels himself. He is enamored with his cause, 
 and, believing fully in it, forces his listeners to do 
 the same. So impregnated is he with the idea 
 that his cause is righteous that he is without fear, 
 relying on the truth to meet the subtlest argu- 
 ment that may be adduced by his opponents. 
 Then he has a pleasant wit, and even a spirit of 
 mischief, and at times that broad and responsive 
 smile points a paragraph as no spoken words can 
 do, and lays his opponent open to the ridicule 
 which Bryan himself refrains from inflicting. This 
 quality is contagious. And it kills rancor. For 
 it is impossible to feel any anger toward an adver- 
 sary at whom one laughs. 
 
 "Nature has gifted Mr. Bryan with a remark- 
 able face such a face as could be carved on a 
 coin and not be out of place. He has a physical 
 vigor which makes his unstudied gestures forcible 
 and emphatic. He has an eye which is by turns 
 commanding and humorous. And he has a voice 
 which is equally adapted to tenderness or to de-
 
 93 
 
 nunciation. All these natural gifts has William 
 J. Bryan and to them is added a talent for re- 
 search, a genius for accuracy, and a nature of 
 truth. There are not many men cast in such 
 mold in these days of sycophants, weaklings and 
 time-servers. 
 
 " Let Nebraska congratulate herself on the fact 
 that she has an orator who possesses the physical 
 and mental qualities to make him a remarkable man 
 in the history of this nation. And if the World- 
 Herald reads the stars aright, the time will come 
 when W. J. Bryan will have a reputation which 
 will reach far beyond Nebraska and it will be a 
 reputation for the performance of good and disin- 
 terested deeds." 
 
 Mr. Bryan's opponents circulated the charge 
 that he belonged to an Anti-Catholic Society. A 
 telegraphic inquiry brought this response : 
 
 WEEPING WATER, NEB., October 18, 1890. 
 To the Editor World-Herald: 
 
 " Your despatch just received. I belong to the 
 Presbyterian Church, but do not belong to any 
 Anti-Catholic Society. I respect every man's 
 right to worship God according to his own con- 
 science." W. J. BRYAN. 
 
 The Bryan-Connell debates were concluded at 
 Syracuse. In spite of the pronounced victory of 
 one of the participants, there had grown up be- 
 tween the two contestants a strong personal
 
 93 
 
 friendship, which, by the way, has matured during 
 succeeding years. A great crowd had gathered 
 to witness the closing scenes of that debate. 
 Preparations had been made by the farmers of 
 the vicinity to avail themselves of the opportunity 
 to hear and see the acknowledged champion of 
 their cause. Badges bearing Bryan's name were 
 numerous among the throng. Cheer after cheer 
 greeted his appearance. Hundreds flocked 
 around to shake his hand and to assure him of 
 their personal intention to vote for him. Special 
 trains from the capital city brought down a throng 
 of interested friends. In that debate, Mr. Bryan 
 had the closing, and when he had concluded his 
 argument he turned to his opponent and presented 
 him with a handsomely-bound volume of " Gray's 
 Elegy" in the following words : 
 
 " Mr. Connell, we now bring to a close this 
 series of debates which was arranged by our com- 
 mittees. I am glad that we have been able to 
 conduct these discussions in a courteous and 
 friendly manner. If I have, in any way, offended 
 you in word or deed I offer apology and regret, 
 and as freely forgive. I desire to present to you 
 in remembrance of these pleasant meetings this 
 little volume, because it contains " Gray's Elegy," 
 in perusing which I trust you will find as much 
 pleasure and profit as I have found. It is one of 
 the most beautiful and touching tributes to hum- 
 ble life that literature contains. Grand in its
 
 94 
 
 sentiment, sublime in its simplicity, we may both 
 find in it a solace in victory or defeat. If success 
 should crown your efforts in this campaign, and 
 it should be your lot ' The applause of listening 
 senates to command,' and I am left 
 
 'A youth to fortune and to fame unknown,' 
 
 " Forget not us who in the common walks of life 
 perform our part, but in the hour of your triumph 
 recall the verse : 
 
 ' Let not ambition mock their useful toil , 
 
 Their homely joys and destiny obscure; 
 Nor grandeur hear, with disdainful smile, 
 The short and simple annals of the poor.' 
 
 "If, on the other hand, by the verdict of my 
 countrymen, I shall be made your successor, let 
 it not be said of you : 
 
 'And melancholy marked him for her own.' 
 
 " But find sweet consolation in the thought : 
 
 ' Full many a gem of purest ray serene, 
 
 The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear; 
 
 Full many a flower was born to blush unseen, 
 
 And waste its sweetness on the desert air. ' 
 
 *' But whether the palm of victory is given to you 
 or to rne, let us remember those of whom the poet 
 says : 
 
 ' Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife 
 Their sober wishes never learned to stray, 
 Along the cool sequestered vales of life 
 
 They keep the noiseless tenor of their way' 
 
 These are the ones most likely to be forgotten by 
 the Government. When the poor and weak cry
 
 Hox. JOHN. W. DANIEL, 
 
 U. S. Senator from Virginia.
 
 HON. J. C. S. BLACKBURN, 
 U. S. Senator from Kentucky.
 
 97 
 
 out for relief they too often hear no answer but 
 'the echo of their cry/ while the rich, the strong, 
 the powerful are given an attentive ear. For this 
 reason is class legislation dangerous and deadly. 
 It takes from the least able to give to those who 
 are least in need. The safety of our farmers and 
 our laborers is not in special legislation, but in 
 equal and just laws that bear alike on every man. 
 The great masses of our people are interested, 
 not in getting their hands into other people's 
 pockets, but in keeping the hands of other people 
 out of their pockets. Let me, in parting, express 
 the hope that you and I may be instrumental in 
 bringing our Government back to better laws 
 which will treat every man in all our land without 
 regard to creed or condition. I bid you a friendly 
 farewell." 
 
 Mr. Connell accepted the book, saying that it 
 illustrated the bible truth, "It is more blessed to 
 give than to receive," and he received it in the same 
 friendly spirit in which it was given. Mr. Bryan 
 then proposed three cheers for his opponent, "the 
 able and gallant defender of a lost cause." Mr. 
 Connell returned the compliment. 
 
 At this point a young man stepped out from 
 the audience bearing two large floral designs. 
 One was a great shield faced with Marcheil Neil 
 roses of pure white, with a band of white carna- 
 tions, on which was inscribed the word "Truth." 
 The other floral design was a sword with a blade
 
 9 8 
 
 of white carnations with the word " Eloquence " 
 in purple extending from hilt to point. The hilt 
 was covered with red carnations all fringed with 
 and set in a body of smilax. In presenting the 
 floral tribute the young man said : "In behalf of 
 the Democrats of the First district of Nebraska, 
 I desire to say to Mr. Bryan that we have watched 
 with interest your manly course and your courage 
 upon eleven intellectual battlefields and I am 
 commissioned by them to discharge the pleasant 
 duty of presenting these two emblems. They 
 show our respect, admiration and honor for the 
 brightest and purest advocate of our cause in Ne- 
 braska. I present this shield of truth as emblem- 
 atic of that which has protected you through the 
 series of debates from the arrows of your able 
 adversary. I present this sword as indicative of 
 the predominating faculty of your nature, that of 
 eloquence. Accept them as a tribute from a loyal 
 party to its bravest defender." And then as the 
 emblems were handed to the young orator the 
 vast audience stood up and waved handkerchiefs 
 and hats and cheered until Mr. Bryan beckoned 
 them to be still. He then gracefully responded, 
 thanking his friends for their kindness, and when 
 the great session was over 2,500 people followed 
 him to the train, giving him a royal ovation all 
 along the line. 
 
 Mr. Bryan closed his remarkable campaign at 
 the city of Lincoln. He was elected by a plurality
 
 99 
 
 of 6,700 in a district which two years before had 
 given a Republican plurality of 3,400. It might 
 be worthy of observation right here that Grover 
 Cleveland's Secretary of Agriculture was defeated 
 for Congress in 1888 by 3,400 plurality in the 
 same district which William J. Bryan carried two 
 years later by a plurality of 6,700. 
 
 Following the election the Omaha World-Herald 
 editorially announced " Bryan is elected and he 
 wins at the end of one of the fairest and most 
 brilliant campaigns ever fought. He will become 
 at once one of the most prominent members of 
 the Lower House, from the West. His election is a 
 triumph for principle and a victory for brains."
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 BRYAN ENTERS CONGRESS. 
 
 When Mr. Bryan entered Congress he imme- 
 diately attracted attention, and his splendid per- 
 sonality drew men to him in Washington exactly 
 as it had drawn men to him in Nebraska. Al- 
 though it was unprecedented to give to a first- 
 term member a position on the all-important 
 Ways and Means Committee, Speaker Crisp 
 conferred that unprecedented honor upon Bryan, 
 of Nebraska. There was criticism at this excep- 
 tion on the Speaker's part. The St. Louis Republic, 
 commenting upon \he personelle of it, said : "Wil- 
 liam J. Bryan, of Nebraska, is a very amiable and 
 a very enthusiastic young man who, it is said, has 
 made some reputation on the stump out in Ne- 
 braska; but, having no service in the House here- 
 tofore, his knowledge of the details of the tariff 
 is necessarily limited." But it was not long be- 
 fore the St. Louis Republic, as well as all others 
 who took the trouble to observe, learned that 
 Bryan's knowledge of the tariff was about as 
 complete as any man's could be. 
 
 One of the first bills which Mr. Bryan intro- 
 duced provided for the election of senators by 
 
 the people, at the option of each State. The 
 100
 
 101 
 
 people by constitutional enactment to provide the 
 manner in which senators were to be chosen. 
 The bill attracted considerable attention, although 
 it failed of final passage. 
 
 During Mr. Bryan's first session he received 
 many invitations to address gatherings in the 
 East. Among his first speeches of this character 
 was one delivered belore the Philadelphia Young 
 Men's Association, where he responded to the 
 toast, "The Democracy of the West," on Janu- 
 ary 8, 1892. On that occasion he uttered these 
 prophetic words : " Prosperity to the great West! 
 Yesterday, the citadel of Republicanism ; to-day, 
 the battle-ground of the nation ; to-morrow, and 
 thereafter, the home of the Democracy." 
 
 Mr. Bryan was one of the most active members 
 of the Ways and Means Committee. Thomas B. 
 Reed was a member of that committee, and he is 
 exceedingly graceful at repartee. But Mr. Reed 
 occasionally finds his match. An interesting inci- 
 dent occurred at one meeting of the Ways and 
 Means Committee at which Mr. Bryan neatly 
 turned the tables on Mr. Reed. The committee 
 was in session when the bell rang indicating the 
 convening of the House. Mr. Reed arose pon 
 derously from his seat and making an elaborate 
 bow to the committee, the majority of which, by 
 the way, were Democrats, expressed his regret at 
 being compelled to desert his colleagues in order 
 to take his seat in the House to listen to the
 
 102 
 
 chaplain's prayer. " I trust" said he, with a touch 
 of sarcasm, "that I do not break the committee 
 quorum." "Oh, do not worry about that," quickly 
 retorted Mr. Bryan. "You can leave your hat 
 here and we will count it to make the quorum." 
 Chairman Springer's dignity was quite upset by 
 the roar of laughter which greeted this sally, and 
 Mr. Reed, very red in the face but chuckling, 
 made his way to the House. 
 
 On March 16, 1892 Mr. Bryan made his great 
 tariff speech in the House. And by that strong 
 and eloquent speech he made himself a national 
 figure. It will be many a day before such a 
 scene is re-enacted. At 2.30 o'clock Bryan arose 
 to address the House on the tariff question, and 
 at 5.30 closed a speech which will stand con- 
 spicuously in the recollections of thousands of 
 representatives. It was such a speech as no one 
 there expected, but just such a speech as Bryan's 
 friends knew he would deliver. Hardly that 
 either, for Bryan, with all his good record on the 
 stump, never before delivered such a masterly 
 combination of argument and rhetoric. No 
 speech delivered in the House attracted one- 
 tenth of the interest, either on the floor or in the 
 gallery. No speech delivered in any recent Con- 
 gress awoke so much comment. For three full 
 hours the members on the floor and great crowds 
 in the gallery listened intently to every word, and 
 at the close of the speech tendered the young
 
 103 
 
 orator an ovation. When Bryan closed, the 
 Democratic members arose en masse, even before 
 the House had adjourned, and rushed around 
 the young exponent of tariff reform, each running 
 over the other to shake his hand. From every 
 gallery and from every quarter came exclama- 
 tions of admiration. From the people as they 
 crowded each other from the gallery, came con- 
 tinued and earnest expressions complimentary to 
 the gentleman from Nebraska, and after the 
 House had adjourned, great crowds stood at the 
 doorways eager to catch a glimpse of the new 
 orator. 
 
 When the doors were opened many filed 
 through, and a long line passed Bryan, each man 
 taking him by the hand and congratulating him. 
 It was a long time before Bryan, weary with his 
 great effort, could tear himself away and find 
 refuge in the committee-room. 
 
 Those who have attended regularly the con- 
 gressional sessions for years declared that at no 
 time could they remember when a speech re- 
 ceived such generous attention and a speaker 
 such a splendid ovation. It was a great audience, 
 and it grew as Bryan proceeded with his speech. 
 Within an hour the galleries were packed and 
 crowded with people whose interest was clearly 
 manifested. As a rule, members sleep or attend 
 to their correspondence while a tariff speech is 
 being made ; but not so in this instance. Every-
 
 104 
 
 body woke up. Even the press gallery was 
 crowded, and when this is the case the attraction 
 must be great. 
 
 Early in the afternoon two women sat in the 
 gallery adjoining the press. One of these turned 
 to the other and asked: "Who speaks on the 
 tariff to-day?" 
 
 " Bryan, of Nebraska," was the reply. 
 
 "Umph, I never heard of him," said the first 
 woman. 
 
 " This is his first term," said the second woman. 
 " But I have Republican friends in Nebraska who 
 say that Mr. Bryan thinks he can make a speech. 
 I've come to see." 
 
 And these women sat there. Both were in- 
 terested listeners to the speech, and when Mr. 
 Bryan had finished, C. W. Sherman, Editor of 
 the Plattsmouth, Neb. Journal, climbed over the 
 gallery seats, and, touching the second woman 
 on the arm, said : " Beg pardon, madam, but can 
 you tell me who that was who spoke ? " 
 
 "That, sir," replied the woman, "is Mr. Bryan, 
 of Nebraska, and he has made a good speech, a 
 very good speech, indeed." Then turning to her 
 lady friend, the woman remarked : " I shall tell 
 my Nebraska friends that I quite agree with Mr. 
 Bryan. I, too, think he can make a speech." 
 
 Early in the afternoon a man who had fooled 
 the people of Massachusetts in sending him to 
 Congress twice, slapped another member on the
 
 HON. JAS. K. JONES, 
 U. 8. Senator from Arkansas.
 
 HON. F. M. COCKKELL, 
 U. 8. Senator from Missouri.
 
 107 
 
 shoulder at the House entrance and said : "Come 
 in ; a new member is going to -speak. Let's go 
 in and see our boys have fun with him." 
 
 They went in ; they saw the fun; but they were 
 mistaken in the victim. "Our boys" started to 
 have their usual amount of fun, but they were 
 glad to retire into the corridor. For a long time 
 Mr. Bryan proceeded without interruption. Then 
 there was a whispered consultation among the 
 Republican leaders, and one by one questions 
 were fired at the Nebraskan. In each and every 
 instance Bryan's retort brought him out on top. 
 Of the probable fifty interruptions to which he was 
 subjected his quick wit and ready logic were 
 brought into play in such a manner as to win the 
 respect of the members and stir up the enthusiasm 
 of the galleries. 
 
 Not once did the interest decrease. At 3.30 
 when the time had expired, unanimous consent 
 was given to prolong the treat. Several times 
 when the speaker essayed to close his address he 
 was urged by his colleagues on the floor to con- 
 tinue. It was an off-hand speech. It could not 
 have been otherwise under the circumstances. It 
 was replete with the argument for tariff reform, 
 and the points made by the speaker were illus- 
 trated by new and charming features, which 
 brought down the House. The peroration was 
 superb, and when he said that time would come 
 when legislation would be enacted exclusively in
 
 xoS 
 
 the people's interest and declared " in that day 
 Democracy will be king long live the king! " it 
 was with an eloquence that proved a fitting cli- 
 max. Then from every corner of the great room 
 from floor to gallery came demonstrations of ap 
 plause, while the novel sight was witnessed of 
 over 200 members rushing around a colleague to 
 show their appreciation of real ability. 
 
 Kilgore, of Texas, as he took Bryan's hand, 
 declared : "This is the first time I ever left my 
 seat to congratulate a member; but it is the first 
 time I ever had such great cause to break the 
 record." 
 
 Burrows, of Michigan, said : "I am free to say 
 that Bryan made the best tariff-reform speech I 
 ever heard." 
 
 Beside the Congressman sat his pretty little 
 daughter, Ruth. Mrs. Bryan was in the gallery, 
 and it would be strange if she were not at that 
 moment the proudest woman in the world. It was, 
 too, a proud moment for the several Nebraskans 
 there. Editor Sherman, of Plattsmouth, repre- 
 sented the sentiment of all. In the corridor the 
 great crowd was waiting to catch a glimpse of 
 the orator of the day. Somebody asked : 
 
 " How old is Bryan ? " 
 
 "Thirty-five, "replied Sherman. 
 
 "Well, he has certainly a future before him," 
 said the first speaker. 
 
 "It's the best speech I ever heard in the House," 
 said another.
 
 109 
 
 When several similar compliments had been 
 uttered, Sherman held his head a little bit higher 
 as he declared : 
 
 " Gentlemen, I live in Nebraska. We have 
 wanted a man to send to Congress and we sent 
 him. I want to tell you now, that when Nebraska 
 Democrats pick out a man as worthy to represent 
 them here they know what they are doing." 
 
 "You certainly made no mistake this time," 
 said a by-stander. 
 
 The great newspapers of the country were full 
 of compliments for "the new orator." Bryan be- 
 came famous in a day. 
 
 The New York World had the following head- 
 lines : 
 
 " Bryan Downed Them All." 
 
 "Nebraska's Young Congressman Scores a 
 Triumph in the House." 
 
 " His Maiden Speech a Brilliant Plea for Tariff 
 Reform." 
 
 "Mr. Raines, of New York, -and Messrs. Mc- 
 Kenna and Lind Interrupt Him with Questions 
 and are Silenced by Sharp Replies." 
 
 " Party Leaders Enthusiastically Applaud the 
 Orator, and His Speech is the Talk of Wash- 
 ington." 
 
 Then the World said : "When Speaker Crisp 
 appointed Mr. Bryan, of Nebraska, one of the 
 committee on Ways and Means, some criticism 
 was made on the ground that he was a new
 
 no 
 
 member and inexperienced in tariff legislation. 
 But Mr. Bryan, to-day, in a three-hours' speech, 
 made the biggest hit of the debate and confirmed 
 the Speaker's judgment of his ability. No more 
 dramatic speech has been delivered at this ses- 
 sion. Mr. Bryan has the clear-cut features of the 
 Randall type. He spoke without notes, and his 
 barytone voice made the chamber ring. The Re- 
 publicans sought to take advantage of his inex- 
 perience in Congress by interrupting him with 
 questions, which would have puzzled much older 
 heads. But Mr. Bryan brightened under this 
 friction and forced one Republican after another 
 into his seat. Old campaigners of the Reed 
 school, like Raines, of New York, and McKenna, 
 of California, found the young Nebraskan more 
 than their match. A lawyer by profession, Mr. 
 Bryan argued his case with a direct dramatic 
 directness that aroused not only the enthusiasm of 
 the Democrats, but won the applause of the gal- 
 leries. 
 
 " When Mr. Bryan finished, the galleries ap- 
 plauded for fully five minutes, and Democrats 
 and Republicans gathered about him and shook 
 his hand warmly. This speech has been a revo- 
 lution. No new member has received such an 
 ovation in years. Mr. Bryan's speech was the 
 talk of the town to-night." 
 
 The Washington Post said: "If, like Byron, 
 Congressman Bryan, of Nebraska, does not wake
 
 Ill 
 
 this morning and find himself famous, then all the 
 eulogies that were being passed on him in hotel 
 corridors were meaningless. There was hardly 
 anything else talked about, except the wonder- 
 fully brilliant speech of the young Nebraskan of 
 the House." 
 
 The New York Sun said : " William Jen- 
 nings Bryan, the young Democratic leader from 
 Nebraska, whom Speaker Crisp placed on the 
 Ways and Means Committee against the protest of 
 a large element in the House, distinguished him- 
 self to-day by making the ' star ' speech of the 
 present session on the tariff question. Mr. 
 Bryan astonished his associates and the occupants 
 of the crowded galleries by an exhibition of 
 finished oratory seldom witnessed in the halls of 
 Congress. He is only thirty years old, is tall and 
 well built, with a clean-shaven face and jet black 
 hair. Charley O'Neil, the father of the House, 
 as he is called, says Mr. Bryan looks something 
 as the late Samuel Jackson Randall looked twenty- 
 five years ago. An hour was given Mr. Bryan 
 to speak, but when that time elapsed there was a 
 general chorus of 'Go on,' 'Go on,' from both 
 sides of the House. Members lingered in their 
 seats and the spectators remained in the galleries 
 till 5.12 o'clock, so intent were they in hearing 
 the young orator from the West. Not only was 
 he logical, but he was practical, and won for him- 
 self a place among the house orators beside the
 
 silver-toned Breckinridge of Kentucky, or the 
 calm-voiced Henderson of Iowa." 
 
 The New York Herald said : "As Mr. Bryan 
 took his seat he was the recipient of hearty con- 
 gratulations from his party colleagues. Although 
 this was his maiden speech, he showed every 
 quality of a fine orator. No member who has 
 addressed the House thus far upon the tariff 
 question has received the same attention which 
 was accorded to the young Nebraskan." 
 
 The New York Times had this to-day: "For 
 most of the time since the tariff battle in the 
 House began the Democrats have been attacking 
 the Republicans' position largely with oratorical 
 fire crackers. Some of these explosives made a 
 merry crackling, but not enough of it fully to 
 wake up the deliberate body, and certainly not 
 enough fully to arrest the attention of many per- 
 sons out of the House. To-day, almost with the 
 effect of an ambuscade, the Democrats uncovered 
 a ten-inch gun, and for two hours shelled the 
 surprised enemy so effectively, that the protec- 
 tionist batteries, at first manned with spirit, but 
 supplied with very light guns, were silenced, Gun- 
 ner Raines (Republican, New York), coming out 
 of the engagement with a badly-battered muzzle, 
 and with the conviction, probably, that he would be 
 compelled next time to put in more powder and 
 employ newer and more modern projectiles. 
 
 " The man who to-day ceased to be a new and
 
 "3 
 
 young unknown member, and jumped at once 
 into the position of the best tariff speaker in ten 
 years was Representative Bryan, Democrat, of 
 Nebraska. To be a representative from Nebraska 
 implies a condition of revolution in that State; but 
 it also means something more in the case of Mr. 
 Bryan that was not suspected before by those who 
 are not familiar with his reputation at home. 
 Some of the men who supported Mills were in 
 doubt at the time of the caucus about his sound- 
 ness generally, as he was one of the four Springer 
 men who stuck to Springer after ' the last button 
 was off his coat,' and when the votes of the four 
 would have elected Mills instead of Crisp. After 
 his speech of to-day there can be no doubt about 
 where he stands on the tariff question. There can 
 be no doubt about this power of oratory and argu- 
 ment, and Mr. Raines, who is apt at a certain shal- 
 low sort of sophistical cross-questioning, will prob- 
 ably admit that Mr. Bryan is able to hold his own 
 with a veteran in the black-horse cavalry. For two 
 hours and a half Mr. Bryan held the floor and his 
 audience, being urged to go on after his hour had 
 expired, and being inspired to still further continue 
 by shouts of 'Goon,' 'Go on, 'when he indica- 
 ted a modest desire to bring his long speech to a 
 close. 
 
 " Having a graceful figure, a little above the 
 average height, Mr. Bryan is not unlike Carlisle 
 in feature, but not so spare. His face is smooth
 
 shaved and the features are strong and well 
 marked. His voice is clear and strong, his lan- 
 guage plain but not lacking in grace. He uses 
 illustrations effectively, and he employs humor 
 and sarcasm with admirable facility. The applause 
 that greeted him was as spontaneous as it was 
 genuine." 
 
 On April 5, 1892, Mr. Springer, Chairman of 
 the Ways and Means Committee, was to address 
 the House on the tariff bill. Mr. Springer had 
 been seriously ill and was admonished by his 
 physician not to make the effort. He came to 
 the House on that day, however, and paid Mr. 
 Bryan the compliment of inviting him to read his, 
 Mr. Springer's, address on the tariff question. 
 
 In the spring of 1892, evidences of the hostile 
 silver sentiment had begun to manifest themselves 
 among certain leaders of the Nebraska Democ- 
 racy. The State Convention to elect delegates 
 to the National Democratic Convention had been 
 called for April 15, 1892. Mr. Bryan announced 
 from Washington that he would attend that con- 
 vention for the purpose of introducing a free-silver 
 plank into the platform. It was evident that this 
 act would create considerable trouble, and Mr. 
 Bryan was urged by many Democrats not to do 
 it. He refused to be dissuaded, however, from 
 what he regarded as his plain duty, when he went 
 to Omaha. That convention marked the begin, 
 ning of Bryan's determined efforts to place the
 
 "5 
 
 Nebraska Democracy right on the money question. 
 He introduced his plank favoring the free coinage 
 of silver and was opposed by most of the old-time 
 leaders of the party in Nebraska. It was a bitter 
 contest. Bryan presented his cause with that 
 eloquence and spirit that has made him famous ; 
 and during the entire day the battle raged. In 
 speaking upon this plank, Mr. Bryan said among 
 other things : 
 
 " I am here on a painful duty. I came to agree 
 with all that has been said and to ask the adoption 
 of the principle which has been a part of our 
 platform heretofore, and I do not believe it is 
 good policy to drop now as a Democratic tenet. 
 
 "Gentlemen," said Mr. Bryan, "I do not believe 
 it is noble to dodge any issue. It was dodging 
 that defeated Republicanism in Nebraska. If, as 
 has been indicated, this may have an effect on my 
 campaign, then no bridegroom went with gladder 
 heart to greet his bride than I shall welcome de- 
 feat. It has been said that God hates a coward, 
 and I believe it is true. Vote this down if you 
 do not approve it, but do not dodge it, for that is 
 not democratic." 
 
 The first vote on Bryan's minority report was 
 announced: 267 for, 237 against. It was a clean- 
 cut victory for bimetallism. 
 
 And that convention went mad absolutely in- 
 sane. Mr. Bryan tried to soothe things. It was im- 
 possible. At last it was decided to call another vote.
 
 n6 
 
 Governor Boyd opposed a recount. Con- 
 gressman Bryan asked for it, and the Chairman, 
 who had already proposed it, found a sentiment 
 almost unanimous in favor of it. 
 
 The recount was taken amid much excitement, 
 and the Chairman finally announced its result : 
 
 "Two hundred and twenty-nine, yes." 
 
 "Two hundred and forty-seven, no." 
 
 The majority report on platform was then duly 
 adopted and the rejected free-silver plank laid 
 carefully aside. 
 
 But Bryan's silver plank had been "counted 
 out." 
 
 From that moment Mr. Bryan had incurred the 
 hostility of the Cleveland administration, and 
 from that moment that administration showed 
 him no mercy, and no quarter. But it was 
 characteristic of Mr. Bryan that he asked no 
 mercy and accepted no quarter. 
 
 On June 17, 1892, Mr. Bryan addressed the 
 students of Ann Harbor, in reply to a speech 
 made there by Mr. McKinley, one month previ- 
 ous. The question was the tariff, and it was 
 generally conceded that Mr. Bryan's effort more 
 than matched that of his distinguished opponent. 
 
 On June 20, 1892, at Nebraska City, Mr. 
 Bryan was re-nominated for Congress by accla- 
 mation. 
 
 Mr. Bryan's platform on that occasion de- 
 nounced " unjust tariff laws and oppressive finan-
 
 cial policy ;" declared for tariff for revenue only ; 
 favored an income tax ; condemned bounties and 
 subsidies of every kind ; declared in favor of the 
 double standard of gold and silver money ; de- 
 nounced the demonetization of silver in 1873; 
 advocated the re-establishment of silver to its 
 honored place of free coinage, occupied by it 
 from the beginning of the Government up to 1873. 
 That platform favored the election of senators by 
 the people ; favored liberal pensions to disabled 
 veterans ; reiterated the plank in the platform on 
 which Mr. Bryan was first nominated, that plank 
 opposing caucus dictation. 
 
 In the meantime the Legislature had re-dis- 
 tricted the congressional districts of the State. 
 Omaha was taken out of Bryan's district and his 
 new district was so arranged that under ordinary 
 circumstances the Republicans would have an 
 overwhelming majority. It was believed by Re- 
 publican leaders that with this re-apportionment, 
 Bryan's defeat could be accomplished. 
 
 The Republican party nominated Allen W. 
 Field, then Judge of the District Court, and a 
 resident of the city of Lincoln. 
 
 A series of debates were arranged between tte 
 contestants. This was probably the most interest- 
 ing series of debates in the history of Nebraska. 
 Although Mr. Field was a strong man and de- 
 fended his cause well, the contest was one trium 
 phal march for Bryan. At every meeting place
 
 n8 
 
 people went wild in their demonstrations in behalf 
 of the young orator. At Auburn, for instance, 
 when the contest was concluded a crowd of Re- 
 publicans rushed to the platform to shake Mr. 
 Field's hand. And they shook it heartily. But 
 right here is where the difference was to be 
 noticed. The crowd around Mr. Field numbered 
 perhaps fifty men. At the front of the platform 
 a great scene was being enacted. There was 
 Bryan stooping with outstretched hands to grasp 
 the hands of at least 2,000 people who were 
 crowding over each other to greet him. The 
 farmers and their wives, the laborers and their 
 sisters and their cousins and their aunts all pressed 
 forward to shake the hand of the man who will 
 succeed himself as their representative. Children 
 were raised up to clasp the hand of the man, who, 
 by his great ability and courage, had become en- 
 shrined in the hearts of the masses in his district. 
 It was a glorious reception to a public servant. 
 
 At Nebraska City 5,000 people had assembled 
 on the Court House Square to hear the debate. 
 Bryan's close was a mighty speech. It was as 
 clean cut a talk as was ever heard. When he 
 concluded, the greatest demonstration ever wit- 
 nessed in Nebraska was seen. The audience 
 seemed to rise en masse and rush to the platform. 
 The great scene enacted at Auburn was repeated, 
 only it was nine times greater. Farmers and 
 laboring men cheered themselves hoarse. Half
 
 119 
 
 a hundred women stood upon chairs and waved 
 their handkerchiefs. Three cheers were given 
 Bryan and repeated fifty times. For half an hour 
 he stood on the platform and shook hands with 
 his delighted constituents. 
 
 The people refused to leave the grounds until, 
 weary and exhausted, Mr. Bryan left the place, 
 followed by a great crowd of people. The scenes 
 were simply indescribable. It was the best 
 ovation ever received ; the greatest triumph ever 
 won by a public man. The scene will never be 
 forgotten in Nebraska City and must long be re- 
 membered by Bryan as among the most valuable 
 tributes in his career. A great crowd followed 
 Bryan to his hotel, cheering him all the way. 
 
 At Weeping Water, when Bryan closed, the 
 scene in Nebraska City was in part repeated. In 
 this instance probably fifty people came forward 
 to shake Mr. Field by the hand, but it seemed 
 that the entire audience arose to greet Mr. Bryan. 
 The town people and the farmers crowded over 
 each other to shake the young congressman's 
 hand. At first Bryan stood upon the platform, 
 and bending down grasped the many hundreds 
 of hands advanced to him. 
 
 But the great throng of his admirers increased 
 and the young orator was literally dragged from 
 the platform and for thirty yards he was crowded 
 here and there, surged by the crowd, every mem- 
 ber of which seemed anxious to shake his hand,
 
 120 
 
 The ovation extended to Bryan was so marked 
 that many deeply sympathized with Mr. Field. At 
 every step from the grove Bryan was heartily 
 cheered, and though this was a Republican pre- 
 cinct Bryan fairly captured everything in sight. 
 At the start the crowd seemed to be against 
 Bryan. At the close of the debate Bryan owned 
 the earth, and had he desired a fence to be built 
 around it, it was but necessary for him to say the 
 word. 
 
 At all other points similar scenes were enacted. 
 At the city of Lincoln, October 12, 1892, Bryan 
 won another distinct triumph, and at the close of 
 the debate a handful of people grasped the hand 
 of Judge Field, but it required half an hour for 
 Bryan to half complete the task of greeting his 
 friends. A handsome floral piece was on the 
 stand, the design being a pair of scales. It was 
 the tribute of the young congressman's Lincoln 
 friends. 
 
 The closing session of the debate was an over- 
 whelming triumph for Bryan, in perfect keeping 
 with his splendid victory in every previous meet- 
 ing with his opponent. 
 
 The Republicans made desperate efforts to ac- 
 complish Bryan's defeat. Speakers of national 
 renown poured into the district and large sums of 
 money were expended against Bryan in all coun- 
 ties in the district. But in spite of all these 
 efforts in the district, which had been arranged to
 
 121 
 
 give a Republican candidate from 4,000 to 5,000 
 majority, Mr. Bryan was re-elected by a majority 
 of 152. 
 
 Commenting upon this triumph the Omaha 
 World-Herald said editorially : 
 
 "The more one thinks of Bryan's re-election 
 the more wonderful it seems. 
 
 " In the face of overwhelming opposition, which 
 was aided by such speakers as McKinley, For- 
 aker and Thurston ; in spite of a district, not one 
 county of which was or went Democratic a dis- 
 trict in which Harrison had more votes than 
 Cleveland and Weaver combined, and which was 
 on a congressional fight several thousand Repub- 
 lican ; in spite of boodle freely spent by the Re- 
 publicans, and in spite of a third candidate run- 
 ning as a decoy duck for his principal opponent, 
 Bryan is a victor by a majority of 140. 
 
 " He deserved and got the votes of both Inde- 
 pendents and Republicans, and his election is a 
 splendid tribute to the qualities which caused his 
 selection both times for congressional honors, and 
 which in one Washington session made him the 
 most prominent man on the floor of the House 
 of Representatives. 
 
 "Looking over the whole November fight, there 
 is no more remarkable or brilliant victory than 
 that won in the First Nebraska District."
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 BRYAN AS " ELAND'S LIEUTENANT." 
 
 When Mr. Bryan entered upon his second term 
 in Congress the money question had come to be 
 recognized generally as the great question of the 
 day. It was known that the Hon. Richard P. 
 Bland, of Missouri, who for twenty years had 
 fought the battles of bimetallism, would lead the 
 fight in the then coming contest. It was also an- 
 nounced that Mr. Bryan would be one of Mr. 
 Eland's lieutenants. 
 
 Mr. Bryan was a delegate to the National Silver 
 Conference, held in Chicago, August i, 1893, and 
 addressed that gathering August 16, 1893. 
 
 Mr. Bryan addressed the House in opposition 
 to the bill to repeal the purchasing clause of the 
 Sherman Act. From that great speech, which 
 was recognized as one of the strongest ever de- 
 livered in the House, the following extracts are 
 taken : 
 
 "MR. SPEAKER: I shall accomplish my full pur- 
 pose if I am able to impress upon the members 
 of the House the far-reaching consequences which 
 may follow our action and quicken their apprecia- 
 tion of the grave responsibility which presses upon 
 
 (122)
 
 123 
 
 us. Historians tell us that the victory of Charles 
 Martel at Tours determined the history of all 
 Europe for centuries. It was a contest 'between 
 the Crescent and the Cross,' and when, on that 
 fateful day, the Prankish prince drove back the 
 followers of Abderrahman, he rescued the West 
 from ' the all-destroying grasp of Islam,' and 
 saved Europe its Christian civilization. A greater 
 than Tours is here ! In my humble judgment the 
 vote of this House on the subject under consid- 
 eration may bring to the people of the West and 
 South, to the people of the United States, and to 
 all mankind, weal or woe beyond the power of 
 language to describe or imagination to con- 
 ceive. 
 
 " In the princely palace and in the humblest 
 hamlet ; by the financier and by the poorest toiler; 
 here, in Europe and everywhere, the proceedings 
 of this Congress upon this problem will be read 
 and studied ; and as our actions bless or blight 
 we shall be commended or condemned. * * 
 
 " Rollin tells us that the third Punic war was 
 declared by the Romans and that a messenger 
 was sent to Carthage to announce the declaration 
 after the army had started on its way. The Car- 
 thaginians at once sent representatives to treat 
 for peace. The Romans first demanded the de- 
 livery of three hundred hostages before they 
 would enter into negotiations. When three hun- 
 
 o 
 
 dred sons of the nobles had been given into the**
 
 124 
 
 hands they demanded the surrender of all the 
 arms and implements of war before announcing 
 the terms of the treaty. The conditions were 
 sorrowfully but promptly complied with, and the 
 people who boasted of a Hannibal and Hamilcar 
 gave up to their ancient enemies every weapon of 
 offense and defense. Then the Roman consul, 
 rising up before the humiliated representatives of 
 Carthage, said : 
 
 " ' I cannot but commend you for the readiness 
 with which you have obeyed every order. The 
 decree of the Roman Senate is that Carthage 
 shall be destroyed.' 
 
 " Sirs, what will be the answer of the people 
 whom you represent, who are wedded to the ' gold 
 and silver coinage of the Constitution,' if you vote 
 for unconditional repeal and return to tell them 
 that you were commended for the readiness with 
 which you obeyed every order, but that Congress 
 has decreed that one-half of the people's metallic 
 money shall be destroyed? [Applause.] 
 
 "They demand unconditional surrender, do 
 they ? Why, sirs, we are the ones to grant terms. 
 Standing by the pledges of all the parties in this 
 country, backed by the history of a hundred 
 years, sustained by the most sacred interests of 
 humanity itself, we demand an unconditional sur- 
 render of the principle of gold monometallism as 
 the first condition of peace. [Applause.] You 
 demand surrender ! Ay, sirs, you may cry ' Peace,
 
 peace/ but there is no peace. Just so long as 
 there are people here who would chain this country 
 to a single gold standard, there is war eternal 
 war; and it might just as well be known now! 
 [Loud applause on the Democratic side.] I have 
 said that we stand by the pledges of all platforms. 
 Let me quote them : 
 
 " The Populist platform adopted by the national 
 convention in 1892 contained these words: 
 
 " ' We demand free and unlimited coinage of sil- 
 ver and gold at the present legal ratio of 1 6 to i/ 
 
 "As the members of that party, both in the 
 Senate and in the House, stand ready to carry 
 out the pledge there made, no appeal to them is 
 necessary. 
 
 "The Republican national platform adopted in 
 1888 contains this plank: 
 
 " ' The Republican party is in favor of the use of 
 both gold and silver as money and condemns the 
 policy of the Democratic administration in its ef- 
 fort to demonetize silver/ 
 
 "The same party in 1892 adopted a platform 
 containing the following language : 
 
 " ' The American people from tradition and in- 
 terest favor bimetallism, and the Republican party 
 demands the use of both fold and silver as stand- 
 
 o 
 
 ard money, such restrictions to be determined 
 by contemplation of values of the two metals, so 
 that the purchasing and debt-paying power of the
 
 126 
 
 dollar, whether of silver, gold, or paper, shall be 
 equal at all times. 
 
 " ' The interests of the producers of the country, 
 its farmers and its workingmen, demand that every 
 dollar, paper or gold, issued by the Government, 
 shall be as good as any other. We commend the 
 wise and patriotic steps already taken by our 
 Government to secure an international parity of 
 value between gold and silver for use as money 
 throughout the world.' 
 
 "Are the Republican members of this House 
 ready to abandon the system which the American 
 people favor ' from tradition and interest ? ' Hav- 
 ing won a Presidential election upon a platform 
 which condemned ' the policy of the Democratic 
 administration in its efforts to demonetize silver,' 
 are they ready to join in that demonetization ? 
 Having advocated the Sherman law because it 
 gave an increased use of silver, are they ready to 
 repeal it and make no provisions for silver at 
 all ? Are they willing to go before the country 
 confessing that they secured the present law by 
 sharp practice, and only adopted it as an ingenious 
 device for preventing free coinage, to be repealed 
 as soon as the hour of danger was passed? 
 
 "The Democratic platform of 1880 contained 
 these words : 
 
 '"Honest money, consisting of gold and silver, 
 and paper convertible into coin on demand.' 
 
 "It would seem that at that time silver was han-
 
 127 
 
 est money, although the bullion value was con- 
 siderably below the coinage value. 
 
 "In 1884 tne Democratic platform contained 
 this plank : 
 
 " ' We believe in honest money, the gold and 
 silver coinage of the Constitution, and a circu- 
 ating medium convertible into such money with- 
 out loss.' 
 
 " It would seem that at thai time silver was con- 
 sidered honest money. 
 
 " In 1888 the Democratic party did not express 
 itself on the money question except by saying: 
 
 " ' It renewed the pledge of its fidelity to Demo- 
 cratic faith, and reaffirms the platform adopted by 
 its representatives in the convention of 1884.' 
 
 "Since the platform of 1884 commended silver as 
 an honest money, we must assume that the re- 
 affirming of that platform declared anew that 
 silver was honest money as late as 1888, although 
 at that time its bullion value had fallen still more. 
 
 "The last utterance of a Democratic nati ->nal 
 convention upon this subject is contained in the 
 platform adopted at Chicago in 1892. It is as 
 follows : 
 
 "'We denounce the Republican legislation known 
 as the Sherman act of 1890 as a cowardly make- 
 shift, fraught with possibilities of danger in the 
 future, which should make all of its supporters, as 
 well as its author, anxious for its speedy repeal. 
 We hold to the use of both gold and silver as
 
 128 
 
 the standard money of the country, and to the 
 coinage of both orold and silver without discrimi- 
 
 o o 
 
 nation against either metal or charge for mintage, 
 but the dollar unit of coinage of both metals must 
 be of equal intrinsic and exchangeable value or be 
 adjusted through international agreement, or by 
 such safeguards of legislation as shall insure the 
 maintenance of the parity of the two metals, and 
 the equal power of every dollar at all times in the 
 markets and in the payment of debts ; and we 
 demand that all paper currency shall be kept at 
 par with and redeemable in such coin. We insist 
 upon this policy as especially necessary for the 
 protection of the farmers and laboring classes, the 
 first and most defenseless victims of unstable 
 money and a fluctuating currency.' 
 
 " Thus it will be seen that gold and silver have 
 been indissolubly linked together in our platforms. 
 Never in the history of the party has it taken a 
 position in favor of a gold standard. On every 
 vote taken in the House and Senate a majority 
 of the party have been recorded not only in favor 
 of bimetallism, but for the free and unlimited 
 coinage of gold and silver at the ratio of 16 to i. 
 
 " The last platform pledges us to the use of both 
 metals as standard money and to the free coinage 
 of both metals at a fixed ratio. Does any one be- 
 lieve that Mr. Cleveland could have been elected 
 President upon a platform declaring in favor of 
 the unconditional repeal of the Sherman law ?
 
 129 
 
 Can we go back to our people and tell them that, 
 after denouncing for twenty years the crime of 
 1873, we have at last accepted it as a blessing? 
 Shall bimetallism receive its deathblow in the 
 house of its friends, and in the very hall where 
 innumerable vows have been registered in its de- 
 fense ? What faith can be placed in platforms if 
 their pledges can be violated with impunity ? Is 
 it right to rise above the power which created us ? 
 Is it patriotic to refuse that legislation in favor of 
 gold and silver which a majority of the people 
 have always demanded ? Is it necessary to betray 
 all parties in order to treat this subject in a ' non- 
 partisan ' way ? 
 
 " The President has recommended unconditional 
 repeal. It is not sufficient to say that he is honest 
 so were the mothers, who, with misguided zeal, 
 threw their children into the Ganges. The ques- 
 tion is not " Is he honest?" but "Is he right?" 
 He won the confidence of the toilers of this coun- 
 try because he taught that ' public office is a 
 public trust,' and because he convinced them of 
 his courage and his sincerity. But are they will- 
 ing to say, in the language of Job, ' Though He 
 slay me, yet will I trust Him?' Whence comes 
 this irresistible demand for unconditional repeal? 
 Are not the representatives here as near to the 
 people and as apt to know their wishes ? Whence 
 comes the demand ? Not from the workshop and 
 the farm, not from the workingmen of this country,
 
 130 
 
 who create its wealth in time of peace and protect 
 its flag in time of war, but from the middlemen, 
 from what are termed the ' business interests,' 
 and largely from that class which can force Con- 
 gress to let it issue money at a pecuniary profit to 
 itself if silver is abandoned. The President has 
 been deceived. He can no more judge the wishes 
 of the great mass of our people by the expressions 
 of these men than he can measure the ocean's 
 silent depths by the foam upon its waves. 
 
 " Mr. Powderly, who spoke at Chicago a few 
 days ago in favor of the free coinage of silver at 
 the present ratio and against the unconditional 
 repeal of the Sherman law, voiced the sentiment 
 of more laboring men than have ever addressed 
 the President or this House in favor of repeal. 
 Go among the agricultural classes ; go among the 
 poor, whose little is as precious to them as the 
 rich man's fortune is to him, and whose families 
 are as dear, and you will not find the haste to 
 destroy the issue of money or the unfriendliness 
 to silver which is manifested in money centers. 
 
 " This question can not be settled by typewritten 
 recommendations and suggestions made by boards 
 of trade and sent broadcast over the United 
 States. It can only be settled by the great mass 
 of the voters of this country who stand like the 
 Rock of Gibraltar for the use of both gold and 
 silver. (Applause.)
 
 "There are thousands, yes, tens of thousands, 
 aye, even millions, who have not yet ' bowed the 
 knee to Baal.' Let the President take courage. 
 Muehlbach relates an incident in the life of the 
 great military hero of France. At Marengo the 
 Man of Destiny, sad and disheartened, thought the 
 battle lost. He called to a drummer boy and 
 ordered him to beat a retreat. The lad replied : 
 
 " ' Sire, I do not know how : Dessaix has never 
 taught me retreat, but I can beat a charge. Oh, 
 I can beat a charge that would make the dead fall 
 into line ! ! beat that charge at the Bridge of 
 Lodi ; 1 beat it at Mount Tabor ; I beat it at the 
 Pyramids. Oh, may I beat it here ? ' 
 
 " The charge was ordered, the battle won, and 
 Marengo was added to the victories of Napoleon. 
 Oh, let our gallant leader draw inspiration from 
 the street amin of Paris. In the face of an enemv 
 
 O ' 
 
 proud and confident the President has wavered. 
 Engaged in the battle royal between the ' money 
 power and the common people ' he has ordered a 
 retreat. Let him not be dismayed. 
 
 " He has won greater victories than Napoleon, 
 for he is a warrior who has conquered without a 
 sword. He restored fidelity in the public service ; 
 he converted Democratic hope into realization ; 
 he took up the banner of tariff reform and carried 
 it to triumph. Let him continue that greater fight 
 for the 'gold and silver coinage of the Constitu- 
 tion,' to which three national platforms have
 
 132 
 
 pledged him. Let his clarion voice call the party 
 hosts to arms ; let him but speak the language of 
 the Senator from Texas, in reply to those who 
 would destroy the use of silver : 
 
 " 'In this hour fraught with peril to the whole 
 country, I appeal to the unpurchased representa- 
 tives of the American people to meet this bold 
 and insolent demand like men. Let us stand in 
 the breach and call the battle on and never leave 
 the field until the people's money shall be restored 
 to the mints on equal terms with gold, as it was 
 years ago.' 
 
 " Let this command be given, and the air will 
 resound with the tramp of men scarred in a score 
 of battles for the people's rights. Let this com- 
 mand be given and this Marengo will be our 
 glory and not our shame. [Applause on the 
 floor and in the galleries.] 
 
 "Well has it been said by the Senator from 
 Missouri [Mr. Vest] that we have come to the 
 parting of the ways. To-day the Democratic 
 party stands between two great forces, each in- 
 viting its support. On the one side stand the 
 corporate interests of the nation, its moneyed in- 
 stitutions, its aggregations of wealth and capital, 
 imperious, arrogant, compassionless. They de- 
 mand special legislation, favors, privileges and 
 immunities. They can subscribe magnificently to 
 campaign funds; they can strike down opposition 
 with their all-pervading influence, and, to those
 
 133 
 
 who fawn and flatter, bring ease and plenty. 
 They demand that the Democratic party shall be- 
 come their agent to execute their merciless de- 
 crees. 
 
 " On the other side stands that unnumbered 
 throng which gave a name to the Democratic 
 party and for which it has assumed to speak. 
 Work-worn and dust-begrimed, they make their 
 sad appeal. They hear of average wealth in- 
 creased on every side and feel the inequality of its 
 distribution. They see an over-production of 
 everything desired, because of the under-produc- 
 tion of the ability to buy. They can not pay for 
 loyalty except with their suffrages, and can only 
 punish betrayal with their condemnation. Al- 
 though the ones who most deserve the fostering 
 care of government, their cries for help too often 
 beat in vain against the outer wall, while others 
 less deserving find ready access to legislative 
 halls. 
 
 " This army, vast and daily vaster growing, begs 
 the party to be its champion in the present con- 
 flict. It cannot press its claims 'mid sounds of 
 revelry. Its phalanxes do not form in grand 
 parade, nor has it gaudy banners floating on the 
 breeze. Its battle hymn is " Home, Sweet Home," 
 its war cry " Equality before the law." To the 
 Democratic party, standing between these two 
 irreconcilable forces, uncertain to which side to 
 turn, and conscious that upon its choice its fate
 
 134 
 
 depends, come the words of Israel's second law- 
 giver : ' Choose you this day whom ye will serve.' 
 What will the answer be ? Let me invoke the 
 memory of him whose dust made sacred the soil 
 of Monticello when he joined 
 
 " ' The dead but sceptered sovereigns who still rule 
 Our spirits from their urns.' 
 
 " He was called a demagogue and his followers 
 a mob, but the immortal Jefferson dared to follow 
 the best promptings of his heart. He placed 
 man above matter, humanity above property, and, 
 spurning the bribes of wealth and power, pleaded 
 the cause of the common people. It was this de- 
 votion to their interests which made his party in- 
 vincible while he lived, and will make his name 
 revered while history endures. And what mes- 
 sage comes to us from the Hermitage ? When a 
 
 o & 
 
 crisis like the present arose and the national bank 
 of his day sought to control the politics of the 
 nation, God raised up an Andrew Jackson, who 
 had the courage to grapple with that great enemy, 
 and, by overthrowing it, he made himself the idol 
 of the people and reinstated the Democratic 
 party in public confidence. What will the decision 
 be to day ? The democratic party has won the 
 greatest success in its history. Standing upon 
 this victory-crowned summit, will it turn its face 
 to the rising- or the setting- sun ? Will it choose 
 
 o o 
 
 blessings or cursings life or death which ?
 
 135 
 
 Which ? " [Prolonged applause on the floor and 
 in the galleries, and cries of "Vote!" "Vote!"] 
 
 Copies of Mr. Bryan's speech on this occasion 
 were in great demand. Senator Stewart circulated 
 5,000 copies, and other bimetallists distributed large 
 numbers of them ; the circulation aggregating, it 
 has been estimated, very near one million. 
 
 All the great newspapers were filled with com- 
 ments complimenting Mr. Bryan's great speech 
 on this occasion. The New York World termed 
 it " The most remarkable yet heard on the propo- 
 sitions now before the House." The New York 
 Tribune said : " The speech was a success of 
 which Mr. Bryan may well be proud." The 
 Atlanta Constitution contained this reference : 
 
 "This afternoon young Mr. Bryan of Nebraska 
 delivered the most remarkable speech heard upon 
 the floor of the House in many years. It was 
 upon the silver question. He advocated free 
 coinage. For two hours and fifty minutes the 
 young Nebraska orator held the close attention 
 of a full house and crowded galleries. Instead 
 of members leaving the hall as is usual, they 
 crowded in, and every man who could, listened to 
 the entire speech. There are few other men in 
 Congress who could have held such an audience 
 for so long a time. Certainly in the last ten 
 years no man has performed such a feat. It was 
 generally known that Mr. Bryan was to speak, 
 but no one expected him to sustain the great repu-
 
 tation made by his tariff speech delivered last year. 
 That speech made him famous. His speech of 
 to-day will perpetuate his fame. No such speech 
 has been heard on either side since the debate 
 opened. His delivery was perfect. His argu- 
 ment exceedingly strong. Every possible argu- 
 ment in favor of free coinage he placed before his 
 hearers in the most forcible style. He did not 
 repeat himself. Though without a note before 
 him, he went through every argument in language 
 that riveted his hearers to their seats. Occasionally 
 a single standard man would interrupt, but none 
 did it without subsequent regret. He knows his 
 case, so to speak. At repartee he is brilliant. 
 His handsome smooth face always broadened into 
 smiles when a question was propounded to him. 
 With the confidence and ease of a fencing master 
 he would clip the wings of his interrupters. He 
 drove every one to a seat who exhibited the temer- 
 ity to face him, and he did it with the apparent ease 
 of the experienced matador. He pierced their 
 argument and called for others as the matador 
 would for a new bull. The speech was indeed 
 grand. No other kind would have received such 
 attention. Hardly a man left his seat even for a 
 moment. There is something inspiring about 
 Mr. Bryan's delivery. He is but 32 years of age, 
 with a smooth face of the Sam Randall type, 
 erect in his bearing, perfect in his gesticulation, 
 a manly man to look upon. He is pleasing to 
 the eye. His language is choice, smooth and
 
 137 
 
 eloquent. He uses no surplus words. Every 
 word fits just where he puts it. His voice is 
 splendid, his utterances pleasing to the ear, his 
 argument strong. The speech has established 
 him as the greatest orator in the House. When 
 he finished, great applause and cheers of Vote ! 
 vote ! rent the air. Silver and anti-silver men, 
 Democrats and Republicans alike, crowded over 
 to congratulate him. He simply had electrified 
 the House. Tom Reed and Joe Cannon grasped 
 his hand, and told him it was the greatest speech 
 ever delivered on his side of the silver question. 
 Bourke Cochran and William L. Wilson declared 
 it was the greatest silver speech ever made 
 upon the floor of the House. Bland, Culbertson, 
 Bankhead and all the silver men demonstrated 
 enthusiasm of the most intense order. For full 
 ten minutes the House business stopped to allow 
 for the congratulations. Not a member failed to 
 congratulate him. Speaker Crisp says since he 
 has been in Congress he has never known another 
 man to hold such an audience for two hours and 
 fifty minutes. He had never seen such close 
 attention. Such interest in a speech. The silver 
 men are happy over it to-night. They know that 
 it has strengthened the cause. Some of them 
 
 o 
 
 claim it may change many votes. There are 
 those who say since that speech the silver men 
 have a chance of winning in the House. No 
 definite idea of such a speech can be given in 
 brief synopsis."
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 BRYAN'S DETERMINED FIGHT. 
 
 With the approach of the Nebraska Demo- 
 cratic State Convention of 1893 the interest in the 
 money question increased. Friends of the ad- 
 ministration determined that the Nebraska plat- 
 form should contain no plank favorable to silver. 
 On September 26, 1893, Mr. Bryan gave out for 
 publication from Washington an interview in 
 which he announced that he would return to 
 Nebraska to serve as a delegate to the State 
 Convention from Lancaster county, and to assist 
 in giving expression to the sentiment of the party 
 on the paramount question of the day. In the 
 interview Mr. Bryan said : " I shall attend the 
 State Convention, not to secure personal endorse- 
 ment, but in the discharge of what I regard as a 
 public duty. No one will assert that the President 
 has the exclusive right to construe the platform 
 upon so vital a question. Every Democrat is 
 entitled to his opinion. The Democrats of the 
 East have met and endorsed the President's con- 
 struction. If our people agree with that construc- 
 tion, they ought to say so. They owe it to the 
 President. If they do not concur in the President's 
 construction, they owe it to the rest of the country 
 
 (138)
 
 139 
 
 to express dissent. The President is not infallible 
 any more than any other man. If he is mistaken, 
 we can better show our devotion to Democratic 
 principles by dissenting, rather than by servile 
 acquiescence. I may, as has been suggested, 
 have few to stand with me in the fight. But if I 
 stand alone I shall make the fight. I would be 
 ungrateful for the honors the party has bestowed 
 upon me if I deserted it in this hour of party 
 danger, and I shall make any sacrifice necessary 
 in its behalf." 
 
 This announcement created the greatest ac- 
 tivity on the part of the administration in Ne- 
 braska, and their forces were organized for the 
 defeat of the young Congressman in his effort to 
 place the Nebraska Democracy once more in line 
 for bimetallism. It was given out from high ad- 
 ministration authority, that after this announce- 
 ment Mr. Bryan need not expect any favors at the 
 hands of the administration ; that all patronage 
 would be withheld from him. He was warned 
 that if he persisted in his -course, no man whom 
 he recommended for office could obtain an 
 office, and that his endorsement of an application 
 would be an insurance of the applicant's defeat. 
 The warning and threats did not deter Mr. Bryan 
 from his course. But it may be remarked right 
 here, that the administration kept its word. From 
 that time on, Mr. Bryan's recommendation at the
 
 140 
 
 White House was not worth the paper on which 
 it was written. 
 
 The State Convention met at Lincoln, October 
 4, 1893. True to his word, Mr. Bryan was on 
 hand, and he found himself confronted with the 
 greatest aggregation of federal office-holders that 
 ever assembled in one convention hall. It may be 
 said that in point of dramatic interest that con- 
 vention was the most interesting of any ever held 
 in Nebraska. Mr. Bryan had an almighty big 
 fight on his hands, and while he came out of the 
 contest defeated for the moment he emerged 
 stronger in the hearts and the affections of the 
 people of his adopted State. 
 
 In that convention Bryan was not only sat upon, 
 but not the slightest mercy was shown him. Even 
 the ordinary parliamentary courtesies were ig- 
 nored, and the young Congressman was not per- 
 mitted to obtain the slightest advantage. 
 
 For several days it had been known that the 
 administration had scored a triumph in the elec- 
 tion of delegates to' this convention, but it was 
 presumed by many that with so pronounced a 
 victory the majority would at least be merciful. 
 There was no quarter, however. The administra- 
 tion element forced the fighting, and the Bryan 
 wing seemed to invite the slaughter by its motions 
 and demands for roll-call, which placed on record 
 every delegate in the convention. The first con- 
 test came upon the election of temporary chair-
 
 man, and the administration won by an overwelm- 
 ing majority. The administration organized the 
 convention permanently by the same decisive 
 vote. Then when it came to selecting a commit- 
 tee on resolutions one of the delegates moved 
 that Mr. Bryan be made a member of the com- 
 mittee. This brought on the fight in earnest, and 
 the convention went wild. The administration 
 men were determined that not even a personal 
 compliment should be paid to the young Congress- 
 man. Although eight members of that committee 
 were to be gold men, they were not willing that 
 Mr. Bryan should be the ninth man. It was a 
 different question from endorsing his financial 
 policy. It was a personal question. But, as re- 
 sults indicated, there was no mercy in that con- 
 vention. The chairman of one delegation, in 
 casting his vote, said his delegation did not come 
 to instruct the Chair in his duty. He voted "No." 
 He was willing that the Chair should do his duty 
 as he realized it. Everything seemed to be against 
 Bryan until Douglas county, in which Omaha is 
 located, was reached. When that county was 
 called there was a dramatic scene. The chairman 
 of the Douglas delegation arose and announced, 
 "Douglas county casts 103 votes ' No.' ' Be it 
 remembered that this " 103 votes ' No ' ' meant 
 that the personal compliment should not be ex- 
 tended to Bryan of placing him as one man out 
 of nine on the resolutions committee.
 
 142 
 
 There was a deathlike stillness. G. V. Galla- 
 gher, of Douglas, arose and levelling his good 
 right arm at the Chair said, " Mr. Chairman." 
 
 "The gentleman from Douglas," said the 
 chairman. 
 
 In every quarter of the hall men stood upon 
 their tiptoes. Every eye was directed toward 
 Gallagher. 
 
 " Mr. Chairman," said he, " in order to set my- 
 self right before this convention I desire to say 
 that the unit rule has been adopted in the Douglas 
 delegation. As a Democrat I submit to the rule, 
 but I want to say here and now that if it were not 
 for loyalty to the majority rule of my delegation, 
 my vote could never be recorded against paying 
 a deserved tribute to the Chevalier Bayard of the 
 Democratic party in Nebraska." 
 
 This broke the camel's back. The Bryan men 
 arose in their seats and yelled themselves hoarse. 
 The galleries added their chorus to the tumult. 
 The noise had not died away when C. J. Smyth, 
 of Douglas, who is now chairman of the Demo- 
 cratic State Committee, arose and declared : 
 " Mr. Chairman, I challenge the vote of Douglas 
 county. It has not been polled. No attempt has 
 even been made to poll the vote. I protest 
 against this system of ' gag ' rule. I demand 
 that the Douglas delegation be polled." 
 
 Then the entire convention arose ; everybody 
 yelled at the same time. Bryan alone sat in his
 
 143 
 
 seat with that familiar set smile upon his face. 
 The Bryan men cheered until the tears rolled 
 down some of their faces. They waved um- 
 brellas, hats, newspapers, and everything availa- 
 ble. The crowds in the galleries and in the lobby 
 seemed to be with Bryan and joined in the popu- 
 lar acclaim. 
 
 In the midst of all this tumult, the goldbug 
 chairman of the Douglas delegation, and who, by 
 the way, has since been rewarded by appointment 
 as postmaster at Omaha, like Casabianca on the 
 burning deck, stood with arms folded and a deter- 
 mined expression upon his face. He calmly 
 awaited the quiet which did not come until the 
 chairman declared that this was a Democratic 
 convention and every man should have a hearing. 
 
 Then the Douglas chairman said that he had 
 canvassed the vote " sufficiently to know how the 
 majority votes were." At this the Bryan men 
 hissed and the administration men cheered. One 
 I gold delegate said that Mr. Smyth was the only 
 man that proposed to vote for Bryan, but at this 
 moment Ed. P. Smith, an Omaha lawyer, jumped 
 to his feet, and waving his umbrella yelled: " No, 
 he isn't. I want to say, Mr. Chairman, that if no 
 other vote is cast for W. J. Bryan I want my vote 
 cast in order that the Democratic party of Ne- 
 braska may accord him a slight tribute for his 
 great work. I am for Bryan as a member of the 
 
 Resolutions Committee." 
 9
 
 144 
 
 Again the convention went wild. But the big 
 body was against Bryan and nothing could stem 
 the tide. After a poll of the Douglas delegation 
 the chairman announced "103 votes ' No,' " and 
 that settled it. The motion to instruct the Chair to 
 appoint Bryan a member of the Resolutions Com- 
 mittee was defeated by a vote of 122 yeas to 373 
 nays. Everybody thought that in spite of this 
 vote the Chair would appoint Bryan as a member 
 of the committee, tying his hands with eight other 
 members who were against him. But the chair 
 wasn't built that way. He omitted Bryan from 
 the committee. 
 
 When the committee was appointed, a motion 
 to take a recess until 7 o'clock was adopted. 
 
 As Bryan moved from the convention hall he 
 was surrounded by a great gathering of men. 
 From there to the sidewalk he was kept busy 
 shaking hands. When he reached the street a 
 crowd of workingmen and citizens of all classes 
 gathered around him and climbed over one an- 
 other to grasp his hand. It was one of the most 
 peculiar public ovations ever witnessed. Here 
 was a man who had just been sat' down on by an 
 overwhelming majority of his own party conven- 
 tion, who was being congratulated on every hand 
 for what? For defending Democratic princi- 
 ples. 
 
 Let it suffice, however, to state that no man 
 engaged upon a great triumphal march after a
 
 145 
 
 mighty conquest ever received such a splendid 
 popular ovation as did Bryan after a mighty de- 
 feat. 
 
 While the convention was awaiting the arrival 
 of the chairman of the Credentials Committee the 
 crowd filled in the time at the evening session by 
 yelling for Bryan. The calls for the young Con- 
 gressman became so strong and earnest that the 
 entire assemblage took up the refrain. The de- 
 lay was becoming more than embarrassing. The 
 crowd was an impatient one, and in the midst of 
 all this one old delegate took a position in the 
 center of the aisle and went through the panto- 
 mime of a speech, but it was all pantomime. 
 
 Not a word could be heard. It was simply 
 ludicrous to see an old, bald-headed man standing 
 up in a vast assemblage, and at one yell of the 
 crowd the old man's arms would go down and at 
 the next they would go up, and this pantomime 
 was kept up until the crowd was weary. The 
 assemblage was desperate by this time and called 
 for " After the Ball." At 9.40 o'clock the chair- 
 man called the convention to order. The Reso- 
 lutions Committee reported with a goldbug plat- 
 form, and upon this report Mr. Bryan was per- 
 mitted to speak. The federal officials who had 
 packed the convention found that they had under- 
 taken a difficult task in endeavoring to completely 
 bury the young Congressman. He asked no
 
 146 
 
 quarter. He mounted the platform and hurled 
 defiance at his enemies. 
 
 Mr. Bryan spoke as follows: 
 
 "Gentlemen of the Convention: We have to 
 meet to-night as important a question as ever 
 came before the Democrats of the State of 
 Nebraska. It is not a personal question; it is a 
 question that rises above individuals. So far as 
 I am personally concerned it matters not that 
 (snapping his fingers) whether you vote this 
 amendment up or down; it matters not to me 
 whether you pass resolutions censuring my course 
 or indorsing it, and if I am wrong in the position 
 I have taken I will fall, though you heap your 
 praises upon me; if I am right in the position I 
 have taken and in my heart, so help me God, I 
 believe I am (applause) if I am right I will 
 triumph yet, although you downed me in your 
 convention a hundred times. (Applause.) 
 
 "Gentlemen of this convention, satisfied with 
 what I have done, you are playing in the base- 
 ment of politics. Why, you think you can pass 
 resolutions censuring a man, and that you can 
 humiliate him. I want to tell you that I am exiled 
 with no more joy than the delegates who come 
 here and drown their sentiments for fear they will 
 not get office. 
 
 "Gentlemen, if you represent your constituents 
 in what you have done, and will do because I do 
 not entertain the fond hope that any of you men
 
 Hpx. CHARLES F. CRISP.
 
 HON. ROBERT E. PATTISON, 
 gj-Governor of Pennsylvni.
 
 149 
 
 who have voted as you have to-day will change it 
 upon this vote; I have no such idea, but I want to 
 say to you that if the delegates who came here 
 properly reflect the sentiments of the Democratic 
 party which sent them here; if the resolutions 
 which you have proposed here, and which you will 
 adopt; if they reflect the sentiments of the Demo- 
 cratic party of this State, and this party declares 
 in favor of a gold standard ; if you declare in 
 favor of the impoverishment of the people of 
 Nebraska, if you intend to make more galling 
 than the slavery of the black, the slavery of the 
 debtors of this country; if the Democratic party 
 after you go home indorses your action and this 
 becomes your sentiment, I want to promise you 
 that I will go out and serve my country and my 
 God under some other name, if I go alone. 
 (Applause. Voice from convention : 'The people 
 of Nebraska will take care of you, Mr. Bryan.') 
 "Gentlemen, I want to express it as my humble 
 opinion that the Democratic party of Nebraska 
 will never ratify what you have done here in this 
 convention. My friends, in this city, when we had 
 our primaries, there were banks that called their 
 claquers in and told them to vote, but thank God, 
 there are many men in Nebraska who cannot be 
 driven and compelled to vote as somebody 
 dictates. (Applause.) The Democratic party 
 was founded by Thomas Jefferson, and Thomas 
 Jefferson dared to defy the wealth and power of
 
 his day and plead the cause of the common 
 people, and if the Democratic party lives it will 
 still plead the cause of the man who wears a col- 
 ored shirt as well as the man who wears the linen 
 shirt. (Applause.) 
 
 "You have got to-day to choose what kind of 
 Democracy you want. For thirty years the 
 Democratic party has denounced the demonetiza- 
 tion of silver; for twenty years it has proclaimed 
 it the "crime of the age;" it has heaped upon the 
 Republican party all the opprobrium that language 
 could express. If you are ready to go down on 
 your knees and apologize for what you have said, 
 you will go without me. (Applause.) 
 
 "On the I4th day of July, 1892, John Sherman 
 of Ohio introduced in the Senate of the United 
 States a bill substantially like that which has 
 passed the house known as the Wilson Bill. That 
 bill was introduced in the Senate by the premier 
 of the Republican party, by the leader of the 
 financial system of the Republican party, and you 
 come into this convention and attempt to thrust it 
 down the throats of the Democrats as a Demo- 
 cratic measure. (Laughter.) 
 
 "There sits in Columbus, in the State of Ohio, a 
 Democrat, once known as ' the noblest Roman of 
 them all.' He has won and held the affection of 
 the American people as few citizens have. He 
 sits now crowned with the honors of a nation's 
 gratitude. He sits waiting there for the sum-
 
 mons to come that will call him home, where I 
 know there is a reward for men who sacrifice them- 
 selves for their country's good, and from the sol- 
 itude of his retreat Allen G. Thurman says he is 
 opposed to unconditional repeal, and when I 
 must choose between John Sherman of Ohio and 
 Allen G. Thurman of Ohio I take my Democracy 
 from the latter source. (Applause.) 
 
 "Do you say this is Democracy? Was it in the 
 platform? Read the national platform; you can't 
 find authority for unconditional repeal there. 
 You find a demand for repeal, but you find 
 a declaration that you shall coin both metals 
 without discrimination, and without charge for mint- 
 age, and are you going to snatch away a little of 
 the platform and thrust it down the throats of 
 Democrats and turn your back upon the declara- 
 tion which has been in their platform for the last 
 twenty years. The Democratic party in Congress 
 has on many occasions expressed itself, and until 
 this year there was never a time but what a ma- 
 jority of the Democrats voted in the House and 
 Senate for the free coinage of silver at 16 to i, and 
 in this Congress, when the question came up in 
 the lower house, a majority of the Democrats 
 voted to substitute the Bland law for the Sher- 
 man law, showing they were not in favor of 
 unconditional repeal. Take the vote and see 
 where it comes from. 
 
 "This platform says we know no section.
 
 Well, my friends, we do not know as much as 
 some other people in other parts of the country 
 if we know no section. (Applause.) You take 
 the six New England States, the States of New 
 York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the two 
 southern States that are really eastern Maryland 
 and Delaware, that cast 103 votes 101 were in 
 favor of repeal. (Voice from convention, 'Doug- 
 las county cast 103 votes.') I might suggest 
 this: That to get the 103 votes they do not have 
 to go back three years to find a convention. 
 (Laughter.) How did the South vote ? You take 
 that section of the country which I have called 
 Democratic I have mentioned Maryland and 
 Delaware and the vote of those southern States, 
 notwithstanding more influence was brought to 
 bear, perhaps, than was ever brought to bear 
 before, notwithstanding that, in those southern 
 states sixty-eight Democrats voted against uncon- 
 ditional repeal and forty-nine Democrats voted for 
 unconditional repeal. 
 
 "Take the States west of the Mississippi river 
 and there were 29 votes against repeal and 95 
 for repeal (applause) and out of the 95 for 
 repeal one came from Douglas county, and was a 
 Republican, and I do not know whether my friends 
 from Douglas are indorsing him because they 
 elected him in a Democratic district or not. Then, 
 gentlemen of the convention, you will find there 
 were sectional lines in that vote. The great
 
 153 
 
 country west of the Mississippi river was almost 
 to a vote against unconditional repeal ; the great 
 country south, to which we look for our Demo- 
 cratic majority, was, a majority of it, against uncon- 
 ditional repeal. Do you tell me those men don't 
 know what Democracy is? Out of thirteen 
 Democrats from Missouri twelve voted against 
 unconditional repeal. Take the Democrats of 
 Texas, and they rolled up their tremendous 
 Democratic majority, and yet a majority of them 
 were against unconditional repeal. You take the 
 men who have been preaching the gospel of 
 Democracy take John W. Daniel of Virginia, 
 whose magnificent speech in defense of a consti- 
 tutional money has not been answered, and will 
 not be answered by any man (applause) you 
 take Senator Morgan of Alabama; take Senators 
 Vest of Missouri and Pugh of Alabama; take 
 Harris and Beck of Tennessee, Vance of North 
 Carolina, Butler of South Carolina, George of 
 Mississippi and they have stood up and said they 
 were Democrats; they stood upon the national 
 platform, and they were opposed to the repeal of 
 the Sherman law unless you give something else in 
 the place of the Sherman law that provided for 
 the use of silver. (Applause.) 
 
 " These gentlemen are Democrats. Nobody has 
 dared to impeach their Democracy. And yet I 
 was read out of the Democratic party by a gentle-
 
 154 
 
 man who could not be elected a delegate for the 
 fifth ward. (Laughter and applause.) 
 
 " Now, gentlemen, there is a division in the 
 Democratic party on this question. The platform 
 declared for repeal, and it also declared for the 
 use of both metals without cost for mintage. The 
 President of the United States has construed that 
 platform. Is there a man here so lost to hero- 
 worship that he will declare that the President has 
 the right to construe that platform for him ? 
 (Hisses.) Does anybody say that because a man 
 is President it gives him the right to take from the 
 platform what he desires and discard what he does 
 not want, and bind that upon the conscience of 
 the Democratic party ? 
 
 " My friends, I believe that every Democrat in 
 the United States, whether he be rich or poor, 
 whether he be a common laborer or whether he 
 be able to go as ambassador to Italy because of 
 his wealth (laughter and hisses) I believe every 
 Democrat has the right to construe the Demo- 
 cratic platform and to express that opinion. 
 (Voices, 'We do.') And I am glad that you 
 have had the courage those who differ from me 
 
 O 
 
 instead of straddling the question, to come out 
 squarely and state that the President is right in 
 saying, after we have declared for free coinage, 
 that we cannot have it unless foreign nations help 
 us. Read the letter sent by the President to 
 Governor Northen. In that letter he says : ' I am
 
 155 
 
 opposed to free and unlimited coinage by this 
 country alone and independently.' 
 
 " I challenge you to find in any Democratic plat- 
 form made by a national convention, or expressed 
 by any vote of the Democratic party in the Senate 
 or House, a declaration that sustains the Presi- 
 dent. 
 
 " The President has written a new platform, and 
 it must be endorsed by the Democracy of the 
 country before it is binding on any man. (A 
 voice, ' You are right.') If you believe the Pres- 
 ident is right in running his pen through our plat- 
 form and declaring that the aid of foreign nations 
 is necessary to enable Congress to make laws for 
 our people, express it in your resolution ; but, if 
 you believe with me that this nation is great 
 enough, strong enough and grand enough to leg- 
 islate for its own people, regardless of the en- 
 treaties and the threats of foreign Powers, then 
 vote for the minority report. (Applause.) 
 
 " Pass that bill through the Senate and where is 
 
 o 
 
 your hope for silver? Do you believe in the use 
 of gold and silver? Why, read what the platform 
 said in 1880 and 1884. In 1880 we said 'honest 
 money, consisting of gold and silver and paper 
 convertible into coin.' Silver was honest money 
 then. When did it become dishonest? In 1884 
 we believed in honest money, the gold and silver 
 coinage of the Constitution, and a circulating me- 
 dium convertible into such coin without loss. In
 
 1884 silver was honest money, and no Democrat 
 in a national convention dared to denounce silver 
 as cheap, nasty or dishonest. In 1888 we reaf- 
 firmed the platform of 1884, so that in 1888 silver 
 was honest money. In 1892 we declared for the 
 coinage of both metals without discrimination and 
 
 o 
 
 without cost for mintage. Aye, silver was honest 
 then, and until some national convention declares 
 as the voice of the Democratic party of the nation 
 that silver is dishonest money, I deny the right of 
 any man, elected to any office, to denounce and 
 ostracise silver as dishonest money ; I care not 
 what his position or what his rank. (Hisses.) 
 
 " Mr. Gladstone said the other day that Eng- 
 land was opposed to silver, was opposed to bi- 
 metallism, because England was a creditor nation, 
 and because she gained by the appreciation of the 
 dollar caused by the rise in gold, and because of 
 that selfish interest that England would not be in 
 favor of bimetallism because she wanted to get 
 the dollar fatter every day in payment for the 
 debts we owe. I want to ask you if it is to the 
 interest of the American people to give her that 
 dollar that grows fatter at the expense of the 
 toilers of the United States. (Cries of ' No,' 
 ' No.') 
 
 "In these United States there are $132,000,000 
 upon farm mortgages. They tell us we must 
 not speak of indebtedness. No, it is better to 
 suffer from it than to mention it and to correct
 
 HON. HOKACE CHILTON, 
 
 U, S, Senator from Tesas.
 
 HON. E. C. WALTHALL, 
 V. g. Senator from Mississippi.
 
 159 
 
 the wrong. They call us calamity howlers because 
 we dare to suggest that that is a large debt. You 
 make that dollar larger by appreciation ; run it 
 up until a gold ounce will exchange for twice as 
 much as it will to-day and by legislation you fix 
 upon this people a debt of $132,000,000 that they 
 never contracted ; you fix it to their disadvantage 
 and to the advantage of the man that holds the 
 note. You tell me it is not a sectional question ; 
 but, my friends, when a gentleman from Connecti- 
 cut stands upon the floor of Congress and says, 
 ' I want gold because my people loan money and 
 I am interested in their getting as good a dollar 
 as I can,' I tell you I will be sectional enough to 
 stand upon the floor and say that my people owe 
 money and you will never collect a bigger dollar 
 than we borrowed if I can help it, so help me 
 God ! (Applause.) I will not detain you longer 
 (Cries of ' Go on ' ' Go on ! ') I will not de- 
 tain you longer and enter into a discussion of this 
 question which would go over the whole merits 
 of it. It would require more time than you have 
 to give. But, my friends, you know what the ar- 
 guments are ; you have heard them day by day, 
 and you know that if we would put it to vote in 
 the State of Nebraska and let every man write 
 upon his ballot whether he wanted to use gold 
 and silver, or wanted to repeal the Sherman law 
 to aid some foreign nation in the use of a single 
 standard, you know and I know that not only the
 
 i6o 
 
 Democratic party, but all parties, would vote nine 
 to one in favor of the free coinage of silver. You 
 know it. 
 
 "If, knowing that fact, you dare to place the 
 Democratic party on record against the interests 
 of the people, you alone are answerable for the 
 consequences which will follow. 
 
 " Why, my friends, why shall we appeal to the 
 people for votes ? Do you go to a man and say, 
 ' Vote the Democratic ticket because you will get 
 a postoffice ? ' No. The State Committee may 
 send out letters to the candidates and tell them 
 to come as delegates to the convention in order 
 to get a postoffice, but you don't tell that to the 
 people when you ask them for their votes. You 
 say to them ' the Democratic party is the best in- 
 strument by which you serve your country;' you 
 try to tell them that by the application of Demo- 
 cratic principles of government you will bring 
 equality before the law ; that you will bring equal 
 rights to the people, and you have taught them 
 that you will give equal rights to all, and no spe- 
 cial privileges to any. That is what you say when 
 you go before the people. You must have some- 
 thing to plead for; you must have something to 
 show them. 
 
 "What are you doing, my friends? In 1890 
 you put in your platform a plank declaring for the 
 free coinage of silver, and for the first time in the 
 history of this State you elected a Democratic
 
 governor. Free coinage didn't drive people away 
 from the Democratic party. The next year you 
 met, and for fear of embarrassing your Eastern 
 brothers, you decided not to say anything at all 
 until after the national convention ; and after the 
 national convention you decided you could not say 
 anything then because the national convention had 
 spoken. (Laughter.) And we had a campaign 
 of eloquence and ability that cannot be over- 
 matched, and as a result the Democratic party 
 that carried the State in 1890 was beaten by 
 34,000 by the Republicans, and 24,000 by the 
 Independents. 
 
 "Now go a little further: when you were bold 
 and declared for free coinage you carried the 
 State ; when you were afraid to express yourself 
 you fell down to nearly one-half your size ; and 
 now you bow as willing worshippers at the feet 
 of the golden calf. When you cry to the men 
 who have robbed you by taxation, and you 
 pleaded, and pleaded in vain for relief; when 
 they have robbed you by taxation and then loaned 
 the money that they took from you back to you 
 on interest, and now try to get back from you a 
 bigger dollar than the dollar which they loaned 
 you now you say that you are in favor of it. 
 Say that instead of standing by the men who have 
 stood by the Democratic party in the hours of its 
 needs, instead of standing by the great producing 
 sections of the South and West, whose interests
 
 are identical and who suffered from common bur- 
 dens, say that instead of standing by those who 
 have stood by you in your efforts for tariff reduc- 
 tion, that in the hours of their need and yours 
 you will desert the history of the Democratic 
 party, you will turn a deaf ear to the pleadings of 
 its greatest senators, its greatest lights, and turn 
 and say to the people who have smitten you : 
 ' We are ready to lick the hands that smite.' Say 
 that and call it Democracy, but I shall not call it 
 Democracy until the Democratic party of this 
 State has expressed itself upon the subject." 
 (Applause.) 
 
 Bryan's speech was greeted with a mighty 
 demonstration. The convention's refusal to even 
 place the young Congressman on the Resolutions 
 Committee was met with most severe criticism. 
 It was one of the best tributes that could be paid 
 to Bryan that his enemies were afraid to place 
 him upon the Resolutions Committee with eight 
 men on the same committee against him. But 
 that action was most severely criticised because it 
 was a violation of all parliamentary precedent, 
 which has been to treat the minority with decency. 
 Simply in keeping with the facts, it must be stated 
 that the Bryan men were not accorded the most 
 common courtesy due to a conquered foe. The 
 administration men plainly showed that they were 
 afraid of the prowess of the young Congressman,
 
 163 
 
 and they did not propose to give him the slightest 
 opportunity to exert his influence among his fellow- 
 Democrats. The convention stood three to one 
 against Bryan. The majority could have well 
 afforded to place him on the Resolutions Com- 
 mittee with eight men against him, but it chose 
 not to do so. They acted very much like men 
 who had an antagonist down and who did not pro- 
 pose to let him up. The entire action, so far as 
 Bryan was concerned, was impolitic and unwise. 
 
 The young Congressman in the convention met 
 with a defeat which some of the delegates called 
 " ignominious," but if it was to be judged by the 
 popular ovation which was extended to Bryan on 
 every hand, he might have said on that day, in the 
 language of Daniel Webster : " I still live." 
 And from the indications, W. J. Bryan, though he 
 was disowned and dishonored by the State con- 
 vention of his own party, was the biggest and 
 most conspicuous Democrat west of the Mississippi 
 river. 
 
 When the news of Bryan's defeat was carried 
 to Washington the entire Cleveland Cabinet went 
 wild with delight. It was proudly claimed by the 
 Federal office-holders that Bryan was dead and 
 that they had buried him politically forever. But 
 subsequent events not far removed from that date 
 showed that William J. Bryan was able to lay 
 aside his grave-clothes and his shroud. 
 
 The parting of the ways with the young Con- 
 
 10
 
 164 
 
 gressman and the so-called Democratic adminis- 
 tration, however, had been reached, and no effort 
 was spared on the part of Mr. Cleveland and his 
 agents to humiliate the young man who dared to 
 have his own opinion and to express that opinion 
 even though it differed radically from the Chief 
 Magistrate of the nation. But Mr. Bryan was not a 
 man to be humiliated by the cheap tactics of the 
 Cleveland administration. 
 
 While the Secretary of Agriculture was loading 
 down the wires with long-winded interviews 
 denunciatory of Mr. Bryan, the young Congress- 
 man, true to his nature, had no word of personal 
 retort, but adhered strictly to the line of public 
 duty which he had marked out; and he grew 
 stronger and stronger each succeeding day with 
 the people, who had learned to appreciate his 
 splendid purpose.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 "THE GRAVE GIVES UP ITS DEAD." 
 
 The administration forces at Washington and 
 in Nebraska were considerably disappointed when 
 they found that their delight in the temporary 
 defeat of Mr. Bryan was shared only by the 
 Federal officials. Some of these little fellows, in 
 their blind vanity, could not see that Bryan really 
 represented the overwhelming sentiment of the 
 Nebraska Democracy. Others, however, very 
 soon discovered their error. They soon learned 
 that it is a very difficult task to destroy a man 
 whose only sin had been that he struggled for a 
 principle. The scene at the Nebraska conven- 
 tion of 1893 very much resembled that wherein a 
 gang of jay-birds peck upon an eagle. In this in- 
 stance at least no injury came to the eagle, for he 
 soared above the petty persecutors and left them 
 to the oblivion for which nature had so admirably 
 fitted them. 
 
 Mr. Bryan returned to his Congressional duties 
 while the administration put in much of its time 
 branding for the slaughter men who were appli- 
 cants for office and who had been known to 
 sympathize with Mr. Bryan. The young Con- 
 gressman began a determined advocacy of an in- 
 
 (165)
 
 i66 
 
 come tax plan. He was so vigorous in his 
 championship of this measure that he drew upon 
 himself considerable criticism of eastern news- 
 papers, but he was rewarded by the adoption of 
 the income tax as suggested by him, by the Com- 
 mittee on Ways and Means. 
 
 On January 13, 1894, Mr. Bryan addressed the 
 House on the tariff bill, in which address he 
 maintained his high reputation. 
 
 On January 30, 1894, Mr. Bryan addressed the 
 House on the subject of the proposed income tax. 
 On that occasion he had pitted against him the 
 eloquent Bourke Cockran, of New York. Mr. 
 Cockran, although a Democrat, vigorously opposed 
 the tax. From Mr. Bryan's speech in reply to 
 Mr. Cockran the following extracts are taken: 
 
 " I need not give all the reasons which led the 
 committee to recommend this tax, but will suggest 
 two of the most important. The stockholder in a 
 corporation limits his liability. When the statute 
 creating the corporation is fully complied with, the 
 individual stockholder is secure, except to the 
 extent fixed by the statute, whereas the entire 
 property of the individual is ordinarily liable for 
 his debts. Another reason is that corporations 
 enjoy certain privileges and franchises. Some 
 are given the right of eminent domain, while others, 
 such as street-car companies, are given the right 
 to use the streets of the city a franchise which 
 increases in value with each passing year. Cor-
 
 167 
 
 porations occupy the time and attention of our 
 Federal courts and enjoy the protection of the 
 Federal Government, and as they do not ordi- 
 narily pay taxes, the committee felt justified in 
 proposing a light tax upon them. 
 
 " Some gentlemen have accused the committee 
 of showing hostility to corporations. But, Mr. 
 Chairman, we are not hostile to corporations ; 
 we simply believe that these creatures of the law, 
 these fictitious persons, have no higher or dearer 
 rights than the persons of flesh and blood whom 
 God created and placed upon His footstool. (Ap- 
 plause.) Their assessed valuation increased only 
 a little more than $300,000,000. This bill is not 
 in the line of class legislation, nor can it be re- 
 garded as legislation against a section, for the 
 rate of taxation is the same on every income over 
 $4,000, whether its possessor lives upon the At- 
 lantic coast, in the Mississippi Valley or on the 
 Pacific Slope. I only hope that we may in the 
 future have more farmers in the agricultural dis- 
 tricts whose incomes are large enough to tax. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 "But the gentleman from New York (Mr. Cock- 
 ran) has denounced as unjust the principle under- 
 lying this tax. It is hardly necessary to read 
 authorities to the House. There is no more just 
 tax upon the statute books than the income tax, 
 nor can any tax be proposed which is more equi-
 
 i68 
 
 table ; and the principle is sustained by the most 
 distinguished writers on political economy. 
 
 " Adam Smith says : 
 
 " ' The subjects of every State ought to contrib- 
 ute to the support of the Government, as nearly 
 as possible in proportion to their respective abili- 
 ities ; that is, in proportion to the revenue which 
 they respectively enjoy under the protection of 
 the State. In the observation or neglect of this 
 maxim consists what is called the equality or in- 
 equality of taxation.' 
 
 " The income tax is the only one which really 
 fulfills this requirement. But it is said that we 
 single out some person with a large income and 
 make him pay more than his share. And let me 
 call attention here to a fatal mistake made by the 
 distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. 
 Cockran). You who listened to his speech would 
 have thought that the income tax was the onlv 
 
 o ^ 
 
 Federal tax proposed ; you would have supposed 
 that it was the object of this bill to collect the 
 entire revenue from an income tax. The gen- 
 tleman forgets that the pending tariff bill will col- 
 lect upon imports more than one hundred and 
 twenty millions of dollars nearly ten times as 
 much as we propose to collect from the individual 
 income tax. Everybody knows that a tax upon 
 consumption is an unequal tax, and that the poor 
 man by means of it pays far out of proportion to 
 the income which he enjoys.
 
 169 
 
 " I read the other day in the New York World 
 and I gladly join in ascribing praise to that 
 great daily for its courageous fight upon this sub- 
 ject in behalf of the common people a descrip- 
 tion of the home of the richest woman in the 
 United States. She owns property estimated at 
 $60,000,000, and enjoys an income which can 
 scarcely be less than $3,000,000, yet she lives at 
 a cheap boarding house, and only spends a few 
 hundred dollars a year. That woman, under 
 your indirect system of taxation does not pay as 
 much toward the support of the Federal Govern- 
 ment as a laboring man whose income of $500 is 
 spent upon his family. (Applause.) 
 
 " Why, sir, the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
 Cockran) said that the poor are opposed to this 
 tax because they do not want to be deprived of 
 participation in it, and that taxation instead of 
 being a sign of servitude is a badge of freedom. 
 If taxation is a badge of freedom, let me assure 
 my friend that the poor people of this country are 
 covered all over with the insignia of freemen. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 " Notwithstanding the exemptions proposed by 
 this bill, the people whose incomes are less than 
 $4,000 will still contribute far more than their just 
 share to the support of the Government.- The 
 gentleman says that he opposes this tax in the in- 
 terest of the poor ! Oh, sir, is it not enough to
 
 I/O 
 
 betray the cause of the poor must it t>e done 
 with a kiss ? (Applause.) 
 
 " Would it not be fairer for the gentleman to 
 
 O 
 
 fling his burnished lance full in the face of the 
 toiler, and not plead for the great fortunes of this 
 country under cover of the poor man's name? 
 (Applause.) The gentleman also tells us that 
 the rich will welcome this tax as a means of se- 
 curing greater power. Let me call your atten- 
 tion to the resolutions passed by the New York 
 Chamber of Commerce. I wonder how many 
 poor men have membership in that body ! 
 
 " They say that the income tax was ' only tole- 
 rated as a war measure, and was abrogated by 
 universal consent as soon as the condition of the 
 country permitted.' Abrogated by universal con- 
 sent ! What refreshing ignorance from such an 
 
 O O 
 
 intelligent source ! If their knowledge of other 
 
 <j o 
 
 facts recited in those resolutions is as accurate as 
 that statement, how much weight their resolutions 
 ought to have ! Why, sir, there never has been 
 a day since the war when majority of the people 
 of the United States opposed an income tax. 
 ****** 
 
 "But they say that the income tax invites per- 
 jury ; that the man who has a large income will 
 swear falsely, and thus avoid the payment of the 
 tax ; and, indeed, ;hc gentleman from Massachu- 
 setts (Mr. Wa!k<^) admitted that his district was 
 fail of such people, and he said that our districts
 
 were, too. I suppose these constituents whom he 
 accuses of perjury are expected to pat him on 
 the back when he goes home and brag about 
 the compliment he paid them. (Laughter and 
 applause.) 
 
 " If there is a man in my district whose veracity 
 is not worth two cents on the dollar, who will 
 perjure himself to avoid the payment of a just 
 tax imposed by law, I am going to wait until he 
 pleads guilty before I make that charge against 
 him. (Laughter and applause.) 
 
 " They say that we must be careful and not in- 
 vite perjury. Why, sirs, this Government has too 
 much important business on hand to spend its 
 time trying to bolster up the morality of men 
 who can not be trusted to swear to their incomes. 
 And let me suggest that gentlemen who come to 
 this House and tell us that their districts are full 
 of such persons are treading upon dangerous 
 ground. If a man will hold up his hand to 
 Heaven and perjure his soul to avoid a 2 per 
 cent, tax due to his Government, how can you 
 trust such a man when he goes into court and 
 testifies in a case in which he has a personal in- 
 terest? 
 
 "If ypur districts are full of perjurers, if your 
 districts are full of men who violate with impunity 
 not only the laws, but their oaths, do you not 
 raise a question as to the honesty of the methods 
 by which they have accumulated their fortunes ?
 
 172 
 
 (Applause on the Democratic side.) Instead of 
 abandoning just measures for fear somebody will 
 perjure himself, let them be enacted into law, 
 and then if anyone perjures himself we can treat 
 him like any other felon, and punish him for his 
 perjury. (Applause.) 
 
 " But, gentlemen say that some people will avoid 
 the tax, and that therefore it is unfair to the peo- 
 ple who pay. What law is fully obeyed ? Why 
 are criminal courts established, except to punish 
 people who violate the laws which society has 
 made ? The man who pays his tax need not con- 
 cern himself about the man who avoids it, unless, 
 perhaps, he is willing to help prosecute the delin- 
 quent. The man who makes an honest return 
 and complies with the law pays no more than the 
 rate prescribed, and if the possessors of large 
 fortunes escape by fraud the payment of one-half 
 their income tax, they will still contribute far more 
 than they do now to support the Federal Govern- 
 ment, and to that extent relieve from burdens 
 those who now pay more than their share. 
 
 " The orentlemen w h o are so fearful of socialism 
 
 O 
 
 when the poor are exempted from an income tax, 
 riew with indifference those methods of taxation 
 which give the rich a substantial exemption. 
 They weep more because fifteen millions are to be 
 collected from the incomes of the rich than they 
 do at the collection of three hundred millions 
 upon the goods which the poor consume. And
 
 173 
 
 when an attempt is made to equalize these bur- 
 dens, not fully, but partially only, the people of 
 the South and West are called Anarchists. 
 
 " I deny the accusation, sirs. It is among the 
 people of the South and West, on the prairies and 
 in the mountains, that you find the staunchest sup- 
 porters of government and the best friends of law 
 and order. 
 
 " You may not find among these people the 
 great fortunes which are accumulated in cities, nor 
 will you find the dark shadows which these for- 
 tunes throw over the community, but you will find 
 those willing to protect the rights of property, 
 even while they demand that property shall bear 
 its share of taxation. You may not find among 
 them so much of wealth, but you will find men 
 who are not only willing to pay their taxes to sup- 
 port the Government, but are willing whenever 
 necessary to offer up their lives in its defense. 
 
 " These people, sir, whom you call Anarchists 
 because they ask that the burdens of government 
 shall be equally borne, these people have ever 
 borne the cross on Calvary and saved their 
 country with their blood. 
 
 "Let me refer again, in conclusion, to the state- 
 ment made by the gentleman from New York 
 (Mr. Cockran), that the rich people of his city 
 favor the income tax. In a letter which appeared 
 in the New York World on the 7th of this month, 
 Ward McAllister, the leader of the 'Four Hun-
 
 dred,' enters a very emphatic protest against the 
 income tax. (Derisive laughter.) Here is an 
 extract : 
 
 "In New York City and Brooklyn the local 
 taxation is ridiculously high, in spite of the 
 virtuous protest to the contrary by the officials in 
 authority. Add to this high local taxation an in- 
 come tax of 2 per cent, on every income exceed- 
 ing $4,000, and many of our best people will be 
 driven out of the country. An impression seems 
 to exist in the minds of our great Democratic 
 Solons in Congress that a rich man would give up 
 all his wealth for the privilege of living in this 
 country. A very short period of income taxation 
 would show these gentlemen their mistake. The 
 custom is growing from year to year for rich men 
 to go abroad and live, where expenses for the 
 necessaries and luxuries of life are not nearly so 
 high as they are in this country. The United 
 States, in spite of their much boasted natural ' 
 resources, could not maintain such a strain for any 
 considerable length of time. (Laughter.) 
 
 "But whither will these people fly? If their 
 tastes are English, 'quite English, you know,' and 
 they stop in London, they will find a tax of more 
 than 2 per cent, assessed upon incomes; if they 
 look fora place of refuge in Prussia, they will find 
 an income tax of 4 per cent.; if they search for 
 seclusion among the mountains of Switzerland, 
 they will find an income tax of 8 per cent.; if they
 
 seek repose under the sunny skies of Italy, they 
 will find an income tax of more than 12 per cent.; 
 if they take up their abode in Austria, they will 
 find a tax of 20 per cent. I repeat, Whither will 
 they fly?" 
 
 Mr. Weadock: "The gentleman will allow me 
 to suggest that at Monte Carlo such a man would 
 not have to pay any tax at all." (Laughter.) 
 
 Mr. Bryan: "Then, Mr. Chairman, I presume 
 to Monte Carlo he would go, and that there he 
 would give up to the wheel of fortune all the 
 wealth of which he would not give a part to 
 support the Government which enabled him to 
 accumulate it. (Laughter and applause.) 
 
 " Are there really any such people in this 
 country? Of all the mean men I have ever 
 known, I have never known one so mean that I 
 would be willing to say of him that his patriotism 
 was less than 2 per cent. deep. (Laughter and 
 applause.) 
 
 " There is not a man whom I would charge 
 with being willing to expatriate himself rather 
 than contribute from his abundance to the support 
 of the Government that protects him. 
 
 "If 'some of our best people' prefer to leave 
 the country rather than pay a tax of 2 per cent., 
 God pity the worst. (Laughter.) 
 
 " If we have people who value free government 
 so little that they prefer to live under monarchical 
 institutions, even without an income tax, rather
 
 176 
 
 than live under the stars and stripes and pay a 2 
 per cent, tax, we can better afford to lose them 
 and their fortunes than risk the contaminating in- 
 fluence of their presence. (Applause.) 
 
 "I will not attempt to characterize such persons. 
 If Mr. McAllister is a true prophet, if we are to 
 lose some of our ' best people ' by the imposition 
 of an income tax, let them depart, and as they 
 leave without regret the land of their birth, let 
 them go with the poet's curse ringing in their 
 ears: 
 
 " ' Breathes there the man with soul so dead 
 Who never to himself hath said, 
 
 This is my own, my NATIVE LAND ! 
 Whose heart hath ne'er within him burned, 
 As home his footsteps he hath turned 
 
 From wandering on a foreign strand ? 
 If such there breathe, go mark him well ; 
 For him no minstrel raptures swell ; 
 High though his titles, proud his name, 
 Boundless his wealth as wish can claim ; 
 Despite those titles, power and pelf, 
 The wretch, concentered all in self, 
 Living, shall forfeit fair renown, 
 And, doubly dying, shall go down 
 To the vile dust, from whence he sprung, 
 Unwept, unhonored and unsung.' " 
 
 (Loud and long-continued applause.) 
 
 On February 23, 1894, the Union League Club 
 
 of Chicago gave a banquet of national interest.
 
 177 
 
 Covers were laid for 500 guests. The speakers 
 and their subjects were as follows : 
 
 Governor McKinley of Ohio, " ' Washington is 
 the Mightiest Name on Earth ' Lincoln ; " John 
 S. Wise of New York, " The Due Administration 
 of Justice is the Firmest Pillar of Good Govern- 
 ment ; " Associate Justice David J. Brewer of 
 Washington, D. C., " Lessons from Washington's 
 Farewell Address ;" Luther Laflin Mills of Illinois, 
 " 'Tis Essentially True That Virtue or Morality is 
 a Necessary Spring of Popular Government ; " 
 Bishop Charles H. Fowler of Minnesota, "The 
 Name of America Must Always Exalt the Just 
 Pride of Patriotism ; " William J. Bryan of Ne- 
 braska, " Patriotism." 
 
 Mr. Bryan's address on this occasion is of more 
 than ordinary interest at this time. He spoke as 
 follows : 
 
 " Patriotism is defined as love of country, and is 
 everywhere recognized as the highest civic virtue. 
 Some have regarded it as a sentimental attach- 
 ment to their native or adopted land ; some have 
 called it devotion to the flag ; and still others have 
 seen in it that higher satisfaction which purchases 
 natural advantages. But whatever may be its 
 essence or the form of its expression, patriotism 
 has ever been the inspiration of statesman, poet 
 and orator. This was the theme of Pericles when 
 he commemorated the death of those who fell at 
 Salamis. This was the theme of Tennyson when
 
 he laid his graceful tribute of praise upon the 
 tomb of England's greatest general. This was 
 the theme of Patrick Henry when his eloquence 
 aroused our revolutionary sires to armed resist- 
 ance, and gave to them the immortal war-cry, 
 'Liberty or death.' This was the theme of those 
 who, in memory of Washington, gave to their 
 countrymen not a poem nor an oration, but 
 more than both combined a monument, the most 
 imposing shaft ever erected by human hands in 
 gratitude to man. 
 
 "There is no more valuable literature than that 
 which embalms the names and deeds of heroes ; 
 there is no money more worthily expended than 
 that which expresses in granite, in marble or in 
 bronze, a people's appreciation of their patriots ; 
 and, since we imitate that which we admire, there 
 are no reasons more laudable in purpose and 
 more ennobling in effect than those, like the pres- 
 ent, which cultivate within us a love of country by 
 the study of those who deserve their country's 
 love. We render unto him due meed of praise 
 whose sword leaps from its scabbard at his coun- 
 try's call ; we bestow our heart's affection upon 
 the volunteer whose time and means, and even 
 life, are a nation's reliance in the hour of peril, 
 but we are apt to overlook the labor of those 
 whose devotion is as truly shown when the temple 
 of Janus is closed and the implements of carnage 
 give place to the tools of industry. Sad, indeed,
 
 179 
 
 would be the lot of this generation if loyalty could 
 be proved only in the service of Mars. To those 
 who are of the aftermath the lines of Milton bring 
 sweet assurance : 
 
 " ' Peace hath her victories 
 No less renown'd than war.' 
 
 "Aye, peace hath her victories, and not her 
 victories only, but her responsibilities as well. In 
 this land of ours, where government derives its 
 just powers from the consent of the governed and 
 not from the divine right of kings, the call to duty 
 is as imperative when it comes in the still, small 
 voice, as when it issues from the cannon's mouth. 
 Does it not require as much devotion to discharge 
 with constant and conscientious care the daily 
 tasks of the citizen as it does to carry a musket? 
 Does it not require as much self-sacrifice to list all 
 one's property for taxation as it does to enlist in 
 the army? Does it not require as much patriot- 
 . ism to serve one's country well in the election 
 booth as it does to march to the strains of martial 
 music ? Does it not require as much fortitude to 
 place civil duty above private business and the 
 common weal above party advantage as it does to 
 command a company? Does it not require as 
 much courage to resist the siege of a lobby as it 
 does to capture a city ? 
 
 "Time forbids more than a passing reference to 
 
 a few of the principal duties which attach to 
 ll
 
 i8o 
 
 citizenship to-day. There is a growing disposi- 
 tion to avoid jury service and all manner of 
 excuses are given by those who find it incon- 
 venient to leave their work. But this sacrifice is 
 not a matter of convenience, it is a matter of 
 necessity. The jury system was never more cor- 
 rect than it is to-day, and to preserve it as a 
 means of administering justice, men of 'ordinary 
 intelligence and of approved integrity' must con- 
 stitute the panel. If thieves are to be tried before 
 thieves and criminals are to receive their acquittal 
 at the hands of their associates, the system will 
 become a hollow mockery. The rights of liti- 
 gants cannot be safely submitted to the profes- 
 sional juror and the professional jury packer. If 
 men plead pressure of business as a reason for 
 shirking this duty, let them remember that large 
 business interests are safe only under good gov- 
 ernment. How many, like Naaman, the leper, 
 stand ready to do some great things for their 
 country, but despise those humbler duties which 
 make civil liberty possible. 
 
 "Another danger which we have to meet is cor- 
 
 o 
 
 ruption in official life. The boodler is abroad 
 in the land, and the evidences of his handiwork 
 are too often apparent. He is as dangerous 
 to the welfare of the country as an army with 
 banners, and as insidious as he is dangerous. 
 Whether he enriches himself by his own malfeas- 
 ance in office or finds a profit in using the legis-
 
 lative powers for private purposes, he is a public 
 enemy and must be scourged from the temple. 
 We cannot depend entirely upon criminal courts 
 to remedy this evil, for guilt may exist in the 
 absence of legal proofs sufficient to overcome all 
 reasonable doubt. Public opinion, that ever 
 potent force in popular government, must hold to 
 strict accountability those who are trusted with 
 authority. Mr. Jefferson has wisely said: 
 
 '"Confidence is everywhere the parent of 
 despotism free government is founded in jeal- 
 ousy arid not in confidence,' and it may be added, 
 the indifference of the citizen is the opportunity 
 of the knave. 
 
 " If we were asked to name the greatest dan- 
 ger which threatens our political life as a nation, 
 what danger would we point out ? Not protection 
 or free trade a patriotic people will rid them- 
 selves of either if bad ; not a gold nor a silver 
 nor a paper standard a patriotic people will 
 settle the money question according to the best 
 interests of all ; not extravagance nor stringency 
 in appropriations a patriotic people will support 
 their Government with sufficient liberality, and will 
 in time check unnecessary expenditures ; not State 
 sovereignty nor the centralization of power a 
 patriotic people will wisely limit the authority of 
 the general and local Governments. These are 
 all great questions and may well occupy the best 
 thought of the country and challenge the serious
 
 182 
 
 consideration of both citizen and official, but 
 there is a question which is higher, deeper and 
 broader than any or all of these : Will the citizen 
 be as patriotic when he sits beneath the olive 
 branch of peace as when he follows the eagles of 
 war? 
 
 " It has been said that the ' voice of the people 
 is the voice of God,' but that voice must be heard 
 to be effective. It must be expressed and obeyed 
 before it can assume supreme power. Some 
 boast that they take no part in politics and talk as 
 if participating in the business of the Government 
 were beneath them. Shame upon such ingrates. 
 
 " The man who is too good to take part in poli- 
 tics is not good enough to deserve the blessings 
 of a free Government. Suffrage is given to the 
 citizen not merely as a personal privilege, but as a 
 public trust, and should be exercised as such. 
 The man who tries to vote twice is scarcely more 
 to be feared than the man who is not interested 
 enough to vote once. The few who control pri- 
 maries in the interest of the machine are scarcely 
 more to be blamed than the many who, by re- 
 maining away, not only permit, but invite, misrep- 
 resentation. The duty of the citizen does not end 
 when he contributes his just proportion of the 
 taxes collected by the Government ; it does not 
 end when he goes to the polls and chooses between 
 the candidates nominated ; his full duty requires 
 attendance upon conventions, mass meetings, cau-
 
 cuses and primaries where public opinion finds 
 expression and policies are initiated. Not only is 
 there a prevalent disregard of political duties, but 
 parents are often more solicitous about leaving a 
 fortune to their children than they are about 
 training them for the responsibilities of citizen- 
 ship. If the political world is full of impurity, the 
 son should be prepared to purify it, for in it he 
 must live whether it be foul or clean. It was the 
 boast of the Roman matron that she was able to 
 rear strong and courageous sons for the battle- 
 field ; let it be the work of the American mothers 
 that they are able to send forth to do battle for 
 humanity brave and manly sons who can mingle 
 in politics without contamination and serve their 
 country without dishonor. No age has faced 
 graver problems than those which now press us 
 for solution. No generation ever enjoyed greater 
 opportunities for intelligent, heroic devotion to the 
 country's good. It is as important for us to pre- 
 serve our liberties as it was for our forefathers to 
 secure them, and as we meet about this board to 
 do homage to him whose sword achieved our in- 
 dependence, and whose wisdom guided the foot- 
 steps of the infant Republic, I can propose no more 
 appropriate sentiment than this : 
 
 " ' The United States secure in peace or war, 
 when the people so act, at all times, in all places 
 and under all circumstances, that each is worthy
 
 of that noblest of all names an American 
 citizen.' ' 
 
 On March 2, 1894, Mr. Bryan introduced in the 
 House of Representatives the following : 
 
 " Whereas, An act entitled ' An act directing 
 the purchase of silver bullion and the issue of 
 treasury notes thereon, and for other purposes,' 
 approved July 14, 1890, provides 'that upon de- 
 mand of the holder of any of the treasury notes 
 herein provided for, the Secretary shall, under 
 such regulations as he may prescribe, redeem 
 such notes in gold or silver coin, at his discretion,' 
 it being the established policy of the United 
 States to maintain the two metals on a parity 
 with each other upon the present legal ratio or 
 such ratio as may be provided by law ; and 
 
 "Whereas, This provision and other similar 
 provisions for redemption in coin have been con- 
 strued to mean that the Secretary of the Treasury 
 has no discretion, but must redeem in that coin 
 which the holder of the obligation demands ; 
 and 
 
 "Whereas, such construction violates both the 
 letter and the spirit of the law, destroys the 
 principles of bimetallism and places the treasury 
 at the mercy of any who may conspire to reduce 
 the gold reserve for the purpose of forcing an 
 issue of bonds, therefore 
 
 "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
 
 '85 
 
 Representatives of the United States of America 
 in Congress assembled : 
 
 "That all obligations heretofore or hereafter 
 incurred by the Government of the United States, 
 whether such obligations bear interest or not, 
 which according to their terms call for payment in 
 coin, shall be payable in gold or silver of present 
 weight and fineness at the discretion of the 
 Secretary of the Treasury, and the right of the 
 holder of any such obligation to demand payment 
 in a particular kind of coin, whether gold or silver, 
 is hereby expressly denied; and that the Secretary 
 of the Treasury is directed to maintain gold and 
 silver coin on a parity with each other upon the 
 present legal ratio, or such ratio as may be pro- 
 vided by law, by receiving the same without dis- 
 crimination against either metal in payment of all 
 public dues, customs and taxes." 
 
 Speaking of this in an interview, Mr. Bryan 
 said: 
 
 "The object of the bill is to make certain a 
 law now upon the statute books, and to prevent 
 the misinterpretation and misconstruction of it. 
 If it had been the object of the law to give to the 
 note-holder the right to demand whichever coin 
 he preferred, certainly the statutes would not 
 have left it to the discretion of the Secretary of 
 the Treasury to pay whichever one he preferred. 
 The option cannot be given to the note-holder 
 and the Government at the same time, and yet the
 
 i86 
 
 department has construed a subsequent provision, 
 in regard to maintaining the parity, in a way 
 which absolutely destroys the discretion expressly 
 given to the Secretary of the Treasury. If this 
 bill can be brought before the House, it will enable 
 those who believe in bimetallism and who believe 
 that the Government owes as high duty to all the 
 people as it does to those who attempt to i'njure 
 its credit by raiding the gold reserve, to express 
 themselves and to put the coin redemption pro- 
 vision in such a shape as to prevent further 
 misunderstanding or misconstruction. We are 
 brought face to face with the single standard and 
 it is well to have the record made before the next 
 election." 
 
 By this time the administration was using its 
 utmost endeavors to rebuke Bryan for his defense 
 of Democratic principles. In one district in the 
 State a man was appointed to office who it was 
 known had worked openly and avowedly against 
 the regular Democratic nominee for Congress 
 and in favor of the Republican candidate. On 
 the day following that appointment, a number of 
 Bryan's recommendations were turned down, and 
 this policy of refusing every courtesy to the young 
 Congressman was adhered to to the end by the 
 Cleveland administration. The situation in this 
 respect is well described in an editorial from the 
 World-Herald, March 15, 1894. 
 
 " There are some strange influences at work in
 
 i8 7 
 
 the distribution of patronage in Nebraska. It 
 has been demonstrated that while George D. 
 Meiklejohn, the Republican Congressman, can 
 have some of his friends appointed to office, 
 friendship for William J. Bryan, the one Demo- 
 cratic Congressman from this State, is quite fatal 
 to an applicant's chances. There is little use of 
 the friends of Mr. Bryan keeping their eyes 
 closed to the real situation. The defeat of Mr. 
 Bryan's candidate at Nebraska City shows beyond 
 all doubt if any doubt has existed that the 
 anti-Bryan influences are the strongest with the 
 administration. It will be said that Nebraska City 
 being the home of Secretary Morton, he should 
 be permitted to name the postmaster, but every- 
 one understands what Mr. Morton has so often 
 and so plainly stated, that he is not interfering 
 with Federal appointments. It might with equal 
 propriety be claimed that Mr. Bryan should be 
 permitted to name the postmaster at his home. 
 But this privilege was not granted him. A sec- 
 ond choice was forced upon him, and his oppo- 
 nents now claim that they suggested this second 
 choice to the President. 
 
 "It maybe true that the President was warranted 
 in refusing to appoint Calhoun at Lincoln because 
 of Calhoun's criticism of Presidential action. But 
 in the Nebraska City case there was no question 
 of Boydston's ' straight democracy.' He is a 
 young man of high character. He supported Mr.
 
 i88 
 
 Morton for Governor with the same zeal that he 
 labored for Mr. Bryan for Congress. In Ne- 
 braska City's democracy Boydston has been the 
 cheerful hewer of wood and drawer of water. 
 Because of his ability and his enthusiasm he came 
 to be known as Bryan's personal representative 
 at Nebraska City. Against either Boydston's 
 democracy or his character nothing could be said. 
 He was, however, guilty of the unpardonable sin 
 he was a ' friend of Bryan.' The fact that he 
 had also been a zealous friend to every other 
 Democratic nominee could not make amends for 
 the greatest ' crime ' in Nebraska's political 
 calender. 
 
 " He had not criticised Cleveland, but on the 
 contrary was one of the President's enthusiastic 
 admirers. Anticipating the punishment for his 
 offense in being zealous in the election of Ne- 
 braska's one Democratic Congressman, Mr. 
 Boydston recently accepted the Democratic nom- 
 ination for City Clerk at Nebraska City. It will 
 be seen that he anticipated correctly. 
 
 " The Third District Democratic patronage has 
 been distributed to reward friends of a Repub- 
 lican Congressman. 
 
 " In the First District, Democratic patronage 
 has been distributed to rebuke friends of the one 
 Democratic Congressman from Nebraska. 
 
 " These are samples of ' Tobe Castor De- 
 mocracy.'
 
 189 
 
 "This may be the way to build up the Demo- 
 cratic party, but we doubt it. And it may also be 
 said that it is the poorest method imaginable to 
 tear down Bryan. 
 
 "It is just as well to understand right now that 
 Bryan's recommendation to the administration is 
 hardly worth the paper upon which it is written. 
 But it is equally true that the young Congressman 
 stands closer to the people of Nebraska to-day 
 than ever before. And every move that bears 
 the indication of an effort to rebuke him will only 
 serve to increase the number of his admirers in 
 Nebraska." 
 
 On March 15, 1894, Mr. Bryan stopped in 
 Omaha on his way to his home in Lincoln, from 
 Washington. He had made such an admirable 
 record in Congress that the Democrats of Omaha, 
 many of whom had helped the administration to 
 rebuke the young Congressman at the State con- 
 vention, turned out en masse to give him an ova- 
 tion. It was noticeable that many of those who 
 had been most conspicuous in the effort to rebuke 
 him in 1893 made themselves conspicuous in the 
 effort to do him honor on this occasion. There 
 were many in that vast audience who differed 
 radically from the young Congressman in opinion 
 on the money question, but he preached to them 
 the gospel of bimetallism eloquently and earnestly 
 as he had at every opportunity presented in his 
 career. He spoke strongly and eloquently of the
 
 190 
 
 necessity of making silver as well as gold a 
 money metal, the foundation for the currency of 
 the country and of the world, and predicted that 
 his audience would yet see gold and silver go 
 arm in arm to the United States mint. It was 
 the great coming question he declared and no 
 party was great enough to live unless it met 
 every question as it came up. In closing Mr. 
 Bryan completely captivated his great audience 
 when he at once graciously acknowledged the re- 
 ception accorded him and declared his adherence 
 to the principle to which he is so thoroughly 
 committed. 
 
 " My friends," said Mr. Bryan in conclusion, 
 " you have been very kind to me here. Kind far 
 beyond my deserts. For your personal consider- 
 ation and the political honors you have helped to 
 confer upon me I owe you more than I can ever 
 repay, but I feel so strongly upon this subject 
 that even should every friend I have turn from 
 me, believing as I do that inconceivable misery 
 would be wrought by a single gold standard, still 
 would I preach the doctrine of bimetallism from 
 every stump." The great audience rose as one 
 man and cheered the young orator for fifteen 
 minutes. Thousands of people crowded upon the 
 platform and congratulated him personally and 
 bid him God speed in his good work. 
 
 On the day following this reception, the Omaha 
 World-Herald contained an editorial under the
 
 head line, "The Grave Gives Up Its Dead," as 
 
 follows : 
 
 "THE GRAVE GIVES UP ITS DEAD. 
 
 " Congressman Bryan has reason to be proud of 
 the splendid reception accorded him by the people 
 of Omaha. The Democrats seemed to be a unit 
 in doing honor to the young man, whose public 
 career has been an honor to his State. Men who 
 have disagreed with him upon the financial ques- 
 tion were as enthusiastic as their free silver 
 brethren in paying a tribute of respect to the 
 young Congressman. 
 
 " It is not too much to say that if Mr. Bryan had 
 been offered as a member of a resolutions com- 
 mittee at the Exposition hall Thursday night, in- 
 stead of the Douglas delegation being solidly 
 against him, it would have been solid in his favor. 
 
 " Mr. Bryan has always manifested a tender feel- 
 ing for the people of Douglas county, for it was 
 here that he received in his first election a vote 
 that swelled his majority to immensity. It was 
 here, in fact, that he made the first speech that 
 stamped him as a student of political economy, 
 and here he has always had a host of friends 
 whose devotion to him could not be questioned. 
 
 " It is hardly necessary to refer to the breezy 
 incidents at the last State Convention, when, in 
 the language of one enthusiast, ' We laid the 
 Young Man Eloquent to rest in the grave.' But 
 the scenes at the Exposition hall on Thursday
 
 192 
 
 night impressed one with the thought that 'the 
 grave ' has given up its dead. 
 
 "This splendid reception to Bryan, coming im- 
 mediately upon the announcement that he has 
 'once more been turned down by the administra- 
 tion,' is not without its significance. It demon- 
 strates that while the young Congressman's in- 
 fluence with the administration has become weaker 
 and weaker, his power with the people has grown 
 stronger and stronger. 
 
 " While the reception Bryan received was a 
 splendid tribute to himself, like the blessing of 
 mercy it was creditable alike to them that gave 
 and him that received. Many men who were 
 earnest in the successful attempt to 'sit down on 
 Bryan ' at the State Convention were equ ally- 
 earnest and enthusiastic in doing him honor at 
 the great gathering on Thursday night. Many 
 of these may not have changed their views since 
 that time, but it is fair to believe that if that State 
 Convention were to be held to-day the ' sitting 
 down ' process would be carried out in an entirely 
 different manner. 
 
 "There are many men in Omaha who do not 
 entirely agree with Bryan, who are proud of his 
 record and his fame. 
 
 "Bryan's strength is in his candor as well as his 
 ability. Before him at the Exposition hall were 
 the members of the two local Democratic organi- 
 zations and representative Democrats in every
 
 Walk of life. Upon every issue of the day be 
 made himself understood. He took issue with 
 the administration upon the issue of bonds, upon 
 the repeal of the Sherman law, and he did not 
 hesitate to refer to the well-known words of the 
 Democratic Secretary of the Treasury in the 
 halcyon days of that gentleman's championship of 
 free silver. No other Democrat has ever lived in 
 Nebraska who could receive the open recognition 
 and the explicit tribute of organized Democracy 
 in this city at the moment when he boldly assailed 
 the attitude of the Democratic administration 
 upon the great issues of the day; and when he 
 said, 'You have been very kind to me here, but 
 if every friend I have in the world should turn 
 against me, as long as I believe as I do on this 
 question I will preach it from every stump' when 
 he said this, there was no man present who could 
 restrain himself from joining in the applause which 
 was given as a tribute to the sincerity and the 
 courage of a public man. 
 
 "The Omaha reception to Mr. Bryan must be 
 accepted as formal recognition of the fact that he 
 is to-day the leader of the Nebraska Democracy. 
 The White House may send its messengers 
 through the political Charnel House for ' leaders ' 
 in the distribution of patronage, but the Democ- 
 racy of Nebraska, unawed and uninfluenced by 
 the hope of reward to any individual, will prefer 
 to doff its hat in the interesting presence of Wil-
 
 194 
 
 liam J. Bryan the pigmy in Presidential favor, 
 the giant in popular esteem." 
 
 On May 8, 1894, an incident occurred in the 
 House which illustrates the conscientious activity 
 of the Democratic nominee for President. The 
 Committee on Public Lands and Buildings brought 
 up a bill to appropriate $300,000 to buy a site for 
 a new printing office. The debate ran along all 
 through the day. After adjournment Mr. Bryan 
 visited the various sites suggested, examined the 
 Government land suitable for the purpose and 
 consulted real estate agents as to the price of 
 property near the proposed sites. 
 
 The following morning he took charge of the 
 fight against the bill and showed that the land 
 recommended by the committee was being valued 
 at $100,000 to $150,000 above its actual market 
 value. He also showed that the Government 
 owned suitable land for the building and did not 
 
 o 
 
 need to buy. He succeeded in carrying by a vote 
 of 149 to 35 a resolution to instruct the committee 
 to select a site on land owned by the United 
 States. His presentation of the facts was so 
 clear and convincing that he carried the House in 
 spite of the unanimous opposition of the Commit- 
 tee on Public Lands and Buildings.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 HOW NEBRASKA WAS REDEEMED. 
 
 In the spring of 1894 the silver sentiment in 
 Nebraska had undergone a wonderful increase 
 and the Democrats in all parts of the State became 
 restless. The party in Nebraska was dominated 
 by inferior men who had obtained their power 
 simply because they were the only ones who were 
 willing to do the bidding of the administration, 
 without regard to what the orders might be. The 
 dominant element in control of the State Com- 
 mittee had the aid and co-operation of the greater 
 number of the Federal officials. It was evident 
 too that they had plenty of money at their com- 
 mand, and it is certain that they had all the rail- 
 road passes that were necessary for the conven- 
 ience of their fellows. On the other hand, the 
 silver men were without money, but they were 
 not without courage and determination. The 
 
 o 
 
 administration men felt confident of their ability 
 to hold power in Nebraska, unquestioned for time 
 to come, and certainly they had good reason 
 for this confidence. 
 
 But one evening in the month of May 1894, 
 there assembled in a private room in the Paxton 
 Hotel, in Omaha, a number of Silver Democrats 
 
 12 (195)
 
 196 
 
 of Nebraska. It is just and proper that the 
 names of these gentlemen should go into history, 
 for they laid the foundation for one of the greatest 
 triumphs ever accomplished in the record of a 
 State. Their labor was entirely disinterested, for 
 there was not one man among the number who 
 was a candidate for public office either present or 
 prospective. They were all property holders and 
 men of wide business experience, and they had 
 learned at great personal expense to appreciate 
 the evils of the single gold standard. The names 
 of these men are as follows: Judge Joseph E. 
 Ong of Geneva, Nebraska; J. B. Kitchen of 
 of Omaha, Nebraska; C. J. Smythe of Omaha; 
 Nebraska; J. H. Broady of Lincoln, Nebraska, 
 William H. Thomsen of Grand Island, Ne- 
 braska; James C. Dahlman of Chadron, Ne- 
 braska; State Senator John Thompson of Free- 
 mont, Nebraska; G. A. Luikhart of Norfolk, 
 Nebraska ; John C. Vanhousen of Schuyler, 
 Nebraska; W. H. Kelligar of Auburn, Nebraska; 
 Frank J. Morgan of Plattsmouth, Nebraska ; 
 Edwin Falloon, of Falls City, Nebraska, and C. 
 D. Casper of David City, Nebraska. 
 
 These gentlemen determined to call a State con- 
 ference of the Free Silver Democrats of Nebraska 
 and they fixed June 21 as the date on which that 
 conference should be held. They determined to 
 have the call for this conference signed by 250 
 representative Democrats from all parts of
 
 i 9 7 
 
 the State, and they determined that the matter 
 should be an entire secret until all these signa- 
 tures had been obtained and the call had been 
 formally issued. It will be readily understood 
 that it required a great deal of skillful effort to 
 keep such an interesting plan a secret, particularly 
 when such a large number of persons were 
 required to sign the call. But the plan was well 
 carried out and like a lightning flash from a clear 
 sky the newspapers of the State on May 24, 
 1894, contained, under glaring head lines, this 
 formal call: 
 
 "CALL TO FREE SILVER DEMOCRATS. 
 
 " Believing that the question of the restoration of 
 the double standard of gold and silver as money 
 of ultimate redemption and standard of values is 
 now one of the foremost issues in the minds of 
 the voters of Nebraska, and that the change from 
 the double to the single standard is, has been, and 
 will continue to be, until reversed, a grievous 
 wrong to the people of the United States and par- 
 ticularly to the people of Nebraska ; and believ- 
 ing that nine-tenths of the Democrats of Ne- 
 braska so feel, and that they have not always been 
 fairly represented on the subject by the Demo- 
 cratic conventions of Nebraska ; and believing 
 that the time has come when the welfare of the 
 party in this State imperatively demands a plain,
 
 198 
 
 unequivocal statement of the party on that sub- 
 ject; 
 
 "Therefore, we, the undersigned Democrats of 
 Nebraska, for the purpose of propagating the 
 double standard doctrine in the Democratic party 
 and enabling the masses of the Democratic party 
 in this State to obtain the fairest expression of 
 their views on that subject in the conventions of 
 the future, do hereby call a State conference of 
 Free Silver Democrats, to be held at Omaha, com- 
 mencing at 2 o'clock in the afternoon of Thursday, 
 June 21, 1894, at which conference will be organ- 
 ized a 'Nebraska Democratic Free Coinage 
 League.'" 
 
 This call was signed by 250 representative Dem- 
 ocrats. On June 21 this great conference was 
 called to order. One thousand delegates were in 
 attendance. The Nebraska Bimetallic League 
 was organized and the following resolutions were 
 adopted : 
 
 " We send greeting to our fellow-Democrats of 
 Nebraska and ask their earnest co-operation and 
 aid in electing delegates from every county in the 
 State to the Democratic State Convention of 1894, 
 pledged to vote for the insertion in the Democratic 
 State platform of the following plank : 
 
 " ' We favor the immediate restoration of the 
 free and unlimited coinage of gold and silver at 
 the present ratio of 1 6 to i, without waiting for 
 the aid and consent of any other nation on earth.'
 
 HON. W. J. STONE, 
 
 GoverDor k of_Missouri.
 
 CLAKK HOWELL, 
 
 Editor of the Constitution, Atlanta, Ga.
 
 201 
 
 " In the effort to obtain a fair expression of 
 Democratic sentiment, we urge upon every Dem- 
 ocrat who believes in the principles herein enun- 
 ciated to participate actively and vigorously in the 
 selection of delegates to the State Convention. 
 
 "We recommend that in every county of the 
 State the Democrats who oppose this proposed 
 plank be invited to a thorough discussion of its 
 merits, to the end that the Democratic party may 
 act intelligently and harmoniously upon this great 
 question. 
 
 "We propose that this contest shall be fought 
 out upon clean lines and with intelligent methods, 
 but, confident in the correctness of our position, 
 we also propose that the fight shall be vigorous, 
 and that no effort shall be spared to place in the 
 platform of the Democratic party the same 
 emphasis, the same unmistakable utterance con- 
 cerning the great question of finance, as has been 
 lastingly imprinted upon our platforms concerning 
 the great question of tariff reform." 
 
 Mr. Bryan addressed the Conference on the 
 money question and concluded his splendid effort 
 in the following language: 
 
 "I bid you go forth to battle; upon you rests a 
 grave responsibility, and going forth in the name 
 of the party that you love, you can redeem this 
 country. The restoration of silver is only one of 
 the reforms, but if the Democratic party cannot 
 accomplish it, it cannot accomplish the others, for
 
 202 
 
 the same power opposes all the reforms demanded 
 by the people to-day. Here before me are gray 
 haired, men who have toiled for victory for long 
 years without hope of reward or fear of pun- 
 ishment. Their eyes may not behold complete 
 success, but they may know that their labors have 
 not been in vain, and when the time comes lie 
 down happy in the promise: 
 
 " ' Yea, though thou lie upon the dust, 
 
 When they who helped thee flee in fear, 
 Die full of hope and manly trust, 
 Like those who fell in battle here. 
 
 " ' Another hand thy sword shall wield ; 
 
 Another hand the standard wave ; 
 Till from the trumpet's mouth is pealed 
 The blast of triumph o'er thy grave.' " 
 
 The mighty determination of the silver men 
 thoroughly alarmed the administration forces. At 
 the same time it gave hope to the silver Demo- 
 crats of the State and from all parts of Nebraska 
 came encouraging words and promises of loyal as- 
 sistance from men who had become disgusted with 
 
 o 
 
 the manipulation of their party to base purposes. 
 The Silver Democrats at their conference adopted 
 a courteous resolution, requesting the gold-bug 
 State Committee to call an early convention, in 
 order that the contest might be properly carried 
 on. But the committee refused to adhere to the
 
 203 
 
 request and insisted on calling a late convention 
 in the hope that the gold men would be able to 
 repair their shattered forces. The silver men 
 prepared for the fight and organized in every 
 county of the State. In the spring of 1894 Mr. 
 Bryan had announced his determination not to be 
 a candidate for a third term in the House on July 
 28, 1 894. The following letter was sent to Mr. 
 Bryan : 
 
 " HEADQUARTERS NEBRASKA DEMOCRATIC FREE 
 COINAGE LEAGUE, GENEVA, Neb., July 28, 1894. 
 [To Hon. William J. Bryan, Washington, D. C] 
 
 Dear Sir: The growing sentiment that United 
 States Senators should be the choice of the people 
 make it essential that Nebraska should be in line 
 with other States with this progressive idea. Be- 
 lieving that the great majority of the people of 
 Nebraska desire that you should represent this 
 State in the United States Senate, the executive 
 committee of the Nebraska Democratic Free 
 Coinage League, respectfully request that you an- 
 nounce yourself as a candidate for this high office. 
 
 " We desire that you shall at the same time an- 
 nounce the principles which will guide you in the 
 event that you are elected, and also that you shall 
 make a thorough canvass of the State. 
 
 o 
 
 " In the event that you make this announcement, 
 the friends of bimetallism in the Democratic party 
 propose to urge your nomination by that party. 
 
 " We are confident that every element in the
 
 2O4 
 
 State favorable to the principles you have so ably 
 championed are favorable to your election as 
 United States Senator, and we are certain that the 
 political party which does not champion your can- 
 didacy will not reflect the sentiment of the masses 
 of the people of Nebraska. 
 
 "Awaiting an early reply we are yours, truly, 
 
 J. E. ONG, President, 
 
 F. J. MORGAN, Secretary, 
 
 G. A. LUIKHART, Treasurer, 
 JAMES C. DAHLMAN, 
 
 H. M. BOYDSTON, 
 C. J. SMYTHE, 
 ROBERT CLOGG, 
 W. D. OLDHAM, 
 JOHN THOMPSON, 
 WILLIAM H. THOMSEN, 
 W. H. KELLIGAR, 
 GEORGE WELLS, 
 
 Executive Committee." 
 
 On August 5, 1894, Mr. Bryan replied to this 
 letter consenting to become a candidate for the 
 United States Senate. In this letter he said that 
 if he should be elected he would do his part to 
 repeal the unjust laws now existing and to secure 
 such new legislation as might be necessary to 
 protect each citizen in the enjoyment of life, lib- 
 erty and the pursuit of happiness. He said he 
 would labor for an income tax as a permanent
 
 205 
 
 part of our financial system, preferring a gradu- 
 ated tax, but accepting the tax provided for in the 
 Wilson Bill as a step toward the restoration of 
 equality in the distribution of the burdens of 
 government. He said that the most important 
 and far-reaching question which would confront 
 the Senator then to be elected from Nebraska was 
 the money question. On this question Mr. Bryan 
 said : 
 
 "In my judgment it lies at the bottom of the 
 great industrial disturbance now prevalent 
 throughout the world, and no permanent prosper- 
 ity can be expected until silver is restored to its 
 rightful place by the side of gold, or metallic 
 money is abandoned entirely. For reasons which 
 I have stated on former occasions, I prefer the 
 remonetization of silver to the complete demone- 
 tization of both of the precious metals , and I 
 therefore ' favor the immediate restoration of the 
 free and unlimited coinage of gold and silver at 
 the present ratio of 16 to i, without waiting for 
 the aid or consent of any other nation on earth.' 
 
 " Believing that the creation of money is an at- 
 tribute of sovereignty, I am opposed to farming 
 out the right to any private individual or corpora- 
 tion whatever, and, in case the precious metals do 
 not furnish a sufficient supply, Javor the issue of 
 full legal tender paper, redeemable in coin, by the 
 General Government, in such quantities that the 
 volume of the currency, gold, silver and paper to-
 
 206 
 
 gather, will be so adjusted to the needs of com- 
 merce that the dollar will be stable in its purchas- 
 ing power, and thus defraud neither debtor nor 
 creditor. 
 
 " I shall also favor such legislation as will here- 
 after prohibit the making of contracts for a par- 
 ticular kind of money. No person should be 
 permitted to demonetize by contract a nation's 
 money. 
 
 "The fact that the purchasers of the bonds re- 
 cently issued (and issued, as I believe, without 
 reasonable excuse,) drew from the treasury more 
 than $ 1 8,000,000 in gold, to pay for the bonds 
 sold to obtain gold, shows the viciousness of the 
 policy followed by the present administration and 
 by the preceding Republican administration, of 
 allowing the holders of greenbacks and treasury 
 notes to demand gold only for redemption. The 
 Government has, and should exercise, the option 
 of paying either gold or silver on all coin obliga- 
 tions. If the Government will exercise this op- 
 tion in the interest of the people generally, it will 
 not be necessary to further burden the taxpayers 
 by issues of interest-bearing bonds in time of 
 peace. Until the Government does exercise its 
 right to pay in silver, when that is most conve- 
 nient, it will be at the mercy of any band of con- 
 spirators who may* find a pecuniary advantage in 
 depleting the gold reserve. No issue of bonds, 
 however great or frequent, can maintain a gold
 
 207 
 
 reserve so long as the option is given to the note- 
 holder, and the moneyed interests find a profit in 
 the increase of our bonded indebtedness." 
 
 Mr. Bryan also declared in favor of election of 
 Senators by the people. He declared in favor of a 
 liberal pension policy toward the nation's disabled 
 soldiers. He favored the foreclosure of Govern- 
 ment liens on all Pacific Railways, and their sale, 
 in order that the people of Nebraska and other 
 Western States might not be burdened by the 
 tolls collected to pay interest on an exorbitant 
 valuation. He favored the application of the 
 principle of arbitration as far as Federal authority 
 extends. 
 
 Mr. Bryan's letter contained one plank which 
 is very significant at this time, taken in connection 
 with his declaration immediately following his 
 nomination at Chicago. 
 
 This plank is as follows : 
 
 " I am in favor of an amendment to the Consti- 
 tution making the President ineligible to re-elec- 
 tion, in order that he may not be tempted by 
 ambition to use the enormous patronage at his 
 disposal to secure a continuance in office." 
 
 This is only one instance indicating that the 
 principles advocated by William J. Bryan are not 
 those hewn out for the occasion, but that they are 
 the same principles to which he has devoted his 
 life and his earnest and consistent effort. 
 
 The contest for control of the Democratic State
 
 208 
 
 Convention that year was the most spirited in the 
 history of the State. County after county elected 
 silver delegates and instructed for Bryan for 
 United States Senator. The "gold bugs" felt 
 confident of carrying Douglas county, in which 
 Omaha is located, but the Bryan men invaded that 
 domain and made such a vigorous warfare that a 
 solid free silver delegation was elected from that 
 county. The silver men controlled the State Con- 
 vention which met September 27, 1894, by two to 
 one, and that convention adopted a platform of 
 which the following is an extract : 
 
 " We endorse the language used by Hon. John 
 G. Carlisle, in 1878, when he denounced the 'con- 
 spiracy* to destroy silver money as 'the most 
 gigantic crime of this or any other age,' and we 
 agree with him that 'the consummation of such 
 a scheme would ultimately entail more misery 
 upon the human race than all the wars, pestilences 
 and famines that ever occurred in the history of 
 the world.' (Cheers.) We are not willing to be 
 parties to such a crime, and in order to undo the 
 wrong already done, and to prevent the further 
 appreciation of money, we favor the immediate 
 restoration of the free and unlimited coinao-e of 
 
 o 
 
 silver and gold at the present ratio of 16 to i f 
 without waiting for the aid or consent of any other 1 
 nation upon earth. 
 
 "We regard the right to issue money as an 
 attribute of sovereignty and believe that all money
 
 J. K. McLEAN, ESQ., 
 Editor of the Enquirer, Cincinnati, O.
 
 HON. G. G. VEST, 
 
 U. S. Senator from Missouri.
 
 211 
 
 needed to supplement the gold and silver coinage 
 of the Constitution, and to make the dollar so 
 stable in its purchasing power that it will defraud 
 neither debtor nor creditor, should be issued by 
 the General Government as the greenbacks were 
 issued ; that such money should be redeemable in 
 coin, the Government to exercise the option by 
 redeeming them in gold or silver, whichever is 
 most convenient for the Government. We believe 
 that all money issued by the Government, whether 
 gold, silver or paper, should be made a full legal 
 tender for all debts, public and private (applause), 
 and that no citizen should be permitted to demone- 
 tize by contract that which the Government makes 
 money by law." 
 
 Mr. Bryan was nominated by that convention 
 for United States Senator. There was consider- 
 able difference between this convention and the 
 convention that assembled in Lincoln in 1893, 
 when Bryan was rebuked. The convention of 
 1893 was dominated by the agents of the Cleve- 
 land administration, but the convention of 1894 
 was in the hands of the untramelled Democracy 
 of Nebraska. 
 
 Mr. Bryan, in acknowledging his nomination to 
 be United States Senator, said among other 
 things : 
 
 " I look back over what I have tried to do with 
 nothing of regret except that I have been able to 
 do so little of what I have desired to do. I have
 
 212 
 
 realized, as each day passed, more and more the 
 magnitude of the work, and more and more the 
 exactitude of such a position. I want to say to 
 you that I have striven as best I could to carry out 
 your wishes as expressed at the convention and 
 to protect your rights, as I understood them, and 
 to do my duty as I saw it. I believe from your 
 vote to-night that you will give me credit for 
 having at least made an earnest attempt. 
 
 "I could not promise more fidelity in the future 
 than I have tried to give in the past. The ex- 
 perience, which by your suffrages I have been able 
 to earn, will be used, if by your suffrages again I 
 am made a member of the upper part of Con- 
 gress." 
 
 Although the State Convention was controlled 
 
 o 
 
 two to one by the silver men and the " gold bugs " 
 had been thoroughly whipped, thirty-nine of them, 
 mostly Federal office-holders, or beneficiaries 
 otherwise of the administration, bolted the con- 
 vention and upon this slender pretext built up an 
 organization which laid claim to be the regular 
 Democratic organization of the State. The progeny 
 of this organization was the delegation that went 
 to Chicago and was seated by the votes of the 
 " gold bug " members of the national committee 
 and then ejected from the convention by the 
 unanimous vote of the credentials committee, even 
 the gold men of the credentials committee not be-
 
 213 
 
 able to countenance such a shallow claim to 
 recognition in a Democratic assemblage. 
 
 On the day following Mr. Bryan's nomination 
 C. J. Smythe, chairman of the Democratic State 
 Convention, issued a challenge to the Hon. John 
 M. Thurston, who, although not formally nomi- 
 nated, was regarded as the Republican choice for 
 Senator. It was very evident from the start that 
 Mr. Thurston was not fond of punishment and it 
 required considerable correspondence before he 
 was induced, or perhaps forced, to meet Mr. 
 Bryan in joint debate. Messrs. Bryan and Thur- 
 ston opened their debate in Lincoln to a crowd 
 of about 10,000 people. The second meeting was 
 in Omaha where 15,000 people had gathered. It 
 was a mighty contest in which Mr. Thurston, who 
 is a man of great ability, acquitted himself with 
 great credit. But his friends were not profuse in 
 their compliments of his really worthy effort. 
 They were content to congratulate their distin- 
 guished fellow-Republican that he had escaped 
 from the contest with his life. Bryan overmatched 
 the ablest Republican orator west of the Mis- 
 sissippi river exactly as he has overmatched every 
 orator on either side of the Father of Waters. 
 
 Mr. Bryan was defeated for the Senate. Ne- 
 braska has a law whereby preference of the United 
 States Senator may be expressed by the voter on 
 his ballot. Of these expressions Mr. Bryan re- 
 ceived 81,000 votes. Had the result been deter-
 
 214 
 
 mined by the popular vote, no politician denies 
 that Mr. Bryan would have been elected by a 
 large majority. But the effect of many votes were 
 lost for Mr. Bryan by the election of members for 
 the Legislature by districts and thus the Republi- 
 cans controlled that body. Mr. Bryan's defeat 
 was a great disappointment to his many loyal 
 friends in Nebraska, but if it was a serious disap- 
 pointment to himself no one was ever able to dis-. 
 cover it. He is not a man to " wear his heart on 
 his sleeve for daws to peck at," and he accepted 
 defeat gracefully. As soon as the result of the 
 election was known, Mr. Bryan issued this splendid 
 letter to his Nebraska friends. 
 
 "LINCOLN, NEB., Novembers, 1894. 
 
 " The Legislature is Republican, and a Republi- 
 can Senator will now be elected to represent 
 Nebraska. This may be mortifying to the numer- 
 ous chairmen who have introduced me to audi- 
 ences as the ' next Senator from Nebraska,' but 
 it illustrates the uncertainty of prophecies. 
 
 " I appreciate more than words can express the 
 cordial good will and the loyal support of the 
 friends to whom I am indebted for the political 
 honors which I have received. I am especially 
 grateful to those who bear without humiliation the 
 name of the common people, for they have been 
 my friends when others have deserted me. I ap- 
 preciate also the kind words of many who have
 
 215 
 
 been restrained by party ties from giving me their 
 votes. I have been a hired man for four years, 
 and, now that the campaign is closed, I may be 
 pardoned for saying that as a public servant I 
 have performed my duty to the best of my ability, 
 and am not ashamed of the record made. 
 
 "I stepped from private life into national poli- 
 tics at the bidding of my countrymen ; at their 
 bidding I again take my place in the ranks and 
 resume without sorrow the work from which they 
 called me. It is the glory of our institutions that 
 public officials exercise authority by the consent 
 of the governed rather than by divine or hered- 
 itary right. Paraphrasing the language of Job, 
 each public servant can say of departing honors : 
 ' The people gave and the people have taken 
 away, blessed be the name of the people.' 
 
 "Speaking of my own experience in politics, I 
 may again borrow an idea from the great sufferer 
 and say : ' What, shall we receive good at the 
 hands of the people, and shall we not receive 
 evil ? ' I have received good even beyond my 
 deserts, and I accepted defeat without complaint. 
 I ask my friends not to cherish resentment against 
 any who may have contributed to the result. If 
 my election would have brought good to the State, 
 those who have aided in the defeat will suffer as 
 much as we ; if my defeat has brought good to the 
 State, we as citizens shall enjoy the advantage in 
 common with those who secured it. If they were 
 
 13
 
 2l6 
 
 conscientiously striving to carry out what they 
 believed to be right, we cannot criticise them, be- 
 cause each citizen has a right to contend in politics 
 for the measures and men desired by him, and he 
 is in duty bound to do so. If our opponents were 
 actuated by unworthy motives, they will suffer 
 more than their victim. Instead of finding fault 
 when it is too late to apply a remedy, let us rather 
 prepare for the work before us. I have advocated 
 fusion because I believe it necessary to bring the 
 reform forces of society together in order to over- 
 come a united and insolent opposition. I still 
 advocate fusion as the only possible road to the 
 great reforms needed. 
 
 "The enemies of good government, the bene- 
 ficiaries of class legislation, act as one man, with 
 unlimited means at their disposal. The common 
 people have only their votes, and they must cast 
 them togetheror suffer defeat. In this State, fusion, 
 while only partial, has elected Judge Holcomb and 
 thus secured the defeat of as corrupt a ring as 
 ever cursed the State. That is a great victory 
 for this year. Where else have the Democrats 
 and Populists won such a triumph? Let us re- 
 joice that by our combined efforts we have elected 
 an honest man as Executive of this State. 
 
 " The friends of these reforms have fought a 
 good fight ; they have kept the faith, and they will 
 not have finished their course until the reforms 
 are accomplished. Let us be grateful for the
 
 progress made, and ' with malice toward none and 
 charity for all ' begin the work of the next 
 campaign. 
 
 " Those who fight for the right may be defeated, 
 but they are never conquered. They may suffer 
 reverses, but they never suffer disgrace. 
 
 "Yours truly, 
 
 "W. J. BRYAN."
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 BRYAN AT ARLINGTON. 
 
 On May 30, 1894, at Arlington, Washington, 
 D. C., Mr. Bryan delivered the Memorial Day 
 Address, which was listened to by the President 
 and his cabinet, and many members of Congress. 
 This address was admitted by Mr. Bryan's most 
 bitter opponents, to be one of the best of 
 memorial day productions. On this occasion Mr. 
 Bryan said: 
 
 "With flowers in our hands and sadness in our 
 hearts, we stand amid the tombs where the nation's 
 dead are sleeping. It is appropriate that the 
 chief executive is here, accompanied by his cabi- 
 net ; it is appropriate that the soldier's widow is 
 here, and the soldier's son ; it is appropriate that 
 here are assembled, in numbers growing less 
 each year, the scarred survivors, federal and con- 
 federate, of our last great war ; it is appropriate, 
 also, that these exercises in honor of comrades 
 dead, should be conducted by comrades still sur- 
 viving. All too soon the day will come, when 
 these graves must be decorated by hands unused 
 to the implements of war, and when these speeches 
 must be made by lips that never answered to a 
 roll call. 
 
 218
 
 219 
 
 "We, who are of the aftermath, cannot look 
 upon the flag with the same emotions that thrill 
 you, who have followed it as your pillar of cloud 
 by day and your pillar of fire by night, nor can 
 we appreciate it as you can who have seen it 
 waving in front of reinforcements when succor 
 meant escape from death ; neither can we, stand- 
 ing by these blossom-covered mounds, feel as you 
 have often felt when far away from home, and on 
 hostile soil you have laid your companions to 
 rest ; but from a new generation we can bring you 
 the welcome assurance that the commemoration 
 of this day will not part with you. We may 
 neglect the places where the nation's greatest vic- 
 tories have been won, but we cannot forget the 
 Arlingtons which the nation has consecrated with 
 its tears. 
 
 "To ourselves, as well as to the dead, we owe 
 the duty which we discharge here, for monuments 
 and memorial days declare the patriotism of the 
 living no less than the virtues of those whom 
 they commemorate. 
 
 "We would be blind indeed to our own interests 
 and to the welfare of posterity, if we were deaf 
 to the just demands of the soldiers and his de- 
 pendents. We are grateful for the services ren- 
 dered by our defenders, whether illustrious or 
 nameless, and yet a nation's gratitude in not en- 
 tirely unselfish, since by our regard for the dead, 
 we add to the security of the living ; by our
 
 remembrance of those who have suffered, we give 
 inspiration to those upon whose valor we must 
 hereafter rely, and prove ourselves worthy of the 
 sacrifices which have been made and which may 
 be again required. 
 
 " The essence of patriotism lies in a willingness 
 to sacrifice for one's country, just as true great- 
 ness finds expression, not in blessings enjoyed, 
 but in good bestowed. Read the words inscribed 
 on the monuments reared by loving hands to the 
 heroes of the past ; they do not speak of wealth 
 inherited, or honors bought, or of hours in leisure 
 spent, but of service done. Twenty years, forty 
 years, a life or life's most precious blood he 
 yielded up for the welfare of his fellows this is 
 the simple story which proves that it is now, and 
 ever has been, more blessed to give than to re- 
 ceive. 
 
 " The officer was a patriot when he gave his abil- 
 ity to his country and risked his name and fame 
 upon the fortunes of war ; the private soldier was 
 a patriot when he took his place in the ranks and 
 offered his body as a bulwark to protect the flag ; 
 the wife was a patriot when she bade her hus- 
 band farewell and gathered about her the little 
 brood over which she must exercise both a 
 mother's and a father's care ; and if there can be 
 degrees in patriotism, the mother stood first 
 among the patriots when she gave to the nation 
 her sons, the divinely-appointed support of her
 
 221 
 
 declining years, and as she brushed the tears 
 away, thanked God that he had given her the 
 strength to rear strong and courageous sons for 
 the battlefield. 
 
 " To us who were born too late to prove upon 
 the battlefield our courage and our loyalty, it is 
 gratifying to know that opportunity will not 
 be wanting to show our love of country. In a 
 nation like ours, where the Government is 
 founded upon the principle of equality and de- 
 rives its just powers from the consent of the 
 Government ; in a land like ours, I say, where 
 every citizen is a sovereign and where no one 
 cares to wear a crown, every year presents a 
 battlefield and every day brings forth occasion for 
 the display of patriotism. 
 
 "And on this memorial day we shall fall short of 
 our duty if we content ourselves with praising 
 the dead or complimenting the living and fail to 
 make preparation for those responsibilities which 
 present times and present conditions impose upon 
 us. We can find instruction in that incomparable 
 address delivered by Abraham Lincoln on the 
 battlefield of Gettysburg. It should be read as 
 a part of the exercises of this day on each return- 
 ing year as the Declaration of Independence is 
 read on the Fourth of July. Let me quote from 
 it, for its truths, like all truths, are applicable in 
 all times and climes : 
 
 " 'We have come to dedicate a portion of that
 
 222 
 
 field as a final resting place for those who here 
 gave their lives that that nation might live. It is 
 altogether fitting and proper that we should do 
 this. But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, 
 we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this 
 ground. The brave men, living and dead, who 
 struggled here, have consecrated it far above our 
 power to add or detract. The world will little 
 note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it 
 cannot forget what they did here. It is for us, 
 the living, rather to be dedicated here to the un- 
 finished work which they who fought here have 
 thus far so nobly advanced.' 
 
 " 'The Unfinished Work.' Yes, every generation 
 leaves to its successor an unfinished work. The 
 work of society, the work of human progress, 
 the work of civilization is never completed. We 
 build upon the foundation which we find already 
 laid, and those who follow us take up the work 
 where we leave off. Those who fought and fell 
 
 o 
 
 thirty years ago did nobly advance the work in 
 their day, for they led the nation up to higher 
 grounds. Theirs was the greatest triumph in all 
 history. Other armies have been inspired by 
 love of conquest, or have fought to repel a foreign 
 enemy, but our armies held within the Union 
 brethren, who now rejoice at their own defeat, and 
 glory in the preservation of the nation which 
 they once sought to dismember. No greater 
 victory can be won by citizens or soldiers than to
 
 223 
 
 transform temporary foes into permanent friends. 
 But let me quote again : 
 
 '"It is rather for us to be here dedicated to 
 the great task remaining- before us, that from 
 these honored dead we take increased devotion 
 to that cause for which they gave the last full 
 measure of devotion ; that we here highly resolve 
 that these dead shall not have died in vain ; that 
 this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of 
 freedom, and that government of the people, by 
 the people and for the people shall not perish 
 from the earth.' 
 
 "Aye, let us here dedicate ourselves anew to 
 this unfinished work, which requires of each 
 generation constant sacrifice and unceasing care. 
 Pericles, in speaking of those who fell at Salamis, 
 explained the loyalty of his countrymen when he 
 said: 
 
 " ' It was for such a country, then, fhat these 
 men, nobly resolving not to have it 6^ken from 
 them, fell fighting, and every one (V their sur- 
 vivors may well be willing to suffer f/.i its behalf.' 
 
 " The strength of a nation does not lie in forts, 
 nor in navies, nor yet in great standing armies, 
 but in happy and contented citizens, who are ever 
 ready to protect for themselves and to preserve 
 for posterity the blessings which they enjoy. It 
 is for us in this generation to prove ourselves 
 worthy of our ancestors by making our Govern- 
 ment so good, so just and so beneficent, that
 
 224 
 
 all who live beneath its flag will be willing if need 
 be to die in its defense. It is for us of this gener- 
 ation to so perform the duties of citizenship that 
 a ' government of the people, by the people and 
 for the people shall not perish from the earth.' 
 
 "The man who gave expression to these thoughts 
 is a safe man for any position where genuine 
 patriotism and real ability are the essentials." 
 
 On September i, 1894, Mr. Bryan became 
 editor-in-chief of the Omaha World-Herald. His 
 strongest and best editorial efforts were devoted 
 to an education of the people on the money 
 question. The following extracts are taken from 
 some of Mr. Bryan's editorials, for which extracts 
 this publication is indebted to the New York 
 World: 
 
 " Editor Bryan attacked the secret bond deal 
 arranged by Mr. Cleveland and Mr. Carlisle with 
 J. Pierpont Morgan in an editorial on March 4, 
 1895. He said 
 
 " ' The enormous bonus that was given the 
 Rothschild syndicate to take the last issue of 
 bonds may prove, after all, to be one of the best 
 investments the people have made in many a day. 
 The deal reveals the cloven foot of a political 
 syndicate, which undoubtedly has for its purpose 
 the expenditure of foreign money to carry the 
 next presidential and subsequent presidential 
 elections in the interest of foreign and home capi- 
 talists, and the money the people have paid to
 
 225 
 
 get a glimpse of this enemy of our institutions 
 will have been well and profitably invested if it 
 causes them to rise in their might and send the 
 American end of the conspiracy to its political 
 grave. 
 
 " ' There is no doubt whatever that the Roths 
 child syndicate will make its bond holdings an ex- 
 cuse to employ agents to influence nominating 
 conventions that neither party shall designate a 
 man for the Presidency who cannot be brought 
 under the syndicate's influence. It is apparent 
 that not a stone wiil be left unturned by Wall 
 street and London to fasten upon the country at 
 the next election an administration that is com- 
 mitted in advance to the gold standard. Every 
 move of the monometallists in this country and 
 Europe indicates as much, and when once mono- 
 metallism is firmly fastened about the necks of the 
 people, Eastern and foreign capital will be the 
 people's taskmaster. Farmers, mechanics, labor- 
 ers the common people think they already 
 have greater burdens than they can bear, 
 but if these bond syndicates get control of the 
 Government the people will have to make bricks 
 without straw. As an eye-opener, therefore, the 
 bonus paid the Rothschild combine is not too 
 great if the people will act, now that their eyes 
 are open.' ' 
 
 On April 28, 1894, Mr. Bryan editorially advo- 
 cated the "initiative and referendum." Here are 
 Mr. Bryan's words :
 
 226 
 
 "The principle of the initiative and referendum 
 is Democratic. It will not be opposed by any 
 Democrat who indorses the declaration of Jeffer- 
 son that the people are capable of self-govern- 
 ment, nor will it be opposed by any Republican 
 who holds to Lincoln's idea that this should be 
 a Government of the people, by the people and 
 for the people. It is the duty of every good 
 citizen to endeavor to make the machinery of 
 government as perfect as possible. 
 
 " The anarchists in Chicago did not hold memo- 
 rial services over the graves of those of their 
 comrades who were executed for participating in 
 the Haymarket riots. For seven years it has 
 been their custom to hold exercises of this char- 
 acter in Waldheim Cemetery, where the remains 
 of their misguided friends are buried, but the di- 
 rectors of the cemetery this year refused to per- 
 mit it. It seems harsh to prohibit a tribute by the 
 living to its beloved dead, but in this case the 
 action of the directors was justifiable. These 
 annual gatherings have not been those of genuine 
 mourning, but the participants have used the 
 place and occasion to teach their doctrines, and to 
 stir up an animosity against the law and its 
 officers. 
 
 "Anarchy has no place in this country, either 
 in the busy walks of life or in the quiet city of the 
 dead. Anarchy is an enemy to peace, to society 
 and to happiness. It is not to be tolerated in any
 
 227 
 
 country. Much less has it any cause for existence 
 or toleration in this country, and its friends and 
 devotees cannot use the sacredness of the grave 
 as a means for spreading their unwholesome doc- 
 trines and to stir up new strife against the law 
 that accords to even the teachers of arson and assas- 
 sination, a fair and impartial trial before a jury of 
 their peers." 
 
 When the Senate Investigating Committee was 
 probing the Sugar Trust, President Havemeyer 
 acknowledged under oath that the principal object 
 of the trust was to control the price on output of 
 sugar. Mr. Bryan privately sent a copy of this 
 evidence to Mr. Olney, then attorney-general, but 
 he got no reply. On September 7th, Mr. Bryan 
 published an editorial, rehearsing Mr. Havemeyer's 
 testimony and quoting the statute forbidding 
 trusts. This is Mr. Bryan's summary of the 
 matter : 
 
 " A clear case would seem to be made out 
 against the trust by the testimony of its President, 
 which, be it said, is corroborated by the record of 
 testimony in a suit brought in the United States 
 Court by the North River Refining Company 
 against the trust. Will Attorney-General Olney 
 bring the officers of the trust to justice ? " 
 
 Editor Bryan was strongly opposed to the mar- 
 riage of rich American women to titled foreigners, 
 and on November 3, 1895, sa ^ tnat tne rearing 
 o^ rich American girls in such a manner as to
 
 228 
 
 make them desire titled husbands was "a reflec- 
 tion on the parents, who cultivated a love for aris- 
 tocracy rather than a pride in American democ- 
 racy." Mr. Bryan continued : 
 
 " Our forefathers decided that titles were 
 dangerous to liberty, and it is to be regretted 
 that the patriotism of Revolutionary days has 
 given place to a disgraceful scramble, among the 
 daughters of some of our multi-millionaires, for 
 lords and dukes and counts. 
 
 " When an Englishman or Frenchman or other 
 foreigner, with nothing to commend him but a 
 title, inherited from a remote ancestor (and possi- 
 bly only retained because it could not be pawned), 
 reaches majority, he embarks for the United 
 States and enters into negotiations for some mar- 
 riageable heiress or heiress-apparent. Instead of 
 teaching their daughters to regard with favor the 
 suits of worthy sons of this country, too many 
 ambitious parents lead their daughters into the 
 market-place, and seek to barter a fortune for a 
 crown. 
 
 " Love may leap across the ocean and join in 
 holy wedlock ' two hearts that beat as one,' but 
 social ambition and hereditary avarice can never 
 weld two hearts into home-building material. 
 
 "When Cupid becomes a boodler, and court- 
 ship is carried on by brokers, marriage is a 
 mockery. 
 
 " It is significant that poor American girls, how-
 
 229 
 
 ever accomplished, have no charms for impecu- 
 nious noblemen. It is also a source of congratu- 
 lation that American sons do not seek foreign 
 alliances. It is a shame that some American 
 daughters do." 
 
 Now that Mr, Bryan expects to live in the 
 White House himself it is interesting to recall 
 what he wrote on March 3 1 st, less than four months 
 ago, on the subject of former presidents and a 
 proposition to pension them. These are his 
 words : 
 
 " Ex-presidents ought to take care of them- 
 selves as ordinary citizens do. If it should ever 
 happen that one of our ex-presidents should be in 
 need of public or private aid, said aid would be 
 forthcoming. In recent years our presidents have 
 retired in comfortable circumstances. Gen. Har- 
 rison is earning fat fees at the bar, and his dignity 
 does not suffer one bit because he is eating his 
 bread in the perspiration of his gray matter. 
 When Mr. Cleveland retires he will not be in im- 
 mediate want. The several millions which he is 
 credited with accumulating will help to keep the 
 wolf from the door for a while, and whenever his 
 reserve fund gets below one or two millions the 
 people will help him out cheerfully. 
 
 "This Government will attain more to the pur- 
 pose of its founders when the notion that the 
 / i ople owe their officials anything is entirely 
 eradicated. To be sure, we owe the faithful
 
 230 
 
 official our appreciation and respect. We have 
 paid him for his time, and he loses nothing in 
 dignity if he steps from his official place to the ranks 
 of the laborers. If he is broken down in health 
 or should otherwise be unfortunate, the American 
 people would not permit an ex-president to 
 suffer." 
 
 After the nomination of McKinley and Hobart, 
 at St. Louis, Mr. Bryan editorially attacked Mr. 
 Hobart and reprinted The World's criticism. Of 
 Mr. McKinley he said : 
 
 " In selecting William McKinley as its standard- 
 bearer, the Republican party chose the strongest 
 man within its ranks. He is a man of good char- 
 acter and personally no objection can be urged 
 against him. 
 
 " It is amazing that a man for whom the people 
 of this country entertain such a high regard as 
 they do for Mr. McKinley would consent to be- 
 come the standard-bearer of a cause that has 
 brought upon us all of our woe, and the continu- 
 ation of which will make prosperity impossible. 
 But the people will vote for the measures, not 
 men, this year, and Mr. McKinley, as the repre- 
 sentative of an un-American measure, will go 
 down to defeat." 
 
 On January 14, 1895, tne World-Herald con- 
 tained an editorial from Mr. Bryan's pen on the 
 subject of "vast wealth." He said : 
 
 "It is possible for one citizen to injure another
 
 231 
 
 with a club or with a weapon, but that is not the 
 only way. The gamblers on the Board of Trade 
 may injure the farmer by decreasing the price of 
 his grain, or they may injure the person who buys 
 farm products by increasing the price. Whether 
 their manipulations of the markets hurt the one 
 class or the other they do an injury. Trusts crush 
 out small competitors, and, then having a monop- 
 oly, extort higher prices from purchasers. There 
 are many indirect methods by which one person 
 can injure another, methods by which one per- 
 son virtually takes the property of another person 
 without his consent. 
 
 " If the Government properly restrains each 
 citizen intent on wrong-doing and fully protects 
 every citizen in the 'enjoyment of life, liberty and 
 the pursuit of happiness,' many great fortunes 
 will be prevented. 
 
 "People may well ask themselves whether our 
 form of government will stand an indefinite ag- 
 gravation of the tendency which has been observed 
 for the last generation. Great inequality in wealth 
 fosters social and political inequality and arouses 
 class prejudices when great accumulations are 
 found to arise from unjust legislation. 
 
 "The main contention of some of our finan- 
 ciers is, that we should so arrange our monetary 
 system as to continually increase the investment 
 of foreign capital among us. The World-Herald 
 
 believes that it is better for the Government to 
 
 U
 
 232 
 
 furnish a sufficient supply of money to do the 
 business of the country, than to depend upon 
 borrowing abroad and paying interest upon it. 
 
 "There is an economy in exchanging that 
 which we can produce at a low cost, for something 
 which we can only produce here at a high cost. 
 That is the principle which lies at the foundation 
 of all commerce between individuals and between 
 nations. But there can be no justification for a 
 financial system in this country, built upon the 
 theory, that the more money we borrow abroad, 
 the better we are off, and which permits the sale 
 of a few American securities in London to create 
 a panic in this country." 
 
 Mr. Bryan closed his editorial by declaring 
 that the only remedy for our present financial ills, 
 was independent and free coinage of silver, and 
 the issue, by the Federal Government, of what- 
 ever paper money is needed to preserve stability 
 in the purchasing power of the dollar. 
 
 In July, 1895, tne Salvation Army was in trouble 
 and Mr. Bryan wrote an editorial defending it. 
 He said : 
 
 "The Salvation Army is not a nuisance. It is 
 'noisy,' but Satan is a rather noisy fellow himself, 
 and no one can object if these people choose to 
 ' fight the devil with fire.' * * * If it is ' a 
 noisy crowd,' the noise will never induce any man 
 or woman to do wrong, and there are thousands 
 of instances where this ' noise ' has induced many
 
 233 
 
 persons to quit their meanness. Such an organi- 
 zation is entitled not only to respect, but to the 
 earnest co-operation of every good citizen." 
 
 On February 16, 1895, Mr. Bryan wrote this: 
 
 "The cry that the Democratic party is dead is 
 the cry of the enemy, of the coward and of the 
 traitor. The Democratic party is not dead, nor 
 is it asleep. When the Democratic party dies 
 Democratic principles will die, and in the same 
 grave will be buried the hope of humanity, the 
 incentive to work for a broader and better plan 
 of existence and the power to go from strength 
 to strength in advancing and maintaining liberty 
 and freedom. The principles of Jefferson, of Jack- 
 son and of Lincoln the same all are the heart 
 and the soul of every government by and for the 
 people that now is or ever will be ; and, more- 
 over, they are the life-blood which courses 
 through the arteries of liberty and makes the all- 
 powerful agency in the mighty work of lifting 
 mankind Godward. 
 
 " Man may be born and man may go hence, 
 and nations may be established and nations may 
 be overthrown, but the principles of Democracy 
 are of God and they must return to him bearing 
 in their arms a perfect humanity. 
 
 "The onward way of these principles has al- 
 ways been and always will be more or less im- 
 peded by the Judases of the world, but the right 
 always prevails the people triumph ultimately.
 
 234 
 
 It is true that the Democratic party the custo- 
 dian and proclaimer of these principles of human 
 progress is for the moment wrenched and torn 
 by fierce onslaughts from daggers in the hands of 
 members of its own household, who, like Bene- 
 dict Arnold, were caught in the act of selling 
 their fellows for British gold, but they have made 
 their own graves deep and wide in the morasses 
 of their own treachery, and there is no inclination 
 anywhere to hinder the operations of the law of 
 retribution." 
 
 The last editorial written by Mr. Bryan ap- 
 peared on July ist, nine days before he was nomi- 
 nated. It was an answer to the charge made by 
 the Atchison Globe that he had advised the peo- 
 ple to always oppose the bankers. The follow- 
 ing extract contains the germ of Mr. Bryan's 
 argument : 
 
 " The banker is a man, nothing more, nothing 
 less, and his opinions are entitled to all due con- 
 sideration. But no man should permit another 
 man to do his thinking for him. There are many 
 bankers who are sincere and consistent bimetal- 
 lists. There are others who are sincere gold 
 bugs. There are some who advocate the single 
 gold standard when they do not believe its pres- 
 ervation will be beneficial to the country, but for 
 reasons best known to themselves they adhere to 
 the advocacy of that standard. 
 
 "The opinions of all bankers are entitled to
 
 SENATOR STEPHEN M. WHITE, 
 
 Permanent Chairman Democratic National Convention.
 
 HON. J. P. ALTGELD, 
 Ex-Governor of Illinois.
 
 237 
 
 unusual consideration, because of their experience 
 in financial matters, but the banker must be able 
 to back up his opinion with logic. 
 
 " Because the banker has had wide experience 
 in money matters, is no reason that another man 
 should believe the banker's mere statement that 
 black is white, particularly when the other man 
 knows that black is not white."
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 BRYAN AS A LAWYER. 
 
 William J. Bryan, the lawyer, has largely been 
 obscured by the greater reputation which has been 
 attained by the orator and as a student of govern- 
 mental questions. His career as a lawyer is prac- 
 tically confined to the period prior to his election 
 to Congress the first time. As this event occurred 
 when he was just passed thirty years old, his 
 achievements, and the demonstration of the pos- 
 session of those qualities which go to make great 
 lawyers, have been as conspicuous as his oppor- 
 tunities permitted. 
 
 Those lawyers who have had the best oppor- 
 tunity to judge of his abilities in this direction say, 
 that had his destiny not directed him into another 
 channel, he would have taken his place as high in 
 the ranks of the legal profession, as he has 
 attained in the political arena. 
 
 The influence, which his contact with Lyman 
 Trumbull had upon the future professional career 
 of Mi*. Bryan, had been detected by some who 
 were in a position to judge. With men posses- 
 sing characters as strong as that of W. J. Bryan, it 
 is doubtful if the influence of any association ever 
 directs them into one path or another. Influences 
 
 238
 
 239 
 
 of other strong minds, when brought into contact 
 with them during the receptive period of earlier 
 years, may remain with them in after years, but 
 their province is more that of lights which show 
 the surroundings, than that of pilots who select 
 the routes. 
 
 While pursuing his legal studies in Union Col- 
 lege, W. J. Bryan occupied himself outside of 
 recitation hours in the office of Lyman Trumbull, 
 where such time as was not taken up with the 
 minor duties imposed upon him was given to 
 study. 
 
 After graduating from the law school at the age 
 of twenty-three, he commenced to practice in 
 Jacksonville, 111., beginning at the bottom as young 
 lawyers without influential connections must do. 
 During the four years he lived in Jacksonville, he 
 increased his professional income each year. 
 After his removal to Lincoln, he was again a 
 young lawyer, and one who had not made a repu- 
 tation large enough to precede him to the new 
 home in the West. Again, he had to commence 
 over the work of building up a practice. Sur- 
 rounded as he was by strangers, the first step was 
 necessarily to make acquaintances and friends, out 
 of whose ranks clients were afterwards to come. 
 Again he saw his income from his law practice 
 gradually increasing, until 1890, when he was 
 elected to Congress. During his service of two 
 terms in Congress, he did not practice, giving his
 
 240 
 
 whole time and attention to the questions which 
 came up and to the business of the office to which 
 he had been chosen. After his return from Con- 
 gress at the close of his second term, it was his 
 intention to at once take up the practice, but he 
 found that this plan could not be carried out, on 
 account of the demands made upon his time for 
 speeches in different parts of the country, in be- 
 half of the silver movement. In spite of the con- 
 stant work and travel in the interests of the silver 
 cause, several important cases involving questions 
 of great interest were tried by him in the State 
 Courts; the principal one of these was the Lincoln 
 bond case, referred to. in another place. 
 
 During the time since his retirement from 
 Congress, and while at work in the interest of the 
 silver cause, Mr. Bryan has sometimes lectured 
 before Chautauquas and other societies for stated 
 sums, and at others a liberal allowance was made 
 by communities in which he spoke to meetings. 
 Sometimes there was no compensation received 
 but his income from this source, which, together with 
 his salary as editor of the Omaha World-Herald, 
 was sufficient to support himself and family. 
 
 His financial and professional success, when it 
 is considered that he made two beginnings in 
 seven years, each time as a young man among 
 strangers, has been enough to demonstrate that 
 he has the qualities which make successful 
 lawyers.
 
 241 
 
 The only case which he carried to the United 
 States Supreme Court was won by him. 
 
 One of the cases of more than local impor- 
 tance which Mr. Bryan carried to a successful issue 
 in the State courts was the Lincoln bond case. In 
 this, the city council sought to authorize the issue 
 of a series of refunding bonds, with a proviso in- 
 serted that the bonds should be payable in gold. 
 The obnoxious clause had been inserted, or it was 
 sought to be inserted, by the city council after the 
 voters of the city had authorized a bond issue. 
 The bond syndicate which had made a bid for the 
 bonds demanded that the gold-payment clause be 
 inserted. Mr. Bryan, as a citizen of Lincoln, in 
 connection with others, joined in a petition to the 
 State courts for an injunction restraining the city 
 officials from issuing a gold bond as proposed. 
 Mr. Bryan was the attorney for the petitioners and 
 the court granted the injunction prayed for, 
 making it perpetual. This case is regarded as 
 of largely greater importance than the mere 
 amount of half a million involved in the Lincoln 
 city bonds would indicate. There were involved 
 in it important and unsettled principles of consti- 
 tutional law which were far reaching in their 
 
 o 
 
 effects. Its determination against the city officials 
 was one of the victories of the silver forces in the 
 battle against the gold. This case was one in 
 which there was no opportunity for the orator to 
 win by swaying the jury, but, being an equity case,
 
 242 
 
 it was only on the application of cold logic, that 
 would appeal to the judgment of the chancellor, 
 that the attorney could depend for success. 
 
 Two other cases of lesser importance, but in- 
 volving governmental principles, tried by Mr. 
 Bryan as attorney, consisted of one wherein the 
 right of officers to refuse to serve papers in criminal 
 cases without their fees being paid in advance, was 
 questioned and settled in the negative. Another 
 was where the right of a township to vote bonds 
 to beet sugar factories was combated and decided 
 against any such issue. It is of interest to note 
 that in these cases Bryan, the lawyer, appeared 
 as the advocate of the rights of the many of the 
 people as against the assumption of special 
 rights, by the preferred class. 
 
 The same impulses which have made him among 
 political leaders conspicuous for his advocacy of 
 the cause of the masses of the people dominated 
 him as a lawyer. His friends, who were solicitous 
 for his pecuniary success, noted this, and some of 
 them sought to give well-meant advice against 
 what they considered faulty business policy. 
 Bryan, in his practice, congratulated himself 
 whenever he was able to bring about a settlement 
 without going into court and entailing the extra 
 expense and sometimes bitter feelings which 
 litigation brings about between neighbors and 
 friends. On one occasion, when an old friend 
 thought to advise him that this was not the best
 
 243 
 
 policy, because his fees were smaller than if a 
 fight in court had been carried on, he silenced 
 the objector by saying that it would pay best in 
 the long run, because these men would be happier 
 and better citizens by reason of being friends 
 instead of enemies, and then " they will be my 
 friends, too." 
 
 As a lawyer, his practice was general, covering 
 nearly the whole range. The line was drawn at 
 one place. He had no corporation practice. 
 The natural bent of his mind, and perhaps his 
 inclinations, are such as are supposed to distin- 
 guish the jury practitioner from the equity 
 lawyer. There are cases on the records in the 
 State courts of Nebraska which show, that, al- 
 though it was the opinion of W. J. Bryan's friends 
 that he could make useful his powers of persuasive 
 eloquence to -more readily establish his stand- 
 ing at the bar, he did not lack those other 
 qualities which make a successful equity lawyer, 
 the best paid and generally conceded to be the 
 highest type of the lawyer. In the Lincoln bond 
 case, Mr. Bryan exhibited the grasp of the broad 
 principles, and the intimate knowledge of the 
 history of previous cases having bearing on the 
 subject which only comes to the delver in musty 
 books. This case was won besides upon a pre- 
 sentation of the theories of the constitutional 
 principle contended for with such clearness that 
 the judges were convinced by the mastery of the
 
 244 
 
 case displayed by the lawyer. This case was 
 even to some of Mr. Bryan's friends the means 
 of revealing qualities of mind which they had not 
 given him credit for possessing. It was shown 
 that as a lawyer, he did not have to depend alone 
 upon the powers of persuasion and appeals to 
 the emotions which mark the jury lawyer. While 
 possessing in an imminent degree the faculty of 
 doing this, he showed that the ordinarily-con- 
 sidered incongruous branch of the profession, the 
 equity practice, presented no closed doors against 
 his entrance, but the gates flew open at his ap- 
 proach as if to welcome one who by right can 
 claim a place of honor within. As a jury lawyer, 
 older citizens of Southern Nebraska have many 
 vivid recollections of his triumphs by means of 
 the same qualities of persuasive eloquence which 
 have gained him fame in Congress, on the lecture 
 platform and before excited political gatherings. 
 An old friend and intimate acquaintance of Mr. 
 Bryan's ascribed the success which met his prac- 
 tice before juries to the fact that the lawyer was 
 in close touch with the great body of the people ; 
 knew what they thought about and how they are 
 affected by a given condition or occurrence. As 
 the juries are drawn from this mass of the common 
 people, he always found himself before men whose 
 every-day thoughts and feelings were as an open 
 book to him. No time had to be lost in lawyer 
 and jurors getting into sympathy with each other. 
 A review of Mr. Bryan's legal life and analysis
 
 HON. CLAUDE MATTHEWS, 
 Governor of Indiana.
 
 HON. ALEX. M. DOCKEEY, 
 Congressman from Missouri.
 
 245 
 
 of his legal method and bent of mind has shown 
 a curious likeness to that of Abraham Lincoln. 
 While both coming from the people, depended 
 largely upon their keeping in touch with the 
 masses by constant association with those around 
 them, while with both, this desire for social inter- 
 course came from a cordial and real friendship for 
 those around them, it was the source of greatest 
 strength in professional battles. It can be safely 
 said that Mr. Bryan has demonstrated that he is 
 as strong a lawyer as ever was selected by the 
 people as president, with the exception of Lin- 
 coln and Benjamin H. Harrison. The achieve- 
 ments of Lincoln and Bryan as lawyers, up to 
 the time Lincoln arrived at Mr. Bryan's age, are 
 so nearly on a par that the two might fittingly be 
 said to run side by side. Great legal reputations 
 have not been regarded as prime essentials in 
 the selections of presidents, and the history of 
 the country shows that but one really strong 
 lawyer who had a strong record before his elec- 
 tion has ever been honored with the presidency. 
 Men who might have been strong lawyers if their 
 time and attention had not been taken up with 
 governmental affairs and other questions, the 
 mastery of which required as fine a quality of 
 mind, have been presidents. Benjamin Harrison 
 is the sole representative of the lawyer who was 
 recognized by the profession, and had made a 
 reputation as a great lawyer before election to 
 the office of chief magistrate of th'e union.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 BRYAN AS AN ORATOR. 
 
 Bryan is an orator of the people. Earnest- 
 ness, simplicity and beauty are the chief character- 
 istics of his style. The subject upon which he 
 would speak is thoroughly studied in all its bear- 
 ings. The best that has been written or said 
 upon it is examined and re-examined, if neces- 
 sary, until it is mastered. Nor is the investiga- 
 tion confined to the side of the question to which 
 he is predisposed ; every conceivable objection to 
 the position he favors is looked for and 
 thoroughly studied in the light of the strongest 
 thought of its ablest advocates. Having digested 
 with the utmost minuteness all that can be said 
 for or against his position, he then selects from 
 the mass the most forceful thoughts on both sides 
 of the question. This done, he then looks for 
 language suitable to express them. Long, in- 
 volved sentences will not do ; unusual words must 
 not be employed ; the thought which burns within 
 the mind and would impress itself upon the hearts 
 of others must not have any of its strength im- 
 paired or its beauty dimmed by the language se- 
 lected to convey it. The simplest words are 
 chosen and they are formed into short, pithy 
 (246)
 
 247 
 
 sentences. No word is used solely for its sound; 
 the mere jingle of words has no place in the 
 mental workshop of our orator. To him words 
 are the servants of thought, and take their real 
 beauty from the thought that blazes through 
 them. From this let it not be concluded that he 
 undervalues the importance of the best literary 
 style. His style is as pure and captivating as 
 that of Irving, or Addison, and not dissimilar to 
 either. But style, with him, as with those two 
 great masters, is valued not for itself, but because 
 it conveys in the most pleasing manner the 
 thoughts which he would have others know. 
 
 \j 
 
 Here are some of his sentences culled from dif- 
 ferent speeches: 
 
 They call that man a statesman whose ear is tuned to catch 
 the slightest pulsations of a pocketbook, and to denounce as 
 a demagogue anyone who dares to listen to the heart-beat of 
 humanity. 
 
 The poor man who takes property by force is called a thief, 
 but the creditor who can by legislation make a debtor pay a 
 dollar twice as large as he borrowed is lauded as the friend of 
 a sound currency. The man who wants the people to destroy 
 the government is an anarchist, but the man who wants the 
 government to destroy the people is a patriot, * * * 
 
 Some who are ready to use the power of the government to 
 limit the supply of money, in order to prevent injustice to the 
 creditor, are slow to admit the right of the government to in- 
 crease the currency when necessary to prevent injustice to the 
 debtor. I denounce the cruel interpretation of governmental 
 power which would grant the authority to starve, but would 
 withhold the authority to feed our people which would per-
 
 248 
 
 mit a contraction of our currency, even to the destruction of 
 all prosperity, but would prohibit the expansion of our cur- 
 rency to keep pace with the growing needs of a growing 
 nation ! * * * * * 
 
 The gentlemen who are so fearful of socialism when the 
 poor are exempted from an income tax, view with indifference 
 those methods of taxation which give the rich a substantial 
 exemption. They weep more because $15,000,000 is to be 
 collected from the incomes of the rich than they do at the 
 collection of $300, 000,000 upon the goods which the poor 
 consume. And when an attempt is made to equalize these 
 burdens, not fully, but partially only, the people of the south 
 and west are called anarchists. I deny the assertion, sir. It 
 is among the people of the south and west, on the prairies and 
 in the mountains, that you find the staunchest supporters of 
 government and the best friends of law and order. You may 
 not find among these people the great fortunes which are ac- 
 cumulated in cities, nor will you find the dark shadows which 
 these fortunes throw over the community, but you will find 
 those willing to protect the rights of property, even while they 
 demand the property shall bear its share of taxation. You 
 may not find among them as much of wealth, but you will 
 find men who are not only willing to pay their taxes to sup- 
 port the government, but are willing whenever necessary to 
 offer up their lives in its defense. These people, sir, whom 
 you call anarchists because they ask that the burdens of gov- 
 ernment shall be equally borne, these people have ever borne 
 the cross on Calvary and saved their country with their 
 blood. ***** 
 
 I may be in error, but in my humble judgment he who 
 would rob man of his necessary food or pollute the springs at 
 which he quenches his thirst, or steal away from him his 
 accustomed rest, or condemn his mind to the gloomy night 
 of ignorance, is no more an enemy of his race than the man 
 who, deaf to the entreaties of the poor and blind and the 
 suffering he would cause, seeks to destroy one of the money
 
 249 
 
 metals given by the Almighty to supply the needs of com- 
 merce. * 
 
 The line of battle is laid down. The President's letter to 
 jovernor Northern expresses his oppostion to the free and 
 mlimited coinage of silver by this country alone. Upon that 
 issue the next congressional contest will be fought. Are we 
 dependent or independent as a nation ? Shall we legislate for 
 ourselves or shall we beg some foreign nation to help us pro- 
 vide for the financial wants of our own people ? * * * 
 
 You may think that you have buried the cause of bimetal- 
 lism ; you may congratulate yourselves that you have laid the 
 free coinage of silver away in a sepulchre, newly made since 
 the election, and before the door rolled the veto stone. But, 
 sirs, if our cause is just, as I believe it is, your labor has been 
 in vain ; no tomb was ever made so strong that it could im- 
 prison a righteous cause. Silver will yet lay aside its grave 
 clothes and its shroud. It will yet rise, and in its rising and 
 its reign will bless mankind. 
 
 Alexander "wept for other worlds to conquer" after he 
 had carried his victorious banner throughout the then known 
 world. Napoleon "re-arranged the map of Europe with his 
 sword ' ' amid the lamentations of those by whose blood he 
 was exalted ; but when these and other military heroes are for- 
 gotten and their achievements disappear in the cycle's sweep 
 of years, children will still lisp the name of Jefferson, and 
 freemen will ascribe due praise to him who filled the kneeling 
 subject's hearts with hope and bade him stand erect a sov- 
 ereign among his peers. * * 
 
 The State of Indiana has declared that no police power 
 shall be conferred on the Pinkerton detectives ; and if the 
 people of the State of New York do not desire such powers 
 to be conferred upon them, it is the business of the State of 
 New York, or any other State which entertains that view, to 
 regulate it by its own legislative enactment. It is not within 
 the purview of Congress, it is not the business of Congress to 
 interfere with the police powers of the several States of the 
 15
 
 250 
 
 union. I believe that the time has come when we ought to 
 squarely draw the line between the powers conferred 
 upon the federal government and those reserved to the States, 
 and that we ought to stop this indiscriminate investigation 
 where we clearly have no power to legislate. * * 
 
 I have been opposed to the issuing of money by national 
 banks, for the reason that this function of government should 
 not be surrendered to any corporation or any private concern 
 whatever. On the same ground I am opposed to the States 
 authorizing private corporations to issue money, or so-called 
 money. 
 
 Mr. Bryan is not averse to the employment of 
 the thoughts of others wherever they add force 
 and attractiveness to the argument in hand. Ac- 
 cordingly, we find his speeches interspersed with 
 quotations from some of the best writers in prose 
 and poetry, but in each instance the quotation has 
 a natural fitness for the place in which it is found. 
 No straining of the lines of the argument is per- 
 mitted that the quotation may find a place. 
 There are some productions which pass for ora- 
 tory that are mere mechanisms the offspring 
 of minds cold and plodding without a ray of 
 genius to illumine their path. In tnem, words 
 have been dragged together in the vain hope of 
 producing a flower worthy to be laid at the feet 
 of oratory, but they are as painted leaves, they 
 are without the odor of life. The work of genius 
 springs spontaneously from the depths of a heart 
 ruled by purity "Genius sees by intuition, illus- 
 trates by pictures, and speaks in music. The
 
 251 
 
 phraseology in which its sentiments are clothed 
 is not a kind of patch-work laboriously tagged 
 together, but is part and parcel of the thought, 
 and is born mature and splendid, like Minerva 
 oflitterinor from the brow of love." 
 
 o o J 
 
 Briefly we have sketched the mere outlines of 
 the work employed by Mr. Bryan in the prepara- 
 tion of his great deliverances in behalf of human 
 rights. First, he masters the whole field of argu- 
 ment, and thus he prepares himself not only to 
 prove the correctness of his own position, but to 
 meet every objection that may be offered against 
 it. He is enabled, too, by this means to state 
 correctly the position of his opponent. Not a 
 little of his force in debate is due to the fact that 
 he states with absolute fairness the argument of 
 his adversary, and then, with crushing effect, hurls 
 against it the clean-cut, well-considered, over- 
 whelming reply. His care in arranging the matter 
 which he has gathered is no less than that employed 
 in the gathering. By this means he has everything 
 in its place, subject to his instant command, and 
 when sent forth on its mission of truth, goes with 
 a force that carries conviction. The most accept- 
 able language is chosen, and so clear and simple 
 do the most profound thoughts appear when they 
 come fresh-coined from his brain, that men have 
 no difficulty in comprehending them in all their 
 force. This power was noted by a critical ob- 
 server of one of the debates in which Mr. Bryan
 
 252 
 
 engaged when a candidate for Congress. The 
 observer was asked what kind of an argument 
 Mr. Bryan's opponent made. He replied that the 
 argument was very good, but its strength was 
 obscured by involved and awkward sentences, 
 and most listeners could not comprehend it when 
 delivered. On the other hand, Mr. Bryan's argu- 
 ment, he continued, came forth in language so 
 simple and pleasing that the listener had not to 
 hesitate for a moment to grasp its full force, and 
 thus the orator carried along with him a convinced 
 as well as an enthusiastic audience. Superficial 
 observers have spoken of this feature of Mr. 
 Bryan's style as " catchy," and frequently have 
 they said that while he might charm a "common 
 country audience " by what they termed " catch 
 words," he would fail utterly when he came to 
 address " men of culture." But these critics did 
 not recognize in the simplicity of his work the 
 hand of genius, and they have lived to see their 
 anticipations dashed to atoms. Twice the lower 
 house of Congress was enraptured by Mr. Bryan's 
 luminous powers of eloquence. The morning 
 after his great tariff speech the nation awoke to 
 hail him as the peer of Webster or Prentice. A 
 few years later he discussed the financial ^question 
 before the same body only to win a repetition of 
 the plaudits which greeted the close of his tariff 
 speech. The next day, and for weeks thereafter, 
 the press of the nation gave him unstinted praise
 
 and crowned him one of America's greatest 
 orators. 
 
 But all his work would accomplish but little if 
 not presided over by " a mind stamped with the 
 patent of Divinity" and acting in the glow of a 
 heart throbbing with the noblest and purest im- 
 pulses. Nor does the great care employed by 
 Mr. Bryan in the preparation of his speeches 
 make him an orator. Preparation does not enable 
 him to sway the minds of others and place in 
 them impressions that live. It is something else. 
 It is a power equalled by few and excelled by 
 none. It comes from an unseen hand- the hand 
 of God and is entrusted to him for noble ends. 
 
 " There's a charm in deliv'ry, a magical art, 
 
 That thrills like a kiss, from the lip to the heart ; 
 
 'Tis the glance the expression the well-chosen word 
 
 By whose magic the depths of the spirit are stirr'd 
 
 The smile the mute gesture the soul-stirring pause 
 
 The eye's sweet expression, that melts while it awes 
 
 The lip's soft persuasion its musical tone ; 
 
 Oh ! such were the charms of that eloquent one ! " 
 
 In personal appearance as well as in mental 
 gifts, Mr. Bryan is highly favored. Before he 
 utters a word, his presence wins for him the favor 
 of his audience. Simplicity itself rules his de- 
 livery and bearing, but it is a simplicity in which 
 the highest art wears all the graces of nature. 
 As he stands before his audience, he presents a
 
 *54 
 
 striking picture; every feature of his strong face 
 is instinct with intelligence ; his eyes dance with 
 the light of a soul on fire as he marches through 
 
 o o 
 
 the depths of his discourse, pleading for the rights 
 of the poor and of the masses. He "illustrates in 
 his own person the ancient apologue of the youth- 
 ful Hercules, in the pride and strength of beauty, 
 surrendering his own soul to the worship of 
 human rights and exalted virtue in public places." 
 He commences in a soft, pleasant, conversa- 
 tional tone; instantly your attention is riveted 
 upon him ; or rather upon what he has to say. 
 You have little disposition to study either the 
 man or his manner his thought is what holds 
 you. Nothing occurs either in tone, posture, or 
 gesture to divert your attention, or break the 
 spell that is upon you, Every movement of arm, 
 head and body, every modulation comes as an in- 
 separable part of the thought he is expressing. 
 Your eyes are fastened upon the orator: as he 
 moves, you in spirit move with him ; as he ad- 
 vances to his climax the listener advances with him ; 
 not a step is missed, not a break occurs ; in per- 
 fect harmony orator and audience travel over the 
 path of thought until the climax is reached and 
 then, as the last tone of the deep, rich, melodious 
 voice of the orator is uttered with a dramatic 
 force which thrills every fiber, there breaks forth 
 the full, earnest, uproarious applause that marks 
 the approval and admiration of those who listen.
 
 255 
 
 The hand of the orator is raised, instantly perfect 
 silence follows. The sweet tones of that marvel- 
 ous voice are again heard by every one within 
 the enclosure, no matter how vast. Under the 
 influence of that voice and the magic of words that 
 convey the thought of a master mind, men sit en- 
 raptured and applaud sentiments which but a 
 moment before they ridiculed; they came to 
 scoff, but remain to worship. 
 
 It has been said in describing the auditor under 
 the influence of the orator's power, " He is thrilled 
 in every nerve, he is agitated with rapture. He 
 blends all his emotions with the speaker, and is 
 subdued or inspired under his power. He soon 
 becomes stripped of all defence, and willingly ex- 
 posed to every blow, so that the greatest effects 
 are produced by the slightest words adroitly di- 
 rected and skillfully expressed." That this exactly 
 portrays the auditor sitting under the influence of 
 Mr. Bryan's orations will not be denied by those 
 who have listened to his greatest efforts. Mr. 
 
 o 
 
 Bryan never delivers a poor speech ; he always 
 pleases, but to reach those heights of impassioned 
 eloquence which none but a master dares to tread, 
 he must have the occasion and the subject. " It is 
 only when God's creative breath fans the fires of 
 patriotism in the soul sublimely endowed, that a 
 true orator is fashioned for sovereignty over the 
 hearts of mankind." If the highest oratory con- 
 sists in the power to persuade and the force to
 
 256 
 
 chain in the blazing fires of the purest enthusiasm 
 the intellects of men, then Mr. Bryan is an orator 
 with few peers in ancient or modern times. Well 
 we may say of him what the great Fenelon says 
 of Demosthenes : " He moves, warms and capti- 
 vates the heart. He was sensibly touched with 
 the interests of his country. His discourses grad- 
 ually increase in force, by greater light and new 
 reasons, which are always illustrated by bold fig- 
 ures and lively images. One cannot but see that 
 he has the good of the Republic entirely at heart, 
 and that nature itself speaks in all his transports." 
 There is much in Mr. Bryan's oratory that re- 
 calls Demosthenes, Fox, O'Connell and Fisher 
 Ames, but unlike any of them he never indulges 
 in invective. Search his speeches through, whether 
 in Congress, before the Convention, or on the 
 stump, and you will find them absolutely free from 
 personalities. Methods and classes he may de- 
 nounce ; individuals never. No audience ever 
 sat within the sound of his most fervid utterances 
 and caught a word that would appeal to the lower 
 passions of anger, hate or revenge. The intellect, 
 and the purer, higher affections of the human 
 heart present the only field in which he loves to 
 labor. He is always a master of himself. The 
 noblest passions may surge and fiercely burn 
 within his breast, but they are like the fires of 
 the volcano, confined within the snow-capped 
 mountain.
 
 257 
 
 Many have constructed arguments as logical as 
 Mr. Bryan. Nor would it be difficult, perhaps, to 
 find speeches of equal depth and bold imagery to 
 those delivered by him, but this is true of all the 
 great tribunes of the people. Quintilius says, 
 "Logicians can be found everywhere, an able ar- 
 gument is not rare, but seldom has that orator ap- 
 peared whose eloquence could carry the judge 
 out of his depth, who could throw him into what 
 disposition of mind he pleased, fire him into re- 
 sentment, or soften him into tears. Many have 
 constructed arguments as logical as those of 
 Demosthenes, or Cicero, but none ever arrayed 
 them before their audiences with such magic 
 power." 
 
 One of Bryan's best speeches was that on the 
 subject " Money," in which he gave his famous 
 apostrophe to Jefferson. It is as follows : 
 
 " There are wrongs to be righted ; there are 
 evils to be eradicated ; there is injustice to be re- 
 moved ; there is good to be secured for those who 
 toil and wait. In this fight for equal laws we can- 
 not fail, for right is mighty and will in time triumph 
 over all obstacles. Even if our eyes do not be- 
 hold success, we know that our labor is not in 
 vain, and we can lay down our weapons, happy in 
 the promise given by Bryant to the soldier : 
 
 " ' Yea, though thou lie upon the dust, 
 
 When they who helped thee flee in fear
 
 Die full of hope and manly trust, 
 Like those who fell in battle here. 
 
 " 'Another hand thy sword shall wield ; 
 
 Another hand the standard wave; 
 Till from the trumpet's mouth is pealed 
 The blast of triumph o'er thy grave.' 
 
 " Let us then with the courage of Andrew Jack- 
 son, apply to present conditions the principles 
 taught by Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson, 
 the greatest constructive statesman whom the 
 world has ever known ; the grandest warrior who 
 ever battled for human liberty ! He quarried 
 from the mountain of eternal truth the four pil- 
 lars, upon whose strength all popular government 
 must rest. In the Declaration of American Inde- 
 pendence he proclaimed the principles with which 
 there is, without which there cannot be 'a govern- 
 ment of the peopje, by the people, and for the 
 people.' When he declared that ' all men are 
 created equal ; that they are endowed by their 
 Creator with certain unalienable rights ; that 
 among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
 happiness; that to secure these rights govern- 
 ments are instituted among men, deriving their 
 just powers from the consent of the governed,' 
 he declared all that lies between the Alpha and 
 Omega of Democracy. 
 
 " Alexander ' wept for other worlds to conquer ' 
 after he had carried his victorious banner through-
 
 259 
 
 out the then known world. Napoleon ' rearranged 
 the map of Europe with his sword ' amid the 
 lamentations of those by whose blood he was 
 exalted ; but when these and other military heroes 
 are forgotten and their achievements disappear in 
 the cycle's sweep of years, children will still lisp 
 the name of Jefferson, and freemen will ascribe 
 due praise to him who filled the kneeling subject's 
 heart with hope and bade him stand erect a 
 sovereign among his peers."
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 BRYAN AT HOME. 
 
 In a country where no man is born to authority, 
 but where each must acquire place through his 
 own achievements, it is inevitable that the private 
 life of public men should be closely scrutinized. 
 This country has never ceased to be a democracy 
 in spite of the efforts of some of its worst ene- 
 mies, and in a democracy the good citizen is the 
 bulwark. The American people still believe that 
 a man who does not fulfill his obligations to the 
 community as a good husband and father, and an 
 honorable man of business, can not be fit to ad- 
 minister the highest office in the gift of the peo- 
 ple. Moreover, this is a country where the sen- 
 timent of women counts for much, and the influ- 
 ence of women is frankly acknowledged. The 
 home-life of a man, and those who make his 
 home-life, have much to do, it is maintained, with 
 his success. 
 
 Mr. Bryan has been very fortunate. Twelve 
 years ago he married a sensible and lovely wo- 
 man, who has made it easy for him to remain the 
 domestic man that he is. What has been the 
 duty of many men, has been his pleasure. Home 
 
 is and always has been, the fairest spot on earth 
 (260)
 
 26l 
 
 to him, and he is to be congratulated as much as 
 praised for his unswerving fidelity to it. 
 
 Concerning Mr. Bryan's devotion to his home, 
 the eulogistic language he himself used in speak- 
 ing of the happy home of a colleague is entirely 
 appropriate : 
 
 " He found his inspiration at his fireside, and 
 approached the ideal in his domestic life. He 
 and his faithful wife, who was both his helpmeet 
 and companion, inhabited as tenants in common 
 that sacred spot called home, and needed no court 
 to define their relative rights and duties. The 
 invisible walls which shut in that home and shut 
 out all else had their foundations upon the earth 
 and their battlements in the skies. No force 
 could break them down, no poisoned arrows could 
 cross their top, and at the gates thereof love and 
 confidence stood ever upon guard." 
 
 Mrs. Wm. J. Bryan was Mary Elizabeth Baird. 
 Her father, John Baird, was born in Northampton 
 county, Pennsylvania. Mr. Baird is of Scotch- 
 Irish descent. There is a record of his ancestry 
 running back at least thirteen generations, which 
 reveals many men and women of more than or- 
 dinary ability, all of whom have taken, as even 
 those of the last generation may take, pride in the 
 fact that not a taint has ever rested upon that 
 good family name. Mr. Baird moved west in 
 1838 and in 1852 was married to the daughter of 
 Col. Darius Dexter of Dexterville, New York.
 
 262 
 
 Mr. Baird located at Perry, Illinois ; and here on 
 the 1 7th day of June, 1861, Mary was born. 
 
 In those days Perry was a trading-post of quite 
 a large territory. Mr. Baird engaged with a 
 partner in an extensive business which comprised, 
 in the earlier days, a general store a shoe-shop, 
 harness-shop, pork-packing house and a general 
 grain and shipping business. This firm did quite 
 an extensive business in shipments to the city of 
 St. Louis, using- the river steamboats for trans- 
 
 o 
 
 portation. Mr. Baird was a gentleman of 
 scholarly instincts and a great reader. Although 
 a very busy man, he became the companion of his 
 daughter who was his only child, and he related 
 to her the stories of the Iliad and Odyssey and of 
 Greek mythology at the time when the little girl 
 could not read them for herself. Mr. Baird was 
 himself a self-educated man, and he appreciated 
 the great value of a thorough education ; conse- 
 quently, he devoted his best energies to making a 
 perfect woman, intellectually, of his beloved child. 
 Mrs. Bryan's mother was an invalid and upon 
 the daughter rested a great deal of the care of 
 her mother. Mrs. Bryan attended the High 
 School at Perry, and at the age of sixteen went 
 to Monticello Seminary at Godfrey, Illinois, re- 
 maining there for one year, but on account of the 
 serious condition of her mother's health she found 
 it necessary to be nearer home and in the follow- 
 ing year entered the Presbyterian Academy at
 
 263 
 
 Jacksonville, from which institution she was 
 graduated in 1881 with the first honors of her 
 class. 
 
 While Miss Baird was attending the Presby- 
 terian Academy at Jacksonville, Mr. Bryan was a 
 student at the Illinois College in the same city. 
 The two young people first met at a reception in 
 the Academy parlors. A very pretty story has 
 been going the rounds to the effect that Miss 
 Baird heard Mr. Bryan recite "A Soldier of the 
 Legion," and was captivated with him. The story t 
 however, is without foundation. The fact is that 
 the young people met at this college reception 
 and they fell in love with one another just as two 
 good-looking and sensible people would be ex- 
 pected to do, and at the time Miss Baird had 
 never detected the fire of oratory in her young 
 lover and did not know that he could even deliver 
 " Casabianca" with more than ordinary effect until 
 long after their first meeting. The young people 
 were engaged for a period covering a little more 
 than four years. During the year preceding their 
 marriage, Mr. Bryan practised law in Jacksonville. 
 The young man had already built up a paying 
 practice and the young lovers planned and built 
 their first home before they were married, and on 
 October i, 1884, the marriage ceremony took 
 place and they began housekeeping in their own 
 home. This house stands to-day on College Hill 
 in Jacksonville, near the Illinois College. Mr.
 
 264 
 
 Bryan continued the practice of law in Jackson- 
 ville for three years after his marriage. On 
 October 2, 1885, their first child, Ruth, was born. 
 
 In 1887 they removed to Nebraska, Mr. Bryan 
 feeling that in the stirring West was more oppor- 
 tunity for success. Mrs. Bryan agreed with him. 
 From the first she liked the West and made her- 
 self perfectly at home at Lincoln. She took up 
 the study of the law, desiring to fit herself for the 
 consideration of legal questions, not with any ex- 
 pectation of practising herself, but that she might 
 be of assistance to her husband, and also that she 
 might have the mental training resultant from such 
 study. 
 
 The Bryans have now three children, Ruth, who 
 is nearly eleven, William, who is seven, and Grace, 
 who is five. All of the children are comely, well 
 behaved, well taught, and very dearly beloved. 
 In short, the home of the Bryans is the simple 
 American home. Mrs. Bryan, who has never 
 been a society woman, spends the early part of 
 her evenings reading to her children. They have 
 always received her direct personal care. Her 
 responsibilities have not been light in any respect. 
 Besides her young children, she has had her aged 
 father and mother with her, and her affection 
 for them has been such that she has been closely 
 kept at home. Her mother is now dead, but her 
 father remains, and he receives her solicitous 
 care.
 
 265 
 
 Mrs. Bryan has a singular activity of mind. 
 She is logical, studious, industrious and aspiring. 
 Above all, she is sensible. She has kept in touch 
 with each detail of her husband's advancement 
 in a political way. She knows the political situa* 
 tion and all the minutiae of local political affairs ac- 
 curately, giving them their due importance, and 
 regarding them in a philosophic manner. She 
 has been a faithful critic to her husband, assisting 
 in the collection of material for his speeches, and 
 giving him the benefit of her advice. She has 
 been his closest confidante, and, probably, his 
 most trusted adviser. Hers is not a mind to be 
 swayed by prejudice. She is not given to undue 
 enthusiasm. In short, she is possessed of that 
 poise which makes her one of the safest of com- 
 panions for a man of affairs, who is about to be 
 plunged into a historic campaign. 
 
 Mrs. Bryan has maintained her democratic 
 principles in her household, where intelligent 
 liberty prevails. The children are directed, but 
 not tyrannized over. She does not believe in 
 doing anything likely to destroy their individuality. 
 In religion her children are taught reverence, tol- 
 erance and devotion. She has tried to teach them 
 that it is a sacred duty to do the best they can 
 with their lives. To educate, not to coerce, is 
 Mrs. Bryan's simple policy. 
 
 The home of the Bryans is substantial, hospi- 
 table and well-kept. Within, one is greeted by an 
 16
 
 266 
 
 atmosphere of unpretentious comfort, simple cor- 
 diality and unaffected refinement. The rooms are 
 quietly and comfortably furnished. Pictures, 
 books, statuettes, souvenirs of certain historic oc- 
 casions in their lives, mementoes of distinguished 
 persons, and gifts from admirers compose what 
 is precious in the house. In the library there is a 
 double desk, one side of which belongs to Mr. 
 Bryan and one to his wife. Here they work 
 together in their quiet hours. At times this 
 happy intimacy has filled them with a sort of 
 dread. 
 
 " I am not so sure I like this desk," she once 
 said. " What should I do with it if you were to 
 leave this life before I do ? I sometimes wonder 
 if it is not dangerous for two lives to be so bound 
 together. How could one bear parting after such 
 association as this ? " 
 
 Mrs. Bryan is an honest student of good litera- 
 ture. She is one of the organizers of " Sorosis," 
 one of the women's study clubs, and she holds 
 its highest office. She is a prominent worker in 
 the Nebraska State Federation of Women's Clubs, 
 and one of a committee which has in charge the 
 traveling library of that association. Among club 
 women she has won no little reputation for her 
 work. She can speak extemporaneously on any 
 subject in which she is interested, in a calm, con- 
 cise, telling manner. She will never speak for
 
 267 
 
 the sake of speaking, or upon a subject with which 
 she is unacquainted. 
 
 Mrs. Bryan's attire is always very simple. She 
 wears only quiet colors, usually browns or greys. 
 But her costumes are becoming and effective. She 
 always appears to be a well-dressed woman ; that 
 is to say, no one ever thinks about her clothes at 
 all. They are in such good taste that they are 
 not observed. She has a sense of propriety in 
 dress, and always wears what is suitable to the 
 occasion. She would always dress with modest 
 propriety, just as she always speaks with modest 
 propriety. Even these few sentences have laid 
 more stress upon her toilet than she ever did. 
 
 Mrs. Bryan is sociable to a degree, and heartily 
 enjoys meeting people. She is far too wholesome 
 to have any of the affectations of a recluse. But 
 a purely fashionable society would never please 
 her. She would feel the need, always, in her 
 social relations, for intelligent conversation. Any 
 society which did not give her this would be dis- 
 tasteful to her. She would be impatient with a 
 society which stood for competition in luxury, or 
 in which pretention was conspicuous. Moreover, 
 her nature is too affectionate, and she is too fond 
 of real friendship, to endure the shallow relations 
 of fashionable society. 
 
 She has been present at all of her husband's 
 greatest forensic triumphs. When Mr. Bryan, in 
 the beginning of his Congressional career, made
 
 268 
 
 his famous tariff speech, she listened from the 
 galleries. She was present at the Chicago Con- 
 vention when he turned the tide and made an 
 epoch in his party. She sat on the stand when he 
 received his nomination, and showed her profound 
 gratification only with a few quiet tears. Through- 
 out all the tremendously exciting scenes of that 
 day she was one of the calmest persons in the 
 house. When she joined him at the Clifton House, 
 where he received the news of his nomination, a 
 silent kiss expressed her congratulations. She 
 probably was not in the least surprised. From 
 the first she had felt perfect confidence in his 
 ability. It would not be in her to be surprised at 
 having her judgment confirmed. 
 
 Mrs. Bryan is comely. Her face is pale, well 
 modeled and placid. It resembles that of her 
 husband in some respects. At least, it gives a 
 similar suggestion of strength and purity. It is 
 the face of a sensible and affectionate woman ; 
 and it is typically American. 
 
 Mr. Bryan has been very fortunate, and he has 
 shown his appreciation of his blessings in the 
 best way possible, by unfaltering devotion.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 PERILS OF THE GOLD STANDARD. 
 
 Mr. James Dobson is known to the merchants 
 throughout the United States. He is of the 
 great manufacturing firm of John & James Dob- 
 son, of Philadelphia. In an interview in the New 
 York Mail and Express Mr. Dobson shows very 
 clearly the evil effects of the single gold standard. 
 
 Mr. Dobson said: "In 1890 there were im- 
 ported into the United States from Japan 300,000 
 rolls of so-called China mattings at an average 
 cost of twelve and three-eighths cents per yard. 
 In 1895 ^e importation of China mattings had 
 increased to 800,000 rolls, at five and one-fifth 
 cents per yard. That is equivalent to 32,000,000 
 yards at five and one-fifth cents, instead of at 
 twelve and three-eighths cents five years ago, all 
 on account of the difference in exchange caused 
 by the separation in value of the gold and silver 
 dollar. I repeat that the price at which these 
 mattings are imported in such enormous quanti- 
 ties, supplanting our own ingrain carpets, is 
 wholly due to the rate of exchange caused by the 
 fact that Japan is upon a silver standard while we 
 are upon a gold standard. Japanese silks are af- 
 fecting the domestic silk trade precisely as mat- 
 
 269
 
 270 
 
 tings are ruining the carpet trade. Let me quote 
 figures to prove that also. In 1890 the United 
 States imported only 1 2,000 pieces of Japanese 
 silk. In 1895 we imported 404,164 pieces, or 
 over thirty times more. This has demoralized 
 the silk industry of this country, and so long as 
 the rate of exchange remains as it is no duty 
 could be imposed high enough to check these im- 
 portations. So with silk handkerchiefs. In 1890 
 we imported 354,000 dozen. In 1895 the impor- 
 tation increased to 1,100,000 dozen. That shows 
 graphically, I think, the abnormal and alarming 
 increase of importations. So with many other 
 lesser articles. Why, the Japanese are supplying 
 the world to-day with tooth brushes. 
 
 "But another great industry is threatened. 
 The Japs have gone largely into cotton manufac- 
 turing. No nation in the world has made such 
 rapid progress in this industry as has Japan. 
 Their 300,000 spindles in 1894 jumped at a 
 bound to 750,000 in 1895, an< ^ tne Y have orders 
 placed in England to-day for 750,000 more. That 
 is an increase of spindles at the astonishing rate 
 of loo per cent, a year. So I have shown you 
 that in the three great items of mattings, silks 
 and cotton cloth the difference in exchange be- 
 
 o 
 
 tween the Japanese silver standard and our pres- 
 ent single gold standard is ruining three great 
 branches of American manufacturing. The South 
 *nust, in time, feel this, as well as Pennsylvania,
 
 New York and New England, for the South is 
 destined, under normal conditions, to be the home 
 of the cotton factory." 
 
 Mr. Dobson, who favors a protective tariff, was 
 asked : " Cannot these increased importations be 
 charged in part to the lower duties of the Wilson- 
 Gorman tariff law ?" 
 
 Mr. Dobson replied as follows: "Take silks 
 alone. The rate of duty on silks is only 5 per cent, 
 lower under the present tariff than it was under 
 the McKinley law. That is not difference enough 
 to multiply the silk importations of 1 890 by thirty 
 in 1895. Matting under the McKinley act paid 
 20 per cent. duty. Now it is admitted free. Add 
 20 per cent, on the first cost in Japan four cents 
 per yard and it makes the cost -ffo cents per 
 yard more, making the cost, if imported under 
 the McKinley law, six cents per yard, and under 
 the present law five and one-half cents per yard, 
 the difference being in the rate of exchange from 
 a silver to a gold standard. In other words, when 
 gold and silver were of nearly equal value, the 
 cost of matting was twelve and three-eighths 
 cents, as against five and one-fifth cents to-day." 
 
 " Why does not this oriental competition affect 
 other manufactures, such as iron and steel ?" 
 
 "It will in time. When a nation like Japan 
 first enters the markets of the world, it naturally 
 offers for sale the cheapest and plainest fabrics, 
 requiring the least skill to make. As soon as
 
 272 
 
 this field is covered, as it already is in part, the 
 new competing nation will turn its attention to 
 costlier fabrics, requiring more labor and skill. 
 Most woolen goods, as well as most iron and steel 
 products, are thus far made in countries which 
 are like ourselves, on a gold basis; so that in 
 these branches of industry we are not yet con- 
 fronted with a bounty of 100 per cent, in favor of 
 the manufacturer in a silver country. Gradually, 
 eastern competition may drive the single gold 
 standard countries into killing competition with 
 one another, and the United States will become 
 the dumping ground of all foreign products, un- 
 less we protect ourselves." 
 
 Mr. Dobson was asked to give some illustra- 
 tions of how these importations had affected 
 American labor. 
 
 " That is the saddest part of the tale," was the 
 reply. Mr. Dobson led the way to a window, 
 which he threw open. " Look down there," said 
 he, pointing down the hill. "You see a few lights 
 gleaming yonder in the valley. Two years ago 
 all the surrounding blackness would have been 
 twinkling with the lighted windows of happy and 
 prosperous homes." The manufacturer sighed 
 as he gazed down upon the dark Schuylkill val- 
 ley, and returned to his library. He resumed : 
 " Here are more figures, but they have human 
 interest and carry a pathetic meaning. The pres- 
 ent importation of China mattings would keep
 
 273 
 
 busy 2,500 ingrain carpet looms. That means 
 work, directly, for 7,500 weavers, dyers and spin- 
 ners. That means labor and wages for one-half 
 the ingrain carpet workers of Philadelphia. That 
 .means that about 30,000 people are indirectly 
 caused to suffer by the stoppage of those 2,500 
 looms. Not one-half of the ingrain looms in the 
 country are running to-day. That means that 
 thousands of trained employes are out of work. 
 And this does not apply to the weaving of ingrain 
 carpets alone. What affects ingrains must affect 
 other branches of the trade. The making of 
 tapestries and Brussels suffers as well." 
 
 Mr. Dobson was so absorbed in this branch of 
 his subject that he closed his eyes, and talking as 
 if to himself, plunged into a little mental arithmetic. 
 
 " Let me see, 404,000 pieces of silk would be 
 16,000,000 yards a year. One loom weaves six- 
 teen yards a day. That would mean about 3,300 
 looms a year to make the silk we imported in 1895 
 from Japan alone, not to speak of China. That, 
 I believe, is just about the number of silk looms 
 now idle at Paterson. That throws directly out 
 of work 10,000 people dyers, throsters and spin- 
 ners. Indirectly, that brings hardship to 50,000 
 people. Those disasters have not yet struck our 
 cotton mills. But they are coming, and coming 
 soon, and they will strike New England and check 
 the growth of the New South." 
 
 " Mr. Dobson, will you say to what extent these
 
 274 
 
 oriental importations have stopped the payment 
 
 of wages within your personal knowledge ? " 
 
 "I do not like that part of my story," he re- 
 plied, "but I'll tell you approximately. In 1893 
 our pay-roll reached $136,0x50 a month. Our- 
 mills were then running full and gave steady 
 work to 5,000 people. To-day our pay-roll is 
 $60,000 a month. By reductions of time and like 
 devices we managed to distribute these wages 
 
 o 
 
 among about 4,000 people. We take care of as 
 many as we can, but there is so much less for 
 them to do and so much less for them to earn, 
 and so much less for them to spend, and so much 
 less for I don't know how many thousand other 
 people to receive and to respend in their turn. I 
 think those figures are sadly eloquent, and they 
 apply only to our own local community, right 
 here at the falls of the Schuylkill. But think of 
 the other communities. Go to Kensington 
 Kensington, you know, is a northern suburb of 
 Philadelphia, on the Delaware River. There are 
 Dolan & Co.'s woolen mills. I am sure that not 
 one-half of their people who were working on full 
 time at good wages in 1893 can g et an Y work at 
 all now. That statement will apply to every 
 branch of the woolen business, excepting only the 
 mills that make women's fancy dress goods. Most 
 of those mills, I believe, are still running full. 
 And then think of the Paterson silk mills ! " 
 Mr. Dobson explained that he preferred to
 
 275 
 
 confine his statement to the shrinkage of pay-rolls 
 in dollars to his own experience, but suggested 
 that the figures he had already given carried their 
 own inference. Then he went on : 
 
 "All this means distress to both employes and 
 manufacturers. The employes are earning either 
 little or nothing at all, and yet they must live, 
 and their necessity is dire. The manufacturer 
 suffers because his expenses are constant for in- 
 surance, maintenance of plant and other items. 
 These expenses in the aggregate are an enormous 
 tax upon the capital invested in these crippled in- 
 dustries. For example, in the neighborhood of 
 Providence, R. I., there are seventy-five woolen 
 mills. Of them fifty-four are standing still and 
 the rest are running only four days a week. It is 
 hard to put into words what distress that means 
 to both capital and labor. 
 
 "Why, in all my experience of many years I 
 have never seen business in such a condition as 
 it is to-day. People won't buy goods, because 
 they think that at another time they can buy them 
 cheaper. There is no stability in prices. For 
 example, only last week 10,000 cases of ginghams 
 were sold in New York at from three and one- 
 half to three and three-quarter cents a yard. Only 
 a few weeks ago the price of these goods would 
 have been to jobbers six to seven cents a yard. 
 To-day cotton cloth for converting purposes and 
 for export sells in the South at thirteen cents per
 
 276 
 
 pound That is simply unprecedented in the an- 
 nals of manufacturing." 
 
 It was suggested that it would be difficult to 
 trace the effect of these disasters upon other 
 classes of capital and labor in our social and in- 
 dustrial system. 
 
 "Yes, to their furthest extent," said Mr. Dob- 
 son, "but it is comparatively easy to see how 
 they affect the great business of transportation. I 
 believe that the railroads employ one per cent, of 
 all the employes of the country. Now, when the 
 factories of the country are not busy, they furnish 
 less freight to the railroads, whose earnings fall 
 off until they go into the hands of receivers. That 
 is the condition of sixty- two per cent, of the rail- 
 roads of the country to-day. Unless we manu- 
 facturers can give business to the railroads I don't 
 see how they can pay their interest charges and 
 prosper. This, of course, finally reaches the 
 pockets of the stockholders, big and little, at 
 home and abroad, and carries distress to those 
 who had hoped to live on their invested earnings. 
 We owe an enormous foreign indebtedness to 
 our railroads. Many of our railroads have bor- 
 rowed all they can, until almost all their rolling 
 stock is pledged to car trusts, and they have noth- 
 ing left to borrow on. Not a railroad security 
 falls due but that is paid off by issuing a new se- 
 curity. In other words, they are not paying their 
 debts, but are keeping their borrowing capacity up 
 to its extreme limit."
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 A VOICE FROM BOSTON. 
 
 The following is an editorial taken from the 
 Boot and Shoe Record, a representative business 
 publication at Boston : 
 
 "It is not easy to decide whether the financial 
 authorities (?) who control the daily press in this 
 part of the country are stupidly ignorant or 
 lamentably disingenuous in their statements about 
 our alleged dependence on foreign capital or 
 about the threatened withdrawals of foreign capi- 
 tal by reason of the silver scare. Now foreign 
 capital either refuses to go to silver-using coun- 
 tries or it does not. It is a question of fact and 
 not of opinion. If doing business on anything 
 but the gold standard scares off investors, then 
 we will certainly find the proof in a silver-using 
 country like Mexico, where gold is counted at 
 nearly 100 per cent, premium. In the financial 
 columns of the Boston Herald, which editorially 
 tells of the terrible things that will happen if we 
 favor silver in the slightest degree, we find the 
 following : 
 
 "A city of Mexico special says: "The Bank 
 of London and Mexico will increase its capital 
 to $10,000,000, in order to provide funds for its 
 
 277
 
 278 
 
 growing business. It had just paid 14 per cent, 
 dividend. 
 
 " The National Bank of Mexico has purchased 
 Hotel De La Gran Sociedad, and is expected to 
 build a magnificent edifice on its site. 
 
 "The Deutsche Bank of Berlin has decided to 
 open a branch here, with ample capital, on the 
 first day of June. There is a great interest 
 aroused in financial circles by this attempt of the 
 greatest bank of Central Europe to secure busi- 
 ness in this country, and the fact that it will open 
 a branch is taken to indicate confidence in the 
 financial solvency and continued prosperity of this 
 country. The new bank will be managed by 
 Baron Bleichroeder's former agent here, Dr. 
 Gloner, and Pablo Kosidowski, German consul. 
 
 "A new private bank will also be opened here 
 July 1st. It is reported that when the new bank- 
 ing law goes into effect, permitting the establish- 
 ment of banks of issue in the interior, several 
 institutions of credit will be opened. 
 
 "The Government has a heavy balance in cash, 
 and is meeting all its obligations with punctuality. 
 The national revenue is exceeding all expecta- 
 tions. 
 
 "There is a remarkable amount of residential 
 buildings here, and every indication of solid and 
 permanent prosperity. Bankers report everybody 
 well supplied with funds, and business generally 
 very satisfactory."
 
 279 
 
 Does this look like a scare or not ? Are any 
 banks in this country paying 14 per cent, divi- 
 dends ? Can banks here or in any gold-standard 
 country report " everybody well supplied with 
 funds and business generally very satisfactory," 
 or not ? Isn't it about time that the hard-headed 
 business men of the country used their common 
 sense and stopped cowering like frightened chil- 
 dren at the bug-a-boo threats of the great editors? 
 Could we not stand a good deal of that kind of 
 ruin and disaster? 
 
 Referring again to the evidence from Japan, we 
 have the statements of Hon. Robert P. Porter, 
 who has just returned from that country, where 
 he has been investigating the industrial condi- 
 tions. He says that he deems the question of 
 Japanese competition one of the momentous prob- 
 lems that the American nation will have to solve, 
 and that the danger lies not so much in the present 
 competition in the undeveloped state of Japanese 
 resources as in the enormous rapidity of the 
 growth of the Japanese output in all lines of 
 manufacture which they enter. Ten years ago, 
 according to Mr. Porter, the whole Japanese 
 trade amounted to $78,000,000, while last year it 
 had increased to $300,000,000. The export of 
 textiles alone increased from $511,000 to $23,- 
 000,000 in the ten years. 
 
 The really important point to be noted in 
 regard to this mass of evidence from Mexico,
 
 280 
 
 Japan, and in fact from all the silver-using coun- 
 tries, is that the remarkable development ha; 
 been made during the last ten years, or since the 
 marked decline in the gold value of silver. In 
 the case of Japan, that country, by reason of the 
 commercial treaties forced upon it by England, 
 was prevented from levying protective duties on 
 imports. The native industries were able to 
 make but little headway against the imports from 
 Europe, and for fifty years there was no progress 
 to speak of. When England succeeded in forc- 
 ing the gold standard on other countries and sil- 
 ver was displaced, the premium on gold in Japan 
 operated as a protective duty of about 100 per 
 cent. This gave the stimulus needed, and, as the 
 evidence proves, the development has been 
 something wonderful. Of course, great indus- 
 tries cannot be built up in a year, and we do not 
 feel much of the force of Japanese competition 
 as yet, but given another ten years, at the same 
 rate of progress, and how will our industries bear 
 up against it ? 
 
 An editorial in the Boston Herald, on the sub- 
 ject of " Competition with Asia," admits the facts 
 as to the stimulating effect of the silver currency, 
 and also the fact that "to purchase the ordinary 
 country supplies an ounce of silver in the form of 
 coin will go nearly as far in the form of compen- 
 sation as it would when the same ounce was 
 worth, as bullion, nearly twice as much as it is at
 
 28l 
 
 the present time, and this under conditions in one 
 form or another of nearly free coinage." The edi- 
 tor attempts to explain this by the lack of intelli- 
 gence and scant means of communication in those 
 countries, so that the mass of the people do not 
 realize the depreciation of silver. This would be 
 plausible if it could be shown on the other hand 
 that prices of ordinary country supplies in the 
 gold-using countries had not fallen and the silver 
 alone of all commodities had declined in value 
 when measured in gold. As this is not true, and 
 as the fact of the ruinous decline in all prices 
 measured in gold is beyond dispute, the proof is 
 absolute that the change in value is in the gold 
 rather than in the silver. 
 
 Of course, the Herald yearns for the wage- 
 earner. It continues that if we brought our cur- 
 rency to the Chinese basis, employers would pay 
 wages in silver the equivalent of fifty cents in 
 gold for what they are now paying 100 cents in 
 gold. This, it claims, would be robbing the 
 wage-earner. This is another form of the old 
 stock free trade argument, which assumes that 
 employers carry on business for the sole and 
 only purpose of paying wages, and that the 
 amount of wages paid is entirely optional with 
 the employer, having no reference to profit or the 
 selling prices of the products. Wages are con- 
 sidered as fixed and arbitrary, and political econ- 
 omy is, in effect, the science of giving the cheap- 
 
 17
 
 282 
 
 est prices or the most goods for the wages. The 
 employers are always despots, who can be forced 
 to sell at low prices while paying the highest 
 wages. It is hardly necessary to point out the 
 absurdity of such assumptions. A few weeks 
 since, for example, it was announced that the 
 Baldwin Straw Plating Works, at Milford, Conn., 
 had arranged to ship their entire machinery to 
 Japan, as they were unable to continue the com- 
 petition here. Will this concern maintain an 
 office in Milford and continue paying wages to 
 the old employes in gold or not ? If not, how 
 much do the wage-earners benefit by the gold 
 standard ? When manufacturers of silk, cotton, 
 woolen, iron, leather, boots and shoes and other 
 lines, find it profitable to follow the Baldwin 
 example, who will continue to pay wages at 100 
 cents in gold to the idle workman ? Where will 
 the gain for the wage-earners come in ? 
 
 What is the use of trying to keep up such hum- 
 bug arguments ? The people must come to their 
 senses sooner or later. They must learn that 
 employer cannot be separated from wage-earner, 
 and that the latter depends absolutely on the 
 prosperity of the former. Why not admit the 
 fact that the gold standard and disuse of silver is 
 forcing an unequal and ruinous competition in all 
 industries ? Every gold-using country feels it, 
 and the people cannot always submit to be made 
 slaves of the money-lenders, who exact their
 
 28 3 
 
 "pound of flesh nearest the heart." Let us have 
 some fair discussion, instead of special pleading 
 by the interested organ ; and for the good of 
 common humanity, let us honestly seek an honest 
 remedy.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 CERNUSCHI ON THE ISSUE. 
 
 Henri Cernuschi was the famous French writer 
 who won fame as a champion of international bi- 
 metallism and an opponent of independent 
 bimetallism by any single nation. He has been 
 frequently quoted by advocates of the gold 
 standard in this country in their endeavor to com- 
 bat the arguments of the advocates of " 16 to i." 
 The following is one of the last of Cernuschi's 
 contributions : From the Paris Economiste. 
 
 "I have always combated the uncompromising 
 silver men of America, who at bottom are really 
 silver monometallists, because from the scientific 
 point of view, their doctrine is as fallacious as that 
 of the gold monometallists. 
 
 " The adoption of the free coinage of silver by 
 the United States alone would, it is true, increase 
 to a formidable extent the contingent of silver 
 monometallic countries, but would not immed- 
 iately bring about a true solution of the problem 
 that international bimetallism has in view name- 
 ly, the instantaneous fusion of the two monetary 
 standards in a single international money by the 
 establishment of a fixed parity of value between 
 gold and silver. 
 
 284
 
 285 
 
 "With silver monometallism in the United 
 States, the war to the knife between gold and sil- 
 ver will agitate yet for many years the civilized 
 world, and you know as well as I do that the re- 
 sults of this struggle will be disastrous to those 
 European countries which are at present living 
 under a single gold standard, and in particular to 
 England and France. 
 
 "I have always been the adversary of the out- 
 and-out silver men of America, that is to say, the 
 party which demands the free coinage of the silver 
 dollar in the United States without reference to 
 the action of European nations, because their mon- 
 etary conception is diametrically opposed to mine. 
 They are monometallists, like the monometallists 
 of the city of London, and the triumph of their 
 cause, so far from putting an end to the monetary 
 anarchy in which the world has been writhing 
 since 1873, will merely accentuate it, in rendering 
 more burdensome for Europe the economic conse- 
 quences of the diverge. 
 
 "But if I were a citizen of the United States and 
 were convinced that Europe, by reason of Eng- 
 land's attitude, is fixedly hostile to the establish- 
 ment of a stable monetary parity between gold 
 and silver, obstinately rejecting all ideas of inter- 
 national bimetallic agreement, then I should cease 
 to be an international bimetallist (which nearly all 
 my friends in the United States are), and should go 
 over unhesitatingly to the camp of the silver men.
 
 "As a matter of fact, in its present economic 
 situation, the United States of America, that great 
 and youthful nation, suffers much more from the 
 merciless conflict that has been in progress be- 
 tween gold and silver since 1873 than England a 
 very wealthy country, creditor of the rest of the 
 world, possessing resources of every kind and 
 enormous financial reserves, which enable her to 
 endure with comparative ease the economic com- 
 petition of tho^e nations whose monetary standard 
 is depreciated in regard to gold, like the countries 
 of the far east, Mexico, the Argentine Republic, etc. 
 
 "The United States of America, on the con- 
 trary, are debtors to Europe for a portion of the 
 sums which they have employed in the develop- 
 ment of their industrial system, and must neces- 
 sarily liquidate their debts abroad by realizing 
 upon the products of their soil and of their manu- 
 factures. 
 
 " Now, as their foreign debts are, on the one 
 hand, contracted in gold, and as, on the other, 
 American products in Europe have to reckon with 
 the depressing competition of similar products 
 exported by other countries having a silver 
 standard or paper money, it follows that the 
 appreciation of gold, in regard to silver, that 
 has taken place since 1873, has had a two- 
 fold result for the United States which have 
 remained faithful to the single gold standard since 
 that date namely : First it has diminished by
 
 287 
 
 half, on American territory, the value in gold of 
 all the national products which are subject to the 
 said competition; and, second, it has doubled the 
 real burden of the debts contracted abroad in 
 gold, since double the quantity of American prod- 
 ucts is now required to discharge the annual lia- 
 bilities arising from those debts. 
 
 "The native products of England have evident- 
 ly felt the depressing influence of the same com- 
 petition with similar products from countries 
 whose monetary standard has been depreciated 
 in regard to gold, and in this respect English agri- 
 culturists and manufacturers are prejudicially af- 
 fected in the same way as the agriculturists and 
 manufacturers of the United States. For this 
 reason, an understanding between the two coun- 
 tries looking to the re-establishment of the equi- 
 librium between the two monetary standards, and 
 the maintenance of a stable parity of exchange 
 for the future, was logical, reasonable and desir- 
 able for the world at large. 
 
 " But, if the interests of English agriculturists 
 and manufacturers are seriously affected by the 
 competition of countries having a depreciated 
 monetary standard, the exterior finances of the 
 United Kingdom do not surfer thereby, since 
 England has no debts contracted abroad, and, in 
 this respect at least, the English escape that par- 
 ticular evil from which the finances of the United 
 States of America suffer so cruelly.
 
 288 
 
 "Furthermore, England being a large creditor 
 of foreign countries, the London bankers can 
 argue as Sir William Harcourt did in so cate- 
 gorical a manner in his speech of March i yth last 
 in the House of Commons that the English capi- 
 talists recover, by the increasing purchasing power 
 of the gold due them from abroad, the amount 
 which, owing to the fall in the gold price of prod- 
 ucts imported into England by debtor countries, 
 is lost by the agriculturists and manufacturers of 
 the United Kingdom. 
 
 " Is that the case with the United States of 
 America ? No, most assuredly not ! for they are 
 debtors in gold to foreign countries, and it is with 
 the proceeds of these same products, the gold 
 prices of which have been depreciated by the com- 
 petition of silver standard or paper money coun- 
 tries, that they are obliged to pay their foreign debt. 
 
 "Therefore, the present monetary situation in 
 the United States is doubly unfavorable to the 
 economic interests of that great nation, since, 
 owing to the state of affairs now obtaining, the 
 gold standard countries of Europe, and particu- 
 larly the manufacturing countries like England, 
 find it enormously advantageous to purchase their 
 raw materials in those countries whose standard 
 depreciated with regard to gold, like Asiatic coun- 
 tries, Russia or the Argentine Republic, and, on 
 the other hand, to sell their manufactured products 
 in the American market, where they are paid for 
 in gold currency.
 
 289 
 
 "The present monetary policy of the United 
 States is consequently very advantageous to the 
 interests of England, a gold monometallic coun- 
 try, but it is utterly ruinous as regards the foreign 
 financial relations of the United States, and es- 
 pecially for its native producers. 
 
 "This is why, inasmuch as England's attitude 
 prevents the realization of international bimetal- 
 lism and condemns one-half of the world to gold 
 monometallism and the other half to silver mono 
 metallism, I would not hesitate, were I a citizen 
 of the United States, to become I, Cernuschi, 
 the father of international bimetallism, as I am 
 everywhere called a silver monometallism 
 
 'From a theoretical point of view, the free 
 coinage of silver at 16 to i, re-established by the 
 United States without the concurrence of Europe, 
 would be a vicious solution, but it would neverthe- 
 less be a step in the direction of international bi- 
 metallism ; for, under the regime of the new 
 standard, the productive power of the United 
 States would receive so enormous an impulse, and 
 this development would have such a disastrous 
 effect upon the economic and financial interests of 
 England and the other European nations now 
 governed by the gold standard, that it may be 
 confidently predicted in advance, that the course 
 of events would force the adoption of international 
 bimetallism as the only true solution even upon 
 those who to-day deny the possibility and efficacy 
 of it." HENRI CEFLNUSCHT-
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 JOHN M. THURSTON ON MONEY. 
 
 The Republican National Convention for 1896, 
 held in the city of St. Louis, selected a distin- 
 guished citizen of Nebraska to preside over its 
 deliberations. Senator John M. Thurston needs 
 no introduction to the people of the United 
 States, and as the permanent chairman of the 
 Republican National Convention, his utterances 
 on the money question will be of more than ordi- 
 nary interest. 
 
 By way of preface, and in exact justice to 
 Senator Thurston, it should be said that there is no 
 record showing that he declared explicitly in favor 
 of the free and unlimited coinage of silver at the 
 ratio of 16 to i ; but he seems to have regarded 
 the question of the ratio as of secondary impor- 
 tance, while at the same time he favored restrict- 
 ing the coinage to the American product. But 
 Senator Thurston's utterances on the money 
 question, up to and including the very day of his 
 election to the United States Senate, were di- 
 rectly, emphatically and explicitly antagonistic to 
 the single gold standard. 
 
 In a letter addressed to Hon. J. Burrows, of 
 
 290
 
 291 
 
 Lincoln, Nebraska, under date of July, 1893, Mr. 
 Thurston said : 
 
 " I am a profound believer in the use of both 
 gold and silver as money. I advocated the 
 restoration of free coinage before any of those 
 who are now the self-selected champions of silver 
 in Nebraska had ever opened their lips on the 
 subject. At the opening of the corn palace in 
 Sioux City, four years ago, I said : 
 
 "At the risk of being tedious, I ask your careful 
 attention to the presentation of another grave 
 question, which, in my judgment, is of such 
 momentous importance to the entire West that 
 all our people should join in vigorous efforts to 
 secure its early and favorable solution. 
 
 "We of the West must have cheap money, not 
 money intrinsically cheap, but cheap in interest 
 charges for its use. 
 
 "We are money borrowers, and we need vast 
 sums with which to hasten the development of our 
 wonderful resources. 
 
 "We have good security to give, and neither 
 repudiation nor bankruptcy is to be feared. 
 
 "But the amount of money in circulation is 
 becoming inadequate for the daily commercial 
 necessities of the country. It is almost impossi- 
 ble to-day for our local banks to accommodate 
 their regular customers at 10 per cent. They 
 have not a dollar to loan on the best paper to 
 anyone else.
 
 292 
 
 "In popular parlance, ' money is scarce.' 
 
 "The country grows so fast that the demand 
 increases almost by multiplication. 
 
 "An inadequate circulating medium adds to 
 the relative value of the dollar, and cheapens the 
 relative value of everything else. 
 
 "Every debtor must work harder or sell more 
 property to meet his obligations than he other- 
 wise would. 
 
 ******* 
 
 "But our mountain ranges produce a metal 
 which, until a few years ago, was money the wide 
 world over. Silver was one of the standard coins 
 of the United States from the birth of inde- 
 pendence until its demonetization crept into the 
 statutes of Congress, either by mistake or fraud. 
 
 " I assert that the American people, and es- 
 pecially those of the West, demand the free and 
 unlimited coinage of silver. I do not mean that 
 the financial affairs of the country should be car- 
 ried on by the actual use of silver, for it has been 
 demonstrated that the silver certificates answer 
 better. Nor am I certain that the present standard 
 should be adhered to. But let us restore the law 
 which made silver a legal tender for all debts, 
 public and private. Let us give the right to any 
 man to deposit the bullion in the Treasury and 
 receive for it certificates redeemable in silver 
 coin, and the great problem of an adequate, flex- 
 ible and stable currency is solved.
 
 293 
 
 "The assertion that a government can have 
 too much money, is not reliable. Inflation by 
 issuance of irredeemable paper is one thing ; 
 expansion by coinage is another. If we coin all 
 the silver produced in America, over and above 
 what is used in manufactures and the arts, we will 
 not any more than keep pace with the increased 
 demands of our business growth. Every dollar 
 issued in exchange for silver bullion will find its 
 way into circulation and a new era of prosperity 
 begin. 
 
 " From time to time thereafter, before the 
 various Republican clubs and organizations in the 
 United States, I maintained substantially the same 
 views. My present position is quite fully set 
 forth in a letter addressed by me to George Gun- 
 ton, editor of Social Economist, New York City, 
 on July 7, 1893, a copy of which I hereto attach.' 1 
 
 On July 7, 1893, Mr. Thurston addressed a 
 letter to George Gunton, editor of The Social 
 Economist, No. 34 Union Square, New York City, 
 in which Mr. Thurston said : 
 
 "I have no doubt the remonetization of silver 
 in the United States would speedily and certainly 
 appreciate the price of silver, not only in this 
 country, but throughout the whole world. No 
 matter what other governments do, this country 
 ought not to eliminate silver from use as a coin 
 metal. Any legislation in that direction will be 
 looked upon by the common people as in the in-
 
 294 
 
 terest of the money power for the express pur- 
 pose of increasing the purchasing power of money 
 and decreasing the selling price of everything 
 produced by human toil. It is a fact, which should 
 not be overlooked by statesmen, that the price of 
 American silver and the price of American wheat 
 reached low water mark on the same day. 
 
 " Economists insist that the volume of money 
 in a country has nothing to do with the intrinsic 
 value of the dollar, and this is true so far as the 
 intrinsic value of the coin is concerned, but the 
 amount of money in circulation in a country has 
 almost everything to do with the interest rate on 
 money, with the ability to borrow money for use 
 in manufactures, improvements and speculation. 
 Since the recent monetary scare many branches 
 of industry have been closed to American work- 
 men because of the inability of the manufacturers 
 to borrow money from the banks as heretofore, 
 and this, because a large part of the actual money 
 in the country had been taken out of circulation 
 by the panic. Small depositors have withdrawn 
 their money from the banks, and the deposit 
 vaults of the country have in them to-day millions 
 of dollars which, three months ago, were on de- 
 posit in our banks. Therefore, the interest rate 
 has increased and it is difficult, in most communi- 
 ties, to borrow money on any reasonable terms,
 
 295 
 
 The result is stagnation of business, stoppage of 
 all kinds of enterprises, and in a very short time 
 thousands of American workmen will be out of 
 employment. 
 
 "The recent events, instead of bringing me to 
 believe in the single gold standard, have had quite 
 the opposite result. For the world at large to 
 abandon the use of silver as money would be to 
 greatly enhance the power of gold; to greatly 
 diminish the volume of money, and thereby the 
 borrowing classes and the producing classes would 
 be more at the mercy of the money holders than 
 they ever have been heretofore. The United 
 States is a silver-producing country, and I do not 
 believe it can afford to let those nations not silver 
 producing compel it to abandon silver as a money. 
 
 "It is better that we should, if necessary, buy 
 gold at a premium to settle our foreign balances 
 with than that the American people should be com- 
 pelled to pay higher prices in human labor and in 
 human endeavor for a dollar because of the adop- 
 tion of the single gold standard. I am an advo- 
 cate of the American theory. We are not depend- 
 ent either for manufactures or money on the out- 
 side world." 
 
 In an interview printed in the Omaha World- 
 Herald of Monday, June n, 1894, Mr. Thurston 
 said : 
 
 "So far as I am concerned, I think I only disa-
 
 296 
 
 gree with such Republicans as ex- President Har- 
 rison upon the question as to what steps ought 
 to be first instituted to bring the commercial 
 world back to the use of both gold and silver. 
 He believes that it must be done through a mon- 
 etary conference with the great commercial pow- 
 ers. In my judgment the United States can 
 safely take the initiative by providing for the 
 coinage of its own silver, and I believe that such 
 action on its part would, within a comparatively 
 short time, drive the other great countries of the 
 world to similar action, and speedily pave the way 
 for a monetary conference, which would establish 
 gold and silver as the money of the world and 
 fix the ratio for generations to come." 
 
 On January 16, 1895, Mr. Thurston addressed 
 the Legislature of the State of Nebraska in formal 
 acknowledgment of his election to the United 
 States Senate. On that occasion Mr. Thurston 
 said : 
 
 "I would put a stop to the outflow of gold 
 from the treasury ; first, by requiring that all im- 
 port duties should be paid in gold at the option 
 of the treasurer of the United States ; and, second, 
 by insisting upon the right of redemption in 
 either gold or silver, of outstanding notes, when- 
 ever it becomes apparent that redemption is 
 being demanded for speculative purposes. It is 
 said that such a policy would drive gold to a 
 premium. In my judgment, we can better afford
 
 297 
 
 to have gold at a premium than prosperity at a 
 discount. ***** 
 
 "More money on hand than is necessary to 
 supply the business demands may reduce interest 
 rates, but the people can easily stand that. The 
 bankers and the capitalists should not have 
 power to contract the volume of currency in 
 circulation or corner the money market of the 
 country. I do not agree with those who would 
 retire our greenbacks and treasury notes. I am 
 in favor of keeping every one of them in circula- 
 tion, and there can be no danger in so doing if 
 we will adopt the policy already stated of meeting 
 all speculative demands for redemption by tender 
 of either gold or silver, at the option of the 
 government, in accordance with the specific terms 
 of the contract. 
 
 "I am in favor of American bimetallism, and in 
 this the United States should lead the world. 
 
 "My position upon the American silver question 
 has been thoroughly understood by the people of 
 the State, and I accept my election by the united 
 vote of the great Republican majority in the 
 Legislature as an indorsement of my ante-election 
 declaration in favor of coining the American 
 product of gold and silver into honest dollars. 
 To those who fear the effect of the American 
 silver coinage, I have this to say : We are not 
 realizing financial prosperty under existing gold 
 monometallism, and it is worth our while to try 
 the experiment of a return to bimetallism." 
 
 18
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 MORETON FREWEN ON THE ISSUE. 
 
 (From the London Financial News of May 29, 
 1896.) 
 
 "It may be well to notice an error into which 
 many persons ignorant of the currency question 
 have fallen. They accuse the committee of de- 
 siring to rob the present public creditors in order 
 to make up for the injury done to the public 
 debtors in 1819. To such parties the committee 
 recommends an inquiry as to how far the present 
 relations and obligations of society are in accord- 
 ance with the present gold coinage; and they will 
 find that what the committee desires is to prevent 
 further appreciation, or further robbery of the 
 debtors, and not to rob the public creditor. The 
 average of prices and wages is still about 
 25 per cent, above the present gold standard. 
 It is the attempt at a further reduction which 
 causes the present universal embarrassment. * * 
 * Will or can the agricultural and commercial 
 classes submit to this reduction ? And, if so, 
 would it be possible to collect the amount of 
 revenue required by the government ?" From the 
 memorial of the Birmingham Chamber of Com- 
 
 298
 
 299 
 
 merce, addressed to Sir Robert Peel, December 
 2, 1842. 
 
 " To the Editor of the News Sir: Your inter- 
 esting leader of the 2ist, upon the currency situ- 
 ation in the United States, may be shortly summed 
 up in the following theses : (i) That no legis- 
 lation by the United States, single-handed, can 
 establish a parity between gold and silver ; (2) 
 That the free coinage of silver in the United States 
 involves silver monometallism ; (3) That gold 
 monometallism is to be preferred to silver mono- 
 metallism. Now, in the opinion of the silver 
 party in the United States, if (i) is sound, (2) an 
 honest silver currency such as Germany had 
 until 1873, and India until 1893, * s infinitely pre- 
 ferable to (3) an appreciating gold currency, 
 even if which is more than doubtful that gold 
 currency can be maintained at all. As a gen- 
 eral statement of the financial position of the 
 United States it may be said that she owes 
 annually these interest payments: $150,000,000 
 on loans, $75,000,000 remittances to travelers and 
 absentees, $75,000,000 to foreign ship-owners : so 
 that either her exports have to exceed her imports 
 by ,60,000,000 sterling or she loses gold, or, 
 failing this, she has to borrow to pay the interest, 
 thus piling higher the permanent interest charges. 
 
 "I venture to think that the debts of this nation 
 of 70,000,000 people are even larger than I have 
 stated them. The general condition of financial
 
 300 
 
 strain, and consequent political unrest in the 
 United States seems to be not less than is now 
 the case in Australia, where the annual interest 
 paid abroad by 4,000,000 people is known to be 
 some ^15,000,000 sterling. If we take, for 
 example, the state of California ; this state is in 
 population, in resources and climate about the 
 peer of New South Wales. The annual indebt- 
 edness of New South Wales is officially stated at 
 ,5,000,000 sterling. May not the debt of Cali- 
 fornia to New York and to Europe be about the 
 same ? and, if so, how can California any more 
 than New South Wales permanently sustain the 
 burden of a 50 per cent, fall of prices, which fall 
 must have exactly doubled the burden of her 
 external debt? Thus the one issue in the United 
 States which includes the other issues, such as 
 the mere color of her money and the fiscal 
 methods by which her revenue shall be collected 
 the one paramount issue is this : How can the 
 United States secure a sufficient balance of ex- 
 ports to continue solvent? Now, I contend that 
 if, as you admit to be the case the world over, a 
 depreciating currency stimulates exports and 
 contracts imports, then that portion of public 
 opinion in America which favors silver rather 
 than gold is intelligent. For scheme, and re-ad- 
 just, and tinker with the tariffs as you will, you 
 cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear ; you 
 cannot restore the balance of trade to the United
 
 301 
 
 States unless her currency legislation is such that 
 it drags up the exchanges between Europe and 
 Asia ; whereas every further movement, in 
 America or elsewhere, toward gold monometal- 
 lism drags those exchanges down. In short, 
 gold monometallism in the United States involves 
 an increased competition for the industries of 
 white men everywhere, at the hands of the yel- 
 low races of the orient; and there is not a consu- 
 lar report which comes to us from the far east 
 but emphasizes this statement. What, then, is 
 the argument for single-handed free coinage in 
 the United States? It is this. Either free coin- 
 age will establish bimetallism for the whole world, 
 or, failing this, there will be such a gold premium 
 in New York as to-day assists exporters in Rus- 
 sia, in all Asia, and in nine-tenths of South 
 America. 
 
 "This gold premium, unlike a protective tariff, 
 will stimulate the exports of the United States, 
 while acting, just as a protective tariff does, to 
 reduce imports ; therefore, either free coinage will 
 give bimetallism to the whole world, or, failing 
 this, it will tend to secure that excess of Ameri- 
 can exports over imports, which is the only possi- 
 ble alternative to further gold loans, leading to 
 ultimate insolvency. These, then, are the argu- 
 ments which favor a non-appreciating, or even a 
 depreciating, currency in the United States. On 
 the other hand, I do not see, qua its economic
 
 302 
 
 aspects, what possible advantage can accrue from 
 a gold standard and a gold currency. A gold 
 currency in America cannot raise it cannot, 
 indeed, fail to further depress the European 
 exchanges with 800,000,000 of Asiatic exporters. 
 It cannot, therefore, fail to still further throw the 
 balance of trade against the United States, unless, 
 indeed, by further contracting the American cur- 
 rency, it forces down prices there to such a 
 point as to contract violently America's import 
 trades. And a pretty look-out for England that ! 
 In short, the clamor of our press that America 
 shall become gold monometallic, seems to involve 
 either the insolvency of our greatest debtor or 
 the decline of our export trades to America, or 
 both. 
 
 " There is this further point which you empha- 
 size that if America copies our gold standard 
 'confidence will be restored,' and we will lend her 
 more money ; thus aggravating in the future the 
 very disease from which she suffers. On the 
 other hand, if she goes to free coinage we shall, 
 in a panic, return her securities, and thus sell her 
 back her railways and industrials at half price, 
 just at that very moment when, her legislation 
 having sent the rupee, the tael, and the yen to 
 nearly, or quite, par, the export trades of the 
 orient will be cut into, and the exports of the 
 American farm, mine and factory will take their 
 place. In other words, because of the inane
 
 303 
 
 injunctions of a portion of the London press, our 
 investors there will be so misled as to sell 
 American stocks to Americans at that very mo- 
 ment when in America prosperity is about to set 
 in. You remark that I describe America as 'the 
 greatest debtor nation on earth/ and you add 
 ' that one fact is conclusive against taking any 
 course tending to lower its national credit'.' But 
 would free silver lower its credit, even should it 
 involve a gold premium ? It certainly would not, 
 if trade and agriculture there improved, and the 
 railways did a larger business at better rates. 
 The credit of a country is not determined by its 
 currency, but by its prosperity. Thus India's 
 credit, the rate at which she borrows, has greatly 
 improved side by side with the depreciation of 
 her currency. So also has Russia's. Of the 
 Argentine and Brazil it is not too much to say 
 that incontrovertible paper issues, and the stimu- 
 lus thus afforded their exports because of de- 
 preciation, has alone enabled these countries to 
 continue paying the interest on their foreign 
 loans. And what is lacking in the United States 
 is not really the lenders' confidence in the cur- 
 rency ; it is rather the conviction of both bor- 
 rower and lender that money invested in a farm 
 or factory will earn no profit ; that the pains and 
 perils of a fresh ' resumption ' period are just 
 ahead ; and that while prices over there are even 
 now depressed below the point of possible profit,
 
 304 
 
 they must be depressed 25 per cent, further yet be- 
 fore imports, under any tariff, can be so checked 
 as to permit gold to remain at home in the cur- 
 rency. And, further than this, let me ask how, 
 if imports are to be checked by a high tariff, is 
 the necessary revenue to be secured for the Fed- 
 eral Government ? If then, as I believe, the 
 critical position of the United States results from 
 the present conditions of exchange between 
 Europe and Asia, and can only be remedied by 
 some action which will raise those exchanges, 
 much may be said for the policy of free silver, 
 even should that policy involve a gold premium 
 in New York. It is not the exporter from Amer- 
 ica who will be hurt by that premium ; it is the 
 exporter to America in other words, the English 
 manufacturer. But let me go further and ask 
 your reasons for believing that the United States 
 is unable to maintain the parity of i to 16, 
 assuming, as we may assume, that if the Ameri- 
 can mints open to the free coinage of dollars, we 
 shall open mints to the free coinage of rupees. 
 Are there any scientific grounds for the convic- 
 tion, so generally held, that such a monetary 
 union as this bimetallism in America and silver 
 monometallism in India would fail to maintain 
 the world's parity. I do not venture, of course, 
 to dogmatize as to this ; but the problem is so 
 interesting and the experiment by the United 
 States whether next year or in 1901 is so ex-
 
 305 
 
 tremely probable, that it is worth while for those 
 who hold that the experiment would be attended 
 with disaster, to offer something for our consider- 
 ation more convincing than prophecies. 
 
 " In the first place, then, free coinage in America 
 would bring the Asiatic exchanges promptly to 
 par for the moment, at least and assuming 
 that you are right, and that there would be panic 
 sales of American securities held here, perhaps 
 ^40,000,000 sterling of American gold would 
 flow into Europe. This great flood of gold would 
 be likely to inflate prices here to some extent, to 
 thus increase the exports from the United States, 
 and also to reduce the gold premium at Buenos 
 Ayres and elsewhere, thus checking exports of 
 wheat, etc., which compete with similar exports 
 from America. And, again, the prodigious rise in 
 the exchange with Asia would expand European 
 exports to Asia, and, until gold prices here had 
 risen, would greatly contract exports from Asia to 
 Europe. Thus a double influence favorable to 
 the balance of trade in the United States would 
 be exerted. The United States would export 
 more to England because Asia would export less, 
 and thus America's gold as well as her securities, 
 would go back to her. Secondly, because Eng- 
 land, selling more goods to Asia, the rupee, the 
 dollar, and the yen being at par, England 
 could then also buy more produce from the 
 United States. Thus, while free coinage in the
 
 306 
 
 United States might, in the first place, tend to 
 displace gold, there would almost simultaneously 
 be exerted an even more powerful tendency for 
 gold to be shipped west from Europe in order to 
 liquidate what it seems to me must be an im- 
 mense trade balance in favor of the United States. 
 As to the absurd idea one frequently encounters, 
 that Asia will dump silver upon the American 
 mints and carry off gold, it is hardly necessary to 
 examine this fallacy. It is for the objectors to 
 show why Asia should give the metal which to 
 her alone is money in order to buy the other metal 
 which is not money ; and why also the white metal 
 should be withdrawn from the hoards of the orient 
 at that moment when it appreciates, in order that it 
 may be exchanged for the yellow metal, which has 
 just depreciated almost one-half in terms of rupees. 
 "The present Lord Aldenham (then Mr. Hucks 
 Gibbs), in his evidence before the currency 
 commission in 1886, declared that, in his judg- 
 ment, America with open mints could maintain 
 the parity without help. There is no one who 
 has had a larger practical experience of exchange 
 problems than Mr. Gibbs ; there is no one whose 
 opinion is more entitled to respect. And since 
 that evidence was given what have we seen ? On 
 a certain Monday in June, 1893, we saw tne two 
 metals at a parity of i to 24 ; on the Friday of 
 that week the parity had become i to 30^. And 
 why? Because the Indian mints had been closed
 
 to free coinage. Now, it is not possible to argue 
 seriously that, while the closing of the Indian 
 mints had thus enormously reduced the gold price 
 of silver, yet the reopening of those mints would 
 have failed to bring about a rise ; so that it is fair 
 to assume, that if between Monday and Friday 
 the ratio fell from i to 24 to i to 30^, then be- 
 tween Friday and Tuesday, had the Indian mints 
 been reopened, the ratio would have risen from i 
 to 30^ to i to 24. And supposing, further, that 
 on the Tuesday the United States had accepted 
 free coinage at i to 16, is it inherently improbable 
 that such a vast country, with such a boundless ex- 
 porting capacity, could have lifted silver to 58^d ? 
 "Permit me to recapitulate. The difference 
 between open mints and closed mints in India has 
 been demonstrated by the experiment of 1893 to 
 be silver at 3O*/d and silver at 38^d, and, this 
 having been ascertained, is it the folly, is it the 
 lunacy, is it the dishonesty that the New York 
 press so glibly declares it, if we venture to hold 
 that the difference between open mints in the 
 United States and closed mints in the United 
 States, is the entire difference between 38^ d and 
 58^d? In other words, if India contributes a 
 25 per cent, life to silver by giving it free coin- 
 age, why cannot America contribute a further 50 
 per cent? Why cannot she lift the ratio from i 
 to 24 to i to 16? What, permit me to ask, with 
 much respect, is your view as to this ? We are
 
 aware that you favor bimetallism, and not merely 
 ' by and by metallism.' Either a monetary union 
 over a strictly limited area will establish the 
 parity, or, if not, then the whole system is chi- 
 merical; because if bimetallism needs to be 
 universal, then, also, it follows that our opponents 
 are correct in declaring that the system is imprac- 
 ticable, because the defection of one of two war- 
 ring nations would serve to destroy it. 
 
 "The new French Prime Minister, M. Meline, 
 when pointing to the rapid spread and ac- 
 ceptance by experts of the bimetallic theorem, 
 declared that what alone is now needed is the 
 'electric spark.' Such an electric spark may 
 very well prove to be a free-coinage plank in 
 the national Democratic convention, which met 
 at Chicago, on July 7th. For even if the Repub- 
 lican party should elect its president, still that plank, 
 unless countered by a similar move in the Repub- 
 lican party, will certainly secure to the Democratic 
 party the control until 1900 of the all important 
 senate ; whereas, on the other hand, the mono- 
 metallist counsels of Mr. Cleveland and Secretary 
 Carlisle, should they dominate the party at 
 Chicago, will both leave in that party the record 
 of a disgraceful surrender and will leave of that 
 
 o 
 
 party for a generation to come not one stone 
 standing upon another. 
 
 ." Such is the great exchange crisis which to-day 
 confronts the whole world of trade. Its effects
 
 309 
 
 on international trade, still dimly perceived, are 
 probably infinitely greater and more complicated 
 than any of us at all appreciate. We have seen, 
 with the great rise in the gold premium at Buenos 
 Ayres since 1890, the wheat area in that country 
 increase from 2,990,000 acres in 1891 107,141,- 
 ooo acres in 1895; while in the same period the 
 wheat exports jumped up from less than 2,000,- 
 ooo quarters to nearly 8,000,000 quarters. Here 
 is a competition which, while the press is shouting 
 for ' honest money,' has made Kansas and Min- 
 nesota not less desolate than Essex and Lincoln- 
 shire. On the other hand, we saw, in 1893, an 
 artificial, a manipulated, rise in the exchanges 
 between India and the far east strike the milling 
 industries in Bombay as by lightning; so that 
 30,000 operatives there were thrown out of work 
 in a few weeks, while yarn exports from Bombay 
 fell off one-third, and the government of India 
 was obliged to come to England because of the 
 exchange disturbance and the contraction of 
 exports, exactly as America has to-day to come 
 to England, because of the contraction of her 
 exports, in order to borrow gold. We have seen 
 these experiments in exchange ; we have seen 
 experts, such as Mr. Hermann Schmidt, exactly 
 foretell, in evidence before royal commissions, 
 the results which were to follow from these 
 experiments ; and yet silly people there are who 
 still declare that steady exchanges with four-fifths
 
 310 
 
 of mankind are immaterial, because ' international 
 trade is merely international barter.' 
 
 " Let me only add, in conclusion, that Europe 
 and America are indeed to be congratulated if, 
 because of the intuitions of the common people in 
 the western republic, we are now very near the 
 dawn of better days. At a time when political 
 leaders the world over are, as never "before in 
 history, disappointed and disgraced, the western 
 nations, unguided and unguarded, groping in the 
 dark as to the magnitude of the issues involved, 
 have come within an ace of being routed and 
 their industries decimated by that exchange crisis 
 which has given their silver money to our oriental 
 competitors at half price. If, then, we succeed in 
 evading the greatest race danger with which we 
 have ever been confronted, we shall owe our 
 escape, not to our statesmen, who have failed us, 
 but to the detection of pseudo-liberalism, false 
 economics, and half-truths (worse than any lies) 
 by the great American nation. Not without 
 reason did Lincoln declare of that nation : ' You 
 may fool some of them all the time, but not all 
 of them all the time.' 'Everyone,' said Lincoln, 
 again, ' knows more than anyone ! ' an utterance 
 which, no doubt, his successor, the present occu- 
 pant of the White House, and his ' cuckoo ' cabi- 
 net consider frankly blasphemous. 
 " Yours faithfully, 
 
 " MORETON FREWEN. 
 
 " White's Club, London, May 25, 1896."
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 THE CHICAGO CONVENTION. 
 
 The Democratic National Convention for 1896, 
 which had been called to meet in Chicago, July 
 7th, was destined by political conditions to be the 
 most important gathering of the kind in recent 
 years. The interest in the financial question had 
 grown so rapidly during Mr. Cleveland's second 
 administration that it became the one topic of 
 national consideration. The action of the Re- 
 publican National Convention at St. Louis, in 
 June, in declaring for a single gold standard gave 
 an impetus to the movement for a declaration for 
 free silver coinage by the Democratic Convention. 
 The people had listened to arguments on the im- 
 portant issue, had read and studied the question, 
 and had discussed it among themselves until there 
 was a demand by them that the issue must be 
 fairly and honestly met at the polls. 
 
 The silver sentiment had taken a more aggres- 
 sive form in the Democratic party than in its 
 formidable competitor, and as the latter had gone 
 on record for a gold standard, the democracy was 
 looked to to take up the cause of silver. In 
 every state convention held to select delegates to 
 the National Convention, this one question was 
 
 311
 
 312 
 
 uppermost. No surprise was shown by the op- 
 ponents of free coinage when the friends of silver 
 secured the delegations from the Western States, 
 but when that sentiment gave evidence of sweep- 
 ing the Middle and some of the Eastern States, there 
 was much alarm among the advocates of gold. 
 
 The Democratic national administration was for 
 the gold standard, and used its power to enable 
 that sentiment to control the National Convention. 
 The repeated issuance of bonds by the adminis- 
 tration to uphold the gold standard, thereby in- 
 creasing the national debt to a startling extent, 
 aroused the people to a sense of the need of a 
 change in the financial policy of the Government. 
 The result showed that this sentiment did not 
 exist alone in the States which mined silver, as 
 had been so frequently urged by the enemies of 
 free coinage. Bimetallism carried the silver 
 States, the Western States, with but two excep- 
 tions, the Southern States, and passed on into the 
 enemy's camp, and carried all the Middle States 
 but two. So strong did the movement become 
 that it was conceded weeks before the National 
 Convention met that the free-coinage men would 
 control by a large majority. 
 
 The body which met at Chicago was a delibera- 
 tive one, realizing at the outset that it had an 
 important issue to meet, and that whatever posi- 
 tion the party took on the question, there would 
 inevitably be a great deal of dissatisfaction,
 
 3*3 
 
 followed by a bolt on the part of many prominent 
 Democrats. It was composed of cool and deter- 
 mined men, who went there with a purpose, and 
 bent on carrying that purpose out. They were 
 not to be swayed from what they considered their 
 duty, by personal friendship, local pride or political 
 precedent. They held that new conditions had 
 come into existence, requiring new men, new 
 ideas, and new methods of party procedure. 
 They worked upon this line, and the Democratic 
 national ticket and platform of 1896 are the 
 result. The convention met at noon, Tuesday, 
 and did not adjourn till late the following Satur- 
 day afternoon. There was a contest royal from 
 the moment the convention was originally called 
 to order, till the fall of the gavel announced the 
 dissolution. 
 
 Mr. Bryan was one of the duly-elected dele- 
 gates-at-large from Nebraska, but his seat, and 
 those of his delegation, were contested by a fac- 
 tion of the Democratic party in that State which 
 had bolted from the regular organization, and 
 called themselves "Administration Democrats," 
 favoring a gold standard. This contest was acted 
 upon by the National Committee previous to the 
 assembling of the convention, and that organiza- 
 tion being controlled by gold standard men, the 
 contesting delegation was seated, forcing the reg- 
 ular delegation to take seats among the spectators 
 in the convention. 
 
 19
 
 3*4 
 
 Hon. William F. Harrity, of Pennsylvania, 
 Chairman of the National Committee, called the 
 convention to order at noon on Tuesday, July yth, 
 and after the usual formalities attending the open- 
 ing of such a meeting, announced that the Na- 
 tional Committee had selected Senator David B. 
 Hill, of New York, as temporary chairman. 
 
 The silver men, being in a majority in the con- 
 vention, refused to accept a single-standard man 
 as the temporary presiding officer, even when he 
 was possessed of the eminent ability and charac- 
 ter of the senior senator from the Empire State, 
 and presented as their choice, Senator John W. 
 Daniel, of Virginia. 
 
 This action was contrary to precedent in Dem- 
 ocratic conventions, but this convention was not fol- 
 lowing precedent. It was establishing precedent 
 and making history for future conventions. A dis- 
 cussion was precipitated upon the phases of the 
 question which continued all afternoon. Upon 
 roll call, the silver men triumphed in their first 
 contest, Senator Daniel being chosen to preside 
 temporarily over the convention by a vote of 556, 
 to 349 for Senator Hill. 
 
 The customary committees were selected, after 
 which the first day's session came to an end. 
 
 The convention was slow in getting to work on 
 Wednesday, owing to delay by committees in 
 making their reports. After a few hours the 
 committee on credentials sent in a partial report
 
 recommending the seating of the regular delega- 
 tion from Nebraska, of which Mr. Bryan was a 
 member, and this report was adopted by the con- 
 vention without division. The departing of the 
 contesting delegation, and the coming of the reg- 
 ular delegation, was the occasion for the first 
 demonstration for Mr. Bryan, who, however, was 
 not present at the time, being engaged with the 
 committee on resolutions in preparing a platform. 
 
 Later, the committee on credentials reported in 
 favor of seating four contesting silver delegates 
 from Michigan, and this report was discussed 
 during the larger part of the afternoon, being 
 eventually adopted. With that, the work of this 
 particular committee ended. 
 
 Permanent organization was then perfected by 
 the election of Senator Stephen M. White, of Cali- 
 fornia, as permanent chairman, after which the 
 convention adjourned till Thursday. 
 
 Thursday morning the committee on resolu- 
 tions reported. Senator J. K. Jones, of Arkan- 
 sas, presented the majority report, embracing the 
 free-silver plank, and Senator D. B. Hill pre- 
 sented the minority report, which called for the 
 maintenance of the present gold standard until 
 an international agreement could be reached for 
 the free coinage of silver. 
 
 The committee had agreed to set aside two 
 hours and forty minutes for debate on the plat- 
 form, one hour and twenty minutes on a side-
 
 3i6 
 
 Senator B. R. Tillman, of South Carolina, opened 
 the discussion for the silver men, followed by 
 Senator Jones, of Arkansas. Senator D. B. Hill 
 opened for the gold standard side, followed by 
 Senator William F. Vilas, of Wisconsin, and Ex- 
 Gov. William E. Russell, of Massachusetts. Mr. 
 Bryan closed for the silver men and closed the 
 debate. The discussion proved to be a forensic 
 contest of surpassing interest and of wonderful 
 force. Mr. Bryan's address on that occasion, and 
 a description of the manner in which it was re- 
 ceived, can be best given by republishing the 
 report which appeared in the Chicago Times- 
 Herald the morning after the discussion, which 
 was as follows : 
 
 "The Silver Knight of the West," William 
 Jennings Bryan, of Nebraska, set the convention 
 on fire with a speech, which was followed by a 
 demonstration which never will be forgotten by 
 the 16,000 persons who witnessed it and partici- 
 pated therein. 
 
 Up to this time the convention had not been 
 dull for want of effective oratory. The tearful 
 and pleading Colonel Fellows, of New York ; the 
 fiery and impulsive Blackburn, of Kentucky ; the 
 forceful and aggressive Altgeld, of Illinois; and 
 such famous orators as Hill, Russell, Waller and 
 White had scored their triumphs and added hew 
 leaves to their laurel wreaths. But when com- 
 pared to the impassioned orator/ of the " Black
 
 Eagle of Nebraska," newly named "The Silver 
 Knight of the West," the efforts were tame. 
 
 A reputation as an orator may prove either an 
 advantage or a handicap to its possessor. From 
 such a man the listener expects much. Woe is in 
 store for such an orator if his effort fail to meet 
 the sanguine expectations of the auditor, and tri- 
 umph is sure if he reaches the heralded heights 
 which have been promised. Bryan established a 
 reputation as an orator in the scattered hamlets 
 on the Nebraska plains and it wafted him into 
 Congress. In one term he set a new mark for 
 congressional eloquence. Yesterday, he set 
 another new mark. 
 
 Senator Hill was given a storm of applause 
 before he spoke ; Bryan, a cyclone of enthusiasm 
 when he had concluded. When quiet had been 
 restored by the chairman, Mr. Bryan then ad- 
 dressed the convention.
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 SPEECH DELIVERED BY 
 
 HON. WILLIAM J. BRYAN 
 
 OF NEBRASKA 
 
 BEFORE THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION 
 JULY 9, I8 9 6 
 
 'Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Convention: 
 " I would be presumptuous, indeed, to pre- 
 went myself against the distinguished gentlemen 
 to whom you have listened if this was a mere 
 measuring of abilities ; but this is not a contest 
 between persons. The humblest citizen in all the 
 land, when clad in the armor of a righteous cause, 
 is stronger than all the hosts of error. I come to 
 speak to you in defense of a cause as holy as the 
 cause of liberty the cause of humanity. 
 
 "When this debate is concluded a motion will 
 be made to lay upon the table the resolution 
 offered in commendation of the administration and 
 also the resolution offered in condemnation of the 
 administration. We object to bringing this ques- 
 tion down to the level of persons. The individ- 
 ual is but an atom ; he is born, he acts, he dies ; 
 
 318
 
 but principles are eternal ; and this has been a 
 contest over a principle. 
 
 11 Never before in the history of this country 
 has there been witnessed such a contest as that 
 through which we have just passed. Never be- 
 fore in the history of American politics has a 
 great issue been fought out, as this issue has 
 been, by the voters of a great party. On the 
 fourth of March, 1895, a f W Democrats, most of 
 them members of Congress, issued an address to 
 the Democrats of the nation, asserting that the 
 money question was the paramount issue of the 
 hour; declaring that a majority of the Democratic 
 party had the right to control the action of the 
 party on this paramount issue ; and concluding 
 with the request that the believers in the free 
 coinage of silver in the Democratic party should 
 organize, take charge of, and control the policy of 
 the Democratic party. Three months later, at 
 Memphis, an organization was perfected, and the 
 silver Democrats went forth openly, courageously 
 proclaiming their belief, and declaring that, 
 if successful, they would crystallize into a plat- 
 form the declaration which they had made. Then 
 began the conflict. With a zeal approaching the 
 zeal which inspired the crusaders who followed 
 Peter the Hermit, our silver Democrats went 
 forth from victory unto victory until they are now 
 assembled, not to discuss, not to debate, but to 
 enter up the judgment already rendered by the
 
 320 
 
 plain people of this country. In this contest 
 brother has been arrayed against brother, father 
 against son. The warmest ties of love, acquaint- 
 ance and association have been disregarded ; old 
 leaders have been cast aside when they have re- 
 fused to give expression to the sentiments of 
 those whom they would lead, and new leaders 
 have sprung up to give direction to this cause of 
 truth. Thus has the contest been waged, and we 
 have assembled here under as binding and solemn 
 instructions as were ever imposed upon represen- 
 tatives of the people. 
 
 "We do not come as individuals. As indi- 
 viduals we might have been glad to compliment 
 the gentleman from New York (Senator Hill), 
 but we know that the people for whom we speak 
 would never be willing to put him in a position 
 where he could thwart the will of the Democratic 
 party. I say it was not a question of persons ; it 
 was a question of principle, and it is not with 
 gladness, my friends, that we find ourselves 
 brought into conflict with those that are now 
 arrayed on the other side. 
 
 "The gentleman who preceded me (ex-Govern- 
 or Russell) spoke of the State of Massachusetts ; 
 let me assure him that not one present in all this 
 convention entertains the least hostility to the 
 people of the State of Massachusetts, but we 
 stand here representing people who are the equals 
 before the law of the greatest citizens of the
 
 321 
 
 State ot Massachusetts. When you (turning to 
 the gold delegates) come before us and tell us 
 that we are about to disturb your business in- 
 terests, we reply that you have disturbed our 
 business interests by your course. 
 
 ' ' We say to you that you have made the defi- 
 nition of a business man too limited in its appli- 
 cation. The man who is employed for wages is 
 as much a business man as his employer ; the 
 attorney in a country town is as much a business 
 man as the corporation counsel in a great metrop- 
 olis ; the merchant at the cross-roads store is as 
 much a business man as the merchant of New 
 York ; the farmer who goes forth in the morning 
 and toils all day who begins in the spring and 
 toils all summer and who by the application of 
 brain and muscle to the natural resources of the 
 country creates wealth, is as much a business man 
 as the man who goes upon the board of trade and 
 bets upon the price of grain ; the miners who go 
 down a thousand feet into the earth, or climb two 
 thousand feet upon the cliffs, and bring forth from 
 their hiding places the precious metals to be poured 
 into the channels of trade are as much business 
 men as the few financial magnates who, in a 
 back room, corner the money of the world. We 
 come to speak for this broader class of business 
 men. 
 
 " Ah, my friends, we say not one word against 
 those who live upon the Atlantic Coast, but the
 
 322 
 
 hardy pioneers who have braved all the dangers 
 of the wilderness, who have made the desert to 
 blossom as the rose the pioneers away out there 
 (pointing to the West), who rear their children 
 near to Nature's heart, where they can mingle 
 their voices with the voices of the birds out 
 there where they have erected school-houses for 
 the education of their young, churches where 
 they praise their Creator, and cemeteries where 
 rest the ashes of their dead these people, we 
 say, are as deserving of the consideration of our 
 party, as any people in this country. It is for 
 these that we speak. We do not come as aggres- 
 sors. Our war is not a war of conquest ; we 
 are fighting in the defense of our homes, our fam- 
 ilies and posterity. 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 when our 
 calamity came. We beg no longer ; we entreat 
 no more ; we petition no more. We defy them. 
 
 "The gentleman from Wisconsin has said that 
 he fears a Robespierre. My friends, in this land 
 of the free, you need not fear that a tyrant will 
 spring up from among the people. What we 
 need is an Andrew Jackson to stand, as Jackson 
 stood, against the encroachments of organized 
 wealth. 
 
 "They tell us that this platform was made to 
 catch votes. We reply to them, that changing
 
 323 
 
 conditions make new issues ; that the principles 
 upon which Democracy rests, are as everlasting 
 as the hills, but that they must be applied to new 
 conditions as they arise. Conditions have arisen, 
 and we are here to meet those conditions. They 
 tell us that the income tax ought not to be brought 
 in here ; that it is a new idea. They criticise us 
 for our criticism of the Supreme Court of the 
 United States. My friends, we have not criti- 
 cised ; we have simply called attention to what 
 you already know. If you want criticisms, read 
 the dissenting opinions of the court. There you 
 will find criticisms. They say that we passed an 
 unconstitutional law ; we deny it. The income 
 tax law was not unconstitutional when it was 
 passed ; it was not unconstitutional when it went 
 before the Supreme Court for the first time ; it 
 did not become unconstitutional, until one of the 
 judges changed his mind, and we cannot be ex- 
 pected to know when a judge will change his 
 mind. The income tax is just. It simply intends 
 to put the burdens of government justly upon the 
 backs of the people. I am in favor of an income 
 tax. When I find a man who is not willing to 
 bear his share of the burdens of the government 
 which protects him, I find a man who is unworthy 
 to enjoy the blessings of a government like 
 ours. 
 
 "They say that we are opposing national bank 
 currency; it is true. If you will read what
 
 324 
 
 Thomas Benton said, you will find he said that, 
 in searching history, he could find but one parallel 
 to Andrew Jackson ; that was Cicero who de- 
 stroyed the conspiracy of Cataline and saved 
 Rome. Benton said that Cicero only did for 
 Rome what Jackson did for us when he destroyed 
 the bank conspiracy and saved America. We say 
 in our platform that we believe that the right to 
 coin and issue money is a function of government. 
 We believe it. We believe that it is a part of 
 sovereignty, and can no more with safety be del- 
 egated to private individuals than we could afford 
 to delegate to private individuals the power to 
 make penal statutes or levy taxes. Mr. Jefferson, 
 who was once regarded as good Democratic au- 
 thority, seems to have differed in opinion from the 
 gentleman who has addressed us on the part of 
 the minority. Those who are opposed to this 
 proposition tell us that the issue of paper money 
 is a function of the bank, and that the Govern- 
 ment ought to go out of the banking business. 
 I stand with Jefferson rather than with them, and 
 tell them, as he did, that the issue of money is a 
 function of government, and that the banks ought 
 to go out of the governing business. 
 
 " They complain about the plank which declares 
 against life tenure in office. They have tried to 
 strain it to mean that which it does not mean. 
 What we oppose by that plank is the life tenure 
 which is being built up in Washington, and which
 
 325 
 
 excludes from participation in official benefits the 
 humbler members of society. 
 
 " Let me call your attention to two or three 
 important things. The gentleman from New York 
 says that he will propose an amendment to the 
 platform, providing that the proposed change in 
 our monetary system shall not effect contracts al- 
 ready made. Let me remind you that there is no 
 intention of affecting those contracts which ac- 
 cording to present laws are made payable in gold 
 but if he means to say that we cannot change our 
 monetary system without protecting those who 
 have loaned money before the change was made, 
 I desire to ask him where, in law or in morals, he 
 can find justification for not protecting the debtors 
 when the act of 1873 was passed, if he now in- 
 sists that we must protect the creditors. 
 
 "He says he will also propose an amendment 
 which will provide for the suspension of free coin- 
 age if we fail to maintain the parity within a year. 
 We reply that when we advocate a policy which we 
 believe will be successful, we are not compelled 
 to raise a doubt as to our own sincerity by sug- 
 gesting what we shall do if we fail. I ask him, if 
 he would apply his logic to us, why he does not 
 apply it to himself. He says he wants this country 
 to try to secure an international agreement. Why 
 does he not tell us what he is going to do if he 
 fails to secure an international agreement ? There 
 is more reason for him to do that than there is
 
 326 
 
 for us to provide against the failure to maintain 
 the parity. Our opponents have tried for twenty 
 years to secure an international agreement, and 
 those are waiting for it most patiently who do not 
 want it at all. 
 
 "And now, my friends, let me come to the par- 
 amount issue. If they ask us why it is that we 
 say more on the money question than we say upon 
 the tariff question, I reply that, if protection has 
 slain its thousands, the gold standard has slain its 
 tens of thousands. If they ask us why we do not 
 embody in our platform all the things that we be- 
 lieve in, we reply, that when we have restored the 
 money of the constitution, all other necessary re- 
 forms will be possible ; but, that until this is done, 
 there is no other reform that can be accomplished. 
 
 "Why is it, that within three months, such a 
 change has come over the country? Three 
 months ago, when it was confidently asserted 
 that those who bdieve in the gold standard would 
 frame our platform and nominate our candidates, 
 even the advocates of the gold standard did not 
 think that we could elect a president. And they 
 had good reason for their doubt, because there is 
 scarcely a State here to-day, asking for the gold 
 standard, which is not in the absolute control of 
 the Republican party. But note the change. 
 Mr. McKinley was nominated at St. Louis, upon 
 a platform which declared for the maintenance of 
 the gold standard, until it can be changed into bi-
 
 327 
 
 metallism by international agreement. Mr. Mc- 
 Kinley was the most popular man among the 
 Republicans, and three months ago, everybody 
 in the Republican party prophesied his election. 
 How is it to-day? Why, the man who was once 
 pleased to think that he looked like Napoleon 
 that man shudders to-day, when he remembers 
 that he was nominated on the anniversary of 
 the battle of Waterloo. Not only that, but as he 
 listens, he can hear with ever-increasing distinct- 
 ness, the sound of the waves as they beat upon 
 the lonely shores of St. Helena. 
 
 " Why this change? Ah, my friends, is not the 
 reason for the change evident to any one who 
 will look at the matter? No private character, 
 however pure, no personal popularity, however 
 great, can protect from the avenging wrath of an 
 indignant people, a man who will declare that he 
 is in favor of fastening the gold standard upon 
 this country, or who is willing to surrender the 
 right of self-government, and place the legislative 
 control of our affairs in the hands of foreign 
 potentates and powers. 
 
 " We go forth confident that we shall win. 
 Why? Because upon the paramount issue of 
 this campaign there is not a spot of ground upon 
 which the enemy will dare to challenge battle. If 
 they tell us that the gold standard is a good thing, 
 we shall point to their platform and tell them that 
 their platform pledges the party to get rid of the
 
 328 
 
 gold standard and substitute bimetallism. If the 
 gold standard is a good thing, why try to get rid 
 of it ? I call your attention to the fact that some 
 of the very people who are in this convention to- 
 day, and who tell us that we ought to declare in 
 favor of international bimetallism thereby declar- 
 ing that the gold standard is wrong and that the 
 principle of bimetallism is better these very 
 people, four months ago, were open and avowed 
 advocates of the gold standard, and were then 
 telling us that we could not legislate two metals 
 together, even with the aid of all the world. If 
 the gold standard is a good thing, we ought to 
 declare in favor of its retention, and not in favor 
 of abandoning it ; and if the gold standard is a 
 bad thing, why should we wait until other nations 
 are willing to help us to let go ? Here is the line 
 of battle, and we care not upon which issue they 
 force the fight ; we are prepared to meet them 
 on either issue or on both. If they tell us that 
 the gold standard is the standard of civilization, 
 we reply to them that this, the most enlightened 
 of all the nations of the earth, has never declared 
 for a gold standard, and that both the great par- 
 ties this year are declaring against it. If the gold 
 standard is the standard of civilization, why, my 
 friends, should we not have it? If they come to 
 meet us on that issue, we can present the history 
 of our nation. More than that ; we can tell them 
 that they will search the pages of history in vain
 
 329 
 
 to find a single instance where the common peo- 
 ple of any land have ever declared themselves in 
 favor of the gold standard. They can find where 
 the holders of fixed investments have declared 
 for a gold standard, but not where the masses 
 have. 
 
 "Mr. Carlisle said, in 1878, that this was a 
 struggle between ' the idle holders of idle capital ' 
 and 'the struggling masses, who produce the 
 wealth and pay the taxes of the country,' and, 
 my friends, the question we are to decide is : 
 Upon which side will the Democratic party fight : 
 upon the side of the 'idle holders of idle capital/ 
 or upon the side of ' the struggling masses ? ' 
 That is the question which the party must answer 
 first, and then it must be answered by each in- 
 dividual hereafter. The sympathies of the Dem- 
 ocratic party, as shown by the platform, are on 
 the side of the struggling masses who have ever 
 been the foundation of the Democratic party. 
 There are two ideas of government. There are 
 those who believe that, if you will only legislate 
 to make the well-to-do prosperous, their pros- 
 perity will leak through on those below. The 
 Democratic idea, however, has been that if you 
 legislate to make the masses prosperous, their 
 prosperity will find its way up through every 
 class which rests upon them. 
 
 " You come to us and tell us that the great cit- 
 ies are in favor of the gold standard ; we reply 
 20
 
 330 
 
 that the great cities rest upon our broad and fer- 
 tile 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 grass 
 will grow in the streets of every city in the 
 country. 
 
 "My friends, we declare that this nation is able 
 to legislate for its own people on every question, 
 without waiting for the aid or consent of any other 
 nation on earth ; and upon that issue we expect 
 to carry every State in the Union. I shall not 
 slander the inhabitants of the fair State of Massa- 
 chusetts nor the inhabitants of the State of New 
 York by saying that, when they are confronted with 
 the proposition, they will declare that this nation is 
 not able to attend to its own business. It is the 
 issue of 1776 over again. Our ancestors, when 
 but three millions in number, had the courage to 
 declare their political independence of every other 
 nation ; shall we, their descendants, when we have 
 grown to seventy millions, declare that we are 
 less independent than our forefathers ? No, my 
 friends, that will never be the verdict of our 
 people. Therefore, we care not upon what lines 
 the battle is fought. If they say bimetallism is 
 good, but that we cannot have it until other na- 
 tions help us, we reply that, instead of having a 
 gold standard because England has, we will re- 
 store bimetallism and then let England have 
 bimetallism because the United States has it. If
 
 they dare to come out in the open field and de- 
 fend the gold standard as a good thing, we will 
 fight them to the uttermost. Having behind us 
 the producing masses of this nation and the 
 world, supported by the commercial interests, the 
 laboring interests and the toilers everywhere, we 
 will answer their demand 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.' '
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 CONVENTION CONTINUED. 
 
 At the conclusion of this speech there was a 
 demonstration, the like of which had never been 
 seen in a convention, and which is also best de- 
 scribed by again calling upon the Chicago Times- 
 Herald, that paper reporting the scene in this 
 language : 
 
 "Nebraska was the central star around which 
 all other silver delegations clustered, in the midst 
 of the popular demonstration to the orator from 
 the Platte Country. Chairman Smyth, of the 
 Nebraska delegation, grasped the hand of Bryan 
 when he returned from the stage, pale with victory 
 and excitement. In another instant Smyth was 
 on his chair waving the blue Nebraska standard 
 with an energy born of ecstasy. The members of 
 the Nebraska delegation pulled red bandannas 
 from their pockets and waved them enthusiasti- 
 cally. The sight of the emblem of 'the old 
 Roman ' used in former campaigns, awakened the 
 Ohio delegation across the aisle. 
 
 " Bush, of Georgia, bewhiskered and strong of 
 lung, ran down the aisle with the Georgia stand- 
 ard toward the Nebraska chairs. A wild yell 
 from the rear of the hall disclosed Joe Lacy, the
 
 333 
 
 dark-skinned Cherokee delegate from the Indian 
 Territory corner, causing a panic in the New 
 York delegation, through whose ranks this Indian 
 plunged at breakneck speed with the territory 
 standard, in an attempt to beat the Georgian to 
 Bryan's side. Like a Tammany brave, this child 
 of the southwest, walked all over dignity and feet 
 of the passive New Yorkers, and reached the 
 Nebraska section second. 
 
 " Then came the colors of Illinois, South Dakota, 
 Missouri, Virginia, Alabama, Kentucky, Ohio, 
 Iowa, Tennessee, Mississippi, Michigan, Utah, 
 Nevada, Colorado and others in quick sequence. 
 
 "Standing on chairs and yelling at the full 
 capacity of lung power, the men who held the 
 delegation standards reached as high as possible 
 in their effort to reach the roof of the building. Bo 
 Sweeney, of Colorado, six feet three inches from 
 head to heel, shoved his long arm up near the 
 rafters, while Hugh Brady pushed the colors of 
 Missouri against those of Nebraska, to kiss the 
 emblem of the new conqueror. Then Alabama 
 led a grand march of glory around the delegates' 
 pit. It was a parade of silver States fencing in 
 the Bryan boom, and framing the hopes of the 
 young Nebraskan with the shadows of coming 
 events. 
 
 "Bryan was carried off his feet in the rush. 
 The air in his vicinity was a kaleidoscope of big 
 hands, all eager to congratulate him. Some felt
 
 334 
 
 honored to touch the hem of his alpaca coat. 
 They surged and jostled him into the North 
 Dakota delegation, three rows from his seat. 
 Eight brawny men, including Buck Hinrichsen, of 
 Illinois; Oldham, of Nebraska, and McLaurin, of 
 Mississippi, grasped him and lifted him upon their 
 shoulders. Bryan was physically a heavy load. 
 It was like lifting an ice wagon, or a Graceo- 
 Roman wrestling match with an upright piano in 
 a moving van. 
 
 " On the shoulders of his admirers Bryan en- 
 deavored to fold his arms and look pleasant, but 
 his bulk caused the support beneath him to 
 shake, and he grabbed the shoulders of his sup- 
 porters in much the same manner as a passenger 
 seizes the last strap on an ' L ' train at the 
 Sixty- third street curve. 
 
 "At his own request they lowered him to the 
 floor. In an instant the Nebraskan was the cen- 
 ter of a stampede. The delegates swarmed 
 around him and blockaded every inch of space. 
 They sat on his lap, hugged him until his collar 
 wilted, shook his hand, shouted into his ears, 
 danced all over his feet and hemmed him in un- 
 til he could scarcely get his breath. 
 
 "Virginia came to him and announced that the 
 old dominion delegation would vote for him and 
 desert Bland. Then came Georgia, Mississippi, 
 and other States. News came from the Ohio 
 boys that McLean had released them to vote for
 
 335 
 
 whom they pleased. Before adjournment, twenty 
 Bryan votes had materialized in Ohio. 
 
 "With face flushed with excitement into a 
 deeper, darker red, the giant of the Georgia 
 delegation returned to his seat, after planting the 
 standard of the Southern States in its old place. 
 His chest was extended with pride and his eyes 
 shone with pleased delight. He had reason to 
 be proud. It was he, Dr. E. B. Bush, who had 
 led the demonstration of States. It was he who 
 had carried the Georgia standard to the Nebraska 
 fold and planted it among the Bryan delegates as 
 a token of the enthusiasm and admiration of the 
 Southern men for the silver orator. It was his 
 example that brought the standards of the other 
 silver States around Mr. Bryan in a wild wave of 
 delight, such as had not often before been wit- 
 nessed at a National Convention. 
 
 "Carried away by his own delirious enthusiasm 
 for the orator and the excitement of the moment, 
 his giant form leaped into the arena of victorious 
 applause, and he brought with him a rushing, shout- 
 ing, cheering mob of standard-bearers. As the 
 leader of the standard-bearers, Dr. Bush leaped 
 into fame in the few bounds needed to carry him 
 to the Nebraska delegation. A moment before 
 he had been simply the distinct delegate from 
 Miller County, Georgia. 
 
 " 'When I am not here,' he said, 'I am in the 
 Georgia penitentiary.'
 
 336 
 
 "This did not mean that he had laid aside the 
 stripes and hard labor and donned the badge of 
 a delegate to the Democratic National Conven- 
 tion. Dr. Bush is the chief physician of the 
 Georgia penitentiary, and only leaves his duties 
 when the National Convention opens. He little 
 thought he would become the leader this year of 
 an extraordinary demonstration over the oratori- 
 cal effort of William J. Bryan. 
 
 " Then the Georgia delegates began to send 
 telegrams to their friends in the South, which 
 read : * Bryan will be nominated. He is the 
 best man.' And this was the sentiment of the 
 Georgia delegation after hearing the Nebraska 
 man's speech. The Georgians said they were 
 ready to throw the mantle of charity over New 
 York, and to entreat it to return to the fold. 
 
 " The feeling that Bryan would be nominated on 
 the second or third ballot was general among the 
 delegates of those States, the standards of which 
 had been planted in front of the Nebraska orator, 
 with the exception of those who were pledged to 
 favorite sons. The latter considered the demon- 
 stration only one of appreciation and pleasure at 
 the eloquent speech of Mr. Bryan. 
 
 " Maine did not pluck its standard from its rest, 
 but a feeling grew among the delegates that Mr. 
 Bryan was the only silver man they would care to 
 vote for. And then some of them said they would 
 cast their ballots for him any way.
 
 337 
 
 "Ollie M. James, chairman of the Kentucky dele- 
 gation, was another man who shared somewhat in 
 the honors that fell to the lot of Dr. Bush. 
 After shouting himself hoarse in the waving of 
 the standards in the Nebraska fold he led the 
 march down the aisles and round the floor of the 
 convention hall. It was meant only as a compli- 
 ment to Mr. Bryan on his eloquent and masterly 
 argument for free silver, he said, but he also 
 thought the Nebraska man would be a dangerous 
 rival for the other presidential candidates. 
 
 "Mississippi was not far from the Nebraska fold, 
 but it was not until the giant of Georgia had 
 leaped to the front that R. H. Henry clambered 
 over his fellow-delegates and seized the standard. 
 'The demonstration was simply one of earnest 
 admiration for the eloquence of Mr. Bryan,' said 
 Governor McLaurin, 'and I do not think it means 
 his nomination as President.' 
 
 " But some of the other Mississippi delegates 
 were looking favorably on the Nebraska man as 
 the solution of the difficulty caused by the multi- 
 tude of favorite sons. 
 
 " Michigan delegates the silver men, not the 
 four gold delegates-at-large were to the front 
 in the demonstration. George P. Hummer, the 
 silver man from Michigan who led the fight before 
 the national committee in favor of seating the 
 silver men, carried the standard to Nebraska. 
 And he was ready to vote for Bryan if the latter' s
 
 name came up for nomination. And so all the 
 Michigan delegates talked, with the exception of 
 the gold men. 
 
 " Missouri was not backward in applauding 
 Bryan, and it sent J. D. Gibson to join the pro- 
 cession of the standards. 
 
 "The Boies men from Iowa were caught in the 
 swirl of enthusiasm and joined the procession. 
 
 " J. C. Rich was the man who carried the Idaho 
 standard. He said it was the feeling of the State 
 that Bryan would be nominated. So did Bo 
 Sweeney, who got in the procession of the stand- 
 ards for California. 
 
 "Alabama was so enthusiastic that two men 
 A. H. Keller and J. A. Roundtree carried the 
 standard to Nebraska. Alabama was delirious 
 for Bryan, and talked about having the nominat- 
 ing speech made by a member of the delegation. 
 
 "Louisiana sent Joseph St. Amant to the front 
 with the standard, and he thought Bryan would 
 be nominated. Sam Taylor seized the standard 
 for Arkansas and almost carried pledges for 
 Bryan as the nominee of the party. W. S. Hope- 
 well, of New Mexico, felt the same way, as well 
 as his fellow-delegates. J. G. Johnson, of Kansas, 
 the standard-bearer in the demonstration, was too 
 enthusiastic about Bryan to think of any other 
 possible nominee. Colonel R. W. Davis, of 
 Florida, carried off the standard because he want- 
 ed to be in the hurrah. And so it seemed with 
 other silver States."
 
 339 
 
 A roll of the states was called on the reso- 
 lutions, and the minority report was rejected, 
 the majority report being immediately afterward 
 adopted, and the money question was then and 
 there made the issue of the campaign. The 
 Platform is as follows : 
 
 We, the Democrats of the United States, in 
 national convention assemble to reaffirm our alle- 
 giance to those great essential principles of justice 
 and liberty upon which our institutions are found- 
 ed, and which the great Democratic party has 
 advocated from Jefferson's time to our own free- 
 dom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of 
 conscience, the preservation of personal rights, 
 the equality of all citizens before the law, and 
 the faithful observance of constitutional limitations. 
 
 During all these years the Democratic party 
 has resisted the tendency of selfish interests to 
 the centralization of governmental power and 
 steadfastly maintained the integrity of the dual 
 scheme of government established by the found- 
 ers of this republic of republics. Under its guid- 
 ance and teachings the great principle of local 
 self-government has found its best expression in 
 the maintenance of the rights of the States and 
 in its assertion of the necessity of confining the 
 General Government to the exercise of the pow- 
 ers granted by the Constitution of the United 
 States. 
 
 The Constitution of the United States guaran-
 
 340 
 
 tees to every citizen the rights of civil and religious 
 liberty. The Democratic party has always been 
 the exponent of political liberty and religious free- 
 dom, and it renews its obligations and reaffirms 
 its devotion to these fundamental principles of the 
 Constitution. 
 
 Recognizing that the money system is para- 
 mount to all others at this time, we invite attention 
 to the fact that the Federal Constitution names 
 silver and gold together as the money metals of 
 the United States, and that the first coinage law 
 passed by Congress under the Constitution, made 
 the silver dollar the monetary unit, and admitted 
 gold to free coinage at a ratio based upon the 
 silver dollar unit. 
 
 We declare that the act of 1873 demonetizing 
 silver without the knowledge or approval of the 
 American people has resulted in the appreciation 
 of gold, and a corresponding fall in the price of 
 commodities produced by the people; a heavy 
 increase in the burden of taxation, and of all debts, 
 public and private ; the enrichment of the money- 
 lending class at home and abroad ; prostration of 
 industry and impoverishment of the people. 
 
 We are unalterably opposed to monometallism, 
 which has locked fast the prosperity of an indus- 
 trial people in the paralysis of hard times. Gold 
 monometallism is a British policy, and its adoption 
 has brought other nations into financial servitude 
 to London. It is not only un-American, but anti-
 
 American, and it can be fastened on the United 
 States only by -the stifling of that spirit and love 
 of liberty which proclaimed our political indepen- 
 dence in 1776 and won it in the War of the 
 Revolution. 
 
 We demand the free and unlimited coinage of 
 both silver and gold at the present legal ratio of 
 1 6 to i, without waiting for the aid or consent of 
 any other nation. We demand that the standard 
 silver dollar shall be a full legal tender equally 
 with gold for all debts, public and private, and 
 we favor such legislation as will prevent for the 
 future the demonetization of any kind of legal 
 tender money by private contract. 
 
 We are opposed to the policy and practice of 
 surrendering to the holders of obligations of the 
 United States the option reserved by law to the 
 Government of redeeming such obligations in 
 either silver coin or gold coin. 
 
 We are opposed to the issuing of interest-bear- 
 ing bonds of the United States in time of peace, 
 and condemn the trafficking with banking syndi- 
 cates, which in exchange for bonds and at an 
 enormous profit to themselves, supply the Fed- 
 eral Treasury with gold to maintain the policy of 
 gold monometallism. 
 
 Congress alone has the power to coin and issue 
 money, and President Jackson declared that this 
 power could not be delegated to corporations or 
 individuals.
 
 342 
 
 We, therefore, denounce the issuance of notes 
 intended to circulate as money by national banks 
 as in derogation of the Constitution, and we de- 
 mand that all paper which is made a legal tender 
 for public and private debts, or which is receiva- 
 ble for dues to the United States, shall be issued 
 by the Government of the United States and shall 
 be redeemable in coin. 
 
 We hold that tariff duties should be levied for 
 purposes of revenue, such duties to be so ad- 
 justed as to operate equally throughout the coun- 
 try, and not discriminate between class or section, 
 and that taxation should be limited by the needs 
 of the Government honestly and economically 
 administered. We denounce as disturbing to 
 business the Republican threat to restore the 
 McKinley law, which has been twice condemned 
 by the people in national elections, and which, 
 enacted under the false plea of protection to 
 home industry, proved a prolific breeder of trusts 
 and monopolies, enriched the few at the expense 
 of the many, restricted trade, and deprived the 
 producers of the great American staples of ac- 
 cess to their natural markets. Until the money 
 question is settled we are opposed to any agita- 
 tion for further changes in our tariff laws, except 
 such as are necessary to make up the deficit in 
 revenue caused by the adverse decision of the 
 Supreme Court on the income tax. 
 
 There would be no deficit in the revenue but
 
 343 
 
 for the annulment by the Supreme Court of a law 
 passed by a Democratic Congress in strict pur- 
 suance of the uniform decisions of that court for 
 nearly one hundred years, that court having 
 under that decision sustained constitutional ob- 
 jections to its enactment which have been over- 
 ruled by the ablest Judges who had ever sat on 
 that bench. 
 
 We declare that it is the duty of Congress to 
 use all the constitutional power which remains 
 after that decision, or which may come from its 
 reversal by the court as it may hereafter be con- 
 stituted, so that the burdens of taxation may be 
 equally and impartially laid to the end that wealth 
 may bear its proportion of the expenses of the 
 Government. 
 
 We hold that the most efficient way of protect- 
 ing American labor is to prevent the importation 
 of foreign pauper labor to compete with it in the 
 home market, and that the value of the home 
 market to our American farmers and artisans is 
 greatly reduced by a vicious monetary system 
 which depresses the prices of their products 
 below the cost of production and thus deprives 
 them of the means of purchasing the products of 
 our home manufactures, and as labor creates the 
 wealth of the country we demand the passage of 
 such laws as may be necessary to protect it in all 
 its rights. 
 
 The absorption of wealth by the few, the con-
 
 344 
 
 solidation of our leading- railroad systems, and 
 the formation of trusts and pools require a stricter 
 control by the Federal Government of those ar- 
 teries of commerce. We demand the enlarge- 
 ment of the powers of the Interstate Commerce 
 Commission and such restrictions and guarantees 
 in the control of railroads as will protect the 
 people from robbery and oppression. 
 
 We are in favor of the arbitration of differ- 
 ences between employers engaged in interstate 
 commerce and their employes, and recommend 
 such legislation as is necessary to carry out this 
 principle. 
 
 We denounce the profligate waste of the money 
 wrung from the people by oppressive taxation and 
 the lavish appropriations of recent Republican 
 Congresses, which have kept taxes high, while 
 the labor that pays them is unemployed and the 
 products of the people's toil are depressed in 
 prices till they no longer repay the cost of pro- 
 duction. We demand a return to that simplicity 
 and economy which befit a democratic govern- 
 ment and a reduction in the number of useless 
 offices, the salaries of which drain the substance 
 of the people. 
 
 We denounce the arbitrary interference by 
 Federal authorities in local affairs as a violation of 
 the Constitution of the United States and a crime 
 against free institutions, and we especially object 
 to government by injunction as a new and highly
 
 345 
 
 dangerous form of oppression, by which Federal 
 Judges, in contempt of the laws of the States and 
 rights of citizens, become at once legislators, 
 Judges and executioners, and we approve the bill 
 passed at the last session of the United States 
 Senate, and now pending in the House, relative 
 to contempts in Federal courts and providing for 
 trials by jury in certain cases of contempt. 
 
 No discrimination should be indulged in by the 
 Government of the United States in favor of any 
 of its debtors. We appro\ e of the refusal of the 
 Fifty-third Congress to pass the Pacific railroads 
 funding bill, and denounce the effort of the pres- 
 ent Republican Congress to enact a similar 
 measure. 
 
 Recognizing the just claims of deserving Union 
 soldiers, we heartily indorse the rule of the pres- 
 ent Commissioner of Pensions, that no names shall 
 be arbitrarily dropped from the pension roll, and 
 the fact of enlistment and service should be 
 deemed conclusive evidence against disease and 
 disability before the enlistment. 
 
 We favor the admission of the Territories of 
 New Mexico, Arizona and Oklahoma into the 
 Union as States, and we favor the early admission 
 of all the Territories having the necessary popu- 
 lation and resources to entitle them to Statehood, 
 and while they remain Territories we hold that the 
 officials appointed to administer the government 
 
 ef any Territory, together with the District of 
 21
 
 346 
 
 Columbia and Alaska, should be bona-fide resi 
 dents of the Territory or District in which their 
 duties are to be performed. The Democratic 
 party believes in home rule, and that all public 
 lands of the United States should be appropriated 
 to the establishment of free homes for American 
 citizens. 
 
 We recommend that the Territory of Alaska be 
 granted a delegate in Congress, and that the 
 general land and timber laws of the United States 
 be extended to said Territory. 
 
 The Monroe doctrine, as originally declared, 
 and as interpreted by succeeding Presidents, is a 
 permanent part of the foreign policy of the United 
 States, and must at all times be maintained. 
 
 We extend our sympathy to the people of Cuba 
 in their heroic struggle for liberty and indepen- 
 dence. 
 
 We are opposed to life tenure in the public 
 service. We favor appointments based upon 
 merit, fixed terms of office, and such an adminis- 
 tration of the civil service laws as will afford equal 
 opportunities to all citizens of ascertained fitness. 
 
 We declare it to be the unwritten law of this 
 Republic, established by custom and usage of one 
 hundred years, and sanctioned by the example of 
 the greatest and wisest of those who founded and 
 have maintained our Government, that no man 
 should be eligible for a third term of the Presi- 
 dential office.
 
 347 
 
 The Federal Government should care for and 
 improve the Mississippi River and other great 
 waterways of the Republic, so as to secure for the 
 interior States easy and cheap transportation to 
 tide-water. When any waterway of the Repub- 
 lic is of sufficient importance to demand aid of 
 the Government, such aid should be extended 
 upon a definite plan of continuous work until 
 permanent improvement is secured. 
 
 Confiding in the justice of our cause and the 
 necessity of its success at the polls, we submit the 
 foregoing declaration of principles and purposes 
 to the considerate judgment of the American 
 people. We invite the support of all citizens who 
 approve them and who desire to have them made 
 effective through legislation for the relief of the 
 people and the restoration of the country's pros- 
 perity. 
 
 After the adoption of the platform, the conven- 
 tion took a recess till evening. 
 
 Previous to this time the convention had not 
 considered Mr. Bryan as a presidential nominee, 
 but conditions had changed. States volunteered 
 their support if his name should be presented. 
 His name seemed to be upon the lips of every- 
 body in the convention city, and the prediction 
 was freely made that evening that he would be 
 the nominee. Many States, which had no favorite 
 sons of their own, and had not been committed 
 to one of the other avowed candidates, were anx
 
 343 
 
 ious for the honor to present the name of Mr. 
 Bryan as a candidate. There was no plan, and 
 no organization, but a genuine spontaneous senti- 
 ment that he was the logical candidate, made so 
 by the developments in the convention, .and sup- 
 ported by his years of zealous work on the lines 
 laid down in the platform adopted. The delegates 
 claimed that the only organization they needed 
 was an opportunity to vote for him, Mr. Bryan. 
 This feeling did not decrease during the recess, 
 but gained strength as the convention proceeded 
 with its deliberations. 
 
 Upon reassembling in the evening, it was 
 decided to devote the time to the presentation of 
 candidates for the presidential nomination. In 
 pursuance of this plan, these names were placed 
 before the convention : 
 
 Richard P. Bland, of Missouri ; Horace Boies, 
 of Iowa ; Governor Claude Matthews, of Indiana ; 
 John R. McLean, of Ohio ; Senator J. S. Black- 
 burn, of Kentucky ; Robert E. Pattison, of Penn- 
 sylvania ; Sylvester Pennoyer, of Oregon, and 
 W. J. Bryan, of Nebraska. 
 
 All the oratory which Iowa could boast of tried 
 to enthuse the convention for Gov. Boies, and 
 failed utterly. Then a young woman took the 
 matter up and succeeded gloriously. 
 
 She was Minnie Murray, of Nashua, Floyd Co., 
 la., and after Boies' name had been duly put in 
 nomination and both delegates and gallery had
 
 349 
 
 received it in an apathetic sort of way, she stood 
 up in her seat at the extreme southern end of the 
 convention and in two minutes had converted that 
 crowd of 20,000 people from an orderly assembly 
 into a howling mob. 
 
 Miss Murray is tall and strong. She has the 
 beauty which always goes with good health, and 
 the attractiveness which is a necessary part of en- 
 thusiasm. And last night she was enthusiastic. 
 She was dressed all in white, and, after the cold 
 reception which had greeted the nomination of 
 Boies had become so pronounced as to be almost 
 painful, she did the only thing which could have 
 been done to rescue her favorite candidate from 
 what seemed an unfortunate situation. 
 
 With her eyes ablaze with enthusiasm and 
 every fibre in her frame trembling with excite- 
 ment, she stretched out her hands so that the 
 white muslin sleeves fell back from her arms and 
 began shouting for Boies. 
 
 Her voice was clear and could be heard. How 
 she did shout ! Some one near by handed her a 
 small American flag, and she waved it frantically 
 over her head, waved it so strongly that the stick 
 was broken in an instant. By this time there was 
 a crowd around her and a dozen more flags were 
 reached to her at once. Then she had two and 
 she waved 'them both, but again the sticks broke 
 and again she had to be supplied with more. 
 
 By this time she had aroused the convention.
 
 350 
 
 She was the focus of 20,000 pairs of eyes, and 
 10,000 people seemed, each one, to be trying to 
 excel her in cheering for the candidate from Iowa. 
 Every delegate was on his feet, the galleries were 
 in an uproar, and from all over that vast hall 
 went up one mighty roar, of which this Iowa girl 
 was both the inciter and the controlling spirit. 
 
 By this time the band had begun to play. The 
 crowd shouted in chorus, and Miss Murray waved 
 her flags in time with the air. The Iowa dele- 
 gates were already parading the hall with a large 
 banner, on it a picture of Gov. Boies, and they 
 made straight for this enthusiastic girl, who was so 
 loyally backing up their cause. The banner was 
 handed to her, and, although it was heavy, and 
 she had been using every nerve and muscle she 
 possessed for fully fifteen minutes, yet she grasped 
 the big standard and swung the silken folds back 
 and forth in the air. 
 
 Then that crowd did yell. It seemed as if it 
 would take off the roof, and from everywhere 
 and every side went up the shout of, " Three 
 cheers for the girl in the white dress." 
 
 But there was more work for Miss Murray to 
 do yet. The Iowa delegates insisted she must 
 come down on the floor, so they put her and her 
 companion, Miss Margaret Gorman, also of 
 Nashua, at their head, and with these two girls as 
 their standard-bearers marched through the aisles 
 of the delegates' seats. Then, when the shout-
 
 ing was done, they gave the two women seats in 
 their delegation. 
 
 Miss Murray, with Miss Gorman, runs a weekly 
 newspaper in Nashua called the Reporter. They 
 are each about twenty-two years old, as bright as 
 they make girls out in Iowa, which is saying a good 
 deal, and they conduct a lively paper. They are 
 editors, reporters, proprietors, and business man- 
 agers, and it is devoted to home news and local 
 gossip. In politics it is independent, but Miss 
 Murray is a strong supporter of Governor Boies, 
 having been a personal friend of his daughter, 
 now dead, and a frequent visitor at the Gov- 
 ernor's home in Waterloo. She was born and 
 raised in Iowa, and, as she expressed it last night, 
 went into the newspaper business three years 
 ago for the purpose of making a living. 
 
 Speaking of the affair after it was all over she 
 said : 
 
 " Nobody is as much surprised as I am at what 
 I did. We all love Horace Boies out in Iowa, 
 and when his name was being cheered there was 
 not enough noise to suit me in our part of the 
 hall. In order to do all I could I got up on a 
 chair and hurrahed just as loud as I could. There 
 was a Missouri flag near by, but they refused to 
 let me have it, so I got a smaller one. I didn't 
 know I was attracting so much attention until 
 they brought the banner up to where I sat." 
 
 The act was undoubtedly absolutely without
 
 352 
 
 premeditation. It was that of a spirited, enthusi- 
 astic girl, whose whole soul was wrapped up in 
 what was going on. 
 
 Georgia, the first of the States to pledge its 
 solid vote for him, furnished the man to place Mr. 
 Bryan's name before the convention in H. T. 
 Lewis, one of the delegates from that State. The 
 nomination was seconded by Theodore F. Klutz, 
 of North Carolina ; George Fred Williams, of 
 Massachusetts, and Thomas J. Kernan, of Louis- 
 iana. 
 
 The nominations were not completed till after 
 1 2 o'clock that night, and the convention adjourned 
 until the next morning. 
 
 Friday was the fourth day of the deliberations, 
 and it was fraught with much that will make the 
 convention noteworthy in the political history of 
 the country. There had been little campaigning 
 for the individual candidates previous to this day, 
 as had been customary in conventions of this 
 character. The almost universal feeling among 
 the delegates had been that a platform of princi- 
 ples should be framed which would best meet the 
 existing political conditions, and then find a candi- 
 date to fit the platform. The first and most 
 important part of the work was completed. The 
 next step was to be taken. The delegates had 
 nothing else to do after a night for rest and 
 
 o o 
 
 reflection but calmly consider the many candidates 
 before them, and select the one they thought best
 
 353 
 
 represented the spirit of the platform, and would 
 best interpret it to the people. A roll call was 
 ordered, and the work upon which so much 
 depended, and upon which the eyes of a nation 
 were turned, was begun. 
 
 The result of the first ballot was as follows : 
 Bland 235, Boies 85, Matthews 37, McLean 54, 
 Bryan 119, Blackburn 83, Pattison 95, Pennoyer 
 8, Teller 8, Hill i, Russell 2, Campbell I, Steven- 
 son 7, Tillman 17, not voting 178. 
 
 All of the delegates from New York and New 
 Jersey, and part of those from Connecticut, Dela- 
 ware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, 
 Minnesota, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Ver- 
 mont and Wisconsin, refused to vote for a candi- 
 date for president, giving as a reason that they 
 could not endorse the platform adopted by the 
 convention. With varying numbers they main- 
 tained that position throughout the balloting. 
 
 The second ballot resulted as follows : Bland 
 283, Boies 41, Matthews 33, McLean 53, Bryan 
 190, Blackburn 41, Pattison 100, scattering and 
 not voting 189. 
 
 The third ballot: Bland 291, Boies 36, Mat- 
 thews 36, McLean 54, Bryan 219, Blackburn 27, 
 Pattison 97, scattering and not voting 172. 
 
 The fourth ballot: Bland 241, Boies 33, Mat- 
 thews 36, McLean 46, Bryan 280, Blackburn 27, 
 Pattison 97, scattering and not voting 170. 
 
 Bryan was now in the lead and confusion
 
 354 
 
 reigned in the convention hall. It became ap. 
 parent he was destined to be the winner and 
 Blackburn and McLean both withdrew and threw 
 their strength to the Nebraska man. It was some 
 time before sufficient order could be secured in 
 the convention to permit another roll call. When 
 it was ordered it resulted as follows : 
 
 Bland 106, Boies 26, Matthews 31, Bryan 500, 
 Pattison 95, scattering and not voting 1 70. 
 
 It required 512 votes to secure a nomination 
 and Mr. Bryan just lacked 12 at the completion of 
 the roll call, but there was a stampede at this 
 time by States which changed their votes to Mr. 
 Bryan, giving him the nomination without ques- 
 tion, which was afterward made by acclamation 
 on the part of those participating in the convention. 
 
 The reader will pardon a further reproduction 
 from the report in the Chicago Times-Herald at 
 this time, reading as follows : 
 
 "Without any motion the chairman then de- 
 clared an informal recess of an indefinite length, 
 and the convention readily fell into the scheme in 
 order to permit the Bryan men to give vent to 
 their enthusiasm, which had not all escaped in the 
 previous demonstration made by them in favor of 
 their candidate. Every person in the hall arose 
 to his or her feet, and, almost too tired to yell, 
 still sent up a shout for the Nebraska man. Once 
 more the procession of the standards paraded 
 about the hall, all taking part in the march but 
 those of Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New York,
 
 HON. HORACE BOIES, 
 Ilx-Governor of Iowa.
 
 HON. ADLAI E. STEVENSON, 
 
 Vice-President of the United States.
 
 357 
 
 New Jersey, New Hampshire, Maine, Wisconsin, 
 I Massachusetts, Delaware and Connecticut, which 
 j remained solidly rooted in their places, while the 
 crowd seethed and shrieked around them. 
 
 The Bland Marching Club and its band, which 
 had been headed off many a time from parading 
 through the hall, now got in their fine work and 
 headed the procession. With ' Marching Through 
 Georgia ' and ' Dixie ' by the band, and the 
 tramp, tramp, tramp of thousands of feet, the 
 crowd entertained itself through a period of ten 
 minutes, with an occasional shriek of ' Bryan, 
 Bryan.' Not much attempt was made by the 
 officials of the convention to reduce the riotous 
 elements to submission, but after twelve minutes 
 of chaos the outburst died out through exhaustion." 
 
 After order had been restored, the Convention 
 took a recess till evening, but, upon reassembling, 
 then as promptly adjourned until Saturday 
 morning. 
 
 The selection of a candidate for Vice-President 
 was the only work before the convention on 
 Saturday, and fifteen names were voted for on 
 the first ballot. After that they dropped out one 
 by one, until on the fifth ballot Arthur Sewall, of 
 Maine, received the necessary number of votes, 
 and his nomination was made by acclamation. 
 
 The purpose for which the convention had 
 assembled was now accomplished, and it ad- 
 journed sine die to refer the result of its delibera- 
 tions to the people for their approval.
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 HON. W. J. BRYAN'S SPEECH AT NOTI- 
 FICATION MEETING, MADISON 
 SQUARE GARDEN, N. Y. 
 
 August 12, 1896. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, Gentlemen of the Committee 
 and Fellow Citizens : I shall, at a future day and 
 in a formal letter, accept the nomination which is 
 now tendered by the Notification Committee, and 
 I shall at that time touch upon the issues presented 
 by the platform. It is fitting, however, that at this 
 time, in the presence of those here assembled, I 
 speak at some length in regard to the campaign 
 upon which we are now entering. We do not 
 underestimate the forces arrayed against us, nor 
 are we unmindful of the importance of the struggle 
 in which we are engaged ; but, relying for success 
 upon the righteousness of our cause, we shall de- 
 fend with all possible vigor the positions taken 
 by our party. We are not surprised that some 
 of our opponents, in the absence of better argu- 
 ment, resort to abusive epithets, but they may 
 rest assured that no language, however violent, no
 
 359 
 
 invectives, however vehement, will lead us to 
 depart a single hair's breadth from the course 
 marked out by the National Convention. The 
 citizen, either public or private, who assails 
 the character and questions the patriotism of 
 the delegates assembled in the Chicago con- 
 vention, assails the character and questions the 
 patriotism of the millions who have arrayed them- 
 selves under the banner there raised. 
 
 It has been charged by men standing high in 
 business and political circles that our platform is a 
 menace to private security and public safety ; and 
 it has been asserted that those whom I have the 
 honor for the time being, to represent, not only 
 meditate an attack upon the rights of property, 
 but are the foes both of social order and national 
 honor. 
 
 Those who stand upon the Chicago platform 
 are prepared to make known and to defend every 
 motive which influences them, every purpose 
 which animates them, and every hope which in- 
 spires them. They understand the genius of our 
 institutions, they are staunch supporters of the 
 form of government under which we live, and they 
 build their faith upon foundations laid by the 
 fathers. Andrew Jackson has stated, with admi- 
 rable clearness and with an emphasis which can- 
 not be surpassed, both the duty and the sphere of 
 government. He said: 
 
 o 
 
 Distinctions in society will always exist under every just government 
 Equality of talents, of education or of wealth, cannot be produced by
 
 360 
 
 human institutions. In the full enjoyment of the gifts of Heaven and the 
 fruits of superior industry, economy and virtue, every man is equally en 
 titled to protection by law. 
 
 We yield to none in our devotion to the doc- 
 trine just enunciated. Our campaign has not for 
 its object the reconstruction of society. We can- 
 not insure to the vicious the fruits of a virtuous 
 life ; we would not invade the home of the provi- 
 dent in order to supply the wants of the spend- 
 thrift ; we do not propose to transfer the rewards 
 of industry to the lap of indolence. Property is 
 and will remain the stimulus to endeavor and the 
 compensation, for toil. We believe, as asserted 
 in the Declaration of Independence, that all men 
 are created equal ; but that does not mean that all 
 men are or can be equal in possessions, in ability 
 or in merit ; it simply means that all shall stand 
 equal before the law, and that government officials 
 shall not, in making, construing or enforcing the 
 law, discriminate between citizens. 
 
 I assert that property rights, as well as the 
 rights of persons, are safe in the hands of the 
 common people. Abraham Lincoln, in his mes- 
 sage sent to Congress in December, 1 86 r, said: 
 " No men living are more worthy to be trusted than 
 those who toil up from poverty; none less inclined 
 to take or touch ought which they have not hon- 
 estly earned." I repeat this language with un- 
 qualified approval, and join with him in the warn- 
 ing which he added, namely : " Let them beware
 
 of surrendering a political power which they al- 
 ready possess, and which power, if surrendered, 
 will surely be used to close the doors of advance- 
 ment against such as they, and to fix new disabili- 
 ties and burdens upon them, till all of liberty shall 
 be lost." Those who daily follow the injunction, 
 " In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread," 
 are now, as they ever have been, the bulwark of 
 law and order the source of our nation's great- 
 ness in time of peace, and its surest defenders in 
 time of war. 
 
 But I have only read a part of Jackson's utter- 
 ance let me give you his conclusion : " But when 
 the law undertakes to add to those natural and 
 just advantages artificial distinctions to grant 
 titles, gratuities and exclusive privileges to make 
 the rich richer and the potent more powerful the 
 humble members of society, the farmers, me- 
 chanics and the day-laborers, who have neither 
 the time nor the means of securing like favors for 
 themselves, have a right to complain of the in- 
 justice of their government." Those who sup- 
 port the Chicago platform indorse all of the quo- 
 tation from Jackson the latter part as well as the 
 former part. 
 
 We are not surprised to find arrayed against 
 us those who are the beneficiaries of government 
 favoritism they have read our platform. Nor 
 are we surprised to learn that we must in this 
 campaign face the hostility of those who find a
 
 362 
 
 pecuniary advantage in advocating the doctrine 
 of non-interference when great aggregations of 
 wealth are trespassing upon the rights of indi- 
 viduals. We welcome such opposition it is the 
 highest indorsement which could be bestowed 
 upon us. We are content to have the co-opera- 
 tion of those who desire to have the government 
 administered without fear or favor. It is not the 
 wish of the general public that- trusts should 
 spring into existence and override the weaker 
 members of society ; it is not the wish of the gen- 
 eral public that these trusts should destroy com- 
 petition and then collect such tax as they will 
 from those who are at their mercy ; nor is it the 
 fault of the general public that the instrumentali- 
 ties of government have been so often prostituted 
 to purposes of private gain. Those who stand 
 upon the Chicago platform believe that the gov- 
 ernment should not only avoid wrongdoing, but 
 that it should also prevent wrongdoing, and they 
 believe that the law should be enforced alike 
 against all enemies of the public weal. They do 
 not excuse petit larceny, but they declare that 
 grand larceny is equally a crime. They do not de- 
 fend the occupation of the highwayman who robs 
 the unsuspecting traveller, but they include among 
 the transgressors those who, through the more 
 polite and less hazardous means of legislation, 
 appropriate to their own use the proceeds of the 
 toil of others. The commandment "Thou shalt
 
 not steal," thundered from Sinai and reiterated in 
 the legislation of all nations, is no respecter of 
 persons. It must be applied to the great as well 
 as to the small ; to the strong as well as the weak; 
 to the corporate persons created by law as well 
 as to the person of flesh and blood created by the 
 Almighty. No government is worthy of the name 
 which is not able to protect from every arm up- 
 lifted for his injury the humblest citizen who lives 
 beneath the flag. It follows as a necessary con- 
 clusion that vicious legislation must be remedied 
 by the people who suffer from the effects of such 
 legislation, and not by those who enjoy its benefits. 
 The Chicago platform has been condemned by 
 some because it dissents from an opinion ren- 
 dered by the Supreme Court declaring the income 
 tax law unconstitutional. Our critics even go so 
 
 o 
 
 far as to apply the name Anarchist to those who 
 stand upon that plank of the platform. It must 
 be remembered that we expressly recognize the 
 binding force of that decision so long as it stands 
 as a part of the law of the land. There is in the 
 platform no suggestion of an attempt to dispute 
 the authority of the Supreme Court. The party 
 i-s simply to use all the constitutional power which 
 remains after that decision, or which may come 
 from its reversal by the court as it may here- 
 after be constituted. Is there any disloyalty in 
 that pledge? For a hundred years the Supreme 
 Court of the United States has sustained the
 
 364 
 
 principle which underlies the income tax. Some 
 twenty years ago this same court sustained with- 
 out a dissenting voice an income tax law almost 
 identical with the one recently overthrown ; has 
 not a future court as much right to return to the 
 judicial precedents of a century as the present 
 court had to depart from them ? When courts 
 allow rehearings, they admit that error is possible; 
 the late decision against the income tax was ren- 
 dered by a majority of one after a rehearing. 
 
 While the money question overshadows all 
 other questions in importance, I desire it dis- 
 tinctly understood that I shall offer no apology 
 for the income tax plank of the Chicago platform. 
 The last income tax sought to apportion the 
 burdens of government more equitably among 
 those who enjoy the protection of the govern- 
 ment. At present the expenses of the Federal 
 government, collected through internal revenue 
 taxes and import duties, are especially burden- 
 some upon the poorer classes of society. A law 
 which collects from some citizens more than their 
 share of the taxes, and collects from other 
 citizens less than their share, is simply an indirect 
 means of transferring one man's property to an- 
 other man's pocket, and while the process may be 
 quite satisfactory to the men who escape just taxa- 
 tion, it will never be satisfactory those who are over- 
 burdened. The last income tax law, with its ex- 
 emption provisions, when considered in connection
 
 AETHUB SEWALL, ESQ.,
 
 with other methods of taxation in force, was not 
 unjust to the possessors of large incomes, because 
 they were not compelled to pay a total federal tax 
 greater than their share. The income tax is not 
 new, nor is it based upon hostility to the rich. 
 The system is employed in several of the most 
 important nations of Europe, and every income 
 tax law now upon the statute books in any land, 
 so far as I have been able to ascertain, contains 
 an exemption clause. While the collection of an 
 income tax in other countries does not make it 
 necessary for this nation to adopt the system, yet 
 it ought to moderate the language of those who 
 denounce the income tax as an assault upon the 
 well-to-do. 
 
 Not only shall I refuse to apologize for the 
 advocacy of an income tax law by the national 
 convention, but I shall also refuse to apologize for 
 the exercise by it of the right to dissent from a 
 decision of the Supreme Court. In a govern- 
 ment like ours every public official is a public 
 servant, whether he holds office by election or by 
 appointment, whether he serves for a term of 
 years or during good behavior, and the people 
 have a right to criticise his official acts. " Confi- 
 dence is everywhere the parent of despotism ; 
 free government exists in jealousy and not in 
 confidence" these are the words of Thomas 
 Jefferson, and I submit that they present a truer 
 conception of popular government than that
 
 3 66 
 
 entertained by those who would prohibit an un- 
 favorable comment upon a court decision. Truth 
 will vindicate itself; only error fears free speech. 
 No public official, who conscientiously discharges 
 his duty as he sees it, will desire to deny to those 
 whom he serves the right to discuss his official 
 conduct. 
 
 Now let me ask you to consider the paramount 
 question of this campaign the money question. 
 It is scarcely necessary to defend the principle of 
 bimetallism. No national party during the entire 
 history of the United States has ever declared 
 against it, and no party in this campaign has had 
 the temerity to oppose it. Three parties the 
 Democratic, Populist, and Silver Parties have 
 not only declared for bimetallism, but have out- 
 lined the specific legislation necessary to restore 
 silver to its ancient position by the side of gold. 
 The Republican platform expressly declares that 
 bimetallism is desirable when it pledges the 
 Republican party to aid in securing it as soon as 
 the assistance of certain foreign nations can be 
 obtained. Those who represented the minority 
 sentiment in the Chicago Convention opposed 
 the free coinage of silver by the United States 
 by independent action on the ground that, in 
 their judgment, it " would retard or entirely 
 prevent the establishment of international bime- 
 tallism, to which the efforts of the government 
 
 o 
 
 should be steadily directed." When they asserted
 
 36; 
 
 that the efforts of the government should be 
 steadily directed toward the establishment of in- 
 ternational bimetallism, they condemned mono- 
 metallism. The gold standard has been weighed 
 in the balance and found wanting. Take from it 
 the powerful support of the money-owning and 
 money-changing classes and it cannot stand for 
 one day in any nation in the world. It was fast- 
 ened upon the United States without discussion 
 before the people, and its friends have never yet 
 been willing to risk a verdict before the voters 
 upon that issue. 
 
 There can be no sympathy or co-operation be- 
 tween the advocates of a universal gold standard 
 and the advocates of bimetallism. Between bi- 
 metallism, whether independent or international, 
 and the gold standard there is an impassable gulf. 
 Is this quadrennial agitation in favor of inter- 
 national bimetallism conducted in good faith, or 
 do our opponents really desire to maintain the 
 gold standard permanently? Are they willing to 
 confess the superiority of a double standard when 
 joined in by the leading nations of the world, or 
 do they still insist that gold is the only metal suit- 
 able for standard money among civilized nations ? 
 If they are, in fact, desirous of securing bimetallism, 
 we may expect them to point out the evils of a 
 gold standard and defend bimetallism as a system. 
 
 If, on the other hand, they are bending their 
 energies toward the permanent establishment of
 
 368 
 
 a gold standard under cover of a declaration in 
 favor of international bimetallism, I am justified 
 in suggesting that honest money cannot be ex- 
 pected at the hands of those who deal dishonestly 
 with the American people. 
 
 What is the test of honesty in money? It 
 must certainly be found in the purchasing power 
 of the dollar. An absolutely honest dollar would 
 not vary in its general purchasing power; it would 
 be absolutely stable when measured by average 
 prices. A dollar which increases in purchasing 
 power is just as dishonest as a dollar which de- 
 creases in purchasing power. Professor Laughlin, 
 now of the University of Chicago, and one of the 
 highest gold standard authorities, in his work on 
 bimetallism, not only admits that gold does not 
 remain absolutely stable in value, but expressly 
 asserts " that there is no such thing as a standard 
 of value for future payments, either in gold or 
 silver, which remains absolutely invariable." He 
 even suggests that a multiple standard, wherein 
 the unit is " based upon the selling prices of a 
 number of articles of general consumption," would 
 be a more just standard than either gold or silver, 
 or both, because " a long time contract would 
 thereby be paid at its maturity by the same pur- 
 chasing power as was given in the beginning." 
 
 It cannot be successfully claimed that monomet- 
 allism or bimetallism, or any other system, gives 
 an absolutely just standard of value. Under both
 
 369 
 
 monometallism and bimetallism the government 
 
 o 
 
 fixes the weight and fineness of the dollar, invests 
 it with legal tender quantities, and then opens the 
 mint to its unrestricted coinage, leaving the pur- 
 chasing power of the dollar to be determined by 
 the number of dollars. Bimetallism is better than 
 monometallism, not because it gives us a perfect 
 dollar that is, a dollar absolutely unvarying in its 
 general purchasing power but because it makes 
 a nearer approach to stability, to honesty, to jus- 
 tice, than a gold standard possibly can. Prior to 
 I 873, when there were enough open mints to 
 permit all the gold and silver available for coinage 
 to find entrance into the world's volume of standard 
 money, the United States might have maintained a 
 gold standard with less injury to the people of 
 this country; but now, when each step toward a 
 universal gold standard enhances the purchasing 
 power of gold, depresses prices, and transfers to 
 the pockets of the creditor class an unearned incre- 
 ment, the influence of this great nation must be 
 thrown upon the side of gold unless we are pre- 
 pared to accept the natural and legitimate conse- 
 quences of such an act. Any legislation which 
 lessens the world's stock of standard money in- 
 creases the exchangeable value of the dollar ; 
 therefore, the crusade against silvermust inevitably 
 raise the purchasing power of money, and lower 
 the money value of all other forms of property. 
 Our opponents sometimes admit that it was a
 
 370 
 
 mistake to demonetize silver, but insist that we 
 should submit to present conditions rather than 
 return to the bimetallic system. They err in 
 supposing that we have reached the end of the 
 evil results of a gold standard ; we have not 
 reached the end. The injury is a continuing one, 
 and no person can say how long the world is to 
 suffer from the attempt to make gold the only stand- 
 ard money. The same influences which are now 
 operating to destroy silver in the United States 
 will, if successful here, be turned against other 
 silver-using countries, and each new convert to 
 the gold standard will add to the general distress. 
 So long as the scramble for gold continues, prices 
 must fall, and a general fall in prices is but another 
 definition of hard times. 
 
 Our opponents, while claiming entire disinter- 
 estedness for themselves, have appealed to the 
 selfishness of nearly every class of society. Rec- 
 ognizing the disposition of the individual voter to 
 consider the effect of any proposed legislation 
 upon himself, we present to the American people 
 the financial policy outlined in the Chicago plat- 
 form, believing that it will result in the greatest 
 good to the greatest number. 
 
 The- farmers are opposed to the q-old standard 
 because they have felt its effects. Since they sell 
 at wholesale and buy at retail, they have lost more 
 than they have gained by falling prices, and, be- 
 sides this, they have found that certain fixed
 
 37' 
 charges have not fallen at all. Taxes have not 
 
 o 
 
 been perceptibly decreased, although it requires 
 more of farm products now than formerly to 
 secure the money with which to pay taxes. 
 Debts have not fallen. The farmer who owed 
 $1000 is still compelled to pay $1000, although it 
 may be twice as difficult as formerly to obtain the 
 dollars with which to pay the debt. Railroad rates 
 have not been reduced to keep pace with falling 
 prices, and besides these items there are many 
 more. The farmer has thus found it more and 
 more difficult to live. Has he not a just com- 
 plaint against the gold standard? 
 
 The wage-earners have been injured by a gold 
 standard, and have expressed themselves upon 
 the subject with great emphasis. In February, 
 1895, a petition asking for the immediate restora- 
 tion of the free and unlimited coinage of gold and 
 silver at 1 6 to i was signed by the representatives 
 of all, or nearly all, the leading labor organizations 
 and presented to Congress. Wage-earners know 
 that while a gold standard raises the purchasing 
 power of the dollar it also makes it more difficult 
 to obtain possession of the dollar ; they know that 
 employment is less permanent, loss of work more 
 probable, and re-employment less certain. A gold 
 standard encourages the hoarding of money be- 
 cause money is rising; it also discourages enter- 
 prise and paralyzes industry. On the other hand, 
 the restoration of bimetallism will discourage hoard-
 
 372 
 
 ing, because, when prices are steady or rising, 
 money cannot afford to lie idle in the bank vaults. 
 The farmers and wage-earners together constitute 
 a considerable majority of the people of the coun- 
 try. Why should their interests be ignored in 
 considering financial legislation ? A monetary 
 system which is peculiarly advantageous to a few 
 syndicates has far less to commend it than a 
 system that would give hope and encouragement 
 to those who create the nation's wealth. 
 
 Our opponents have made a special appeal to 
 those who hold fire and life insurance policies, but 
 these policy holders know that, since the total 
 premiums received exceed the total losses paid, a 
 risinor standard must be of more benefit to the 
 
 o 
 
 companies than to the policy holders. 
 
 Much solicitude has been expressed by our 
 opponents for the depositors in savings banks. 
 They constantly parade before these depositors 
 the advantages of a gold standard ; but these ap- 
 peals will be in vain, because savings bank depos- 
 itors know that under a gold standard there is 
 increasing danger that they will lose their deposits 
 because of the inability of the banks to collect 
 their assets ; and they still further know that, if the 
 gold standard is to continue indefinitely, they may 
 be compelled to withdraw their deposits in order 
 to pay living expenses. 
 
 It is only necessary to note the increasing num- 
 ber of failures, in order to know that a gold
 
 373 
 
 standard is ruinous to merchants and manufac- 
 turers. These business men do not make their 
 profits from the people from whom they borrow 
 money, but from the people to whom they sell 
 their goods. If the people cannot buy, retailers 
 cannot sell, and, if retailers cannot sell, wholesale 
 merchants and manufacturers must go into bank- 
 ruptcy. 
 
 Those who hold, as a permanent investment, 
 the stock of railroads and of other enterprises I 
 do not include those who speculate in stocks or 
 use stock holdings as a means of obtaining an 
 inside advantage in construction contracts are 
 injured by a gold standard. The rising dollar de- 
 stroys the earning power of these enterprises 
 without reducing their liabilities, and, as dividends 
 cannot be paid until salaries and fixed charges 
 have been satisfied, the stockholders must bear 
 the burden of hard times. 
 
 Salaries in business occupations depend upon 
 business conditions, and the gold standard both 
 lessens the amount and threatens the permanency 
 of such salaries. 
 
 Official salaries, except the salaries of those who 
 hold office for life, must, in the long run, be ad- 
 justed to the conditions of those who pay the 
 taxes ; and if the present financial policy con- 
 tinues, we must expect the contest between the 
 taxpayer and the taxeater to increase in bitter- 
 ness.
 
 374 
 
 The professional classes, in the main, derive 
 their support from the producing classes, and can 
 only enjoy prosperity when there is prosperity 
 among those who create wealth. 
 
 I have not attempted to describe the effect of 
 the gold standard upon all classes in fact, I have 
 only had time to mention a few but each person 
 will be able to apply the principles stated to his 
 own occupation. 
 
 It must also be remembered that it is the desire 
 of people generally to convert their earnings into 
 real or personal property. This being true, in 
 considering any temporary advantage which may 
 come from a system under which the dollar rises 
 in its purchasing power, it must not be forgotten 
 that the dollar cannot buy more than formerly 
 unless property sells for less than formerly. 
 Hence, it will be seen that a large portion of those 
 who may find some pecuniary advantage in a 
 gold standard will discover their losses exceed 
 their gains. 
 
 It is sometimes asserted by our opponents that 
 a bank belono-s to the debtor class ; but this is not 
 
 - " 
 
 true of any solvent bank. Every statement pub- 
 lished by a solvent bank shows that the assets ex- 
 ceed the liabilities. That is to say, while the 
 bank owes a large amount of money to its depos- 
 itors, it not only has enough on hand in money 
 and notes to pay its depositors ; but, in addition 
 thereto, has enough to cover its capital and sur-
 
 375 
 
 plus. When the dollar is rising in value slowly, 
 a bank may, by making short-time loans and 
 taking good security, avoid loss ; but when prices 
 are falling rapidly, the bank is apt to lose more 
 because of bad debts than it can gain by the in- 
 crease in the purchasing power of its capital and 
 surplus. 
 
 It must be admitted, however, that some bank- 
 ers combine the business of a bond broker with 
 the ordinary banking business, and these may 
 make enough in the negotiation of loans to offset 
 
 o o 
 
 the losses arising in legitimate banking business. 
 As long as human nature remains as it is, there 
 will always be danger that, unless restrained by 
 public opinion or legal enactment, those who see 
 a pecuniary profit for themselves in a certain con- 
 dition may yield to the temptation to bring about 
 that condition. Jefferson has stated that one of 
 the main duties of government is to prevent men 
 from injuring one another, and never was that 
 duty more important than it is to-day. It is not 
 strange that those who have made a profit by fur- 
 nishing gold to the government in the hour of its 
 extremity favor a financial policy which will keep 
 the government dependent upon them. I believe, 
 however, that I speak the sentiment of the vast 
 majority of people of the United States when I say 
 that a wise financial policy administered in behalf 
 of all the people would make our government in-
 
 376 
 
 dependent of any combination of financiers, foreign 
 or domestic. 
 
 Let me say a word, now, in regard to certain 
 persons who are pecuniarily benefited by a gold 
 standard, and who favor it, not from a desire to 
 trespass on the rights of others, but because the 
 circumstances which surround them blind them to 
 the effect of the gold standard upon others. I 
 shall ask you to consider the language of two 
 gentlemen whose long public service and high 
 standing in the party to which they belong will 
 protect them from adverse criticism by our oppo- 
 nents. In 1869 Senator Sherman said: "The 
 contraction of the currency is a far more distress- 
 ing operation than senators suppose. Our own 
 and other nations have gone through that opera- 
 tion before. It is not possible to take that voyage 
 without the sorest distress ; it is a period of loss, 
 danger, lassitude of trade, fall of wages, suspen- 
 sion of enterprise, bankruptcy and disaster. It 
 means ruin to all dealers whose debts are twice their 
 business capital, though one-third less than their 
 actual property. It means the fall of all agricul- 
 tural production without, any reduction of taxes. 
 What prudent man would dare to build a house, 
 a railroad, a factory or a barn with this certain 
 fact before him? " As I have said before, the sal- 
 aried officer referred to must be the man whose 
 salary is fixed for life, and not the man whose 
 salary depends upon business conditions. When
 
 377 
 
 Mr. Sherman describes contraction of the currency 
 as disastrous to all the people except the capitalist 
 out of debt and those who stand in a similar posi- 
 tion to his, he is stating a truth which must be 
 apparent to every person who will give the matter 
 careful consideration. Mr. Sherman was at that 
 time speaking of the contraction of the volume of 
 paper currency ; but the principle which he set 
 forth applies if there is a contraction of the volume 
 of the standard money of the world. 
 
 Mr. Elaine discussed the same principle in con- 
 nection with the demonetization of silver. Speak- 
 ing in the House of Representatives on the yth 
 of February, 1878, he said : " I believe the struggle 
 now going on in this country and other countries 
 for a single gold standard would, if successful, 
 produce widespread disaster in and throughout 
 the commercial world. The destruction of silver 
 as money, and the establishment of gold as the 
 sole unit of value must have a ruinous effect on 
 all forms of property, except those invested which 
 yield a fixed return in money. These would be 
 enormously enhanced in value, and would gain a 
 disproportionate and unfair advantage over every 
 other species of property." It is strange that the 
 " holders of investments which yield a fixed return 
 in money " can regard the destruction of silver 
 with complacency ? May we not expect the 
 holders of other forms of property to protest 
 against giving to money a " disproportionate and
 
 378 
 
 unfair advantage over every other species of prop- 
 erty ?" If the relatively few whose wealth con- 
 sists largely in fixed investments have a right to 
 use the ballot to enhance the value of their invest- 
 ments, have not the rest of the people the right to 
 use the ballot to protect themselves from the dis- 
 astrous consequences of a rising standard? 
 
 The people who must purchase money with the 
 products of toil stand in a position entirely differ- 
 ent from the position of those who own money or 
 receive a fixed income. The well-being of the 
 nation aye, of civilization itself depends upon 
 the prosperity of the masses. What shall it 
 profit us to have a dollar which grows more valu- 
 able every day if such a dollar lowers the standard 
 of civilization and brings distress to the people ? 
 What shall it profit us if, in trying to raise our 
 credit by increasing the purchasing power of 
 our dollar, we destroy our ability to pay the debts 
 already contracted by lowering the purchasing 
 power of the products with which those debts 
 must be paid? If it is asserted, as it constantly 
 is asserted, that the gold standard will enable us 
 to borrow more money from abroad, I reply that 
 the restoration of bimetallism will restore the 
 parity between money and property, and thus 
 permit an era of prosperity which will enable the 
 American people to become loaners of money in- 
 stead of perpetual borrowers. Even if we desire 
 to borrow, how long can we continue borrowing
 
 379 
 
 under a system which, by lowering the value of 
 property, weakens the foundation upon which 
 credit rests ? 
 
 Even the holders of fixed investments, though 
 
 o 
 
 they gain an advantage from the appreciation of 
 the dollar, certainly see the injustice of the legisla- 
 tion which gives them this advantage over those 
 whose incomes depend upon the value of property 
 and products. If the holders of fixed investments 
 will not listen to arguments based upon justice 
 and equity, I appeal to them to consider the inter- 
 ests of posterity. We do not live for ourselves 
 alone ; our labor, our self-denial, and our anxious 
 care all these are for those who are to come 
 after us as much as for ourselves; but we cannot 
 protect our children beyond the period of our 
 lives. Let those who are now reaping advantage 
 from a vicious financial system remember that, in 
 the years to come, their own children and chil- 
 dren's children may, through the operation of this 
 same system, be made to pay tribute to the de- 
 Iscendants of those who are wronged to-day. 
 
 As against the maintenance of a gold standard, 
 either permanently or until other nations can be 
 united for its overthrow, the Chicago platform pre- 
 sents a clear and emphatic demand for the imme- 
 diate restoration of the free and unlimited coinage 
 of silver and gold at the present legal ratio of 1 6 
 to i, without waiting for the aid or consent of any 
 other nation. We are not asking that a new ex-
 
 periment be tried ; we are insisting upon a return 
 to a financial policy approved by the experience 
 of history and supported by all the prominent 
 statesmen of our nation from the days of our first 
 President down to 1873. When we ask that our 
 mints be opened to the free and unlimited coinage 
 of silver into full legal tender money, we are simply 
 asking that the same mint privileges be accorded 
 to silver that are now accorded to gold. When 
 we ask that this coinage be at the rate of 16 to i, 
 we simply ask that our gold coins and the standard 
 silver dollar which, be it remembered, contains 
 the same amount of pure silver as the first silver 
 dollar coined at our mints retain their present 
 weight and fineness. 
 
 The theoretical advantage of the bimetallic sys- 
 tem is best stated by a European writer on political 
 economy, who suggests the following illustration : 
 A river fed from two sources is more uniform in 
 volume than a river fed from one source the 
 reason being that when one of the feeders is 
 swollen the other may be low ; whereas, a river 
 which has but one feeder must rise or fall with 
 that feeder. So in the case of bimetallism ; the 
 volume of metallic money receives contributions 
 from both the gold mines and the silver mines, 
 and, therefore, varies less ; and the dollar, resting 
 upon two metals, is less changeable in its pur- 
 chasing power than the dollar which rests on one 
 metal only.
 
 38 1 
 
 If there are two kinds of money, the option must 
 rest either with the debtor or with the creditor. 
 Assuming that their rights are equal, we must 
 look at the interests of society in general in order 
 to determine to which side the option should be 
 given. Under the bimetallic system, gold and 
 silver are linked together by law at a fixed ratio, 
 and any person or persons owing any quantity of 
 either metal can have the same converted into 
 full legal-tender money. If the creditor has the 
 right to choose the metal in which payment shall 
 be made, it is reasonable to suppose that he will 
 require the debtor to pay in the dearer metal if 
 there is any perceptible difference between the 
 bullion values of the metals. This new demand 
 created for the dearer metal will make that metal 
 dearer still, while the decreased demand for the 
 cheaper metal will make that metal cheaper still. 
 If, on the other hand, the debtor exercises the 
 option, it is reasonable to suppose that he will pay 
 in the cheaper metal if one metal is perceptibly 
 cheaper than the other ; but the demand thus cre- 
 ated for the cheaper metal will raise its price, 
 while the lessened demand for the dearer metal 
 will lower its price. In other words, when the 
 creditor has the option, the metals are drawn 
 apart ; whereas, when the debtor has the option, 
 the metals are held together approximately at the 
 ratio fixed by law ; provided the demand created
 
 is sufficient to absorb all of both metals presented 
 at the mint. 
 
 Society is, therefore, interested in having the 
 option exercised by the debtor. Indeed, there 
 can be no such thing as real bimetallism unless 
 the option is exercised by the debtor. The exer- 
 cise of the option by the debtor compels the 
 creditor classes, whether domestic or foreign, to 
 
 o 9 
 
 exert themselves to maintain the parity between 
 gold and silver at the legal ratio, whereas they 
 might find a profit in driving one of the metals to 
 a premium if they could then demand the dearer 
 metal. The right of the debtor to choose the 
 coin in which payment shall be made extends to 
 obligations due from the government as well as 
 
 O O 
 
 to contracts between individuals. A government 
 obligation is simply a debt due from all the people 
 to one of the people, and it is impossible to justify 
 a policy which makes the interests of the one per- 
 son who holds the obligation superior to the rights 
 of the many who must be taxed to pay it. When, 
 prior to 1873, silver was at a premium, it was 
 never contended that national honor required the 
 payment of government obligations in silver, and 
 the Matthews resolution, adopted by Congress in 
 1878, expressly asserted the right of the United 
 States to redeem coin obligations in standard 
 silver dollars as well as in gold coin. 
 
 Upon this subject the Chicago platform reads : 
 'We are opposed to the policy and practice of
 
 surrendering to the holders of the obligations of 
 the United States the option reserved by law to 
 the government of redeeming such obligations in 
 either silver coin or gold coin." 
 
 It is constantly assumed by some that the 
 United States notes, commonly called greenbacks, 
 and the Treasury notes, issued under the act of 
 1890, are responsible for the recent drain upon 
 the gold reserve, but this assumption is entirely 
 without foundation. Secretary Carlisle appeared 
 before the House Committee on Appropriations, 
 on January 21, 1895, a d I quote from the printed 
 report of his testimony before the Committee : 
 
 " Mr. Sibley : I would like to ask you (perhaps 
 not entirely connected with the matter under dis- 
 cussion) what objection there could be to having 
 the option of redeeming either in silver or gold 
 lie with the Treasury instead of the note holder ? 
 
 " Secretary Carlisle : If that policy had been 
 adopted at the beginning of resumption and I 
 am not saying this for the purpose of criticising 
 the action of any of my predecessors, or anybody 
 else but if the policy of reserving to the govern- 
 ment, at the beginning of resumption, the option 
 of redeeming in gold or silver all its paper pre- 
 sented, I believe it would have worked beneficially, 
 and there would have been no trouble growing 
 out of it, but the Secretaries of the Treasury from 
 the beginning of resumption have pursued a pol- 
 icy of redeeming in gold or silver, at the option
 
 384 
 
 of the holder of the paper, and if any Secretary 
 had afterwards attempted to change that policy 
 and force silver upon a man who wanted gold, or 
 gold upon a man who wanted silver, and espe- 
 cially if he had made that attempt at such a critical 
 period as we have had in the last two years, my 
 judgment is it would have been very disastrous." 
 
 I do not agree with the Secretary that it was 
 wise to follow a bad precedent, but from his an- 
 swer it will be seen that the fault does not lie with 
 the greenbacks and Treasury notes, but rather 
 with the executive officers who have seen fit to 
 surrender a right which should have been exer- 
 cised for the protection of the interests of the 
 people. This executive action has already been 
 made the excuse for the issue of more than $250,- 
 000,000 in bonds, and it is impossible to estimate 
 the amount of bonds which may hereafter be 
 issued if this policy is continued. We are told 
 that any attempt on the part of the government 
 at this time to redeem its obligations in silver 
 would put a premium upon gold, but why should 
 it ? The Bank of France exercises the right to 
 redeem all bank paper in either gold or silver, 
 and yet France maintains the parity between gold 
 and silver at the ratio of 15^ to i, and retains 
 in circulation more silver per capita than we do in 
 the United States. 
 
 It may be further answered that our opponents 
 have suggested no feasible plan for avoiding the
 
 385 
 
 dangers which they fear. The retirement of the 
 greenbacks and Treasury notes would not protect 
 the Treasury, because the same policy which now 
 leads the Secretary of the Treasury to redeem all 
 Government paper in gold, when gold is de- 
 manded, will require the redemption of all silver 
 dollars and silver certificates in gold, if the green- 
 backs and Treasury notes are withdrawn from 
 circulation. More than this, if the Government 
 should retire its paper and throw upon the banks 
 the necessity of furnishing coin redemption, the 
 banks would exercise the right to furnish either 
 gold or silver. In other words, they would exer- 
 cise the option, just as the Government ought to 
 exercise it now. The Government must either 
 exercise the right to redeem its obligations in sil- 
 ver when silver is more convenient, or it must re- 
 tire all the silver and silver certificates from cir- 
 culation and leave nothing but gold as legal tender 
 money. Are our opponents willing to outline a 
 financial system which will carry out their policy 
 to its legitimate conclusion, or will they continue 
 to cloak their designs in ambiguous phrases ? 
 
 There is an actual necessity for bimetallism as 
 well as a theoretical defence of it. During the 
 
 o 
 
 last twenty-three years legislation has been creat- 
 ing an additional demand for gold, and this law- 
 created demand has resulted in increasing the 
 purchasing power of each ounce of gold. The 
 restoration of bimetallism in the United States
 
 386 
 
 will take away from gold just so much of its pur- 
 chasing power as was added to it by the demone- 
 tization of silver by the United States. The 
 silver dollar is now held up to the gold dollar by 
 legal tender laws and not by redemption in gold, 
 because the standard silver dollars are not now 
 redeemable in gold either in law or by administra- 
 tive policy. 
 
 We contend that free and unlimited coinage 
 by the United States alone will raise the bullion 
 value of silver to its coinage value, and this make 
 silver bullion worth $1.29 per ounce in gold 
 throughout the world. This proposition is in 
 keeping with natural laws, not in defiance of them. 
 The best-known law of commerce is the law of 
 supply and demand. We recognize this law and 
 build our argument upon it. We apply this law 
 to money when we say that a reduction in the 
 volume of money will raise the purchasing power 
 of the dollar ; we also apply the law of supply 
 and demand to silver when we say that a new de- 
 mand for silver created by law will raise the price 
 of silver bullion. Gold and silver are different 
 from other commodities, in that they are limited 
 in quantity. Corn, wheat, manufactured products, 
 etc., can be produced almost without limit, pro- 
 vided they can be sold at a price sufficient to 
 stimulate production, but gold and silver are 
 called precious metals, because they are found, 
 not produced, These metals have been the ob-
 
 38; 
 
 jects of anxious search as far back as history 
 runs, yet, according to Mr. Harvey's calculation, 
 all the gold coin of the world can be melted into a 
 22-foot cube, and all the silver in the world into a 
 66-foot cube. Because gold and silver are limited, 
 
 o 
 
 both in the quantity now in hand and in annual 
 production, it follows that legislation can fix the 
 ratio between them. 
 
 Any purchaser who stands ready to take the 
 entire supply of any given article at a certain 
 price can prevent that article from falling below 
 that price. So the government can fix a price for 
 gold and silver by creating a demand greater than 
 the supply. International bimetallists believe that 
 several nations, by entering into an agreement to 
 coin at a fixed ratio all the gold and silver pre- 
 sented, can maintain the bullion value of the 
 metals at the mint ratio. When a mint price is 
 thus established, it regulates the bullion price, be- 
 cause any person desiring coin may have the bul- 
 lion converted into coin at that price, and any 
 person desiring bullion can secure it by melting 
 the coin. The only question upon which inter- 
 national bimetallists differ is : Can the United 
 States by the free and unlimited coinage of silver 
 at the present legal ratio create a demand for 
 silver which, taken in connection with the demand 
 already in existence, will be sufficient to utilize all 
 the silver that will be presented at the mints ? 
 They agree in their defence of the bimetallic prin-
 
 388 
 
 ciple, and they agree in unalterable opposition to 
 the gold standard. International bimetallists can- 
 
 o 
 
 not complain that free coinage gives a benefit to 
 the mine owner, because international bimetallism 
 gives to the owner of silver all the advantages 
 offered by independent bimetallism at the same 
 ratio. International bimetallists cannot accuse 
 the advocates of free silver of being " bullion 
 owners who desire to raise the value of their bul- 
 lion ; " or " debtors who desire to pay their debts 
 in cheap dollars ; " or " demagogues who desire to 
 curry favor with the people." They must rest 
 their opposition upon one ground only, namely: 
 That the supply of silver available for coinage is 
 too large to be utilized by the United States. 
 
 In discussing the question we must consider the 
 capacity of our people to use silver and the 
 quantity of silver which can come to our mints. 
 It must be remembered that we live in a country 
 only partially developed, and that our people far 
 surpass any equal number of people in the world 
 in their power to consume and produce. Our 
 extensive railroad development and enormous 
 internal commerce must also be taken into con- 
 sideration. Now, how much silver can come 
 here ? Not the coined silver of the world, be- 
 cause almost all of it is more valuable at this 
 time in other lands than it will be at our mints 
 under free coinage. If our mints are opened to 
 free and unlimited coinage at the present ratio.
 
 389 
 
 merchandise silver cannot come here, because the 
 labor applied to it has made it worth more in the 
 form of merchandise than it will be worth at our 
 mints. We cannot even expect all of the annual 
 product of silver, because India, China, Japan, 
 Mexico and all the other silver-using countries 
 must satisfy their annual needs from the annual 
 product ; the arts will require a large amount, and 
 the gold standard countries will need a consider- 
 able quantity of subsidiary coinage. We will be 
 required to coin only that which is not needed 
 elsewhere ; but, if we stand ready to take and 
 utilize all of it, other nations will be compelled to 
 buy at the price which we fix. Many fear that 
 the opening of our mints will be followed by an 
 enormous increase in the annual production of 
 silver. This is conjecture. Silver has been used 
 as money for thousands of years, and during all 
 that time the world has never suffered from over- 
 production. If, for any reason, the supply of gold 
 or silver in the future ever exceeds the require- 
 ments of the arts and the needs of commerce, we 
 confidently hope that the intelligence of the people 
 will be sufficient to devise and enact any legisla- 
 tion necessary for the protection of the public. 
 It is folly to refuse the people the money which 
 they now need for fear they may hereafter have 
 more than they need. I am firmly convinced that 
 by opening our mints to free and unlimited coin- 
 age at the present ratio we can create a demand
 
 39 
 
 for silver which will keep the price of silver 
 bullion at $1.29 per ounce, measured by gold. 
 
 Some of our opponents attribute the fall in the 
 value of silver, when measured by gold, to the 
 fact that during the last quarter of a century the 
 world's supply of silver has increased more 
 rapidly than the world's supply of gold. This 
 argument is entirely answered by the fact, that 
 during the last five years, the annual production 
 of gold has increased more rapidly than the 
 annual production of silver. Since the gold price 
 of silver has fallen more during the last five years 
 than it ever fell in any previous five years in the 
 history of the world, it is evident that the fall is 
 not due to increased production. Prices can be 
 lowered as effectually by decreasing the demand 
 for an article as by increasing the supply of it, 
 and it seems certain that the fall in the gold price 
 of silver is due to hostile legislation and not to 
 natural laws. 
 
 Our opponents cannot ignore the fact that gold 
 is now going abroad in spite of all legislation 
 intended to prevent it, and no silver is being 
 coined to take its place. Not only is gold going 
 abroad now, but it must continue to go abroad as 
 long as the .present financial policy is adhered to, 
 unless we continue to borrow from across the 
 ocean, and even then we simply postpone the 
 evil, because the amount borrowed, together with 
 interest upon it, must be repaid in appreciating
 
 dollars. The American people now owe a large 
 sum to European creditors, and falling prices 
 have left a larger and larger margin between our 
 net national income and our annual interest 
 charge. There is only one way to stop the in-, 
 creasing flow of gold from our shores, and that is to 
 stop falling prices. The restoration of bimetallism 
 will not only stop falling prices, but will to some 
 extent, restore prices by reducing the world's de- 
 mand for gold. If it is argued that a rise in prices 
 lessens the value of the dollars which we pay to our 
 creditors, I reply that, in the balancing of equities 
 the American people have as much right to favor 
 a financial system which will maintain or restore 
 prices as foreign creditors have to insist upon a 
 financial system that will reduce prices. But the 
 interests of society are far superior to the inter- 
 ests of either debtors or creditors, and the interests 
 of society demand a financial system which will 
 add to the volume of the standard money of the 
 world, and thus restore stability to prices. 
 
 Perhaps the most persistent misrepresentation 
 that we have to meet is the charge that we are 
 advocating the payment of debts in fifty-cent 
 dollars. At the present time and under present 
 laws, a silver dollar, when melted, loses nearly 
 half its value, but that will not be true when we 
 again establish a mint price for silver and leave 
 no surplus upon the market to drag down the 
 price of bullion. Under bimetallism, silver bullion
 
 392 
 
 will be worth as much as silver coin, just as gold 
 bullion is now worth as much as gold coin, and 
 we believe that a silver dollar will be worth as 
 much as a gold dollar. 
 
 The charge of repudiation comes with poor 
 grace from those who are seeking to add to the 
 weight of existing debts by legislation which 
 makes money dearer, and who conceal their de- 
 signs against the general welfare under the 
 euphonious pretence that they are upholding 
 public credit and national honor. 
 
 In answer to the charge that gold will go abroad, 
 it must be remembered that no gold can leave 
 this country until the owner of the gold receives 
 something in return for it, which he would rather 
 have. In other words, when gold leaves the 
 country, those who formerly owned it will be bene- 
 fitted. There is no process by which we can be 
 compelled to part with our gold against our will, 
 nor is there any process by which silver can be 
 forced upon us without our consent. Exchanges 
 are matters of agreement, and if silver comes to 
 this country under free coinage it will be at the 
 invitation of some one in this country who will 
 give something in exchange for it. 
 
 Those who deny the ability of the United 
 States to maintain the parity between gold and 
 silver at the present legal ratio without foreign 
 aid point to Mexico and assert that the opening 
 of our mints will reduce us to a silver basis and
 
 393 
 
 raise gold to a premium. It is no reflection upon 
 our sister Republic to remind our people that the 
 United States is much greater than Mexico in 
 area, in population and in commercial strength. 
 It is absurd to assert that the United States is not 
 able to do anything which Mexico has failed to 
 accomplish. The one thing necessary in order to 
 maintain the parity is to furnish a demand great 
 enough to utilize all the silver which will come to 
 the mints. That Mexico has failed to do this is 
 not proof that the United States would also fail. 
 
 It is also argued that, since a number of nations 
 have demonetized silver, nothing can be done 
 until all of those nations restore bimetallism. 
 This is also illogical. It is immaterial how many 
 or how few nations have open mints, provided 
 there are sufficient open mints to furnish a mone- 
 tary demand for all the gold and silver available 
 for coinage. 
 
 In reply to the argument that improved ma- 
 chinery has lessened the cost of producing silver, 
 it is sufficient to say that the same is true of the 
 production of gold, and yet, notwithstanding that, 
 gold has risen in value. As a matter of fact, the 
 cost of production does not determine the value 
 of the precious metals, except as it may affect the 
 supply. If, for instance, the cost of producing 
 gold should be reduced to 90 per cent, without 
 any increase in the output, the purchasing power 
 of an ounce of gold would not fall. So long as
 
 394 
 
 there is a monetary demand sufficient to take at a 
 fixed mint price all of the gold and silver pro- 
 duced, the cost of production need not be con- 
 sidered. 
 
 It is often objected that the prices of gold and 
 silver cannot be fixed in relation to each other, 
 because of the variation in the relative production 
 of the metals. This argument also overlooks the 
 fact that, if the demand for both metals at a fixed 
 price is greater than the supply of both, relative 
 production becomes immaterial. In the early 
 part of the present century the annual production 
 of silver was worth at the coinage ratio, about 
 three times as much as the annual production of 
 gold; whereas, soon after 1849, the annual pro- 
 duction of gold became worth about three times 
 as much, at the coinage ratio, as the annual pro- 
 duction of silver; and, yet, owing to the mainten- 
 ance of the bimetallic standard, these enormous 
 changes in relative production had but a slight 
 effect upon the relative values of the metals. 
 
 If it is asserted by our opponents that the free 
 coinage of silver is intended only for the benefit 
 of the mine owners, it must be remembered that 
 free coinage cannot restore to the mine owners 
 any more than demonetization took away ; and it 
 must also be remembered that the loss which the 
 demonetization of silver has brought to the mine 
 owners is insignificant compared to the loss which 
 this policy has brought to the rest of the people.
 
 395 
 
 The restoration of silver will bring to the people 
 generally many times as much advantage as the 
 mine owners can obtain from it. While it is not 
 the purpose of free coinage to specially aid any 
 particular class, yet those who believe that the 
 restoration of silver is needed by the whole 
 people should not be dettered because an inci- 
 dental benefit will come to the mine owners. The 
 erection of forts, the deepening of harbors, the 
 improvement of rivers, the erection of public 
 buildings all these confer incidental benefits 
 upon individuals and communities, and yet these 
 incidental benefits do not deter us from making 
 appropriations for these purposes whenever such 
 appropriations are necessary for the public good. 
 
 The argument that a silver dollar is heavier 
 than a gold, and that, therefore, silver is less con- 
 venient to carry in large quantities, is completely 
 answered by the silver certificate, which is as 
 easily carried as the gold certificate or any other 
 kind of paper money. 
 
 There are some, who, while admitting the bene- 
 fits of bimetallism, object to coinage at the pre- 
 sent ratio. If any are deceived by this objection, 
 they ought to remember that there are no bi- 
 metallists who are earnestly endeavoring to secure 
 it at any other ratio than 1 6 to i . We are op- 
 posed to any change in the ratio for two reasons 
 first, because a change would produce great in- 
 justice ; and, second, because a change in the
 
 396 
 
 ratio is not necessary. A change would produce 
 injustice, because, if effected in the manner 
 usually suggested, it would result in an enormous 
 contraction in the volume of standard money. 
 
 If, for instance, it was decided by international 
 agreement to raise the ratio throughout the 
 world to 32 to i, the change might be effected in 
 any one of three ways : 
 
 The silver dollar could be doubled in size, so 
 that the new silver dollar would weigh thirty-two 
 times as much as the present gold dollar ; or the 
 present gold dollar could be reduced one-half in 
 weight, so that the present silver dollar would 
 weigh thirty-two times as much as the new gold 
 dollar ; or the change could be made by increas- 
 ing the size of the silver dollar and decreasing 
 the size of the o-old dollar until the new silver 
 
 o 
 
 dollar would weigh thirty-two times as much as 
 the new gold dollar. 
 
 Those who have advised a change in the ratio 
 have usually suggested that silver dollars be 
 doubled. If this change were made it would 
 necessitate the recoinage of four billions of silver 
 into two billions of dollars. There would be an 
 immediate loss of two billions of dollars either to 
 individuals or to the government, but this would 
 
 o 
 
 be the least of the injury. A shrinkage of one- 
 half in the silver money of the world would mean 
 a shrinkage of one-fourth in the total volume of 
 metallic money. This contraction, by increasing
 
 397 
 
 the value of the dollar, would virtually increase 
 the debts of the world billions of dollars, and 
 decrease still more the value of the property of 
 the world, as measured by dollars. Besides this 
 immediate result, such a change in the ratio would 
 permanently decrease the annual addition to the 
 world's supply of money, because the annual 
 silver product, when coined into dollars twice as 
 large, would make only half as many dollars. 
 
 The people of the United States would be 
 injured by a change in the ratio, not because they 
 produce silver, but because they own property 
 and owe debts, and they cannot afford to thus 
 decrease the value of their property or increase 
 the burden of their debts. 
 
 In 1878 Mr. Carlisle said: "Mankind will be 
 fortunate, indeed, if the annual production of 
 gold and silver coin will keep pace with the annual 
 increase of population and industry." I repeat 
 this assertion. All of the gold and silver annually 
 available for coinage, when converted into coin at 
 the present ratio, will not, in my judgment, more 
 than supply our monetary needs. 
 
 In supporting the act of 1890, known as the 
 Sherman Act, Senator Sherman on June 5th of 
 that year, said : 
 
 " Under the law of February, 1878, the purchase 
 of $2,000,000 worth of silver bullion a month 
 has by coinage produced annually an average of 
 nearly $3,000,000 per month for a period of twelve
 
 398 
 
 years, but this amount, in view of the retirement 
 of the bank notes, will not increase our currency 
 in propo'rtion to our increasing population. If our 
 present currency is estimated at $1,400,000,000 
 and our population is increasing at the ratio of 3 per 
 cent, per annum, it would require $42,000,000 in- 
 creased circulation, each year, to keep pace with 
 the increase of population ; but, as the increase 
 of population is accompanied by a still greater 
 ratio of increase of wealth and business, it was 
 thought that an immediate increase of circulation 
 might be obtained by larger purchases of silver 
 bullion to an amount sufficient to make good the 
 retirement of bank notes and keep pace with the 
 growth of population. Assuming that $54,000,000 
 a year additional currency is needed upon this 
 basis, that amount is provided for in this bill by 
 the issue of Treasury notes in exchange for 
 bullion at the market price." 
 
 If the United States then needed more than 
 $42,000,000 annually to keep pace with popula- 
 tion and business, it now, with a larger population, 
 needs a still greater annual addition; and the 
 United States is only one nation among many. 
 Our opponents make no adequate provision for 
 the increasing monetary needs of the world. 
 
 In the second place, a change in the ratio is not 
 necessary. Hostile legislation has decreased the 
 demand for silver and lowered its price when 
 measured by gold, while this same hostile legisla-
 
 399 
 
 tion, by increasing the demand for gold, has raised 
 the value of gold when measured by other forms 
 of property. 
 
 We are told that the restoration of bimetallism 
 would be a hardship upon those who have entered 
 into contracts payable in gold coin, but this is a 
 mistake. It will be easier to obtain the gold with 
 which to meet a gold contract, when most of the 
 people use silver, than it is now, when every one 
 is trying to secure gold. 
 
 The Chicago platform expressly declares in 
 favor of such legislation as may be necessary to 
 prevent, for the future, the demonetization of any 
 kind of legal tender money by private contract. 
 Such contracts are objected to on the ground that 
 they are against public policy. No one questions 
 the right of legislatures to fix the rate of interest 
 which can be collected by law ; there is far more 
 reason for preventing private individuals from 
 setting aside legal tender law. The money which 
 is by law made a legal tender must, in the course 
 of ordinary business, be accepted by ninety-nine 
 out of every hundred persons. Why should the 
 hundredth man be permitted to exempt himself 
 from the general rule? Special contracts have a 
 tendency to increase the demand for a particular 
 kind of money, and thus force it to a premium. 
 Have not the people a right to say that a com- 
 paratively few individuals shall not be permitted 
 to derange the financial system of the nation in
 
 400 
 
 order to collect a premium in case they succeed 
 in forcing one kind of money to a premium? 
 
 There is another argument to which I ask at- 
 tention. Some of the more zealous opponents of 
 free coinage point to the fact that thirteen months 
 must elapse between the election and the first 
 regular session of Congress, and assert that dur- 
 ing that time, in case people declare themselves 
 in favor of free coinage, all loans will be with- 
 drawn and all mortgages foreclosed. If these are 
 merely prophecies indulged in by those who have 
 forgotten the provisions of the Constitution, it will 
 be sufficient to remind them that the President is 
 empowered to convene Congress in extraordinary 
 session whenever the public good requires such 
 action. If, in November, the people by their bal- 
 lots declare themselves in favor of the immediate 
 restoration of bimetallism, the system can be in- 
 augurated within a few months. 
 
 o 
 
 If, however, the assertion that loans will be with- 
 drawn and mortgages foreclosed is made to prevent 
 such political action as the people may believe 
 to be necessary for the preservation of their rights, 
 then a new and vital issue is raised. Whenever 
 it is necessary for the people as a whole to ob- 
 tain consent from the owners of money and the 
 changers of money before they can legislate upon 
 financial questions, we shall have passed from a 
 democracy to a plutocracy. But that time has 
 not yet arrived. Threats and intimidation will be
 
 401 
 
 of no avail. The people who, in 1876, rejected 
 the doctrine that kings rule by right divine, will 
 not, in this generation, subscribe to a doctrine 
 that money is omnipotent. 
 
 In conclusion permit me to say a word in re- 
 gard to international bimetallism. We are not 
 opposed to an international agreement looking to 
 the restoration of bimetallism throughout the 
 
 o 
 
 world. The advocates of free coinage have on 
 all occasions shown their willingness to co-operate 
 with other nations in the reinstatement of silver, 
 but they are not willing to await the pleasure of 
 other governments when immediate relief is 
 needed by the people of the United States, and 
 they further believe that independent action offers 
 better assurance of international bimetallism than 
 servile dependence upon foreign aid. For more 
 than twenty years we have invited the assistance 
 of European nations, but all progress in the di- 
 rection of international bimetallism has been 
 blocked by the opposition of those who derive a 
 pecuniary benefit from the appreciation of gold. 
 How long must we wait for bimetallism to be 
 brought to us by those who profit by monometal- 
 lism. If the double standard will bring benefits 
 to our people, who will deny them the right to 
 enjoy those benefits. If our opponents would 
 admit the right, the ability and the duty of our 
 people to act for themselves on all public ques- 
 tions without the assistance and regardless of the
 
 402 
 
 wishes of other nations, and then propose the re- 
 medial legislation which they consider sufficient 
 we could meet them in the field of honorable de- 
 bate ; but, when they assert that this nation is 
 helpless to protect the rights of its own citizens, 
 we challenge them to submit the issue to a people 
 whose patriotism has never been appealed to in 
 vain. 
 
 We shall not offend other nations when we de- 
 clare the right of the American people to govern 
 themselves, and, without let or hindrance from 
 without, decide upon every question presented for 
 their consideration. In taking this position, we 
 simply maintain the dignity of seventy million 
 citizens who are second to none in their capacity 
 for self-government. 
 
 The gold standard has compelled the Ameri- 
 can people to pay an ever-increasing tribute to 
 the creditor nations of the world a tribute which 
 no one dares to defend. I assert that national 
 honor requires the United States to secure justice 
 for all its citizens as well as do justice to all its 
 creditors. For a people like ours, blest with 
 natural resources of surpassing richness, to pro- 
 claim themselves impotent to frame a financial 
 system suited to their own needs, is humiliating 
 beyond the power of language to describe. We 
 cannot enforce respect for our foreign policy so 
 long as we confess ourselves unable to frame our 
 own financial policy.
 
 403 
 
 Honest differences of opinion have always ex- 
 isted, and ever will exist, as to the legislation best 
 calculated to promote the public weal ; but, when 
 it is seriously asserted that this nation must bow 
 to the dictation of other nations and accept the 
 policies which they insist upon, the right of self- 
 government is assailed, and until that question is 
 settled all other questions are insignificant. 
 
 Citizens of New York : I have travelled from 
 the centre of the continent to the seaboard that I 
 might, in the very beginning of the campaign, 
 bring you greeting from the people of the West 
 and South and assure you that their desire is not 
 to destroy but to build up. They invite you to 
 accept the principles of a living faith rather than 
 listen to those who preach the gospel of despair 
 and advise endurance of the ills you have. The 
 advocates of free coinage believe that, in striving 
 to secure the immediate restoration of bimetallism, 
 they are laboring in your behalf as well as in 
 their own behalf. A few of your people may 
 prosper under present conditions, but the perma- 
 nent welfare of New York rests upon the pro- 
 ducers of wealth. This great city is built upon 
 the commerce of the nation and must suffer if 
 that commerce is impaired. You cannot sell un- 
 less the people have money with which to buy, 
 and they cannot obtain the money with which to 
 buy unless they are able to sell their products at 
 remunerative prices. Production of wealth goes
 
 404 
 
 before the exchange of wealth ; those who create 
 must secure a profit before they have anything to 
 share with others. You cannot afford to join the 
 moneychangers in supporting a financial policy 
 which, by destroying the purchasing power of the 
 products of toil, must in the end discourage the 
 creation of wealth. 
 
 I ask, I expect, your co-operation. It is true 
 that a few of your financiers would fashion a new 
 figure a figure representing Columbia, her hands 
 bound fast with fetters of gold and her face turned 
 toward the East, appealing for assistance to those 
 who live beyond the sea but this figure can never 
 express your idea of this nation. You will rather 
 return for inspiration to the heroic statue which 
 guards the entrance to your city a statue as 
 patriotic in conception as it is colossal in propor- 
 tions. It was the gracious gift of a sister Repub- 
 lic and stands upon a pedestal which was built by 
 the American people. That figure, Liberty en- 
 lio-htenino- the world, is emblematic of the mission 
 
 o o 
 
 of our nation among the nations of the earth. 
 With a government which derives its powers 
 from the consent of the governed, secures to all 
 
 o 
 
 the people freedom of conscience, freedom of 
 thought and freedom of speech, guarantees equal 
 rights to all and promises special privileges to 
 none, the United States should be an example in 
 all that is good and the leading spirit in every 
 movement which has for its object the uplifting 
 of the human race.
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 HON. W. J. BRYAN'S LETTER ACCEPT- 
 ING POPULIST NOMINATION. 
 
 Lincoln, Neb., October 3, 1896. 
 
 Hon. William V. Allen, Chairman, and others, 
 members of the Notification Committee of the 
 People's Party Gentlemen: The nomination of 
 the People's party for the Presidency of the 
 United States has been tendered me in such a 
 generous spirit, and upon such honorable terms, 
 that I am able to accept the same without depart- 
 ing from the platform adopted by the Democratic 
 National Convention at Chicago. 
 
 I fully appreciate the breadth of patriotism 
 which has actuated the members of the People's 
 party who, in order to consolidate the sentiment 
 in favor of bimetallism, have been willing to go 
 outside of party lines and support as their candi- 
 date one already nominated by the Democratic 
 party and also by the Silver party. 
 
 I also appreciate the fact that while, during all 
 the years since 1873, a large majority of the Dem- 
 ocratic party, and a considerable minority of the 
 Republican party, have been consistent advocates 
 
 405
 
 406 
 
 of the free coinage of silver, at the present ratio, 
 yet ever since the organization of the People's 
 party its members have unanimously supported 
 such coinage as the only means of restoring bime- 
 tallism. By persistently pointing out the disastr- 
 ous effects of a gold standard and protesting 
 against each successive step towards financial 
 bondage, the Populists have exerted an important 
 influence in awakening the public to a realization 
 of the Nation's present peril. 
 
 In a time like this, when a great political party 
 is attempting to surrender the right to legislate 
 for ourselves upon the financial question, and is 
 seeking to bind the American people to a foreign 
 monetary system, it behooves us as lovers of our 
 country and friends of American institutions to 
 lay aside for the present such differences as may 
 exist among us on minor questions, in order that 
 our strength may be united in a supreme effort to 
 wrest the Government from the hands of those | 
 who imagine that the Nation's finances are only 
 secured when controlled by a few financiers and 
 that national honor can only be maintained by 
 servile acquiescence in any policy, however de- 
 structive to the interests of the people of the 
 United States, which foreign creditors, present or 
 prospective, may desire to force upon us. 
 
 It is a cause of congratulation that we have in 
 this campaign not only the support of Democrats, 
 Populists and Republicans who have all along be-
 
 407 
 
 lieved in independent bimetallism, but also the 
 active co-operation of those Democrats and Re- 
 publicans who, having heretofore waited for inter- 
 national bimetallism, now join with us rather than 
 trust the destinies of the Nation in the hands of 
 those who are holding out the delusive hope of 
 foreign aid, while they labor secretly for the per- 
 manent establishment of the single gold standard. 
 While difficulties always arise in the settlement 
 of the details of any plan of co-operation between 
 distinct political organizations, I am sure that the 
 advocates of bimetallism are so intensely in earn- 
 est that they will be able to devise some means 
 by which the free silver vote may be concentrated 
 upon one electoral ticket in each State. To se- 
 cure this result, charity towards the opinions of 
 others and liberality on the part of all is necessary, 
 but honest and sincere friends who are working 
 
 o 
 
 towards a common result always find it possible 
 to agree upon just and equitable terms. The 
 American people have proven equal to every 
 emergency which has arisen in the past, and I 
 am confident that in the present emergency there 
 will be no antagonism between the various regi- 
 ments of the one great army which is marching 
 to repel an invasion more dangerous to our wel- 
 fare than an army with banners. Acknowledging 
 with gratitude your expressions of confidence and 
 good will, I am, very truly yours, 
 
 W. J. BRYAN.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 AT LINCOLN, NEB. 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen : I am only going to 
 talk to you a little while. There are others here 
 who are prepared to discuss these issues of the 
 campaign in your presence, and I am trying to do 
 as little work as possible. I think I have been 
 doing my share so far as time is concerned ; but I 
 want to avoid getting tived by resting before I get 
 tired, and, therefore, I am going to ask you to 
 listen to me but a short time. 
 
 It is now just about one month since I left Ne- 
 braska and turned eastwaid. It has been an 
 interesting trip. I want to assure you that the 
 sentiment in favor of the free coinage of silver is 
 a growing sentiment. (Applause.) 
 
 It far surpassed my expectations in the East, 
 and I found people, the producers of wealth, the 
 farmers and the laborers, who are joining with 
 you to free themselves from the domination of 
 those financial influences which have controlled 
 our legislation and our financial policies. You 
 will find in the very shadow of Wall Street as 
 bitter hatred to the influences from which you 
 have suffered as you will find among the farmers 
 
 of Nebraska. (Applause.) 
 (408)
 
 409 
 
 All through the East I found farmers, who had 
 been Republicans, who were openly supporting 
 the free coinage of silver, and were asserting that 
 they had as much right to attend to their business 
 as the New York banker had to attend to his 
 business. Another thing I noticed, and that is 
 the intense earnestness that characterizes this 
 campaign. I have not found a lukewarm person 
 anywhere. Politics is a serious business when 
 you confront such issues as confront the American 
 people now. (Applause and cries of "That's 
 right") 
 
 I don't know whether all of you fully realize the 
 intensity of the struggle in which you are engaged. 
 Our opponents began the campaign by asserting 
 that the American people were not able to estab- 
 lish bimetallism, and then, when they found there 
 was a revolt among the people against such a 
 policy, they commenced a system of coercion and 
 terrorism, insisting that the masses of the people 
 even have not the rig-lit to determine what kind 
 
 o 
 
 of a policy they want. (Applause.) This terror- 
 ism and coercion is manifested in two ways. 
 
 In the first place, the heads of many great cor- 
 porations are undertaking to compel their employes 
 to support the gold standard. (Cries of " That 
 is so; shame!") My friends, if the heads of these 
 corporations assert the right to control the votes 
 of those who work for them, then we have pre- 
 sented to the American people even a greater
 
 4io 
 
 question than the silver question. If a corpora- 
 tion has the right to control the vote of an employe 
 on one question, it has the right to control on 
 every question. (Cries of " Right you are.") 
 
 These corporations were not constituted for 
 any such purpose. They are creatures of law. 
 Has the law given unto these corporations any 
 such power ? No, my friends, and no people who 
 love their government will ever entrust those 
 powers to any person or corporation. If a corpo- 
 ration is not invested with the legal right to vote 
 those employes as it will, then the corporation 
 that attempts it usurps its right, and becomes a 
 a dangerous power in a free country. (Applause.) 
 
 If there are those here who are opposed to us 
 on the money question, they dare not approve of 
 the conduct of those corporations that are attempt- 
 ing to coerce their employes. We may be the 
 ones to suffer now ; but I warn you, fellow citizens, 
 that the time may come when these very corpo- 
 rations will turn themselves against you and your 
 families with all the accumulated power that your 
 endorsement of their conduct now will give them. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 Not only have some of these corporations at- 
 tempted to coerce their employes, but the great 
 money power centered in New York has been 
 attempting to coerce the people who do business 
 with it. A paper a few days ago said of a Mon- 
 tana bank, which had failed, that the reason given
 
 was that the managers of the bank were advo- 
 cating free silver, and, therefore, the New York 
 banks refused to extend credit any longer and 
 enforced the collection of notes which they held, 
 which suspended the bank. 
 
 My friends, do you think you are under a gov- 
 ernment of the people ? I want to ask you what 
 you think will be the result if we get to be a gov- 
 ernment by banks ? (Applause.) If we could 
 trust our affairs to a New York banker we might 
 endure it for a time ; but when you remember 
 that the New York banker is under the control of 
 the London banker, I ask you to reflect before 
 you submit the destinies of a free people to a few 
 financiers. (Applause.) 
 
 We had a failure in this city last winter, a failure 
 which, in my judgment, was largely due to the 
 sale of bonds, and to the fact that the Eastern 
 banks were drawing in money from circulation, 
 from business, from the channels of trade, to invest 
 it in government bonds. If you have a financial 
 policy which permits a few financiers to close your 
 banks at will and swallow up your deposits and 
 impoverish your people, I want to ask you if it is 
 not time for you to consider whether this cannot 
 be stopped ? (Applause.) 
 
 We have been told that we cannot borrow 
 money from abroad unless we have a financial 
 system that is satisfactory to the people abroad. 
 My friends, you let them control your financial
 
 4 I2 
 
 system, and you will never see a time when you 
 can get out of the clutches of those who are domi- 
 nating your financial policy. (Great applause.) 
 
 I assert the right of the people of this country 
 to have their own financial system and to regulate 
 their own affairs ; and if foreign people do not 
 want to loan money to us under these conditions, 
 we will have the consolation of knowing that the 
 
 o 
 
 conditions will be so favorable that we soon will 
 have money to loan them. (Applause.) 
 
 In my humble judgment, a proper financial 
 policy for the last twenty years would have left 
 the people of the United States independent of 
 foreign money. Our opponents tell us they want 
 good money. So do we. We want good money 
 as much as they do, but we differ as to what good 
 is. They want a dollar so good that those who 
 have the dollar can buy a great deal from those 
 who need dollars. We want dollars that are not 
 so good that we can't get hold of them when we 
 have wheat and corn to sell. (Applause and cries 
 of " Good.") 
 
 The interest of the farmer is not the same as 
 the interest of the money changer. They tell us 
 not to array one class of society against another. 
 We do not. They are the ones who are arraying 
 classes. I call your attention to the fact that the 
 Republican Committee of this town has sent 
 letters to lady school teachers showing them what
 
 their interest in the question is. (Great ap- 
 plause.) 
 
 In calling the attention of the school teachers 
 to the fact that a gold standard gives them a 
 salary which will buy more and more all the time, 
 they neglect to say that the more the salary rises 
 the harder it is for the taxpayer to pay that salary. 
 (Applause.) And, more than that, they forget to 
 say that if these times go on it will be necessary 
 to cut down the salaries of those who are enjoying 
 high salaries while the people are sinking more 
 and more into debt. 
 
 If you will show me a school teacher who, be- 
 cause of a salary involved, and for the hope of 
 getting larger dollars instead of more dollars, will 
 favor the gold standard while the people of this 
 county and State are suffering, I will show you a 
 school teacher who does not deserve a place 
 teaching the children of this county. (Applause.) 
 
 Talk about arraying one class against another. 
 I want to ask you why it is that every Democrat 
 who is interested in a syndicate or trust or has a 
 salary from a railroad corporation is arrayed 
 against the Democratic party. Why is it ? It is 
 because the Democratic party has declared 
 against the issue of bonds in time of peace and 
 the trafficking with syndicates. (Cries of " That's 
 right"). It is because the Democratic party is 
 opposed to the trusts and the prices which the 
 trusts have instituted. It is because the Demo-
 
 4H 
 
 cratic party believes in the control, the regulation 
 and the restriction of all corporations, so that 
 they will serve the purposes for which they were 
 allowed to exist. (Great applause). 
 
 If those connected with trusts are flocking to- 
 gether in the Republican party, may we not ap- 
 peal to all the smaller business men who have felt 
 the iron heel of the trust and who have been 
 driven out of business by its unlawful compe- 
 tition? (Applause). If we are to lose all the 
 attorneys of the great trusts (A voice, " Let 
 them go ") may we not appeal with confidence 
 to the support of the people who have been plun- 
 dered by these trusts while their attorneys have 
 received part of the plunder? (Applause and 
 cries of " Yes " ). 
 
 We are not responsible for the arraying of one 
 class against another. These people not the 
 producers of wealth, but the exchangers of 
 wealth are those who try to array a class against 
 the rest of the people. 
 
 The Republican platform in the State of New 
 York said that we ought to have a business ad- 
 ministration conducted by business men in behalf 
 of the business interests of the country. What 
 do they mean by that ? Do they call the farmers 
 business men? (Cries of "No"). He simply 
 produces wealth, but if a man goes on the Board 
 of Trade and makes more in an hour betting on 
 the price of what you raise than you make in
 
 a year he becomes a business man. These people 
 have attempted to array a few of the people 
 against the rest of the people, and have insisted 
 that the affairs of this Government should be put 
 in the hands of a few. 
 
 When we have complained, what euphonious 
 names they have given us. They have been 
 calling us disturbers of the public peace and they 
 have called us Anarchists. (Applause). 
 
 My friends, those terms simply express the 
 contempt which they have for the great mass of 
 the people of this country. (Cries of "They 
 have been doing it for twenty-five years"). 
 These names they call us simply prove that they 
 are not willing to trust the destinies of this Re- 
 public in the hands of the people who have cre- 
 ated its wealth in times of peace and who have 
 fought its battles in times of war. 
 
 Show me those people who now call us Anar- 
 chists and I will show you a class of people who, 
 if we had war, would never go to the front; but 
 they are the ones who abuse those who would 
 fight and save their own property. (Applause 
 and cheers). I believe that the men upon whom 
 the nation most relies when it wants to increase 
 its martial strength are its security in hours of 
 peril. I believe that these people can be trusted 
 to cast their ballot in time of peace to devise the 
 various policies for this nation. (Applause). 
 
 I am glad to see the number of people who
 
 4i6 
 
 have assembled here this afternoon. (Cries, 
 " This aint half of them. They're working for 
 corporations, and have to wear McKinley 
 badges"). 
 
 I am willing to defend the principles embodied 
 in my platform in Nebraska or in New York, or 
 anywhere else. But, my friends, when they attack 
 me and call me a disturber of the public peace, 
 and when they say that I could not be trusted 
 with executive power because I am in sympathy 
 with the lawless, it is gratifying to me to have the 
 toilers of my own city meet me and indorse me 
 as one whom they, at least, are willing to trust. 
 (Long and continued applause and three cheers 
 for Bryan). 
 
 I have come among you and I am glad to meet 
 you all. I have made campaigns before you and 
 you know how those campaigns have been con- 
 ducted. You know that I have never appealed to 
 a man in this district to vote for me unless his 
 conscience and his judgment followed his vote. 
 (Applause). 
 
 It is gratifying to me to know that in this 
 county, with its 2,500 Republican majority, the 
 majority in the past against my candidacy has 
 been only 440 and 331 respectively. (Applause). 
 If I can judge anything from what I see here, and 
 if I can place any reliance upon the reports which 
 have come to me from everywhere, then when 
 the election day comes we cannot only expect a
 
 417 
 
 majority in Lancaster County, but a majority of 
 not less than 25,000 in Nebraska. (Applause). 
 
 You say that that estimate is not large enough 
 and I will say that I know it is not, but I always 
 was a conservative person. I want to say to you 
 in this campaign, as I have said to you in every 
 campaign, if there is one Democrat who believes 
 that the election of the Chicago ticket will be in- 
 jurious to his country we have no claim on his 
 vote. (Applause). I am one who has never be- 
 lieved that the citizen should put his party above 
 his country. I have not, and do not, intend to ap- 
 peal to any man to support the Chicago ticket if 
 he thinks that any other ticket will be better for 
 him to vote for or for the land in which we all 
 live. (Applause). 
 
 We want them to apply their intelligence and 
 patriotism to this question and we are willing to 
 abide the result. Men in New York called atten- 
 tion to the fact that sentiment was all on our side 
 in this campaign, and one man said that a man 
 could not write a poem in favor of syndicates 
 running the business of this country. (Applause). 
 
 Do you know what word rhymes with syndi- 
 cate ? It is " hate," and you cannot write a poem, 
 and you cannot sing a song in favor of the syn- 
 dicate, controlling the financial policies of this na- 
 tion, because their policy is a sentiment that ap- 
 peals to the pocketbook and overshadows the ap- 
 peal to the best feeling of man. (Applause).
 
 Now I must stop or I will make a speech. You 
 know that I would hate awfully to have the New 
 York papers say that I had driven an audience 
 away in my own town. (Cries of "Go on " ). 
 
 I have never met an audience in this city or in 
 this district but what I felt that I should express 
 the gratitude I feel to the good people of this dis- 
 trict for all that you have done for me. I came 
 among you a stranger and you took me in, not in 
 the sense that people are sometimes taken in, but 
 in the Bible sense. (Applause). You gave me 
 an opportunity to study national questions at the 
 National Capitol, and the study of these questions 
 has led me to the convictions which I have ex- 
 pressed in this campaign. 
 
 Nothing that you can do hereafter can rob me 
 of the benefits which you have already conferred. 
 You may turn against me if you will, but your 
 confidence that I have received in former cam- 
 paigns is mine, and you cannot take it back, and I 
 thank you for it.
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 SPEECH IN THE HOUSE OF REPRE- 
 SENTATIVES. 
 
 February 27, 1894. 
 
 The House being in Committee of the Whole and having under con- 
 sideration the bill (H. R. 4956) directing the coinage of silver bullion 
 held in the Treasury, and for other purposes, Mr. Bryan said : 
 
 Mr. Chairman: The House has been so kind to 
 me on previous occasions that I shall not trespass 
 long upon its patience, having reserved for myself 
 only twenty-two minutes ; but I desire to submit a 
 few remarks in connection with this bill. I do 
 not feel as some of our friends have expressed 
 themselves toward our Eastern Democrats who 
 fail to vote with us upon this question, or to vote 
 at all. 
 
 This is not so much a conflict between men as 
 it is a conflict between ideas. It has presented 
 itself in various forms at different times, and we 
 may expect it to present itself again, and I have 
 no words of censure for those of our brethren 
 who, from the importance of the subject, in their 
 judgment, feel justified in refusing to vote. 
 
 Nor do I agree with those who would invoke 
 
 o 
 
 the rule which prevailed in the Fifty-first Congress 
 
 419
 
 42O 
 
 of counting a quorum in order to reach a vote. I 
 believe it is the duty of the Representative to 
 protect his constituents and to represent their 
 interests upon this floor; and if the crisis is such 
 that in his judgment he can best protect his people 
 by refusing 'to vote, I do not criticise him for ex- 
 ercising that rio-ht. 
 
 o o 
 
 For one hundred years or more it was the 
 unbroken rule in this House that when the 
 minority thought it of sufficient importance they 
 might, by refusing to vote, compel those in favor 
 of the pending proposition to bring in a majority 
 of all of the members elected in order to pass the 
 bill. To my mind that is a safeguard. Any other 
 rule is invoked not in the interest of a majority 
 government, but in the interest of a minority gov- 
 ernment ; and one of the reasons why I feel called 
 upon to criticise that rule is that it was invoked in 
 the Fifty-first Congress for partisan purposes, in- 
 voked by those who denied its application when 
 they were in the minority, and who in my judg- 
 ment made better arguments when they were 
 opposing the rule than they were able to make 
 when they adopted the rule afterward. If we 
 bring the members into this House and have a 
 majority in favor of the bill, we do not need to 
 count a quorum. If we have not a majority in 
 favor of the bill, then we have no assurance that 
 the majority of the people of the country, repre-
 
 sented by a majority of the members upon this 
 floor, are in favor of that bill. 
 
 I believe we had better stand by the old rule ; 
 and if the minority believe that there is sufficient 
 justification, let them compel a majority to concur 
 in legislation. We do it in our States. Perhaps 
 three-fourths of the States of the Union provide 
 in their constitutions that no bill can become a law 
 until a majority of all the members elected have 
 expressed tnemselves in the affirmative by a yea- 
 and-nay vote ; and, according to my judgment, it 
 would be better for Congress if we had the same 
 constitutional provision, and it was impossible to 
 pass a law unless a majority expressed assent 
 upon a yea-and-nay vote. It would make men 
 stay here and attend to their business; if we count 
 a quorum, it allows persons to be absent while the 
 business goes on all the same. Instead of hav- 
 ing the intelligence and judgment of all the peo- 
 ple represented here to do the legislative work, 
 we simply have the intelligence and the judgment 
 of a majority of them when we count a quorum, 
 and important measures may be passed by a mi- 
 nority of the members elected. It is true a mi- 
 nority may enact laws if a quorum votes, but 
 under our new rules now the minority have it in 
 their power to compel the concurrence of a major- 
 ity, and it is too valuable a right to relinquish. 
 
 But I do not wish to speak longer upon this 
 phase of the question. As I said, it is a conflict
 
 422 
 
 of ideas. We have the Eastern idea of finances 
 proposed here, and it is antagonized by the ideas 
 of the West and South. You may make fun of 
 the West and South if you like. You may say 
 that their people are not financiers. You may, 
 even in your private conversation, deny to them 
 the right to express views. You may belittle 
 their judgment if you like; but these people have 
 just as much right to express their ideas and to 
 guard their interests as you have to guard yours, 
 and their ideas are as much entitled to considera- 
 tion as yours. Most of those who are opposed to 
 this bill favor the gold standard. They may call 
 it bimetallism if they like. They may say, as the 
 gentleman from New York (Mr. Hendrix) said 
 the other day, that he believed in bimetallism, but 
 that (in bimetallism) gold will be the standard. 
 
 If, sir, that is the idea of some of those who ad- 
 vocate bimetallism, if they want it on a gold basis, 
 I desire to say that there are bimetallists here 
 who do not understand the meaning of the term 
 in that way. We must choose between bimetal- 
 lism and gold monometallism, and we might as 
 well meet the question now. We have had it 
 illustrated on a recent occasion by the treasury 
 department when we were told that gold is the 
 only real money, and must be paid when de- 
 manded. In order to get gold, bonds were issued, 
 and just see what a ridiculous and absurd thing 
 occurred in the attempt to get that gold. During
 
 423 
 
 the time that those bonds were being sold and 
 paid for, those who wanted to buy the bonds drew 
 out gold on treasury notes. I have a letter from 
 the treasurer showing that between the first of 
 February and the twentieth of February they pre- 
 sented $18,641,855 United States notes and treas- 
 ury notes, and drew gold out of the treasury. 
 Nearly one-third of the gold ^brought in by the 
 bonds was drawn out to pay for them or to re- 
 plenish the vaults. That this enormous with- 
 drawal of gold from the treasury was to obtain 
 the gold with which to buy the bonds issued for 
 the purpose of drawing gold into the treasury is 
 evident from the fact that during the entire month 
 of December, 1893, only $506,638 in gold were 
 withdrawn by the presentation of such notes, and 
 during the month of January, 1894, only $356,121, 
 while less than half a million dollars in gold have 
 been withdrawn during the eight days since Feb- 
 ruary igth. 
 
 This was perfectly proper under the construc- 
 tion given to the law by the department. If a 
 man who takes the note there has the option to 
 demand gold or silver, whichever he pleases, we 
 are at the mercy at any time of those who desire 
 to deplete our gold reserve ; and I wonder at the 
 moderation of those who are buying the bonds. 
 Instead of only taking $18,000,000, I do not un- 
 derstand why they did not draw from the treasury 
 all the gold needed to buy the bonds. Just as
 
 424 
 
 long as we maintain the policy of giving the op- 
 tion to any holder, neither $50,000,000 nor $100,- 
 000,000 is a sufficient reserve if our financiers 
 attack it. We have $346,000,000 in greenbacks 
 outstanding. You can take any amount of these 
 and go and demand gold if the holder has the 
 option. 
 
 If the treasurer gives up the right to pay in 
 either coin, then just as long as you have green- 
 backs outstanding you can compel the issue of 
 the bonds daily, monthly or yearly, to make up 
 your gold reserve. As it is, the law is construed 
 to compel their redemption in gold. Now, the 
 difference between me and my friend from New 
 York (Mr. Warner) is this and I admire the 
 frankness with which he stated the other day what 
 a great many of the advocates of the gold stand- 
 ard are not willing to state, that in his judgment 
 we ought to draw in these greenbacks, pay them 
 off, and fill the void with bank notes of some kind ; 
 now, the difference, I say, between the gentleman 
 and myself is this, that while he wants to extin- 
 guish the greenbacks by paying them off, and 
 thus protect the reserves, and then fill the void 
 with something else, I want to adopt bimetallism 
 in fact, and compel the treasurer to exercise the 
 option of paying in whichever coin he wishes to 
 pay in and has at hand. There is no bimetallism 
 which gives the option to the note-holder. Bi- 
 metallism always gives the option to the debtor,
 
 425 
 
 and -if the treasurer would follow the law which 
 stands upon the statute book and was intended to 
 be exercised, there would be no danger of our 
 gold being drained out as it has been. 
 
 Why, sir, the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. 
 Patterson) told us yesterday of the small amount 
 of gold that was coming into the Treasury, I was 
 sorry to hear, because that meant, if it means any- 
 thing, that there will be another demand for bonds, 
 but it only illustrates how helpless we are in the 
 hands of those whom a republic in time of war 
 called pirates. It only shows us how defenseless 
 we are when these men who call themselves finan- 
 ciers attack the credit of the government under a 
 pretence of keeping up an honest currency. We 
 are told that less than one per cent, of the custom 
 dues are now paid in gold. What does it mean ? 
 In my judgment it means that there is a con- 
 certed plan to hold gold and gold certificates, and 
 they can be withheld easily. The banks and 
 clearing houses pay these checks, and they can 
 pay them in any money they like. They have 
 commenced now to pay the silver certificates to 
 the Treasury and to withhold the gold. Does it 
 not look like they were simply trying to deplete 
 the gold reserve in order to secure another issue 
 of bonds ? We were told a while back that we 
 should issue bonds to keep the gold from going 
 to Europe, and now we find that since the panic 
 bank reserves have become so great that the
 
 426 
 
 banks are seeking the bonds as a safe investment 
 for those reserves ; but whatever the excuse it is 
 always "bonds." I am in favor of the second 
 section of this bill, which would substitute silver 
 certificates for the coin certificates when they 
 come in. 
 
 Just so long as our Treasurer or the admin- 
 istration admits the right of the note holders 
 to demand gold just so long we are at their 
 mercy ; and if we destroy half, two-thirds, three- 
 fourths or nine-tenths of our paper money they 
 can drain the gold reserve just as well with that 
 which is left as they could with all of it ; but I 
 favor the second section of the pending bill, I say, 
 because it will partly take away their argument ; 
 but when you take away one argument they will 
 resort to another. They told us before the 
 Sherman act was repealed that the coin certifi- 
 cates were being used to deplete the gold re- 
 serve. The Sheman law was repealed and they 
 are drawing out gold still with the certificates, 
 and when you wipe them all out and put in their 
 place silver certificates they can and will do the 
 same with the greenbacks. We have to meet 
 this question, Mr. Chairman, and I hope our peo- 
 ple will be brave enough to meet it now and say 
 that the Government of the United States is in 
 duty bound to protect its common people, and 
 owes to them an obligation as strong and as 
 
 o o 
 
 sacred as its obligations to the "financiers" who
 
 427 
 
 are drawing the gold out of the Treasury when- 
 ever they desire. 
 
 I have not criticised our eastern brethren. I 
 presume they are carrying out the wishes of their 
 constituents, at least we must take that for granted. 
 But I do beg our western Republicans to be as 
 independent in their actions as the eastern Demo- 
 crats are in theirs. For years we talked tariff 
 reform in the West and had it in our platforms. 
 It was the faith of the party ; yet when we came 
 down here and attempted to put it in execution 
 we found opposed to it eastern Democrats enough 
 to prevent the bringing of relief to the people. 
 When we went back we had to tell our people 
 that while a large majority of the Democratic 
 party was in favor of tariff reform we could do 
 nothing. Eastern protectionist Democrats retard 
 the growth of the party in the West. These eastern 
 representatives have had the courage to defy the 
 discipline of party; they have had the courage to 
 separate from their party associates in order to 
 protect what they believed to be the interests of 
 their districts. Will the Republicans of the West 
 blindly follow their eastern leaders rather than 
 stand up for the interests of their constituents? 
 
 We have been voting here to get a quorum, 
 and there are just a few Republicans of all those 
 who preach bimetallism who 
 
 " Keep the word of promise to our ear 
 and break it to our hope."
 
 428 
 
 There are just a few of them who will vote here, 
 against the dictation of their leaders, to bring 
 this question before the House. But the great 
 mass of the western Republicans who tell you that 
 they are for bimetallism, that they a're in favor of 
 the use of silver; who "point with pride" to the 
 Republican platform which speaks of the vener- 
 able use of gold and silver; these people unlike 
 the eastern Demorcats, who stand up against 
 their party because, as they say, their constituents 
 demand it of them, refuse to vote, and bow to 
 party discipline. They sacrifice not the interests 
 only, but in my humble judgment, the rights of 
 the people who sent them here. If, sir, this is a 
 conflict of ideas ; if the eastern idea is to divide 
 our party ; if it is to take men out of the De- 
 mocracy and make them stand aloof from their 
 party associates in order, as they say, that they 
 may protect their constituents, I ask if the Re- 
 publicans of the West and South must stand by 
 and allow a party name to prevent them from 
 representing the interests of their people. We 
 need money. There is not a dollar being issued 
 by the Federal Treasury. Our population in- 
 creases and with it the demand for money increases. 
 Mr. Sherman said, in advocating the Sherman 
 
 o 
 
 law, that we needed every year the $54,000,000 
 which that law was expected to give. If we 
 needed it then, do we not need it now? I ask 
 you, western Republicans, who will go back to
 
 429 
 
 your homes and tell your people that you want to 
 give them more money, I ask you, what provision 
 you are making now for more money for the 
 people ? There is practically no gold being 
 coined. There is no material increase of the 
 circulation from that source. There is none from 
 the coinage of silver. There is none from the 
 issue of certificates. There is none from the 
 issue of greenbacks. There is none from the issue 
 of national bank notes. There is a letter on the 
 first page of this morning's Record which indicates 
 that the national banks are withdrawing their cir- 
 culation instead of increasing it. In fact the total 
 amount of the national bank notes is constantly 
 decreasing. On the ist of November, 1893, the 
 amount of such notes in circulation was $209,31 1,- 
 993 ; the amount in circulation December i, 1893, 
 $208,948,105 ; the amount in circulation January 
 i, 1894; $2081538,844; the amount in circulation 
 February i, 1894, $207,862,107, and the amount 
 in circulation to-day, (February 27, 1894) $207,- 
 420,440. Yet here is a great people demanding 
 money and the great western country waiting 
 for development. To be developed it must have 
 money. 
 
 What provision are you going to make ? I ask 
 that this bill shall be passed in order that you may 
 coin and put in circulation $55,000,000 of silver 
 which will not more than supply the yearly need
 
 430 
 
 of this country according to Mr. Sherman's state- 
 ment of three years ago. 
 
 Mr. Coombs. Will it interrupt the gentle- 
 man to ask him to tell us how the issue of fifty- 
 five millions of silver is to get into the hands of 
 the people ? 
 
 Mr. Bryan. In this way, Mr. Chairman : We 
 coin these fifty-five millions ; that money is put 
 into the Treasury, and then, instead of issuing 
 bonds to get money to run the Government, let 
 that silver be used to pay the expenses of the 
 Government. In that way it goes into circulation 
 without any difficulty. Why, sirs, we need it so 
 badly that we were told a few days ago by the 
 gentleman from New York (Mr. Hendrix) that, 
 while the ostensible purpose of the bond issue 
 was to get gold for the reserve, the real object 
 was to get money to run the Government. Was 
 there ever a better time to coin this money than 
 now? If our eastern Democrats and all our 
 eastern Republicans are willing to give the peo- 
 ple fifty-five millions of this coinage, which they 
 can give easily, which they can give right now, 
 when we need the money, when we are borrow- 
 ing money to pay our running expenses ; if they 
 are not willing to give this money now, I want to 
 ask when will they be willing to give the people 
 more money? 
 
 Mr. Walker. Does the gentleman want an 
 answer ?
 
 431 
 
 Mr. Bryan. Will it be in that sweet by-and-by 
 that you are looking forward to, when the Repub- 
 lican party, as you say, will pay expenses by col- 
 lecting more taxes ? 
 
 Mr. Walker. I will answer the gentleman. 
 Never, never any flat money. 
 
 Mr. Bryan. Mr. Chairman, I believe the gen- 
 tleman speaks what he believes. I do not do him 
 any injustice, for I repeat his own words. I be- 
 lieve that that gentleman would never give the 
 people enough money to do their business with. 
 
 Mr. Walker. I said flat money. 
 
 Mr. Bryan. Never as long as he represents a 
 constituency more interested in appreciating the 
 value of the currency than in giving a sufficient 
 quantity of money for our public needs. This is 
 not flat money. It is silver coin. 
 
 Now, I want our friends to think about this. If 
 we cannot justify the coinage of this seigniorage 
 at this time when we "need the money to meet the 
 public expenditures ; if we cannot justify it now, 
 then I want you, gentlemen, to settle in your own 
 minds when you are going to give the people a 
 law that will supply them with money to keep 
 pace with our population. Do you mean to say 
 that you are going to confine the 67,000,000 of 
 people in this country to the present currency? 
 Do you mean to say that you never intend to give 
 them more money of any kind ? If you do intend
 
 432 
 
 to give them more money, here is the chance to 
 do it. 
 
 If you do not want to give them this money, let 
 it go forth that this Congress or those who are 
 opposing this bill are in favor of confining a grow- 
 ing country, a developing country, to the present 
 volume of currency, which must mean an appreci- 
 ating dollar and fall in prices an increasing debt, 
 increasing suffering and the piling up of the 
 wealth of this country in the hands of the few even 
 more rapidly than it has been done heretofore. 
 If you are ready to say that, let us go out and 
 fight the battle before the people. Let us leave 
 it to them to determine the question. But, sirs, 
 you cannot excuse yourselves for not giving the 
 people this money unless you are prepared to 
 show them how you can furnish a better money 
 with which to do their business.
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 SPEECH ON THE ROTHSCHILD-MORGAN 
 BOND CONTRACT, DELIVERED IN 
 THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 February 14, 1895. 
 
 The House having under consideration the joint resolution (H. Res. 
 275) authorizing the issue of $65,116,275 of gold 3 per cent, bonds, Mr. 
 Bryan spoke as follows : 
 
 Mr. Speaker : This resolution embodies two 
 purposes. It proposes to ratify the contract made 
 by the Executive by authorizing the substitution 
 of gold bonds to the amount of $65,1 16,275, bear- 
 ing interest at a rate not exceeding 3 per cent., 
 and payable not more than thirty years after date, 
 in accordance with the request made in the Pres- 
 ident's message, and it also provides that green- 
 backs and Treasury notes redeemed with the gold 
 purchased with these bonds shall not be re-issued. 
 
 I desire to call the attention of the House to the 
 fact that the latter provision is intended to lock up 
 in the Treasury $65,000,000 of legal-tender paper 
 without making any provision whatever to supply 
 the place of that currency. If we vote for this 
 proposition, we vote to retire that much money 
 
 without filling the void. 
 
 433
 
 434 
 
 Mr. Warner. Will the gentleman allow me to 
 ask him a question? 
 
 Mr. Bryan. I hope I shall not be interrupted. 
 
 Mr. Warner. Does not the gold fill the void ? 
 
 Mr. Bryan. Mr. Speaker, the House knows 
 that when I have time I never object to questions, 
 and it is only because of my limited time to-day 
 that I ask gentlemen not to interrupt me. In 
 answer to the question, however, I would say that 
 unless the greenbacks and Treasury notes are re- 
 issued they will accumulate and a few more bond 
 issues will retire all of them and deprive the coun- 
 try of that much of its circulating medium. For 
 all practical purposes it is equivalent to a cancel- 
 lation of this money and will offer a constant 
 temptation to those who oppose greenbacks to 
 draw out the gold and force further issues of bonds 
 for the purpose of getting this kind of money out 
 of the way. 
 
 But the main question presented by this reso- 
 lution is whether we shall ratify the contract made 
 by the Executive and issue gold bonds in order to 
 save about a half million a year in interest. The 
 supporters of this resolution urge us to consider 
 it as a business proposition, and I shall discuss it 
 as a business proposition. One gentleman has 
 suggested that Democrats ought not to criticise 
 the Administration. I want it understood that, so 
 far as I am concerned, when I took the oath of 
 office as a member of Congress, there was no
 
 435 
 
 mental reservation that I would not speak out 
 against an outrage committed against my consti- 
 tuents, even when committed by the President of 
 the United States. 
 
 The President of the United States is only a 
 man. We intrust the administration of govern- 
 ment to men, and when we do so, we know that 
 they are liable to err. When men are in public 
 office we expect them to make mistakes even so 
 exalted an official as the President is liable to make 
 mistakes. And if the President does make a mis- 
 take, what should Congress do ? Ought it to 
 blindly approve his mistake, or do we owe it to 
 the people of the United States, and even to the 
 President himself to correct the mistake, so that 
 it will not be made again ? But some gentlemen 
 say that the Democratic party should stand by the 
 President. What has he done for the party since 
 the last election to earn its gratitude ? I want to 
 suggest to my Democratic friends that the party 
 owes no great debt of gratitude to its President. 
 What gratitude should we feel ? The gratitude 
 which a confiding ward feels toward his guardian 
 without bond who has squandered a rich estate. 
 What gratitude should we feel ? The gratitude 
 which a passenger feels toward the trainman who 
 has opened a switch and precipitated a wreck. 
 What has he done for the party ? He has at- 
 tempted to inoculate it with Republican virus, and
 
 436 
 
 blood poisoning has set in. What is the duty of 
 the Democratic party ? If it still loves its Presi- 
 dent, it is its duty, as I understand it, to prove 
 that it has at least one attribute of divinity left by 
 chastening him whom it loveth. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, I do not intend to question the 
 motives of officials who are responsible for this 
 contract. We might criticise the conduct of the 
 President in excluding all other advices and con- 
 sulting only with the magnates of Wall street ; 
 and we might even suggest that he could no more 
 expect to escape from asphyxiation if he locked 
 himself up in a room and turned on the gas but 
 without questioning the motives of the President, 
 I say, we have the right to express our judgment 
 as to whether the discretion vested in the Presi- 
 dent has been wisely exercised. We are told that 
 this is not only a business proposition, but a very 
 insignificant question just a little matter of sav- 
 ing half a million a year, that is all. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, I desire to ask these gentlemen 
 who are always coming here with these " business 
 propositions " why it is that no advocate of the 
 gold standard dares to stand before the American 
 people and unfold the full plan of the gold con- 
 spiracy. Why is it that our opponents keep 
 bringing up one proposition at a time and saying, 
 "An emergency is upon us ; let us adopt this pro- 
 position at once, and leave the final settlement of 
 the money question until some other time?"
 
 437 
 
 Why is it that we never reach a time when these 
 gentlemen are willing to consider the greatest of 
 all the questions which are demanding settlement 
 at the hands of the American people? Save 
 $16,000,000 in thirty years? Why, sirs, this is a 
 bigger question than $16,000,000. 
 
 W T ill you set a price upon human life ? Will 
 you weigh in the balance the misery of the peo- 
 ple ? What is the value of civilization to the hu- 
 man race because the settlement of " this little 
 question " may enormously affect the welfare of 
 mankind ? And yet gentlemen talk about its be- 
 ing a matter of small consequence, a little ques- 
 tion, the mere saving of half a million dollars a 
 year. Save the people $16,000,000 in thirty 
 years twenty-five cents apiece by this resolu- 
 tion, and $16,000,000 will not measure the dam- 
 age that may result to them in a third of that 
 time. 
 
 What is this contract ? I am glad that it has 
 been public. It is a contract made by the Execu- 
 tive of a great nation with the representatives of 
 foreign money-loaners. It is a contract made 
 with those who are desirous of changing the finan- 
 cial policy of this country. They recognize by 
 their actions that the United States has the right 
 to pay coin obligations in either gold or silver, 
 and they come to us with the insolent proposi- 
 tion, "We will give you $16,000,000, paying a 
 proportionate amount each year, if the United
 
 438 
 
 States will change its financial policy to suit us." 
 Never before has such a bribe been offered to our 
 people by a foreign syndicate, and we ought to so 
 act that such a bribe will never be offered again. 
 By this contract we not only negotiate with for- 
 eigners for a change in our financial policy, but 
 give them an option on future loans. They are 
 to have the option on all bonds which may be 
 issued before the first of next October. 
 
 What would be the effect of such a condition ? 
 Do you suppose that anybody else will care to 
 bid when it is known that these men have the re- 
 fusal of all bonds at any price? It makes a pop- 
 ular loan impossible. If these men alone did so 
 bid for the next issue, they can insist upon a con- 
 dition that they shall have an option on a still 
 further issue of bonds. Shall we bind ourselves 
 to these men perpetually ? I shall not raise the 
 question, because I am not prepared to discuss it 
 from a legal standpoint, whether the President 
 has a right to sell an option on bonds which may 
 be hereafter issued ; but, sirs, I will say that if he 
 has the right, I believe he has made an inexcusa- 
 ble use of the discretion invested in him. We 
 cannot afford to put ourselves in the hands of the 
 Rothschilds, who hold mortgages on most of the 
 thrones of Europe. 
 
 The press despatches stated that the French 
 steamer La Gascogne, when she came into port a 
 few days ago, had the three red lanterns on her
 
 439 
 
 foremasts, signifying : " Get out of the way ; I can- 
 not control my course." The President may be 
 persuaded that this country has reached the point 
 where it cannot control its own course, and it 
 must supplicate foreign financiers to protect our 
 Treasury ; but he mistakes the sentiment of the 
 American people if he thinks that they share with 
 him in this alarm. The United States is able to 
 take care of itself. It can preserve its credit and 
 protect its people without purchasing at a high 
 price the " financial influence " or the legitimate 
 efforts of banking corporations, foreign or do- 
 mestic. 
 
 I call attention also to the fact that these bonds 
 may be made payable in thirty years. The con- 
 tract does not call for thirty year bonds ; it says 
 that "any bonds of the United States," payable in 
 gold, and drawing three per cent, interest, may be 
 substituted in the place of the coin bonds. But 
 there seems to be a fear that the bond-buyers 
 may insist that the spirit of the contract may com- 
 pel the issue of thirty-year bonds. In describing 
 this contract, Mr. Speaker, I find in the " Mer- 
 chant of Venice " language more expressive than 
 any I can command. That language fits the con- 
 tract which we are asked to ratify, and is as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 "Shylock. This kindness will I show : 
 
 Go with me to a notary, seal me there 
 Your single bond, and, in a merry sport 
 If you repay me not on such a day,
 
 440 
 
 In such a place, such sum or sums that as are 
 Expressed in the condition, let the forfeit 
 Be nominated for an equal pound 
 Of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken 
 In what part of your body pleaseth me. 
 ***** 
 "Antonio. Yes, Shylock, I will seal unto this bond." 
 
 Mr. Bowen. Who wrote that, Shakespeare or 
 Bacon ? 
 
 Mr. Bryan. I shall leave Mr. Donnelly and 
 Mr. Ingersoll to settle the question of authorship. 
 But, Mr. Speaker, it was decided that Mr. Shy- 
 lock's bond, while it called for a pound of flesh, 
 did not include any blood. The difference be- 
 tween the construction placed upon that bond and 
 the construction which this House is asked to 
 place upon the contract before us is, that we are 
 asked to make the construction so liberal as to in- 
 clude the blood with the flesh. We have a right, 
 according to the terms of the contract, to substi- 
 tute a short-time bond, and yet the resolution 
 permits the Secretary to issue a thirty-year bond. 
 
 This House is not prepared to give its sanc- 
 tion to a policy which contemplates a permanent 
 public debt ; but the rule adopted allows no op- 
 portunity for an amendment limiting the bonds to 
 five or ten years. If we give the Secretary of the 
 Treasury authority to issue a thirty-year bond, he 
 is powerless to resist the demands of bond pur- 
 chasers, because the contract is made. Ten days 
 only are given for the exercise of the option. He
 
 441 
 
 cannot negotiate with anybody else ; he cannot 
 offer bonds to anyone else ; he is in their hands ; 
 he must make a thirty-year bond if they ask it 
 and who doubts that they will ask it ? 
 
 There is another objection to this contract. It 
 provides for the private sale of gold bonds, run- 
 ning thirty years, at $1.04^ which ought to be 
 worth $1.19 in the open market, and which could 
 have been sold at public auction for $1.15 without 
 the least effort. 
 
 Why this sacrifice of the interest of the United 
 States ? The Government's credit was not in dan- 
 ger ; the bonds of the United States were selling 
 in the market at a regular premium. The same 
 kind of bonds having only twelve years to run 
 were selling at over $1.12. What excuse was 
 
 o TT 
 
 there for selling a thirty year bond for $1.04^ ? 
 What defence can be made of this gift of some- 
 thing like seven million and a half dollars to the 
 bond syndicate. We are told that we can avoid 
 the sale of coin bonds at $i.O4*/ by authorizing 
 three and a half per cent, gold bonds. What a 
 privilege ! Why, it is less than three months since 
 ten year coin bonds were sold by the President at 
 a premium which reduced the rate of interest to 
 less than three per cent. 
 
 Has the credit of the country fallen so much in 
 three months that a thirty year three per cent, 
 gold bond is worth less now than a ten year three 
 per cent, coin bond was then ? Nothing has oc-
 
 442 
 
 curred within three months, except the President's 
 messages to injure the credit of the country. If 
 the President is correct in assuming that the 
 financial world places a higher estimate on gold 
 bonds than the coin bonds, why did he not secure 
 a higher price for gold bonds? Did not pur- 
 chasers know three months ago that coin bonds 
 could be paid in silver ? They certainly did and 
 yet they were willing to loan money on those 
 bonds for a short time at a lower rate of interest 
 than Messrs. Morgan and Rothschild now offer to 
 loan on long time gold bonds. 
 
 But why are gold bonds demanded ? Gentle- 
 men say that all our bonds are in fact payable in 
 gold now. They either are payable in gold or 
 they are not. If they are, then this legislation is 
 not needed. If they are not, then the proposed 
 legislation is a radical and violent change of 
 policy. We insist that outstanding bonds are pay- 
 able in gold or silver and that the United States 
 has the right to choose the coin. The men who 
 
 o 
 
 contracted for coin bonds understood this, and in- 
 sisted upon a higher rate of interest on the ground 
 that they be paid in silver. By what authority, 
 then, does the President declare in his message : 
 " Of course there should never be a doubt in 
 any quarter as to redemption in gold of the bonds 
 of the Government which are made payable in 
 coin." Is he not aware of the fact that the 
 debtor always has the choice of the coin, where
 
 443 
 
 only coin is mentioned ? Is he not aware of the 
 adoption of the Matthews' resolution in 1878? 
 That resolution expressly declared the right of the 
 Government to pay its bonds in either gold or 
 silver. The resolution reads as follow : 
 
 "That all the bonds of the United States 
 issued or authorized to be issued under the 
 said act of Congress herein before recited, are 
 payable principal and interest at the option 
 of the Government of the United States in silver 
 dollars of the coinage of the United States 
 containing 412 one-half grains each of standard 
 silver, and that to restore its coinage such silver 
 coin as a legal tender in payment of said bonds, 
 principal and interest, is not in violation of the 
 public faith nor in the derogation of the rights of 
 the public creditors." 
 
 That policy has never been changed by law, 
 but the resolution before us makes a departure 
 from the settled policy of the Government and 
 provides for a bond payable specifically in gold. 
 Do members realize the influence which would be 
 exerted upon the public generally by the adoption 
 of this resolution ? The gentleman from Florida 
 (Mr. Cooper) told us that his city recently issued 
 gold bonds and we know that pressure is being 
 brought to bear on other cities and on indi- 
 
 o 
 
 viduals to induce them to enter into gold con- 
 tracts. If the Government discredits silver by 
 making these bonds payable in gold only it will
 
 444 
 
 set an example which will go far towards compel- 
 ling all borrowers to compromise payment in 
 gold. As gold contracts increase in number the 
 demand for old will increase. 
 
 O 
 
 What a farce for men to talk about maintaining 
 the parity between the metals by means of legis- 
 lation which directly tends to destroy the parity 
 and drives gold to a premium ! The legislation 
 proposed will either pledge the Government to 
 redeem all bonds in gold or it will discredit bonds 
 already in existence. The probability is that the 
 adoption of this resolution would be followed 
 immediately by the demand from the holders of 
 other bonds that they be put upon the same gold 
 footing. I say probably, I may say that such a 
 course is certain. No sooner had the President 
 asked for authority to issue gold bonds than his 
 faithful lieutenant in the Senate, Mr. Hill, offered 
 a resolution pledging the Government to redeem 
 all bonds in gold if gold goes to a premium. This 
 remarkable resolution read as follows : 
 
 " Resolved (If the House of Representatives 
 concurs), That it is the sense of Congress that the 
 true policy of the Government requires that its 
 efforts should be steadily directed to the estab- 
 lishment of a safe system of bimetallism, wherein 
 gold and silver may be maintained at a parity, and 
 every dollar coined may be the equal in value and 
 power of every other dollar coined or issued by 
 the United States ; but if our efforts to establish
 
 445 
 
 or maintain such bimetallism shall not be wholly 
 successful, and if for any other reason our silver 
 coin shall not hereafter be at a parity with gold 
 coin and the equal thereof in value and power in 
 the market and in the payment of debts, then it is 
 hereby declared that the bonds of the United 
 States, now or hereafter issued, which by their 
 terms are payable in coin, shall, nevertheless, be 
 paid in standard gold dollars, it being the policy 
 of the United States that its creditors shall at all 
 times be paid in the best money in use." 
 
 This would not only pledge the Government to 
 the previous issue in gold but would relieve the re- 
 cent purchasers from the loss which they guarded 
 against by an extortionate interest and yet leave 
 them enjoy the fruits of their extortion. Thus 
 does one vicious proposition tread upon the 
 heels of another. Mr. Hill's plan is even worse 
 than the President's, for under the plan of the 
 latter the bondholder would bear whatever loss 
 might arise if gold should happen to fall below 
 silver, but Mr. Hill's plan burdens the Govern- 
 ment with all the risks and o-uarantees to the 
 
 d> 
 
 bondholders all the chance of gain. Not only is 
 Mr. Hill's plan directly antagonistic to the prin- 
 ciple of bimetallism, but it offers a reward to the 
 creditor if he can destroy the parity between the 
 metals, whereas the creditor is interested in main- 
 taining the parity when the option lies with the 
 Government.
 
 446 
 
 It is alarming to note the aggressiveness of the 
 creditor classes, and humiliating to think that 
 Congress should be asked to comply with their 
 wishes regardless of consequences. The first 
 effect of this government in the direction of gold 
 contracts would be to reduce the amount of our 
 primary money, and to build our entire credit 
 system upon a narrow base of gold. Think of 
 making an indebtedness public and private of 
 $13,000,000,000 payable in gold, with only $600,- 
 000,000 of gold in the country, and that is an 
 estimate ! 
 
 The government estimate of gold coin in the 
 United States on the first of January, 1895, was 
 about $600,000,000, and of that sum only about 
 $214,000,000 was visible. About $100,000,000 
 was in the Treasury of the United States, and 
 $114,000,000 was held by national banks. Be- 
 yond that no one knows the whereabouts of any 
 large amount of this gold. We know that no 
 laro-e amount of gold is in circulation amonq- the 
 
 & o 
 
 people or in hiding, and yet, with only $214,000,- 
 ooo of visible gold, the United States is expected 
 to conduct a safe business on a gold basis. To 
 make the attempt is to invite a panic nay, more, 
 it is to guarantee a disaster. 
 
 And yet, Mr. Speaker, if the immediate effect 
 is bad, the ultimate effect of the proposed policy 
 is infinitely worse. Every act of legislation dis- 
 criminating against silver gives an impetus to the
 
 447 
 
 Government in favor of a gold standard, and 
 makes the restoration of bimetallism more diffi- 
 cult. No one act could, in my judgment, do more 
 to obstruct the re-establishment of free bimetallic 
 coinage as it existed prior to 1873 than the act 
 which the President is attempting to force upon 
 Congress. Are the gentlemen who are urging it 
 
 c3 O O O 
 
 deceived as to its purpose and necessary effect 
 when they speak of it as an insignificant matter, 
 or do they presume upon the credulity of their 
 hearers ? Believing that it is a long step in the 
 direction of universal gold monometallism, and 
 believing that universal gold monometallism 
 
 o *-> 
 
 would bring this country continuous and increas- 
 ing financial distress beyond the power of lan- 
 guage to exaggerate, we protest against the pas- 
 sage of this resolution. If we love our country 
 and are interested in its welfare, no sacrifice on 
 our part should be too great if necessary to pre- 
 vent the adoption of such a policy by this the 
 foremost nation upon the earth. 
 
 While the question immediately before us is 
 whether we shall authorize the issue of gold bonds, 
 I ask you to consider for a moment whether we 
 need to issue bonds of any kind. Bonds have 
 been issued to replenish the gold reserve, and the 
 gold reserve has been drawn out because the 
 
 o 
 
 holders of greenbacks and Treasury notes have 
 been allowed to designate the coin of redemp- 
 tion. In other words, the option which belongs
 
 448 
 
 to the Government has been surrendered to the 
 holders of the notes, and this has been done, not 
 by the legislative enactment, but by an adminis- 
 trative policy. If the withdrawal of gold could be 
 stopped, no bonds would be necessary. It be- 
 comes important, therefore, to know whether the 
 Government has a legal right to protect itself 
 from the gold-grabbing by redeeming greenbacks 
 and Treasury notes in silver when silver is more 
 convenient. On the 2ist of January, 1895, Secre- 
 tary Carlisle made a statement before the House 
 Committee on Appropriations, and I quote the 
 following question and answer from a printed re- 
 port of his testimony : 
 
 " Mr. Sibley, I would like to ask you (perhaps 
 not entirely connected with the matter under dis- 
 cussion) what objection there could be to having 
 the option of redeeming either in silver or gold 
 lie with the Treasury instead of the note-holder? 
 
 Secretary Carlisle. If that policy had been 
 adopted at the beginning of the resumption and 
 I am not saying this for the purpose of criticising 
 the action of any of my predecessors or anybody 
 else but if the policy of reserving to the Govern- 
 ment at the beginning of resumption the option 
 of redeeming in gold or silver all its paper pre- 
 sented had been adopted, I believe it would have 
 worked beneficially, and there would' have been 
 no trouble orowino- out of it; but the Secretaries 
 
 *> o 
 
 of the Treasury from the beginning of resumption
 
 449 
 
 have pursued a policy of redeeming- in gold or 
 silver at the option of the holder of the paper, and 
 if any Secretary had afterwards attempted to 
 change that policy and force silver upon a man 
 who wanted gold, or gold upon a man who wanted 
 silver, and especially if he had made that attempt 
 upon such a critical period as we have had within 
 the last two years, my judgment is it would have 
 been very disastrous. There is a vast difference 
 between establishing a policy at the beginning 
 and reversing a policy after it has been long es- 
 tablished, and especially after the situation has 
 been changed." 
 
 o 
 
 This is sufficient proof that the Secretary has 
 the legal right to redeem greenbacks and Treas- 
 ury notes in silver, but is restrained by the fear 
 that a different precedent having been established, 
 an exercise of the lecral ri^ht at this time would 
 
 o o 
 
 be "very disastrous." Senator Sherman, in 
 March, 1878, in testimony given before a Senate 
 Committee, also recognized the ri^ht of the 
 
 o o 
 
 Government to redeem Greenbacks with silver. 
 
 o 
 
 I quote from his testimony : 
 
 " Senator Bayard. You speak of resumption 
 upon a bimetallic basis being easier. Do you 
 make that proposition irrespective of the readjust- 
 ment of the relative values of the two metals as 
 we have declared them ? 
 
 "Senator Sherman. I think so. Our mere 
 right to pay in silver would deter a great many
 
 450 
 
 people from presenting notes for redemption who 
 would readily do so it they could get the lighter 
 and more portable coin in exchange. Besides, 
 gold coin can be exported, while silver coin could 
 not be exported, because its market value is much 
 less than its coin value. 
 
 " Senator Bayard. By the first of July next, 
 or the first of January next, you have eighteen or 
 twenty millions of silver dollars which are in cir- 
 culation and payable for duties, and how long do 
 you suppose this short supply of silver and your 
 control of it by your coinage will keep it equiva- 
 lent to gold when one is worth ten cents less than 
 
 o 
 
 the other ? 
 
 " Secretary Sherman. Just so long as it can 
 be used for any thing that gold is used for. It 
 will be worth in this country the par of gold until 
 it becomes so abundant and bulky that people 
 will become tired of carrying it about; but in our 
 country that can be avoided by depositing it for 
 coin certificates." 
 
 No law has ever been passed surrendering the 
 Government's rights to redeem in silver ; and it 
 
 O 
 
 is as valuable now as it was just after the passage 
 of the Bland law in 1878, which restored silver as 
 a part of our standard money. The testimony 
 above quoted was given by Senator Sherman, 
 then Secretary of the Treasury, soon after the 
 passage of the Bland Act and before the resump- 
 tion of specie payment.
 
 45* 
 
 Now, notwithstanding the fact that the Govern- 
 ment has a legal right to redeem in silver, and 
 thus protect the people from the gold hoarders 
 and gold exporters, the President continues to 
 pay in gold even when gold must be purchased 
 by an issue of bonds, and we cannot authorize the 
 issue of any bonds for the purpose of buying gold 
 without endorsing the policy which permits the 
 drain of gold, and thus gives an excuse for a bond 
 issue. So far, the surrender to the note-holder of 
 the right to designate the coin of payment is 
 purely an act of the Executive, and has never re- 
 ceived legislative approval. 
 
 If it is said that the President will issue bonds 
 anyhow, and we ought, therefore, to authorize a 
 bond drawing a low rate of interest, I reply that 
 until we can restrain the President from further 
 increasing our bonded indebtedness, and compel 
 him to protect the Government by redeeming in 
 silver when that is more convenient, we can bet- 
 ter afford to allow him to bear the responsibility 
 alone than by approving his course pledge the 
 Government to a continuation of his policy. If the 
 Secretary thinks that it would now be disastrous 
 to depart from a precedent established by a for- 
 mer Secretary of the Treasury Capitol, how much 
 more difficult it would be to change the policy 
 after endorsing it by an act of Congress. 
 
 So long as the note holder has the option, 
 bonds may be issued over and over again without
 
 452 
 
 avail. Gold will be withdrawn either directly or 
 indirectly for the purpose of buying bonds, and an 
 issue of bonds compelled again, whenever bond 
 buyers have a surplus of money awaiting invest- 
 ment. This experiment has been tried but instead 
 of convincing the President of the utility of bond 
 issues it has simply led him to try a new experi- 
 ment. By purchasing gold in Europe he may 
 enlarge the circle around which the gold must 
 pass, but the only remedy is the restoration of the 
 bimetallic principle and the exercise of the option 
 to redeem greenbacks and treasury notes in silver 
 whenever silver is more convenient or whenever 
 such a course is necessary to prevent a run 
 upon the Treasury. To delay the remedy is to 
 prolong our embarrassment ; to authorize bonds 
 of any kind is to rivet upon the country the 
 policy which has brought our present troubles 
 upon us; to authorize bonds payable specifically 
 in gold is to invite new difficulties and to estab- 
 lish a still more dangerous precedent. 
 
 I am glad to hear some ' of our Republican 
 friends denounce this gold bond proposition, but 
 are they not in effect condemning a Republican 
 policy. The gold bond is the legitimate result of 
 the policy inaugurated and continued by Republi- 
 can administrations. It was a Republican admin- 
 istration which first surrendered to the note 
 holder the option to demand gold in redemption 
 of greenbacks and treasury notes, and it was
 
 453 
 
 rumored that President Harrison was preparing 
 to issue bonds to buy gold just before his term 
 expired. The substitute for the Springer Bill, 
 that is the substitute offered by the gentleman 
 from Maine (Mr. Reed) authorized the issue of 
 coin bonds to buy gold and yet the Republicans 
 almost without exception voted for that substitute. 
 I offered an amendment to the Reed substitute, 
 an amendment which reafirms the Matthews' reso- 
 lution declaring all coin bonds payable in gold or 
 silver, and yet less than twenty (I think thirteen) 
 Republicans voted for my amendment. The great 
 majority of the Republicans thus declared that coin 
 bonds are gold bonds in fact. If coin bonds are 
 really gold bonds there is less reason for agitation 
 about the word grold in the bond. We who 
 
 o 
 
 believe that greenbacks and treasury notes are 
 redeemable in either gold or silver at the option 
 of the Government we, who believe in the rights 
 of the Government to redeem its coin bond in 
 either gold or silver, we, I say, can object to gold 
 bonds as a violent change in our monetary policy, 
 but those who insist that greenbacks, treasury 
 notes and coin bonds are all payable in gold on 
 demand have far less reason to criticise the pre- 
 cedent. 
 
 I repeat, the President is simply carrying a Re- 
 publican policy to its logical conclusion. If the 
 Republicans are in earnest in their opposition to 
 gold bonds let them come with us and help to
 
 454 
 
 make all bonds unnecessary by restoring the 
 bimetallic principle and exercising the option in- 
 vested in the Government to redeem coin obliga- 
 tions in either gold or silver. The Government 
 
 O 
 
 is helpless so long as it refuses to exercise this 
 option. 
 
 Mr. Dunn. Don't you want to make it more 
 helpless? 
 
 Mr. Bryan. No sir; I do not propose to make 
 it more helpless. I propose the only policy which 
 will help the Government. I propose the only 
 policy which will stop the leak in the Treasury. 
 I only ask that the Treasury department shall be 
 administered in behalf of the American people 
 and not in behalf of the Rothschilds and in behalf 
 of the other foreign bankers. 
 
 But, Mr. Speaker, I desire, in conclusion, to call 
 the attention of our eastern brethren to the fact 
 that this controversy can be no longer delayed. 
 The issue has come and it must be met. On 
 these financial questions we find that the Demo- 
 crats of the East and the Republicans of the East 
 lock arms and proceed to carry out their policies, 
 regardless of the interest and the wishes of the 
 rest of the country. If they form this union of- 
 fensive and defensive, they must expect that the 
 rest of the people of the country will drop party 
 lines, if necessary, and unite to preserve their 
 homes and their welfare. 
 
 If this is sectionalism the East has set the
 
 455 
 
 example. The demand of our eastern brethren, 
 both Republicans and Democrats, is for a steadily 
 appreciating monetary standard. They are credi- 
 tors. They hold our bonds and our mortgages, 
 and, as the dollars increase in purchasing power, 
 our debts increase and the holders of our bonds 
 and mortgages gather in an earned increment. 
 They are seeking to reap where they did not sow ; 
 they are seeking to collect that to which they are 
 not entitled ; they favor spoliation under the forms 
 of law. The necessary result of their policy is 
 the building up of a plutocracy which will make 
 servants of the rest of the people. 
 
 This effort has gone on steadily, and for the 
 most part stealthily, during the past twenty years, 
 and this gold bond proposition is but another 
 step in the direction of financial bondage. But I 
 warn them .that no slavery was ever perpetual. 
 It has often been attempted, it has even been 
 successfully attempted for a time, but the shackles 
 are always open at last. Bondage is ephemeral, 
 freedom is eternal. " Weeping may endure for a 
 night, but joy cometh in the morning." 
 
 The time will come when the unjust demands 
 and the oppressive exactions of our eastern 
 brethren will compel the South and West to unite 
 in the restoration of an honest dollar a dollar 
 which will defraud neither debtor nor creditor, a 
 dollar based upon two metals, " the gold and silver 
 coinage of our Constitution." Thomas Jefferson
 
 456 
 
 still survives and his principles will yet triumph. 
 He taught equality before the law, he taught that 
 all citizens are equally entitled to consideration 
 of Government, he taught that it is the highest 
 duty of Government to protect each citizen from 
 injury at the hands of any other citizen. We 
 seek to apply his principles to-day to this great 
 nation ; we seek to protect the debtor from the 
 greed of the creditor; we seek to protect society 
 from avarice of the capitalist. We believe that in 
 the restoration of bimetallism we shall secure the 
 re-establishment of equity and restore prosperity 
 to our country.
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 SPEECH OF HON. CLAUDE A. SWANSON 
 
 RETIREMENT OF THE TREASURY NOTES AND THE 
 FREE COINAGE OF SILVER. 
 
 " Mr. Chairman : There are two propositions 
 pending before us for acceptance or rejection. 
 The first proposition is the one passed by this Re- 
 publican House last December, authorizing the 
 Secretary of the Treasury to sell $500,000,000 of 
 three per cent, bonds, with which to redeem all 
 the outstanding Treasury notes, impound them 
 in the Treasury, and thus contract the currency 
 of this country to that extent. 
 
 "When this proposal was first before the House 
 I earnestly opposed it in a speech, and did my 
 utmost to defeat it. I then pointed out that if 
 this bill should ever become law, and the currency 
 should be contracted to the extent designed, the 
 actual money in circulation among the people 
 would be less than half the annual taxes collected 
 from them, less than half the annual interest paid, 
 and would not be one- fortieth of the aggregate 
 indebtedness of this country ; yet this House, 
 with its immense Republican majority, by a large 
 
 457
 
 458 
 
 majority vote passed this bill to destroy this vast 
 amount of money that had been preserved to the 
 people by a Democratic House of Representa- 
 tives. 
 
 "This bill went to the Senate and there the 
 Democratic Senators, led by Senator Jones, of 
 Arkansas, aided by a few Republican and Popu- 
 list Senators, defeated that iniquitous measure 
 and substituted in its place a free-coinage bill, 
 which that sterling Democrat from Georgia, Judge 
 Crisp, now proposes that this House shall adopt 
 instead of the bill it formerly passed. 
 
 "Thus these two measures embody clearly and 
 distinctly the two ideas struggling for supremacy 
 in our financial system. 
 
 "The proposal to sell bonds and to retire the 
 Treasury notes, or greenbacks, is the only relief 
 offered by the gold monometallist to remedy the 
 present distressed situation. I am unalterably 
 opposed to this. In the last Democratic House, 
 when the friends of the present Administration 
 sought to have a bill similar to this passed and 
 the vast amount of paper money destroyed, I 
 earnestly spoke and voted against it. I am glad 
 to say that the bill practically similar to this was 
 defeated in the Democratic House by a large ma- 
 jority. 
 
 "This bill, indorsed nearly unanimously by the 
 tremendous Republican majority in this House, 
 commits this party in the future, without doubt
 
 459 
 
 and without question, to the maintenance of the 
 gold standard in this country. 
 
 " The Republican majority in this House ex- 
 ceeds 100, and the proposal for free coinage will 
 be defeated by a vote equal to that majority. 
 
 "The Republican party during the last canvass 
 denounced the present Administration for selling 
 bonds, and yet its first advent to power is marked 
 by passing in this House, and insisting upon its 
 enactment into law, a proposition to sell $500,- 
 000,000 of bonds and the retirement from circu- 
 lation of that amount of money. The Republican 
 policy, as here disclosed, shows a complete alli- 
 ance with the gold monometallists of this country. 
 It shows that the Republican party still adheres 
 to the financial teachings of Senator John Sher- 
 man, who, in 1873, demonetized silver without 
 cause, without excuse, and when it was at a pre- 
 mium over gold of three per cent. It shows that 
 this party's policy is a contraction and not an ex- 
 pansion of the currency. It proves to the country 
 what I have always known, that the party that 
 wantonly destroyed silver will never consent to 
 its rehabilitation. 
 
 " In the future no one need be deceived. If he 
 believes in and desires the remonetization of sil- 
 ver, he must vote for and form alliances with a 
 party different from the Republican party. 
 
 "I shall not go over the ground that I did in 
 my former speeches and point out the great dis-
 
 460 
 
 asters that must and will inevitably follow if this 
 Republican measure becomes law and one-third 
 of the legal-tender money of our country be de- 
 stroyed without substituting anything in its place. 
 In them I have pointed out how this would be fol- 
 lowed by further stagnation in business and by a 
 further fall in the prices of all products and 
 property. 
 
 " These two measures, as I have said, present 
 clearly the two methods existing for the settling 
 of our financial troubles. One is the solution of- 
 fered by the single-standard gold man, and the 
 other is the solution offered by those who believe 
 in bimetallism. The solution of the gold man, 
 clearly stated, is: We have a currency of about 
 $500,000,000 of Treasury notes, about $210,000,- 
 ooo of national bank notes, and about 425,000,000 
 of standard silver dollars, with only about $600,- 
 000,000 of gold. They claim that all this cur- 
 rency is kept in circulation and at par by being 
 practically redeemed in gold. They claim that 
 there is a 'want of confidence ' in our ability to 
 redeem this in gold, and that ' to restore this con- 
 fidence' we should destroy or retire all of our 
 Treasury notes. To retire these Treasury' notes 
 they propose to sell bonds either for them or for 
 gold with which to redeem them. When redeem- 
 ed they propose that the Treasury notes shall be 
 either destroyed or locked up in the Treasury and 
 kept out of circulation.
 
 461 
 
 "That this is their solution is shown by the re- 
 cent sale of bonds and by the present proposition, 
 When the Treasury notes have been destroyed, 
 they propose to destroy the 425,000,000 of stand- 
 ard silver dollars in circulation. They claim that 
 this is only fiat money, and that all fiat money 
 should be retired. Their determination to de- 
 stroy this large amount in silver dollars is clearly 
 shown by the veto of the bill directing the coinage 
 of the silver bullion in the Treasury, and the re- 
 fusal of this single gold standard Republican 
 House to permit us ever to vote on that propo- 
 sition. 
 
 "They are opposed to repealing the tax on 
 State banks and giving us a local currency to 
 supplement our national currency. This was dis- 
 closed when the vote was taken upon this ques- 
 tion in the last Congress, when every single gold 
 standard member, whether Democrat or Repub- 
 lican, voted against it. 
 
 " Their determination is to destroy all the legal- 
 tender money in the country except gold and 
 national bank notes redeemable in gold. They 
 claim that when this is done, while the currency 
 will be greatly contracted, yet confidence and 
 credit will be restored. This is the entire relief 
 offered by them to remove the present difficulties 
 and bring back to the country the general diffusion 
 of wealth and of prosperity. 
 
 "I believe these remedies will but intensify and
 
 462 
 
 make greater the evils and distress which over- 
 shadow us to-day. 
 
 "The 'want of confidence' in our country to- 
 day is not a want of confidence in our currency, 
 but a want of confidence in the solvency and abil- 
 ity of the producing classes to meet their obliga- 
 tions. 
 
 " I have yet to see a person who, when he re- 
 fused another credit, debated in his mind whether 
 the person would pay him in silver, gold or green- 
 backs. The question in his mind is whether the 
 person will be able to pay him at all. The want 
 of confidence, if it exists, is because he is afraid 
 the person could not pay in any kind of currency. 
 
 "This want of confidence in the ability of the 
 debtor to pay will be greatly increased if the single 
 gold standard men should succeed in reducing by 
 more than half what can be used in payments. 
 Activity in business, credit, confidence, and pros- 
 perity cannot be revived until the value of all prod- 
 ucts and property is restored. People will not 
 trade nor buy on a declining market. A person 
 will not buy goods on Monday when he expects 
 they will be lower on Friday. A man will not 
 purchase a lot, house, or farm this year when he 
 sees them declining in value, as he expects to be 
 able to do so for less the next year. Thus a de- 
 clining market means losses, stagnation in busi- 
 ness, and a paralysis of all activity. 
 
 " Falling prices also create distrust among credi-
 
 463 
 
 tors, and hence a collection of their debts. A 
 creditor will not extend time to a debtor when he 
 perceives the property upon which he depends 
 for payment each year lessening in value. Thus 
 failing prices necessarily create a liquidation of all 
 debts. 
 
 "The aggregate minimum indebtedness of this 
 country in 1890 amounted to $20,227,170,546. 
 The collection of this vast indebtedness is pro- 
 ceeding not from any want of confidence in our 
 currency, but from a want of confidence in the 
 security and value of the property pledged for its 
 payment. The truth of this is witnessed each 
 day. 
 
 "A bank loans money to a man of large busi- 
 ness and great property. At the time of the loan 
 the value of the property was far in excess of the 
 amount loaned. The bank, seeing the great de- 
 preciation in property, refuses to extend the loan, 
 forces collection, sells the property at a greatly- 
 reduced price, and the man who was rich finds 
 himself bankrupt in the shrinkage of values. 
 
 "Let us trace business in its actual ramifica- 
 tions and see if the sources of the present troubles 
 do not arise from the low price of all products and 
 property. 
 
 "A bank in New York loans money to a 
 country bank. That bank, at a greater rate of 
 interest, loans it to merchants and business men. 
 These buy or manufacture goods which they sell
 
 464 
 
 to farmers or the producing classes. The wheat, 
 corn, oats, tobacco, hay, horses, and cattle raised 
 by them sell so low that they are unable to pay 
 the merchant or manufacturer. The merchants 
 and manufacturers, not being paid, are unable to 
 pay the bank from which they borrowed. This 
 bank, not having its outstanding notes paid, is 
 unable to meet its own notes with the New York 
 bank. The bank in New York, knowing the con- 
 ditions, becomes uneasy. It forces the country 
 bank to settle. This in turn forces the merchants 
 and manufacturers to settle, who in turn force 
 the farmer. The farmer, having disposed of his 
 crop for less than cost of production, is compell- 
 ed to have his farm and other property sold to 
 pay his indebtedness. The value of his crops 
 having been greatly reduced, his land and prop- 
 erty engaged in the business are correspondingly 
 reduced. Thus the sale, when made, fails to pay 
 the merchant ; the merchant, being unpaid, can- 
 not pay the home bank, and this bank cannot pay 
 its depositors or the New York bank. Thus we 
 have a bankrupt farmer, a failed merchant, a 
 broken manufacturer, unemployed laborers, and 
 a suspended bank, with all its evils and losses. 
 Hundreds of cases like this have occurred and 
 continue to occur. 
 
 " The single gold standard man is blind enough 
 to tell you that all this arises from a lack of con- 
 fidence in our currency, resulting from the green-
 
 465 
 
 backs in circulation. His remedy is to contract 
 the currency, and further lower the prices of all 
 products and property. This remedy is as stupid 
 as the old blood-letting process in medicine, 
 which, when a patient was dying for want of blood, 
 the ignorant doctors would bleed him. It is said 
 that George Washington was killed by this rem- 
 edy. It seems a strange fate that the country of 
 which he was the father should now suffer from 
 the same pernicious mistake. 
 
 "It is evident to any thoughtful and reasoning 
 mind that these deplorable conditions arise from 
 the great, unnatural fall in the prices of all prod- 
 ucts, and that if the prices of them continue to 
 decline these evils will be greatly increased. Re- 
 lief from these ruinous conditions will not come 
 until we witness an advance in the prices of prod- 
 ucts and of property. 
 
 " David Hume, the noted philosopher and his- 
 torian, long ago said : 
 
 ' If prices rise everything takes a new face ; labor and in- 
 dustry gain life; the merchant becomes more enterprising, 
 the manufacturer more diligent and skillful, and even the 
 farmer follows his plow with greater alacrity and attention. 
 If prices fall the poverty, begging, and sloth that must ensue 
 are easily foreseen.' 
 
 "What occasioned this present great fall in 
 prices was the cause of our existing troubles. 
 Whatever will restore these prices will remove 
 debt, will revive credit and confidence, give em-
 
 4 66 
 
 ployment to labor, bring back business activity 
 and enterprise, and bless the land with plenty and 
 prosperity. 
 
 "We who advocate bimetallism that is, the 
 free and unlimited coinage of both gold and silver 
 at the mints at a fixed ratio believe that the great 
 fall in prices results from the demonetization of 
 silver and the adoption of gold alone as the 
 standard of value. We believe that, this being 
 the cause, prices will be enhanced or restored 
 when we remonetize silver and let our standard 
 of value rest, as formerly, upon both gold and 
 silver. We claim that the value of everything is 
 regulated by the great law of supply and demand. 
 That this great and universal law ot supply and 
 demand regulates the value of money when ex- 
 changed for commodities. 
 
 "We claim that as society has progressed, 
 wealth increased, commerce enlarged, and tre- 
 mendous new enterprises been undertaken, taxes, 
 interest, and all fixed charges been augmented, 
 the demand for money has become greater ; that 
 while the demand for money has greatly increased, 
 yet the supply of it has been reduced half since 
 1873, when silver was demonetized and gold made 
 the standard of value or money of final payment; 
 that the demand for money of final payment hav- 
 ing increased and the supply lessened by half, the 
 value of things exchanged for it, or measured by 
 it, must necessarily be reduced correspondingly.
 
 467 
 
 "Thus the natural result of destroying half the 
 money of the world would be to greatly appre- 
 ciate the value of the remaining half and re- 
 duce to that extent the value of all products and 
 property exchanged for or measured by it. 
 
 "John Locke, the greatest of all English think- 
 ers, many years ago said : 
 
 ' For the value of money, in general, is the quantity of all 
 the money in the world in proportion to all the trade.' 
 
 "This is a profund truth, and but emphasizes 
 what I here insist upon, that as our trade has 
 wonderfully increased since 1873, and as one-half 
 of our primary money was then destroyed, the re- 
 sult has been to double the price of gold, and 
 hence reduce by half the value of everything sold 
 for gold. 
 
 " John Stuart Mill, the great thinker and writer 
 upon this question, has well said: 
 
 ' That an increase in the quantity of money raises prices 
 and a diminution lowers them, is the most elementary propo- 
 sition in the theory of coinage, and without it we should have 
 no key to any of the others.' 
 
 'This self-evident truth must show that the 
 destruction of half of the money of the world 
 must result in an equal reduction in the price of 
 all commodities. 
 
 "This vital truth was recognized by the fathers 
 of this Republic when our Government was or- 
 ganized.
 
 468 
 
 "Alexander Hamilton in his famous report of 
 1791, said: 
 
 ' To annul the use of either metal as money is to abridge 
 the quantity of circulating medium and is liable to all the ob- 
 jections which arise from a comparison of the benefits of a full 
 with a scanty circulation.' 
 
 "The immortal Jefferson, who had the interest 
 of the people at heart more than any American 
 leader and who was the father of the Democratic 
 party, in February, 1792, said: 
 
 ' I concur with you that the unit must stand on both 
 metals. ' 
 
 " I stand here to-day as a Democrat, receiving 
 my inspiration from Jefferson and not from the 
 latter-day saints of the party, and repeat that the 
 ' unit of value must stand on both metals.' 
 That is Democracy. That is bimetallism. 
 
 "In 1852, R. M. T. Hunter, one of the most 
 talented and distinguished sons of Virginia, in a 
 report made to the Senate as Chairman of the 
 Committee on Finance, said : 
 
 ' But the mischief would be great, indeed, if all the world 
 were to adopt but one of the precious metals as the standard 
 of value. To adopt gold alone would diminish the specie cur- 
 rency more than half, and the reduction the other way, should 
 silver be taken as the only standard, would be large enough to 
 prove highly disastrous to the human race. We require,- then, 
 for this reason, the double standard of gold and silver, but 
 above all do we require both to counteract the tendency of the 
 specie standard to contract under the vast increase of the value 
 :f the property of the world.'
 
 469 
 
 " Thus forty-two years ago, when we had the 
 double standard and were blessed with unex- 
 ampled prosperity and progress, this wise states- 
 man and sage of Virginia prophesied the great 
 mischief and evils which would inevitably follow 
 if we should ever adopt but one metal as our 
 standard of value. The Republican party in 
 1873 did just what this wise Democrat had over 
 twenty years before warned them against. The 
 debt, the misery, the failures, the stagnation in 
 business, the unemployed labor, the low price of 
 all products and property, and the scarcity of 
 money bear evidence to-day of a complete fulfil- 
 ment of this prediction. Thus we can trace back 
 clearly and distinctly, our present distress to the 
 existence of the gold standard. Relief cannot 
 and will not come until we abandon this and again 
 put our standard of value upon both gold and sil- 
 ver. But I will not stop the investigation of this 
 question here. 
 
 I have proven that the present ruinous condi- 
 tions result from the prevalence of this great fall 
 in the price of everything, and that relief will only 
 come from a rise in prices. 
 
 " I will now investigate the history of the rise 
 and fall in the price of commodities, so that we 
 can also ascertain the cause of the present low 
 prices by historical data. 
 
 " The London Economist, a paper of world-wide 
 fame for ability and statistical knowledge, has
 
 470 
 
 compiled the average prices of twenty-two lead- 
 ing commodities on the ist of January of each 
 year from the year 1 846, which is very instructive 
 and significant. This compilation shows that the 
 price of these twenty-two leading commodities 
 increased in value from 1845 to l %73> and that 
 from 1873 to the ist of January, 1892, they had 
 fallen about 33 per cent. 
 
 "Augustus Sauerbeck, of the London Statis- 
 tical Society, a man of eminence and ability, has 
 investigated the prices of forty-five leading and 
 representative commodities on the London market 
 with the same astounding results, that the average 
 price of these gradually increased until 1873, 
 when the increase ceased and a decline com- 
 menced, which amounted, with the forty-five com- 
 modities, to about 34 per cent, in 1892. 
 
 " Dr. Soetbeer, statistician for Hamburg, Ger- 
 many, and a famous economic authority, compiled 
 the prices of 100 leading articles on the Hamburg 
 market and fourteen of British exports with the 
 same astounding result, that commencing with 
 1873 the average price of these had gradually 
 declined, until in 1891 their decline amounted to 
 22 per cent. 
 
 "In 1891 a committee of the United States 
 Senate investigated the prices in this country of 
 223 articles, and in a report to Congress shows 
 that since 1873 tne average price of these has de- 
 clined 28 per cent.
 
 "In 1872 the price of wheat was $1.24 per 
 bushel; in 1894 it was 49 cents per bushel. In 
 1873 the price of cotton was 20.14 cents per 
 pound; in 1894 it was 6.94 cents per pound. 
 
 " Statistics will exhibit the same great fall in the 
 price of tobacco, corn, oats, cattle and horses, as 
 well as in other commodities. These statistics 
 are undisputed even by the gold monometallists. 
 They are gathered from sources so reliable, pre- 
 sented by men of such reputation and authority, 
 so in accord with our own knowledge and experi- 
 ence, that they cannot and will not be denied. 
 They all agree in one thing that, commencing 
 with the year 1873, the world over, prices have 
 fearfully declined. Consequently it is evident 
 that at that time something must have occurred 
 to occasion a condition so world-wide. 
 
 "We examine and we find that in 1872 Norway 
 and Sweden substituted the gold standard for the 
 silver standard. We find that in 1873 the United 
 States abandoned the double standard of gold 
 and silver and adopted the single gold standard. 
 We find that the same year Germany went from 
 the silver standard to the single gold standard. 
 We find that in a very short time after Germany 
 does this France and the Latin Union suspend the 
 free coinage of silver and substitute the gold 
 standard. Thus about this time occurred a con- 
 vulsion in the financial world surpassing any 
 which ever transpired in the physical world. The
 
 472 
 
 great commercial nations of the world at this 
 time went from the double standard of value to 
 the single gold standard. 
 
 "It is impossible to point out anything else that 
 happened at this time to precipitate a fall in 
 prices. 
 
 "Why should prices be on an ascending plane 
 until 1873 and then suddenly take a declining 
 plane, which becomes greater each year ? There 
 were no great inventions in that year to cheapen 
 production and hence to reduce prices. That 
 year marked no overproduction so as to account 
 for the sudden change. 
 
 "Any thoughtful mind, bent upon the ascer- 
 tainment of the truth, must be convinced beyond 
 doubt that the low prices the world over, com- 
 mencing with the demonetization of silver, must 
 have been caused by that and nothing else. 
 
 "I have proven that all the accepted authorities 
 upon financial questions agree that when you 
 lessen the amount of primary money you lower 
 the price of everything exchanged for money. I 
 have shown that the wisest of statesmen and 
 thinkers years before prophesied that if the world 
 should ever discard either of the two money met- 
 als and adopt only one lower prices would result 
 and the very diastrous conditions that now con- 
 front us would inevitably come. I have traced 
 from facts and statistics, undisputed by anyone, 
 that the fall in prices commenced, as foretold,
 
 473 
 
 precisely at the time that the world destroyed sil- 
 ver as one of the money metals. Can arguments 
 or facts be more conclusive ? I have shown that 
 this fall in prices commenced in 1873, and resulted 
 from demonetizing silver and destroying its mon- 
 etary functions. Thus the proper relief from the 
 present distress is plain and unmistakable. 
 
 "The relief which will restore prices, revive 
 business, encourage industries, inspire confidence, 
 give employment to labor, and pay debts is the 
 restoration of silver as one of the money metals, 
 as it existed prior to 1873. 
 
 "We must right the crime of that year. We 
 must leave the darkness in which we are now 
 groping and return to the light and sunshine we 
 then left. 
 
 "We do not know where this new departure 
 on the gold standard will take us. We do not 
 even know that prices have touched the bottom. 
 We have no experience behind us to tell us what 
 will be the ultimate effect of the gold standard. 
 The world never tried the gold standard prior to 
 1873. Since its adoption, in falling prices, in the 
 vast accumulation of debt, in the numerous and 
 immense failures, in the frequent and great panics, 
 in paralyzed business, in the mistrust and wretch- 
 edness which overshadow the country, we witness 
 its ruinous effects. 
 
 " I am no alarmist, but thought and reflection 
 teach me that if the gold standard is to be per-
 
 474 
 
 manently maintained and the policies and designs 
 of its advocates, as here disclosed, to be carried 
 out that we will witness a yet greater fall in the 
 prices of all commodities, and a further shrinkage 
 in all values, with their attendant evils. It is in- 
 evitable. 
 
 " We have just completed a reassessment of 
 the land in my home county, Pittsylvania, and in 
 the city of .Danville, situated therein. The les- 
 sons taught by it are significant. It presents how 
 frightfully the gold standard is shrinking the value 
 of lands. In 1890 the real estate in Pittsylvania 
 county was assessed at $4,012,464. In 1895 the 
 assessment amounted to only $3,115,938, being 
 $846,5261655 in 1895 tnan m J 89O. With all the 
 buildings and improvements put upon the lands 
 their value was reduced in five years over 20 per 
 cent. The supply of land did not increase during 
 the five years, while the demand did on account 
 of increased population. Thus, under natural con- 
 ditions, we should have expected an increase in- 
 stead of a decrease in its value from 189010 1895. 
 The lands there will now scarcely bring half as 
 much as they would prior to the demonetization 
 of silver. 
 
 " The assessment for the city of Danville pre- 
 sents the same remarkable conditions. In 1890 
 the real estate assessed in Danville amounted to 
 $5,170,928. In 1895 it amounted to only $4,650,- 
 406, being a reduction of $520,522. Here is a
 
 475 
 
 city with great improvements and buildings during 
 this time, with increased population; yet, including 
 all these, a reduction in five years of over half a 
 million of dollars in real estate values. 
 
 " When we ponder these startling figures, we 
 can readily understand how farmers and business 
 men who were formerly prosperous and rich find 
 themselves bankrupt and impoverished. They 
 have been ruined not by any fault of their own, 
 but by the shrinkage in the value of their prop- 
 erty. This shrinkage continues under this single 
 gold standard, and no one knows when it will 
 cease. 
 
 " The world's supply of gold is too small to 
 give value to its immense amount of property. 
 Each year witnesses a greater struggle for its pos- 
 session, and hence a greater sacrifice of property 
 to obtain it. 
 
 " The only way to remove the present evils and 
 prevent the greater ones which await us is to 
 again give silver the right of free and unlimited 
 coinage at the mints. 
 
 " This is the relief proposed by us in opposition 
 to the Republican measure to sell five hundred mil- 
 lions of bonds and retire that amount of paper 
 money. We are prepared to appeal to the coun- 
 try upon the two methods of relief here presented. 
 
 "The gold monometallist cannot deceive the 
 people by a pretended friendship for silver in ad- 
 vocating an international agreement. There is
 
 476 
 
 not the remotest chance of an international agree- 
 ment. The last hopes of one have disappeared. 
 We were told to wait only until Lord Salisbury 
 and the Tory party of England should come into 
 power and soon an agreement would be reached. 
 They have attained power by an immense major- 
 ity and have distinctly stated that England has no 
 intention of changing her present gold standard 
 or entering into any international agreement for 
 the coinage of silver. France and Germany have 
 distinctly stated that they would be parties to no 
 agreement without England. Thus there is no 
 hope for any international agreement. It is use- 
 less to discuss an international agreement which 
 will never come. The people who advocate delay- 
 ing action upon the silver question until an inter- 
 national agreement can be reached are not friendly 
 to silver and only indulge in it to delay action by 
 creating hopes which will never be realized. The 
 people of the United States must continue the 
 present gold standard or must alone adopt the 
 double standard of gold and silver. This is plain 
 and clear. It is an issue which must be met, and 
 which politicians may try but they cannot dodge 
 nor deceive the people upon. 
 
 " If one favors the gold standard then he must 
 approve the recent sales of bonds, the present 
 Republican measure to sell $500,000,000 worth 
 of bonds to retire that amount of paper money, 
 and finally to destroy all the standard silver dol-
 
 477 
 
 lars. If the gold standard is to be maintained all 
 of this will inevitably follow. It cannot and will 
 not be prevented. If one is opposed to all this 
 and believes that it will bring disaster and not relief, 
 then he should advocate that the United States 
 should again reopen its mints to the free and un- 
 limited coinage of silver and again make silver 
 money of primary payment. 
 
 "I believe this. I am opposed to any sale of 
 bonds. I am opposed to retiring the greenbacks 
 and contracting the currency. I believe that the 
 coin notes should be redeemed in either gold or 
 silver, at the option of the Government and not 
 of the holder. I believe that a continuance of the 
 gold standard will precipitate a continued and a 
 frightful fall in the prices of all commodities. I 
 believe that it has more than doubled all debts, 
 taxes, interest, and fixed charges. I believe that 
 when our mints are opened to silver, prices will 
 advance and the present troubles will disappear. 
 
 "Being convinced that there is no chance for an 
 international agreement, I am prepared to vote 
 for this country at once to resume the free and 
 unlimited coinage of silver. 
 
 "No evils which the distorted imaginations of 
 those who oppose this have presented can equal 
 those which I am convinced will come if we con- 
 tinue the single gold standard. 
 
 "I am convinced that the United States is able 
 to do this and maintain all the silver coined at a
 
 478 
 
 parity with gold. I believe that when this is done 
 silver bullion will rise in value until it is worth 
 the coinage value. Every silver dollar coined to- 
 day is at a par with gold. It is only the uncoined 
 silver that is not at par. All that will be coined 
 at our mints and made a legal tender will circulate 
 at par with gold. We have experience in the 
 past that should convince us that the United 
 States is able to do this. 
 
 "France, from 1803 to 1873, by having her 
 mints open to the free coinage of both gold and 
 silver at the ratio of 15^ to i, maintained that 
 parity between them the world over. She was 
 able to do this despite the great disparity existing 
 during that time in the production and quantity 
 of gold and silver. We to-day are more prepared 
 to do this than was France when she maintained it. 
 
 " Statistics in 1870 show that France had about 
 10 per cent, of the imports and exports of the 
 world. In 1889 the United States had nearly 10 
 per cent, of the imports and exports of the world. 
 Mulhall, the world's greatest statistician, shows 
 that the productive power of the United States is 
 three times as great as was that of France in 1870 
 in proportion to the rest of the world. In 1870 
 France furnished less than 12 per cent, of the 
 world's great agricultural products, while to-day 
 we furnish about 20 per cent, of the world's sup- 
 ply, France in 1870 produced about 13 per cent. 
 of the world's manufactures, and the United
 
 479 
 
 States to-day furnishes almost 31 per cent, of the 
 world's entire product. In 1870 France had about 
 7^ per cent, of the world's railway mileage, while 
 the United States now has about 44 per cent, of 
 the world's entire mileage. In 1870 France's 
 banking power in comparison with that of the 
 world was 4 per cent, and the United States to- 
 day has 32 per cent, of that of the world. In in- 
 ternal commerce and business we greatly exceed 
 the proportion that was then possessed by France. 
 Our wealth to-day in comparison with that of the 
 world far exceeds what France's was in compari- 
 son with that of the world in 1870. Thus, by 
 whatever test measured, the United States is able 
 to do more than France did at that time. Yet 
 from 1803 to 1873 France was able to maintain 
 the parity between gold and silver the world over 
 at the ratio of 15^ to i. She did this despite the 
 fact, that at that time the average number of 
 ounces of silver in the world was thirty times as 
 great as the average number of ounces of gold. 
 To-day the number of ounces of silver in the 
 world is about sixteen times as great as the num- 
 ber of ounces of gold the ratio at which we pro- 
 pose to resume coinage. Thus to resume coinage 
 as proposed in the United States, with all its 
 greater ability and power, would only have to do 
 half as much as France accomplished for seventy 
 years. There should be no question that we can 
 do this. We are safe in making the venture.
 
 480 
 
 Success will crown our efforts. All we need is 
 the courage and the resolution to establish our 
 own financial system, suited to our wants and 
 needs. I am convinced by thought and study 
 that the United States is amply able to resume 
 the coinage of silver and maintain parity. I am 
 convinced that when this is done, prices will be 
 restored and general prosperity and progress will 
 return. I am convinced that the paths that the 
 single gold standard men are trying to entice us 
 into will but carry us further into the night of 
 darkness and plunge us deeper into the abyss of 
 sorrow and distress. 
 
 " Mr. Chairman, this great issue is now before 
 the American people, and they are stirred upon it 
 as they were never stirred before. They recog- 
 nize the vast importance and the far-reaching 
 consequences which will result from the proper 
 settlement of this vital question. 
 
 " The coming great conflict, which will be fought 
 to the finish, is the battle of the standards. The 
 people have become tired of the miserable make- 
 shifts and the temporary policies which the poli- 
 ticians have devised to avoid the settlement of this 
 great question. The people can no longer be 
 deceived. 
 
 "The great masses of the people are convinced 
 that the continuance of the gold standard only 
 benefits the capitalists and money lenders, and is 
 destructive of the interests of the laborer, farmer,
 
 481 
 
 merchant and the business man. Politicians may 
 try, but they cannot create false issues. Issues 
 exist in the condition and in the minds of the 
 people, and they must be met. This great prob- 
 lem cannot be brushed aside. Each year it rises 
 into more and more importance. 
 
 "The intense struggle of the people for this 
 reform is but a supreme effort on their part to re- 
 lease themselves from the greed, avarice and 
 domination of the moneyed classes. 
 
 "The boast of the Democracy in all the years 
 of its history has been that it is the party of^ the 
 common people ; that it is the champion of the 
 rights of the toiling laboring masses. It has 
 never espoused the cause of classes seeking to 
 enrich themselves by depredation upon the 
 masses. It is too late for it to do so now. It 
 cannot climb upon the gold standard platform 
 without trespassing upon ground long since occu- 
 pied by and belonging to the Republican party. 
 
 "The issue is clear. The duty of Democracy 
 is plain. It should make common cause with the 
 people, remain true to its traditions and history, 
 and carry the country back to that system and to 
 those principles which our fathers founded and 
 which gave us great prosperity and wealth, and 
 the departure from which has brought us to our 
 present woes and distresses." (Applause.)
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 THE FIRES STILL BURN. 
 
 The camp fires of patriotism still burn. The 
 worm is not dead. The defeat of bimetallism is 
 only temporary. It was not an ignominious one. 
 All great causes and especially all great reforms 
 in the interests of the masses have had set backs. 
 The grand cause of free silver still has its able 
 champions whose felicity it will soon be to see the 
 consummation of the plans they are so earnestly 
 advocating, and the application of the doctrine in 
 which they believe. 
 
 The last presidential election was a close con- 
 test. Republicans and gold standard advocates 
 made a grand blare of trumpets when the election 
 of Major McKinley was established. They drew 
 lessons and pointed morals from the results of 
 the contest which were not warranted by the 
 premises. Taking into consideration, as they did, 
 the bare fact of McKinley's election without 
 noting the circumstances leading up to it, and 
 without considering the extremely large vote 
 polled by the candidate of the bimetallic stand- 
 ard. Indicating the opinion of a very large body 
 (482)
 
 483 
 
 of voters, they announced in flaring and exagger- 
 ated terms what they claimed as an overwhelm- 
 ing defeat of free silver. Frequently after the 
 election of Nov. 4, '96, one heard in the public 
 places and read in the press statements to the 
 effect that a severe and impressive lesson had 
 been administered to the Free Silver party, and 
 that for years hence, after McKinley had given 
 the country a magnificent administration, there 
 would not be enough free silver men left to carry 
 on a campaign. To use the expression William 
 Bryan adopted with telling force so often, "Truth 
 crushed to earth shall rise again." The six 
 million voters for free silver have not changed 
 their politics. If they live they'll be at the polls 
 four years hence voting for the same principles 
 they voted for last election, and they will bring 
 thousands with them who will be brought to see 
 the beauties and worth of the bimetallic standard 
 and who will vote with them. 
 
 On November 6, two days after the election, 
 and when enough of the figures were in to estab- 
 lish beyond dispute the election of Mr. McKinley, 
 Mr. Bryan made the following announcement 
 which was received with universal satisfaction all 
 over the country and was given much favorable 
 comment abroad. Mr. Bryan said : 
 
 ' Conscious that millions of loyal hearts are 
 saddened by temporary defeat, I beg to offer a 
 word of hope and encouragement. No cause
 
 4*4 
 
 ever had supporters more brave, earnest, and de- 
 voted than those who have espoused the cause of 
 bimetallism. They have fought from conviction, 
 and have fought with all the zeal which conviction 
 
 o 
 
 inspires. Events will prove whether they are 
 right or wrong. Having done their duty as they 
 saw it, they have nothing to regret. 
 
 "The Republican candidate has been heralded 
 as the advance agent of prosperity. If his poli- 
 cies bring real prosperity to the American peo- 
 ple, those who opposed him will share in that 
 prosperity. If, on the other hand, his policies 
 prove an injury to the people generally, those of 
 his supporters who do not belong to the office- 
 holding class, or to the privileged classes, will 
 suffer in common with those who opposed him. 
 
 " The friends of bimetallism have not been van- 
 quished ; they have simply been overcome. They 
 believe that the gold standard is a conspiracy of 
 the money changers against the welfare of the 
 human race, and until convinced of their error 
 they will continue the warfare against it. 
 
 " The contest has been waged this year under 
 great embarrassments and against great odds. 
 For the first time during this generation public 
 attention has been centered upon the money 
 question as the paramount issue, and this has 
 been done in spite of all attempts upon the part 
 of our opponents to prevent it. The Republican 
 Convention held out the delusive hope of inter-
 
 national bimetallism, while Republican leaders 
 labored secretly for gold monometallism. Gold- 
 standard Democrats have publicly advocated the 
 election of the Indianapolis ticket, while they la- 
 bored secretly for the election of the Republican 
 ticket. The trusts and corporations have tried to 
 excite a fear of lawlessness, while they themselves 
 have been defying the law, and American finan- 
 ciers have boasted that they were the custodians 
 of National honor, while they were secretly bar- 
 tering away the Nation's financial independence. 
 
 " But, in spite of the efforts of the Administra- 
 tion and its supporters, in spite of the threats of 
 money loaners at home and abroad, in spite of 
 the coercion practiced by corporate employers, 
 in spite of trusts and syndicates, in spite of an 
 enormous Republican campaign fund, and in spite 
 of the influence of a hostile daily press, bimetal- 
 lism has almost triumphed in its first great fight. 
 The loss of a few States, and that, too, by very 
 small pluralities, has defeated bimetallism for the 
 present, but bimetallism emereges from the con- 
 test stronger than it was four months ago. 
 
 " I desire to commend the work of the three 
 National Committees which have joined in the 
 management of this campaign. Co-operation 
 between the members of distinct political organi- 
 zations is always difficult, but it has been less so 
 this year than usual. Interest in a common cause 
 of great importance has reduced friction to a
 
 486 
 
 minimum. I hereby express my personal grati- 
 tude to the individual members as well as the ex- 
 ecutive officers of the National Committee of the 
 Democratic, Populist, and Silver Parties for their 
 efficient, untiring, and unselfish labors. They 
 have laid the foundation for future success, and 
 will be remembered as pioneers when victory is 
 at last secured. 
 
 " No personal or political friend need grieve 
 because of my defeat. My ambition has been to 
 secure immediate legislation, rather than to enjoy 
 the honors of office, and, therefore, defeat brings to 
 me no feeling of personal loss. Speaking for the 
 wife who has shared my labors, as well as for my- 
 self, I desire to say that we have been amply 
 repaid for all that we have done. 
 
 "In the love of millions of our fellow-citizens, 
 so kindly expressed, in knowledge gained by per- 
 sonal contact with the people, and in broadened 
 sympathies, we find full compensation for what- 
 ever efforts we have put forth. Our hearts have 
 been touched by the devotion of friends, and our 
 lives shall prove our appreciation of the affection 
 of the plain people, an affection which we prize 
 as the richest reward which this campaign has 
 brought. 
 
 "In the face of an enemy rejoicing in its victory, 
 let the roll be called for the next engagement, and 
 uro-e all friends of bimetallism to renew their alle- 
 
 O 
 
 giance to the cause. If we are right, as I believe
 
 we are, we shall yet triumph. Until convinced of 
 his error, let each advocate of bimetallism con- 
 tinue the work. Let all silver clubs retain their 
 organization, hold regular meetings, and circulate 
 literature. Our opponents have succeeded in 
 this campaign, and must now put their theories to 
 the test. Instead of talking mysteriously about 
 'sound money' and 'an honest dollar,' they must 
 now elaborate and defend a financial system. 
 Every step taken by them should be publicly con- 
 sidered by the silver clubs. Our cause has pros- 
 pered most where the money question has been 
 longest discussed among the people. During the 
 next four years it will be studied all over this 
 nation even more than it has been studied in the 
 past. 
 
 "The year 1900 is not far away. Before that 
 year arrives, international bimetallism will cease 
 to deceive ; before that year arrives, those who 
 have called themselves gold standard Democrats 
 will become bimetallists and be with us, or they 
 will become Republicans and be open enemies ; 
 before that year arrives, trusts will have con- 
 vinced still more people that a trust is a menace 
 to private welfare and public safety ; before that 
 year arrives, the evil effects of a gold standard 
 will be even more evident than they are now, and 
 the people then ready to demand an American 
 financial policy for the American people will join 
 with us in the immediate restoration of the free
 
 and unlimited coinage of gold and silver at the 
 present legal ratio of 16 to i, without waiting for 
 the aid or consent of any other nation. 
 
 "W. J. BRYAN." 
 
 Overwhelming and all-pervading prosperity 
 has not yet come. How true are the predictions 
 of William J. Bryan we shall see. As he says, 
 "The year 1900 is not far away."
 
 University of California 
 
 SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 405 Hil9ard Avenue, Lo Angeles, CA 90024-13M 
 
 Return this material to the library 
 
 from which It was^borrowed.
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY