MR. BRYAN AT VARIOUS 
 
7, f - C^L* . ^ <ts 4^Vi 
 
 U L .^/- Vi* /i > S 
 
 ^ p 
 
 Speeches of 
 William Jennings Bryan 
 
 Revised and Arranged by Himself 
 
 9- 
 
 WITH A BIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION 
 BY MARY BAIRD BRYAN, HIS WIFE 
 
 In Two Volumes 
 VOLUME II 
 
 2(4 
 
 FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY 
 
 NEW YORK and LONDON 
 
 1913 
 
o 
 
 / ^ 
 
 )? 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1909, BY 
 
 WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN 
 
 Printed in the United States of America 
 
 Published November, 1909 
 
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. 
 
 William Cullen Bryant. 
 
 259509 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 VOLUME II 
 
 POLITICAL SPEECHES 
 
 PAGE 
 
 L Counting a Quo mm (1804) . . . . 3 
 
 II. Nabotli s Vineyard (1898) .... 6 
 
 III. America s Mission (1890) <, . . . . !) 
 
 IV. Imperialism (1900) * 17 
 
 V. The St. T,ouis Convention (1904) . . .50 
 
 VI. At the New York Reception (1906). . . 63 
 
 VII. Government Ownership (1906). ... 92 
 
 VIII. Shall the People Rule? (1908) . . .100 
 
 IX. The Trust Question (1908) .... 120 
 
 X. ( Guaranteed Deposits (190S) .... 143 
 
 XL In Chicago on Labor Day (1908) ... 104 
 
 XII. The State and the Nation (1908) . . .181 
 
 SPEECHES IN FOREIGN LANDS 
 
 I. Patriotism (Havana, Cuba, in 1902) . . 191 
 II. In London on Thanksgiving Day (1903). . 196 
 
 III. Radical and Conservative (Tokyo, Japan, in 
 
 1905) .205 
 
 j/IV. The White Man s Burden (London, in 1906). 212 
 At the Peace Congress (London, in 1906). . 226 
 vn 
 
vin CONTENTS 
 
 EDUCATIONAL AND RELIGIOUS SPEECHES 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. The Value of an Ideal (1901). . . .235 
 
 II. The Prince of Peace (1904) . . .261 
 
 III. Man (1905) 291 
 
 IV. Missions (1906) ... ... 315 
 V. Faith (1907) 329 
 
 VI. The Price of a Soul (1908) . . . 337 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS SPEECHES 
 
 I. Character (1881) 373 
 
 II. Gray s Elegy (1890) 381 
 
 III. Memorial Day at Arlington (1894) . . . 384 
 
 IV. At His Reception in Lincoln (1906) . . $89 
 
 V. The Conservation of National Resources (At 
 
 the White House Conference of 1908). . 397 
 
 VI. Commerce (At the Taft-Bryan Banquet of 
 
 1908) 406 
 
 VII. To His Neighbors (1908) 415 
 
 VIII. Lincoln as an Orator (At the One Hundredth 
 
 Anniversary of Lincoln s Birth, 1909). . 419 
 
 IX. Dreamers (1906) .426 
 
POLITICAL SPEECHES 
 
I 
 
 COUNTING A QUORUM 
 
 Delivered in Congress on April 17, 1894, in opposing the 
 adoption of a rule which permitted the counting of a quorum. 
 
 MR. SPEAKER: I am obliged to the gentle 
 man from Maine for this courtesy. The 
 question upon which we are called to act 
 is one of a great deal more importance than some 
 members seem to think, and the objection which is 
 made to the rule by some of us, who have not been 
 able to favor it, is based upon reasons far more 
 weighty than gentlemen have assumed. 
 
 The constitution of the State of Nebraska, which 
 I have the honor in part to represent, contains this 
 provision : 
 
 "No bill shall be passed unless by assent of a majority 
 of all the members elected to each house of the Legislature, 
 and the question upon the final passage shall be taken im 
 mediately upon its last reading, and the yeas and nays 
 shall be entered upon the journal." 
 
 The constitutions of a majority of the States of 
 the Union, among them the States of New York, 
 Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and I might 
 name them all if time permitted, provide the same, 
 the object being to prevent less than one-half of 
 all the members elected to the Legislature from 
 passing laws. It is only by the concurrence of a 
 majority of the members that we can know that 
 the majority of the people desire the law. The 
 
 (3) 
 
4 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 Constitution of the United States does not contain 
 a similar provision ; and there is no question, since 
 the decision of the Supreme Court, that it is within 
 the power of this House to declare by rule in what 
 manner a quorum may be ascertained. It can be 
 done in the manner provided in this rule, or it can 
 be done by the call of the yeas and nays, as it has 
 been done for a hundred years. Now, the question 
 with me is this: which is the safer plan? Accord 
 ing to the rule which has been in vogue a hundred 
 years, the minority has the safeguard which is ex 
 pressly secured in the constitutions of a majority 
 of the States ; according to the old rule the minor 
 ity, by refusing to vote, can compel the concurrence 
 of a majority before a law is passed. 
 
 Now, I believe that is a wise provision. I do not 
 see why it is wiser in a State than in Congress; I 
 do not know why it is necessary that the members 
 of the Legislature in my State, or in New York, 
 should be compelled to vote yea or nay when a bill 
 shall pass, and that a majority shall concur, unless 
 the same reasons apply in this body. 
 
 We are asked to change this rule, which has been 
 in operation since the beginning of the Govern 
 ment, and adopt a new rule; a rule not intended 
 to enable the majority to rule, but to enable less 
 than one-half of the members of Congress to pass 
 laws for this country. I believe that the innova 
 tion is a dangerous one. There is far more safety 
 in giving to the minority the power to delay legis 
 lation until a majority have expressed themselves 
 in favor of a law. How can you tell that the peo 
 ple of the United States desire a particular law 
 
COUNTING A QUORUM 5 
 
 except by the voice of their representatives; and 
 how can we tell that their representatives believe 
 the bill should become a law until they have ex- 
 prest themselves by vote in favor of the proposi 
 tion? The naked question brought before us by 
 this rule is: "Shall we so make our rules that the 
 minority of the people of the United States may 
 make the laws, or shall we retain the rule which 
 enables us to compel the concurrence of a majority 
 when it seems of sufficient importance?" 
 
 Of course the right to remain silent can be used 
 to filibuster, but we have a rule which shuts off 
 filibustering when a majority desires to vote. We 
 have it in the power of the House and I think it 
 is a wise provision to put an end to dilatory mo 
 tions and to bring the House to a vote when the 
 majority so desires, but a rule to count a quorum 
 is not designed to facilitate the government of a 
 majority, but to enable the representatives of a 
 minority of the people to do business and make 
 laws. 
 
II 
 
 NABOTH S VINEYARD 
 
 Delivered at Denver, Colo., in the winter of 1898-9, and 
 one of the earliest protests made against colonialism. 
 
 THE Bible tells us that Ahab, the king, wanted 
 the vineyard of Naboth and was sorely 
 grieved because the owner thereof refused 
 to part with the inheritance of his fathers. Then 
 followed a plot, and false charges were preferred 
 against Naboth to furnish an excuse for getting 
 rid of him. 
 
 Thou shalt not covet ! " " Thou shalt not bear 
 false witness]; * Thou shalt not kill three com 
 mandments broken, and still a fourth, "Thou 
 shalt not steal," to be broken in order to get a little 
 piece of.grQund! And what was the result? When 
 the king went forth to take possession, Elijah, that 
 brave .old. prophet of the early days, met him and 
 pronounced against him the sentence of the Al 
 mighty. "In the place where the dogs licked the 
 blood of Naboth shall the dogs lick thy blood, even 
 thine." 
 
 Neither his own exalted position nor the lowly 
 station of his victim could save him from the aveng 
 ing hand of outraged justice. His case was tried 
 in a court where neither wealth, nor rank, nor 
 J>ower, could shield the transgressor. 
 
 Wars of conquest have their origin in covetous- 
 (6) 
 
 \ v / 
 
NABOTH S VINEYARD 7 
 
 ness, and the history of the human race has been 
 written in characters of blood because rulers have 
 looked with longing eyes upon the lands of others. 
 
 Covetousness is prone to seek the aid of false pre 
 tense to carry out its plans, but what it cannot 
 secure by persuasion it takes by the sword. 
 
 Senator Teller s amendment to the intervention 
 resolution saved the Cubans from the covetousness 
 of those who are so anxious to secure possession 
 of the island, that they are willing to deny the 
 truth of the declaration of our own Congress, that 
 "the people of Cuba are, and of right ought to 
 be, free." 
 
 Imperialism might expand the nation s territory, 
 but it would contract the nation s purpose. It is 
 not a step forward toward a broader destiny; it is 
 a step backward, toward the narrow views of kings 
 and emperors. 
 
 Dr. Taylor has aptly exprest it in his "Creed of 
 the Flag, when he asks : . 
 
 Shall we turn to the old world again 
 
 With the penitent prodigal s cry? ^_ 
 
 I answer, never. This republic is not a prodigal 
 son ; it has not spent its substance in riotous living. 
 It is not ready to retrace its steps and, with shamed 
 face and trembling voice, solicit an humble place 
 among the servants of royalty. It has not sinned 
 against heaven, and God grant that the crowned 
 heads of Europe may never have occasion to kill 
 the fatted calf to commemorate its return from 
 reliance upon the will of the people to dependence 
 upon the authority which flows from regal birth 
 or superior force. 
 
8 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 We cannot afford to enter upon a colonial policy. 
 The theory upon which a government is built is a 
 matter of vital importance. The national idea has 
 a controlling influence upon the thought and char 
 acter of the people. Our national idea is self- 
 government, and unless we are ready to abandon 
 that idea forever we cannot ignore it in dealing 
 with the Filipinos. 
 
 That idea is entwined with our traditions.; it 
 permeates our history: it is a part of our litera 
 ture. 
 
 That idea has given eloquence to the orator and 
 inspiration to the poet. Take from our national 
 hymns the three words, free, freedom and liberty, 
 and they would be as meaningless as would be our 
 flag if robbed of its red, white and blue. 
 
 Other nations may dream of wars of conquest 
 and of distant dependencies governed by external 
 force ; not? so with the United States. 
 
 The fruits of imperialism, be they bitter or 
 sweet, must be left to the subjects of monarchy. 
 This is the one tree of which the citizens of a re 
 public ^y not partake. It is the voice of the ser 
 pent, nOT the voice of God, that bids us eat. 
 
Ill 
 
 AMERICA S MISSION 
 
 Delivered iu Washington, D. C., before the Virginia Dem 
 ocratic Association, on Feb. 22, 181)0, when political parties 
 were just beginning to take a position on the subject of 
 imperialism. 
 
 WHEN the advocates of imperialism find iij 
 impossible to reconcile a colonial policyl 
 with the principles of our government or> 
 with the canons of morality; when they are unablej 
 r to defend it npon_the ground of religious duty ori 
 pecuniary profit, they fall back in helpless despair 
 upon the assertion that it is destiny. "Suppose it 
 does violate the Constitution, " they say; "suppose 
 it does break all the commandments ; suppose it does 
 entail upon the nation an incalculable expendi 
 ture of blood and money ; it is destiny and we must 
 submit. 
 
 The people have not voted for imperialism; no 
 national convention has declared for it; no Con 
 gress has passed upon it. To whom, then, has the 
 future been revealed? Whence this voice of au 
 thority? We can all prophesy, but our prophecies 
 are merely guesses, colored by our hopes and our 
 surroundings. Man s opinion of what is to be is 
 half wish and half environment. Avarice paints 
 destiny with^a ^ Hnlfcr m^rlr before it ; mjljtarisjn. 
 equips it with a, sword. 
 
 He Is ffie best prophet who, recognizing the om- 
 (9) 
 
10 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 nipotence of truth, comprehends most clearly the 
 V greatforces which are_working out flie progress, 
 not^oT"one party, not of 7>ne nation", buFof the 
 |]\rrT|fln race. 
 
 History is replete with predictions which once 
 wore the hue of destiny, but which failed of ful 
 filment because those who uttered them saw too 
 small an arc of the circle of events, HVhen Pharaoh 
 pursued the fleeing Israelites to the edge of the 
 Red Sea he was confident that their bondage would 
 be renewed and that they would again make bricks 
 without straw, but destiny was not revealed until 
 Moses and his followers reached the farther shore 
 dry shod and the waves rolled over the horses and 
 chariots of the Egyptians. When Belshazzar, on 
 the last night of his reign, led his thousand lords 
 into the Babylonian banquet hall and sat down to 
 a table glittering with vessels of silver and gold, 
 he felt sure of his kingdom for many years to come, 
 but destiny was not revealed until the hand wrote 
 upon the wall those awe-inspiring words, "Mene, 
 Mene, Tekel Upharsin." When Abderrahman 
 swept northward with his conquering hosts his 
 imagination saw the Crescent triumphant through 
 out the world, but destiny was not revealed until 
 Charles Mart el raised the cross above the battle 
 field of Tours and saved Europe from the sword of 
 Mohammedanism. When Napoleon emerged vic 
 torious from Marengo, from Ulm and from Auster- 
 litz, he thought himself the child of destiny, but 
 destiny was not revealed until Blucher s forces 
 joined the army of Wellington and the vanquished 
 Corsican began his melancholy march toward St. 
 
AMERICA S MISSION 11 
 
 Helena. When the redcoats of George the Third 
 routed the New Englanders at Lexington and 
 Bunker Hill there arose before the British sov 
 ereign visions of colonies taxed without representa 
 tion and drained of their wealth by foreign-made 
 laws, but destiny was not revealed until the sur 
 render of Cornwallis completed the work begun 
 at Independence Hall and ushered into existence 
 a government deriving its just powers from the 
 consent of the governed!? 
 
 We have reached another crisis. The ancientu 
 doctrine of imperialism, banished from our land I 
 more than a century ago, has recrossed the Atlantic 1 
 and challenged democracy to mortal combat upon I 
 American soil. 
 
 Whether the Spanish war shall be known in 
 history as RW^T foiUiiwtxLnr q fl \v^y of >nnfjuest ; 
 whether the principles of self-government shall be 
 strengthened or abandoned; whether this nation 
 shall remain a homogeneous republic or become a 
 heterogeneous empire these questions must be an 
 swered by the American people when they speak, 
 and not until then, will destiny be revealed. 
 
 Destiny is not a matter of chance ; it is a matter 
 of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is 
 a Xhing to be achieved. 
 
 N^> one can see the end from the beginning, but 
 every one can make his course an honorable one 
 from beginning to end, by adhering to the right 
 under all circumstances. Whether a man steals 
 much or little may depend upon his opportunities, 
 but whether he steals at all depends upon his own 
 volition. 
 
12 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 So with our nation. If we embark upon a career 
 of conquest no one can tell how many islands we 
 may be able to seize or how many races we may 
 be able to subjugate; neither can any one estimate 
 the cost, immediate and remote, to the Nation s 
 purse and to the Nation s character, but whether 
 we shall enter upon such a career is a question 
 which the people have a right to decide for them 
 selves. Unexpected events may retard or advance 
 the Nation s growth, but the Nation s purpose de 
 termines its destiny. 
 
 What is the Nation s purpose? 
 
 The main purpose of the founders of our Gov 
 ernment was to secure for themselves and for pos 
 terity the blessings of liberty, and that purpose 
 has been faithfully followed up to this time. Our 
 statesmen have opposed each other upon economic 
 questions, but they have agreed in defending self- 
 government as the controlling national idea. They 
 have quarreled among themselves over tariff and 
 finance, but they have been united in their oppo 
 sition to an entangling alliance with any European 
 power. 
 
 Under this policy our nation has grown in num 
 bers and in strength. Under this policy its benefi 
 cent influence has encircled the globe. Under this 
 policy the taxpayers have been spared the burden 
 j/lmd the menace of a large military establishment 
 j(and the young men have been taught the arts of 
 peace rather than the science of war. On each 
 returning Fourth of July our people have met to 
 celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Inde 
 pendence; their hearts have renewed their vows to 
 
AMERICA S MISSION 13 
 
 free institutions and their voices have praised the 
 forefathers whose wisdom and courage and patriot 
 ism made it possible for each succeeding generation 
 to repeat the words : 
 
 My country, tis of thee, 
 Sweet land of liberty, 
 Of thee I sing. 
 
 This sentiment was well-nigh universal until 
 a year ago. It was to this sentiment that the Cuban 
 insurgents appealed ; it was this sentiment that im 
 pelled our people to enter into the war with 
 Spain. Have the people so changed within a few"? 
 short months that they are now willing to apolo- / 
 gize for the War of the Revolution and force upon / 
 the Filipinos the same system of government / 
 against which the colonists protested with fire and 1 
 sword ? 
 
 The hour of temptation has come, but tempta 
 tions do not destroy, they merely test the strength 
 of individuals and nations; they are stumbling 
 blocks or stepping-stones; they lead to infamy or 
 fame, according to the use made of them. 
 
 Benedict Arnold and Ethan ^llen served to 
 gether in the Continental army and both were 
 offered British gold. Arnold yielded to the temp 
 tation and made his name a synonym for treason; 
 Allen resisted and lives in the affections of his 
 countrymen. ..^ 
 
 Our Nation is tempted to depart from its "stand-/ ( 
 ard of morality" and adopt a policy of criminal/ 
 aggression." But, will it yield? 
 
 If I mistake not the sentiment of the American 
 people they will spurn the bribe of Imperialism, 
 
14 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 and, by resisting temptation, win such a victory as 
 has not been won since the battle of Yorktown. 
 Let it be written of the United States: Behold a 
 republic that took up arms to aid a neighboring 
 people, struggling to be free ; a republic that, in the 
 progress of the war, helped distant races whose 
 wrongs were not in contemplation when hostilities 
 began ; a republic that, when peace was restored, 
 turned a deaf ear to the clamorous voice of greed 
 and to those borne down by the weight of a foreign 
 yoke spoke the welcome words, Stand up ; be free 
 let this be the record made on history s page and the 
 silent example of this republic, true to its princi 
 ples in the hour of trial, will do more to extend 
 the area of self-government and civilization than 
 could be done by all the wars of conquest that we 
 could wage in a generation. 
 
 The forcible annexation of the Philippine 
 / Islands is not necessary to make the United 
 /States a world-power. For^over ten decades our 
 I Nation has been a world-power. During its brief 
 existence*^ it has exerted upon the human race an 
 influence more potent for good than all the other 
 nations of the earth combined, and it has ex 
 erted that influence without the use of sword or 
 Gatling gun. Mexico and the republics of Central 
 and South America testify to the benign influence 
 of our institutions, while Europe and Asia give evi 
 dence of the working of the leaven of self-govern- 
 J ment. In the growth of^dejnocracy we observe the 
 * ^triumphant march otf~1midea^-an idea that would 
 weighted down ratlier^tiT^n aided by the armor 
 and weapons proffered by imperialism. 
 
AMERICA S MISSION 15 
 
 Much has been said of late about Anglo-Saxon 
 civilization. Far be it from me to detract from the 
 service rendered to the world by the sturdy race 
 whose language we speakT" The union of the Angle 
 and the Saxon formed a new and valuable type, 
 but the process of race evolution was not com 
 pleted when the Angle and the Saxon met. A 
 still later type has appeared which is superior to 
 any which has existed heretofore ; and with this 
 new type will come a higher civilization than any 
 which has preceded it. Great has been the Greek, 
 the Latin, the Slav, the Celt, the Teuton and the 
 Anglo-Saxon, but greater than any of these is the 
 American, in whom are blended the virtues of 
 them all. 
 
 Civil and religious liberty, universal education 
 and the right to participate, directly or through 
 representatives chosen by himself, in all the affairs 
 of government these give to the American citizen 
 an opportunity and an inspiration which can be 
 found nowhere else. 
 
 Standing upon the vantage ground already 
 gained the American people can aspire to a grander 
 destiny than has opened before any other race. 
 
 Anglo-Saxon- civilization has taught the individ 
 ual to protect his own rights, American civiliza 
 tion will teach him to respect the rights of others. 
 
 Anglo-Saxon civilization has taught the indi 
 vidual to take care of himself, American civiliza 
 tion, proclaiming the equality of all before the law, 
 will teach him that his own highest good requires 
 the observance of the commandment: "Thou shalt 
 love thy neighbor as thyself." 
 
16 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 Anglo-Saxon civilization has, by force of arms, 
 applied the art of government to other races for 
 the benefit of Anglo-Saxons; American civilization 
 will, by the influence of example, excite in other 
 races a desire for self-government and a determina 
 tion to secure it. 
 
 Anglo-Saxon civilization has carried its flag to 
 every clime and defended it with forts and garri 
 sons. American civilization will imprint its flag 
 upon the hearts of all who long for freedom. 
 
 "To American civilization, all hail ! 
 
 "Time s noblest offspring is the last!" 
 
IV 
 IMPERIALISM 
 
 Delivered in Indianapolis, Ind., on Aug. 8. 1000, in ac 
 cepting the Democratic nomination for the Presidency. 
 
 MR. CHAIRMAN and Members of the Noti 
 fication Committee: I shall, at an early 
 day, and in a more formal manner, accept 
 the nomination which you tender, and shall at that 
 time discuss the various questions covered by the 
 Democratic platform. It may not be out of place, 
 however, to submit a few observations at this time 
 upon the general character of the contest before us 
 and upon the question which is declared to be of 
 paramount importance in this campaign. 
 
 When I say that the contest of 1900 is a contest 
 between Democracy on the one hand and ^lutoc- 
 racy on the other I do not mean to say that alTouif 
 opponents have deliberately chosen to give to or 
 ganized wealth a predominating influence in the 
 affairs of the Government, but I do assert that on 
 the important issues of the day the Republican 
 party is dominated by those influences which con 
 stantly tend to substitute the worship of mammon 
 for 
 
 In 1859 Lincoln said that the Republican party 
 believed in the man and the dollar, but that in 
 case of conflict it.. believed in the man before the 
 xdollar, ?EIs"ls the proper relation which should 
 
 (17) 
 
18 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 exist between the two. Man, the handiwork of 
 God, comes first; money, the handiwork of man, 
 is of inferior importance. Man is the master, 
 money the servant, but upon all important ques 
 tions to-day Republican legislation tends to make 
 money the master and man the servant. 
 ; The maxim of Jefferson, * Equal rights to all and 
 | special privileges to none," and the doctrine of 
 I Lincoln, that this should be a government "of the 
 I people, by the people and for the people," are 
 being disregarded and the instrumentalities of 
 government are being used to advance the interests 
 of those who are in a position to secure favors from 
 the Government. 
 
 The Democratic party is not making war upon 
 the honest acquisition of wealth; it has no desire 
 to discourage industry, economy and thrift. On 
 the contrary, it gives to every citizen the greatest 
 possible stimulus to honest toil when it promises 
 him protection in the enjoyment of the proceeds 
 of his labor. Property rights are most secure when 
 Tmrnft-n rights are most respected. Democracy 
 strives for a civilization in which every member of 
 society will share according to his merits. 
 
 No one has a right to expect from society more 
 than a fair compensation for the services which he 
 renders to society, if he secures more it is at the 
 expense of some one else. It is no injustice to 
 him to prevent his doing injustice to another. To 
 him who would, either through class legislation 
 or in the absence of necessary legislation, trespass 
 upon the rights of another the Democratic party 
 says, "Thou shalt not." 
 
IMPERIALISM 19 
 
 Against us are arrayed a comparatively small 
 but pnlij-ip.q]_]^jan^ finqft*4^}y---pm^rFnt number 
 who really profit by Republican policies; but with 
 them are associated a large number who, because 
 of their attachment to their party name, are giving 
 their support to doctrines antagonistic to the for 
 mer teachings of their own party. 
 
 Republicans who used to advocate bimetalism 
 now try to convince themselves that the |[old stand 
 ard is good; Republicans who were formerly at- 
 tacTiecTTo the greenback are now seeking an excuse 
 for giving national banks control of the Nation s 
 paper money; Republicans who used to boast that 
 the Republican party was paying off the national 
 debt are now looking for reasons to support a 
 perpetual and increasing debt; Republicans who 
 formerly abhorred a trust now beguile themselves 
 with the delusion that there are good trusts and 
 bad trusts, while, in their minds, the line between 
 the two is becoming more and more obscure ; Re 
 publicans who, in times past, congratulated the 
 country upon the small expense of our standing 
 army, are now making light of the objections which 
 are urged against a large increase in the perma 
 nent military establishment Republicans who 
 gloried in our independence when the Nation was 
 less powerful now look with favor upon a foreign 
 alliance ; Republicans who three_._y^aS^ago_,^Q ^1 
 jemned "forcible annexation " as immoral and, 
 even criminal are now sure that it is both im-.. 
 moral and criminal to oppose forcible annexation. 
 That partizanship has already blinded many to 
 present dangers is certain ; how large a portion of 
 
20 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 the Republican party can be drawn over to the 
 new policies remains to be seen. 
 
 For a time Republican leaders were inclined to 
 deny to opponents the righj^ t.njnjt.jcizft Ih 
 
 the administration, but upon investi 
 gation they found that both Lincoln and Clay 
 asserted and exercised the right to criticize a Presi 
 dent during the progress of the Mexican war. 
 
 Instead of meeting the issue boldly and submit 
 ting a clear and positive plan for dealing with the 
 Philippine question, the Republican convention 
 adopted a platform the larger part of which was 
 devoted to boasting and se]congratulation. 
 
 In attempting to press economic quesTTohs upon 
 the country to the exclusion of those which involve 
 the very structure of our government, the Repub 
 lican leaders give new evidence of their abandon 
 ment of the earlier ideals of the party and of their 
 complete subserviency to pecuniary considera 
 tions. , 
 
 But they shall not be permitted to evade the 
 stupendous and far-reaching issue which they have 
 deliberately brought into the arena of politics. 
 When the President, supported by a practically 
 unanimous vote of the House and Senate, entered 
 upon a war with Spain for the purpose of aiding 
 the struggling patriots of Cuba, the country, with 
 out regard to party, applauded. 
 
 Altho the Democrats realized that the adminis 
 tration would necessarily gain a political advantage 
 from the conduct of a war which in the very na 
 ture of the case must soon end in a complete^vie- 
 tory, they vied with the Republicans in the sup- 
 
IMPERIALISM 21 
 
 port which they gave to the President. When _theN 
 war was over and the Republican leaders began 
 to suggest the propriety oFa colonial policy oppo-_ 
 sition at once manifesfecTTtsclL" 
 
 When the President finally laid before the Sen 
 ate a_tr_e.aj^ which recognized thejndfipeiidfince o-- 
 Cuba, but provid^d_for_the_cesjion of the Philip- 
 pine Islands fo~the United States, _the menace of 
 imperialism became so apparent that many pre- 
 l erre(Tl:o~reJect the treaty and risk the ills that 
 might follow rather than take the chance of cor 
 recting the errors of the treaty by the independent 
 action of this country. 
 
 I was among the number of those who believed \ 
 it jjetter to ratify the treaty_and end the war> r 
 lease the volunteers, remove the excuse for war i 
 
 expenditures andjthen give the Filipinos the inde^j 
 pendence which might be forced from Spain by a i 
 
 In view of the criticism which my action aroused 
 in some quarters, I take this occasion to restate 
 the reasons given at that time. I_thought i t safer, 
 to trust, the American people to give independence^ 
 JioJ&eJFiJj^nn^^ accpmpl ishmeaL 
 
 of that purpose to diplomacy with an unfriendly^ 
 
 Lincoln embodied an argument in the question 
 when he asked, "Can aliens make treaties easier . 
 than friends can make laws?" 7 I believe that we 
 are now in a better position to wage a successful 
 
 .contest against_imperialisTn than we 
 been had the treaty been__ rejected. With the i 
 Treaty ratified a__clean-cut issue is presented be- | U 
 
22 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 tween a government by consenit and a government 
 by force, and imperialists must bear the responsi- 
 bility for all that happens until the question is set 
 tled. 
 
 If the treaty had been rejected the opponents 
 
 0>f^ impenalism_WQuM h^ayp been held i-e&panaihlft 
 for any international complice tin^s xvhiph might. 
 jiave arisen before the ratification of anothenireaty. 
 But whatever difference of opinion may have ex 
 isted as to the best method of opposing a colonial 
 policy, there never was any difference as to the 
 great importance of the question and there is no 
 difference now as to the course to be pursued. 
 
 jThe title of Spain being extinguished we weje at 
 liberty to deal with the Filipinos according to 
 American principles. The Bacon r p s^1 11 ti nT v, -intro 
 duced a month before hostilities broke out at 
 Manila, promised independence to_.thL-JPi]ipinos 
 on the same terms that_it_jvag_promised to the Cu 
 bans^ Fsupported this resolution and believe that 
 its adoption "prior to the breaking out of hostili 
 ties would have ^rjvent^j_^jodshd, and that its 
 adoption at any subsequent time w r ould have ended 
 hostilities. 
 
 If the treaty had been rejected considerable time 
 would have necessarily elapsed before a new treaty 
 could have been agreed upon and ratified, and 
 during that time the question would have been 
 agitating the public mind. If the Bacon. resolution 
 had been, adopted by theJaenate and r,a.rrip.d mit by 
 tha_Presiflent r either at the time of the ratification 
 of the treaty or at any tirne^ afterwards, it would 
 h a ve taken the" questr<m~oT imperialism out_f . poli- 
 
IMPERIALISM 23 
 
 tics, and left the Arnej;icanj)eop_le free to deal with. 
 their domestic problems. But the resolution was 
 defeated by the vote of the Republican Vice-Presi-) 
 dent, and from that time to this a Republican Con 
 gress has refused to take any action whatever in 
 the matter. 
 
 When hostilities broke out at Manila Republi 
 can speakers and Republican editors at once sought 
 to lay the blame upon those who had delayed the 
 ratification of the treaty, and, during the progress 
 of the war, the same Republicjans have accused jhe 
 opponents of imperialism of giving encouragement. 
 tcTthe Filipinos] This is a cowardly evasion of jre- 
 sponsiDllity. 
 
 TFlFIs right for the United States to hold the 
 Philippine Islands permanently and imitate Euro 
 pean empires in the government of colonies, the 
 ..party., ought to -stale -its -position and 
 
 ** 
 /& 
 
 
 defend it,_but Jt__mjist expect the subject races to 
 protest against such_a jgplicy _and to resist to the 
 extenf oi^ thejr__5,i)iJlty. 
 
 The Filipinos do not need any encouragement 
 from Americans now__liying. Our_whole history^ 
 hajH3ej3n_jin_j^ Eilirj 
 
 pinos t _but_ta_g.ll .who flrp.-Amlftd -a.-voip.ft in their 
 own_government. If the Republicans are prepared 
 to censure all who have used language calculated;^ J 
 to make the Filipinos .hate foreign domination, let, \j 
 them condemn the speech of J^ticjk_ Henry; When 
 he uttered that passionate appeal, "Give me liberty 
 or give me death," he exprest a sentiment which 
 still echoes in the hearts of men. 
 
 Let them censure Jefferson; of all the statesmen\ 
 
24 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 of history none have used words so offensive to 
 those who would hold their fellows in political 
 bondage. Let them censure Washington, who de 
 clared that the colonists must choose~between lib- 
 erty and_sjlav er y- Or, if the statute of limitations 
 has run against the sins of Henry and Jefferson 
 and Washington, let them censure .Lincoln, whose 
 ^Gettysburg speech will be quolejLi" rJpfp p p of 
 
 popular government when the present 
 of force and conquest are .forgotten. 
 
 Some one has said that a truth once spoken can 
 never be recalled. It goes on and on, and no one 
 can set a limit to its ever-widening influence. But 
 if it were possible to obliterate every word written 
 or spoken in defense of the principles set forth in 
 the Declaration of Independence, a war of conquest 
 ^would still leave its legacyj)f_perpetual hatred, Jxr 
 1 it jEflja-Jjjod himself who placed Jn every human 
 heart_the_ love of liberty^He^pever made a race 
 ofjjeople so low in the scale of civilization or intel- 
 igence^that it would welcome a foreign niasferT" 
 
 Those who would have this Nation enter upon a 
 career of empire must consider, not only the effect 
 of imperialism on the Filipinos, but they must also 
 calculate its effects upon our own nation. We can- 
 _not repudiate the principle of self-government 
 m the J J hilippines~without weakening that princi 
 ple frereT] 
 
 "Lincoln said that the safety of this Nation was 
 not in its fleets, its armies, or its forts, but in the 
 spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all 
 men, in all lands, everywhere, and he warned his 
 countrymen that they could not destroy this spirit 
 
IMPERIALISM 25 
 
 without planting the seeds of despotism at their 
 own doors. 
 
 Even now we are beginning to see the paralyzing 
 influence of imperialism. Heretofore this Nation 
 has been prompt to express its sympathy with those 
 who were fighting for civil liberty. While our 
 sphere of activity has been limited to the Western 
 Hemisphere, our sympathies have not been bound 
 ed by the seas. We_hay^felt it due to ourselves 
 jmd_tp_the world, as well as to those who were 
 struggling for the rightjto govern^themselves^Jo 
 proclaim the interest which mir^people have, from 
 
 tHe date of_ ^ejr__o^^_^jndepemirice, felt__in 
 
 eyery_contest between human rights and arbitrary 
 power. 
 
 Three-quarters of a century ago, when our na 
 tion was small, the struggles of Greece aroused our 
 people, and Webster and Clay gave eloquent ex 
 pression to the universal desire for Grecian inde 
 pendence. In 1898 all parties manifested a lively 
 interest in the success of the jCubanSj^but now 
 when a war is in progress in South Africa, which 
 must result in the extension of the monarchical 
 idea, or in the triumph of a republic, the advocates 
 of imperialism in this country dare not say a word 
 in behalf of the Boers. 
 
 Sympathy for the Boers does not arise from any 
 unfriendliness towards England; the American 
 people are not unfriendly toward the people of any 
 nation. This sympathy is due to the fact that, as 
 stated in our platform, we believe in the principles 
 .of self-government ancT Jjecj^_as did~our_fore* 
 fathers, the claims of monarchy. If this nation \ 
 
 "~TT3 r^*^=^** 
 
26 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 surrenders its belief in the universal application 
 of the principles set forth in the Declaration of In 
 dependence, it will lose the prestige and jnflueace 
 which it has enjoyed among the Qations_as^an expp- 
 
 __ 
 
 Our opponents, conscious of the weakness of their 
 cause, seek to confusejinperialism with expansion, 
 andhave even dared _ to 
 
 jb^iiii_jydL_jiiSit-4*" 1 -^ Jefferson spoke so freely 
 and used language with such precision that no one 
 can be ignorant of his views. On one occasion he 
 declared: "If there be one principle more deeply 
 rooted than any other in the mind of every Ameri 
 can, it is that we should have nothing to do with 
 conquest." And again he said: "Conquest is_not 
 jjLpur principles: it is. inconsistent, Mth our gov 
 ernment.^. 
 
 The forcible annexation of territory to be gov 
 erned by arbitrary power differs as much from the 
 acquisition of territory to be built up into States 
 as a monarchy differs from a democracy. ^The_ 
 nemocratic paxty^does not oppose expansion wiiea 
 expansion enlarges the area^ of the Republic and 
 incorporates_land which can be settled by Ameri- 
 can citizens, or adds toour population people who 
 are willing to become citizen; 
 
 "their duties as such. 
 
 L- The acquisition of the Louisiana territory , Flori 
 da, Texas and other tracts which have been secured 
 from time to time enlarged the Republic and the 
 Constitution followed the flag into the new terri 
 tory. It is now proposed to seize upon distant ter 
 ritory already more densely populated than our 
 
IMPERIALISM 27 
 
 own country and to force upon the people a gov- 
 ernment for wh|ch there is. no. "warrant in our Con 
 stitution, or jQiir laws. 
 
 Even the argument that this earth belongs to ^L 
 those who desire to cultivate it and who have the 
 physical power to acquire,!!, cannot -be. iny-oked to .. 
 iustife-JJie appropriation of the Philippine Islands 
 by the JJnited States. If the islands were unin 
 habited American citizens would not be willing to 
 go there and till the soil. The_vyhite r^ce will not 
 live so_ nearjthe equator. Other nations have Jried 
 to colonize^m the same latitude. The Netherlands 
 have~controlled Java for three hundred years and 
 yet today there are less than sixty thousand people 
 of European birth scattered among the twenty-five 
 million natives. 
 
 After a century and a half of English domina- 
 tion in India, less than one-twentieth of one per 
 cent, of the people of India are of English birth, 
 and it requires an army of seventy thousand Brit 
 ish soldiers to take care of the tax collectors. Spain 
 had asserted title to the Philippine Islands for 
 three centuries and yet when our fleet entered 
 Manila bay there were less than Jen_ thousand 
 Spaniards residing in the Philippines. 
 
 A colonial policy means that we shall send to the * 
 Philippine Islands a few traders, a few taskmas 
 ters jmd a few office-holders, and an army large 
 enough^ to sujyport the authority of a small frac 
 tion of the people jwhile they rule the natives. 
 
 If w"e hawJTr]Tpj-ia.1 pnlify we must 
 
 ts natural and necessaryj 
 The spirit which will justify the , 
 
^b 
 
 28 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 \ forcible annexation of the Philippine Islands will 
 justify the seizure of other islands and the domi 
 nation of other people, and with wars of conquest 
 we can expect a certain, if not rapid, growth of 
 
 r military establishment. 
 
 That a large permanent increase in our regular 
 army is intended by Republican leaders is not a 
 matter of conjecture, but a matter of fact. In his 
 message of December 5, 1898, the President asked 
 for authority to increase the standing army to 400,- 
 000. In 1896 the army contained about 25,000. 
 Within two years the President asked for four times 
 that many, and a Republican House of Representa 
 tives complied with the request after the Spanish 
 treaty had been signed, and when no country was 
 at war with the United States. 
 
 If such an army is demanded when an imperial 
 policy is contemplated, but not openly avowed, 
 what may be expected if the people encourage the 
 Republican party by indorsing its policy at the 
 
 A large standing army is not only a pecuniary 
 
 Trardenjbojfclie people and, if accompanied by._com- 
 
 pulsory service, a constant source of irritation, but 
 
 1 it 7s ever a menace to a republican form of govern- 
 
 ment. 
 
 The army is the personification of_jorce_and 
 militarism w|ll_Jiejvita_b^ 
 
 ^eoDle_andTTurn the thoughtsof our young men 
 from_the arts of peace to the scie nce ot jyyar. ""The 
 government which relies for its defense upon its 
 citizens is more likely to be just than one which 
 has at call a large body of professional soldiers. 
 
IMPERIALISM 29 
 
 "A small standing army and a well-equipped and 
 well-disciplined State militia are sufficient at ordi 
 nary times, and in an emergency the nation should 
 in the future as in the past place its dependence 
 upon the volunteers who come from all occupations 
 at their country s call and return to productive 
 labor when their services are no longer required- 
 men who fight when the country needs fighters and 
 work when the country needs workers. 
 
 The Republican platform assumes that the Phil 
 ippine Islands will be retained under American 
 sovereignty, and we have a right to demand of 
 the Republican leaders a discussion of the future 
 status of the Filipino. Is he to be a citizen, or a 
 s_ubject ? Are we tojbring into the_body__pplitic. 
 eight or te/njnjllion Asiatics^so different from usjn 
 race^and history_that amalgamation is impossible? 
 Are they to share with us m maTng~the lawlTand 
 shaping the destiny of this nation? No Republican 
 of prominence has been bold enough to advocate 
 such a proposition. 
 
 The JjcEngry resolnt^", arlnptpd by the 
 
 ijitgl^^ the treaty, 
 
 expressly negatives this idea. The Democratic x i 
 pTaTTorm describes the situation when it says that/^ 
 the Filipinos cannot be citizens withojit_endanger.- 
 .il!5L!2r ^vjlization. Who will dispute it? And 
 what is the alternative ? If theJFilipino is notjto be i 
 a citizen, shall w r e make__him a sub f |ect? On that 
 question the" ~Ue"mocratic platform speaks with 
 equal emphasis. It declares that the Filipino can 
 not be a subject without endangering our form of 
 government. A republic can have no subjects. A. 
 
30 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 subject is possible only in a government resting 
 upon force ; hg is unknnwo-ia a government deriv 
 ing its just powers from the consent of the gov 
 erned^ 
 
 i The Republican platform says that "the largest 
 
 I measure of self-government consistent with their 
 welfare and our duties shall be secured to them 
 
 \(the Filipinos) by law." This is a strange doctrine 
 
 for a government which owes its very existence to 
 
 the men who offered their lives as a protest against 
 
 government without consent and taxation without 
 
 ..\ representation. 
 
 In what respect does the position of the Repub 
 lican party differ from the position taken by the 
 English government in 1ZI6 ? Did not the English 
 government promise a good government to the colo 
 nists? What king ever promised a bad govern 
 ment to his people? Did not the English govern- 
 ment promise" that the colonists should^ have the 
 largest jneas_ure of_self-government consistent with 
 their welfare and English duties? Did not the 
 SpanisET government promise to give to the Cubans 
 the largest measure of self-government consistent 
 
 "with their welf are and Spanish duties ? The whole 
 difference Between a^ monarchy and SL republic may 
 be summed up in one sentence. In a monarchy 
 the king gives to the people what he believes to be 
 a good government ; in a republic the people secure 
 for themselves what they believe to be a good gov- 
 jgrnment. 
 
 The Republican party has accepted the European 
 idea and planted itself upon the ground taken by 
 George III., and by every ruler who djstmsts the 
 
IMPERIALISM 31 
 
 capacity of the people for self-government or de 
 nies them a voice in their own affaics. 
 
 The Republican platform promises that some 
 measure of_sel|-gQvernment is to be given th p T^ili- 
 pinos by law ; but even this pledge is not fulfilled. 
 Nearly sjxFeen months elapsed after the ratification// ,j 
 of the treaty before the flfljnnrmnpnt. nf flnngrpss 
 last June and yet no la\y__\i^^^assj^^ 
 
 with the Philippine situation. Tiie will el t 
 
 ias__beerL Jthe L . only ... law in the Philip^. 
 T1flnrlsijhprpvpr the American- authority ex 
 tends^ 
 
 Why does the Republican party hesitate to legis 
 late upon the Philippine question ? Because a law. 
 would disclose the radical departure fom_liistflrjL. 
 and precedent contemplated, ..by those . wJm.-gnntcftl 
 the RejmBlican party. The storm of protest 
 which greeted the Porto Rican bill was an indica 
 tion of what may be expected when the American 
 people are brought face to face with legislation 
 upon this subject. 
 
 If the Porto Ricans, who welcDjnfid-annexation.. 
 are to be denied the guarantees of our jConstitu- 
 ti on, what is to be the lot of the. Eilipinos^-who- 
 resisted our authority? If secret influences could 
 compel a disregard" of our plain duty toward 
 friendly people, living near our shores, what treat 
 ment will those ^ame~ influences provide for un 
 friendly people 7.000 miles away ? If, in this coun 
 try where the people have a right to vote, Republi 
 can leaders dare not take the side of the people 
 against the great monopolies which have grown 
 up within the last few years, how can they be 
 
32 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 trusted to protect the Filipinos fromjthe corpora 
 tions which_are waiting to exploit the islands? 
 
 Is the sunlight of full citizenship to be enjoyed 
 by the people of the United States, and the twilight 
 of semi-citizenship endured by the people of Porto 
 Rico, while the thick darkness of perpetual vassal 
 age covers the Philippines? The Porto Rico tariff 
 law asserts the doctrine that the operation of the 
 Constitution is confined to the forty-five States. 
 
 The Democratic party disputes this doctrine and 
 denounces it as repugnant to both the letter__and 
 spirit of our organic law. There is no place in our 
 I sj^stem of government for the deposit of arbitrary 
 "&nd irresponsible power. That the leaders^ of a 
 grgaf^party should nlaim fnr anyJ^resJdent orCon- 
 
 1 
 
 gress the right to, teat millionsjof people as^mere 
 
 
 possessions * * and deal with them unrestrained by 
 
 the Constitution or the bill of rights_shojffis_how_|ar 
 
 we have already departed from the ancient_land- 
 inarksjmd indicates wEaFmay be esafifitedTiOhis 
 
 nation deliberately enters upon a career of empire. 
 
 The territorial form of government is temporary 
 and preparatory, andjthe chief security a citizen of 
 a territory has is found in the fact tha_tjie_jenjoys 
 llie same const itulimial-ffiiaraTi tees and isjsubj ec t 
 -to_jthe^.ain^^neraHaws as the citizen of a State. 
 Take away this security ~and his rights will be vio 
 lated and his interests sacrificed at the demand of 
 those who have political influence. This is the evil 
 of the colonial system, no matter by what nation it 
 is applied. 
 
 What is our title to the Philippine Islands? Do 
 we hold them by treaty or by conquest ? Did we 
 
IMPERIALISM 33/ 
 
 or did we take them j Did we purchase 
 the people? If not, how did we secure title to 
 them ? Were they thrown in with the land ? Will 
 the Republicans say that inanimate earth has value 
 but that when that earth is molded by the divine 
 hand and stamped with the likeness of the Creator 
 it becomes a fixture and passes with the soil? 
 governments derive their just powersAom the ooa- 
 sent of the goyernedJ.t IsJmpossible ta secure- title 
 jo peopk^eithpr by .force or by purchase. . _ 
 
 We could extinguish Spain s title by treaty, bu 
 if we hold title we must hold it b 
 
 consistent with our ideas of government. When jye 
 madeallies of the Filipinos and armed them to 
 fightjj^n^^ titled If 
 
 we buy Spain s jitle we_are nof~Fnnocent pur- 
 chasers. 
 
 There can be no doubt that we accepted and 
 utilized the services of the Filipinos, and that when 
 we did so we had full knowledge that they were 
 fighting for their own independence, and I submit 
 that history furnishes no example of turpitude 
 baser than ours if we now substitute our yoke for 
 the Spanish yoke. 
 
 Let us consider briefl the reasons which 
 
 been given in support of an imperialistic policy.^ 
 Some say that it is our duty Jo hold the Philippme/r^ 
 Islands. But duty is not an argument ; it is a^conjj 
 elusion. To ascertain what our duty is, in any 
 emergency, we must apply well-settled and gener 
 ally accepted principles. It is our duty to avoid 
 stealing, no matter whether the thing to be stolen j 
 is of great or little value. _ It is our duty to avoidj 
 
34 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 killing a human being, no matter where the human 
 being lives or to what race or class he belongs. 
 
 Every one recognizes the obligation imposedjipon 
 individuals to observe both the human and the 
 moral law, but as some deny the application of 
 those laws to nations, it may not be out of place to 
 quote the opinions of others. Jefferson, than whom 
 there is no higher political authority, said: 
 
 i"I know of but one code o morality for men, whether 
 acting singly or collectively." 
 
 Franklin, whose learning, wisdom and virtue are 
 a part of the priceless legacy bequeathed to us from 
 the revolutionary days, exprest the same idea in 
 even stronger language when he said: 
 
 "Justice is strictly due between neighbor nations as be 
 tween neighbor citizens. A highwayman is as much a rob 
 ber when he plunders in a gang as when single ; and the 
 cation that makes an unjust war is only a great gang." 
 
 Many may dare to do in crowds what they would 
 not dare to do as individuals, but the nioral char- 
 acter of an act is not determined 
 \ otjEoSe who^jtrririt; For^e can^defend a right, but 
 y forclTEraS never^yet created a right. If it was true, 
 as declared in the resolutions of intervention, that 
 the Cubans are and of right ought to be free and 
 independent" (language taken from the Declara 
 tion of Independence), it is equally true that the 
 Filipinos "are and of right ought to be free and 
 independent." 
 
 The right of the Cubans to freedom was not 
 based upon their proximity to the United States, 
 nor upon the language which they spoke, nor yet 
 upon the race or races to which they belonged. 
 
IMPERIALISM 35 
 
 Congress by a practically unanimous vote declared 
 that the principles enunciated at Philadelphia iii 
 1776 were still alive and applicable to the Cubans. 
 Who will draw a line between the natural rights. 
 of the Cubans and the Filipinos? Who will say 
 that the former has a right to liberty and that the 
 latter has no rights which we are bound to respect ? 
 And, if the Filipinos " are and of right ought to be 
 free and independent," ^vhat right jiaye we to~ 
 
 t. npnn tliejn_WJthput their COll- ) 
 
 sent? Before our dutv can be ascertained the-ir 
 
 rights must be determined, and when their rights^ 
 are once determmed__it_is_as much our duty Jt o 
 respect those rights as it was the duty of Spain 
 
 3o respect the"~rights.-nf t.hp ppnpTe of Cuba .or. ill? 
 duty of England to rggnecMhe rights of the Ameri 
 can colonists^ Rights never conflict ; duties nevei 
 
 _clash. Can it be our duty to usurp political rights 
 which belong to others? Can it be our duty to kill 
 those who. following the example of our forefath 
 ers, love liberty well enough to fight for it ? 
 
 Some poet has described the terror which over 
 came a soldier who in the midst of the battle dis 
 covered that he had slain his brother. It is written 
 "All ye are brethren/ Let us hope for the com 
 ing of the day when human life which when once 
 destroyed cannot be restored will be so sacred that 
 it will never be taken except when necessary to pun 
 ish a crime already committed, or to prevent a 
 crime about to be committed. 
 
 It is said that we have assumed before the world 
 obligations which make it necessary for us to per 
 manently maintain a government in the Philippine 
 
36 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 Islands. ^ reply first, thatjjie high est obli gallon 
 flf this nation is to j3e_truejto~TtseIf : _ No^obligation 
 to_any particular nations, or to all the nations colm- 
 bined, can require the abandonment QJJEir Jthgory 
 of government, and the substitution of doctrines 
 against which our whole national life has been a 
 protest And, second, that our obligation to the 
 Filipinos, who inhabit the islands. is_greate_r.j;han 
 any obligation which we can owe to foreigners who 
 iiave a temporary residence in tne i^hiijppjLnes or 
 
 It is argued by some that the Filipinos are_jn- 
 capable of self-government and that, therefore, we 
 owe it to the world to take control of them. Ad 
 miral Dewey., in an official report to the Navy De- 
 partmerTf."5eclared the Filipinos more capable of 
 self-government than the Cubans and said that he 
 based his opinion upon a knowTpfTgp nf both races. 
 But I will not rest the case upon the relativejad- 
 vancement of the Filipinos. Henry Clay:, In de 
 fending the right of tHe" people of South America 
 to self-government, said: 
 
 "It is the doctrine of thrones that man is too ignorant 
 to govern himself. Their partizans assert his incapacity in 
 reference to all nations ; if they cannot command universal 
 assent to the proposition, it is then demanded to particular 
 nations; and our pride and our presumption too often 
 make converts of us. I contend that it * s tn arraign the 
 (disposition of Providence hini.SP 1f tn_ cnppngQ t^at ji hfl 
 [created beings incapable of governing, themselves, and to. 
 he Lfamplfetf" on by . .kings.,. SelfjgQYijrjDment ^_the_natural 
 >vernment oi man." 
 
 ~Clay was right. There are decrees ol proficiency. 
 in the art of self-government, but it is a reflection 
 upon the Creator to say that 3je denied to any peo- 
 
IMPERIALISM 37 
 
 pie the capacity for self-government. Once admit 
 that some_j>eop_le are capable of self-government 
 and that others are not and that the capable people 
 have a right to seize upon and govern the incapable, 
 and you make force brute force the only foun 
 dation of government and invite the reign of a 
 despot. I am not willing to believe that an all-wise 
 and an all-loving God created the Filipinos and 
 then left them thousands of years helpless until 
 the islands attracted the attention of European 
 nations. 
 
 Republicans ask, "Shall we haul down the flag 
 that floats over our dead in the Philippines?" The 
 same question might have been asked, when the 
 American flag floated over Chapultepec and waved 
 over the dead who fell there; but the tourist who 
 visits the City of Mexico finds there a national 
 cemetery owned by the United States and cared for 
 by an American citizen. 
 
 Our flag still floats over our dead, but when the 
 treaty with Mexico was signed American authority 
 withdrew to the Rio Grande, and I venture the 
 opinion that during the last fifty years the people 
 of Mexico have made more progress under the 
 btimulris~of independence and self-government than 
 they would have made under a carpet-bag govern 
 ment held hi place by bayonets. The United States 
 and Mexico, friendly republics, are each stronger 
 and happier_Jih?n t.hpy won hi have been h^\ the 
 former been cursed and the latter crushed by an 
 imperialistic policy ^jsgnised as "lffllflYft] fir> t a.a- 
 similation. 
 
 ""Can we not govern colonies ? * ? we are asked.. 
 
BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 . The question is not what we can do T hut, what \VP 
 _ought_to_dix This nation can do whatever it desires 
 to do, but it must accept responsibility for what it 
 does. If the Constitution stands in the way, the 
 people can amend the Constitution. I repeat, the 
 nation can do whatever it desires to do, but it can 
 not avoid the natural and legitimate results of Its 
 own conduct. 
 
 The young man upon reaching his majority can 
 do what he pleases. He can disregard the teachings 
 of his parents ; he can trample upon all that he has 
 been taught to consider sacred; he can disobey the 
 laws of the State, the laws of society and the laws 
 of God. He can stamp failure upon his life and 
 make his very existence a curse to his fellow men, 
 and he can bring his father and mother in sorrow 
 to the grave; but he cannot annul the sentence, 
 < The wages of sin is death. 
 
 And so with the nation. It is of age and it can 
 do what it pleases ; it can spurn the traditions of the 
 past; it can repudiate the principles upon which 
 the nation rests ; it can employ force instead of rea 
 son; it can substitute might for right; it can con 
 quer weaker people; it can exploit their lands, ap 
 propriate their property and kill their people ; but 
 it cannot repeal the moral-law or escape the pun 
 ishment decreed for the violation of human rights. 
 
 "Would we tread in the paths of tyranny, 
 
 Nor reckon the tyrant s cost? 
 Who taketh another s liberty 
 
 His freedom is also lost. 
 Would we win as the strong have ever won, 
 
 Make ready to pay the debt, 
 For the God who reisned over Babylon 
 
 Is the God who is i-figning yet." 
 
IMPERIALISM 39 C/<A 
 
 Some argue that American rule in the Philippine __ 
 Islands will result in the better educati_Qa_Q^.tVift- 
 ^FilimosT Be not deceived. If we expect to main 
 tain a colonial policy, we shall not find it to- our 
 advantage to educate the people. The educated 
 Filipinps are now in revolt against us, and the 
 most ignorant ones have made the least resistance 
 to our domination. If we are to govern them with 
 out their consent and give them no voice in deter 
 mining the taxes which they must pay, we dare 
 not educate them, lest they learn to read the Dec 
 laration of Independence and Constitution of the 
 United States and mock us for our inconsistency. rr^ 
 
 The principal arguments, however, advanced by 
 those who enter upon a defense of imperialism 
 are : -x 
 
 First That we must improve the present oppor 
 tunity to become a world power and enter into in 
 ternational politics. 
 
 Second That our commercial Jjnt.firggtg in the 
 Philippine Islands and in the Orient make it nec 
 essary for us to hold the islands permanently. 
 
 Third Thgt HIA gproirl nf tVm rhrifiti-irua^ligi^n 
 
 wjll be facilitated _bv a colonial policy. 
 
 Fourth That there is no honorable retreat from 
 the positLpji_which__the nation has taken. 
 
 The first argument is addrest to the nation s 
 pride and the second to the nation s pocket-book. 
 The third is intended for the church member and 
 the fourth for the partizan. 
 
 It is sufficient answer to the first argument to 
 say that f or niore than a century this nation has 
 been a woricTpower. For ten decades it has been 
 
40 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 the most potent influence in the world. Not only 
 has it been a world power, but it has done more 
 to shape the politics of the human race than all the 
 other nations of the world combined. Because our 
 Declaration of Independence was promulgated 
 others have been promulgated. Because the patriots 
 of 1776 fought for liberty others have fought for it. 
 Because our Constitution was adopted other consti 
 tutions have been adopted. 
 
 The growth of the principle of self-government, 
 planted on American soil, has _beeji_lhajQver shadow 
 ing political f act oJM^JlinjetejBnth century. It has 
 made this nation fionsjricuous. among the nations 
 and given it a place in history such as no other na 
 tion has ever enjoyed. Nothing has been able to 
 check the onward march of this idea. I am not 
 willing that this nation shall cast aside the omnipo 
 tent weapon of truth to seize again the weapons of 
 physical warfare. I would not exchange the glory 
 of this Republic for the glory of all the empires 
 that have risen and fallen since time began. 
 *** The permanent chairman of the last Republican 
 National Convention presented the pecuniary argu 
 ment in all its baldness when he said : 
 
 "We make no hypocritical pretense of being interested 
 
 floBraeL oun t of -pflrers: While we 
 
 _ 
 
 regard the welfare of those people as a snared trust, we 
 regard the welfare of the_American people first. We see 
 our duty to ourselves as "welt ""as to others] We believe in 
 trade expansion. By every legitimate means within the 
 province of government and constitution we mean to stimu 
 late the expansion of our trade and open new markets." 
 
 *This is the commercial argument. It is based 
 upon the theory that war caiQjLrightly waged for 
 
IMPERIALISM 41 
 
 pecu n i a r v ad van t a ff e^an d tha.t_Jt__is_ profitable to 
 purchase trade by force and violence^ Franklin 
 denied both of these propositions. When Lord 
 Howe asserted that the acts of Parliament which 
 brought on the revolution were necessary to pre 
 vent American trade from passing into foreign 
 channels, Franklin replied : 
 
 "To me, it seems that neither the obtaining nor retain 
 ing of any trade, howsoever valuable, is an object for 
 which men may justly spill each other s blood; that the 
 true and sure means of extending and securing commerce 
 are the goodness and cheapness of commodities, and that 
 the profits of no trade can ever be equal to the expense 
 of compelling it and holding it by fleets and armies. I 
 consider this war against us, therefore, as both unjust and 
 unwise." 
 
 I place the philosophy of Franklin against _hfi 
 o thos& -who would put ~a price 
 
 upon the Jiead of an. .American ^oldier and justify 
 a war of conquest upon the ground that it will pay. 
 The Democratic party is_in favor of the expansion 
 of trade. It would extend our trade by every leit- 
 miate and peaceful means; but it is not willing to 
 ftP of hum a" 
 
 But a war of conquest is as unwise asjJLJs ui> 
 A harbor and coaling station in the 
 
 Philippines would answer every trade and military 
 necessity and such a concession could have been. 
 secured at any time without difficulty. 
 
 It is not necessary to own people in order .in t 
 trade \vith them. We carry on trade today with 
 every part of the world, and our commerce has ex 
 panded more rapidly than the commerce of any 
 European empire. W T e do not own Japan or China, 
 
 II 4 
 
42 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 but we trade with their people. We have not ab 
 sorbed the republics of Central and South America, 
 but we trade with them. It has not been necessary 
 to have any political connection with Canada or the 
 nations of Europe in order to trade with them. 
 Trade cannot be permanently profitable unless it is 
 voluntary. 
 
 T* When trade is secured by force, the cost of se 
 
 curing it and retaining it must be taken out of the 
 
 profits, and the profits are never large enough to 
 
 1 cover the expense. Such a system would never be 
 
 j defended but for the fact that the expense is borne 
 
 ( by all the people, while the profits are enjoyed by a 
 
 l^tl 
 ^ 
 
 Imperialism would be profitable to the army con 
 tractors ; it would be profitable to the ship owners, 
 who would carry live soldiers to the Philippines 
 and bring dead soldiers back ; it would be profitable 
 to those who would seize upon the franchises, and it 
 would be profitable to the officials whose salaries 
 would be fixt here and paid over there ; but to the 
 farmer, to the laboring man and to the vast major 
 ity of those engaged in other occupations it would 
 bring expenditure without return and risk without 
 reward. 
 
 Farmers and laboring men have, as a rule, small 
 incomes "and under^systems" which place the tax 
 pon consumption pay much more than their fair 
 share of the expenses of government. Thus the 
 very people who receive least benefit, from impprial. 
 ism will be inured most by thp. military burdens 
 which accompanyit. 
 ~Tn "aH3iHon the ""evils which he and the farmer 
 
IMPERIALISM 
 
 share in common, the laboring man will be the first] 
 to suffer if oriental subjeclsj^k ^orkinlEe United/ 
 States ; the first to suffer if American capital lea" 
 our shores to employ oriental laborjn the Philip 
 pines to supply the trade of China and Japan ; the 
 first to suffer from the violence which the military 
 spirit arouses and the first to suffer when the meth 
 ods of imperialism are applied to our own Govern 
 ment. 
 
 It is not strange, therefore, that the labor-organ* 
 izations have been quick to note the approach of 
 these dangers and prppipt t^ protest against 
 i sm . 
 
 The pecuniary argument, tho more effective with 
 certain classes, is not likely to be used so often or 
 presented with so much enthusiasm as the religious 
 argmnenjL_ If what has been termed the "gun 
 powder gospel" were urged against the Filipinos 
 only it would be a sufficient answer to say that a 
 majority_of the Filipinos are 7inw m^mbprs of one 
 branch of the Christian church: but the principle 
 
 _ ^ , , , .,. ----------------------- f" - . .. . . A --- A - _ 
 
 involved is _one_pf much wider application and chal- 
 lenge^sexious oonoiderati on . 
 
 The religious argument varies in positiveness 
 from a passive belief that Providence delivered the 
 Filipinos into our hands, for their good and our 
 glory, to the exultation of the minister who said that 
 we ought to "thrash the natives (Filipinos) until 
 they understand who we are," and that "every 
 bullet sent, every cannon shot and every flag waved 
 means, righteousness. 
 
 We cannot approve of this doctrine in one place 
 unless we are willing to apply it everywhere. If 
 
44 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 there is poison in the blood of the hand it will ulti 
 mately reach the heart. It is equally true that 
 forcible Cfrrjsftjapifv, if planted nnder the 
 flag in the far-away Orient, will sooner or later 
 
 upon 
 
 
 If true Christianity consists in carrying out in 
 our daily lives the teachings of Christ, who will say 
 that we are commanded to civilize with dynamite 
 and proselyte with the sword? He who would de 
 clare the divine will must prove his authority 
 either by Holy Writ or by evidence of a special dis 
 pensation. 
 
 mperialism finds no warrant inJhe_.Bible. The 
 command, "Go ye into all the worldand preach the 
 gospel to every creature, 7 has no Gatling gun at 
 tachment. When Jesus visited a village of Samaria 
 and the people refused to receive him, some of the 
 disciples suggested that fire should be called down 
 from Heaven to avenge the insult; but the Master 
 rebuked them and said : * Ye know not what man 
 ner of spirit ye are of; for the Son of Man is not 
 come to destroy men s lives, but to save them." 
 Suppose he had said : We will thrash them until 
 they understand who we are, how different would 
 have been the history of Christianity! Compare, 
 if you will, the swaggering, bullying, brutal doc 
 trine of imperialism with the golden rule and the 
 commandment, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as 
 
 Love. not force, was thp weapon-- nf th 
 sacrifice for others, not the exploitation, of them, 
 was His metnod of reaching the human heart. A 
 missionary recently told me that the Stars and 
 
IMPERIALISM 45 
 
 Stripes once saved his life because his assailant rec 
 ognized our flag as a flag that had no blood upon it. 
 Let it be known that our missionaries are seekin 
 
 ng* 
 that 
 
 letit ; bTknown that 
 
 Tnsteacl of being the advance" guard of conquering 
 armies, they are going forth to help and uplift, hav 
 ing their loins girt about with truth and their feet 
 shpci with the jpreparation, of .the^gospel of peace, 
 wearing the breastplate of righteousness and carry 
 ing the sword of the spirit ; let it be known that they 
 are citizens of a nation which respects the rights of 
 the citizens of other nations as carefully as it pro 
 tects the rights of its own citizens, and the welcome 
 given to our missionaries will be more cordial than 
 the welcome extended to the missionaries of any 
 nation. 
 
 The argument made by some that it was unfor 
 tunate for the nation that it had anything to do 
 with the Philippine Islands, but that the naval vic 
 tory at Manila made the permanent acquisition of 
 those islands necessary, is also unsound. "We won 
 a naval victory at Santiago, but that did not compel 
 us to hold Cuba. 
 
 The shedding of American blood in theJPMippine 
 Islands does not make it imperative that_we _shoul d 
 retain possession forever ; American blood was shed 
 
 Caney, and yet the Presi 
 
 dent has promised the Cubans independence. The 
 fact that the American flag floats over Manila does 
 not compel us to exercise perpetual sovereignty over 
 the islands; the American flag waves over Havana 
 to-day, but the President has promised to haul it 
 down when the flag of the Cuban Republic is ready 
 
; 
 
 
 46 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 to rise in its place. Better a thousand times that 
 our flag in the Orient give way to a flag represent 
 ing the idea of self-government than that the flag 
 of this Republic should become the flag of an em 
 pire. 
 
 There is an easy, honest, honorable solution of the 
 Philippine question. It is set forth in the Demo 
 cratic platform and it is submitted with confidence 
 to the American people. This plan I unreservedly 
 indorse. If elected, I will convene Congress in ex 
 traordinary session as soon as inaugurated and rec 
 ommend an immediate declaration of the nation s 
 purpose, first, to establish a stable form of govern 
 ment in the Philippine Islands, just as we are now 
 establishing a stable form of government in Cuba; 
 second, to give independence to the Filipinos as we 
 have promised_to-gi vp inrlpppnrlpr^e t" fo 
 
 third, to prote^J:^3^jj3Jj^^ inter- 
 
 ference_whjle_they work out jtheir destiny, just as 
 we have protected the republics of Central and 
 
 ! South America, and are, by the Monroe doctrine, 
 
 ! pledged to protect Cuba. 
 
 JL A European protectorate often results in the 
 plundering of the ward by the guardian. An Amer 
 ican protectorate gives to the nation protected the 
 advantage of our strength, without making it the 
 victim of our greed. For three-quarters of a cen 
 tury the Monroe doctrine has been a shield to neigh 
 boring republics and yet it has imposed no pecuni 
 ary burden upon us. After the Filipinos had aided 
 us in the war against Spain, we could not honorably 
 turn them over to their former masters; we could 
 not leave them to be the victims of the ambitious 
 
IMPERIALISM 47 
 
 designs of European nations, and since we do not 
 desire to make them a part of us or to hold them 
 fcs subjects, we propose the on]v_p.lternative, namely, 
 \o give them independence and guard them against 
 molestation from without. 
 
 When our opponents are unable to defend their 
 position by .argument they fall back upon the asser? 
 lion that it is destiny^ and insist that we must sub 
 mit to it, no matter how much it violates our moral 
 precepts and our principles of government. This is 
 a complacent philosophy. j1 
 
 tjpn between_Jght and wrong and makes individ- 
 
 lials aild_HatiOJl g t.hp hplplp^ viftimq nf 
 
 Destiny is the subterfuge of the invertebrate, 
 who, lacking the courage to oppose error, seeks some 
 plausible excuse for supporting it. Washington said 
 that the destiny of the republican form of govern 
 ment was deeply, if not finally, staked on the experi 
 ment entrusted to the American people. HQW dif- 
 ferent "Washington s definition of destiny from the 
 
 The Republicans say that this nation is in the 
 hands of destiny : Washington believed that not 
 only the destiny of our own nation but the destiny 
 of the republican form of government throughout 
 the world was entrusted to American hands. Im 
 measurable responsibility! The destiny of this 
 republic is in the hands of its own people, and 
 upon the success of the experiment here rests the 
 hope of humanity. No exterior force can disturb 
 this republic, and no foreign influence should be 
 permitted to change its course. What the future 
 
48 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 has in store for this nation no one has authority to 
 declare, but each individual has his own idea of the 
 nation s mission, and he owes it to his country as 
 well as to himself to contribute as best he may to 
 the fulfilment of that mission. 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Committee : 
 I can never fully discharge the debt of gratitude 
 which I owe to my countrymen for the honors which 
 they have so generously bestowed upon me; but, 
 sirs, whether it be my lot to occupy the high office 
 for which the convention has named me, or to spend 
 the remainder of my days in private life, it shall 
 be my constant ambition and my controlling pur 
 pose to aid in realizing the high ideals of those 
 whose wisdom and courage and sacrifices brought 
 this republic into existence. 
 
 I can conceive of a national destiny surpassing 
 the glories of the present and the past a destiny 
 which meets the responsibilities of to-day and 
 measures up to the possibilities of the future. Be 
 hold a republic, resting securely upon the founda 
 tion stones quarried by revolutionary patriots from 
 the mountain of eternal truth a republic applying 
 in practise and proclaiming to the world the self- 
 evident propositions that all men are created equal; 
 that they are endowed by their Creator with in 
 alienable rights; that governments are instituted 
 among men to secure these rights, and that govern 
 ments derive their just powers from the consent 
 of the governed. Behold a republic in which civil 
 and religious liberty stimulate all to earnest en 
 deavor and in which the law restrains every hand 
 uplifted for a neighbor s injury a republic in 
 
IMPERIALISM 49 
 
 which every_citizen is a sovereign, but in which no 
 one cares or dares to wear a crown. Behold a re 
 public standing erect while empires all around are 
 bowed beneath the weight of their own armaments 
 a republic whose flag is loved while other flags 
 are only feared. Behold a republic increasing ia\ 
 population, in wealth, in strength and in influence, ( 
 solving the problems of civilization and hastening 
 the coming of an universal brotherhood a repub 
 lic which shakes thrones and dissolves aristocracies 
 by its silent example and gives light and inspira 
 tion to those who sit in darkness. Behold_a Re 
 public gradually but surely becoming the supreme 
 m(gjyjfogto_in the world s progress and the AC- _ 
 cepteji_abiter_of_the world *s disputes a republic . 
 wTjoseJijstorv r like, the path f thp jnat r Jlig as the- 
 shining light that shineth more and, more unto the . 
 perfect day." 
 
V 
 THE ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 
 
 Delivered in the Democratic National Convention in St. 
 Louis in 1904. Commonly called the "I Have Kept the 
 Faith" speech. The occasion was the seconding of the nom 
 ination of Senator F. M. Cockrell for President. 
 
 TWO nights without sleep and a cold make it 
 difficult for me to make myself heard. I 
 trust that my voice will improve in a mo 
 ment, but as I desire to speak to the delegates 
 rather than to the galleries, I hope they at least 
 will be able to hear. 
 
 Eight years ago a Democratic national conven 
 tion placed in my hand the standard of the party 
 and commissioned me as its candidate. Four years 
 later that commission was renewed. I come to 
 night to this Democratic national convention to re 
 turn the commission. You may dispute whether I 
 have fought a good fight, you may dispute whether 
 I have finished my course, but you cannot deny 
 that I have kept the faith. 
 
 As your candidate I did all that I could to bring 
 success to the party; as a private citizen I feel 
 more interested in Democratic success to-day than 
 I ever did when I was a candidate. 
 
 The reasons that made the election of a Demo 
 crat desirable were stronger in 1900 than in 1896, 
 and the reasons that make the election of a Demo- 
 
 (50) 
 
THE ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 51 
 
 crat desirable are stronger now than they were in 
 1900. 
 
 The gentleman who presented New York s can 
 didate dwelt upon the dangers of militarism, and 
 he did not overstate those dangers. Let me quote 
 the most remarkable passage ever found in a speech 
 nominating a candidate for the presidency. 
 
 Governor Black, of New York, in presenting the 
 name of Theodore Roosevelt to the Republican con 
 vention, used these words: 
 
 "The fate of nations is still decided by their wars. You 
 may talk of orderly tribunals and learned referees; you may 
 sing in your schools the gentle praises of the quiet life ; you 
 may strike from your books the last note of every martial 
 anthem, and yet out in the smoke and thunder will always 
 be the tram]) of horses and the silent, rigid, upturned face. 
 Men may prophesy and women pray, but peace will come 
 he iv to abide forever on this earth only when the dreams of 
 childhood are the accepted charts to guide the destinies of 
 men. 
 
 "Events are numberless and mighty, and no man can tell 
 which wire runs around the world. The nation basking 
 to-day in the quiet and contentment of repose may still be 
 on the deadly circuit and to-morrow writhing in the toils of 
 war. This is the time when great figures must be kept in 
 front. If the pressure is great the material to resist it must 
 be granite and iron." 
 
 This is a eulogy of war. This is a declaration 
 that the hoped for, prayed for, era of perpetual 
 peace will never come. This is an exalting of the 
 doctrine of brute force ; it darkens the hopes of the 
 race. ^ 
 
 This Republican president, a candidate for re 
 election, is presented as the embodiment of the war 
 like spirit as "the granite and iron" that repre 
 sent modern militarism. 
 
 Do you, men of the East, desire to defeat the 
 
52 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 military idea? Friends of the South, are you anx 
 ious to defeat the military idea? Let me assure 
 you that not one of you, North, East, or South, 
 fears more than I do the triumph of that idea. If 
 this is the doctrine that our nation is to stand for, 
 it is retrogression, not progress. It is a lowering of 
 the ideals of the nation. It is a turning backward 
 to the age of violence. More than that, it is noth 
 ing less than a challenge to the Christian civiliza 
 tion of the world. 
 
 Some twenty-six hundred years ago a prophet 
 foretold the coming of One who was to be called the 
 Prince of Peace. Nearly two thousand years ago 
 He came upon the earth, and the song that was 
 sung at His birth was " Peace on earth, good will 
 toward men." For almost twenty centuries this 
 doctrine of peace has been growing; it has been 
 taking hold upon the hearts of men. For this doc 
 trine of peace, millions have gladly given their 
 lives; for this doctrine of peace, thousands have 
 crost oceans and labored in distant lands, ay, even 
 among savage tribes. This doctrine of peace., the 
 foundation of Christian civilization, has been the 
 growing hope and inspiration of the world. And 
 now, an ex-governor of the largest State in the 
 union presents for the office of president of the 
 greatest republic of all history, a man who is de 
 scribed as " granite and iron," as one who repre 
 sents, not the doctrine of peace and arbitration, 
 but the doctrine that the destinies of nations must 
 still be settled by their wars. Will you Democrats 
 of New York present a graver indictment against 
 President Roosevelt than that? Can you of the 
 
THE ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 53 
 
 South present a more serious accusation? I do not 
 ask concerning the character of the President. He 
 may have every virtue; his life may be exemplary 
 in every way ; but if he shares the views of the man 
 who placed him in nomination, if he believes with 
 his sponsor that wars must settle the destinies of 
 nations; that peace is but an idle, childish dream, 
 that women may pray for it ; that men may 
 prophesy about it; but that all this talk of " or 
 derly tribunals and learned referees" is but an 
 empty sound if he believes these things he is a 
 dangerous man for our country and for the world. 
 I believe he ought to be defeated ; I believe he can 
 be defeated; and if the Democratic party does 
 what it ought to do, I believe he will be defeated. 
 How can he be defeated? As your candidate I 
 tried to defeat the Republican party. I failed, you 
 say ? Yes, I failed. I received a million more votes 
 than any Democrat had ever received before, and 
 yet I failed. Why did I fail? Because some who 
 had affiliated with the Democratic party thought 
 my election would be injurious to the country, and 
 they left the party and helped to elect my opponent. 
 That is why I failed. I have no words of criticism 
 for them. I have always believed, I believe to 
 night, I shall ever believe, I hope, that a man s duty 
 to his country is higher than his duty to his party. 
 I hope that men of all parties will have the moral 
 courage to leave their parties when they believe 
 that to stay with their parties would injure their 
 country. The success of our Government depends 
 upon the independence and the moral courage of 
 its citizens. 
 
54 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 But, my friends, if I, with six million and a half 
 votes, failed to defeat the Republican party, can 
 those who defeated me succeed in defeating the Re 
 publican party? If under the leadership of those 
 who were loyal in 1896 we failed, shall we succeed 
 under the leadership of those who were not loyal 
 in 1896? 
 
 If we are going to have some other god besides 
 this modern Mars, presented to us by Governor 
 Black, what kind of a god is it to be? Must 
 we choose between a god of war and a god of 
 gold? 
 
 If there is anything that compares in hatefulnesa 
 with militarism, it is plutocracy, and I insist that 
 the Democratic party ought not to be compelled to 
 choose between militarism on the one side and plu 
 tocracy on the other. 
 
 We have agreed upon a platform, after a session 
 of sixteen hours. We entered the committee room 
 at 8 last evening and left it at 12 today. But I 
 never employed sixteen hours to better advantage 
 in my life. I helped to bring the party together. 
 The report was unanimous and we can go before 
 the country with a united party. 
 
 How did we reach an agreement? The platform 
 is not all that we of the West desired ; it is not all 
 that our Eastern Democrats desired. We had to 
 consent to the omission of some things that we 
 wanted in the platform. They had to consent to 
 the omission of some things that they wanted in the 
 platform. But by mutual concession we agreed 
 upon a platform, and w r e will stand on that plat 
 form in this campaign. 
 
THE ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 55 
 
 But, my friends, we need more than a platform. 
 We must nominate a ticket, and that is the work 
 now before this convention. Had a majority of you 
 come to this convention instructed for any man I 
 not only would not ask you to disregard your in 
 structions; I would not, if I could prevent it, per 
 mit you to disregard your instructions. 
 
 I believe in the right of the people to rule. I 
 believe in the right of the people to instruct their 
 delegates, and when a delegate is instructed, the 
 instruction is binding upon him. But no candidate 
 comes with a majority instructed for him. That 
 means that you, the delegates, are left to select a 
 candidate upon your own responsibility and a 
 grave responsibility it is, grave indeed is the re 
 sponsibility resting upon the delegates assembled 
 in this convention ! 
 
 I have not come to ask anything of this conven 
 tion. Nebraska asks nothing but to be permitted 
 to fight the battles of democracy ; that is all. Some 
 of you call me a dictator. It is false. You know 
 it is false. How have I tried to dictate! I have 
 said that I thought certain things ought to be done. 
 Have you not exercised the same privilege? Why 
 have I not a right to suggest ? Because I was your 
 candidate, have I forfeited forever the right to 
 make suggestions? Sirs, if that condition was at 
 tached to a nomination for the presidency, no man 
 worthy to be president would ever accept a nomina 
 tion, for the right of a man to have an opinion and 
 to express it is more important and more sacred 
 than the holding of any office however high. 
 
 I exprest my opinion in regard to the platform; 
 
56 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 I made my suggestions. Not all of them were 
 adopted. I should like to have seen the Kansas 
 City platform reaffirmed. I am not ashamed of 
 that platform. I believe in it now, as I believed in 
 it when I was running upon it as your candidate, 
 but the delegates do not agree with me, and their 
 will is supreme in the making of the platform. 
 When they veto my suggestions, I must submit; 
 there is no other court to which I can appeal. 
 
 Neither have I attempted to dictate in regard to 
 candidates. I have not asked the Democrats of this 
 nation to nominate any particular man. I have 
 said and repeat that there are men in every State 
 qualified for the presidency ; I have said and repeat 
 that out of the six and a half millions who voted 
 for me in both campaigns, we ought to be able to 
 find at least one man fit to be president. I have 
 made these suggestions, but they are only sugges 
 tions. I am here to-night as a delegate from Ne 
 braska. I have not confidence enough in my own 
 judgment to tell you that I can pick out a man and 
 say, "This man must be nominated or we shall 
 lose." I have, I think, a reasonable faith in my 
 own opinions; at least I would rather stand by 
 my opinion if I believe it right than to accept the 
 opinion of any one else if I believe that opinion to 
 be wrong. 
 
 But Nebraska is not here asking for the nomina 
 tion of any particular man. We have a platform on 
 which we all can stand. Now give us a ticket be 
 hind which all of us can stand. Go into any State 
 you please for a candidate. I have not as much 
 faith as some have in the value of locality. I have 
 
THE ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 57 
 
 never believed much in nominating candidates from 
 doubtful States on the theory that their personal 
 popularity would elect them. 
 
 I have so much confidence in Democratic princi 
 ples that I think a Democrat ought to vote for a 
 good man from any other State rather than vote 
 for a bad man from his own State. The State pride 
 argument is often given too much weight. I have 
 found that when people come with a candidate and 
 tell us, first, that we must carry a certain State, 
 and, second, that their man is the only one who 
 can carry that State, they do not put up a bond 
 to deliver the votes. Arid then, anyhow, a State 
 which is so uncertain that only one Democrat in the 
 nation can carry it, cannot be relied upon in a 
 great crisis. 
 
 Select a candidate. If it is the wish of this con 
 vention that the standard shall be placed in the 
 hand of the gentleman presented by California, a 
 man who, tho he has money, pleads the cause of the 
 poor; the man who is best beloved, I think I can 
 safely say, among laboring men, of all the candi 
 dates proposed ; the man who more than any other 
 represents opposition to the trusts if you want to 
 place the standard in his hand and make Mr. Hearst 
 the candidate of this convention, Nebraska will be 
 with you in the fight. 
 
 If you think that the gentleman from Wisconsin 
 who, tho faithful in both campaigns, was not with 
 us on the money question if you think that Mr. 
 Wall, who agrees with the East on the gold ques 
 tion and with the West on other questions, would 
 draw the party together, place the standard in his 
 
 115 
 
58 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 Land, and Nebraska will be with you and contribute 
 her part. 
 
 If you prefer an Eastern man and can find some 
 one who will give both elements of the party some 
 thing to believe in, something to trust in, something 
 to hope for, we are willing to join you in selecting 
 him as the standard-bearer. 
 
 Not all of the available men have been mentioned. 
 There is in the State of Pennsylvania a man whom 
 I desire to suggest, and I do it without consulting 
 his delegation and without the consent of the man 
 himself. He is an Eastern man, who voted with us 
 in both campaigns, altho against us on the money 
 question, but, I believe, he is in sympathy with 
 the people ; a man twice governor of a great State ; 
 a man w r ho only two years ago when again a can 
 didate, carried the State of Pennsylvania, outside 
 of the two great cities of Philadelphia and Pitts- 
 burg. 
 
 If you Eastern Democrats who insist that your 
 objection to me is that I believe in free silver if 
 you are willing to take ex-Governor Pattison, a gold 
 man, I am willing to let you have your way on that 
 question, for I will trust his honesty on all ques 
 tions. But I only mention these candidates by way 
 of illustration. 
 
 I desire to second the nomination of a man whose 
 name has already been presented, and I second his 
 nomination, not because I can assert to you that he 
 is more available than any other person who might 
 be named, but because I love the man and because 
 on the platform we have adopted there is no good 
 reason why any Democrat in the East should vote 
 
THE ST. LOUIS CONVENTION o9 
 
 against him. I desire to second the nomination of 
 Senator Cockrell of Missouri. 
 
 He is the Nestor of the Senate ; he is experienced 
 in public affairs. He is known ; he has a record, 
 and can be measured by it. I would be willing to 
 write my indorsement on his back and guarantee 
 everything he did. 
 
 It is said that he comes from the South. What 
 if he does? I do not share the feeling that some 
 have that the Democratic party cannot take a can 
 didate from the South. It is said he was in the 
 Confederate army. What if he was? I do not 
 share the belief of those who say that we cannot 
 afford to nominate an ex-Confederate. That war, 
 that cruel war, occurred forty years ago. Its issues 
 are settled; its wounds are healed, and the partici 
 pants are friends. We have another war on now, 
 and those who know what the war between democ 
 racy and plutocracy means, will not ask where the 
 candidate stood forty years ago ; they will ask where 
 he stands today on which side he is fighting in 
 the present conflict. 
 
 The great issue in this country today is "Democ 
 racy versus Plutocracy." I have boon accused of 
 having but one idea silver. A while back it was 
 said that I had only one, but then it was tariff re 
 form. But there is an issue greater than the silver 
 issue, the tariff issue or the trust issue. It is the 
 issue between the democracy and plutocracy 
 whether this is to be a government of the people, 
 and administered by officers chosen by the people, 
 and administered in behalf of the people, or a gov 
 ernment by the moneyed element of the country in 
 
60 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 the interest of predatory wealth. This issue is 
 growing. 
 
 I ask you to help us meet this issue. You tell me 
 that the Republican candidate stands for militar 
 ism. Yes, but he also stands for plutocracy. You 
 tell me that he delights in war. Yes, but there is 
 another objection to him, and that is that he does 
 not enforce the law against a big criminal as he 
 does against a little criminal. The laws are being 
 violated today, and those laws must be enforced. 
 The government must be administered according to 
 the maxim: " Equal rights to all and special priv 
 ileges to none." 
 
 We have had the debauchment of elections. It 
 was stated the other day that into the little State 
 of Delaware, two hundred and fifty-six thousand 
 dollars were sent at one time just before the election 
 of 1896. Some say that our party must have a 
 great campaign fund and bid against the Repub 
 licans. Let me warn you that if the Democratic 
 party is to save this nation, it must save it, not by 
 purchase, but by principle. That is the only way 
 to save it. Every time we resort to purchase, we 
 encourage the spirit of barter. Under such a sys 
 tem the price will constantly increase, and the elec 
 tions will go to the highest bidder. If the Demo 
 cratic party is to save this country, it must appeal 
 to the conscience of the country. It must point out 
 the dangers to the Republic ; and if the party will 
 nominate a man, I care not from what part of the 
 country he comes, who is not the candidate of a fac 
 tion, who is not the candidate of an element, but 
 the candidate of the party, the party will stand by 
 
THE ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 61 
 
 him and will drive the Republican party from 
 power. 
 
 You could, I believe, take a man from any South 
 ern State a man who would appeal to all Demo 
 crats who love democratic principles, and to those 
 Republicans who begin to fear for their nation s 
 welfare, and he would poll a million more votes 
 than the candidate of any faction whose selection 
 would be regarded as a triumph of a part of the 
 party over the rest of the party. 
 
 I simply submit these suggestions for your con 
 sideration. I am here to discharge a duty that I 
 owe to the party. I knew before coming to this 
 convention that a majority of the delegates would 
 not agree with me in regard to the financial plank. 
 I knew that there would be among the delegates 
 many who voted against me when I sorely needed 
 their help. I am not objecting to the majority 
 against me, nor to the presence of those who left us 
 in 1896 and have since returned, but I am here, not 
 because I enjoy being in the minority, but because I 
 owe a duty to the more than six million brave and 
 loyal men who sacrificed for the ticket in recent 
 campaigns. I came to get them as gocd a platform 
 as I could; I have helped to get them a good plat 
 form. I came to help to get as good a candidate as 
 possible, and I hope that he will be one who can 
 draw the factions together ; one who will give to us 
 who believe in positive, aggressive, democratic re 
 form, something to hope for, something to fight for 
 one who will also give to those who have differed 
 from us on the money question something to hope 
 for, something to fight for. And I close with an 
 
62 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 appeal from my heart to the hearts of those who 
 hear me : Give us a pilot who will guide the Demo 
 cratic ship away from the Scylla of militarism with 
 out wrecking her upon the Charybdis of commer 
 cialism. 
 
VI 
 AT THE NEW YORK RECEPTION 
 
 Delivered in Madison Square Garden, New York City, on 
 Aug. 30, 1900, at the reception tendered to Mr. Bryan on 
 his return from a year s trip a round the world. The meet 
 ing was in charge of the Traveling Men s Bryan Club, but 
 was participated in by Democrats of the entire country, 
 delegations being present from nearly every State. 
 
 HOW can I thank you for this welcome home! 
 I would be hard-hearted indeed if I were 
 not touched by this demonstration; I 
 would be ungrateful if I did not dedicate myself 
 anew to your service. It was kind of the Com 
 mercial Travelers Anti-Trust League to prepare 
 this reception ; it was kind of Governor Folk to 
 come all the way from Missouri to participate in it ; 
 it was kind of Mayor Johnson to lend his presence ; 
 it was kind of Mr. Thomas to give voice to your 
 good-will in his elocaient and more than compli 
 mentary address. I am grateful to you all most 
 grateful. 
 
 Like all travelers who have visited other lands, I 
 return with delight to the land of my birth, jrnore 
 proud of its people, with more confidence in its 
 Government, and grateful to tBe land Providence 
 that cast my lot in the United States. My national 
 pride has been increased because of the abundant 
 evidence I have seen of the altruistic interest taken 
 (63) 
 
64 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 (by Americans in the people of other countries. No 
 other nation can show such a record of benevolence 
 and disinterested friendship. My love for our form 
 of government has been quickened as I have visited 
 castles and towers, and peered into dark dungeons, 
 and I am glad that our nation, profiting by the ex 
 perience of the past and yet unhampered by tradi 
 tions and unfettered by caste, has been permitted 
 to form a new center of civilization on new soil and 
 erect here i a government of the people, by the peo 
 ple and for the people." 
 
 I also return more deeply imprest than ever be 
 fore with the responsibility that rests upon our na 
 tion as an exemplar among the nations, and more 
 solicitoiis tliaf we, avoiding the causes which have 
 led other nations to decay, may present a higher 
 ideal than has ever before been embodied in a na- 
 I tional life and carry human progress to a higher 
 plane than it has before reached. 
 
 I desire, moreover, to acknowledge indebtedness 
 to the American officials who have everywhere 
 shown us all possible courtesy and kindness. I do 
 not know that I can better show my appreciation of 
 the welcome accorded me by my countrymen than 
 to submit some suggestions drawn from observa 
 tions during the past year. 
 
 A Japanese educator, addressing me through an 
 interpreter, said : "I wish you would find the worst 
 thing in Japan and tell us about it so that we may 
 correct it." I commended the generous spirit which 
 he manifested, but assured him that I had not vis 
 ited Japan in search of faults and blemishes, but 
 rather that I might find the best things in Japan 
 
AT THE N. Y. RECEPTION 65 
 
 and take them home for the benefit of my own 
 people. Each nation can give lessons to every 
 other, and while our nation is in a position to make 
 the largest contribution, as I believe, to the educa 
 tion of the world, it ought to remain in the attitude 
 of a pupil and be ever ready to profit by the experi 
 ence of others. 
 
 The first message that I bring from the old world 
 is a message of peace. The cause of arbitration is 
 making real progress in spite of the fact that the 
 nations most prominent in the establishment of The 
 Hague tribunal have themselves been engaged in 
 wars since that court was organized. There is a 
 perceptible growth in sentiment in favor of the set 
 tlement of international disputes by peaceful 
 means. It was my good fortune to be present at the 
 last session of the Inter-parliamentary Union, 
 which convened in London on the 23d of July. 
 Twenty-six nations were represented, and these in 
 cluded all the leading nations of the world. This 
 peace congress, as it is generally known, not only 
 adopted resolutions in favor of the limitation of 
 armaments and the arbitration of all questions re 
 lating to debts, but unanimously indorsed the prop 
 osition that all disputes of every nature should be 
 submitted to an impartial tribunal for investiga 
 tion, or to the mediation of friendly nations be 
 fore hostilities are commenced. 
 
 It is not necessary to point out the importance 
 of the position taken. The embodiment of the sug 
 gestion in treaties would go a long way toward re 
 moving the probability of war. While the idea is 
 of American origin, it was heartily accepted by 
 
66 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 the representatives of England, France, Germany 
 and other European countries. 
 
 I believe that if our nation would propose to 
 make with every other nation a treaty providing 
 that all questions in dispute between the parties 
 should be submitted to The Hague court, or some 
 other impartial international tribunal, for investi 
 gation and report before any declaration of war or 
 commencement of hostilities, it would find many 
 nations willing to enter into such a compact. I 
 am sure from the public utterances of the present 
 prime minister of Great Britain, Sir Henry Camp- 
 bell-Bannerman, that such a treaty could be made 
 between the two great English-speaking nations and 
 their example would be followed until the danger 
 of war would be almost, if not entirely, removed. 
 To take the lead in such a movement would estab 
 lish our position as a world power in the best sense 
 of the term. 
 
 "What argument can be advanced against such 
 action on the part of the United States? Shall we 
 yield to any other nation in the estimate to be 
 placed upon the value of human life? I confess 
 that my aversion to killing increases with the years. 
 Surely the Creator did not so plan the universe as 
 to make the progress of the race dependent upon 
 wholesale blood-letting. I prefer to believe that 
 war, instead of being an agency for good, is rather 
 an evidence of man s surrender to his passions, and 
 that one of the tests of civilization is man s willing 
 ness to submit his controversies to the arbitrament 
 of reason rather than of force. 
 
 Another subject connected with our foreign rela- 
 
AT THE X. Y. RECEPTION 67 
 
 tions: I venture to suggest that we may not only 
 promote peace but also advance our commercial in- j 
 terests by announcing as a national policy that our 
 navy will not be used for the collection of private 
 debts. While protecting the lives of our citizens 
 everywhere and guaranteeing personal safety to all 
 who owe allegiance to our flag, we should, in my 
 judgment, announce that persons engaging in busi 
 ness and holding property in other lands for busi 
 ness purposes must be subject to the laws of the 
 countries in which they engage in business enter 
 prises. Many profitable fields of investment are 
 now closed because the people of the smaller na 
 tions are afraid that an investment of foreign capi 
 tal will be made an excuse for a foreign invasion. 
 Several times on this trip this fact has been brought 
 to my attention and I am convinced that for every 
 dollar we could secure to American investors by 
 an attempt to put the Government back of their 
 private claims we would lose many dollars by clos 
 ing the door to investment. Mark the distinction 
 between the protection of the lives of our citizens 
 and the use of the navy to guarantee a profit on 
 investments. We do not imprison for debt in the 
 United States, neither do we put men to death be 
 cause of their failure to pay what they owe, and 
 our moral prestige as well as our commercial inter 
 ests will be conserved by assuring all nations that 
 American investments depend for protection upon 
 the laws of the country to which the investors go. 
 
 Before leaving international politics let me add 
 that our nation has lost prestige rather than gained 
 it by our experiment in colonialism. We have given 
 
68 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 the monarchist a chance to ridicule our Declaration 
 of Independence and the scoffer has twitted us with 
 inconsistency. A tour through the Philippine 
 Islands has deepened the conviction that we should 
 lose no time in announcing our purpose to deal with 
 the Filipinos as we dealt with the Cubans. Every 
 consideration, commercial and political, leads to 
 this conclusion. Such ground as we may need for 
 coaling stations or for a naval base will be gladly 
 conceded by the Filipinos, who simply desire an 
 opportunity to work out their own destiny, inspired 
 by our example and aided by our advice. In so far 
 as our efforts have been directed toward the educa 
 tion of the Filipinos, we have rendered them a dis 
 tinct service ; but in educating them we must recog 
 nize that we are making colonialism impossible. If 
 we intended to hold them as subjects we would not 
 dare to educate them. Self-government with ulti 
 mate independence must be assumed if we con 
 template universal education in the Philippines. 
 As soon as opportunity offers I shall discuss the 
 Philippine question more at length, and I shall also 
 refer to English rule in India, for it throws light 
 upon our own problems in the Philippines, but 
 these subjects must be reserved until I can speak 
 more in detail. 
 
 In several of the nations of Europe, the legisla 
 tive department of government is more quickly re- 
 JBponsive to public sentiment than is our Congress. 
 [n England, for instance, where the ministry is 
 formed from the dominant party, when an election 
 is held upon any important issue the government 
 >roceeds to put into law the will of the people ex- 
 
AT THE N. Y. EECEPTION 69 
 
 prest at the polls. "While our system is superior in 
 many respects, it has one defect, viz. : that Congress 
 does not meet in regular session until thirteen 
 months after the election. During this period there 
 is uncertainty, long drawn out, which to the busi 
 ness community is often more damaging than a 
 change of policy promptly carried into effect. 
 Would not the situation be improved by a constitu 
 tional amendment convening the first session of 
 Congress within a few months after the election and 
 compelling the second session to adjourn several 
 days before the following election? Such a change 
 would not only protect legitimate business interests 
 and give the public the benefit of more prompt re 
 lief through remedial legislation, but it would pro 
 tect the people from the jobs that are usually re 
 served for the short session which is now held after 
 the election and when many of the members 
 feel less responsibility because of defeat at the 
 polls. 
 
 I return more strongly convinced than before of 
 the importance of a change in the methods of elect 
 ing United States Senators. There is noticeable 
 everywhere a distinct movement toward democracy 
 in its broadest sense. In all the countries which I 
 have visited there is a demand that the government 
 be brought nearer to the people ; in China a consti 
 tution is under consideration ; in Japan the people 
 are demanding that the ministry, instead of being 
 chosen by the emperor from among his particular 
 friends, shall be selected from parliament and be 
 in harmony with the dominant sentiment ; in India 
 there is agitation in favor of a native congress; ia ; 
 
70 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 Russia the Czar has been compelled to recognize the 
 popular voice in the establishment of a douma, and 
 throughout Europe the movement manifests itself 
 in various forms. In the United States this trend 
 toward democracy has taken the form of a growing 
 demand for the election of United States Senators 
 by a direct vote of the people. It would be difficult 
 to overestimate the strategic advantages of this re 
 form, for since every bill must receive the sanction 
 of the Senate as well as the House of Representa 
 tives before it can become a law, no important reme 
 dial legislation of a national character is possible 
 until the Senate is brought into harmony with the 
 people. 
 
 I am within the limits of the truth when I say 
 that the Senate has been for years the bulwark of 
 predatory wealth, and that it even now contains 
 so many members who owe their election to favor- 
 seeking corporations and are so subservient to their 
 masters as to prevent needed legislation. The pop 
 ular branch of Congress has four times declared in 
 favor of this reform by a two-thirds vote and more 
 than two-thirds of the States have demanded it, yet 
 the Senate arrogantly and impudently blocks the 
 way. 
 
 The income tax, which some in our country have 
 denounced as a socialistic attack upon wealth, has, 
 I am pleased to report, the indorsement of the most 
 conservative countries in the old world. It is a 
 permanent part of the fiscal system of many of the 
 nations of Europe and in several places it is a 
 graded tax, the rate being highest upon the largest 
 incomes. England has long depended upon the in- 
 
AT THE N. Y. RECEPTION 71 
 
 come tax for a considerable part of her revenues 
 and an English commission is now investigating the 
 proposition to change from a uniform to a graded 
 tax. 
 
 I have been absent too long to speak with any 
 authority on the public sentiment in this country at 
 this time, but I am so convinced of the justice of 
 the income tax that I feel sure that the people will 
 sooner or later demand an amendment to the con 
 stitution which will specifically authorize an income 
 tax, and thus make it possible for the burdens of 
 the Federal Government to be apportioned among 
 the people in proportion to their ability to bear 
 them. It is little short of a disgrace to our coun 
 try that while it is able to command the lives of its 
 citizens in time of war, it cannot, even in the most 
 extreme emergency, compel wealth to bear its share 
 of the expenses of the Government which protects it. 
 
 I have referred to the investigation of interna 
 tional controversies under a system which does not 
 bind the parties to accept the findings of the court 
 of inquiry. This plan can be used in disputes be 
 tween labor and capital; in fact, it was proposed 
 as a means of settling such disputes before it was 
 applied to international controversies. It is as im 
 portant that we shall have peace at home as that 
 we shall live peaceably with neighboring nations, 
 and peace is only possible when it rests upon jus 
 tice. In advocating arbitration of differences be 
 tween large corporate employers and their em 
 ployees, I believe we are defending the highest in 
 terests of the three parties to these disputes, viz.: 
 the employers, the employees and the public. The 
 
72 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 employee cannot be turned over to the employer to 
 be dealt with as the employer may please. 
 
 The question sometimes asked, "Can I not con 
 duct my business to suit myself ?" is a plausible 
 one ; but when a man in conducting his business at 
 tempts arbitrarily to fix the conditions under which 
 hundreds of employees are to live and to determine 
 the future of thousands of human beings, I answer 
 without hesitation that he has no right to conduct 
 his own business in such a way as to deprive his 
 employees of the right to life, liberty and the pur 
 suit of happiness. To support this position I need 
 only refer to the laws regulating the safety of 
 mines, the factory laws fixing the age at which chil 
 dren can be employed, and usury laws establishing 
 the rate of interest. The effort of the employer 
 to settle differences without arbitration has done 
 much to embitter him against those who work for 
 him and to estrange them from him a condition 
 deplorable from every standpoint. 
 
 But if it is unwise to make the employer the 
 sole custodian of the rights and interests of the 
 employees, it is equally unwise to give the em- 
 ployee uncontrolled authority over the rights and 
 interests of the employer. The employees are no 
 more to be trusted to act unselfishly and disinter 
 estedly than the employers. In their zeal to secure 
 a present advantage they may not only do injus 
 tice, but even forfeit a larger future gain. 
 
 The strike, the only weapon of the employee at 
 present, is a two-edged sword and may injure the 
 workman as much as the employer, and even when 
 wholly successful is apt to leave a rankling in the 
 
AT THE N. Y. RECEPTION 73 
 
 bosom of the wage-earner that ought not to be there. 
 Society has, moreover, something at stake as well as 
 the employer and employee, for there can be no con 
 siderable strike without considerable loss to the 
 public. Society, therefore, is justified in demand 
 ing that the differences between capital and labor 
 shall be settled by peaceful means. If a perma 
 nent, impartial board is created, to which either 
 party of an industrial dispute may appeal, or which 
 can on its own motion institute an inquiry, public 
 opinion may be relied upon to enforce the finding. 
 If there is compulsory submission to investigation 
 it is not necessary that there shall be compulsory 
 acceptance of the decision, for a full, and fair in 
 vestigation will, in almost every case, bring about 
 a settlement. 
 
 No reference to the labor question is complete 
 that does not include some mention of what is 
 known as government by injunction. As the main 
 purpose of the writ is to evade trial by jury, it is 
 really an attack upon the jury system and ought 
 to arouse a unanimous protest. However, as the 
 writ is usually invoked in case of a strike, the im 
 portance of the subject would be very much re 
 duced by the adoption of a system of arbitration, 
 because arbitration would very much reduce, even 
 if it did not entirely remove, the probability of a 
 strike. 
 
 Just another word in regard to the laboring man. 
 The struggle to secure an eight-hour day is an in 
 ternational struggle and it is sure to be settled in 
 favor of the workingman s contention. The benefits 
 of the labor-saving machine have not been distrib- 
 
74 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 uted with equity. The producer has enormously 
 multiplied his capacity, but so far the owner of the 
 machine has received too much of the increase and 
 the laborer too little. Those who oppose the eight- 
 hour day do it, I am convinced, more because of ig 
 norance of conditions than because of lack of sym 
 pathy with those who toil. The removal of work 
 from the house to the factory has separated the hus 
 band from his wife and the father from his children, 
 while the growth of our cities has put an increasing 
 distance between the home and the workshop. Then, 
 too, more is demanded of the laboring man now 
 than formerly. He is a citizen as well as a laborer, 
 and must have time for the study of public ques 
 tions if he is to be an intelligent sovereign. To 
 drive him from his bed to his task and from his 
 task back to his bed is to deprive the family of his 
 companionship, society of his service and politics of 
 his influence. 
 
 Thus far I have dwelt upon subjects which may 
 not be regarded as strictly partizan, but I am sure 
 that you will pardon me if in this presence I betray 
 my interest in those policies for which the Demo 
 cratic party stands. I have not had an opportunity 
 to make a Democratic speech for almost a year, and 
 no one not even a political enemy would be so 
 cruel as to forbid me to speak of those policies on 
 this occasion. Our opponents have derived not only 
 partizan pleasure, but partizan advantage as well, 
 from the division caused in our party by the money 
 question. They ought not, therefore, to begrudge us 
 the satisfaction that we find in the fact that unex 
 pected conditions have removed the cause of our 
 
AT THE N. Y. RECEPTION 75 
 
 differences and permitted us to present a united 
 front on present issues. The unlooked-for and un 
 precedented increase in the production of gold has 
 brought a victory to both the advocates of gold 
 and the advocates of bimetal ism the former keep 
 ing the gold standard which they wanted and the 
 latter securing the larger volume of money for 
 which they contended. We who favor bimetalism 
 are satisfied with our victory if the friends of mono- 
 metalism are satisfied with theirs, and we can invite 
 them to a contest of zeal and endurance in the 
 effort to restore to the people the rights which have 
 been gradually taken from them by the trusts. 
 
 The investigations which have been in progress 
 during the past year have disclosed the business 
 methods of those who a few years ago resented any 
 inspection of their schemes and hid their rascality 
 under high-sounding phrases. These investigations 
 have also disclosed the source of enormous campaign 
 funds which have been used to debauch elections 
 and corrupt the ballot. The people see now what 
 they should have seen before, namely, that no party 
 can exterminate the trusts so long as it owes its 
 political success to campaign contributions secured 
 from the trusts. The great corporations do not 
 contribute their money to any party except for im 
 munity expressly promised or clearly implied. The 
 president has recommended legislation on this sub 
 ject, but so far his party has failed to respond. 
 
 No important advance can be made until this cor 
 rupting influence is eliminated, and I hope that the 
 Democratic party will not only challenge the Re 
 publican party to bring forward effective legisla- 
 
76 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 tion on this subject, but will set an example by 
 refusing to receive campaign contributions from 
 corporations and by opening the books so that every 
 contributor of any considerable sum may be known 
 to the public before the election. The great ma 
 jority of corporations are engaged in legitimate 
 business and have nothing to fear from hostile legis 
 lation, and they should not be permitted to use the 
 money of the stockholders to advance the political 
 opinions of the officers of the corporations. Con 
 tributions should be individual, not corporate, and 
 no party can afford to receive contributions even 
 from individuals when the acceptance of those con 
 tributions secretly pledges the party to a course 
 which it cannot openly avow. In other words, poli 
 tics should be honest, and I mistake political condi 
 tions in America if they do not presage improve 
 ment in the conduct of campaigns. 
 
 While men may differ as to the relative impor 
 tance of issues, and while the next Congress will 
 largely shape the lines upon which the presidential 
 campaign of 1908 will be fought, I think it is safe 
 to say that at present the paramount issue in the 
 minds of a large majority of the people is the trust 
 issue. 
 
 f T congratulate President Roosevelt upon the steps 
 ! which he has taken to enforce the anti-trust law, 
 and my gratification is not lessened by the fact that 
 he has followed the Democratic rather than the Re 
 publican platform in every advance he has made. 
 It has been a great embarrassment to him that the 
 platform upon which he was elected was filled with 
 praises of the Republican party s record rather 
 
AT THE N. Y. RECEPTION 77 
 
 than with promises of reform ; even the enthusiastic 
 support given him by the Democrats has enabled 
 the champions of the trusts to taunt him with fol 
 lowing Democratic leadership. He has probably 
 gone as far as he could go without incurring the 
 hostility of the leaders of his own party. The 
 trouble is that the Republican party is not in a posi 
 tion to apply effective and thoroughgoing reforms, 
 because it has built up through special legislation 
 the very abuses which need to be eradicated. 
 
 Before any intelligent action can be taken against 
 the trusts we must have a definition of a trust. 
 Because no corporation has an absolute and com 
 plete monopoly of any important product, the apol 
 ogists for the trusts sometimes insist that there are 
 in reality no trusts. Others insist that it is impos 
 sible to legislate against such trusts as may exist 
 without doing injury to legitimate business. For 
 the purposes of this discussion it is sufficient to 
 draw the line at the point where competition ceases 
 to be effective and to designate as a trust any cor 
 poration which controls so much of the product of 
 any article that it can fix the terms and conditions 
 of sale. 
 
 Legislation which prevents monopoly not only 
 does not injure legitimate business, but actually 
 protects legitimate business from injury. We are 
 indebted to the younger Rockefeller for an illustra 
 tion which makes this distinction clear. In defend 
 ing the trust system he is quoted as saying that as 
 the American Beauty rose cannot be brought to 
 perfection without pinching off ninety-nine buds, 
 so that the one hundredth bud can receive the full 
 
78 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 strength of the bush, so great industrial organiza 
 tions are impossible without the elimination of the 
 smaller ones. It is a cruel illustration, but it pre 
 sents a perfectly accurate picture of trust methods. 
 The Democratic party champions the cause of the 
 ninety-nine enterprises which are menaced; they 
 must not be sacrificed that one great combination 
 may flourish and when the subject is understood 
 we shall receive the cordial support of hundreds of 
 thousands of business men who have themselves felt 
 the oppression of the trusts, or who, having ob 
 served the effect of the trusts upon others, realize 
 that their safety lies, not in futile attempts at the 
 restraint of trusts, but in legislation which will 
 make a private monopoly impossible. 
 
 There must be no mistaking of the issue and no 
 confusing of the line of battle. The trust, as an in 
 stitution, will have few open defenders. The policy 
 of the trust defenders will be to insist upon * * reason 
 able regulation, and then they will rely upon their 
 power to corrupt legislatures and to intimidate ex 
 ecutives to prevent the application of any remedies 
 which will interfere with the trusts. Our motto 
 must be : " A private monopoly is indefensible and 
 intolerable, " and our plan of attack must con 
 template the total and complete overthrow of the 
 monopoly principle in industry. "We need not quar 
 rel over remedies. We must show ourselves willing 
 to support any remedy and every remedy which 
 promises substantial advantage to the people in 
 their warfare against monopoly. Something is to be 
 expected from the enforcement of the criminal 
 clause of the Sherman anti-trust law, but this law 
 
AT THE N. Y. RECEPTION 79 
 
 must be enforced, not against a few trusts, as at 
 present, but against all trusts, and the aim must 
 be to imprison the guilty, not merely to recover 
 a fine. What is a fine of a thousand dollars or even 
 ten thousand dollars to a trust which makes a hun 
 dred thousand dollars while the trial is in progress? 
 
 If the criminal clause is not going to be enforced 
 it ought to be repealed. If imprisonment is too 
 severe a punishment for the eminently respectable 
 gentlemen who rob eighty millions of people of hun 
 dreds of millions of dollars annually, the language 
 of the statute ought to be changed, for nothing is 
 more calculated to breed anarchy than the failure 
 to enforce the law against rich criminals while it is 
 rigidly enforced against petty offenders. 
 
 But it is not sufficient to enforce existing laws. If 
 ten corporations conspiring together in restraint of 
 trade are threatened with punishment, all they have 
 to do now is to dissolve their separate corporations 
 and turn their property over to a new corporation. 
 The new corporation can proceed to do the same 
 thing that the separate corporations attempted, and 
 yet not violate the law. We need, therefore, new 
 legislation, and the Republican party not only fails 
 to enact such legislation, but fails even to promise 
 it. The Democratic party must be prepared to pro 
 pose legislation which will be sufficient. 
 
 Recent investigations have brought to light the 
 fact that nearly all the crookedness revealed in the 
 management of our large corporations has been due f 
 largely to the duplication of directorates. A group f 
 of men organized, or obtained control of, several 
 corporations doing business with each other and 
 

 80 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 then proceeded to swindle the stockholders of the 
 various corporations for which they acted. No man 
 can serve two masters, and the director who at 
 tempts to do so will fail, no matter how much money 
 he may make, before his failure is discovered. Many 
 of the trusts control prices by the same methods. 
 The same group of men secure control of several 
 competing corporations and the management is thus 
 consolidated. It is worth while to consider whether 
 a blow may not be struck at the trusts by a law 
 making it illegal for the same person to act as di 
 rector or officer of two corporations which deal 
 with each other or are engaged in the same general 
 business. 
 
 A still more far-reaching remedy was proposed 
 by the Democratic platform of 1900, namely, the 
 requiring of corporations to take out a federal li 
 cense before engaging in interstate commerce. This 
 remedy is simple, easily applied and comprehensive. 
 The requiring of a license would not embarrass 
 legitimate corporations it would scarcely incon 
 venience them while it would confine the preda 
 tory corporations to the state of their origin. Just 
 as a federal license to sell liquor leaves the pos 
 sessor of the license to sell only in accordance with 
 the laws of the State in which he resides, so a cor 
 porate license granted by a federal commission 
 would not interfere with the right of each State to 
 regulate foreign corporations doing business within 
 its borders. 
 
 If corporations were required to take out a fed 
 eral license the federal Government could then is 
 sue the license upon the terms and conditions which 
 
AT THE N. Y. RECEPTION 81 
 
 would protect the public. A corporation differs 
 from a human being in that it has no natural rights, 
 and as all of its rights are derived from the statutes 
 it can be limited or restrained according as the pub 
 lic welfare may require. The control which Con 
 gress has over interstate commerce is complete, and 
 if Congress can prevent the transportation of a lot 
 tery ticket through the mails, by the express com 
 panies or by freight, it can certainly forbid the use 
 of the mails, the railways and the telegraph lines to 
 any corporation which is endeavoring to monopolize 
 an article of commerce, and no party can long be 
 credited with sincerity if it condemns the trusts 
 with words only and then permits the trusts to em 
 ploy all the instrumentalities of interstate commerce 
 in the carrying out of their nefarious plans. It is 
 far easier to prevent a monopoly than to watch it 
 and punish it, and this prevention can be accom 
 plished in a practical way by refusing a license to 
 any corporation which controls more than a certain 
 proportion of the total product this proportion to 
 be arbitrarily fixed at a point which will give free 
 operation to competition. 
 
 The tariff question is very closely allied to the 
 trust question and the reduction of the tariff fur 
 nishes an easy means of limiting the extortion which 
 the trusts can practise. While absolute free trade < 
 would not necessarily make a trust impossible, still 
 it is probable that very few manufacturing estab- ! 
 lishments would dare to enter into a trust if the 
 President were empowered to put upon the free list \ 
 articles competing with those controlled by a trust. 
 While I shall take occasion at an early day to con- 
 
82 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 sider the tariff question more at length, I cannot 
 permit this opportunity to pass without expressing 
 the opinion that the principle embodied in the pro 
 tective tariff has been the fruitful source of a great 
 deal of political corruption, and that the high tariff 
 schedules have been a shelter to many of our most 
 iniquitous trusts. It is difficult to condemn the 
 manufacturers for uniting to take advantage of a 
 high tariff schedule when the schedule is framed on 
 the theory that the industries need all the protec 
 tion given, and it is not likely that the beneficiaries 
 of these schedules will consent to their reduction so 
 long as the public waits for the tariff to be reformed 
 by its friends. 
 
 But one of the worst features of the tariff, levied 
 not for revenue, but for the avowed purpose of pro 
 tection, is that it fosters the idea that men should 
 use their votes to advance their own financial inter 
 ests. The manufacturer has been assured that it is 
 legitimate for him to vote for Congressmen who, 
 whatever their opinions on other subjects may be, 
 will legislate larger dividends into his pockets; 
 sheep growers have been encouraged to believe that 
 they should have no higher aim in voting than to 
 raise the price of wool ; and laboring men have been 
 urged to make their wages their only concern. 
 
 For a generation the fat has been fried out of 
 the manufacturers by the Republican campaign 
 committee, and then the manufacturers have been 
 reimbursed by legislation. With the public con 
 science educated to believe that this open purchase 
 of legislation was entirely proper, no wonder that 
 insurance companies have used the money of their 
 
AT THE N. Y. RECEPTION 83 
 
 policy holders to carry elections no wonder that 
 trusts have hastened to purchase immunity from 
 punishment with liberal donations! How can we 
 draw a moral distinction between the man who sells 
 his vote for five dollars on election day and the 
 manufacturer who sells his political influence for 
 fifty or a hundred thousand dollars, payable in 
 dividends? How can we draw a moral line between 
 the Senator or Congressman elected by the trusts to 
 prevent hostile legislation and the Senator or Con 
 gressman kept in Congress by the manufacturers 
 to secure friendly legislation ? The party that justi 
 fies the one form of bribery cannot be relied upon 
 to condemn the other. 
 
 There never was a time when tariff reform could 
 be more easily entered upon, for the manufacturers 
 by selling abroad cheaper than at home, as many 
 of them do, have not only shown their ingratitude 
 toward those who built the tariff wall for them, 
 but they have demonstrated their ability to sell in 
 competition with the world. The high tariff has 
 long been a burden to the consumers in the United 
 States and it is growing more and more a menace 
 to our foreign commerce because it arouses resent 
 ment and provokes retaliation. 
 
 The railroad question is also interwoven with the 
 trust question. Nearly all the private monopolies 
 have received rebates or secured other advantages 
 over competitors. Absolute equality of treatment 
 at the hands of the railroads would go far toward 
 crippling the trusts, and I rejoice that the Presi 
 dent has had the courage to press the question upon 
 Congress. While the law, as it was finally enacted, 
 
84 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 is not all that could be wished, it deserves a fair 
 trial. 
 
 Rate regulation was absolutely necessary and the 
 new law furnishes some relief from the unbearable 
 condition which previously existed, but we must 
 not forget that the vesting of this enormous power 
 in the hands of a commission appointed by the 
 President introduces a new danger. If an appoint 
 ive board has the power to fix rates and can, by 
 the exercise of that power, increase or decrease by 
 hundreds of millions of dollars the annual revenues 
 of the railroads, will not the railroads feel that they 
 have a large pecuniary interest in the election of a 
 President friendly to the railroads? Experience 
 has demonstrated that municipal corruption is 
 largely traceable to the fact that franchise-holding 
 corporations desire to control the city council and 
 thus increase their dividends. If the railroad man 
 agers adopt the same policy, the sentiment in favor 
 of the ownership of the railroads by the Govern 
 ment is likely to increase as rapidly throughout 
 the country as the sentiment in favor of municipal 
 ownership has increased in the cities. 
 
 I have already reached the conclusion that rail 
 roads partake so much of the nature of a monopoly 
 that they must ultimately become public property 
 and be managed by public officials in the interest 
 of the whole community in accordance with the well- 
 defined theory that public ownership is necessary 
 where competition is impossible. I do not know 
 that the country is ready for this change; I do not 
 know that a majority of my own party favor it, 
 but I believe that an increasing number of the mem- 
 
AT THE N. Y. RECEPTION 85 
 
 bers of all parties see in public ownership the only 
 sure remedy for discrimination between persons and 
 places and for extortionate rates for the carrying of 
 freight and passengers. 
 
 Believing, however, that the operation of all the 
 railroads by the federal Government would so cen 
 tralize the Government as to almost obliterate State 
 lines, I prefer to see only the trunk lines operated 
 by the federal Government and the local lines by 
 the several State governments. Some have opposed 
 this dual ownership as impracticable, but investiga 
 tion in Europe has convinced me that it is entirely 
 practicable. Nearly all the railroads of Germany 
 are owned by the several States, the empire not even 
 owning trunk lines, and yet the interstate traffic is 
 in no wise obstructed. In traveling from Constanti 
 nople to Vienna one passes through Turkey, Bul 
 garia. Servia, Hungary and a part of Austria with 
 out a change of cars, altho each country owns and 
 operates its own roads and different languages are 
 spoken on the different divisions of the lines. Swe- : 
 den and Norway each owns its railroads, but they 
 have no trouble about interstate traffic, altho their 
 political relations are somewhat strained. The own 
 ership and operation of the local lines by the sev 
 eral State governments is not only feasible, but it 
 suits itself to conditions existing in the various 
 States. In those States where the people are ripe 
 for a change, the local lines can be purchased or 
 new lines be built at once, while private ownership 
 can continue in those States in which the people 
 still prefer private ownership. Some States have 
 been more careful than others to prevent the water- 
 
86 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 ing of stock and in the acquiring of roads each 
 State can act according to the situation which it 
 has to meet. 
 
 As to the right of the governments, federal and 
 State, to own and operate railroads there can be no 
 doubt. If we can deepen the water in the lakes 
 and build connecting canals in order to cheapen 
 railroad transportation during half of the year, we 
 can build a railroad and cheapen rates the whole 
 year; if we can spend several hundred millions on 
 the Panama canal to lower transcontinental rates, 
 we can build a railroad from New York to San 
 Francisco to lower both transcontinental and local 
 rates. The United States mail is increasing s"o rap 
 idly that we shall soon be able to pay the interest 
 on the cost of trunk lines out of the money which 
 we now pay to railroads for carrying through mails. 
 If any of you question the propriety of my men 
 tioning this subject, I beg to remind you that the 
 President could not have secured the passage of the 
 rate bill had he not appealed to the fear of the 
 more radical remedy of Government ownership, 
 and I may add, nothing will so restrain the rail 
 road magnates from attempting to capture the in 
 terstate commerce commission as the same fear. 
 The high-handed manner in which they have vio 
 lated law and ignored authority, together with the 
 corruption discovered in high places, has done more 
 to create sentiment in favor of public ownership 
 than all the speeches and arguments of the oppon 
 ents of private ownership. 
 
 I have referred to the railroad question as a part 
 of the trust question because they are so interwoven 
 
AT THE N. Y. RECEPTION 87 
 
 that it is difficult to consider one without the 
 other. 
 
 Just a word more in regard to the trusts. Some 
 defend them on the ground that they are an eco 
 nomic development and that they cannot be pre 
 vented without great injury to our industrial sys 
 tem. This may be answered in two ways: First, 
 trusts are a political development rather than an 
 economic one; and, second, the trust system could 
 not be permitted to continue even though it did 
 result in a net economic gain. It is political be 
 cause it rests upon the corporation and the corpora 
 tion rests upon a statutory foundation. The trust, 
 instead of being a natural development, is a form 
 of legalized larceny, and can exist only so long as 
 the law permits it to exist. That there is an eco 
 nomic advantage in production on a large scale 
 may be admitted, but because a million yards of 
 cloth can be produced in one factory at a lower 
 price per yard than one hundred thousand yards 
 can be produced in the same factory, it does not fol 
 low that cloth would or could be produced at a still 
 lower price per yard if all the cloth consumed in 
 the United States were produced in one factory or 
 under one management. There is a point beyond 
 which the economic advantage of a large produc 
 tion ceases. The moment an industry approaches 
 the position of a monopoly it begins to lose in eco 
 nomic efficiency, for a monopoly discourages inven 
 tion, invites deterioration in quality and destroys a 
 most potent factor in production, viz.: individual 
 ambition. But the political objections to a trust 
 overcome any economic advantage which it can pos- 
 
88 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 sibly have. No economic advantage can justify an 
 industrial despotism or compensate the nation for 
 the loss of independence among its producers. Po 
 litical liberty could not long endure under an in 
 dustrial system which permitted a few pOAverful 
 magnates to control the means of livelihood of the 
 rest of the people. 
 
 Landlordism, the curse of Europe, is an innocent 
 institution in comparison with the trust when the 
 trust is carried to its logical conclusion. The man 
 who argues that there is an economic advantage in 
 private monopoly is aiding socialism. The socialist, 
 asserting the economic superiority of the monopoly, 
 insists that its benefits shall accrue to the whole 
 people, and his conclusion cannot be denied if his 
 assertion is admitted. The Democratic party, if I 
 understand its position, denies the economic as well 
 as the political advantage of private monopoly and 
 promises to oppose it wherever it manifests itself. 
 It offers as an alternative competition where com 
 petition is possible, and public monopoly wherever 
 circumstances are such as to prevent competition. 
 
 Socialism presents a consistent theory, but a the 
 ory which, in my judgment, does not take human 
 nature into account. Its strength is in its attack 
 upon evils, the existence of which is confest; its 
 weakness is that it would substitute a new disease 
 if not a worse one for the disease from which we 
 suffer. The socialist is honest in the belief that he 
 has found a remedy for human ills, and he must be 
 \ answered with argument, not with abuse. The best 
 way to oppose socialism is to remedy the abuses 
 which have grown up under individualism but 
 
AT THE N. Y. RECEPTION 89 
 
 which are not a necessary part of individualism, 
 and the sooner the remedy is applied the better. 
 
 As I was leaving home I set forth my reasons for 
 opposing the socialistic doctrine that the Govern 
 ment should own and operate all the means of pro 
 duction and transportation; my observations dur 
 ing the past year have strengthened my conviction 
 on that subject. Because I am anxious to preserve / 
 individualism. I am earnest in my desire to see the f 
 trusts exterminated, root and branch, that the door I 
 of opportunity may be open to every American, 
 citizen. 
 
 I shall reserve for another occasion a discussion 
 of the rapidly growing appropriations made by the 
 party in power. It is natural that those who look 
 upon taxation as a blessing should view govern 
 mental extravagance with complacency. Yet even 
 the desire to find ways of spending the revenues 
 brought into the treasury by a high tariff can 
 hardly account for the reckless expenditures of the 
 last session of Congress. 
 
 But at this time I desire to center your thoughts 
 upon the overshadowing evil of the day the trust, 
 with the plutocratic tendencies that result there 
 from. It demands a remedy and the people are 
 prepared to administer strenuous treatment. The 
 Democratic party offers a solution which is both 
 reasonable and adequate a solution in which time- 
 honored principles are applied to new conditions. 
 
 The Democratic party is not the enemy of prop 
 erty or of property rights; it is, on the contrary, 
 the best defender of both, because it defends human 
 rights and human rights are the only foundation 
 
 II 7 
 
90 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 upon which property and property rights can rest 
 securely. The Democratic party does not menace 
 a single dollar legitimately accumulated; on the 
 contrary, it insists upon the protection of rich and 
 poor alike in the enjoyment of that which they have 
 honestly earned. The Democratic party does not 
 discourage thrift, but, on the contrary, stimulates 
 each individual to the highest endeavor by assuring 
 him that he will not be deprived of the fruits of 
 his toil. If we can but repeal the laws which en 
 able men to reap where they have not sown laws 
 which enable them to garner into their overflowing 
 barns the harvests that belong to others no one 
 will be able to accumulate enough to make his for 
 tune dangerous to the country. Special privilege 
 and the use of the taxing power for private gain 
 these are the twin pillars upon which plutocracy 
 rests. To take away these supports and to elevate 
 the beneficiaries of special legislation to the plane 
 of honest effort ought to be the purpose of our 
 party. 
 
 And who can suffer injury by just taxation, im 
 partial laws and the application of the Jeffersonian 
 doctrine of equal rights to all and special privileges 
 to none? Only those whose accumulations are 
 stained with dishonesty and whose immoral meth 
 ods have given them a distorted view of business, 
 society and government. Accumulating by con 
 scious frauds more money than they can use upon 
 themselves, wisely distribute or safely leave to their 
 children, these denounce as public enemies all who 
 question their methods or throw a light upon their 
 crimes. 
 
AT THE N. Y. RECEPTION 91 
 
 Plutocracy is abhorrent to a republic ; it is more 
 despotic than monarchy, more heartless than aris 
 tocracy, more selfish than bureaucracy. It preys 
 upon the nation in time of peace and conspires 
 against it in the hour of its calamity. Conscience 
 less, compassionless and devoid of wisdom, it ener 
 vates its votaries while it impoverishes its victims. 
 It is already sapping the strength of the nation, 
 vulgarizing social life and making a mockery of 
 morals. The time is ripe for the overthrow of this 
 giant wrong. In the name of the counting-rooms 
 which it has defiled; in the name of business 
 honor which it has polluted; in the name of the 
 home which it has despoiled ; in the name of re 
 ligion which it has disgraced; in the name of the 
 people whom it has opprest, let us make our appeal 
 to the awakened conscience of the nation. 
 
 And if I may be permitted to suggest a battle 
 hymn, I propose a stanza slightlv changed from one 
 of the most touching of the poems of Burns, Scot 
 land s democratic bard: 
 
 "Columbia ! My dear, my native soil, 
 
 For whom my warmest wish to heaven is sent, 
 
 Long may thy hardy sons of rustic toil 
 
 Be blest with health, and peace, and sweet content. 
 
 And, O, may Heaven their simple lives prevent 
 
 From luxury s contagion, weak and vile; 
 
 Then, tho unearned wealth to wickedness be lent, 
 
 A virtuous populace will rise and stand 
 
 A wall of fire around their much Joved land." 
 
VII 
 GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP 
 
 Delivered in Louisville, Ky., in September, 1906, in reply 
 to misrepresentations of that part of his New York speech 
 which dealt with the railroad question. 
 
 BEFORE addressing myself to other subjects, 
 which I wish to discuss, I beg your in 
 dulgence while I submit a few remarks in 
 regard to one question concerning which my atti 
 tude has, to some extent, been misrepresented. 
 
 In my speech at the New York reception I made 
 a brief reference to the Government ownership of 
 railways, and I thought that I had exprest myself 
 so clearly that my position could not be miscon 
 strued even by those who desired to misconstrue it. 
 The New York speech was prepared in advance. It 
 was not only written, but it was carefully revised. 
 It stated exactly what I wanted to state and I have 
 nothing to withdraw or modify in the statement 
 therein made. What I say to-night is rather in the 
 nature of an elaboration of the ideas therein pre 
 sented. 
 
 After quoting from the Democratic platform of 
 1900, that "a private monopoly is indefensible and 
 intolerable," and after laying it down as a prin 
 ciple that public ownership should begin where 
 competition ends and that the people should have 
 the benefit of any monopoly that might be found 
 
 (92) 
 
GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP 93 
 
 necessary, I stated that I had reached the conclu 
 sion that railroads partake so much of the nature 
 of monopoly that they must ultimately become pub 
 lic property and be managed by public officials in 
 the interests of the whole community. " I added: 
 I do not know that the country is ready for this 
 legislation. I do not know that the majority of 
 my own party favors it, but I believe that an in 
 creasing number of the members of all parties see 
 in public ownership a sure remedy for discrimina 
 tion between persons and places and for the extor 
 tionate rates for the carrying of freight and pas 
 sengers. 
 
 I then proceeded to outline a system of public 
 ownership whereby the advantages of public own 
 ership might be secured to the people without the 
 dangers of centralization. This system contemplates 
 federal ownership of the trunk lines only and the 
 ownership of local lines by the several States. I 
 further exprest it as my opinion that the railroads 
 themselves were responsible for the growth of the 
 sentiment in favor of public ownership, and said 
 that, while I believed that the rate bill recently 
 enacted should be given a fair trial, we might ex 
 pect to see the railroads still more active in politics 
 unless our experience with them differed from the 
 experience we had had with franchise-holding cor 
 porations. 
 
 This statement of my views has been assailed by 
 some as an attempt to force these views upon the 
 Democratic party, and by some as an announcement 
 of an intention to insist upon the incorporation 
 of these views in the next Democratic national plat- 
 
94 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 form. Let me answer these two charges. I have 
 tried to make it clear that I exprest my own opinion 
 and I have never sought to compel the acceptance 
 of my opinion by any one else. Reserving the right 
 to do my own thinking, I respect the right of every 
 one else to do his thinking. I have too much respect 
 for the rights of others to ask them to accept any 
 views that I may entertain unless those views com 
 mend themselves to them, and I have too much con 
 fidence in the independent thought in my own party 
 to expect that any considerable number of Demo 
 crats would acknowledge my right to do their 
 thinking for them, even if I were undemocratic 
 enough to assert such a right. 
 
 As to platforms, I have contended always that 
 they should be made by the voters. I have, in my 
 speeches and through my paper, insisted that the 
 platform should be the expression of the wishes of 
 the voters of the party and not be the arbitrary 
 production of one man or a few leaders. 
 
 If you ask me whether the question of Govern 
 ment ownership will be an issue in the campaign of 
 1908, I answer, I do not know. If you ask me 
 whether it ought to be in the platform, I reply, I 
 cannot tell until I know what the Democratic voters 
 think upon the subject. If the Democrats believe 
 that the next platform should contain a plank in 
 favor of Government ownership, then that plank 
 ought to be included. If the Democrats think it 
 ought not to contain such a plank, then such a 
 plank ought not to be included. It rests with the 
 party to make the platform, and individuals can 
 only advise. I have spoken for myself and for my- 
 
GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP 95 
 
 self only, and I did not know how the suggestion 
 would be received. I am now prepared to confess 
 to you that it has been received more favorably than 
 I expected. It has not been treated as harshly as 
 I thought possibly it would be treated. That it 
 would be gravely discust by others I hoped. There 
 is this, however, that I do expect, namely, that those 
 Democrats who opposed Government ownership 
 will accompany their declaration against it with 
 the assertion that they will favor Government own 
 ership whenever they are convinced that the coun 
 try must choose between Government ownership of 
 the roads and railroad ownership of the Govern 
 ment. I cannot conceive how a Democrat can de 
 clare, no matter to what extent the railroads carry 
 their interference with politics and their corrup 
 tion of officials, he is still opposed to Government 
 ownership. I think I may also reasonably expect 
 that Democrats who oppose Government ownership 
 will say that if Government ownership must come, 
 they prefer a system whereby the State may be 
 preserved and the centralizing influence be reduced 
 to a minimum. Such a plan I have proposed, and 
 I have proposed it because I want the people to 
 consider it and not be driven to the federal owner 
 ship of all railroads as the only alternative to pri 
 vate ownership. The dual plan, that is, federal 
 ownership of trunk lines and State ownership of 
 local lines, not only preserves the State, and even 
 strengthens its position, but it permits the gradual 
 adoption of Government ownership as the people of 
 different sections are ready to adopt it. 
 
 I have been slow in reaching this position and I 
 
96 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 can therefore be patient with those who now stand 
 where I stood for years, urging strict regulation 
 ;and hoping that that would be found feasible. I 
 still advocate strict regulation and shall rejoice if 
 experience proves that that regulation can be made 
 effective. I will go farther than that and say that 
 I believe we can have more efficient regulation un 
 der a Democratic administration with a Democratic 
 Senate and House than we are likely to have under 
 a Republican administration with a Republican 
 Senate and House, and yet I would not be honest 
 with you if I did not frankly admit that observa 
 tion has convinced me that no such efficient regula 
 tion is possible, and that Government ownership 
 can be undertaken on the plan outlined with less 
 danger to the country than is involved in private 
 ownership as we have had it or as we are likely 
 to have it. I have been brought to regard public 
 ownership as the ultimate remedy by railroad his 
 tory which is as familiar to you as to me. Among 
 the reasons that have led me to believe that we 
 must, in the end, look to Government ownership for 
 relief, I shall mention two or three. First and fore- 
 . most is the corrupting influence of the railroad in 
 politics. There is not a State in the union that 
 has not felt this influence to a greater or less extent. 
 The railroads have insisted upon controlling legis 
 latures ; they have insisted upon naming executives ; 
 they have insisted upon controlling the nomination 
 and appointment of judges; they have endeavored 
 to put their representatives on tax boards that they 
 might escape just taxation ; they have watered their 
 stock, raised their rates and enjoined the States 
 
GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP 97 
 
 whenever they have attempted to regulate rates; 
 they have obstructed legislation when hostile to 
 them, and advanced, by secret means, legislation 
 favorable to them. Let me give you an illustration : 
 
 The interstate commerce law was enacted nine 
 teen years ago. After about nine years this law 
 was practically nullified by the supreme court, and 
 for ten years the railroad influence has been suffi 
 cient in the Senate and House to prevent an amend 
 ment asked for time and again by the Interstate 
 Commerce Commission. That railroad influence has 
 been strong enough to keep the Republican party 
 from adopting any platform declaration in favor of 
 rate regulation. When the President, following 
 three Democratic platforms, insisted upon regula 
 tion, he was met with the opposition of the rail 
 roads, and every step, every point gained in favor 
 of the people, was gained after a strenuous fight. 
 The bill was improved by an amendment proposed 
 by Senator Stone, of Missouri, restoring the crimi 
 nal penalty which had been taken out of the inter 
 state commerce law by the Elkins law. This same 
 amendment had been presented, in substance, in 
 the House, by Congressman James, of Kentucky, 
 and had been defeated by Republican votes. The 
 bill was further improved by an amendment pro 
 posed by Senator Culberson, of Texas, forbidding 
 the use of passes, and it would have been still fur 
 ther improved by the amendment proposed by Sen 
 ator Bailey, of Texas, limiting the court review, 
 but the railroad influence was strong enough to de 
 feat this amendment. 
 
 I have no idea that the railroads are going to 
 
98 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 permit regulation without a struggle and I fear 
 that their influence will be strong enough very 
 much to delay, if it does not entirely defeat, reme 
 dial legislation. You, in this State, know some 
 thing of the railroad in politics. When I visited 
 the State and spoke for Mr. Goebel, I heard him 
 charge upon every platform that the railroads were 
 spending large sums in opposition to his election, 
 and I have always believed that the railroad influ 
 ence was largely responsible for the assassination 
 of that brave defender of the rights of the people. 
 
 Another reason which has led me to favor Gov 
 ernment ownership, is the fact that the people are 
 annually plundered of an enormous sum by extor 
 tionate rates; that places are discriminated against 
 and individuals driven out of business by favoritism 
 shown by the railroads. You say that all these 
 things can be corrected without interference with 
 private ownership. I shall be glad if experience 
 proves that they can be, but I no longer hope for it. 
 President Roosevelt, altho expressing himself 
 against Government ownership, has announced that 
 only successful regulation can prevent Government 
 ownership. Is there any Democrat who is not will 
 ing to go as far as President Roosevelt and admit 
 the necessity of Government ownership in case the 
 people are convinced of the failure of regulation? 
 I cannot believe it. 
 
 Then, while we attempt to make regulation ef 
 fective, while we endeavor to make the experiment 
 under the most favorable conditions, namely, with 
 the Democratic party in power, let us not hesitate 
 to inform the railroads that they must keep out of 
 
GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP 99 
 
 politics; that they must keep their hands off of 
 legislation ; that they must abstain from interfering 
 with the party machinery and warn them that they 
 can only maintain their private control of the rail 
 roads by accepting such regulation as the people 
 may see fit to apply in their own interest and for 
 their own protection. Without this threat our 
 cause would be hopeless. It remains to be seen 
 whether, with this threat, we shall be able to secure 
 justice to the shippers, to the traveling public and 
 to the taxpayers. 
 
VIII 
 SHALL THE PEOPLE RULE? 
 
 Delivered in Lincoln, Nebr., on Aug. 12, 1908, in accept 
 ing the Democratic nomination for the Presidency. 
 
 1 CANNOT accept the nomination which you 
 officially tender, without first acknowledging 
 my deep indebtedness to the Democratic party 
 for the extraordinary honor which it has conferred 
 upon me. Having twice before been a candidate 
 for the presidency, in campaigns which ended in 
 defeat, a third nomination, the result of the free 
 and voluntary act of the voters of the party, can 
 only be explained by a substantial and undisputed 
 growth in the principles and policies for which I, 
 with a multitude of others, have contended. As 
 these principles and policies have given me what 
 ever political strength I possess, the action of the 
 convention not only renews my faith in them but 
 strengthens my attachment to them. 
 
 It is sufficient, at this time, to assure you that I 
 am in hearty accord with both the letter and the 
 spirit of the platform. I endorse it in whole and in 
 part, and shall, if elected, regard its declarations 
 as binding upon me. And, I may add, a platform 
 is binding as to what it omits as well as to what 
 it contains. According to the democratic idea, the 
 people think for themselves and select officials to 
 carry out their wishes. The voters are the sov- 
 
 (10U) 
 
SHALL THE PEOPLE P.TJLE 101 
 
 creigns; the officials are the servants, employed for 
 a fixt time and at a stated salary to do what the 
 sovereigns want done, and to do it in the way the 
 sovereigns want it done. Platforms are entirely 
 in harmony with this democratic idea. A platform 
 announces the party s position on the questions 
 which are at issue; and an official is not at liberty 
 to use the authority vested in him to urge personal 
 views which have not been submitted to the voters 
 for their approval. If one is nominated upon a 
 platform which is not satisfactory to him, he must, 
 if candid, either decline the nomination, or, in ac 
 cepting it, propose an amended platform in lieu 
 of the one adopted by the convention. No such sit 
 uation, however, confronts your candidate, for the 
 platform upon which I was nominated not only 
 contains nothing from which I dissent, but it spe 
 cifically outlines all the remedial legislation 
 which we can hope to secure during the next four 
 years. 
 
 The distinguished statesman who received the 
 Republican nomination for President said, in his 
 notification speech: 
 
 The strength of the Republican cause in the campaign at 
 hand is the fact that we represent the policies essential to 
 the reform of known abuses, to the continuance of liberty 
 and true prosperity, and that we are determined, as our 
 platform unequivocally declares, to maintain them and carry 
 them on." 
 
 In the name of the Democratic party, I accept 
 the challenge, and charge that the Republican party 
 is responsible for all the abuses which now exist 
 in the federal Government, and that it is impotent 
 to accomplish the reforms which are imperatively 
 
102 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 needed. Further, I cannot concur in the statement 
 that the Republican platform unequivocally de 
 clares for the reforms that are necessary; on the 
 contrary, I affirm that it openly and notoriously 
 disappoints the hopes and expectations of reform 
 ers, whether those reformers be Republicans or 
 Democrats. So far did the Republican convention 
 fall short of its duty that the Republican candidate 
 felt it necessary to add to his platform in several 
 important particulars, thus rebuking the leaders 
 of the party upon whose cooperation he must rely 
 for the enactment of remedial legislation. 
 
 As I shall, in separate speeches, discuss the lead 
 ing questions at issue, I shall at this time confine 
 myself to the paramount question, and to the far- 
 reaching purpose of our party, as that purpose is 
 set forth in the platform. 
 
 Our platform declares that the overshadowing 
 issue which manifests itself in all the questions now 
 under discussion, is "Shall the people rule?" No 
 matter which way we turn ; no matter to what sub 
 ject we address ourselves, the same question con 
 fronts us : Shall the people control their own Gov 
 ernment and use that Government for the protec 
 tion of their rights and for the promotion of their 
 welfare? or shall the representatives of predatory 
 wealth prey upon a defenseless public, while the 
 offenders secure immunity from subservient officials 
 whom they raise to power by unscrupulous meth 
 ods? This is the issue raised by the " known 
 abuses" to which Mr. Taft refers. 
 
 In a message sent to Congress last January, Pres 
 ident Roosevelt said : 
 
SHALL THE PEOPLE RULE 103 
 
 "The attacks by these great corporations on the admin 
 istration s actions have been given a wide circulation 
 throughout the country, in the newspapers and otherwise, 
 by those writers and speakers who, consciously or uncon 
 sciously, act as the representatives of predatory wealth 
 of the wealth accumulated on a giant scale by all forms of 
 iniquity, ranging from the oppression of wage-earners to 
 unfair and unwholesome methods of crushing out competi 
 tion, and to defrauding the public by stock-jobbing and the 
 manipulation of securities. Certain wealthy men of this 
 stamp, whose conduct should be abhorrent to every man 
 of ordinarily decent conscience, and who commit the hideous 
 wrong of teaching our young men that phenomenal business 
 success must ordinarily be based on dishonesty, have, dur 
 ing the last few months, made it apparent that they banded 
 together to work for a reaction. Their endeavor is to over 
 throw and discredit all who honestly administer the law. 
 to prevent any additional legislation which would check and 
 restrain them, and to secure, if possible, a freedom from 
 all restraint which will permit every unscrupulous wrong 
 doer to do what he wishes unchecked, provided he has 
 enough money." 
 
 "What an arraignment of the predatory interests ! 
 
 Is the President s indictment true ? And. if true, 
 against whom was the indictment directed? Not 
 against the Democratic party. 
 
 Mr. Taft says that these evils have crept in dur 
 ing the last ten years. He declares that, during 
 this time, some 
 
 "prominent and influential members of the community, 
 spurred by financial success and in their hurry for greater 
 wealth, became unmindful of the common rules of business 
 honesty and fidelity, and of the limitations imposed by law 
 upon their actions" ; 
 
 and that 
 
 "the revelations of the breaches of trusts, the disclosures 
 as to rebates and discriminations by railroads, the accumu 
 lating evidence of the violations of the anti-trust laws, by 
 a number of corporations, and the overissue of stocks and 
 bonds of interstate railroads for the unlawful enriching of 
 
104 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 directors and for the purpose of concentrating the control 
 of the railroads under one management" 
 
 all these, he charges, "quickened the conscience 
 of the people and brought on a moral awaken 
 ing." 
 
 During all this time, I beg to remind you, Re 
 publican officials presided in the executive depart 
 ment, filled the cabinet, dominated the Senate, con 
 trolled the House of Representatives and occupied 
 most of the federal judgeships. Four years ago the 
 Republican platform boastfully declared that since 
 1860 with the exception of two years the Repub 
 lican party had been in control of part or of all the 
 branches of the federal Government; that for two 
 years only was the Democratic party in a position 
 to either enact or repeal a law. Having drawn the 
 salaries ; having enjoyed the honors ; having secured 
 the prestige, let the Republican party accept the re 
 sponsibility ! 
 
 Why were these l known abuses permitted to de 
 velop ? Why have they not been corrected ? If ex 
 isting laws are sufficient, why have they not been 
 enforced? All of the executive machinery of the 
 federal Government is in the hands of the Repub 
 lican party. Are new laws necessary? Why have 
 they not been enacted? With a Republican Presi 
 dent to recommend, with a Republican Senate and 
 House to carry out his recommendations, why does 
 the Republican candidate plead for further time 
 in which to do what should have been done long 
 ago? Can Mr. Taft promise to be more strenuous 
 in the prosecution of wrongdoers than the present 
 executive ? Can he ask for a larger majority in the 
 
SHALL THE PEOPLE RULE 105 
 
 Senate than his party now has ? Does* he need more 
 Republicans in the House of Representatives or a 
 speaker with more unlimited authority ? 
 
 The President s close friends have been promising 
 for several years that he would attack the iniquities 
 of the tariff. We have had intimation that Mr. Taf t 
 was restive under the demands of the highly pro 
 tected industries. And yet the influence of the 
 manufacturers, who have for twenty-five years con 
 tributed to the Republican campaign fund, and who 
 in return have framed the tariff schedules, has been 
 sufficient to prevent tariff reform. As the present 
 campaign approached, both the President and Mr. 
 Taft declared in favor of tariff revision, but set the 
 date of revision after the election. The pressure 
 brought to bear by the protected interests has been 
 great enough to prevent any attempt at tariff re 
 form before the election; and the reduction prom 
 ised after the election is so hedged about with quali 
 fying phrases, that no one can estimate with ac 
 curacy the sum total of tariff reform to be expected 
 in case of Republican success. If the past can be 
 taken as a guide, the Republican party will be so 
 obligated by campaign contributions from the 
 beneficiaries of protection, as to make that party 
 powerless to bring to the country any material re 
 lief from the present tariff burdens. 
 
 A few years ago the Republican leaders in the 
 House of Representatives were coerced by public 
 opinion into the support of an anti-trust law which 
 had the endorsement of the President, but the Sen 
 ate refused even to consider the measure, and since 
 that time no effort has been made by the dominant 
 
 118 
 
106 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 party to secure remedial legislation upon this sub 
 ject. 
 
 For ten years the Interstate Commerce Commis 
 sion has been asking for an enlargement of its 
 powers, that it might prevent rebates and discrimi 
 nations, but a Republican Senate and a Republican 
 House of Representatives were unmoved by its en 
 treaties. In 1900 the Republican national conven 
 tion was urged to endorse the demand for railway 
 legislation, but its platform was silent on the sub 
 ject. Even in 1904, the convention gave no pledge 
 to remedy these abuses. When the President finally 
 asked for legislation, he drew his inspiration from 
 three Democratic national platforms and he re 
 ceived more cordial support from the Democrats 
 than from the Republicans. The Republicans in the 
 Senate deliberately defeated several amendments 
 offered by Senator LaFollette and supported by 
 the Democrats amendments embodying legislation 
 asked by the Interstate Commerce Commission. 
 One of these amendments authorized the ascertain 
 ment of the value of railroads. This amendment 
 was not only defeated by the Senate, but it was 
 overwhelmingly rejected by the recent Republican 
 national convention, and the Republican candidate 
 has sought to rescue his party from the disastrous 
 results of this act by expressing himself, in a quali 
 fied way, in favor of ascertaining the value of the 
 railroads. 
 
 Mr. Taft complains of the overissue of stocks and 
 bonds of railroads, "for the unlawful enriching of 
 directors and for the purpose of concentrating the 
 control of the railroads under one management," 
 
SHALL THE PEOPLE RULE 107 
 
 and the complaint is well founded. But, with a 
 President to point out the evil, and a Republican 
 Congress to correct it, we find nothing done for the 
 protection of the public. Why ? My honorable op 
 ponent has, by his confession, relieved me of the 
 necessity of furnishing proof ; he admits the condi 
 tion and he cannot avoid the logical conclusion that 
 must be drawn from the aJmiasion. There is no 
 doubt whatever that a large majority of the voters 
 of the Republican party recognize the deplorable 
 situation which Mr. Taft describes; they recognize 
 that the masses have had but little influence upon 
 legislation or upon the administration of the Gov 
 ernment, and they are beginning to understand the 
 cause. For a generation, the Republican party has 
 drawn its campaign funds from the beneficiaries 
 of special legislation. Privileges have been pledged 
 and granted in return for money contributed to 
 debauch elections. What can be expected when 
 official authority is turned over to the representa 
 tives of those who first furnish the sinews of war 
 and then reimburse themselves out of the pockets 
 of the taxpayers? 
 
 So long as the Republican party remains in 
 power, it is powerless to regenerate itself. It cannot 
 attack wrongdoing in high places without disgracing 
 many of its prominent members, and it, therefore, 
 uses opiates instead of the surgeon s knife. Its male 
 factors construe each Republican victory as an en 
 dorsement of their conduct and threaten the party 
 with defeat if they are interfered with. Not until 
 that party passes through a period of fasting in 
 the wilderness will the Republican leaders learn 
 
108 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 to study public questions from the standpoint of the 
 masses. Just as with individuals, "the cares of 
 this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the 
 truth, " so in politics, when party leaders serve far 
 away from home and are not in constant contact 
 with the voters, continued party success blinds their 
 eyes to the needs of the people and makes them 
 deaf to the cry of distress. 
 
 An effort has been made to secure legislation re 
 quiring publicity as to campaign contributions and 
 expenditures; but the Republican leaders, even in 
 the face of an indignant public, refused to consent 
 to a law which would compel honesty in elections. 
 "When the matter was brought up in the recent Re 
 publican national convention, the plank was repudi 
 ated by a vote of 880 to 94. Here, too, Mr. Taft has 
 been driven to apologize for his convention and to 
 declare himself in favor of a publicity law ; and yet, 
 if you will read what he says upon this subject, you 
 will find that his promise falls far short of the re 
 quirements of the situation. He says : 
 
 "If I am elected President, I shall urge upon Congress, 
 with every hope of success, that a law be passed requiring 
 the filing, in a federal office, of a statement of the con 
 tributions received by committees and candidates in elec 
 tions for members of Congress, and in such other elections 
 as are constitutionally within the control of Congress." 
 
 I shall not embarrass him by asking him upon 
 what he bases his hope of success ; it is certainly not 
 on any encouragement he has received from Repub 
 lican leaders. It is sufficient to say that if his hopes 
 were realized if, in spite of the adverse action of 
 his convention, he should succeed in securing the 
 enactment of the very law which he favors, it would 
 
SHALL THE PEOPLE RULE 109 
 
 give but partial relief. He has read the Democratic 
 platform; not only his language, but his evident 
 alarm, indicates that he has read it carefully. He 
 even had before him the action of the Democratic 
 national committee in interpreting and applying 
 that platform ; and yet he fails to say that he favors 
 the publication of the contributions before the elec 
 tion. Of course, it satisfies a natural curiosity to 
 find out how an election has been purchased, even 
 when the knowledge comes too late to be of service, 
 but why should the people be kept in darkness until 
 the election is past ? Why should the locking of the 
 door be delayed until the horse is gone ? 
 
 An election is a public affair. The people, exer 
 cising the right to select their officials and to de 
 cide upon the policies to be pursued, proceed to 
 their several polling places on election day and 
 register their will. What excuse can be given for 
 secrecy as to the influences at work? If a man, 
 pecuniarily interested in "concentrating the con 
 trol of the railroads in one management," subscribes 
 a large sum to aid in carrying the election, why 
 should his part in the campaign be concealed until 
 he has put the officials under obligation to him? 
 If a trust magnate contributes $100,000 to elect 
 political friends to office with a view to presenting 
 hostile legislation, why should that fact be con 
 cealed until his friends are securely seated in their 
 official positions? 
 
 This is not a new question ; it is a question which 
 has been agitated a question which the Republican 
 leaders fully understand a question which the Re 
 publican candidate has studied, and yet he refuses 
 
110 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 to declare himself in favor of the legislation abso 
 lutely necessary, namely, legislation requiring pub 
 lication before the election. 
 
 How can the people hope to rule if they are not 
 able to learn, until after the election, what the pred 
 atory interests are doing? The Democratic party 
 meets the issue honestly and courageously. It says : 
 
 "We pledge the Democratic party to the enactment of a 
 law prohibiting any corporation from contributing to a cam 
 paign fund, and any individual from contributing an amount 
 above a reasonable maximum, and providing for the publi 
 cation, before election, of all such contributions above a 
 reasonable minimum." 
 
 The Democratic national committee immediately 
 proceeded to interpret and apply this plank, an 
 nouncing that no contributions would be received 
 from corporations, that no individual would be al 
 lowed to contribute more than $10,000, and that all 
 contributions above $100 would be made public be 
 fore the election those received before October 15 
 to be made public on or before that day, those re 
 ceived afterward to be made public on the day when 
 received, and no such contributions to be accepted 
 within three days of the election. The expenditures 
 are to be published after the election. Here is a 
 plan which is complete and effective. 
 
 Next to the corrupt use of money, the present 
 method of electing United States Senators is most 
 responsible for the obstruction of reforms. For one 
 hundred years after the adoption of the constitu 
 tion, the demand for the popular election of Sena 
 tors, while finding increased expression, did not be 
 come a dominant sentiment. A constitutional 
 amendment had from time to time been suggested 
 
SHALL THE PEOPLE RULE 111 
 
 and the matter had been more or less discussed in 
 a few of the States, but the movement had not 
 reached a point where it manifested itself through 
 Congressional action. In the Fifty-second Congress, 
 however, a resolution was reported from a house 
 committee proposing the necessary constitutional 
 amendment, and this resolution passed the House of 
 Representatives by a vote which was practically 
 unanimous. In the Fifty-third Congress a similar 
 resolution was reported to, and adopted by, the 
 House of Representatives. Both the Fifty-second 
 and Fifty-third Congresses were Democratic. The 
 Republicans gained control of the House as a result 
 of the election of 1894 and in the Fifty-fourth Con 
 gress the proposition died in committee. As time 
 went on, however, the sentiment grew among the 
 people, until it forced a Republican Congress to fol 
 low the example set by the Democrats, and then an 
 other and another Republican Congress acted fa 
 vorably. State after State has endorsed this re 
 form, until near]y two-thirds of the States have 
 recorded themselves in its favor. The United States 
 Senate, however, impudently and arrogantly ob 
 structs the passage of the resolution, notwithstand 
 ing the fact that the voters of the United States, 
 by an overwhelming majority, demand it. And this 
 refusal is the more significant when it is remem 
 bered that a number of Senators owe their election 
 to great corporate interests. Three Democratic na 
 tional platforms the platforms of 1900, 1904 and 
 1 908 specifically call for a change in the constitu 
 tion which will put the election of Senators in the 
 hands of the voters, and the proposition has been 
 
112 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 endorsed by a number of the smaller parties, but no 
 Republican national convention has been willing to 
 champion the cause of the people on this subject. 
 The subject was ignored by the Republican national 
 convention in 1900 ; it was ignored in 1904, and the 
 proposition was explicitly repudiated in 1908, for 
 the recent Republican national convention, by a 
 vote of 866 to 114, rejected the plank endorsing the 
 popular election of Senators and this was done in 
 the convention which nominated Mr. Taf t, few dele 
 gates from his own State voting for the plank. 
 
 In his notification speech, the Republican candi 
 date, speaking of the election of Senators by the 
 people, says: " Personally, I am inclined to favor 
 it, but it is hardly a party question." What is nec 
 essary to make this a party question? When the 
 Democratic convention endorses a proposition by a 
 unanimous vote, and the Republican convention re 
 jects the proposition by a vote of seven to one, does 
 it not become an issue between the parties? Mr. 
 Taft cannot remove the question from the arena 
 of politics by expressing a personal inclination to 
 ward the Democratic position. For several years 
 he has been connected with the administration. 
 What has he ever said or done to bring this question 
 before the public ? What enthusiasm has he shown 
 in the reformation of the Senate ? What influence 
 could he exert in behalf of a reform which his party 
 has openly and notoriously condemned in its con 
 vention, and to which he is attached only by a be 
 lated expression of personal inclination? 
 
 " Shall the people rule?" Every remedial meas 
 ure of a national character must run the gauntlet 
 
SHALL THE PEOPLE RULE 113 
 
 of the Senate. The President may personally in 
 cline toward a reform ; the House may consent to it ; 
 but as long as the Senate obstructs the reform, the 
 people must wait. The President may heed a pop 
 ular demand ; the House may yield to public opin 
 ion; but as long as the Senate is defiant, the rule 
 of the people is defeated. The Democratic platform 
 very properly describes the popular election of Sen 
 ators as "the gateway to other national reforms." 
 Shall we open the gate, or shall we allow the ex 
 ploiting interests to bar the way by the control of 
 this branch of the federal legislature? Through a 
 Democratic victory, and through a Democratic vic 
 tory only, can the people secure the popular election 
 of Senators. The smaller parties are unable to 
 secure this reform; the Republican party, under 
 its present leadership, is resolutely opposed to it; 
 the Democratic party stands for it and has boldly 
 demanded it. If I am elected to the presidency, 
 those who are elected upon the ticket with me will 
 be, like myself, pledged to this reform, and I shall 
 convene Congress in extraordinary session imme 
 diately after inauguration, and ask, among other 
 things, for the fulfilment of this platform pledge. 
 
 The third instrumentality employed to defeat the 
 will of the people is found in the rules of the House 
 of Representatives. Our platform points out that 
 "the house of representatives was designed by the 
 fathers of the constitution to be the popular branch 
 of our Government, responsive to the public will," 
 and adds: 
 
 "The House of Representatives, as controlled in recent 
 years by the Republican party, has ceased to be a deliberative 
 
114 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 and legislative body, responsive to the will of a majority 
 of the members, but has come under the absolute domination 
 of the speaker, who has entire control of its deliberations 
 and powers of legislation. 
 
 "We have observed with amazement the popular branch 
 of our Federal Government helpless to obtain either the con 
 sideration or enactment of measures desired by a majority 
 of its members." 
 
 This arraignment is fully justified. The reform 
 Republicans in the House of Representatives, when 
 in the minority in their own party, are as helpless 
 to obtain a hearing or to secure a vote upon a meas 
 ure as are the Democrats. In the recent session of 
 the present Congress, there was a considerable ele 
 ment in the Republican party favorable to remedial 
 legislation ; but a few leaders, in control of the or 
 ganization, despotically supprest these members, 
 and thus forced a real majority in the House to 
 submit to a well-organized minority. The Repub 
 lican national convention, instead of rebuking this 
 attack upon popular government, eulogized Con 
 gress and nominated as the Republican candidate 
 for Vice-President one of the men who shared in the 
 responsibility for the coercion of the House. Our 
 party demands that 1 1 the House of Representatives 
 shall again become a deliberative body, controlled 
 by a majority of the people s representatives, and 
 not by the speaker, and is pledged to adopt l such 
 rules and regulations to govern the House of Rep 
 resentatives as will enable a majority of its mem 
 bers to direct its deliberations and control legisla 
 tion." 
 
 " Shall the people rule?" They can not do so 
 unless they can control the House of Representa 
 tives, and, through their representatives in the 
 
SHALL THE PEOPLE RULE 115 
 
 House, give expression to their purposes and their 
 desires. The Republican party is committed to the 
 methods now in vogue in the House of Representa 
 tives; the Democratic party is pledged to such a 
 revision of the rules as Avill bring the popular 
 branch of the Federal Government into harmony 
 with the ideas of those who framed our constitution 
 and founded our Government. 
 
 11 Shall the people rule?" I repeat, is declared by 
 our platform to be the overshadowing question, and 
 as the campaign progresses, I shall take occasion to 
 discuss this question as it manifests itself in other 
 issues ; for whether we consider the tariff question, 
 the trust question, the railroad question, the bank 
 ing question, the labor question, the question of im 
 perialism, the development of our waterways, or 
 any other of the numerous problems which press 
 for solution, we shall find that the real question in 
 volved in each is, whether the Government shall 
 remain a mere business asset of favor-seeking cor 
 porations or be an instrument in the hands of the 
 people for the advancement of the common weal. 
 
 If the voters are satisfied with the record of the 
 Republican party and with its management of pub 
 lic affairs, we cannot reasonably ask for a change 
 in administration ; if, however, the voters feel that 
 the people, as a whole, have too little influence in 
 shaping the policies of the Government ; if they feel 
 that great combinations of capital have encroached 
 upon the rights of the masses, and employed the 
 instrumentalities of government to secure an unfair 
 share of the total wealth produced, then we have a 
 right to expect a verdict against the Republican 
 
116 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 party and in favor of the Democratic party ; for our 
 party has risked defeat aye, suffered defeat in 
 its effort to arouse the conscience of the public and 
 to bring about that very awakening to which Mr. 
 Taft has referred. 
 
 Only those are worthy to be entrusted with lead 
 ership in a great cause who are willing to die for 
 it, and the Democratic party has proven its worthi 
 ness by its refusal to purchase victory by delivering 
 the people into the hands of those who have de 
 spoiled them. In this contest between Democracy 
 on the one side and plutocracy on the other, the 
 Democratic party has taken its position on the side 
 of equal rights, and invites the opposition of those 
 who use politics to secure special privileges and 
 governmental favoritism. Gauging the progress of 
 the nation, not by the happiness or wealth or re 
 finement of a few, but by the prosperity and ad 
 vancement of the average man, the Democratic 
 party charges the Republican party with being the 
 promoter of present abuses, the opponent of neces 
 sary remedies and the only bulwark of private mo 
 nopoly. The Democratic party affirms that in this 
 campaign it is the only party having a prospect 
 of success, which stands for justice in government 
 and for equity in the distribution of the fruits of 
 industry. 
 
 We may expect those who have committed lar 
 ceny by law and purchased immunity with their po 
 litical influence, to attempt to raise false issues, and 
 to employ "the livery of Heaven" to conceal their 
 evil purposes, but they can no longer deceive. The 
 Democratic party is not the enemy of any legitimate 
 
SHALL THE PEOPLE RULE 117 
 
 industry or of honest accumulations. It is, on the 
 contrary, a friend of industry and the steadfast pro 
 tector of that wealth which represents a service to 
 societ} 7 -. The Democratic party does not seek to an 
 nihilate all corporations; it simply asserts that, as 
 the Government creates corporations, it must retain 
 the power to regulate and to control them, and that 
 it should not permit any corporation to convert 
 itself into a monopoly. Surely we should have the 
 cooperation of all legitimate corporations in our 
 effort to protect business and industry from the 
 odium which lawless combinations of capital will, 
 if unchecked, cast upon them. Only by the separa 
 tion of the good from the bad can the good be made 
 secure. 
 
 The Democratic party seeks not revolution but 
 reformation, and I need hardly remind the student 
 of history that cures are mildest when applied at 
 once ; that remedies increase in severity as their ap 
 plication is postponed. Blood poisoning may be 
 stopt by the loss of a finger to-day ; it may cost an 
 arm to-morrow or a life the next day. So poison in 
 the body politic cannot be removed too soon, for the 
 evils produced by it increase with the lapse of 
 time. 
 
 That there are abuses which need to be remedied, 
 even the Republican candidate admits; that his 
 party is unable to remedy them has been fully dem 
 onstrated during the last ten years. I have such 
 confidence in the intelligence as well as the patriot 
 ism of the people, that I cannot doubt their readi 
 ness to accept the reasonable reforms which our 
 party proposes, rather than permit the continued 
 
118 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 growth of existing abuses to hurry the country on 
 to remedies more radical and more drastic. 
 
 The platform of our party closes with a brief 
 statement of the party s ideal. It favors "such an 
 administration of the Government as will insure, 
 as far as human wisdom can, that each citizen shall 
 draw from society a reward commensurate with his 
 contribution to the welfare of society." 
 
 Governments are good in proportion as they as 
 sure to each member of society, so far as govern 
 ments can, a return proportionate to individual 
 merit. 
 
 There is a Divine law of rewards. When the 
 Creator gave us the earth, with its fruitful soil, the 
 sunshine with its warmth, and the rains with their 
 moisture, He proclaimed, as clearly as if His voice 
 had thundered from the clouds: "Go work, and 
 according to your industry and your intelligence, 
 so shall be your reward." Only where might has 
 overthrown, cunning undermined or government 
 suspended this law, has a different law prevailed. 
 To conform the Government to this law ought to 
 be the ambition of the statesman ; and no party can 
 have a higher mission than to make it a reality 
 wherever governments can legitimately operate. 
 
 Recognizing that I am indebted for my nomina 
 tion to the rank and file of our party, and that my 
 election must come, if it comes at all, from the un- 
 purchased and unpurchasable suffrages of the Amer 
 ican people, I promise, if entrusted with the re 
 sponsibilities of this high office, to concentrate what 
 ever ability I have to the ne purpose of making 
 this, in fact, a government in which the people rule 
 
SHALL THE PEOPLE RULE 119 
 
 SL government which will do justice to all, and 
 offer to every one the highest possible stimulus to 
 great and persistent effort, by assuring -to each the 
 enjoyment of his just share of the proceeds of hig 
 toil, no matter in- what part of -the -vineyard he la 
 bors, or ta what occupation, profession or calling 
 he devotes himself. 
 
IX 
 THE TRUST QUESTION 
 
 Delivered in Indianapolis, Ind., on Aug. 25, 1908. 
 
 NOWHERE does the Republican party show 
 its indifference to real reform more than 
 in its treatment of the trust question. Here 
 is the Republican platform : 
 
 "The Republican party passed the Sherman anti-trust 
 law over Democratic opposition and enforced it after Demo 
 cratic dereliction. It has been a wholesome instrument for 
 good in the hands of a wise and fearless administration. 
 But experience has shown that its effectiveness can be 
 strengthened and its real objects better attained by such 
 amendments as will give to the Federal Government greater 
 supervision and control over, and secure greater publicity 
 in, the management of that class of corporations engaged in 
 interstate commerce, having power and opportunity to effect 
 monopolies." 
 
 The Sherman anti-trust law was passed eighteen 
 years ago ; it has a criminal clause which provides a 
 penitentiary punishment for those who conspire to 
 gether in restraint of trade. Ever since the enact 
 ment of the law, with the exception of four years, 
 the Republican party has controlled the executive 
 department of the Government, and, during two 
 years of the four, it controlled the House of Repre 
 sentatives. Instead of Democratic dereliction, the 
 Democratic party has been urging, year after year, 
 the strict enforcement of that law, and the Repub 
 lican party has been explaining year after year why 
 (120) 
 
THE TRUST QUESTION 121 
 
 it was impossible to enforce it. Instead of being a 
 "wholesome instrument for good." it has been al 
 most useless, so far as the protection of the public 
 is concerned, for the trusts have grown in number, 
 in strength, and in arrogance, at the very time when 
 the Republican party was boasting of its enforce 
 ment of the law. The Steel Trust was formed im 
 mediately after the election of 1900, and a promi 
 nent Republican said, in a speech soon after, that 
 it might have prevented a Republican victory if it 
 had been formed before the election. 
 
 Most of the trusts have never been disturbed, and 
 those that have been prosecuted have not had their 
 business seriously interrupted. The President has 
 done something toward the enforcement of the law, 
 but not nearly enough and the Republican leaders 
 have thwarted him at every point. Finally the 
 President became so exasperated that he sent to 
 Congress a message which shocked Republican lead 
 ers by the fierceness of its denunciation of the pred 
 atory interests. The very convention that spoke in 
 its platform of the administration as "a wise and 
 fearless one" was composed largely of the Senators 
 and members of Congress, who boldly opposed every 
 effort to free the people from the clutches of the 
 favor-seeking corporations. 
 
 The Republican platform says that experience 
 has shown that the effectiveness of the anti-trust 
 law could be strengthened "by amendments which 
 will give the Federal Government greater super 
 vision and control over, and greater publicity as to, 
 the management of those interstate commerce cor 
 porations which have the power and opportunity to 
 
 119 
 
122 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 effect monopolies." That is all. No pointing out 
 of remedies ; no outlining of a plan for more effec 
 tive legislation simply a general statement that 
 promises nothing in particular. And Mr. Taft s 
 speech of acceptance is even weaker than the plat 
 form. He gives no evidence of having studied the 
 question, and one looks in vain in his notification 
 speech for any sign of indignation at what the 
 trusts have been doing or for evidence of zeal in 
 their prosecution. He has, for several years, been 
 the intimate official companion of the President, 
 but he has caught none of the fire which the Presi 
 dent manifested in his message of last January. 
 
 If, in the presence of an aroused people, and in 
 the heat of a campaign, the Republican party con 
 tents itself with a colorless platform on this sub 
 ject, what can we expect in the way of activity 
 when the exigencies of the campaign are passed? 
 If, when Mr. Taft is appealing to the Roosevelt 
 Republicans, his discussion of the subject is so life 
 less and his manner so apologetic and apathetic, 
 what reason have we to expect either vigor in the 
 enforcement of the law or earnestness in the search 
 for additional remedies? 
 
 In his speech delivered about a year ago announc 
 ing his candidacy, Mr. Taft suggested that the 
 present law be so amended as to permit "reasona 
 ble" restraint of trade. Such an amendment would 
 be as absurd as an amendment to the law against 
 burglary limiting the law to cases in which more 
 than two burglars entered the house at one time, 
 or took more than half they found. In his notifica 
 tion speech he suggests national incorporation a 
 
THE TRUST QUESTION 123 
 
 remedy which would make conditions worse because, 
 without adding to the power of Congress to pre 
 vent monopolies, it would deprive the States of the 
 power to protect their own people. 
 
 Now, let me contrast the Democratic platform 
 with the Republican platform. Nowhere is the dif 
 ference in the temper of the parties more noticea 
 ble; nowhere is the difference in the method of 
 dealing with questions more manifest. Our plat 
 form says: 
 
 "A private monopoly is indefensible and intolerable. We 
 therefore favor the vigorous enforcement of the criminal 
 law against guilty trust magnates and officials, and de 
 mand the enactment of such additional legislation as may 
 be necessary to make it impossible for a private monopoly 
 to exist in the Tnited States. Among the additional rem 
 edies, we- specify three; First, a law preventing a duplication 
 of directors among competing corporations; second, a li 
 cense system which will, without abridging the right of 
 each State to create corporations, or its right to regulate as 
 it will foreign corporations doing business within its limits, 
 make it necessary for a manufacturing or trading corpora 
 tion engaged in interstate commerce to take out a federal 
 license before it shall be permitted to control as much as 
 twenty-five per cent, of the product in which it deals, the 
 license to protect the public from watered stock and to 
 prohibit the control by such corporation of more than fifty 
 per cent, of the total amount of any product consumed in 
 the United States ; and, third, a law compelling such li 
 censed corporations to sell to all purchasers in all parts of 
 the country on the same terms, after making due allowance 
 for cost of transportation." 
 
 Here is a plain, candid statement of the party s 
 position. There is no quibbling, no evasion, no am 
 biguity. A private monopoly is indefensible and 
 intolerable. It is bad bad in principle, and bad in 
 practise. No apology can be offered for it, and r,r> 
 people should endure it. Our party s position is 
 
124 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 " entirely in harmony with the position of Jefferson. 
 "With a knowledge of human nature which few men 
 have equaled and none surpassed, and with extraor 
 dinary foresight, he exprest unalterable opposition 
 to every form of private monopoly. The student 
 of history will find that upon this subject, as upon 
 other subjects of Government, the great founder 
 of the Democratic party took his position upon the 
 side of the whole people and against those who seek 
 to make a private use of Government, or strive to 
 secure special privileges at the expense of the pub 
 lic. J[ 
 
 I have, in discussing the tariff question, presented 
 one of our remedies, namely, the removal of the 
 tariff from imports which compete with trust-made 
 goods. This, we believe, would greatly lessen the 
 extortion practised by the trusts and bring about 
 the dissolution of many monopolistic combines. But 
 we are not satisfied merely with the lessening of 
 extortion or with the dissolution of some of the 
 trusts. 
 
 Because the private monopoly is indefensible and 
 intolerable, the Democratic party favors its exter 
 mination. It pledges itself to the vigorous enforce 
 ment of the criminal law against guilty trust mag 
 nates and officials. It is impossible for the Repub 
 lican party to enforce the present criminal law 
 against trust officials; these officials are intimately 
 connected with the Republican party in the present 
 campaign. Take, for instance, the chairman of the 
 Republican Speaker s committee, Mr. Dupont, of 
 Delaware. He is the defendant in a suit which the 
 Government brought and is now prosecuting. Mr. 
 
THE TRUST QUESTION 125 
 
 Dupont is charged with violation of the anti-trust 
 law. Why should he be put on the executive com 
 mittee and then be given control of the speaking 
 part of the campaign? If you talk to a Republi 
 can leader about penitentiary punishment for of 
 fenders, he favors fining the corporation on the 
 ground that it is impossible to convict individuals, 
 but when you urge fines you are told that fines are 
 unjust to innocent stockholders. We favor both 
 fine and imprisonment, but we think it is better 
 to prevent monopolies than to first authorize them 
 to prey upon the public and then try to punish 
 them for doing so. Mr. Taft favors control of 
 trusts instead of extermination, but after years of 
 experience the people have learned that the trusts 
 control the Government. 
 
 Our platform does not stop with the enforcement 
 of the law ; it demands the enactment of such addi 
 tional legislation as may be necessary to make it 
 impossible for a private monopoly to exist in the 
 United States. 
 
 The Democratic party does not content itself 
 with a definition of the wrong or with a denuncia 
 tion of it. It proceeds to outline remedies. The 
 first is a law preventing a duplication of directors 
 among competing corporations. No one can object 
 to this remedy unless he is in sympathy with the 
 trusts, rather than with the people who are victim 
 ized by the trusts. There is no easier way of stifling 
 competition than to make one board of directors 
 serve for a number of competing corporations. It 
 is not necessary for corporations to enter into an 
 agreement for the restraint of trade if the cor- 
 
126 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 porations can, without violating the law, reach the 
 same end by electing the same directors. 
 
 The second remedy is one upon which I desire to 
 dwell at some length. We believe it to be a simple, 
 complete and easily enforced remedy. As stated in 
 the platform, it is : 
 
 "A license system which will, without abridging the right 
 of each State to create corporations, or its right to regu 
 late as it will foreign corporations doing business within 
 its limits, make it necessary for a manufacturing or trading 
 corporation engaged in interstate commerce to take out a 
 federal license before it shall be permitted to control as much 
 as twenty-five per cent, of the product in which it deals, 
 the license to protect the public from watered stock to pro 
 hibit the control by such corporation of more than fifty 
 per cent, of the total amount of any product consumed in 
 the United States." 
 
 It will be noticed, in the first place, that care was 
 taken by those who drew the platform to provide 
 that there should be no abridgment of the right of 
 a State to create corporations, or of its right to 
 regulate as it will foreign corporations doing busi 
 ness within its limits. This plan, therefore, does 
 not in the least infringe upon the right of the States 
 to protect their own people. It simply provides for 
 the exercise by Congress of the power vested in it 
 to regulate interstate commerce. As long as a cor 
 poration confines itself to the State in which it is 
 created, Congress cannot interfere with it ; but when 
 the corporation engages in interstate commerce, 
 Congress is the only power that can regulate its 
 interstate business. 
 
 In proposing the exercise of this power, the Dem 
 ocratic platform is not asserting a new doctrine. 
 In January, 1896, a Republican House of Repre- 
 
THE TRUST QUESTION 127 
 
 sentatives adopted a resolution calling upon Hon. 
 Judson Harmon, then Attorney-General of the 
 United States, now the Democratic candidate for 
 Governor of Ohio, to report what steps, if any, had 
 been taken to enforce the law of the United States 
 against trusts, combinations and conspiracies in re 
 straint of trade and commerce, and what further 
 legislation was, in his opinion, needed to protect the 
 people against them. On the 8th day of February 
 he submitted a reply, in which he described the 
 steps which were being taken to enforce the law, 
 and recommended the enactment of further legisla 
 tion. I call special attention to the following words : 
 
 "Congress may make it unlawful to ship from one State 
 to another, in carrying out, or attempting to carry out, 
 the designs of such (State) organizations, articles pro 
 duced, owned or controlled by them or any of their mem 
 bers or agents." 
 
 His recommendation embodies the very idea 
 which our plan now proposes to carry out. We 
 want to make it unlawful for a corporation to use 
 the instrumentalities of interstate commerce for the 
 carrying out of a monopolistic purpose. Surely no 
 party can consistently claim to be opposed to pri 
 vate monopolies which will permit the interstate 
 railroads to be used to carry out the designs of a t 
 monopoly, or which will permit the interstate tele 
 graph lines to be used to increase the power of a 
 private monopoly; or, to make the case stronger, 
 no party can consistently claim to be opposed to 
 the trusts which will allow the mails of the United 
 States to be used by the trusts as an agency for the 
 extermination of competition. Congress has already 
 exercised this power, to exterminate lotteries. Why 
 
128 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 not exercise it to make private monopolies impossi 
 ble? 
 
 If it is conceded that Congress has the power to 
 prevent the shipment of goods from one State to 
 another when such shipment is a part of a con 
 spiracy against trade and commerce, then the only 
 question is as to the means to be employed to pre 
 vent such shipment. The license system prevents 
 an easy way of regulating such corporations as need 
 federal regulation. The law can prohibit the doing 
 of a thing and impose a penalty for the violation 
 of the law, but experience has shown that it is very 
 difficult to gather up evidence from all sections of 
 the United States and prosecute a great corpora 
 tion ; so difficult is it, that altho the Sherman anti 
 trust law has been in force for eighteen years, no 
 trust magnate has been sent to the penitentiary for 
 violating the law, altho in a few cases the court has 
 found corporations guilty of a violation of the law. 
 In the enforcement of a penalty, the Government 
 must seek the defendant ; by the use of the license 
 system, the corporation is compelled to seek the 
 Government. 
 
 \ A trust can best be defined as a corporation which 
 controls so large a proportion of the total quantity 
 of any article used in this country as to be able to 
 regulate the price and terms of sale, and as the 
 proportion controlled determines the power of the 
 trust for harm, it has seemed best to use proportion 
 ate control as the basis of this plan. Twenty-five 
 per cent, has been fixt arbitrarily as the proportion 
 at which the line should be drawn. A corporation 
 which controls less than twenty-five per cent, of the 
 
THE TRUST QUESTION 129 
 
 product in which it deals, may, in extraordinary 
 cases, exert a perceptible influence in controlling the 
 price of the product and the terms of sale, but as a 
 rule a corporation must control more than that per 
 centage of the total product before it can exert a 
 hurtful influence on trade. Under this plan, the 
 small corporations are left entirely free and un 
 hampered. This is not a discrimination against the 
 larger corporation, but a recognition of the fact that 
 rules are necessary in the case of corporations con 
 trolling a large percentage of the product which are 
 not necessary in the case of smaller corporations. 
 Probably not one per cent, of the corporations en 
 gaged in interstate commerce would be required to 
 take out a license under this plan possibly not one- 
 half of one per cent. and yet what a protection 
 the remaining ninety-nine per cent. w r ould find in 
 the law requiring a license in the case of the larger 
 ones! 
 
 The license, however, would not prevent the 
 growth of the corporations licensed. It would sim 
 ply bring them under the eye of the Federal Gov 
 ernment and compel them to deal with the public 
 in such a way as to afford the public the protection 
 necessary. One of the restrictions suggested is that 
 such licensed corporations be compelled to sell to 
 all purchasers in all parts of the country on the 
 same terms, after making due allowance for cost of 
 transportation. Mr. Taft attacks this restriction as 
 "utterly impracticable." He says: 
 
 "If it can be shown that in order to drive out competi 
 tion, a corporation owning a large part of the plant pro 
 ducing an article is selling in one part of the country, 
 
130 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 where is has competitors, at a low and unprofitable price r 
 and in another part of the country, where it has none, at 
 an exorbitant price, this is evidence that it is attempting 
 an unlawful monopoly and justifies conviction under the 
 anti-trust law." 
 
 If such an act is now unlawful, why is he so 
 frightened at a plan which gives to the small com 
 petitor this very protection ? The trouble with the 
 present law is that it does not restrain the evils at 
 which it is aimed. The plan proposed in the Demo 
 cratic platform brings the corporation under the 
 surveillance of the Government when it has reached 
 the danger point, and thereafter subjects it to fed 
 eral scrutiny. The present law simply prohibits it 
 in an indefinite sort of way, and then leaves the 
 officers of the law to scour the country and hunt up 
 violations of the law s provisions. Mr. Taft is un 
 duly alarmed at this proposal, or else he entirely 
 fails to comprehend the details of the plan. He 
 says: 
 
 "To supervise the business of corporations in such a way 
 as to fix the price of commodities and compel the sale at 
 such price is as absurd and socialistic a plank as was ever 
 inserted in a Democratic political platform." 
 
 And yet this sentence is found in the same 
 paragraph with the sentence above quoted in which 
 he declares that it is even now a violation of the 
 Sherman anti-trust law for a corporation to attempt 
 to destroy a competitor by selling at a low and un 
 profitable price where it has competition, and at an 
 exorbitant price where it has no competition. In 
 what respect is our plan more socialistic than the 
 plan which Mr. Taft endorses ? Merely in the fact 
 that ours can be enforced. According to Mr. Taft s 
 
THE TRUST QUESTION 131 
 
 logic, a plan is not socialistic which is not effective, 
 but the same would be socialistic if made effective. 
 Why should a corporation, supplying twenty mill 
 ions of people for a corporation controlling twen 
 ty-five per cent, of the total product supplies one- 
 fourth, or more, of our population why should 
 such a corporation be permitted to sell at one price 
 in one part of the country and at another price in 
 another part ? What reason can a corporation have 
 for such discrimination? Prices are not made as 
 a matter of favor; when a big corporation sells to 
 the people of one section at one price and to the 
 people of another section at another price the cost 
 of transportation being taken into consideration- 
 there is a reason for it, and in almost every case the 
 reason is to be found in the desire to destroy a com 
 petitor. One of the most familiar methods of the 
 trust is to undersell a small competitor in the small 
 competitor s territory the price being maintained 
 elsewhere until the small competitor is driven into 
 bankruptcy and then the price is raised. That has 
 been done over and over again. It is open and no 
 torious ; and yet, with the Republican party in com 
 plete power at Washington, what effort has been 
 made to prevent this ? This remedy, altho vehement 
 ly denounced by Mr. Taft, will appeal to the average 
 man as not only very salutary, but very necessary. 
 Fifty per cent, is fixt as the maximum limit. 
 When a corporation controls fifty per cent, of the 
 total product, it supplies forty millions of people 
 with that product. Is that not enough ? Mr. Taft s 
 objection to this limitation can hardly be character 
 ized as statesmanlike. He says : 
 
132 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 "A corporation controlling forty-five or fifty per cent, of 
 the profit may, by well-known methods, frequently effect 
 a monopoly and stamp out competition in a part of a 
 country as completely as if it controlled sixty or seventy 
 per cent, thereof." 
 
 Why, then, does he not propose a lower limit? 
 If the control of forty-five per cent, may constitute 
 a monopoly, why does he not suggest that as a maxi 
 mum? It cannot be because of any disinclination 
 to amend his platform, for he has already made a 
 patchwork quilt of the convention s platform by 
 promiscuous amendments. 
 
 And to what " well-known " methods does he re 
 fer ? To the underselling of competitors in one sec 
 tion while the price is maintained elsewhere ? And 
 yet this is the very thing which we propose to 
 remedy, but he proceeds to denounce our remedy 
 as absurd and socialistic. The trouble with Secre 
 tary Taft is that he spends so much time trying to 
 discover excuses for inaction in trust matters that 
 he has none left for the consideration of effective 
 remedies. He spends more time uttering warnings 
 against remedies proposed than he does in pointing 
 out the evils to be remedied or in suggesting reme 
 dies. He says: 
 
 "The combination of capital in large plants to manu 
 facture goods with the greatest economy is just as neces 
 sary as the assembling of the parts of a machine to the 
 economical and more rapid manufacture of what in old 
 times was made by hand." 
 
 And he adds that : 
 
 "The Government should not interfere with one any 
 more than the other, when such aggregations of capital are 
 legitimate and are properly controlled, for they are the nat- 
 
THE TRUST QUESTION 133 
 
 ural results of modern enterprise and are boneficial to the 
 public." 
 
 No one proposes to interfere with production on a 
 a large scale. No one objects to production on a 
 scale sufficiently large to enable the producer to 
 utilize by-products and take advantage of all the 
 economies that large production makes possible. It 
 is just here that the trust magnates attempt to con 
 fuse the public mind, and Mr. Taft has unconscious 
 ly adopted their language. 
 
 Let the issue be made plain ; let the distinction be 
 accurately drawn; let the respective positions of 
 the parties be fully understood. The Democratic 
 party does not oppose all corporations ; on the con 
 trary, it recognizes that the corporation can render* 
 an important service to the public. The Democratic 
 party wants to employ every instrumentality that 
 can be employed for the advancement of the com 
 mon good ; but the Democratic party draws the line 
 at the private monopoly, and declares that a private 
 monopoly cannot be justified on either economic or 
 political grounds. 
 
 From an economic standpoint, a monopoly is ob 
 jectionable. The moment a corporation secures a 
 practical monopoly in the production or sale of any 
 article, certain evils appear which outweigh any 
 good that can come from large production or con 
 trol. Wherever private monopolies exist, certain 
 irresistible tendencies manifest themselves. First, 
 it raises prices this is the first thing thought of 
 for the increasing of profits. Then, in proportion 
 as it becomes the only purchaser of the raw ma 
 terial, it reduces the price of the raw material, and 
 
134 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 the producer of that raw material, having no other 
 market, must accept the price offered. In this way, 
 too, the profits of the corporation are increased. 
 Third, a reduction in the quality of the product 
 affords an opportunity for increasing profits. 
 Fourth, reduction in wages follows wherever condi 
 tions will permit. 
 
 Competition protects the purchaser, for when a 
 number of independent producers stand ready to 
 supply him with what he needs, he can choose be 
 tween them and buy from the one who offers the 
 best product at the low r est price. He is also pro 
 tected in quality because those who compete for the 
 opportunity to sell to him must show either advan 
 tage in price or advantage in quality. Competition 
 protects the man who produces raw material, for 
 when there are a number of bidders for that which 
 is being sold, he can accept the highest price offered. 
 Competition also helps the wage-earner, for his skill 
 is the finished product which he offers upon the mar 
 ket, and where a number of independent industries 
 are endeavoring to secure the highest skill, the 
 skilled laborer has the best assurance of obtaining 
 a fair recompense ; when there is but one employer, 
 the employe must take the price offered, because he 
 will lose the advantage of his experience if he 
 must go out to find a different kind of employ 
 ment. 
 
 The business men of the country have felt the 
 pressure of the trusts. The retailer has been com 
 pelled to enter into contracts which restrict his man 
 agement of his own affairs ; he has found the terms 
 of sale and payment changed to his disadvantage 
 
THE TRUST QUESTION 135 
 
 and he has been forced to carry more and more 
 of the risks of trade. He is convinced that there 
 are no good trusts and that his only safety is in 
 the Democratic plan which lays the axe at the root 
 of the tree. 
 
 The traveling men naturally take especial inter 
 est in the trust question, because the more complete 
 the monopoly secured by a corporation the less they 
 are needed. We have no more intelligent class than 
 these representatives of commerce, and their retire 
 ment from the road would mean a serious loss to 
 the country, while a few promoters would be the 
 only persons benefited, they gaining by the capi 
 talization of the salaries saved by the elimination 
 of competition. 
 
 Mr. Taft either misunderstands or misrepresents 
 the Democratic position in regard to the extermina 
 tion of the principle of private monopoly. In his 
 notification speech, he says : 
 
 "Mr. Roosevelt would compel the trusts to conduct their 
 business in a lawful manner and secure the benefits of their 
 operation and the maintenance of the prosperity of the 
 country of which they are an important part ; while Mr. 
 Bryan would extirpate and. destroy the entire business in 
 order to stamp out the evils which they have practiced." 
 
 Here is a confession by Mr. Taft that he regards 
 the trusts as necessary to the nation s prosperity, 
 for he declares that they play an important part in 
 the maintenance of prosperity, and he charges that 
 I would "extirpate and destroy" business in ex 
 tirpating and destroying the principle of private 
 monopoly. Surely, his study of the trust question 
 has been very superficial, if he sees danger in the 
 restoration of a reign of competition. 
 
136 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 Let us take an illustration: Suppose the Demo 
 crats succeed in the enactment of a law in har 
 mony with the Democratic platform a law requir 
 ing every corporation to take out a federal license 
 before it is permitted to control twenty-five per 
 cent, of the business in which it is engaged. Would 
 this " extirpate and destroy" the business of the 
 country? As already stated, but a very small per 
 cent, of the corporations would be affected by the 
 law, and those affected would be the ones that have 
 been giving the officers of the law so much trouble 
 during the last eighteen years. As the licensed cor 
 poration increased its business from twenty-five per 
 cent, to fifty per cent., it would be under the watch 
 ful eye of the Government, would be compelled to 
 make such reports as the Government required, 
 would be prohibited from watering its stock, and 
 would be required to sell to all customers upon the 
 same terms, due allowance being made for cost of 
 transportation. Would it " extirpate and destroy" 
 business to require the licensed corporations to do 
 business on an honest basis and to be reasonable 
 in their business methods? Would not the benefit 
 accruing to the ninety-nine small corporations thus 
 protected from conscienceless methods be enough to 
 offset any evil effects that might follow from such 
 restraint of a few big corporations ? Is business so 
 dependent upon dishonesty and unfairness that it 
 would be "extirpated and destroyed" if morals 
 were introduced into it ? 
 
 When the licensed corporation reached a point 
 where it controlled one-half of the business in which 
 it was engaged, it would, according to the Demo- 
 
THE TRUST QUESTION 137 
 
 cratic plan, have to stop expanding. Would it * ex 
 tirpate and destroy" business to put this limitation 
 upon the greed of a few corporations? Surely our 
 plan could not injuriously affect corporations that 
 might hereafter seek to establish a monopoly. 
 
 But possibly Mr. Taft thinks that it would " ex 
 tirpate and destroy" business to apply the plan to 
 existing monopolies. Let us see : Suppose we have 
 a corporation now controlling seventy-five per cent, 
 of the output of the article in which it deals, and 
 through this control, regulating the price and the 
 terms of sale. How would the Democratic plan af 
 fect it? A date would be fixt at which the law 
 would take effect, and on or before that date the 
 corporation would be required to apply for a li 
 cense. The evidence would show that it controlled 
 a larger proportion of the product than the law 
 permitted, and it would be compelled to sell off 
 enough of its plants to reduce its output to fifty 
 per cent, of the total product. It could then com 
 ply with the law, obtain its license, and proceed to 
 carry on its business in accordance with the law. 
 Would it extirpate and destroy business to com 
 pel such a corporation to dispose of enough of its 
 plants to reduce its production to fifty per cent? 
 The people would still need the article which it pro 
 duced, and the plants which it was compelled to 
 sell would become independent plants competing 
 with it. This competition would reduce prices, and 
 the reduced prices would increase the demand for 
 the article, and this increased demand would stimu 
 late the building of more factories and give a larger 
 employment to labor. The restoration of compe- 
 
 II 10 
 
138 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 tition in that industry, instead of * extirpating and 
 destroying" the industry, would revive and en 
 large it. A part of the benefit would go to the 
 consumers in the form of a cheaper product and a 
 better product, part would go to the producer of 
 raw material in the form of a better price, and 
 part would go to the wage-earners in the form of 
 better wages. The only persons to lose would be 
 the trust magnates, who would no longer be able 
 to collect dividends on watered stock by controlling 
 the market. When the subject is analyzed it will 
 be seen that Mr. Taft must either be in darkness 
 as to the remedy and its effect, or he must be 
 opposed to the restoration of competition. 
 
 I have quoted and requoted Mr. Taft s language 
 because I want to impress upon the minds of those 
 who listen to me the absurdity of the objection 
 which he raises to the Democratic plan of extermi 
 nating monopolies. He fails to distinguish between 
 the honest business that makes a country prosper 
 ous, and the brigandage practised by private mo 
 nopolies. The people have been robbed by the trusts 
 ( to the extent of hundreds of millions a year, and 
 : : if Mr. Taft is not yet conscious of what is going 
 I on, and not yet aroused to the iniquity of these 
 trusts, how can the country hope for relief through 
 his election? 
 
 The Democratic party is the defender of com 
 petition and the only great party which is seeking 
 to restore competition. Mr. Taft has, in the dis 
 cussion of this question, employed harsh words in 
 stead of argument. The word * i socialistic is hurled 
 at the Democratic party and the Democratic plat- 
 
THE TRUST QUESTION 139 
 
 form. Now, as a matter of fact, it is Mr. Taft s 
 party and not the Democratic party which has 
 given encouragement to socialism. While profess 
 ing to abhor socialism, the Republican party has 
 gone half way toward socialism in indorsing its 
 fundamental principle. The socialist bases his con 
 tention on the theory that competition is bad, and 
 that an economic advance is to be found in monop 
 oly. The socialist, however, wants the public to 
 have the benefit of the monopoly and, therefore, 
 favors Government ownership and operation of all 
 the means of production and distribution. 
 
 The Republican party has gone almost as far as 
 the Socialist party in th<? economic defense of the 
 monopoly, but it permits the benefits of monopoly 
 to be enjoyed by a comparatively few men, who 
 have secured a dominant iniiuence in the Govern 
 ment. I beg to call Mr. Taft s attention to the fact 
 that the Republican party has stimulated the growth 
 of socialism in two ways: First, by the indorse 
 ment that it has given to the theory that trusts 
 are a natural and necessary outgrowth of our eco 
 nomic conditions, and, second, by permitting the 
 development of abuses which have been charged 
 against individualism. If he will examine the vote 
 published in the World Almanac, he will find that 
 in 1900 the Republicans polled 7,208,244 votes and 
 that the Socialists polled but 85,991 ; in the same 
 almanac, he will find that in 1904 the Republicans 
 cast 7,625,489 votes and the Socialists 402,286. Not 
 withstanding the fact that the Republicans have 
 boasted of their last national victory, their party 
 polled but 417,000 more votes that year than four 
 
140 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 years before. This scarcely more than covered the 
 natural increase in the Republican portion of the 
 population, while the Socialist vote increased more 
 than three hundred per cent., and the increase in 
 the number of votes was almost as great as the 
 increase in Republican votes. 
 
 The Republican leaders have been in the habit 
 of sneering at the Socialists, while blindly indiffer 
 ent tothe causes that have contributed to the growth 
 of socialism. The Democrats recognize that Social 
 ists are honestly seeking a remedy for the " known 
 abuses" admitted by Secretary Taft. Democrats 
 dissent from the remedy proposed by the Socialists, 
 believing that Socialists are mistaken and that the 
 Democratic remedy is better, but it is tims for 
 thoughtful people to recognize that individualism 
 can only be retained and safeguarded by remedial 
 legislation which will remove the abuses which have 
 been allowed to fasten themselves upon the coun 
 try. The Democratic party, believing in individ 
 ualism, addresses itself earnestly to these abuses, 
 and instead of ridiculing and maligning the Social 
 ists, invites them, as it does the Republicans, to ex 
 amine the Democratic platform and the remedies 
 proposed therein. It submits its plans to the honest 
 citizenship of the country, without regard to sec 
 tion or party. 
 
 In my notification speech I called attention to 
 three demands made by our party. It asks, first, 
 that the Government shall be taken out of the hands 
 of special interests, and restored to the people as 
 a whole; it adds, second, for honesty in elections 
 and publicity in regard to campaign funds, that the 
 
THE TRUST QUESTION 141 
 
 people may freely choose representatives in sym 
 pathy with them and pledged to guard their inter 
 ests; it asks, third, for such a modification of our 
 Governmental methods as will make the Senate an 
 elective body, and place the control of the House 
 of Representatives in the hands of a majority of its 
 members. A few days ago, in discussing the tariff 
 question, I dwelt upon the fourth demand made by 
 our party, namely, that taxation be just, that the 
 revenue laws be made for the purpose of raising 
 revenue and not for the enrichment of a few at 
 the expense of the many, and that the tariff law 
 be supplemented by an income tax which will more 
 nearly equalize the Government s burdens. Today 
 I present another demand made in our party plat 
 form the demand that the grip of the trusts be 
 broken, that competition be restored and that the 
 door of opportunity be opened to the business men 
 and the toilers of the land. 
 
 Industrial independence is necessary to political 
 independence. The free exercise of the rights of 
 citizenship is impossible when a few men control 
 the industries in which millions are employed. God 
 forbid that we should compel the wa-ge-earners of 
 the nation to address their petitions to trust mag 
 nates, and ask for their daily bread. Already we 
 have seen how prone the monopolist is to make em 
 ployment depend upon the willingness of the em 
 ploye to prostitute his ballot to the service of his 
 corporate master. 
 
 This question should be settled now; we cannot 
 afford to bequeath it as a legacy of wo to a suc 
 ceeding generation. The conscience of the people 
 
142 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 is already awakened, and the conscience is the 
 most potent force of which man has knowledge. 
 Where law makes one righteous, conscience controls 
 a hundred ; where one is kept from wrong-doing by 
 fear of prison doors, a thousand are restrained by 
 those invisible walls which conscience rears about 
 us barriers which are stronger than walls of gran 
 ite. It is upon the conscience that human institu 
 tions rest, and without a stirring of the conscience 
 no great reform is possible. To a national con 
 science already aroused we appeal, with the pledge 
 that a Democratic victory will mean the ringing out 
 of industrial despotism and the ringing in of a new 
 era in which business will be built upon its merits, 
 and in which men will succeed, not in proportion 
 to the coercion they may be able to practise, but in 
 proportion to their industry, their ability and their 
 fidelity. 
 
X 
 GUARANTEED DEPOSITS 
 
 Delivered in Topeka, Kan., on Aug. 27, 1908. 
 
 WHY not make the depositor secure? The 
 United States Government requires the 
 deposit of specific security when it en 
 trusts money to a national bank, altho it can ex 
 amine the bank at any time; the State requires 
 security when it deposits money in a bank; the 
 county requires security and the city requires se 
 curity; even the banks require security from the 
 officials who handle money. Why should the de 
 positor be left to take his chances? 
 
 Not only is the depositor without protection, but 
 the security given to nation, state, county and city 
 lessens his security. They are preferred creditors ; 
 they have a mortgage on the gilt-edged assets and 
 the depositor must get along as best he can with 
 what remains. Why are the interests of depositors 
 thus neglected ? 
 
 A bank asks deposits on the theory that the de 
 positor is sure of the return of his money, and the 
 laws ought to make the facts conform to the theory. 
 The depositor, the community and the banker him 
 self will be benefited by legislation which will give 
 to every depositor the assurance that that which is 
 committed to the keeping of the bank will be avail- 
 
 (143) 
 
144 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 able to meet his needs at any time. Such is not 
 the case to-day, for while all banks are reasonably 
 secure, they are not absolutely so. This statement 
 can be verified in several ways. 
 
 First : The President has advocated a postal sav 
 ings bank, and his postmaster-general, in presenting 
 an argument in its favor, pointed out that many 
 millions are sent to European savings banks every 
 year by Americans of foreign birth, who prefer to 
 trust the state institutions of the nations beyond 
 the sea rather than the private banking institutions 
 here. 
 
 Second : It is known that a considerable amount 
 of money is in hiding, the amount increasing with 
 the approach of a panic or business depression. This 
 money is not only withdrawn from active use, but is 
 likely to be withdrawn just at the time when money 
 is most needed and when the withdrawal will in 
 crease the financial disturbance. It is impossible 
 to reason with fear; it is futile to tell men that 
 they will probably get their money. The moment 
 the depositors suspect a bank, they hasten to de 
 stroy its solvency. Distrust, and distrust alone, 
 can explain the hiding of money. 
 
 Third : The increase in the issue of money orders, 
 payable to the order of the purchaser, is another 
 evidence that people are seeking greater security 
 for their money. The banks will pay* an interest 
 upon deposits, and yet those who buy money orders 
 prefer to lose the interest and, in addition to that, 
 pay the price of the money order to secure the 
 Government s guaranty. 
 
 Fourth : National banks confess that their banks 
 
GUARANTEED DEPOSITS 145 
 
 are not secure when they oppose the guaranty of 
 State banks on the ground that it would lessen the 
 deposits in national banks ; and State bankers con 
 fess that their banks are not secure when they op 
 pose a national guaranty system on the ground that 
 it will draw deposits away from State banks. If 
 you want to find whether banks are absolutely se 
 cure, ask the directors to give you their personal 
 note to secure your deposit and you will learn that 
 they will not bear the risk which they ask you to 
 bear. 
 
 Fifth: The experience of Oklahoma furnished 
 conclusive proof that depositors do not feel that 
 their money is safe in unsecured banks. On the 
 17th of December, 1907, the Oklahoma Legislature 
 enacted a depositors guaranty law, which became 
 operative February 4th, 1908. By the provisions 
 of this law, all State banks, and as many National 
 banks as desire to avail themselves of the law, are 
 taxed one per cent, on their deposits, and the money 
 thus collected is put into a guaranty fund. The 
 banking board is authorized to make additional as 
 sessments from time to time to keep the fund up 
 to this amount, and is directed to take possession 
 of any insolvent bank, pay the depositors in full, 
 and reimburse the fund by collecting the assets of 
 the failed bank. Five hundred and fifty-five banks, 
 including fifty-four National banks, had come under 
 the provisions of this law on the 14th of last May, 
 leaving but 255 unsecured banks (all National) in 
 the State. Statements are made by the banks in 
 December and May. Between these periods the se 
 cured banks gained in deposits $4,237,765.22, while 
 
146 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 the unsecured banks, all National, showed a decrease 
 in deposits of $1,101,807.86. A large part of this 
 increase represented money brought from hiding or 
 from without the State, but the decrease in the un 
 secured banks can only be explained in one way. 
 A large number of depositors withdrew their money 
 from the unsecured banks, and deposited it in the 
 secured banks, and this, too, in spite of the fact that 
 in order to prevent withdrawals, the unsecured 
 banks, in some instances, offered a higher rate of 
 interest than the secured banks were permitted to 
 pay ; and it must be remembered also that the banks 
 which suffered a loss of deposits were all National 
 banks. And to make it certain that the difference 
 was caused by the guaranty law, the secured Na 
 tional banks gained, while the unsecured banks lost. 
 While the deposits were increasing in the guaran 
 teed banks of Oklahoma, they were failing in the 
 State banks and trust companies of Kansas the 
 decrease being $1,153,026.27 between March 31st 
 and June 13th. 
 
 No amount of criticism of the timid depositor can 
 change the facts; the people who deposit money 
 Avant more security than the laws at present give 
 them. They will change banks to get more security, 
 and, if necessary, they will send their money to an 
 other State. 
 
 For many years efforts have been made in Con 
 gress and in the various States to secure a law 
 guaranteeing deposits, but the influence of the great 
 banking institutions has been sufficient to prevent 
 action. Last fall, however, when the banks, by a 
 concerted action, suspended payments on checks, 
 
GUARANTEED DEPOSITS 147 
 
 the depositors were everywhere brought to a realiza 
 tion of the fact that their deposits are, in fact, 
 loans, payable on demand under ordinary circum 
 stances, but payable at the will of the bank in emer 
 gencies. The depositors suffered a considerable loss 
 during the suspension of payments, and they have 
 not forgotten the lesson which they then learned. 
 The Democratic party, being more free than the Re 
 publican party to respond to the needs of the masses 
 of the people, inserted the following plank in its 
 national platform : 
 
 "We pledge ourselves to legislation by which the national 
 banks shall be required to establish a guaranty fund for the 
 prompt payment of the depositors of any insolvent national 
 bank, under an equitable system which shall be available 
 to all State banking institutions wishing to use it." 
 
 This principle has been applied in Oklahoma and 
 the results have been very satisfactory. The aver 
 age annual loss to depositors in National banks dur 
 ing the last forty years has been less than one-tenth 
 of one per cent, of the deposits, and the loss to the 
 fund in Oklahoma, under better regulations and 
 restrictions, has been absolutely nothing during 
 the six months in which the law has been in opera 
 tion. 
 
 The Republican platform is silent on the subject, 
 and the Republican candidate not only does not ad 
 vocate a compulsory system, but specifically and em 
 phatically opposes it. He says: 
 
 "The democratic platform recommends a tax upon na 
 tional banks and upon such State banks as may come in, 
 in the nature of enforced insurance to raise a guaranty 
 fund to pay the depositors of any bank which fails." 
 
148 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 And then he questions the right of the Govern 
 ment to enact such a law, saying : 
 
 "Plow State banks can be included in such a scheme 
 under the constitution is left in the twilight zone of State 
 rights and federalism so frequently dimming the meaning 
 and purpose of the promises of the platform. If they come 
 in under such a system, they must necessarily be brought 
 within the closest national control, and so they must really 
 cease to be State banks and become national banks." 
 
 His solicitude for the State bank will hardly im 
 press the country, for he is quite indifferent to 
 States and their reserved rights when he deals with 
 other subjects. When Congress is in the control of 
 those who want to legislate for the whole people 
 rather than for the few, it will not be difficult to 
 frame a law under which State banks can avail 
 themselves of the advantages of a federal law guar 
 anteeing the deposits of National banks, just as it 
 was easy in Oklahoma to frame a law which per 
 mitted National banks to take advantage of the 
 State guaranty system. It will also be easy to 
 enact a federal law which will permit National 
 banks to avail themselves of State guaranty systems 
 until a National system can be secured. Attorney- 
 General Bonaparte s ruling, whether it correctly in 
 terprets the law or not, would not bring such con 
 sternation as it does if the Republican candidate fa 
 vored a law allowing National banks to take ad 
 vantage of State systems for the protection of de 
 positors, but Mr. Taft s hostility to all guaranty 
 systems is shown in the objection which he offers : 
 
 "The proposition is to tax the honest and prudent banker 
 to make up for the dishonesty and imprudence of others. No 
 one can foresee the burden which, under this system, would 
 be imposed upon the sound and conservative bankers of the 
 
GUARANTEED DEPOSITS 149 
 
 country by this obligation to make good the losses caused by 
 the reckless, speculative and dishonest men, who would be 
 enabled to secure deposits under such a system on the faith 
 of the proposed insurance; as in its present shape, the pro 
 posal would remove all safeguards against recklessness in 
 banking, and the chief, and, in the end, probably the only, 
 benefit would accrue to the speculator, who would be de 
 lighted to enter the banking business when it was certain 
 that he could enjoy any profit that would accrue, while the 
 risk would have to be assumed by his honest and hard 
 working fellow." 
 
 He even pictures dire disaster and declares that 
 if the proposal were adopted exactly as the Demo 
 cratic platform suggests, it would bring the whole 
 banking system of the country down in ruin. 
 
 As an afterthought, he suggests that a voluntary 
 system might be tolerated, but as his objections to 
 a compulsory system apply just as well to a volun 
 tary system we may fairly count him against all 
 legislation which has for its object the guaranty of 
 depositors. 
 
 As Mr. Taft s argument is that presented by the 
 big banks which put their own selfish interests 
 above the welfare of the depositors and the safety 
 of the community, it is worth while to answer the 
 several propositions which he advances. 
 
 Let us take the first sentence, that "the honest 
 and prudent banker would be taxed to make up for 
 the dishonesty and imprudence of others. " Is not 
 this true of all restrictions on banking? Does not 
 the honest and prudent banker, under existing laws, 
 suffer in order that the depositor may be protected 
 from the dishonest and imprudent? If we had no 
 banking laws at all, and banking was done by pri 
 vate individuals, the honest and prudent banker 
 would save the money that he now pays for en- 
 
150 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 forced examinations of his bank, and he could at 
 times make interest on a part of the money which 
 he is now required to keep in his vault as a rigid 
 reserve. But because some bankers are not prudent, 
 these laws place a burden upon the good as well as 
 upon the bad, it being difficult to distinguish the 
 prudent banker from the imprudent one until a 
 bank actually fails. 
 
 In like manner it might be said that if all people 
 were careful about fire, fire insurance rates need not 
 be as high as they are, but the careful have to pay 
 higher rates than they should because some are not 
 careful. Life insurance rates are higher than would 
 be necessary to cover the actual risk if everybody 
 took care of his health, and here, too, the cautious 
 are burdened because some are careless of their 
 health. All insurance is open to the same objection, 
 and yet insurance of all forms is growing, and the 
 insurance of depositors is growing in popularity 
 more rapidly than any other form of insurance 
 and, I may add, it yields the largest return on the 
 investment. 
 
 Mr. Taft complains that "no one can foresee the 
 burden which, under this system, would be imposed 
 upon the sound and conservative bankers of the 
 country by this obligation to make good the losses 
 caused by the reckless, speculative and dishonest 
 men," etc. We have the past to guide us, and we 
 have reason to believe that the loss will be less in 
 the future than in the past, because when banks be 
 come mutually responsible for each other s deposits 
 they will be sufficiently interested in each other to 
 favor better regulation and greater restrictions. 
 
GUARANTEED DEPOSITS 151 
 
 What has Mr. Taft done to protect depositors 
 from recklessness and speculation? While he re 
 fuses to protect depositors, he praises the Aldrich- 
 Vreeland law, which invites speculation and stock 
 jobbing. In declaring that the system proposed by 
 the Democrats "would remove all safeguards 
 against recklessness in banking," Mr. Taft betrays 
 an ignorance of the subject, for the plan does not 
 propose the removal of any safeguards. In fact, it 
 contemplates better regulations of the banks, and 
 Oklahoma has already made the banking regulations 
 more strict. 
 
 He declares that "the only benefit would accrue 
 to the speculator, who would be delighted to enter 
 the banking business when it was certain that he 
 could enjoy any profit that would accrue, while the 
 risk would have to be assumed by his honest and 
 hard-working fellow. The present banking law re 
 quires that a certain amount of capital shall be in 
 vested in the business, and that law would still 
 stand. To entor the banking business, therefore, a 
 man would either have to have the capital himself 
 or secure the confidence of men who had the capital. 
 And this capital, together with the 100 per cent, 
 liability, would be a guaranty that the stockholders 
 would not intentionally select careless officials. Why 
 would a "speculator" be "delighted to enter the 
 banking business under the guaranty system ? He 
 is not relieved from pecuniary obligation, nor is he 
 relieved from criminal liability. He would have 
 nothing to gain by carelessness, nor would the stock 
 holders have anything to gain by indifference. 
 The chief cause of bank failures is the making of 
 
152 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 excessive loans to directors or officials of the bank. 
 This is the fruitful cause of disaster, and it has 
 been impossible to secure legislation protecting 
 banks from their own officials and directors. "Why ? 
 Because there has been no mutual responsibility. 
 When all banks become liable for the deposits of 
 each, the stockholders will insist upon the enact 
 ment of a law making it a criminal offense for a 
 bank official to loan more than the prescribed 
 amount to one individual. At present we have a 
 law prohibiting the loaning of more than one-tenth 
 of the capital and surplus to one person or corpora 
 tion, but the law is only directory. Of course, the 
 comptroller can suspend a bank if it violates the 
 law, but the law is not enforced, because the en 
 forcement of such a law would throw the punish 
 ment upon innocent stockholders and upon the com 
 munity, since the suspension of a bank inflicts a 
 great loss upon stockholders and disturbs the busi 
 ness of the city or town in which the bank is lo 
 cated. 
 
 The law should make it a criminal offense to loan 
 more than the prescribed amount to one person, 
 and we would probably be able to secure the passage 
 of a law prohibiting market speculation by bank 
 officials. 
 
 The Oklahoma plan is working satisfactorily. A 
 bank recently failed in Oklahoma; within forty- 
 eight minutes after the notice of suspension, the 
 officer in charge had authority to pay all depositors, 
 and then the banking board proceeded to collect the 
 assets of the bank and to prosecute the officials crim 
 inally. When the business was closed up, the stock- 
 
GUARANTEED DEPOSITS 153 
 
 holders passed a resolution thanking the State board 
 for its prompt action, the action of the board being 
 a protection to the stockholders, as well as to the 
 depositors and to the public generally. 
 
 Compare this failure under the guaranty system 
 with a failure where there is no guaranty. In Okla 
 homa the bank commissioner telephoned the farmers 
 to come in and get their money, and the answer 
 was : "I am busy to-day with my crop ; I will be in 
 in a day or two." 
 
 In Cleveland, Ohio, a bank failed about the same 
 time, and the papers announced "twelve hundred 
 infuriated Italians stormed the closed doors of the 
 busted banking house of Costan Liopea, on Orange 
 street, to-day. The police drove the crowd back." 
 
 An objection is sometimes made to the guaranty 
 law that a "new bank would start up across the 
 street," and, being able to promise its depositors 
 absolute security through the guaranty law, could 
 draw the deposits away from conservatively man 
 aged banks by offering a higher rate of interest 
 than the latter could pay. This objection is urged 
 as if it were an unanswerable one. But let us see 
 how easily it can be met. Since the law makes all 
 of the banks liable for the obligations of each bank, 
 the law should prohibit any abuse of this security 
 by any bank, and in Oklahoma the banking board 
 has already fixt the rate of interest that can be paid 
 to depositors. According to the rules of the bank 
 ing board, no bank is permitted to pay more than 
 three per cent, on short-time deposits or more than 
 four per cent, on time deposits running for six 
 
 months or more, 
 ii 11 
 
154 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 It has also been urged as an objection that under 
 the guaranty system a big bank would have no ad 
 vantage over a little bank. Even if this argument 
 were sound, it could not weigh against the advan 
 tages of the system, for banks are made for the peo 
 ple, not the people for the banks. While there are 
 advantages in having big banks, the advantages are 
 not sufficient to justify the jeopardizing of the de 
 positor or of the business interests of a community. 
 
 But, as a matter of fact, the big bank would still 
 have several advantages over the small one. In the 
 first place, it could make larger loans than the small 
 bank. For instance, a bank with $1,000,000 capital 
 and surplus could, as at present, loan $100,000 to 
 one person, while a bank with $100,000 capital and 
 surplus could only loan $10,000 to one person. This 
 advantage would in itself draw to the large bank 
 the large deposits and the men doing business upon 
 a large scale, for deposits follow accommodations. 
 
 Then, too, there is a certain business advantage 
 in depositing with a big bank. It is worth some 
 thing to be able to refer to a big bank when one s 
 financial standing is being investigated, and worth 
 still more to have the advice of a man of large busi 
 ness experience when business enterprises are being 
 considered. 
 
 Besides these, there is a social advantage in being 
 on good terms with the men who are prominent in 
 the banking world. Surely the big bank s prestige 
 will be worth enough to it under the guaranty sys 
 tem; it should not begrudge the smaller banks the 
 advantage which the guaranty of deposits will bring 
 to them. 
 
GUARANTEED DEPOSITS 155 
 
 I cannot pass from this subject without referring 
 to the fact that the big bank needs the guaranty as 
 well as the little one, for big banks fail as well as 
 small banks, and the bigger the bank the greater the 
 calamity to the community when it fails. No bank 
 is so big as to be absolutely beyond danger, and a 
 community needs protection against the big banks 
 failure even more than against the failure of the 
 small banks. 
 
 It has sometimes been objected that the guaranty 
 system would bring into the banking business a 
 lower class of men and reduce the average in char 
 acter. On the contrary, the guaranty of deposits, 
 I submit, would, if it made any difference in this 
 respect, bring into the banking business a better 
 class of men and raise, if that is possible, the aver 
 age of character. It is not to a man s discredit 
 that he is not willing that one of his fellow men 
 should lose money on his account. Is it not a 
 mark of character that a man should be careful 
 of his good name and considerate of the esteem 
 of his fellows? At present a successful farmer or 
 business man may be induced to take stock in a 
 bank. It may be that his name is desired to give 
 standing and credit to the bank, but such a man 
 is constantly haunted by the fear that a bank 
 official may be guilty of criminal conduct which 
 will bring the bank into insolvency. It is even pos 
 sible that the banks assets may be entirely dissi 
 pated, and that the honest citizen, who has become 
 a stockholder, may either be compelled to go beyond 
 his legal ability or meet the bitter criticism of the 
 depositors who have suffered by the failure. Would 
 
156 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 it not be worth something to the stockholder, in 
 peace of mind, to know that the maximum of his 
 loss would be the value of his stock and the 100 
 per cent, liability, and that no depositor could lose 
 anything? I am convinced that the guaranty of 
 deposits would not lead to degeneration in the 
 personnel of the bankers. 
 
 To justify a law guaranteeing depositors, it is 
 not necessary to show that the advantage to the 
 bankers would amount to more than the tax. The 
 examination of the banks would continue to be 
 made at the expense of the banks, even if it were 
 certain that the examination was of no pecuniary 
 advantage to the banks. The law would continue 
 to require a certain amount of reserve to be kept 
 on hand, even if it were certain that such a law 
 brought no pecuniary gain to the bank ; and so the 
 banks ought to be compelled to insure their depos 
 itors against loss, even if it could not be shown 
 that such insurance would bring a compensating 
 advantage to the bank. The bank charter has a 
 value ; if it were not valuable the bank would not 
 be organized. The bank charter is a gift from the 
 people through the law, and the people who author 
 ize the establishment of a bank have a right to 
 demand, in return, that the bank shall keep the 
 pledge which it gives when it invites deposits, and 
 make good its promises of security to those who 
 deal with it. 
 
 But as a matter of fact, the banks will, as a 
 rule, gain more from the law than they will lose 
 by the tax imposed by the law. The experience 
 of the Oklahoma banks shows this. The interest 
 
GUARANTEED DEPOSITS 157 
 
 collected upon the increased deposits will far more 
 than pay the losses occasioned by insolvency. But 
 two Oklahoma banks have failed and the assets 
 have in both cases been sufficient to reimburse the 
 fund. 
 
 Then, too, the banks must remember that the 
 question is not merely whether depositors shall be 
 made secure, but whether the security shall be i 
 given by the banks themselves or by the Govern 
 ment through a postal savings bank. 
 
 The refusal of the banks to permit the passage 
 of a law granting security to depositors is responsi 
 ble for the growth of the sentiment in favor of the 
 Government savings bank, and the sentiment will 
 continue to grow unless something is done to satisfy 
 the demands of the people upon this subject. 
 
 The Republican party proposes the establishment 
 of a postal savings bank system ; the Democratic 
 party prefers the guaranteed bank because it is 
 better for the depositor and better for the banker 
 it gives the depositor the security which he needs 
 and yet leaves the banking business in the hands 
 of the banks. But the Democratic platform d^- 
 clares for "a postal savings bank IF THE GUAR 
 ANTEED BANK CAN NOT BE SECURED," 
 and in November more than ninety per cent, of 
 the voters will by their, ballots demand either the 
 guaranteed bank or the postal savings bank. Can 
 the financiers prevent the carrying out of this 
 demand ? 
 
 The RepublicarHrtatform does not go into detail, 
 but it is fair to assume that the postal savings bank 
 plank is intended as an indorsement of the postal 
 
158 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 savings bank system proposed by the President 
 and Postmaster-General. Under this plan the Fed 
 eral Government would invite the deposit of sav 
 ings, a limit being placed upon the amount that 
 each person of each family could deposit. Accord 
 ing to this plan, the business man would not be 
 protected, for he uses a checking account instead 
 of a savings account ; but no one can doubt that the 
 successful operation of a government savings bank 
 would ultimately lead to an extension of the plan 
 until the government bank would include the ordi 
 nary checking account and be open to deposits 
 without limit. It would mean a long contest be 
 tween the depositors and the bankers, but a con 
 test which must in the end be decided on the side 
 of the depositors. The bank must decide, therefore, 
 whether he will favor a postal savings bank which, 
 in the absence of the guaranteed bank, will grow 
 until it absorbs the banking business, or preserve 
 the present system of banking by giving to the 
 people, through a guaranty law, the protection 
 which they must otherwise find in a government 
 bank. 
 
 The Democratic plan, therefore, contemplates a 
 less radical change than the Republican plan. In 
 his notification speech Mr. Taft charged the Demo 
 crats with being socialistic in some of their remedies. 
 The charge was not well founded, but I might reply 
 by charging him with advocating an unnecessary 
 extension of the Government s sphere of activity in 
 the establishment of the postal savings bank, when 
 the guaranteed bank would answer the same pur 
 pose without any considerable increase in the num- 
 
GUARANTEED DEPOSITS 159 
 
 her of Government employes. I would rather see 
 the banks attend to the banking business than to 
 have it transferred to the Government, and because 
 I prefer to have the banking business done by the 
 banks rather than by the Government, I urge the 
 guaranty of deposits as the easiest solution of our 
 difficulties. 
 
 There are only 20,000 banks, while there are 
 15,000,000 depositors, and I do not hesitate to de 
 clare that in a conflict between the two, the depos 
 itors have a prior claim to consideration. If we 
 estimate the average number of stockholders of 
 each bank at seventy-five and that is a liberal 
 estimate the total number of stockholders would 
 only be a million and a half, or one-tenth as many 
 as there are depositors. The stockholder is not 
 compelled to buy stock, while the depositor is com 
 pelled to use the banks, both for his own sake and 
 for the sake of the community, for only by using 
 the banks can he keep his money a part of the 
 circulating medium. The guaranty law, therefore, 
 brings the greatest good to the greatest number, 
 as well as to those who have the greater equity upon 
 their side. 
 
 There is another reason why the claim of the 
 depositor is superior to the claim of the stockholder. 
 The stockholder has a voice in the selection of the 
 bank officials; the depositor has not. If any one 
 must lose, therefore, as the result of bad manage 
 ment, it ought to be the stockholder rather than 
 the depositor. And, I venture to ask, if the bank 
 ers will not trust each other, why should they expect 
 the depositors to trust the banks? 
 
160 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 And there is still another advantage : By draw 
 ing money from hiding and by preventing runs on 
 banks the guaranteed bank will greatly lessen the 
 demand for an emergency currency. 
 
 We are fortunate, however, in that we are not 
 compelled to choose between justice to the depositor 
 and justice to the stockholder, for, as has been 
 shown before, the plan which we propose, not only 
 does justice to both, but brings advantage to both. 
 More than that, the plan which we propose protects 
 the banker and it is his only protection against 
 the establishment of a government bank, with in 
 definite encroachments upon the banker s business. 
 With the guaranteed bank established, Government 
 savings banks would only be needed in the towns 
 and villages where there were no guaranteed banks. 
 
 If we had to choose between the interests of the 
 bank and the interests of the community, we would 
 be compelled to protect the interests of the com 
 munity first ; but here, too, we are fortunate, for 
 we are not driven to this alternative. That which 
 protects the community protects the bank also, for 
 when there are several banks in the community, 
 the failure of one often causes a run upon the 
 others, and the insolvency of one bank is such a 
 menace to the solvency of others that the solvent 
 banks often join together and assume the liabilities 
 of the insolvent one for their own protection. As 
 an illustration of this, I point to the action of the 
 Chicago banks in assuming the liabilities of the 
 Walsh banks, at a heavy loss to themselves. 
 
 There is another advantage which the guaranty 
 of depositors brings to the banks it protects the 
 
GUARANTEED DEPOSITS 161 
 
 reserves deposited in other banks. During the panic 
 last fall the reserves caused the most of the trouble. 
 The small banks wanted to withdraw their reserves 
 from the city banks, and the big banks in the cities 
 were not prepared to meet the strain. With depos 
 its guaranteed, there would be no runs on local 
 banks and no sudden withdrawal of reserves. 
 
 I have selected the capital of the State of Kansas 
 as the most appropriate place for the delivery of a 
 speech upon this subject, because your neighbor 
 upon the south has been a pioneer in this reform. 
 Her plan, as you know, has been such a signal suc 
 cess that deposits have been drawn across the line 
 from your State into Oklahoma. The alarm caused 
 by this invasion of your banking territory caused 
 your Governor to include in his call for a special 
 session a recommendation of the passage of a law 
 similar to that of Oklahoma. When the legislature 
 met, however, the influence of the large banks was 
 sufficient to prevent the needed legislation, and 
 your State still suffers. The people of Kansas have 
 had an object lesson; they know the necessity for 
 a law guaranteeing deposits. They have seen its 
 beneficent results in a sister State ; they have seen 
 fifty-four national banks taking advantage of the 
 State system and reaping a rich reward. I have 
 made inquiry and find that many Kansas bankers 
 favor the adoption of a guaranty system three- 
 fourths of those who have replied have declared for 
 the guaranteed bank. They have heard the echo 
 of the blow that has been struck at the national 
 banks of Oklahoma by the attorney-general s ruling, 
 which denies to such banks the right to share in the 
 
162 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 benefits of the State guaranty system that echo 
 being the surrender of charters by national banks 
 which prefer to become State banks rather* than 
 surrender the benefits of the guaranty system. Four 
 national banks have surrendered their charters and 
 are now conducted as State banks, while sixteen 
 more have applied for State charters. Your people 
 have also seen how the influence of a few big banks, 
 concentrated upon a legislature, can defeat the 
 wishes of the smaller banks and the desire of the 
 depositors all over the State. 
 
 I submit that in this effort to make all banks 
 secure, the Democratic party is the champion of 
 the farmer, the laboring man, the business man, 
 the professional man, and the champion of the 
 banker as well. No class is outside of the benefits 
 of this law, for it bestows its blessings upon all. 
 
 Why has the Republican party been so quick to 
 respond to the demands of Wall street and so slow 
 to yield to the demands of the masses? There are 
 two reasons: first, the Republican party has al 
 lowed itself to become the servant of the favor- 
 seeking corporations ; and, second, too many Repub 
 lican leaders look at questions from the aristocratic 
 standpoint, the standpoint of the few, rather than 
 from the Democratic standpoint, the standpoint of 
 the many. They legislate upon the theory that 
 society is suspended from the top, and they fail, 
 therefore, to understand either the evils that afflict 
 the body politic, or the remedies that are needed. 
 The Democratic party, viewing questions from the 
 standpoint of the whole people, easily sees that 
 which Republican leaders do not discover, and its 
 
GUARANTEED DEPOSITS 163 
 
 remedies begin with the relief of the average man. 
 This is the secret, if secret there be, of the primacy 
 of our party in matters of reform. 
 
 When Solomon was invited to choose what he 
 would, he asked for an understanding heart, that 
 he might discern between the good and the bad, 
 and he was told that, because he had chosen wis 
 dom rather than wealth or long life, he should 
 have, not only wisdom, but riches and length of 
 days as well. And so when a party determines to 
 seek first that which benefits the common people, 
 it finds that in acting in the interest of the common 
 people, it also promotes the welfare of the smaller 
 classes which rest upon the masses, for when the 
 producers of wealth prosper, their prosperity is 
 shared by every element of society, 
 
XI 
 IN CHICAGO ON LABOR DAY 
 
 Delivered in Chicago on Sept. 7, 1908, by invitation of 
 the Federation of Labor of that city. 
 
 LABOR DAY is a legal holiday and it was 
 made so because the legislators thought 
 the wage-earners worthy to have a day spe 
 cially set apart for the consideration of themes that 
 concern those who toil. I appreciate the compli 
 ment paid me by the program committee of this 
 city in inviting me to participate in the ceremonies 
 of this day, and the invitation was gladly accepted, 
 because Chicago is the second city in the Union, and 
 as a labor center it is scarcely second to any -city in 
 the world. 
 
 If it were proper to speak from a text, I would 
 select a passage from Proverbs, for I know of no 
 better one than that furnished by the words of 
 Solomon when he declared that as a man * thinketh 
 in his heart, so is he." This is Bible doctrine; it 
 is common sense, and it is human experience. We 
 think in our hearts as well as in our heads out 
 of the heart "are the issues of life." It is a poor 
 head that cannot find a plausible reason for doing 
 what the heart wants to do. I begin my speech 
 with this proposition because I want to impress it 
 upon the minds of those who listen to me, and upon 
 those who read what I say to you. The labor ques 
 tion is more a moral than an intellectual one. 
 (164) 
 
IN CHICAGO ON LABOR DAY 165 
 
 Tolstoy, the great Russian philosopher, in denn 
 ing the doctrine of "bread labor," gives as one 
 of the reasons in support of it, that personal con 
 tact with manual labor not a recollection of former 
 toil, but continued acquaintance with it is neces 
 sary to keep one in sympathy with those who work 
 with their hands. He contends and is it not true ? 
 that lack of sympathy, one with another, is at the 
 root of most of the problems of society and govern 
 ment. 
 
 / The world is growing toward brotherhood, and 
 our nation is leading the way. There is more altru 
 ism in this country than anywhere else in the world, 
 and more today than there ever has been before. 
 [Phere is more recognition of the kinship that exists 
 between us, more thought about the questions which 
 Concern a common humanity, than at any preceding 
 time. The labor organization is a part of this 
 ^reat movement of the masses toward closer fellow 
 ship. It has worked wonders in the past and its 
 Work is only commenced. 
 
 v The labor organization helps those outside of it 
 as well as its members because the increased wages 
 and improved conditions are /shared by non-union 
 men as well as by union men. 4 
 
 Do not understand me to say that a labor organ 
 ization is perfect; "the king can do no wrong" 
 can no more be spoken of a group than of individ 
 uals. The labor organization is composed of men; 
 its affairs are controlled by human beings, and 
 human being^ are not perfect. All that man touches 
 is stained with man s imperfections, and his frailty 
 can be traced through all his works. But, fortu- 
 
166 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 nately for the laboring man, the judgment pro 
 nounced against his mistakes must be tempered 
 by the fact that those with whom the laboring man 
 comes into contact are also likely to err. When the 
 employe deals with the employer, he is dealing 
 with one of like passions with himself. Each is 
 likely to be insistent upon what he believes to be 
 right, and the opinion of each, as to what is right, 
 is likely to be colored by selfish interests and af 
 fected by incomplete information as to the facts. 
 If the employe has sometimes resorted to violence 
 to enforce his wishes, the employer has sometimes 
 employed his position to secure an unfair share 
 of the joint product. It is the province of the law 
 to place limitations upon both, and the security -of 
 our Government is found in the fact that both em 
 ployer and employe, in their calmer moments, will 
 join in the enactment of laws which will restrain 
 them in moments of temptation. Some assume that 
 labor is lawless and that to settle the labor question 
 permanently we need only enforce the law rigor 
 ously. I yield to none in insistence upon obedience 
 to the law. Law is necessary in human society, and 
 its enforcement is essential to peace and order, but 
 we must remedy abuses by law if we would insure 
 respect for, and obedience to law. 
 
 The important lesson to be learned by the citizen 
 in a government like ours is that the ballot is both 
 shield and sword it protects him from injury and 
 enforces his rights. 
 
 The first thing that is needed for a better under 
 standing of labor questions is the recognition of 
 the equal rights of all, and, second, more intimate 
 
IN CHICAGO ON LABOR DAY 167 
 
 acquaintance. We have rights that may be called 
 natural rights; they are inherent; we have them 
 because we are human beings. The Government 
 did not bestow them upon us the Government can 
 not rightfully withdraw them from us. We all 
 come into the world without our volition: the en 
 vironment of youth largely determines the course 
 of our lives, and this environment is not of our 
 choosing. We live under the same moral obliga 
 tions, and are responsible to the same Supreme 
 Being. We have our needs that must be supplied ; 
 we require food, clothing, shelter, companionship. 
 We have our domestic ties, and the tenderness of 
 these ties is not measured by wealth or position in 
 society. Man has used petty distinctions to sep 
 arate society into different classes, but these dis 
 tinctions are insignificant when compared with 
 the great similarities that unite us in a common 
 destiny and impel us toward a common end. 
 
 On this day it is well to emphasize the fact that 
 we are linked together by bonds which we could 
 not break if we would and should not weaken if 
 we could. It ought to be easy to learn this les 
 son in the United States, for here more than any 
 where else, people feel their interdependence. We 
 have no law of primogeniture to separate the 
 oldest son from his brothers and sisters ; and we 
 have no law of entail to prevent the alienation of 
 an estate. There is no aristocracy resting upon 
 birth or kingly favor; and if the people perform 
 their civic duties, there will be no plutocracy rul 
 ing in the name of the dollar. Here the road to 
 advancement is a public highway, and it is within 
 
168 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 our power to keep it open to all alike. Here, too, 
 the Government is within the control of the peo 
 ple, and no department of the service is out of 
 the reach of the voter or beyond the influence of 
 public opinion. Under our constitution, some 
 branches of the Government are more quickly re 
 sponsive than others to the public will, but our 
 Government can be controlled by the people, from 
 the organic law which we call the constitution to 
 the statute and the court s decree. 
 
 A long step toward the elevation of labor to 
 its proper position in the nation s deliberations is 
 to be found in the establishment of a Department 
 of Labor, with a cabinet officer at its head. The 
 wage-earners deserve this recognition, and the ex 
 ecutive is entitled to the assistance which such an 
 official could render him. I regard the inaugura 
 tion of this reform as the opening of a new era 
 in which those who toil will have a voice in the 
 deliberations of the President s council chamber. 
 
 The labor organization has been seriously handi 
 capped by the fact that it has been and I am not 
 sure that it has been done unwittingly yoked up 
 with the industrial combinations known as trusts. 
 The pr oneness of trust defenders to use the labor 
 organization as an excuse for combinations in re 
 straint of trade has aroused the suspicion that they 
 have been classed together for the purpose of 
 shielding the combinations of capital. As the 
 result of eighteen years of anti-trust legislation, 
 only one man has been given a penal sentence for 
 violating the federal law on this subject, and that 
 man was a member of a labor organization rather 
 
IN CHICAGO ON LABOR DAY 16<> 
 
 than a trust magnate. The laboring man is justi 
 fied in his demand that a distinction shall be drawn 
 between the labor organization and the industrial 
 monopoly. 
 
 The trust and the labor organization cannot be 
 described in the same language. The trust mag 
 nates have used their power to amass swollen for 
 tunes, while no one will say that the labor organ 
 ization has as yet secured for its members more 
 than their share of the profits arising from their 
 work. But there are fundamental differences. 
 The trust is a combination of dollars; the labor 
 organization is an association of human beings. 
 In a trust a few men attempt to control the pro 
 duct of others; in a labor organization, the mem 
 bers unite for the protection of that which is their 
 own, namely, their own labor, which, being neces 
 sary to their existence, is a part of them. The 
 trust deals with dead matter; the labor organiza 
 tion deals with life and with intellectual and moral 
 forces. No impartial student of the subject will 
 deny the right of the laboring man to exemption 
 from the operation of the existing anti-trust law. 
 
 If the labor organization needs to be regulated 
 by law, let it be regulated by a law which deals 
 with man as man, and not by a law that was aimed 
 to prevent the cornering of a commodity or the 
 forestalling of the market. 
 
 I shall not speak of the eight -hour day, or of 
 the employer s liability act, because both of the 
 leading parties have endorsed these reforms; the 
 only question to be considered is : which party can 
 best be trusted to secure these reforms? I need 
 
 II 12 
 
170 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 hardly assure you that I am heartily in favor of 
 both reforms. 
 
 There are two questions, however, intimately 
 connected with the labor problem upon which the 
 Democratic and Republican parties do not agree, 
 and I not only feel at liberty to discuss these, but, 
 under the circumstances, I have no right to ignore 
 them. One relates to the issue of injunctions, and 
 the other to contempt cases arising under injunc 
 tions. The Republican convention did not deal 
 candidly with the laboring man on the subject 
 of the writ of injunction. Secretary Taft has en 
 deavored to amend his platform in this respect and 
 to make some promises, which are not supported 
 by his platform, but his promises offer nothing 
 substantial in the way of reform, and are not bind 
 ing on Republican senators and members. The 
 Republican Congress has already made a record 
 on labor questions, and the Republican party can 
 not escape from that record. 
 
 Mr. Taft s speech may be considered as binding 
 upon him, but the convention which elected the 
 Republican candidates endorsed the Republican 
 platform not Mr. Taft s personal views. The 
 Republican platform, while pretending to pledge 
 some modifications of the law, contains an excep 
 tion clause which reiterates the very language of 
 the law. Whether this exception clause was in 
 serted by accident or design, the effect is the same. 
 It merely provides, in substance, that restraining 
 orders shall not issue without notice except where 
 such order can now issue without notice. The 
 platform was a triumph for those who have been 
 
IN CHICAGO ON LABOR DAY 171 
 
 opposing the laboring man, and they have been 
 boasting of their victory. 
 
 The Democratic platform on this subject copies 
 the language which the labor organizations sub 
 mitted to the Republican and Democratic conven 
 tions. Mr. Taft, in his notification speech, objects 
 to the language. He charges that the anti-injunc 
 tion plank was " loosely drawn," and framed for 
 4 the especial purpose of rendering it susceptible 
 to one interpretation by one set of men, and a dia 
 metrically opposite interpretation by another." As 
 Mr. Taft has had long experience on the bench, 
 and is therefore skilled in the interpretation of 
 language, I ask him to give us, if he can, two 
 opposite interpretations of the language. That 
 plank demands that "all parties to all judicial 
 proceedings shall be treated with rigid impartial 
 ity." Surely he cannot find two interpretations 
 to the phrase "rigid impartiality." 
 
 Speaking of industrial disputes, the platform 
 declares that "injunctions shall not be issued in 
 any cases in which injunctions would not issue if 
 no industrial dispute were involved." How can 
 that language be misconstrued or misinterpreted? 
 If words mean anything, that plank means that an 
 industrial dispute shall not, in itself, be regarded 
 as a sufficient cause for. an injunction. If an in 
 junction issues in an industrial dispute, it must 
 be based upon acts which would justify an injunc 
 tion if there were no industrial dispute involved. 
 There is nothing ambiguous about it; there is 
 nothing that can be misconstrued or misinterpreted, 
 even by one desiring to find a double meaning. 
 
172 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 Why do the Republican leaders attempt to read 
 ambiguity into those words? Simply because they 
 cannot meet the proposition presented. Even Mr. 
 Taft attempts to avoid the issue by saying that 
 "no one has ever maintained that the fact that a 
 dispute was industrial gave any basis for the issu 
 ing of an injunction in reference thereto." If it 
 is true that no one now maintains that, then why 
 find fault with our platform on that subject? If 
 nobody opposes our position, we ought to have no 
 difficulty in securing the passage of a law in har 
 mony with this plank. 
 
 Upon the jury question Mr. Taft clearly takes 
 issue with us. He is thoroughly aroused by what 
 he regards as a menace to the courts. Here is his 
 lament : 
 
 "Never in the history of the country has there been such 
 an insidious attack upon the judicial system as the pro 
 posal to interject a jury trial between all orders of the 
 court made after full hearing and the enforcement of such 
 orders." 
 
 This would come under the head of " Impor 
 tant, if true." But the fact is, our platform spe 
 cifically declares that we favor a measure "which 
 passed the United States Senate in 1896, and which 
 a Republican Congress has ever since refused to 
 enact," etc., providing for trial by jury in cases 
 of indirect contempt. Are not the proceedings of 
 the United States Senate a part of the history of 
 the country? This measure passed the United 
 States Senate more than twelve years ago, and the 
 vote upon it was so nearly unanimous that no roll 
 call was demanded. The bill w r as not smuggled 
 through without discussion. It was amended iu 
 
IN CHICAGO OX LABOR DAY 173 
 
 open Senate and the members of the Senate had 
 ample opportunity to understand it. It would 
 have passed Congress and become a law long ago 
 but for the fact that a few large corporate employ 
 ers of labor have kept a lobby in Washington ever 
 since, and have been able to coerce Congress into 
 ignoring the laboring man s plea. 
 
 Mr. Taft is not an unbiased judge where the 
 jury system is under consideration. He is not only 
 known as the father of government by injunction, 
 but he is prejudiced against the jury system. 
 Every man is unconsciously influenced by his en 
 vironment, and Mr. Taft s long service upon the 
 bench has led him to underrate the importance of 
 the jury system. In his address to the students 
 of Yale, entitled, "A Judge on the Bench," he 
 shows a decided leaning toward an increase of 
 the authority of the judge, and praises the proced 
 ure in the federal court at the expense of the 
 western courts, even tho he admits that "the jury 
 system popularizes the court and gives the people 
 to understand that they have not only an interest 
 but also a part in the administration of justice." 
 He has fallen into the error of assuming that any 
 improvement in the method of court procedure is 
 an attack upon the authority of the court. This 
 is an ancient method of opposing reforms. Lord 
 Maeaulay had to encounter a similar objection 
 when he favored the reform of the rotten borough 
 system of England. Those who were opposed to 
 the reform construed it as an attack upon the 
 throne and as a menace to the stability of the gov 
 ernment, but the reform was secured and the gov- 
 
174 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 ernment of England was improved rather than 
 impaired. So the reform attempted by the Senate 
 twelve years ago, and endorsed by three Democratic 
 national conventions, is in the interest of justice 
 and has for its object the strengthening of the court 
 in public estimation. 
 
 It is not a reflection upon the judge of a crim 
 inal court to say that he shall not decide upon the 
 guilt of the accused. Our criminal courts are the 
 better, not the worse, for the substitution of trial 
 by jury. No common law judge feels that it is a 
 reflection upon him when a party to a suit asks 
 for a trial before a jury. It is the special function 
 of a jury to decide upon the credibility of wit 
 nesses, and the manner of a witness upon the stand 
 is often as important as his words in determining 
 the weight to be attached to his testimony. A 
 judge is apt to be hampered by precedent. He 
 wants this decision to harmonize with former de 
 cisions rendered by him, altho the facts are never 
 the same in two cases. The jury is better able to 
 decide each case upon its merits. 
 
 It must be remembered, too, that in cases of 
 indirect contempt, the charge is a criminal one and 
 that the punishment is by fine or imprisonment. 
 All the reasons that apply to criminal cases apply 
 to these cases of indirect contempt, and the abuses 
 to be removed by the proposed law are those that 
 have grown up because of the increased tendency 
 of the great corporations to use the writ of injunc 
 tion to avoid the jury trial. 
 
 The Democratic platform proposes no interfer 
 ence with the right of the judge to decide the cases 
 
IN CHICAGO ON LABOR DAY 175 
 
 of direct contempt contempt committed in the 
 presence of the court; neither is it proposed to 
 interfere with the right of the judge to determine 
 the punishment for indirect contempt. All that is 
 sought is the substitution of trial by jury for trial 
 by judge when the violation of the court s decree 
 must be established by evidence. 
 
 Not only is the prosecution for contempt a crim 
 inal prosecution, but there is even more reason 
 for a jury than in the ordinary criminal case. In the 
 criminal court the judge acts in a judicial capacity 
 only. He is not responsible for the law which is 
 being enforced in his court, and therefore he has 
 no personal grievance against the defendant, and, 
 not being the prosecutor in the case, he does not 
 feel a personal interest in the result of the trial ; 
 but in a contempt proceeding the judge is the 
 lawmaker and the public prosecutor as well as the 
 judge. It is the judge s order which the accused 
 is charged with violating, and it is the judge who 
 appears to prosecute the case, upon which he is to 
 render a decision. In our Federal and State con 
 stitutions we have carefully separated the three 
 departments of government, and each department 
 is jealous of any encroachment upon its sphere of 
 activity. The judge resents any attempt of the 
 legislator or of the executive to usury the func 
 tions of the court; the executive resents any at 
 tempt of the court or of the lawmaker to enter his 
 domain, and the lawmaker is equally insistent upon 
 the preservation of his independence. If there is 
 any time or place where a jury is needed, it is in 
 a case of indirect contempt. It is not strange that 
 
176 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 abuses have crept in, for a man would have to be 
 more than human to unite in himself the delibera 
 tion of the legislator, the zeal of the public prose 
 cutor and the impartiality of the judge. 
 
 While the laboring men have been the first to 
 complain of this denial of the right of trial by 
 jury in cases of indirect contempt, it ought not to 
 be considered a labor question. The jury system 
 is so essential to the administration of justice that 
 the subject ought to appeal to all who make a 
 study of the science of government. If citizens 
 would only be on their guard against the begin 
 nings of evils, it would be very easy to apply neces 
 sary remedies, but in the struggle for existence 
 the voters are often indifferent to the application 
 of an erroneous principle until repeated applica 
 tions establish a custom, and in time a custom crys r 
 tallizes into law. It behooves us, as lovers of our 
 country and as the friends of liberty, to insist upon 
 the independence of the different departments of 
 our Government and upon the maintenance of the 
 rights which have been shown by experience to be 
 essential to freedom and self-government. The 
 jury system must be preserved, and we cannot 
 hope to preserve it if, for any reason or under any 
 pretext, we permit any citizen to be denied the 
 protection which it furnishes. 
 
 According to the Declaration of Independence, 
 governments are instituted among men to secure to 
 them the enjoyment of their inalienable rights. 
 Among these inalienable rights, three are specific 
 ally enumerated life, liberty and the pursuit of 
 happiness. The second and third, however, are 
 
IN CHICAGO ON LABOR DAY 177 
 
 really parts of the first, for life means nothing to 
 the individual if it is confined to mere animal 
 existence. Man is distinguished from the brute in 
 that the latter merely eats and sleeps and dies, 
 while man is endowed by the Creator with infinite 
 possibilities. Liberty is necessary for the realiza 
 tion of man s possibilities. His conscience must 
 be left free that he may fix for himself the relation 
 between himself and his God. His mind must be 
 left free that he may devise and plan for himself, 
 for his family and for his fellows. His speech must 
 be free that he may give to the world the results 
 of his investigations and present to others the ideal 
 which he is trying to realize in his work. His pen 
 must be free that he may scatter seed thoughts to 
 the uttermost parts of the earth and leave to pos 
 terity a record of his work. He finds in govern 
 ment the cheapest, as well as the surest, protec 
 tion of this liberty, to be, to think, to speak, to 
 act. 
 
 And what constitutes the pursuit of happiness? 
 Man must have home aid friends family and 
 society. He must have food or he will starve. 
 He must have clothing and shelter; he must have 
 books, he must have instruments with which to 
 work. He must provide during the period of 
 strength for the years when age dulls his energies 
 and benumbs his hands. He may have ambition, 
 he may have willingness to work and an environ 
 ment that spurs him on ; but the government may 
 encourage or it may discourage his efforts. Gov 
 ernment may bid him hope or leave him to de 
 spair. 
 
178 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 "When I visited the valley of Jordan I learned 
 that it is fertile and productive, and yet, instead 
 of being cultivated like the valley of the Nile, vast 
 stretches of territory lie untilled. Why? I was 
 told that under the reign of the Sultan the toiler 
 is not protected in the enjoyment of the fruits of 
 his toil. If .the farmer plants and tends his crop, 
 the roving Bedouins will sweep down from the 
 hills at harvest time and carry away the fruits of 
 his industry. 
 
 If the government does not assure to the indi 
 vidual the enjoyment of the result of his effort, 
 there is no stimulus to industry. 
 
 We have the best government on earth. It gives 
 the largest liberty, the greatest hope and the most 
 encouragement to its citizens, and yet, even in this 
 country, it is always necessary to be on the watch 
 to keep the instrumentalities of government from 
 being turned to private gain. 
 
 One of the great problems of to-day is to secure 
 an equitable distribution of the proceeds of toil. 
 The material wealth of this country is largely a 
 joint product; in factories few people work alone, 
 and on the farm a certain amount of co-operation 
 is necessary. Where men work together, the army 
 organization applies to some degree; that is, some 
 direct, others are directed. The difficulty has been 
 to divide the results fairly between the captains 
 of industry and the privates in the ranks. As 
 the dividing is done largely by the captains, it is 
 not unnatural that they should magnify their part 
 and keep too large a share for themselves; neither 
 is it unnatural that there should be complaint on 
 
IN CHICAGO OX LABOR DAY 179 
 
 the part of the toilers who think that their recom 
 pense is insufficient. 
 
 The labor question, therefore, as it presents itself 
 at this time, is chiefly a question of distribution, 
 and the legislation asked for is legislation which 
 will secure to each that to which his services entitle 
 him. As legislation is secured through the ballot 
 everyone should use the ballot to obtain the legis 
 lation necessary. The Democratic platform pre 
 sents the ideal toward which the Democratic party 
 is striving, namely, justice in the distribution of 
 rewards. The Democratic party proclaims that 
 each individual should receive from society a re 
 ward for his toil commensurate with his contribu 
 tion to the welfare of society, and unless some 
 other party can do the work better, the Democratic 
 party ought to have the support of all, whether 
 they belong to the wage-earning class or occupy 
 positions in which they direct the efforts of others. 
 If an officer in the industrial army were sure that 
 his children and his children s children would in 
 herit his position, he might feel possibly indifferent 
 as to those under his command, but the children of 
 those who, to-day, work for wages may employ the 
 children of those who, in this generation, are em 
 ployers. This uncertainty as to future genera 
 tions, as well as our sense of justice, should lead 
 us to make the Government as nearly perfect as 
 possible, for a good government is the best legacy 
 that a parent can leave to his child. Kiches may 
 take the wings of the morning and fly away, but 
 government is permanent, and we cannot serve 
 posterity better than by contributing to the per- 
 
180 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 fection of the Government, that each child born 
 into the world may feel that it has here an oppor 
 tunity for the most complete development, and a 
 chance to secure, through service, the largest pos 
 sible happiness and honor. 
 
XII 
 THE STATE AND THE NATION 
 
 Delivered in Peoria, 111., on September 9, 1908. 
 
 THE success of our system of government rests 
 upon the careful observance of the constitu 
 tional division of power between the State 
 and the Nation. A number of expressions have 
 been coined to describe the relations existing be 
 tween the Federal Government and the several sub 
 divisions, but no one has been more felicitous in 
 definitions than Jefferson or more accurate in 
 drawing lines of demarcation. He presented the 
 historic position of the Democratic party when he 
 declared himself in favor of "the support of the 
 State governments in all their rights, as the most 
 competent administrations for our domestic con 
 cerns and the surest bulwarks against anti-repub 
 lican tendencies," and "the preservation of the 
 general Government in its whole constitutional 
 vigor, as the sheet anchor of our safety at horns 
 and peace abroad." The Democratic platform, 
 adopted at Denver, quotes the language of Jeffer 
 son and declares that it expresses the party s posi 
 tion at this time. 
 
 It would be almost as difficult to maintain a free, 
 self-governing republic over a large area and with 
 a large population without State governments as it 
 would be to maintain such a republic without a 
 
 (181) 
 
182 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 general government. The interests of the different 
 parts of the country are so varied, and the matters 
 requiring legislative attention so numerous, that it 
 would be impossible to have all of the work done 
 at the national capital. One has only to examine 
 the bills introduced in each Congress, and then add 
 to the number the bills introduced at the legisla 
 tive sessions of each of the forty-six States, to 
 realize that it would be beyond the power of any 
 body of men to legislate intelligently on the multi 
 tude of questions that require consideration. 
 
 Not only would national legislators lack the time 
 necessary for investigation, and therefore lack the 
 information necessary to wise decision, but the in 
 difference of representatives in one part of the 
 country to local matters in other parts of the coun 
 try would invite the abuse of power. Then, too, the 
 seat of government would be so far from the great 
 majority of the voters as to prevent that scrutiny 
 of public conduct which is essential to clean and 
 honest government. The union of the separate 
 States under a Federal Government offers the only 
 plan that can adapt itself to indefinite extension. 
 
 Our constitution expressly reserves to the States 
 and to the people respectively all powers not dele 
 gated to the Federal Government, and only by re 
 specting this division of powers can we hope to 
 keep the Government within the reach of the peo 
 ple and responsive to the will of the people. Be 
 cause in all disputes as to the relative spheres of 
 the Nation and the States the final decision rests 
 with the federal courts, the tendency is naturally,;" 
 toward centralization, and greater care is required j 
 
THE STATE AND THE NATION 183 
 
 to preserve the reserved rights of the States than 
 to maintain the authority of the general Govern 
 ment. 
 
 In recent years another force has been exerting 
 an increasing influence in extending the authority 
 of the central Government. I refer to the great 
 corporations. They prefer the federal courts to 
 the State courts, and employ every possible device 
 to drag litigants before United States judges. They 
 also prefer Congressional regulation to State regu 
 lation, and those interested in large corporations 
 have for years been seeking federal incorporation. 
 The Democratic party will resist every attempt to 
 obliterate State lines, whether the attempt is made 
 through legislation or through judicial interpreta 
 tion. Amendment of the organic law by judicial 
 interpretation would be destructive of constitution 
 al government; our constitution can be amended 
 by the people in accordance with the terms of the 
 document itself, and no group of men, however 
 honorable or high minded, can usurp this power 
 without violating the fundamental principles of 
 our Government. 
 
 It has been suggested that the rights of the 
 States can lapse through non-use, and that Congress 
 is justified in usurping the authority of the State 
 if the State fails to make proper use of it. While 
 this doctrine has been advanced in the pretended 
 interest of the people, it is as insidious and as dan 
 gerous an assault as has ever been made on our 
 constitutional form of government. The people of 
 the State can act with more promptness than the 
 people of the nation, and if they fail to act, it must 
 
184 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 be assumed that the people of the State prefer in 
 action. 
 
 The real purpose that those have in view who 
 complain of the inaction of the State, is not more 
 strict regulation of corporations, but the relief of 
 corporations from State regulation. 
 
 The Democratic party favors the full exercise of 
 the powers of the Government for the protection of 
 the rights of the people each government to act 
 within its constitutional sphere. Our platform de 
 mands that federal legislation be added to, not sub 
 stituted for, State legislation. 
 
 The predatory corporations have taken advant 
 age of the dual character of our Government and 
 have tried to hide behind State rights when prose 
 cuted in the federal courts, and behind the inter 
 state commerce clause of 4:he constitution when 
 prosecuted in the State courts. 
 
 There is no twilight zone between the Nation and 
 the State in which the exploiting interests can take 
 refuge from both. There is no neutral ground 
 where, beyond the jurisdiction of either sovereign 
 ty, the plunderers of the public can find a safe re 
 treat. As long as a corporation confines its activi 
 ties to the State in which it was created, it is sub 
 ject to State regulation only ; but as soon as it in 
 vades interstate commerce it becomes amenable to 
 federal laws as well as to the laws of the State 
 which created it and the laws of the States in 
 which it does business. 
 
 How strict can these laws be? Just as strict as 
 may be necessary for the protection of the public. 
 
 Our platform outlines the regulation deemed 
 
THE STATE AND THE NATION 185 
 
 necessary, and the regulation is specifically set f ortbi 
 in order that our opponents may not be able to 
 scare the public by predicting hurtful legislation. 
 Our platform, unlike the Republican platform, says 
 what it means and means only what it says. 
 
 A distinction is drawn between the railroads and 
 other corporations. The railroad, being a quasi- 
 public corporation and, as such, being permitted 
 to exercise a part of the sovereignty of the State, 
 is subject to regulation at the hands of both the 
 nation and the State, but this regulation is in 
 tended, not to cripple the railroads, but to increase 
 their efficiency. The people at large are as much 
 interested as the stockholders are in the successful 
 operation of the railroads. Their own pecuniary 
 interests as well as their sense of justice would 
 restrain them from doing anything that would im 
 pair the road or reduce its efficiency. The trav 
 eling public is vitally interested in the payment of 
 wages sufficient to command the most intelligent 
 service, for life as well as property is in the hands 
 of those who operate the trains, guard the switches, 
 and keep the track in repair. 
 
 The Democratic party would distinguish between 
 those railroad owners, directors and managers who, 
 recognizing their obligation to the public, earn 
 their salaries by conscientious devotion to the work 
 entrusted to them, and those unscrupulous " Na 
 poleons of Finance" who use railroads as mere 
 pawns in a great gambling game without regard 
 to the rights of stockholders, the welfare of em 
 ployees or the interests of the patrons. It is in the 
 interest of honest railroading and legitimate invest- 
 
 II 13 
 
186 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 ment that the Democratic party seeks to ascertain 
 the present value of the railroad properties and to 
 prevent for the future the watering of stock and 
 the issue of fictitious capitalization ; and it is in the 
 interest of both the railroads and the public that 
 it seeks only such reductions in transportation 
 rates as can be made without wage reduction, with 
 out deterioration in the service and without injus 
 tice to legitimate investments. The Democratic 
 party insists that in the matter of regulation of 
 railroads both the State governments and the Fed 
 eral Government shall act up to, and yet within, 
 their powers ; for nothing else will restore the con 
 fidence and good-will that ought to exist between 
 the railroads and the people. In dealing with man 
 ufacturing and trading corporations the Demo 
 cratic party draws a distinction between those cor 
 porations and they constitute the great majority 
 of all the manufacturing and trading corporations 
 which are engaged in a legitimate effort to sup 
 ply what the consumers need, and the very few cor 
 porations which are seeking by conscienceless meth 
 ods to take advantage of the public on the one 
 hand, while on the other hand they bankrupt com 
 petitors, oppress the producers of raw materials 
 and deal arbitrarily with their employees. It en 
 deavors to protect the innocent corporations by 
 visiting punishment upon those corporations which 
 are guilty of infractions of the moral as well as 
 the statute law. Here, too, our platform is specific 
 and no one can use its language to frighten any 
 business man whose transactions are fair and whose 
 income is honestly earned. 
 
THE STATE AND THE NATION 187 
 
 No one can contrast the plain, straightforward 
 declarations of our party with the vague and am 
 biguous utterances of the Republican leaders and 
 the Republican candidate without recognizing that 
 our appeal is to the judgment and good sense of the 
 voters who desire justice for themselves and insist 
 upon justice being done by others. Our party, if 
 entrusted with the power, will remedy the abuses \ 
 which have grown up under Republican rule, and 
 yet remedy those abuses with due regard to con 
 stitutional limitations and without injury to any 
 legitimate business interest. 
 
SPEECHES 
 IN FOREIGN LANDS 
 
I 
 
 PATRIOTISM 
 
 Delivered in Havana, Cuba, May 10, 1002, at a banquet 
 at the time of the inauguration of the first president of the 
 Republic of Cuba. 
 
 I ESTEEM it a great privilege and a high honor 
 to be invited to participate in this memorable 
 occasion. I am not here to represent the Gov 
 ernment of the United States. The distinguished 
 soldier and citizen who has represented the Ameri 
 can Government upon the island with so much 
 ability and success is present to represent my coun 
 try in an official capacity ; but as an American citi 
 zen I can congratulate you upon the realization 
 of your hopes, and as an American citizen I can 
 give expression to the pride that I feel at the fact 
 that our soldiers and official representatives have 
 conducted themselves so well that the Cuban vet 
 erans tender them this complimentary dinner and 
 express so much of gratitude and of good-will. 
 
 When asked to respond to the toast, I could 
 think of no better sentiment than "Patriotism." 
 
 Of what other sentiment could I think at a ban- [ 
 quet given by the veterans of the Cuban army and 
 in the presence of the great soldier (General Go 
 mez) who sits at the head of the table to-night, and 
 in the presence of Cuba s favorite son, Senor 
 Estrada Palma, who is to enjoy the honor of being 
 the first chief executive of this republic. 
 (191) 
 
192 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 The word " patriotism" has been translated into 
 every language and its spirit has been exhibited to 
 ft greater or less extent in every land, but nowhere 
 has more patriotism been shown than in this beauti 
 ful isle of the sea, where liberty and independence 
 have been purchased by so much blood and sacri 
 fice. You may well be pardoned for feeling an 
 exultation too deep for expression, and in that 
 exultation my countrymen fully share; and yet I 
 would be less than a friend if I failed to suggest 
 that there are victories before you even greater 
 than the victories already won. The work of self- 
 government is a continuous work and one that 
 taxes both the patience and the energy of the 
 citizen. Under an arbitrary government where the 
 monarch thinks and acts for the subject, the sub 
 ject may be indifferent and indolent, but in a re 
 public where the government rests upon the con 
 sent of the governed there is no place for slothful- 
 ness. 
 
 Patriotism is a virtue which must be displayed 
 in peace as well as in war, and may be denned as 
 that love of country which leads the citizen to give 
 to his country that which his country needs at the 
 time his country needs it. In time of war the citi 
 zen may be called upon to die for his country; in 
 time of peace he must live for his country. In time 
 of war he may be called upon to give his body as a 
 sacrifice ; in time of peace his country demands his 
 head and his heart, his intellect and his conscience. 
 You have shown that you were willing to lay down 
 your lives in order to purchase liberty, now you 
 will be called upon to exhibit self-restraint and 
 
PATRIOTISM 193 
 
 moral courage in dealing with the problems of gov 
 ernment. 
 
 It is written that he who ruleth his own spirit is 
 greater than he that taketh a city. It is too much 
 to expect that all things will be done as any one 
 would like to have them done or that every one 
 will receive the reward of which he and his friends 
 may think him deserving; arid in hours of disap 
 pointment it is well to remember that a person can 
 show more patriotism by suffering for a great cause 
 than by enjoying great rewards. 
 
 In time of war your island was divided and there 
 was much bitterness between those who fought for 
 independence and those who supported the au 
 thority of Spain. Now that you are about to enter 
 upon the enjoyment of the blessings of self-govern 
 ment, it should be your purpose to heal all the 
 wounds and to unite the people in a common des 
 tiny. If there be those who would prefer the 
 sovereignty of Spain to an experiment in self-gov 
 ernment, do not abuse them, but convert them to 
 the doctrines of free government by showing them 
 the superiority of a republic. It may even be an 
 advantage to those in power to have some citizens 
 who are skeptical and ready to criticize, for it 
 will make public officials more careful of their con 
 duct. 
 
 Jefferson declares that free government exists 
 in jealousy rather than in confidence, and it is 
 certainly true that public servants are most faith 
 ful when their acts are under constant scrutiny. 
 
 One of the questions with which you will have 
 to deal is that of public education, and you will 
 
194 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 find it of advantage to lay for your republic a 
 broad and deep foundation by providing for uni 
 versal education. The citizen will appreciate the 
 advantages of free government in proportion as his 
 mental horizon is enlarged and his capacity for 
 usefulness increased. 
 
 No one is wise enough to act as a censor in mat 
 ters of education and select those who are to be 
 sent to school. No one can say upon which child 
 of to-day the responsibilities of the next generation 
 will fall, hence the nation will find its security in 
 fitting the largest possible number for full partici 
 pation in all that concerns the nation s welfare. 
 ^You rejoice to-night that our nation is going to 
 keep its promise and give the world an example 
 \ of fidelity to a public trust, and yet it is a cause 
 i of congratulation to us as much as to you, for we 
 had more to lose than you if we failed to keep the 
 v^jrtedge made at the beginning of the Spanish war. 
 I believe that the citizens of our country are as 
 happy as you over the successful outcome of your 
 heroic struggle; they will rejoice in all the good 
 fortune that comes to you and they will grieve over 
 any mistake that you may make. They appreciate 
 the gratitude which you express, but they find their 
 reward in the good they have been able to accom 
 plish, for life s happiness is not measured by the 
 gifts which one receives, but by the contribution 
 which he makes to the welfare of his fellows. 
 
 Let me borrow a story which has been used to 
 illustrate the position of the United States : A man 
 wended his way through the streets of a great city. 
 Unmindful of the merchandise exposed on every 
 
PATRIOTISM 195 
 
 hand he sought out a store where birds were kept 
 for sale. Purchasing bird after bird he opened the 
 cages and allowed the feathered songsters to fly 
 away. When asked why he thus squandered his 
 money, he replied: "I was once a captive myself, 
 and I find pleasure in setting even a bird at lib 
 erty/ 
 
 The United States once went through the strug 
 gle from which you have just emerged ; the Ameri 
 can people once by the aid of a friendly power won 
 a victory similar to that which you are now cele 
 brating, and our people find gratification in help 
 ing to open the door that barred your way to the 
 exercise of your political rights. 
 
 I have come to witness the lowering of our flag 
 and the raising of the flag of the Cuban Republic ; 
 but the event will bring no humiliation to the peo 
 ple of my country, for it is better that the stars and 
 stripes should be indelibly imprest upon your 
 hearts than that they should float above your heads. 
 
II 
 
 IN LONDON ON THANKS 
 GIVING DAY 
 
 Delivered in London at the annual banquet of the Ameri 
 can Society on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26, 1903. 
 
 IT IS I who have reason to be grateful to the 
 American Society for the opportunity of meet 
 ing so many of my own countrymen and Eng 
 lish men and women who are so like my country 
 men that I cannot, looking down the tables, tell 
 which is which. I am not surprized to find that the 
 ladies of England are so handsome as to be taken 
 for Americans, for I have found the ladies every 
 where handsome enough for the men, but I have 
 been a little surprized to find that I could not tell 
 an Englishman from an American on the street 
 here. And as I have a high opinion of the Ameri 
 can, I cannot have a low opinion of the English 
 man. 
 
 It is proper that I should express my gratitude 
 to-night for several things. I am grateful to our 
 distinguished ambassador for the courtesies he has 
 shown me, and I have the advantage of him in one 
 respect, I had seen and heard him before. Once 
 when I was in Washington, a young man then, I 
 went into the supreme court of the United States, 
 and heard a lawyer arguing a case. I was so im 
 prest with the appearance of the man and with 
 
 (196) 
 
ON THANKSGIVING DAY 197 
 
 the manner of his speech that I inquired who this 
 lawyer might be, and was told that it was Mr. 
 Choate, of New York. From that time to this I 
 have looked back to that occasion, and I have never 
 found in my country a lawyer who measured 
 higher than he did. I am grateful to him for his 
 kind words, altho in doing me what he intended 
 for a kindness he has somewhat embarrassed me, 
 and if I were to give full credit to what he 
 has said I am afraid I might soon be like the 
 young lady whose sweetheart praised her until 
 she became so vain that she would not speak to 
 him. 
 
 This society, I am informed, celebrates two occa 
 sions, the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving Day. 
 On the Fourth of July we celebrate our independ 
 ence ; on Thanksgiving Day we acknowledge our de 
 pendence. And it is proper that Mr. Choate should 
 be a conspicuous figure on both occasions, because on 
 the Fourth of July we boast of what we have done, 
 and on Thanksgiving Day we feel grateful for what 
 we have received, and we are both proud of, and 
 grateful for, Ambassador Choate. On the Fourth 
 of July the eagle seems a little larger than it does 
 on any other day, and its scream may grate more 
 harshly on the foreign ear than it does at any 
 other time. But on this day we cultivate rever 
 ence and express our appreciation of those bless 
 ings that have come to our country without the 
 thought or aid of Americans. We have reason to 
 look with some degree of pride upon the achieve 
 ment of the United States; we contemplate the 
 present with satisfaction, and look to the future 
 
198 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 with hope; and yet on this occasion we may well 
 remember that we are but building upon the foun 
 dations that have been laid for us. We did not 
 create the fertile soil that is the basis of our agri 
 cultural greatness ; the streams that drain and feed 
 our valleys were not channelled by human hands. 
 We did not fashion the climate that gives us the 
 white cotton belt of the south, the yellow wheat belt 
 of the north, and the central corn belt that joins 
 the two and overlaps them both. We do not 
 gather up the moisture and fix the date of the 
 early and later rains; we did not hide away in 
 the mountains the gold and the silver; we did not 
 store in the earth the deposits of copper and of 
 zinc; we did not create the measures of coal and 
 the beds of iron. All these natural resources, 
 which we have but commenced to develop, are the 
 gift of Him before v/hom we bow in gratitude to 
 night. 
 
 Nor are we indebted to the Heavenly Father 
 alone, for we have received much from those who 
 are separated from us by the Atlantic. If we have 
 great and flourishing industries we must not forget 
 that every nation in Europe has sent us its trained 
 and skilled artizans. If we have made intellectual 
 progress, we must remember that those who crossed 
 the ocean as pioneers brought with them their in 
 telligence and their desire for learning. Even our 
 religion is not of American origin. Like you, we 
 laid the foundations of our church in the Holy 
 Land, and those who came in the Mayflower and 
 in other ships brought a love of religious liberty. 
 Free speech, which has been developed in our 
 
ON THANKSGIVING DAY 199 
 
 country, and which we prize so much, is not of 
 American origin. Since I have been here I have 
 been profoundly imprest with the part that Eng 
 lishmen have taken in establishing the right of free 
 speech. And I may say that before I came to this 
 country the thing that most challenged my admira 
 tion in the Englishman was his determination to 
 make his opinion known when he had an opinion 
 that he thought should be given to the world. Pass 
 ing through the Bank of England, to which my 
 friend, the ambassador, has referred, my attention 
 was called to a protest that Admiral Cochrane 
 wrote upon the bank note with which he paid the 
 thousand pounds fine that had been assessed 
 against him. I was interested in that protest be 
 cause it showed a fearlessness that indicates the 
 possibilities of the race. Let me read what he said : 
 "My health having suffered by long and close con 
 finement, and my oppressors having resolved to 
 deprive me of property or life, I submit to rob 
 bery to protect myself from murder in the hope 
 that I shall live to bring the delinquents to jus 
 tice." 
 
 That is the spirit that moves the world! There 
 was a man in prison. He must pay his fine in order 
 to gain his liberty. He believed the action of the 
 court unjust. He knew that if he stayed there he 
 would lose his life and lose the chance for vindica 
 tion, and yet, as he was going forth from the prison 
 doors, he did not go with bowed head or cringing, 
 but flung his protest in the face of his oppressors, 
 and told them he submitted to robbery to protect 
 his life in the hope that, having escaped from their 
 
200 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 hands, he might bring them to justice. I like that 
 in the Englishman, and during my short knowl 
 edge of public affairs I have looked across the 
 ocean and admired the moral courage and the man 
 liness of those Englishmen who have dared to 
 stand out against overwhelming odds and assert 
 their opinions before the world. 
 
 We sometimes feel that we have a sort of pro 
 prietary interest in the principles of government 
 set forth in the Declaration of Independence. That 
 is a document which we have given to the world, 
 and yet the principles set forth therein were not 
 invented by an American. Thomas Jefferson ex- 
 prest them in felicitous language and put them 
 into permanent form, but the principles had been 
 known before. The doctrine that all men are cre 
 ated equal, that they are endowed with inalien 
 able rights, that governments were instituted 
 amongst men to secure these rights, and that they 
 derived their just power from the consent of the 
 governed this doctrine which stands four square 
 with all the world was not conceived in the United 
 States, it did not spring from the American mind 
 ay, it did not come so much from any mind as it 
 was an emanation from the heart, and it had been 
 in the hearts of men for ages. Before Columbus 
 turned the prow of his ship toward the west on 
 that eventful voyage, before the Barons wrested 
 Magna Charta from King John yes. before the 
 Roman legions landed on the shores of this island 
 ay, before Homer sang that sentiment had 
 nestled in the heart of man, and nerved him to 
 resist the oppressor. That sentiment was not even 
 
ON THANKSGIVING DAY 201 
 
 of human origin. Our own great Lincoln declared 
 that it was God Himself who implanted in every 
 human heart the love of liberty. 
 
 Yes, when God created man, He gave him life. 
 He linked to life the love of liberty, and what God 
 hath joined together let no man put asunder. We 
 have received great blessings from God and from 
 all the world, and what is our duty? We cannot 
 make return to those from whom those gifts were 
 received. It is not in our power to make return 
 to the Father above. Nor can we make return to 
 those who have sacrificed so much for our advance 
 ment. The child can never make full return to 
 the mother whose life trembled in the balance at 
 its birth, and whose kindness and care guarded it 
 in all the years of infancy. The student cannot 
 make full return to the teacher who awakened the 
 mind, and aroused an ambition for a broader in 
 tellectual life. The adult cannot make full return 
 to the patriarch whose noble life gave inspiration 
 and incentive. So a generation cannot make re 
 turn to the generation gone; it must make its re 
 turn to the generations to come. Our nation must 
 discharge its debt not to the dead, but to the liv 
 ing. How can our country discharge this great 
 debt? In but one way, and that is by giving to 
 the world something equal in value to that which 
 it has received from the world. And what is the 
 greatest gift that man can bestow upon man ? Feed 
 a man and he will hunger again; give him cloth 
 ing and his clothing will wear out ; but give him a 
 noble ideal, and that ideal will be with him 
 through every waking hour, lifting him to a higher 
 
 II 14 
 
202 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 plane of life, and giving him a broader conception 
 of his relations to his fellows. 
 
 I know, therefore, of no greater service that my 
 country can render to the world than to furnish to 
 the world the highest ideal that the world has 
 known. That ideal must be so far above us that 
 it will keep us looking upward all our lives, and 
 so far in advance of us that we shall never over 
 take it. I know of no better illustration of an ideal 
 life than the living spring, pouring forth con 
 stantly of that which refreshes and invigorates 
 no better illustration of a worthless life than the 
 stagnant pool which receives contribution from all 
 the land around and around and gives forth noth 
 ing. Our nation must make a large contribution to 
 the welfare of the world, and it is no reflection 
 upon those who have gone before to say that we 
 ought to do better than they have done. We would 
 not meet the responsibilities of to-day if we did 
 not build still higher the social structure to which 
 they devoted their lives. 
 
 I visited the Tower of London to-day and saw 
 upon the wall a strange figure. It was made of 
 swords, ramrods, and bayonets, and was fashioned 
 into the form of a flower. Someone had put a 
 card on it and aptly named it the passion flower 
 and it has been too often the international flower. 
 But the world has made progress. No longer do 
 ambition and avarice furnish a sufficient excuse 
 for war. The world has made progress, and to-day 
 you cannot justify bloodshed except in defense of 
 a right already ascertained, and then only when all 
 peaceable means have been exhausted. The world 
 
ON THANKSGIVING DAY 203 
 
 has made progress. We have reached a point 
 where we respect not the man who will die to se 
 cure some pecuniary advantages, but the man who 
 will die in defense of his rights. We admire the 
 courage of the man who is willing to die in de 
 fense of his rights, but there is yet before us a 
 higher ground. Is he great who will die in defense 
 of his rights? There is yet to come the greater 
 man the man who will die rather than trespass 
 upon the rights of another. Hail to the nation 
 whatever its name may be that leads the world 
 towards the realization of this higher ideal. I am 
 glad that we now recognize that there is something 
 more powerful than physical force, and no one has 
 stated it better than Carlyle. He said that 
 thought was stronger than artillery parks, and at 
 last molded the world like soft clay; that behind 
 thought was love, and that there never was a wise 
 head that had not behind it a generous heart. 
 
 The world is coming to understand that armies 
 and navies, however numerous and strong, are im 
 potent to stop thought. Thought inspired by love 
 will yet rule the world. I am glad that there is a 
 national product more valuable than gold or silver, 
 more valuable than cotton or wheat or corn or iron 
 an ideal. That is a merchandise if I may call it 
 such that moves freely from country to country. 
 You cannot vex it with an export tax or hinder it 
 with an import tariff. It is greater than legisla 
 tors, and rises triumphant over the machinery of 
 government. In the rivalry to present the best 
 ideal to the world, love, not hatred, will control; 
 and I am glad that on this Thanksgiving Day I can 
 
204 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 meet my countrymen and their friends here assem 
 bled, return thanks for what my country has re 
 ceived, thanks for the progress that the world has 
 made, and contemplate with joy the coming of that 
 day when the rivalry between nations will be, not 
 to see which can injure the other most, but to show 
 which can hold highest the light that guides the 
 footsteps of the human race to higher ground. 
 (Loud and prolonged cheers.) 
 
Ill 
 
 RADICAL AND CONSERVATIVE 
 
 Delivered in Tokyo, Japan, in October, 1905, at a dinner 
 given by Ambassador Griscom, at which Count Ito, the 
 leader of the Conservative party, and Count Okuma, leader 
 of the Radical party, were present. 
 
 I HAVE been admonished that I would be ex 
 pected to say something in acknowledging this 
 very generous toast, but I hardly know what 
 to say. I was a cautious man before I came to 
 Japan, but I have learned here an additional cau 
 tion. I bought the three Xikko monkeys, carved in 
 wood, and I understand that they represent a very 
 important philosophy; i. e., that the wise man sees 
 nothing that he ought not to see ; hears nothing 
 that he ought not to hear; and says nothing that 
 he ought not to say. I have not worried about the 
 first two, for I have not expected to hear anything 
 that I ought not to hear, or to see anything that I 
 ought not to see. but I have kept my eye on the 
 third monkey, and have tried to be circumspect in 
 all my ways and cautious in all my utterances, but 
 I cannot forbear to submit a word in reply to the 
 very kind things which have been. said. 
 
 I appreciate the opportunity that our minister 
 has given us to meet the distinguished people who 
 are assembled around this board. I appreciate 
 also the dignity and ability with which he repre 
 sents my country. When I go abroad and meet 
 Republicans in the foreign service I am satisfied 
 (205) 
 
206 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 that, whatever may be the character of the Repub 
 licans left at home, good men have been sent 
 abroad, and I feel like suggesting that when we 
 have any more contests they make a fair exchange 
 and send away the ones who have been left at 
 home and bring back those who are away. As I 
 meet these learned, courteous and kindly Republi 
 cans, and as I receive such hospitable treatment at 
 their hands, I feel all the old animosity disappear 
 ing and I am, to-night, much in the attitude of a 
 young man, of whom I heard, who courted his girl 
 for a year before he had the courage to propose 
 to her. He finally summoned up sufficient courage 
 to tell her that he loved her, and asked her to 
 marry him. Being a very frank girl, she replied, 
 "I have loved you, Jim, for many months and 
 have only been waiting for you to tell me so that 
 I could tell you." Of course, Jim was delighted 
 so delighted that he went to the door and, looking 
 
 (up at the stars, exclaimed, "0 Lord, I hain t got 
 anything against anybody." I feel that way to- 
 / night, and this is not only true in a political sense, 
 not only true of my feeling towards Republicans, 
 but I think that as I come into contact with the peo 
 ple of other nations and races, I come to feel a 
 closer attachment to them than I could have felt 
 had I not met them. I am more and more imprest 
 with the broadening influence of traveling. As we 
 visit different countries we learn that people every 
 where, no matter through what language they 
 speak, or under what form of government they live, 
 are much the same. We find that the things 
 that we hold in common are more important and 
 
RADICAL AND CONSERVATIVE 207 
 
 more numerous than the smaller things which 
 separate us. 
 
 I consider it a great privilege to meet the dis 
 tinguished citizens of Japan. I would be confess 
 ing my own ignorance of the world s politics if I 
 did not know by name and by history the illus 
 trious men of this great island, and to-night I have 
 the pleasure of sitting at the board with two of the 
 men of whom I have often heard. One, Marquis 
 Ito, sits at my right. He will go doAvn in history 
 as the builder of a great constitution ; his fame will 
 increase with the ages until he shall be known 
 throughout the world as our own great Jefferson 
 is known because of his connection with the Dec 
 laration of Independence. 
 
 I am glad also that there is in this gathering an 
 other man. Count Okuma, distinguished in politics 
 and in education, and who yesterday so kindly en 
 tertained me in his home and gave me the oppor 
 tunity of looking into the faces of the students 
 assembled in the school of which he is the patron 
 saint. 
 
 I am glad that at this board we have these two 
 men, the marquis and the count, who represent so 
 fully the aspirations and the breadth of thought 
 in this country. I speak of these men, not that I 
 forget the other distinguished persons present, but 
 because these two represent the parties of which 
 they are the acknowledged leaders. I believe that 
 it is necessary that there shall be conflicting parties 
 in every great and growing nation. Show me a 
 nation where there is no dispute, where there is no 
 discussion, where there is no conflict of thought, and 
 
208 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 I will show you a nation that has more death than 
 life. The moving waters are the pure waters; the 
 stagnant waters soon become poisonous. It is a 
 good sign to find men contending for the prin 
 ciples in which they believe, and it increases my 
 confidence in a nation when I find men of spirit 
 who think and have the courage to speak their 
 thoughts. 
 
 We have found many things of interest in this 
 country, but Mrs. Bryan and I have been espe 
 cially interested in what they call the Korean 
 lions. I do not know whether the other Ameri 
 cans have been imprest by these, but we are firmly 
 determined to take two Korean lions home with 
 us (if we can secure a pair) and put them as a 
 guard in front of our house. Now, the Korean 
 lions are interesting for several reasons, and one 
 of the most important is that they represent the 
 affirmative and the negative. I noticed to-day that 
 one of them had his mouth open as tho he were 
 saying "yes," and the other had his mouth tightly 
 closed as if he had just said "no." Both the 
 affirmative and the negative are necessary. You 
 find everywhere the radical and the conservative. 
 Both are essential in a progressive state. The con 
 servative is necessary to keep the radical from 
 going too far, and the radical is necessary to make 
 the conservative go at all. One is as necessary to 
 the welfare of the nation as the other. There must 
 be a party in power, and there must be a party 
 out of power, altho I think that, for convenience 
 sake, they ought to change places occasionally. 
 When a party goes into power it is apt to be more 
 
RADICAL AND CONSERVATIVE 209 
 
 conservative than when out of power, and when a 
 party goes out of power it is likely to become more 
 radical. I might give a number of reasons for it. 
 In the first place, responsibility tends to make a 
 party more deliberate it sobers it. Then, too, a 
 party that is defeated often learns from the victor 
 how to win, and sometimes the successful party 
 learns from the defeated one. 
 
 Time modifies parties and the Korean lions illus 
 trate this also. They have come down from Baby 
 lonian times and each nation seems to have added 
 something. So with both the conservative and the 
 radical parties. These parties will change from 
 time to time as they pass through various nations, 
 and as they pass through various generations, for 
 what is an affirmative party to-day may be a nega 
 tive party to-morrow. Having accomplished one 
 reform, it may hesitate to undertake another, and 
 finally give way to a more courageous party. 
 
 A great American philosopher, Emerson, has said 
 that the dreams of one generation become the ac 
 cepted facts of the next. All the parties feel the 
 influence of this contact with public opinion. I re 
 peat that I am glad that I am permitted by the 
 kindness of Minister Griscom to meet about this 
 board the two leaders to whom I have referred. 
 Each is a help to the other. Neither would be as 
 strong without the other to stimulate him. We 
 help each other in this way. 
 
 I have also learned to hold in high esteem His 
 Majesty the Emperor, and I might give you two 
 reasons for it. First, I have been drawn to him in 
 a most tender way, by finding that when he selected 
 
210 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 a chrysanthemum to represent royalty he gave it 
 sixteen petals, thus recognizing the familiar ratio 
 of sixteen to one. Second, and most important, 
 because he has had the wisdom to give to his people 
 constitutional government and other blessings 
 which in too many countries have been secured only 
 by the employment of force. 
 
 I am glad that I have thus had an opportunity 
 to meet and become acquainted with the people of 
 this island, and I appreciate most heartily the hos 
 pitality they have shown us. I am not vain enough 
 to assume that it is in any large degree a personal 
 tribute. I recognize and accept it rather as an in 
 dication of the general good-will they entertain 
 towards the country of which I am but an humble 
 citizen. The sincerity of this expression of good 
 will has imprest me. It has beamed forth from the 
 eyes of students and been felt in the hand-clasp. I 
 have beheld it everywhere, and I shall be glad to 
 tell my people when I return home that the people 
 of Japan reciprocate the friendly feeling that is 
 entertained towards Japan by the people in our 
 country. I am going to insist that more Americans 
 come to Japan and I hope that more Japanese will 
 visit our country. This exchange will teach us both 
 to know each other better and I am satisfied that we 
 will find, as we always find, that acquaintance re 
 moves to a large degree the differences between 
 men and nations. I will promise those who hear 
 me to-night, that whenever there is a question 
 between America and Japan I shall be a better 
 friend of Japan s than I have been in the past, if 
 that is possible, because I think I understand the 
 
RADICAL AND CONSERVATIVE 211 
 
 country better than I ever could have understood 
 it without meeting the people of Japan. I can be 
 more proud of your history and share more 
 fully in your anticipations of a still more glorious 
 future. 
 
IV 
 THE WHITE MAN S BURDEN 
 
 Delivered at the annual banquet of the American Society 
 in London on July 4, 1906. 
 
 REMEMBERING, as I do with great pleasure, 
 the evening which I spent with this so 
 ciety on Thanksgiving Day two years and 
 a half ago, I was glad indeed that I was able to 
 accept the invitation extended on the part of this 
 society by our distinguished ambassador, the Hon. 
 Whitelaw Reid. It gives me great satisfaction to be 
 able to look into the faces of so many of my coun 
 trymen and of those who speak our language. The 
 only sad feature of the day is that it follows so 
 closely upon the terrible accident that has kept 
 some Americans from this banquet hall, and I am 
 sure we will appreciate the very kindly expressions 
 of sympathy which have been read this evening. 
 Death is at no time a welcome guest, but it can 
 never be so unwelcome as when it comes not only 
 suddenly, as it did in this case, but when those 
 taken are far from the friends who are near and 
 dear to them. 
 
 I appreciate the kind words spoken by our am 
 bassador, and I can almost wish that he had said 
 enough of a political nature to justify me in mak 
 ing a political speech. It has been now nearly ten 
 months since I had the chance to make one, and 
 you can understand what self-restraint it requires 
 
 (212) 
 
THE WHITE MJfN S BURDEN 213 
 
 to pass by this opportunity. Not even his men 
 tion of gold will draw me into politics, altho I 
 might say that if our country has done so well 
 walking on one leg, what progress she would have 
 made if she had but had two. The American am 
 bassador has referred to the fact that in our coun 
 try he has felt it necessary to oppose some things 
 that I have said. I can testify that he has not 
 only done so, but that he has done it well; and 
 remembering how much better he acts abroad than 
 at home, I can assure you that no American rejoices 
 more than I that he is 3,000 miles away from his 
 field of influence. In a trip of some months I 
 have met a number of Republican office-holders. I 
 have found them good men, and I sometimes wish 
 that we had enough offices to take all the Republi 
 cans out of the United States. But I cannot be 
 tempted to deviate from the course which I laid 
 out for myself, and I am going to ask your indul 
 gence while I present some thoughts that I feel 
 may possibly be worthy of consideration here. 
 
 Our English friends, under whose flag we meet 
 tonight, recalling that this is the anniversary of 
 our nation s birth, would doubtless pardon us if 
 our rejoicing contained something of self -congratu 
 lation, for it is at such a time as this that we are 
 wont to review those national achievements which 
 have given to the United States its prominence 
 among the nations. But I hope I shall not be 
 thought lacking in patriotic spirit if, instead of 
 drawing a picture of the past, bright with heroic 
 deeds and unparalleled in progress, I summon you 
 rather to a serious consideration of the responsi- 
 
214 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 bility resting upon those nations which aspire to 
 premiership. This line of thought is suggested by 
 a sense of propriety as well as by recent experi 
 ences by a sense of propriety because such a sub 
 ject will interest the Briton as well as the Ameri 
 can, and by recent experiences because they have 
 imprest me not less with our national duty than 
 with the superiority of western over eastern civili 
 zation. 
 
 Asking your attention to such a theme, it is not 
 unfitting to adopt a phrase coined by a poet to 
 whom America as well as England can lay some 
 claim, and take for my text "The White Man s 
 Burden:" 
 
 /"Take up the White Man s burden 
 
 In patience to abide, 
 I To veil the threat of terror 
 i And check the show of pride. 
 I By open speech and simple, 
 \ An hundred times made plain, 
 
 \To seek another s profit, 
 
 \ And work another s gain." 
 
 Thus sings Kipling, and, with the exception of 
 the third line (of the meaning of which I am not 
 quite sure), the stanza embodies the thought whicli, 
 is uppermost in my mind to-night. No one ca 
 travel among the dark-skinned races of~the Orienl 
 without feeling that the white man occupies ai 
 especially favored position among the children 
 men, and the recognition of this fact is acconj- 
 plished by the conviction that there is a duty ii 
 separably, connected with the advantages enjoyei 
 There is a white man s burden a burden which 
 the white man should not shirk even if he could, 
 
THE WHITE MAN S BURDEN 215 
 
 a burden which he could not shirk even if he 
 would. That no one liveth unto himself or dieth 
 unto himself has a national as well as an individual 
 application; our destinies are so interwoven that 
 each exerts an influence directly or indirectly upon 
 all others. 
 
 Sometimes this influence is unconsciously ex 
 erted, as when, for instance, the good or bad pre 
 cedent set by one nation in dealing with its own 
 affairs is followed by some other nation. Some 
 times the influence is incidentally exerted, as whenf / 
 for example, a nation in the extension of its com 
 merce, introduces its language among, and en 
 larges the horizon of, the people with whom it 
 trades. This incidental benefit conferred by the 
 opening of new markets must be apparent to any 
 one who has watched the stimulating influence of ; 
 the new ideas which have been introduced into Asia 
 andAfrjc,a. through the. medium of the English lan 
 guage. This is not only the mother tongue of very 
 many of the world s leaders in religion, statesman 
 ship, science and literature, but it has received, 
 through translation, the best that has been written 
 and spoken in other countries. He who learns this 
 language, therefore, is like one who lives upon a 
 great highway where he comes into daily contact 
 with the world. Without disparaging other mod 
 ern languages, it may be said with truth that 
 whether one travels abroad or studies at home 
 there is no other language so useful at the present 
 time as that which we employ at this banquet 
 board, and the nation which is instrumental in 
 spreading this language confers an inestimable 
 
216 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 boon, even tho the conferring of it be not included 
 in its general purpose. England has rendered this 
 service to the people of India, and the United 
 States is rendering the same service to the people 
 of the Philippines, while both England and the 
 United States have been helpful to Japan and 
 China in this way. 
 
 But the advanced nations cannot content them 
 selves with the conferring of incidental benefits ; if 
 they would justify their leadership they must put 
 forth conscious and constant effort for the promo 
 tion of the welfare of the nations which lag behind. 
 Incidental benefits may follow, even tho the real 
 purpose of a nation be a wholly selfish one, for as 
 the sale of Joseph into Egypt resulted in blessings 
 to his family and to the land of the Pharaohs, so 
 captives taken in war have sometimes spread civili 
 zation, and blacks carried away into slavery have 
 been improved by contact with the whites. But 
 nations cannot afford to do evil in the hope that 
 Providence will transmute the evil into good and 
 bring blessings out of sin. Nations, if they would 
 be great in the better sense of the term, must in 
 tend benefit as well as confer it; they must plan 
 advantage, and not leave the results to chance. 
 
 I take it for granted that our duty to the so- 
 called inferior races is not discharged by merely 
 feeding them in times of famine, or by contributing 
 to their temporary support when some other ca 
 lamity overtakes them. A much greater assistance 
 is rendered them when they are led to a more ele 
 vated plane of thought and activity by ideals which 
 (stimulate them to self-development. The improve- 
 
THE WHITE MAN S BURDEN 217 
 
 ment of the people themselves should be the para 
 mount object in all intercourse with the Orient. 
 
 Among the blessings which the Christian nations 
 are at this time able and because able, in duty 
 bound to carry to the rest of the world, I may 
 mention five: education, knowledge of the science 
 tration as a suDstitnie for war, 
 
 anc a high 
 conception of life. 
 
 Education comes first, and in nothing have the 
 United States and England been more clearly help 
 ful than in the advocacy of universal education. 
 If the designs of God are disclosed by His handi 
 work, then the creation of the human mind is in 
 dubitable proof that the Almighty never intended 
 that learning should be monopolized by a few, and 
 he arrays himself against the plans of Jehovah 
 who would deny intellectual training to any part 
 of the human race. It is a false civilization, not a 
 true one, that countenances the permanent separa 
 tion of society into two distinct classes, the one 
 encouraged to improve the mind and the other 
 condemned to hopeless ignorance. Equally false is 
 that conception of international politics which 
 would make the prosperity of one nation depend 
 upon the exploitation of another. While no one is 
 farsighted enough to estimate with accuracy the re 
 mote, or even the immediate, consequences of hu 
 man action, yet as we can rely upon the principle 
 that as each individual profits rather than loses by 
 the progress and prosperity of his neighbors, so we 
 cannot doubt that it is to the advantage of each 
 nation that every other nation shall make the lar- 
 
 II 15 
 
BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 gest possible use of its own resources and the capa 
 bilities of its people. 
 
 No one questions that Japan s influence has been 
 a beneficent one since she has emerged from illiter 
 acy and endowed her people with public schools 
 open to all her boys and girls. The transition from 
 a position of obscurity into a world power was 
 scarcely more rapid than her change from a me 
 nace into an ally. China is entering upon a similar 
 experience, and I am confident that her era of re 
 form will make her, not a yellow peril, but a pow 
 erful co-laborer in the international vineyard. In 
 India, in the Philippines, in Egypt, and even in 
 Turkey, statistics show a gradual extension of edu 
 cation, and I trust I shall be pardoned if I say that 
 neither the armies nor the navies, nor yet the com 
 merce of our nations, have given us so just a claim 
 to the gratitude of the people of Asia as have our 
 school teachers, sent, many of them, by private 
 rather than by public funds, 
 
 English language has become the vehicle 
 of governmental truth even 
 more than for the spread of general information, 
 for, , v beginning with Magna Chart a, and continuing 
 through the era of the American revolution and the 
 Declaration of Independence, down to the present, 
 no other language has been so much employed for 
 the propagation of that theory of government 
 which traces authority to the consent of the gov 
 erned. Our own nation presents the most illus 
 trious example known to history of a great popula 
 tion working out its destiny through laws of its 
 own making, and under officials of its own choos- 
 
THE WHITE MAN S BURDEN 219 
 
 ing, altho, I may add, we scarcely go beyond Eng 
 land in recognizing the omnipotence of a parlia 
 ment fresh from the people. It is difficult to over 
 estimate the potency of this conception of govern 
 ment upon the progress of a nation, and, in turn 
 ing the thought of the world away from despotism 
 to the possibilities of self-government, the pioneers 
 of freedom made Western civilization possible. An 
 idea will jsometimes revolutionize an individuaTTa 
 community, a state" a nation, or even a world, and 
 the idea that man possesses inalienable rights 
 which the state did not give, and which the state, 
 tho it can deny, cannot take away, has made mil 
 lions of human beings stand erect and claim their 
 God-given inheritance. While the area of consti 
 tutional liberty is ever widening, while the tyranny 
 and insolence of arbitrary power are every year 
 decreasing, the leaders of the world s thought 
 not_only the English-speaking nations, but the other 
 Christian nations fas well have yet much to do in 
 teaching reverence for the Itfill of tlfe majority and 
 respect for the public servants upon whom the 
 people bestow authority. 
 
 The Christian nations must lead the movement 
 for the promotion of peace, not only because they 
 are enlisted under the banner of the Prince of 
 Peace, but also because they have attained such a 
 degree of intelligence that they can no longer take 
 a pride in a purely physical victory. The belief 
 that moral questions can be settled by the shedding 
 of human blood is a relic of barbarism; to doubt 
 the dynamic power of righteousness is infidelity to 
 truth itself. The nation which is unwilling to trust 
 
220 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 its cause to the universal conscience, or which 
 shrinks from the presentation of its claims before 
 a tribunal where reason holds sway, betrays a lack 
 of faith in the soundness of its position. Our 
 country has reason to congratulate itself upon the 
 success of President Roosevelt in hastening peace 
 between Russia and Japan ; through him our na 
 tion won a moral victory more glorious than a vic 
 tory in war. His Majesty King Edward VII has 
 also shown himself a promoter of arbitration, and 
 a large number of the members of the English Par 
 liament are enlisted in the same work. It means 
 much that the two great English-speaking nations 
 are thus arrayed on the side of peace. I venture 
 to suggest that the world s peace would be greatly 
 promoted by an agreement among the leading na 
 tions that no declaration of war should be made 
 until after the submission of the question in con 
 troversy to an impartial court for investigation, 
 each nation reserving the right to accept or re 
 ject the decision. The preliminary investigation 
 would almost in every instance insure an amicable 
 settlement, and the reserved rights would be 
 sufficient protection against any possible injus 
 tice. 
 
 Let me go a step farther and appeal for a 
 clearer recognition of the dignity of labor. The 
 odium which rests upon the work of the hand has 
 exerted a baneful influence the world around. The 
 theory that idleness is more honorable than toil 
 that it is more respectable to consume what others 
 have produced than to be a producer of wealth 
 has not only robbed society of an enormous sum, 
 
THE WHITE MAN S BURDEN 221 
 
 but it has created an almost impassable gulf be-- 
 tween the leisure classes and those who support 
 them. Tolstoy is right in asserting that most of 
 the perplexing problems of society grow out of the 
 lack of sympathy between man and man. Because 
 some imagine themselves above work, while others 
 see before them nothing but a life of drudgery, 
 there is constant w r arring and much of bitterness. 
 When men and women become ashamed of doing 
 nothing, and try to give to society full compensa 
 tion for all they receive from society, there will be 
 harmony between the classes. 
 
 While Europe and America have advanced far 
 beyond the Orient in placing a proper estimate 
 upon those who work, even our nations have not 
 yet fully learned the lesson that employment at 
 some useful avocation is essential to physical health, 
 intellectual development, and moral growth. The 
 agricultural colleges and industrial schools which 
 have sprunk up in so many localities are evidence 
 that a higher ideal is spreading among the people. 
 If America and England are to meet the require 
 ments of their high positions they must be pre 
 pared to present in the lives of their citizens exam 
 ples, increasing in number, of men and women 
 who find delight in contributing to the welfare of 
 their fellows, and this ought not to be difficult, for 
 every department of human activity has a fascina 
 tion of its own. 
 
 And now we come to the most important need 
 of the Orient a conception of life which recog 
 nizes individual responsibility to God, teaches the 
 brotherhood of man, and measures greatness by the 
 
222 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 service rendered. The first establishes a rational 
 relation between the creature and his Creator; the 
 second lays the foundation for justice between man 
 and his fellows, and the third furnishes an ambition 
 large enough to fill each life with noble effort. 
 No service which we can render to the less favored 
 nations can compare in value to this service, for 
 if we can bring their people to accept such an ideal 
 they will rival the Occident in their contribution 
 to civilization. If this ideal which must be ac 
 cepted as the true one if our religion is true had 
 been more perfectly illustrated in the lives of 
 Christians and in the conduct of Christian nations, 
 there would now be less of the " White Man s 
 Burden." 
 
 If it is legitimate to * seek another s profit and 
 "to work another s gain," how can this service 
 best be rendered? This has been the disputed 
 point. Individuals and nations have differed less 
 about the purpose to be accomplished than about 
 the methods to be employed. Persecutions have 
 5e*en carried on avowedly for the benefit of the 
 persecuted; wars have been waged for the alleged 
 improvement of those attacked ; and, still more fre 
 quently, philanthropy has been adulterated with 
 selfish interest. If the superior nations have a 
 mission, it is not to wound, but to heal not to cast 
 down, but to lift up, and the means must be exam 
 ple a far more powerful and enduring means 
 than violence. Example may be likened to the 
 sun, whose genial rays constantly coax the buried 
 seed into life, and clothe the earth, first with ver 
 dure, and afterward with ripened grain ; while vio- 
 
THE WHITE MAN S BURDEN 223 
 
 lence is the occasional tempest, which can ruin, but 
 cannot give life. 
 
 Can we doubt the efficacy of example in the light 
 of history? There has been a great increase in 
 education during the last century, and the school- 
 houses have not been opened by the bayonet; they 
 owe their existence largely to the moral influence 
 which neighboring nations exert upon each other. 
 And the spread of popular government during the 
 same period, how rapid ! Constitution after con 
 stitution has been adopted, and limitation after 
 limitation has been placed upon arbitrary power, 
 until Russia, yielding to public opinion, establishes 
 a legislative body, and China sends commissioners 
 abroad with a view to inviting the people to share 
 the responsibilities of government. 
 
 "While in America and in Europe there is much 
 to be corrected, and abundant room for improve 
 ment, there has never been so much altruism in 
 the world as there is to-day never so many who 
 acknowledge the indissoluble tie that binds each to 
 every other member of the race. The example of 
 the Christian nations, tho but feebly reflecting the 
 light of the Master, is gradually reforming the 
 world. 
 
 Society has passed through a period of aggran 
 dizement, nations taking what they had the strength 
 to take, and holding what they had the power to 
 hold. But we are already entering upon a second 
 era an era in which nations discuss not merely 
 what they can do, but what they should do, consid 
 ering justice of greater importance than physical 
 prowess. In tribunals like that instituted at the 
 
224 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 Hague, the chosen representatives of the nations 
 weigh questions of right and wrong, give to the 
 small nation an equal hearing with the great, and 
 decree according to conscience. This marks an 
 immeasurable advance, but there is another step 
 yet to be taken. Justice, after all, is a cold, pulse 
 less, negative virtue: the world needs something 
 warmer and more generous. Harmlessness is bet 
 ter than harmfulness, but positive helpfulness is 
 vastly superior to harmlessness, and we still have 
 before us the larger and higher destiny of service. 
 
 There are even now signs of the approach of 
 this third era, not so much in the action of Gov 
 ernments as in the growing tendency among many 
 men and women in many lands to contribute their 
 means, and in some cases their lives, to the intel 
 lectual and moral awakening of those who sit in 
 darkness. Nowhere are these signs more abundant 
 than in our own beloved land. I have felt more 
 proud of my countrymen than ever before since I 
 have visited the circuit of schools, hospitals, and 
 churches which American philanthropy has built t 
 around the world. Before the sun sets upon one of 
 these centers of a new civilization it rises upon 
 another. 
 
 On the walls of the temple at Karnak an ancient 
 artist carved the likeness of an Egyptian king ; the 
 monarch is represented as holding a group of cap 
 tives by the hair, the other hand raising a club as 
 if to strike a blow. What king would be willing to 
 confess himself so cruel today? In some of the 
 capitals of Europe there are monuments built of, 
 or ornamented with, cannon taken in war; this 
 
THE WHITE MAN S BURDEN 225 
 
 Ibrm of boasting, once popular, is still tolerated, 
 tho it must in time give way to some emblem of 
 victory less suggestive of slaughter. As we are 
 gathered tonight in England s capital, permit me 
 to conclude with a sentiment suggested by a piece 
 of statuary which stands in Windsor Castle. It 
 represents the late lamented Queen Victoria lean- 
 irg upon her royal consort ; he has one arm about 
 her, and with the other hand is pointing upward. 
 The sculptor has told in marble an eloquent story 
 of strength coupled with tenderness, of love re 
 warded with trust, of sorrow brightened by hope, 
 and he has told the story so plainly that it was 
 scarcely necessary to chisel the words: "Allured 
 to brighter worlds, and led the way." It was a 
 beautiful conception more beautiful than that 
 which gave to the world the Greek Slave, the Dying 
 Gladiator, or the Goddess Athene, and it embodies 
 an idea which, with the expanding feeling of com 
 radeship, can be applied to the association of na 
 tions, as well as to the relations that exist between 
 husband and wife. Let us indulge the hope that 
 our nation may so measure up its great opportuni 
 ties, and so bear its share of the White Man s Bur 
 den, as to earn the right to symbolize its progress 
 by a similar figure. If it has been allured by Provi 
 dence to higher ground, may it lead the way, win 
 ning the confidence of those who follow it, and ex 
 hibiting the spirit of Him who said, "I, if I be 
 lifted up, will draw all men unto Me. 
 
 I take pleasure, therefore, on this occasion among 
 our countrymen and our countrymen s friends in pro 
 posing : * The Day We Celebrate The 4th of July. 
 
V 
 AT THE PEACE CONGRESS 
 
 Delivered in London, in the Hoyal Gallery of the House 
 Of Lords, on July 26, 1906, at the session of The Interpir- 
 liamentary Union, or Peace Congress. 
 
 I REGRET that I can not speak to you in the 
 language which is usually employed in this 
 body, but I know only one language, the lan 
 guage of my own country, and you will pardon me 
 if I use that. I desire in the first place to express 
 my appreciation of the courtesy shown me by Lord 
 Weardale, our president, and by Baron von Plener, 
 the chairman of the committee which framed the 
 model treaty. The latter has framed this substi 
 tute embodying both of the ideas (investigation and 
 meditation) which were presented yesterday. I 
 recognize the superior wisdom and the greater ex 
 perience of this learned committee which has united 
 the two propositions, and I thank this body also for 
 the opportunity to say just a word in defense of 
 my part of the resolution. I cannot say that it is 
 a new idea, for since it was presented yesterday I 
 have learned that the same idea in substance was 
 presented last year at Brussels by Mr. Bartholdt, 
 of my own country, who has been so conspicuous 
 in his efforts to promote peace, and I am very glad 
 that I can follow in his footsteps in the urging of 
 this amendment. I may add also that it is in line 
 with the suggestion made by the honorable prime- 
 (226) 
 
AT THE PEACE CONGRESS 227 
 
 minister of Great Britain, Sir Henry Campbell- 
 Bannerman. in that memorable and epoch-making 
 speech of yesterday, in that speech which contained 
 several sentences any one of which would have jus 
 tified the assembling of this Interparliamentary 
 Union any one of which would have compen 
 sated us all for coming here. In that splendid 
 speech he exprest the hope that the scope of arbi 
 tration treaties might be enlarged. He said: 
 
 "Gentlemen, I fervently trust that before long the prin 
 ciple of arbitration may win such confidence as to justify 
 its extension to a wider field of international differences. 
 We have already seen how questions arousing passion and 
 excitement have attained a solution, not necessarily by means 
 of arbitration in the strict sense of the word, but by re 
 ferring them to such a tribunal as that which reported on 
 the North Sea. incident : and I would ask you whether it 
 may not be worth while carefully to consider, before the 
 next congress meets at The Hague, the various forms in 
 which differences micht be submitted, with a view to open 
 ing the door as wide as possible to every means which 
 might in any decree contribute to moderate or compose 
 such differences." 
 
 This amendment is in harmony with this sug 
 gestion. The resolution is in the form of a post 
 script to the treaty, but like the postscripts to 
 some letters it contains a very vital subject in 
 fact, I am not sure but the postscript in this case 
 is as important as the letter itself, for it deals with 
 those questions which have defied arbitration. Cer 
 tain questions affecting the honor or integrity of a 
 nation are generally thought to be outside of the 
 jurisdiction of a court of arbitration, and these 
 are the questions which have given trouble. Pas 
 sion is not often aroused by questions that do not 
 affect a nation s integrity or honor, but for fear 
 
228 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 these questions may arise arbitration is not always 
 employed where it might be. The first advantage, 
 then, of this resolution is that it secures an inves 
 tigation of the facts, and if you can but separate 
 the facts from the question of honor, the chances 
 are 100 to 1 that you can settle both the fact and 
 the question of honor without war. There is, there 
 fore, a great* advantage in an investigation that 
 brings out the facts, for disputed facts between na 
 tions, as between friends, are the cause of most 
 disagreements. 
 
 The second advantage of this investigation is 
 that it gives time for calm consideration. That has 
 already been well presented by the gentleman who 
 has preceded me, Baron von Plener. I need not 
 say to you that man excited is a very different 
 animal from man calm, and that questions ought 
 to be settled, not by passion, but by deliberation. 
 If this resolution would do nothing else but give 
 time for reflection and deliberation, there would 
 be sufficient reason for its adoption. If we can but 
 stay the hand of war until conscience can assert it 
 self, war will be made more remote. When men 
 are mad they swagger around and tell what they 
 can do; when they are calm they consider what 
 they ought to do. 
 
 The third advantage of this investigation is that 
 it gives opportunity to mobilize public opinion for 
 the compelling of a peaceful settlement and that is 
 an advantage not to be overlooked. Public opinion 
 is coming to be more and more a power in the 
 world. One of the greatest statesmen of my coun 
 try Thomas Jefferson, and if it would not offend 
 
AT THE PEACE CONGRESS 229 
 
 I would say I believe him to be the greatest states 
 man the world has produced said that if he had 
 to choose between a government without news 
 papers and newspapers without a government, he 
 would rather risk the newspapers without a gov 
 ernment. You may call it an extravagant state 
 ment, and yet it presents an idea, and that idea is 
 that public opinion is a controlling force. I am 
 glad that the time is coming when public opinion 
 is to be more and more powerful; glad that the 
 time is coming when the moral sentiment of one 
 nation will influence the action of other nations; 
 glad that the time is coming when the world will 
 realize that a war between two nations affects 
 others than the nations involved; glad that the 
 time is coming when the world will insist that na 
 tions settle their differences by some peaceful 
 means. If time is given for the marshaling of the 
 force of public opinion peace will be promoted. 
 This resolution is presented, therefore, for the reas 
 ons that it gives an opportunity to investigate the 
 facts, and to separate them from the question of 
 honor, that it gives time for the calming of passion, 
 and that it gives time for the formation of a con 
 trolling public sentiment. 
 
 I-will not disguise the fact that I consider this 
 resolution a long step in the direction of peace, 
 rior will I disguise the fact that I am here because 
 I want this Interparliamentary Union to take just 
 as long a step as possible in the direction of uni 
 versal peace. We meet in a famous hall, and look 
 ing down upon us from these walls are pictures that 
 illustrate not only the glory that is to be won in 
 
230 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 war, but the horrors that follow war. There is a 
 picture of one of the great figures in English his 
 tory (pointing to the fresco by Maclise of the death 
 of Nelson). Lord Nelson is represented as dying, 
 amd around him are the mangled forms of others. 
 I understand that war brings out certain virtues. 
 I am aware that it gives opportunity for the dis 
 play of great patriotism; I am aware that the ex 
 ample of men who give their lives for their country 
 is inspiring; but I venture to say there is as much 
 inspiration in a noble life as there is in a heroic 
 death, and I trust that one of the results of this 
 Interparliamentary Union will be to emphasize 
 the doctrine that a life devoted to the public, and 
 ever flowing, like a spring, with good, exerts an 
 influence upon the human race and upon the des 
 tiny of the world as great as any death in war. 
 And if you will permit me to mention one whose 
 career I watched with interest and whose name I 
 revere, I will say that, in my humble judgment, 
 the sixty-four years of spotless public service of 
 William Ewart Gladstone will, in years to come, 
 be regarded as rich an ornament to the history of 
 this nation as the life of any man who poured out 
 his blood upon a battlefield. 
 
 All movements in the interest of peace have back 
 of them the idea of brotherhood. If peace is to 
 come in this world, it will come because people 
 more and more clearly recognize the indissoluble 
 tie that binds each human being to every other. If 
 we are to build permanent peace it must be on the 
 foundation of the brotherhood of men. A poet has" 
 described how in the civil war that divided our 
 
AT THE PEACE CONGRESS 231 
 
 country into two hostile camps a generation ago 
 in one battle a soldier in one line thrust his bayonet 
 through a soldier in the opposing line, and how, 
 when he stooped to draw it out, he recognized in 
 the face of the fallen one the face of his own 
 brother. And then the poet describes the feeling 
 of horror that overwhelmed the survivor when he 
 realized that he had taken the life of one who was 
 the child of the same parents and the companion 
 of his boyhood. It was a pathetic story, but is it 
 too much to hope that as years go by we will begin 
 to understand that the whole human race is but a 
 larger family? 
 
 It is not too much to hope that as years go by 
 human sympathy will expand until this feeling of 
 unity will not be confined to the members of a 
 family or to the members of a clan or of a com 
 munity or State, but shall be world-wide. It is 
 not too much to hope that we, in this assembly, 
 possibly by this resolution, may hasten the day 
 when we shall feel so appalled at the thought of 
 the taking of any human life that we shall strive 
 to raise all questions to a level where the settle 
 ment will be by reason and not by force. 
 
 Note: The following resolution urged by Mr. Bryan 
 was unanimously adopted, "If a disagreement should 
 arise which is not included in those to be submitted to 
 arbitration the contracting parties shall not resort to 
 any act of hostility before they separately or jointly 
 invite, as the case may necessitate, the formation of the 
 international commission of inquiry or mediation of one 
 or more friendly powers, this requisition to take place, 
 if necessary, in accordance with Article VIII. of The 
 Hague convention providing for a peaceful settlement 
 of international conflicts." 
 
EDUCATIONAL 
 AND RELIGIOUS SPEECHES 
 
 II 18 
 
I 
 
 THE VALUE OF AN IDEAL 
 
 A lecture delivered at numerous Chainauquas and College 
 gatherings, beginning in 1901. 
 
 WHAT is the value of an ideal? Have you 
 ever attempted to estimate its worth? 
 Have you ever tried to measure its value 
 in dollars and cents ?>( If you would know the pe 
 cuniary value of an ideal, go into the home of some 
 man of great wealth who has an only son ; go into 
 that home when the son has gone downward in a 
 path of dissipation until the father no longer hopes 
 for his reform, and then ask the father what an 
 ideal would have been worth that would have made 
 a man out of his son instead of a wreck. He will 
 tell you that all the money that he has or could 
 have he would gladly give for an ideal of life that 
 would turn his boy s steps upward instead of down 
 ward. 
 
 An ideal is above price. It means the difference ^ 
 between success and failure the difference between v 
 a noble life and a disgraceful career, and it some- |l 
 times means the difference between life and death^ \ 
 Have you noticed the increasing number of sui 
 cides? I speak not of those sad cases in which 
 the reason dethroned leaves the hand no guide, but 
 rather of those cases, increasing in number, where 
 the person who takes his life finds nothing worth 
 living for. When I read of one of these cases I ask 
 
 (235) 
 
236 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 myself whether it is not caused by a false ideal of 
 life. If one measures life by what others do for 
 him he is apt to be disappointed, for people are not 
 likely to do as much for him as he expects. One 
 of the most difficult things in life is to maintain the 
 parity between one s opinion of his own merits and 
 the opinion that others have of him. If, I repeat, 
 a man measures life by what others do for him, he 
 is apt to be disappointed, but if he measures life 
 by what he does for others, there is no time for 
 despair. If he measures life by its accumulations, 
 these usually fall short of his expectations, but if 
 he measures life by the contribution which he 
 makes to the sum of human happiness, his only dis 
 appointment is in not finding time to do all that 
 his heart prompts him to do. Whether he spends 
 his time trying to absorb from the world, only to 
 have the burden of life grow daily heavier, or 
 spends his time in an effort to accomplish some 
 thing of real value to the race, depends upon his 
 ideal. 
 
 The ideal must be far enough above us to keep 
 us looking up toward it all the time, and it must be 
 far enough in advance of us to keep us struggling 
 toward it to the end of life. It is a very poor ideal 
 that one ever fully realizes, and it is a great misfor 
 tune for one to overtake his ideal, for, when he 
 does, his progress stopsw I was once made an hon 
 orary member of a class and asked to suggest a 
 class motto. I suggested "Ever-Green" and some 
 of the class did not like it. They did not like to 
 admit that they ever had been green, not to speak 
 of always being green. But it is a good class motto 
 
THE VALUE OF AN IDEAL 237 
 
 because the period of greenness is the period of 
 growth. When we cease to be green and are en 
 tirely ripe we are ready for decay. I like to think 
 of life as a continual progress toward higher and 
 better things as a continual unfolding. There is 
 no better description of a really noble life than that 
 given in Holy Writ where Solomon speaks of the 
 path of the just as "like the shining light that 
 shineth more and more unto the perfect day. 
 
 The ideal is permanent; it does not change. 
 Therefore it is so important that the ideal shall be 
 a worthy one.->jcl speak as a parent to parents, and 
 teachers will endorse what I say, when I declare 
 that one of the most important things in dealing 
 with the young is to get the person to take firm 
 hold of a high ideal. Give one food and he will 
 hunger again; give him clothing and his clothing 
 will wear out, but give him a high ideal and that 
 ideal will be with him through every waking hour, 
 lifting him to a higher plane in life and giving him 
 a broader conception of his relations to his fellows. 
 Plans may change ; circumstances will change 
 plans. Each one of us can testify to this. Even 
 ambitions change, for circumstances will change 
 ambitions. If you will pardon a reference to my 
 own case, I have had three ambitions two so far 
 back that I can scarcely remember them, and one 
 so recent that I can hardly forget it. My first 
 ambition was to be a Baptist preacher. When I 
 was a small boy, if any body asked me what I in 
 tended to be, I always replied : "A Baptist preach 
 er"; but my father took me one evening to see 
 an immersion and upon reaching home I asked him 
 
238 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 if it would be necessary to go down into that pool 
 of water in order to be a Baptist preacher. He 
 replied that it would, and it is a tradition in our 
 family that I never afterwards would say that I 
 was going to be a Baptist preacher. 
 
 My second ambition was to be a farmer and raise 
 pumpkins, and there are doubtless a great many 
 people who are glad that I now have a chance to 
 realize my second ambition without having my 
 agricultural pursuits interrupted by official cares. 
 
 My third ambition was to be a lawyer. When I 
 was a barefoot boy I used to go to the court house 
 and sitting upon the steps leading up to the bench 
 upon which my father then sat I listened to the 
 trial of cases and looked forward to the time when 
 I would be practising at the bar. That ambition 
 guided me through my boyhood days and my col 
 lege days. I studied law, was admitted to the bar, 
 practiced for a while in Illinois and then located 
 in Nebraska. In removing from Illinois to Ne 
 braska I was influenced solely by professional rea 
 sons. I need not give you any further assurance 
 that I did not move to Nebraska for political rea 
 sons than to say that at the time of my location 
 in Lincoln, Nebraska was republican, the congres 
 sional district was. republican, the county was re 
 publican, the city was republican, the ward was 
 republican, and the voting precinct was republi 
 can and to tell the truth about it, there has not 
 been as much change in that respect as there ought 
 to have been considering the intelligence of the 
 people among whom I have been living. 
 ? I entered politics by accident and remained there 
 
THE VALUE OF AN IDEAL 239 
 
 by design. I was nominated for Congress in 1890 
 because it was not thought possible for a Democrat 
 to be elected. I was young and new in the State. 
 If it had been a democratic district the honor 
 would have gone to some one older, of longer resi 
 dence and more deserving. A republican paper 
 said next morning after the convention that a con 
 fidence game had been played upon a young man 
 from Illinois and that he had been offered as a sac 
 rifice upon the party altar because he had not 
 been in the State long enough to know the political 
 complexion of the district. My location in Nebras 
 ka was due to my acquaintance with a man whom 
 I learned to know in college, and this acquaintance 
 became more intimate because of a joke which I 
 played upon him when we were students. Tracing 
 it back, step by step, I said one evening in Balti 
 more that I was elected to congress as a result 
 of a joke that I played upon a friend in college. 
 The gentleman who followed me said that that 
 was nothing, that he had known men to go to Con 
 gress as a result of a joke they had played upon 
 an entire community. 
 
 My term in congress brought me into contact 
 with the great political and economic problems now 
 demanding solution and I have never since that 
 time been willing to withdraw myself from their 
 study and discussion, and I offer no apology at 
 this time for being interested in the science of gov 
 ernment. It is a noble science, and one to which 
 the citizen must give his attention. I have no pa 
 tience with those who feel that they are too good 
 to take part in politics. When I find a person 
 
240 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 who thinks that he is too good to take part in 
 politics, I find one who is not quite good enough 
 to deserve the blessings of a free government. Par 
 ents sometimes warn their sons to keep out of poli 
 tics; mothers sometimes urge their sons to avoid 
 politics lest they become contaminated by it. This 
 ought not to be. It used to be the boast of the 
 Roman matron that she could rear strong and cour 
 ageous sons for the battle-field. In this age when 
 the victories of peace are no less renowned than 
 the victories of war, and in this country where 
 every year brings a conflict, it ought to be the 
 boast of American mothers that they can rear 
 strong and courageous sons who can enter politics 
 without contamination and purify politics rather 
 than be corrupted by politics. 
 
 But while my plans and ambitions have been 
 changed by circumstances, I trust that my ideals 
 of citizenship have not changed, and that I may 
 be permitted to share with you an ideal that will 
 place above the holding of any office, however 
 great, the purpose to do what we can to make 
 this country so good that to be a private citizen 
 in the United States will be greater than to be a 
 king in any other nation. 
 
 The ideal dominates the life, determines the 
 character and fires a man s place among his fel 
 lows. I shall mention some instances that have 
 come under my own observation and as I speak of 
 them I am sure you will recall instances within 
 your knowledge where the ideal has in an open 
 and obvious way controlled the life. I have known 
 laboring: men who, working for wages, have been 
 
THE VALUE OF AN IDEAL 241 
 
 able to support themselves, acquire a library and 
 become acquainted with the philosophers, orators 
 and historians of the world, and many of them 
 have laid aside enough to gratify their ambition for 
 a college course. What enables them to resist temp 
 tation and press forward to the consummation of 
 a high purpose? It is their ideal of life. As I 
 have gone through the country I have found here 
 and there young men sometimes the sons of farm 
 ers, sometimes the sons of mechanics, sometimes the 
 sons of merchants, sometimes the sons of profes- 
 ional men young men who have one characteristic 
 in common, namely, that they have been preparing 
 for service. They have learned that service is the 
 measure of greatness, and tho they have not al 
 ways known just what line of work they were to 
 follow, they have been preparing themselves for 
 service, and they will be ready when the opportun 
 ity comes. 
 
 I know a young man who came to this country 
 when he was eighteen years of age; he came to 
 study our institutions and learn of our form of 
 government, and now he has returned with a deter 
 mination to be helpful to his people. I watched 
 him for five years, and I never knew a man 
 who more patiently or perseveringly pursued a 
 high ideal. You might have offered him all the 
 money in the treasury to have become a citizen of 
 the United States, but it would have been no temp 
 tation to him. He would have told you that he 
 had a higher ideal than to stand guard over a chest 
 of money. His desire was to be useful to his 
 country, and I hav^ no doubt that he will be. 
 
242 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 I was passing through Chicago some months ago 
 and having a few hours to spare between trains, 
 went out to the Hull House, that splendid institu 
 tion presided over by Jane Addams. I was sur 
 prized to learn of the magnitude of its work. I 
 learned that more than five thousand names were 
 enrolled upon the books of the association; that 
 mothers left their babes there to be cared for when 
 they went out to work, that little children received 
 kindergarten instruction there, that young women 
 found a home there, and young men a place where 
 they could meet and commune free from the temp 
 tations of city life. More than twenty young men 
 and young women give their entire time to the 
 work of this association without compensation. 
 Similar institutions will be found in nearly all of 
 the larger cities and in many of the smaller ones, 
 and in these institutions young men and young 
 women, many of them college graduates, give a 
 part or all of their time to gratuitous work. Why ? 
 Because somehow or somewhere they have taken 
 hold of an ideal of life that lifts them above the 
 sordid selfishness that surrounds them and makes 
 them find a delight in bringing life and light and 
 hope into homes that are dark. The same can be 
 said of the thousands who labor in the institutions 
 of charity, mercy and benevolence. 
 
 A few months ago it was my good fortune to 
 spend a day in the country home of the great phi 
 losopher of Russia. You know something of the 
 history of Tolstoy, how he was born in the ranks 
 of the nobility and how with such a birth he en 
 joyed every possible social distinction. At an early 
 
THE VALUE OF AN IDEAL 243 
 
 age he became a writer of fiction and his books 
 have given him a fixt place among the novelists of 
 the century. "He sounded all the depths and 
 shoals of honor " in so far as honor could be 
 derived from society or from literature, and yet 
 at the age of forty-eight life seemed so vain and 
 empty to him that he wanted to die. They showed 
 me a ring in the ceiling of a room in his house 
 from which he had planned to hang himself. And 
 what deterred him? A change came in his ideals. 
 He was born again, he became a new creature, 
 and for more than twenty-eight years, clad in the 
 garb of a peasant and living the simple life of a 
 peasant, he has been preaching unto all the world a 
 philosophy that rests upon the doctrine "Thou 
 shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart 
 and thy neighbor as thyself." There is scarcely 
 a civilized community in all the world where the 
 name of Tolstoy is not known and where his influ 
 ence has not been felt. He has made such an im 
 pression upon the heart of Russia and the world 
 that while some of his books are refused publica 
 tion in Russia and denied importation from abroad, 
 and while people are prohibited from circulating 
 some of the things that he writes, yet with a mil 
 lion men under arms the government does not lay 
 its hands upon Tolstoy. 
 
 Let me add another illustration of a complete 
 change in the ideal. In college I become acquainted 
 with a student fourteen years my senior, and 
 learned the story of his life. For some years he 
 was a tramp, going from place to place without 
 fixt purpose or habitation. One night he went by 
 
244: BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 accident into a place where a revival was in prog 
 ress, and he was not only converted but he de 
 cided to be a minister. I watched him as he worked 
 his way through college, doing chores to earn his 
 board and lodging, working on Saturdays in a 
 store, and during the summer months at anything 
 he could find to do. I watched him as he worked 
 his way through the theological seminary, and then 
 I watched him as he preached the Gospel until he 
 died, and I never knew a man more consecrated to 
 a high purpose. The change came in his life as 
 in the twinkling of an eye. Could anything be 
 more marvelous? 
 
 Some have rejected the Christian religion be 
 cause they could not understand its mysteries and 
 its miracles. 
 
 I have been reading a book recently on material 
 ism and I have been interested in the attempt of 
 the author to drive God out of the universe. He 
 searches for Him with a microscope, and because 
 he cannot find him with a microscope, he declares 
 that he is too small to see; then he searches for 
 Him with a telescope, and because he cannot see 
 Him among the stars or beyond, he declares that 
 there is no God that matter and force alone are 
 eternal, and that force acting on matter has pro 
 duced the clod, the grass that grows upon the 
 clod, the beast that feeds upon the grass, and man, 
 the climax of created things. I have tried to fol 
 low his reasoning and have made up my mind that 
 it requires more faith to accept the scientific dem 
 onstrations of materialism than to accept any re 
 ligion I have ever known. As I tried to follow 
 
THE VALUE OF AN IDEAL 245 
 
 his syllogisms I was reminded of the reasoning of 
 a man who conceived the idea that a grasshopper 
 heard through its legs. But he would not accept 
 it without demonstration, so he took a grasshopper, 
 put it on a board and knocked on the board. The 
 grasshopper jumped, and this he regarded as evi 
 dence that the sound traveled along the board till 
 it reached the grasshopper s legs and then went 
 up through the legs to the center of life. But he 
 was not willing to accept it upon affirmative proof 
 alone; he insisted upon proving it negatively, so 
 he pulled the legs off the grasshopper and put it 
 on the board and rapped again. As the grasshop 
 per did not jump, he was convinced that it heard 
 through its legs. 
 
 I say I was reminded of the grasshopper scientist 
 when I read the arguments employed to prove 
 that there is no God, no spiritual life. 
 
 In the journey from the cradle to the grave we 
 encounter nothing so marvelous as the change in 
 the ideals that works a revolution in the life itself, 
 and there is nothing in materialism to explain this 
 change. 
 
 It makes a great deal of difference to the indi 
 vidual what his ideal is, and it also makes a differ 
 ence to those about him. If you have a man work 
 ing for you, it makes a great deal of difference to 
 you whether he is watching you all the time to 
 see that you give him the best possible pay for 
 his work, or watching himself a little to see that 
 he gives you the best possible work for his pay. 
 And we are all working for somebody. Instead of 
 working by the day and receiving our pay at night, 
 
246 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 or instead of working by the month and receiving 
 our pay at the end of the month, we may be in 
 independent business and receiving a compensation 
 fixt by competition, but if we are not living a life of 
 idleness we must be working for somebody, and it 
 makes a great deal of difference to society whether 
 we are simply bent upon absorbing as much as 
 possible from the world, or are trying to give a 
 dollar s worth of service for a dollar s worth of 
 pay. There are some who regard it as a discredit 
 able thing to engage in productive labor. There 
 are places where they count with pride the num 
 ber of generations between themselves and honest 
 toil. If I can leave but one thought with the 
 young men who honor me by their presence on 
 this occasion, let it be this thought that we must 
 all have food and clothing and shelter, and must 
 either earn these things or have them given to 
 us, and any self-respecting young man ought to 
 be ashamed to sponge upon the world for his living 
 and not render unto the world valuable service in 
 return. 
 
 Sometimes you meet a man who boasts that he 
 is "self-made," that he did it all himself, that he 
 owes no man anything. When I hear of a man 
 boasting of his independence I feel like cross-ex 
 amining him. We owe a great deal to environ 
 ment. I was going along by the side of the court 
 house in Chicago one wintry day when I was in 
 law school and saw some little boys gambling with 
 their pennies in a warm corner by the building. 
 A question arose in my mind, namely, why these 
 little fellows were born and reared amid an envi- 
 
THE VALUE OF AN IDEAL 247 
 
 ronment that gave them no higher ideals of life, 
 while so many in Chicago and in the country at 
 large were born amid a more favorable environ 
 ment. The scene made an impression upon my 
 memory, and when I hear a man boasting that he 
 owes no one anything, I feel like asking him wheth 
 er he has paid back the debt he owes to father and 
 mother, teacher and patriarch? Whether he has 
 paid back the debt he owes to the patriots who 
 with blood and sacrifice purchased the liberties 
 which we now enjoy. We have received so much 
 from the generations past and from those about 
 us that, instead of boasting of what we have done, 
 we ought to learn humility and be content if at 
 the end of life we can look back over the years 
 and be assured that we have given to the world 
 a service equal in value to that which we have 
 received. 
 
 There is abroad in the land a speculative spirit 
 that is doing much harm. Instead of trying to 
 earn a living, young men are bent on making a 
 fortune. Not content with the slow accumulations 
 of honest toil, they are seeking some short cut to 
 riches, and are not always scrupulous about the 
 means employed. The "get-rich-quick" schemes 
 that spring up and swindle the public until they 
 are discovered and driven out to prey upon the 
 speculative spirit and find all their victims 
 among those who are trying to get something for 
 nothing. 
 
 What we need today is an ideal of life that will 
 make people as anxious to render full service as 
 they are to draw full pay an ideal that will make 
 
248 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 them measure life by what they bestow upon their 
 fellows and not by what they receive. 
 
 Not only must the individual have an ideal, but 
 we must have ideals as groups of individuals and 
 in every department of life. We have our domestic 
 ideals. Whether a marriage is happy or not de 
 pends not so much upon the size of the house or 
 the amount of the income, as upon the ideals with 
 which the parties enter marriage. If two people 
 contract marriage like some people trade horses 
 each one trying to get the better of the bargain 
 it is not certain that the marriage will be a happy 
 one. In fact, the man who cheats in a horse trade 
 has at least one advantage over the man who cheats 
 in matrimony. The man who cheats in a horse 
 trade may console himself with the thought that 
 he may never see again the person whom he has 
 cheated. Not so fortunate is the man who cheats 
 in marriage. He not only sees daily the person 
 whom he has cheated, but he is sometimes reminded 
 of it and it is just as bad if the cheating is done 
 by the other side. Americans sometimes have to 
 blush when they read of the international marri 
 ages so much discust in the papers. I speak not 
 now of those cases where love leaps across the 
 ocean and binds two hearts there are such cases 
 and they are worthy of a blessing. But I speak 
 rather of those commercial transactions which are, 
 by courtesy, called marriages, where some young 
 woman in this country trades a fortune that she 
 never earned to a broken-down prince in another 
 country for a title that he never earned, and they 
 call it a fair exchange. I have sometimes thought 
 
THE VALUE OF AX IDEAL 249 
 
 that it might be worth while to establish papers 
 in the centers of the old world to tell the people 
 of our real marriages, so that they would not mis 
 understand US. 
 
 There is an American ideal of domestic life. 
 When two persons, drawn together by the indissol 
 uble ties of love, enter marriage, each one contrib 
 uting a full part and both ready to share life s 
 struggles and trials as well as its victories and its 
 joys when these, mutually helpful and mutually 
 forbearing, start out to build an American home 
 it ought to be the fittest earthly type of heaven. 
 "| In business it is necessary to have an ideal.. It 
 is as impossible to build a business without an 
 ideal as it is to build a house without a plan. Some 
 think that competition is so sharp now that it is 
 impossible to be strictly honest in business; some 
 think that it is necessary to recommend a thing, 
 not as it is, but as the customer wants it to be. 
 There never was a time when it was more necessary 
 than it is today that business should be built upon 
 a foundation of absolute integrity. 
 ..-In the professions, also, an ideal is necessary. 
 Take the medical profession for illustration. It 
 is proper that the physician should collect money; 
 from his patients for he must live while he helps 
 others to live, but the physicians who have written 
 their names high upon the scroll of fame have had 
 a higher ideal than the making of mouey^ They 
 have had a passion for the study of their pro 
 fession; they have searched diligently for the hid 
 den causes of disease and the remedies therefor 
 and they have found more delight in giving to the 
 
 II 17 
 
250 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 world some discovery of benefit to the race than 
 they have found in all of the money that they 
 have collected from their patients. 
 1 And the lawyer; has he ideals? Yes. And I 
 suppose the ideals of lawyers vary as much as the \ 
 ideals in any other profession. The lawyer s ideals ! 
 have an influence upon his character. He can not j 
 persistently defeat justice, or even ignore it with-] 
 out a conscious lowering of his manhood, while 1 
 conscientious search for justice increases his power 
 of discernment and adds to his moral strength. 
 
 Then, too, a lawyer s influence with the judge 
 depends largely upon his reputation for honesty. 
 Of course, a lawyer can fool a judge a few times 
 and lead him into a hole, but after awhile the 
 judge learns to know the lawyer, and then he can 
 not follow the lawyer s arguments because he is 
 looking for the hole all the time, which he knows 
 is somewhere and which he is trying to avoid. I 
 need not remind you that nothing is so valuable to 
 a jury lawyer as a reputation that will make the 
 jurors believe that he will not under any circum 
 stances misstate a proposition of law or of evi 
 dence. And so I might take up each occupation, 
 calling and profession, and show that the ideal 
 controls the life, determines the character and es 
 tablishes a man s place among his fellows. 
 
 But let me speak of the ideals of a larger group. 
 What of our political ideals? The party as well 
 as the individual must have its ideals, and we are 
 far enough from the election to admit that there 
 is room in all the parties for the raising of the 
 party ideal. How can a person most aid his party ? 
 
THE VALUE OF AN IDEAL 251 
 
 Let us suppose that one is passionately devoted to 
 his party and anxious to render it the maximum 
 of service; how can he render this service? By 
 raising the ideal of his party. If a young man 
 asks me how he can make a fortune in a day, I 
 cannot tell him. If he asks how he can become rich 
 in a year, I know not what to answer him, but I 
 can tell him that if he will locate in any community 
 and for twenty-five years live an honest life, an 
 industrious life, a useful lif<\ he will make friends 
 and fasten them to him with hooks of steel ; he 
 will make his impress upon the community and 
 the chances are many to one that before the quar 
 ter of a century has elapsed his fellows will call 
 upon him to act for them and to represent them in 
 important matters. 
 
 And so if you ask me how we can win an elec 
 tion this year, I do not know. If you ask me how 
 we can insure a victory four years from now, I 
 cannot tell, but I do know that the party which 
 has the highest ideals and that strives most earn 
 estly to realize its ideals will ultimately dom 
 inate this country and make its impress upon the 
 history of the nation. As it is more important that 
 the young man shall know how to build character 
 and win a permanent success than that he shall 
 know how to become rich in a day, so it is more 
 important that we shall know how to contribute 
 to the permanent influence of a party than it is 
 that we be able to win a temporary victory or dis 
 tribute the spoils of office after a successful cam 
 paign. 
 
 The country is suffering to-day from a demor- 
 
252 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 alization of its ideals. Instead of measuring peo 
 ple by the manhood or womanhood they manifest, 
 we are too prone to measure them by the amount 
 of money they possess, and this demoralization has 
 naturally and necessarily extended to politics.. 
 Instead of asking "Is it right?" we are tempted 
 to ask "Will it pay?" and "Will it win?" As a 
 result the public conscience is becoming seared and 
 the public service debauched. f We find corruption 
 in elections and corruption in office. Men sell 
 their votes, councilmen sell their influence, while 
 State legislators and federal representatives turn 
 the government from its legitimate channels and 
 make it a private asset in business. It is said that 
 in some precincts in Delaware a majority of the 
 voters have been paid for their votes. Governor 
 Garvin of Rhode Island calls attention to the cor 
 ruption in that State; there is corruption in Con 
 necticut, in New Jersey and in Pennsylvania. I 
 learned of an instance in New York where a farmer 
 with a quarter-section of land demanded a dollar 
 and a half for his vote, and I learned of another 
 instance in West Virginia where a man came in 
 fourteen miles from the country the day before 
 election to notify the committee that he would not 
 vote the next clay unless he received a dollar. In 
 some places I found that Democrats .were imitating 
 republican methods. They excused it by saying 
 that they were fighting the devil with fire. This 
 .is no excuse. It is poor policy to fight the devil 
 /with fire. He knows more about fire than you do 
 and does not have to pay so much for fuel. I was 
 assured that the democrats did not buy votes ex- 
 
THE VALUE OF AN IDEAL 253 
 
 actly like the republicans. I was assured that the 
 democrats only bought votes when they found 
 some democrat who was being tempted more than 
 he could bear, and that they only used money to 
 fortify the virtue of the democrat for fear he 
 might yield to temptation and become vicious. 
 
 How are we to stop this corruption? Not by 
 going into the market and bidding against our 
 opponents, but by placing against money something 
 stronger than money. And what is stronger than 
 money? A conscience is stronger than money. A 
 conscience that will enable a man to stand by a 
 stake and smile while the flames consume him is 
 stronger than money, and we must appeal to the 
 conscience rot to a democratic conscience or to 
 a republican conscience, but to an American con 
 science and to a Christian conscience and place 
 this awakened conscience against the omflowing 
 tide of corruption in the United States. 
 
 We must have parties in this country. Jeffer 
 son said that there were naturally two parties in 
 every country a democratic party and an aristo 
 cratic party (and he did not use the word demo 
 cratic" in a partisan sense, for at that time the 
 party which we now call democratic was called 
 the republican party). Jefferson said that a dem 
 ocratic party would naturally draw to itself those 
 who believe in the people and trust them, while 
 an aristocratic party would naturally draw to itself 
 those who do not believe in or trust the people. 
 Jefferson was right. Go into any country in Eu 
 rope, and you will find a party of some name that 
 is trying to increase the participation of the peo- 
 
254 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 pie in the government, and you will also find a 
 party of some name which is obstructing every 
 step toward popular government. We have the 
 same difference in this country, but the democratic 
 spirit is broader here than any party. Wherever 
 the question has been clearly presented and on the 
 one side there was an attempt to carry the govern 
 ment nearer to the people and on the other an 
 effort to carry the government further from the 
 people, popular government has always won. Let 
 me illustrate. The Australian ballot is intended 
 to protect the citizen in his right to vote, and thus 
 give effect to the real wishes of the people, and 
 when this reform was proposed it swept the coun 
 try without regard to the party in power in the 
 various States. Take the demand for the election 
 of senators by the people ; upon what does it rest ? 
 Upon the belief that the people have the right to 
 and the capacity for self-government. The senti 
 ment in favor of this reform has grown until a 
 resolution proposing a constitutional amendment 
 has passed the Lower House of Congress four times 
 twice when the house was democratic and twice 
 when it was republican. This reform is sure to 
 come, because the people believe in self-govern 
 ment, and they will in time insist upon making 
 the government conform to their belief. 
 
 The initiative and referendum involve the same 
 principles. The initiative describes the process 
 by which the people compel the submission of a 
 question upon which they desire to vote, and the 
 referendum describes the process by which they 
 act upon a question submitted. In each new char- 
 
THE VALUE OF AN IDEAL 255 
 
 ter the power of the people is increased. Limita 
 tions are placed upon legislative power and new 
 questions are submitted to a popular vote. It is 
 now necessary almost everywhere to submit to the 
 people of a city the question of issuing bonds. 
 The movement in favor of submitting franchises 
 also is an irresistible one, and the time will come 
 \vhen it will be impossible for councilmen to sell 
 franchises in return for money paid to themselves. 
 
 Switzerland is probably the most democratic 
 country in the world. There the initiative and 
 referendum are employed by both the federal 
 government and by the local subdivisions, and the 
 government is completely responsive to the will of 
 the people. 
 
 In order to formulate a party ideal, we must 
 have a theory of government as a basis, and in 
 this country the fundamental principle of govern 
 ment is that the people have a right to have what 
 they want in legislation. I made this statement in 
 a lecture in Michigan and one of the audience took 
 issue with me. He said that I ought to amend 
 the statement and say that the people have a right 
 to have what they want, provided they want what 
 is right. I asked him who would decide the ques 
 tion of right. And he had to admit that, at last, 
 the decision lay with the people. Constitutions 
 place limitations upon legislatures and upon the 
 people themselves, but the constitutions are made 
 by the people and can be changed by the people. 
 The only escape from the rule of the majority is 
 to be found in the rule of the minority, but if a 
 majority make mistakes, would not a minority 
 
256 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 also? Mistakes made by a majority will be cor 
 rected when they are discovered, but mistakes 
 made by a minority may not be corrected if the 
 mistake is pecuniarily advantageous to those in 
 power. The revolutions that have from time to 
 time shaken the world have been caused largely 
 by the refusal of the minority to correct mistakes 
 beneficial to those who make the mistakes but in 
 jurious to the people at large. Bearing in mind 
 the right of the people to deliberately fix the means 
 by which they will express themselves, and their 
 right to place limitations upon themselves, so that 
 they cannot act hastily or under a sudden impulse, 
 I repeat that the people have a right to have what 
 they want in government. If they want a high 
 tariff, they have a right to it; if they want a low 
 tariff, they have a right to that. They have a 
 right to make tariff laws and to repeal them. They 
 have a right to the gold standard if they want it, 
 and they have a right to the double standard if 
 they desire that, or if they prefer they can demon 
 etize both gold and silver and substitute some other 
 kind of money. If gold and silver furnish too 
 much money, they can strike down one; if the re 
 maining metal still furnishes too much, they can 
 strike that down and substitute something scarcer. 
 Ever since the discovery of radium, of which it is 
 said there are but two pounds in the world, I have 
 been fearful that an attempt would be made to 
 make it the standard money of the country. But 
 if the people decide to demonetize both gold and 
 silver and substitute radium I will still insist that 
 they have a ri<rht to do it. And then, if they 
 
THE VALUE OF AX IDEAL 257 
 
 then decide to give Morgan one pound and Rocke 
 feller the other, I shall still stand with the peo 
 ple and watch Rockefeller and Morgan while they 
 use the money. 
 
 The people have a right to have trusts if they \ 
 want them. They have a right to have one trust, " \ 
 a hundred trusts or a thousand, and they also have 
 a right to kill every private monopoly. 
 
 If the people have a right to have what they 
 want, then the duty of the party is plain. It is to 
 present to the people a code of principles and pol 
 icies to be acted upon by them. Who can defend 
 the practising of deception upon the voters? Who 
 can justify the winning of a victory by false pre 
 tense? Who can excuse a fraud upon the people? 
 No one can defend a party ideal that does not 
 require honesty in party contests. The policy of 
 the party must be determined by the voters of the 
 party, and he must have a low conception of poli 
 tical ethics who would seek by stealth to give to 
 the minority of the party the authority that be 
 longs to the majority. And so he must have a low 
 conception of political ethics who would seek to 
 secure for a minority of the people the authority 
 that belongs to a majority. I want my party to 
 write an honest platform, dealing candidly with 
 the questions at issue; I want it to nominate a 
 ticket composed of men who conscientiously believe 
 in the principles of the party as enunciated, and 
 then I want the party to announce to the country 
 " These are our principles; these are our candi 
 dates. Elect them and they will carry out the 
 principles for which they stand; they will not 
 
258 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 under any circumstances betray the trust com 
 mitted to their keeping." 
 
 This is the ideal that the democratic party ought 
 to have and it is an ideal high enough for every 
 party. 
 
 There is this difference between the ideal and 
 other things of value, namely, that an ideal cannot 
 be patented or copyrighted. We often see things 
 that we cannot hope to possess, but there is no ideal, 
 however high, that cannot be ours if we desire it. 
 The highest ideal of human life that this world has 
 ever known was that furnished by the life of the 
 Man of Galilee, but it was an ideal within the 
 comprehension of the fishermen of his day, and 
 the Bible says of Him that the common people 
 heard Him gladly. So with a high party ideal. 
 It can be comprehended by all the members of the 
 party, and it can be adopted by every party. If 
 we can fight out political battles upon this plane 
 there is no humiliation about defeat. I have passed 
 through two presidential campaigns, and many 
 have rejoiced over my defeats, but if events prove 
 that my defeats have been good for this country, 
 I shall rejoice over them myself more than any 
 opponent has rejoiced. And when I say this I am 
 not unselfish, for it is better for me that my politi 
 cal opponents should bring good to my country 
 than that I should by any mistake of mine bring 
 evil. 
 
 Not only must the party have an ideal, but the 
 nation must also have its ideal, and it is the ideal 
 of this nation that has made it known throughout 
 the world. You will find people in foreign lands 
 
THE VALUE OF AN IDEAL 259 
 
 who do not know our population or the number 
 of acres under our flag. You will find people who 
 do not know how many cattle we raise or how much V 
 corn or cotton we export, but you will not find / 
 people anywhere who have not some conception of/ 
 the nation s ideal. This ideal has been a light/ 
 shining out unto all the world and its rays have/ 
 illumined the shores of every land. We have 
 boasted of this .ideal in the past, and it must not 
 be lowered now. We followed this ideal in dealing 
 with Cuba. It was my good fortune to be in Cuba 
 on the day when the formal transfer took place, 
 and I never was more proud of my nation in my 
 life than I was on the 20th day of May, 1902, 
 when this great republic rose superior to a great 
 temptation, recognized the inalienable rights of 
 the people of Cuba and secured to them the fruits 
 of a victory for which they had struggled and sac 
 rificed for more than a generation. We hauled 
 down the flag, it is true, and in its place they 
 raised the flag of the Cuban republic, but When we 
 lowered the flag we raised it higher than it ever 
 had been before, and when we brought it away we 
 left it enshrined in the hearts of a grateful people. 
 A nation, like an individual, is strong in propor- v 
 tion as it possesses virtue, and weak if it lacks it. 
 Character is the power of endurance in the group 
 as well as in the person. The nations that have 
 fallen have decayed morally before they have failed 
 physically. If our nation is to endure, it must 
 stand for eternal principles and clothe itself 
 in their strength. There are some who say that we 
 must now have the largest navy in the world to 
 
260 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 terrorize other nations, and make them respect us. 
 But if we make our navy the largest in the world, 
 other nations will increase their navies because we 
 have increased ours, and then we will have to in 
 crease ours again, because they will have increased 
 theirs, and they will have to increase theirs again 
 because we have increased ours and there is no 
 limit to this rivalry, but the limit of the power of 
 the people to bear the burdens of taxation. There 
 is a better, a safer and a less expensive plan. In 
 stead of trying to make our navy the largest in the 
 world, let us try to make our government the best 
 government on earth. Instead of trying to make 
 our flag float everywhere, let us make it stand for 
 justice wherever it floats for justice between man 
 and man, for justice between nation and nation, 
 and for humanity always. And then the people 
 of the world will learn to know and revere that 
 flag, because it will be their protection as well as 
 ours. And then if any king raises his hand against 
 our flag the opprest people of his own land will 
 rise up and say to him " Hands off! That flag 
 stands for our rights as well as the rights of the 
 American people." It is possible to make our flag 
 represent such an ideal. / fWe shall not fulfil our 
 great mission, we shall not live up to our high 
 duty, unless we present to the world the highest 
 ideals in individual life, in domestic life, in busi 
 ness life, in professional life, in political life and 
 the highest national ideal that the world has ever 
 known. 
 
II 
 
 THE PRINCE OF PEACE 
 
 A lecture delivered at runny Chautftuquas and religious 
 gatherings, in ( America, beginning in 1904 ; also in Canada, 
 Mexico, Tokyo, Manila, Bombay, Cairo and Jerusalem. 
 
 I OFFER no apology for speaking upon a relig 
 ious theme, for it is the most universal of 
 all themes. I am interested in the science of 
 government, but I am more interested in religion 
 than in government. I enjoy making a political 
 speech I have made a good many, and shall make 
 more but I would rather speak on religion than 
 on politics. I commenced speaking on the stump 
 when I was only twenty, but I commenced speaking 
 in the church six years earlier and I shall be in 
 the church even after I am out of politics. I feel 
 sure of my ground when I make a political speech, 
 but I feel even more certain of my ground when 
 I make a religious speech. , If I addrest you upon 
 the subject of law I might interest the lawyers; 
 if I discust the science of medicine I might inter 
 est the physicians; in like manner merchants 
 might be interested in comments on commerce, and 
 farmers in matters pertaining to agriculture; but^ 
 no one of these subjects appeals to all. r*Even the 
 science of government, tho broader than any pro 
 fession or occupation, does not embrace the whole 
 sum of life, and those who think upon it differ so 
 among themselves that I could not speak upon 
 (261) 
 
262 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 the subject so as to please a part of the audience 
 without displeasing others. While to me the science 
 of government is intensely absorbing, I recognize 
 that the most important things in life lie outside 
 of the realm of government and that more depends 
 upon what the individual does for himself than 
 upon what the government does or can do for him. 
 Men can be miserable under the best government 
 and they can be happy under the worst govern 
 ment. ^ 
 
 Government affects but a part of the life which 
 we live here and does not deal at all with the life 
 beyond, whil^/religion touches the infinite circle 
 of existence as well as the small arc of that circle 
 which we spend on earth. No greater theme, there 
 fore, can engage our attention.plf I discuss ques 
 tions of government I must secure the cooperation 
 of a majority before I can put my ideas into prac 
 tise, but if, in speaking on religion, I can touch 
 one human heart for good, I have not spoken in 
 vain no matter how large the majority may be 
 against me. 
 
 Man is a. religious being ; the heart instinctively 
 seeks for a God. Whether he worships on the 
 banks of the Ganges, prays with his face upturned 
 to the sun, kneels toward Mecca or, regarding all 
 space as a temple, communes with the Heavenly 
 Father according to the Christian creed, man is 
 essentially devout. Q 
 
 There are honest doubters whose sincerity we 
 recognize and respect, but occasionally I find young 
 men who think it smart to be skeptical; they talk 
 as if it were an evidence of larger intelligence to 
 
THE PRINCE OP PEACE 263 
 
 scoff at creeds and to refuse to connect themselves 
 with churches. They call themselves "Liberal," 
 as if a Christian were narrow minded. Some go 
 so far as to assert that the "advanced thought of 
 the world" has discarded the idea that there is a 
 God. To these young men I desire to address my 
 self. 7 
 
 Even some older people profess to regard religion 
 as a superstition, pardonable in the ignorant but 
 unworthy of the educated. Those who hold this 
 view look down with mild contempt upon such 
 as give to religion a definite place in their thoughts 
 and lives. They assume an intellectual superiority 
 and often take little pains to conceal the assump 
 tion.^ Tolstoy administers to the "cultured crowd" 
 (the w r ords quoted are his) a severe rebuke when 
 he declares that the religious sentiment rests not 
 upon a superstitious fear of the invisible forces 
 of nature, but upon man s consciousness of his 
 finiteness amid an infinite universe and of his sin- 
 fulness; and this consciousness, the great philoso 
 pher adds, man can never outgrow. Tolstoy is 
 right; man recognizes how limited are his own 
 powers and how vast is the universe, and he leans 
 upon the arm that is stronger than his. Man feels 
 the weight of his sins and looks for One who is 
 sinless. ^ 
 
 Religion has been defined by Tolstoy as the rela 
 tion which man fixes between himself and his God, 
 and morality as the outward manifestation of this 
 inward relat ion. j? Every one, by the time he reaches 
 maturity, has fixt some relation between himself 
 and God and no material change in this relation 
 
264 BEYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 can take place without a revolution in the man, 
 for this relation is the most potent influence that 
 acts upon a human life. 
 
 Religion is the foundation of morality in Ihe 
 individual and in the group of individualsy/Ma- 
 terjalists have attempted to build up a system of 
 morality upon the basis of enlightened self-inter 
 est. They would have man figure out by mathe 
 matics that it pays him to abstain from wrong 
 doing; they would even inject an element of sel 
 fishness into altruism, but the moral system elab 
 orated by the materialists has several defects. 
 First, its virtues are borrowed from moral systems 
 based upon religion. All those who are intelligent 
 enough to discuss a system of morality are so sat 
 urated with the morals derived from systems rest 
 ing upon religion that they cannot frame a system 
 resting upon reason alone. Second, as it rests 
 upon argument rather than upon authority, the 
 young are not in a position to accept or reject. 
 Our laws do not permit a young man to dispose 
 of real estate until he is twenty-one. Why this 
 restraint? Because his reason is not mature; and 
 yet a man s life is largely moulded by the environ 
 ment of his youth. Third, one never knows just 
 how much of his decision is due to reason and 
 how much is due to passion or to selfish interest. 
 Passion can dethrone the reason we recognize this 
 in our criminal laws. We also recognize the bias 
 of self-interest when we exclude from the jury 
 every man, no matter how reasonable or upright 
 he may be, who has a pecuniary interest in the 
 result of the trial. And, fourth, one whose moral- 
 
THE PRINCE OF PEACE 265 
 
 ity rests upon a nice calculation of benefits to be 
 secured spends time figuring that he should spend 
 in action. Those who keep a book account of their 
 good deeds seldom do enough good to justify keep 
 ing books. A noble life cannot be built upon an 
 arithmetic; it must be rather like the spring that 
 pours forth constantly of that which refreshes and 
 invigorates. 
 
 Morality is the power of endurance in man; 
 and a religion which teaches personal responsibility 
 to God gives strength to morality. There is a 
 powerful restraining influence in the belief that 
 an all-seeing eye scrutinizes every thought and 
 word and act of the individual. 
 
 There is wide difference between the man who 
 is trying to conform his life to a standard of 
 morality about him and the man who seeks to 
 make his life approximate to a divine standard. 
 The former attempts to live up to the standard, 
 if it is above him, and down to it, if it is below 
 him and if he is doing right only when others 
 are looking he is sure to find a time when he thinks 
 he is unobserved, and then he takes a vacation 
 and falls. One needs the inner strength which 
 comes with the conscious presence of a personal 
 God. If those who are thus fortified sometimes 
 yield to temptation, how helpless and hopeless must 
 those be who rely upon their own strength alone! 
 
 There are difficulties to be encountered in relig 
 ion, but there are difficulties to be encountered 
 everywhere, if Christians sometimes have doubts 
 and fears, unbelievers have more doubts and great 
 er fears. I passed through a period of skepticism 
 
 II 18 
 
266 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 when I was in college and I have been glad ever 
 since that I became a member of the church before 
 I left home for college, for it helped me during 
 those trying days. And the college days cover the 
 dangerous period in the young man s life; he is 
 just coming into possession of his powers, and feels 
 stronger than he ever feels afterward and he 
 thinks he knows more than he ever does know. 
 
 It was at this period that I became confused by 
 the different theories of creation. But I examined 
 these theories and found that they all assumed 
 something to begin with. You can test this for 
 yourselves. The nebular hypothesis, for instance, 
 assumes that matter and force existed matter in 
 particles infinitely fine and each particle separated 
 from every other particle by space infinitely great. 
 Beginning with this assumption, force working on 
 matter according to this hypothesis created a 
 universe. Well, I have a right to assume, and I 
 prefer to assume, a Designer back of the design 
 a Creator back of the creation ; and no matter how 
 long you draw out the process of creation, so long 
 as God stands back of it you cannot shake my 
 faith in Jehovah. In Genesis it is written that, in 
 the beginning, God created the heavens and the 
 earth, and I can stand on that proposition until I 
 find some theory of creation. that goes farther back 
 than the beginning. We must begin with some 
 thing we must start somewhere and the Chris 
 tian begins with God. 
 
 I do not carry the doctrine of evolution as far 
 as some do ; I am not yet convinced that man is a 
 lineal descendant of the lower animals. I do not 
 
THE PRINCE OF PEACE 267 
 
 mean to find fault with you if you want to accept 
 the theory; all I mean to say is that while you 
 may trace your ancestry back to the monkey if 
 you find pleasure or pride in doing so, you shall 
 not connect me with your family tree without more 
 evidence than has yet been produced. I object 
 to the theory for several reasons. First, it is a 
 dangerous theory. If a man links himself in gen 
 erations with the monkey, it then becomes an im 
 portant question whether he is going toward him 
 or coming from him and I have seen them going 
 in both directions. I do not know of any argument 
 that can be used to prove that man is an improved 
 monkey that may not be used just as w r ell to prove 
 that the monkey is a degenerate man, and the latter 
 theory is more plausible than the former. 
 
 It is true that man, in some physical character 
 istics resembles the beast, but man has a mind 
 as well as a body, and a soul as well as a mind. 
 The mind is greater than the body and the soul 
 is greater than the mind, and I object to having 
 man s pedigree traced on one-third of him only 
 and that the lowest third. Fairbairn, in his 
 Philosophy of Christianity," lays down a sound 
 proposition when he says that it is not suffi 
 cient to explain man as an animal ; that it is 
 necessary to explain man in history and the 
 Darwinian theory does not do this. The ape, ac 
 cording to this theory, is older than man and yet 
 the ape is still an ape while man is the author of 
 the marvelous civilization which we see about us. 
 
 One does not escape from mystery, however, by 
 accepting this theory, for it does not explain the 
 
268 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 origin of life. When the follower of Darwin has 
 traced the germ of life back to the lowest form iri 
 which it appears and to follow him one must exer 
 cise more faith than religion calls for he finds that 
 scientists differ. Those who reject the idea of cre 
 ation are divided into two schools, some believing 
 that the first germ of life came from another planet 
 and others holding that it was the result of spon 
 taneous generation. Each school answers the argu 
 ments advanced by the other, and as they cannot 
 agree with each other, I am not compelled to agree 
 with either. 
 
 If I were compelled to accept one of these the 
 ories I would prefer the first, for if we can chase 
 the germ of life off this planet and get it out into 
 space we can guess the rest of the way and no one 
 can contradict us, but if we accept the doctrine 
 of spontaneous generation we cannot explain why 
 spontaneous generation ceased to act after the 
 first germ was created. 
 
 Go back as far as we may, we cannot escape 
 from the creative act, and it is just as easy for 
 me to believe that God created man as he is as to 
 believe that, millions of years ago, He created a 
 germ of life and endowed it with power to develop 
 into all that we see to-day. I object to the Dar 
 winian theory, until more conclusive proof is 
 produced, because I fear we shall lose the conscious 
 ness of God s presence in our daily life, if we must 
 accept the theory that through all the ages no 
 spiritual force has touched the life of man or 
 shaped the destiny of nations. 
 
 But there is another objection. The Darwinian 
 
THE PRINCE OF PEACE 269 
 
 theory represents man as reaching his present per 
 fection by the operation of the law of hate the 
 merciless law by which the strong crowd out and 
 kill off the weak. If this is the law of our devel 
 opment then, if there is any logic that can bind 
 the human mind, we shall turn backward toward 
 the bast in proportion as we substitute the law T 
 of love. I prefer to believe that love rather than 
 hatred is the law of development. How can hatred 
 be the law of development when nations have ad 
 vanced in proportion as they have departed from 
 that law and adopted the law of love ? 
 
 But, I repeat, while I do not accept the Dar 
 winian theory I shall not quarrel with you about 
 it ; I only refer to it to remind you that it does not 
 solve the mystery of life or explain human progress. 
 I fear that some have accepted it in the hope of 
 escaping from the miracle, but why should the 
 miracle frighten us? And yet I am inclined to 
 think that it is one of the test questions with the 
 Christian. 
 
 Christ cannot be separated from the miraculous; 
 His birth, His ministrations, and His resurrection, 
 all involve the miraculous, and the change which 
 His religion works in the human heart is a con 
 tinuing miracle. Eliminate the miracles and 
 Christ becomes merely a human being and His gos 
 pel is stript of divine authority. 
 
 The miracle raises two questions: "Can God 
 perform a miracle?" and, "Would He want to?" 
 The first is easy to answer. A God who can make 
 a world can do anything He wants to do with it. 
 The power to perform miracles is necessarily im- 
 
270 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 plied in the power to create. But would God want 
 to perform a miracle? this is the question which 
 has given most of the trouble. The more I have 
 considered it the less inclined I am to answer in 
 the negative. To say that God would not perform 
 a miracle is to assume a more intimate knowledge 
 of God s plans and purposes than I can claim to 
 have. I will not deny that God does perform a 
 miracle or may perform one merely because I do 
 not know how or why He does it. I find it so diffi 
 cult to decide each day what God wants done now 
 that I am not presumptuous enough to attempt to 
 declare what God might have wanted to do thou 
 sands of years ago. The fact that we are con 
 stantly learning of the existence of new forces 
 suggests the possibility that God may operate 
 through forces yet unknown to us, and the 
 mysteries with which we deal every day warn me 
 that faith is as necessary as sight. Who would 
 have credited a century ago the stories that are 
 now told of the wonder-working electricity? For 
 ages man had known the lightning, but only to 
 fear it; now, this invisible current is generated 
 by a man-made machine, imprisoned in a man- 
 made wire and made to do the bidding of man. 
 We are even able to dispense with the wire and 
 hurl words through space, and the X-raj has en 
 abled us to look through substances which were 
 supposed, until recently, to exclude all light. The 
 miracle is not more mysterious than many of the 
 things with which man now deals it is simply 
 different. The miraculous birth of Christ is not 
 more mysterious than any other conception it is 
 
THE PRINCE OF PEACE 271 
 
 simply unlike it; nor is the resurrection of Christ 
 more mysterious than the myriad resurrections 
 which mark each annual seed-time. 
 
 It is sometimes said that God could not suspend 
 one of His laws without stopping the universe, 
 but do we not suspend or overcome the law of grav 
 itation every day? Every time we move a foot or 
 lift a weight we temporarily overcome one of the 
 most universal of natural laws and yet the world 
 is not disturbed. 
 
 Science has taught us so many things that we 
 are tempted to conclude that we know everything, 
 but there is really a great unknown which is still 
 unexplored and that which we have learned ought 
 to increase our reverence rather than our egotism. 
 Science has disclosed some of the machinery of the 
 universe, but science has not yet revealed to us 
 the great secret the secret of life. It is to be 
 found in every blade of grass, in every insect, in 
 every bird and in every animal, as well as in man. 
 Six thousand years of recorded history and yet 
 we know no more about the secret of life than they 
 knew in the beginning. We live, we plan ; we have 
 our hopes, our fears ; and yet in a moment a change 
 may come over anyone of us and this body will 
 become a mass of lifeless clay. What is it that, 
 having, we live, and having not, we are as the 
 clod ? The progress of the race and the civilization 
 w T hich we now behold are the work of men and 
 women who have not yet solved the mystery of 
 their own lives. 
 
 And our food, must we understand it before we 
 eat it? If we refused to eat anything until we 
 
272 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 could understand the mystery of its growth, we 
 would die of starvation. But mystery does not 
 bother us in the dining-room; it is only in the 
 church that it is a stumbling block. 
 
 I was eating a piece of watermelon some months 
 ago and was struck with its beauty. I took some 
 of the seeds and dried them and weighed them, 
 and found that it would require some five thousand 
 seeds to weigh a pound ; and then I applied mathe 
 matics to that forty-pound melon. One of these 
 seeds, put into the ground, when warmed by the 
 sun and moistened by the rain, takes off its coat 
 and goes to work; it gathers from somewhere two 
 hundred thousand times its own weight, and forc 
 ing this raw material through a tiny stem, con 
 structs a watermelon. It ornaments the outside with 
 a covering of green; inside the green it puts a 
 layer of white, and within the white a core of red, 
 and all through the red it scatters seeds, each one 
 capable of continuing the work of reproduction. 
 Who drew the plan by which that little seed works ? 
 "Where does it get its tremendous strength? Where 
 does it find its coloring matter ? How does it collect 
 its flavoring extract? How does it develop a 
 watermelon? Until you can explain a watermelon, 
 do not be too sure that you can set limits to the 
 power of the Almighty and say just what He 
 would do or how He would do it. 
 
 The egg is the most universal of foods and its 
 use dates from the beginning, but what is more 
 mysterious than an egg? When an egg is fresh 
 it is an important article of merchandise; a hen 
 
THE PRINCE OF PEACE 273 
 
 can destroy its market value in a week s time, 
 but in two weeks more she can bring forth from it 
 what man could not find in it. We eat eggs, but 
 we cannot explain an egg. 
 
 Water has been used from the birth of man ; we 
 learned after it had been used for ages that it is 
 merely a mixture of gases, but it is far more im 
 portant that we have water to drink than that we 
 know that it is not water. 
 
 Everything that grows tells a like story of in 
 finite power. Why should I deny that a divine 
 hand fed a multitude with a few loaves and fishes 
 when I see hundreds of millions fed every year by 
 a hand which converts the seeds scattered over the 
 field into an abundant harvest? We know that 
 food can be multiplied in a few months time; 
 shall we deny the power of the Creator to eliminate 
 the element of time, when we have gone so far in 
 eliminating the element of space ? Who am I that 
 I should attempt to measure the arm of the Al 
 mighty with my puny arm, or to measure the 
 brain of the Infinite with my finite mind? Who 
 am I that I should attempt to put metes and bounds 
 to the power of the Creator ? 
 
 But there is something even more wonderful 
 still the mysterious change that takes place in 
 the human heart when the man begins to hate the 
 things he loved and to love the things he hated 
 the marvelous transformation that takes place in 
 the man who, before the change, would have sacri 
 ficed a world for his own advancement but who, 
 after the change, would give his life for a princi 
 ple and esteem it a privilege to make sacrifice for 
 
274 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 liis convictions! What greater miracle than this, 
 that converts a selfish, self -centered, human being 
 into a center from which good influences flow out 
 in every direction ! And yet this miracle has been 
 wrought in the heart of each one of us or may 
 be wrought and we have seen it wrought in the 
 hearts and lives of those about us. No, living a 
 life that is a mystery, and living in the midst of 
 mystery and miracles, I shall not allow either to 
 deprive me of the benefits of the Christian religion. 
 If you ask me if I understand everything in the 
 Bible, I answer, no, but if we will try to live up 
 tc what we do understand, we will be kept so busy 
 doing good that we will not have time to worry 
 about the passages which we do not understand. 
 Some of those who question the miracle also 
 question the theory of atonement; they assert that 
 it does not accord with their idea of justice for 
 one to die for all. Let each one bear his own sins 
 and the punishments due for them, they say. The 
 doctrine of vicarious suffering is not a new one; 
 it is as old as the race. That one should suffer for 
 others is one of the most familiar of principles 
 and we see the principle illustrated every day of 
 our lives. Take the family, for instance; from 
 the day the mother s first child is born, for twenty 
 or thirty years her children are scarcely out of her 
 waking thoughts. Her life trembles in the balance 
 at each child s birth; she sacrifices for them, she 
 surrenders herself to them. Is it because she ex 
 pects them to pay her back? Fortunate for the 
 parent and fortunate for the child if the latter 
 has an opportunity to repay in part the debt it 
 
THE PRINCE OF PEACE 275 
 
 owes. But no child can compensate a parent for 
 a parent s care. In the course of nature the debt 
 is paid, not to the parent, but to the next genera 
 tion, and the next each generation suffering, sac 
 rificing for and surrendering itself to the genera 
 tion that follows. This is the law of our lives. 
 
 Nor is this confined to the family. Every step 
 in civilization has been made possible by those who 
 have been willing to sacrifice for posterity. Free 
 dom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of 
 conscience and free government have all been won 
 for the world by those who were willing to labor 
 unselfishly for their fellows. So well established 
 is this doctrine that we do not regard anyone as 
 great unless he recognizes how unimportant his 
 life is in comparison with the problems with which 
 he deals. 
 
 I find proof that man was made in the image of 
 his Creator in the fact that, throughout the centur 
 ies, man has been willing to die, if necessary, that 
 blessings denied to him might be enjoyed by his 
 children, his children s children and the world. 
 
 The seeming paradox: "He that saveth his life 
 shall lose it and he that loseth his life for my 
 sake shall find it," has an application wider than 
 that usually given to it ; it is an epitome of history. 
 Those who live only for themselves live little lives, 
 but those who stand ready to give themselves for 
 the advancement of things greater than themselves 
 find a larger life than the one they would have 
 surrendered. Wendell Phillips gave expression to 
 the same idea when he said, "What imprudent men 
 the benefactors of the race have been. How pru- 
 
276 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 dently most men sink into nameless graves, while 
 now and then a few forget themselves into immor 
 tality." We win immortality, not by remembering 
 ourselves, but by forgetting ourselves in devotion 
 to things larger than ourselves. 
 
 Instead of being an unnatural plan, the plan of 
 salvation is in perfect harmony with human nature 
 as we understand it. Sacrifice is the language of 
 love, and Christ, in suffering for the world, adopted 
 the only means of reaching the heart,. This can be 
 demonstrated not only by theory but by experience, 
 for the story of His life, His teachings, His suffer 
 ings and His death has been translated into every 
 language and everywhere it has touched the heart. 
 
 But if I were going to present an argument in 
 favor of the divinity of Christ, I would not begin 
 with miracles or mystery or with the theory of 
 atonement. I would begin as Carnegie Simpson 
 does in his book entitled, "The Fact of Christ." 
 Commencing with the undisputed fact that Christ 
 lived, he points out that one cannot contemplate 
 this fact without feeling that in some way it is 
 related to those now living. He says that one can 
 read of Alexander, of Caesar or of Napoleon, and 
 not feel that it is a matter of personal concern; 
 but that when one reads that Christ lived, and how 
 He lived and how He died, he feels that somehow 
 there is a cord that stretches from that life to his. 
 As he studies the character of Christ he becomes 
 conscious of certain virtues which stand out in 
 bold relief His purity, His forgiving spirit, and 
 His unfathomable love. The author is correct 
 Christ presents an example of purity in thought 
 
THE PRINCE OF PEACE 277 
 
 and life, and man, conscious of his own imperfec 
 tions and grieved over his shortcomings, finds in 
 spiration in the fact that He was tempted in all 
 points like as we are, and yet without sin. I am 
 not sure but that each can find just here a way of 
 determining for himself whether he possesses the 
 true spirit of a Christian. If the sinlessness of 
 Christ inspires within him an earnest desire to con 
 form his life more nearly to the perfect example, 
 he is indeed a follower ; if, on the other hand, he re 
 sents the reproof which the purity of Christ offers, 
 and refuses to mend his ways, he has yet to be born 
 again. 
 
 The most difficult of all the virtues to cultivate 
 is the forgiving spirit. Revenge seems to be nat 
 ural with man ; it is human to want to get even 
 with an enemy. It has even been popular to boast 
 of vindictiveness ; it was once inscribed on a man s 
 monument that he had repaid both friends and 
 enemies more than he had received. This was not 
 the spirit of Christ. He taught forgiveness and 
 in that incomparable prayer which He left as a 
 model for our petitions, He made our willingness 
 to forgive the measure by which we may claim for 
 giveness. He not only taught forgiveness but He 
 exemplified His teachings in His life. When those 
 who persecuted Him brought Him to the most dis 
 graceful of all deaths, His spirit of forgiveness 
 rose above His sufferings and He prayed, "Father, 
 forgive them, for they know not what they do!" 
 
 But love is the foundation of Christ s creed. 
 The world had known love before; parents had 
 loved their children, and children their parents; 
 
278 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 husbands had loved their wives, and wives their 
 husbands; and friend had loved friend; but Jesus 
 gave a new definition of love. His love was as 
 wide as the sea; its limits were so far-flung that 
 even an enemy could not travel beyond its bounds. 
 Other teachers sought to regulate the lives of their 
 followers by rule and formula, but Christ s plan 
 was to purify the heart and then to leave love to 
 direct the footsteps. 
 
 What conclusion is to be drawn from the life, 
 the teachings and the death of this historic figure? 
 Reared in a carpenter shop ; with no knowledge of 
 literature, save Bible literature; with no acquaint 
 ance with philosophers living or with the writings 
 of sages dead, when only about thirty years old 
 He gathered disciples about Him, promulgated a 
 higher code of morals than the world had ever 
 known before, and proclaimed Himself the Messiah. 
 He taught and performed miracles for a few brief 
 months and then was crucified; His disciples were 
 scattered and many of them put to death; His 
 claims were disputed, His resurrection denied and 
 His followers persecuted ; and yet from this begin 
 ning His religion spread until hundreds of mil 
 lions have taken His name with reverence upon 
 their lips and millions have been willing to die 
 rather than surrender the faith which He put into 
 their hearts. How shall we account for Him? 
 Here is the greatest fact of history ; here is One 
 who has with increasing power, for nineteen hun 
 dred years, moulded the hearts, the thoughts and 
 the lives of men, and He exerts more influence 
 to-day than ever before. "What think ye of 
 
THE PRINCE OF PEACE 279 
 
 Christ?" It is easier to believe Him divine than 
 to explain in any other way what he said and 
 did and was. And I have greater faith, even than 
 before, since I have visited the Orient and wit 
 nessed the successful contest which Christianity 
 is waging against the religions and philosophies of 
 the East. 
 
 I was thinking a few years ago of the Christmas 
 which was then approaching and of Him in whose 
 honor the day is celebrated. I recalled the mes 
 sage, " Peace on earth, good will to men," and 
 then my thoughts ran back to the prophecy uttered 
 centuries before His birth, in which He was de 
 scribed as the Prince of Peace. To reinforce my 
 memory I re-read the prophecy and I found im 
 mediately following a verse which I had forgotten 
 a verse which declares that of the increase of 
 His peace and government there shall be no end, 
 And, Isaiah adds, that He shall judge His people 
 with justice and with judgment. I had been read 
 ing of the rise and fall of nations, and occasionally 
 I had met a gloomy philosopher who preached the 
 doctrine that nations, like individuals, must of 
 necessity have their birth, their infancy, their ma 
 turity and finally their decay and death. But here 
 I read of a government that is to be perpetual a 
 government of increasing peace and blessedness 
 the government of the Prince of Peace and it 
 is to rest on justice. I have thought of this 
 prophecy many times during the last few years, 
 and I have selected this theme that I might present 
 some of the reasons which lead me to believe that 
 Christ has fully earned the right to be called The 
 
280 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 Prince of Peace a title that will in the years to 
 come be more and more applied to Him. If he 
 can bring peace to each individual heart, and if 
 His creed when applied will bring peace through 
 out the earth, who will deny His right to be called 
 the Prince of Peace? 
 
 All the world is in search of peace ; every heart 
 that ever beat has sought for peace, and many have 
 been the methods employed to secure it. Some 
 have thought to purchase it with riches and have 
 labored to secure wealth, hoping to find peace when 
 they were able to go where they pleased and buy 
 what they liked. Of those who have endeavored 
 to purchase peace with money, the large majority 
 have failed to secure the money. But what has 
 been the experience of those who have been emi 
 nently successful in finance? They all tell the 
 same story, viz., that they spent the first half of 
 their lives trying to get money from others and 
 the last half trying to keep others from getting 
 their money, and that they found peace in neither 
 half. Some have even reached the point where 
 they find difficulty in getting people to accept their 
 money; and I know of no better indication of the 
 ethical awakening in this country than the increas 
 ing tendency to scrutinize the methods of money- 
 making. I am sanguine enough to believe that the 
 time will yet come when respectability will no 
 longer be sold to great criminals by helping them to 
 spend their ill-gotten gains. A long step in ad 
 vance will have been taken when religious, educa 
 tional and charitable institutions refuse to con 
 done conscienceless methods in business and leave 
 
THE PRINCE OF PEACE 281 
 
 the possessor of illegitimate accumulations to learn 
 how lonely life is when one prefers money to morals. 
 
 Some have sought peace in social distinction, 
 but whether they have been within the charmed 
 circle and fearful lest they might fall out, or out 
 side, and hopeful that they might get in, they have 
 not found peace. Some have thought, vain 
 thought, to find peace in political prominence ; but 
 whether office comes by birth, as in monarchies, or 
 by election, as in republics, it does not bring peace. 
 An office is not considered a high one if all can 
 occupy it. Only when few in a generation can 
 hope to enjoy an honor do we call it a great honor. 
 I am glad that our Heavenly Father did not make 
 the peace of the human heart to depend upon our 
 ability to buy it with money, secure it in society, 
 or win it at the polls, for in either case but few 
 could have obtained it, but when He made peace 
 the reward of a conscience void of offense toward 
 God and man, He put it within the reach of all. 
 The poor can secure it as easily as the rich, the 
 social outcasts as freely as the leader of society, 
 and the humblest citizen equally with those who 
 wield political power. 
 
 To those who have grown gray in the Church, I 
 need not speak of the peace to be found in faith 
 in God and trust in an overruling Providence. 
 Christ taught that our lives are precious in the 
 sight of God, and poets have taken up the thought 
 and woven it into immortal verse. No uninspired 
 writer has exprest it more beautifully than William 
 Cullen Bryant in his Ode to a Waterfowl. After 
 following the wanderings of the bird of passage as 
 
 II 19 
 
282 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 it seeks first its southern and then its northern 
 home, he concludes : 
 
 Thou art gone ; the abyss of heaven 
 
 Hath swallowed up thy form, but on my heart 
 Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast given, 
 
 And shall not soon depart. 
 
 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. 
 
 Christ promoted peace by giving us assurance 
 that a line of communication can be established 
 between the Father above and the child below. 
 And who will measure the consolations of the hour 
 of prayer ? 
 
 And immortality! Who will estimate the peace 
 which a belief in a future life has brought to the 
 sorrowing hearts of the sons of men? You may 
 talk to the young about death ending all, for life is 
 full and hope is strong, but preach not this doc 
 trine to the mother who stands by the death-bed 
 of her babe or to one who is within the shadow 
 of a great affliction. When I was a young man 
 I wrote to Colonel Ingersoll and asked him for his 
 views on God and immortality. His secretary an 
 swered that the great infidel was not at home, but 
 enclosed a copy of a speech of Col. Ingersoll s 
 which covered my question. I scanned it with 
 eagerness and found that he had exprest himself 
 about as follows: "I do not say that there is no 
 God, I simply say I do not know. I do not say 
 that there is no life beyond the grave, I simply 
 say I do not know/ And from that day 
 
THE PRINCE OF PEACE 283 
 
 to this I have asked myself the question and 
 have been unable to answer it to my own satisfac 
 tion, how could anyone find pleasure in taking 
 from a human heart a living faith and substituting 
 therefor the cold and cheerless doctrine, "I do not 
 know." 
 
 Christ gave us proof of immortality and it was a 
 welcome assurance, altho it would hardly seem 
 necessary that one should rise from the dead to 
 convince us that the grave is not the end. To every 
 created thing God has given a tongue that pro 
 claims a future life. 
 
 If the Father deigns to touch with divine power 
 the cold and pulseless heart of the buried acorn 
 and to make it burst forth from its prison walls, 
 will he leave neglected in the earth the soul of man, 
 made in the image of his Creator? If he stoops 
 to give to the rose bush, whose withered blossoms 
 float upon the autumn breeze, the sweet assurance 
 of another springtime, will He refuse the words 
 of hope to the sons of men when the frosts of win 
 ter come? If matter, mute and inanimate, tho 
 changed by the forces of nature into a multitude 
 of forms, can never die, will the imperial spirit 
 of man suffer annihilation when it has paid a brief 
 visit like a royal guest to this tenement of clay? 
 No, I am sure that He who, notwithstanding his 
 apparent prodigality, created nothing without a 
 purpose, and wasted not a single atom in all his 
 creation, has made provision for a future life in 
 which man s universal longing for immortality will 
 find its realization. I am as sure that we live 
 again as I am sure that we live to-day. 
 
284 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 In Cairo I secured a few grains of wheat that 
 had slumbered for more than thirty centuries in 
 an Egyptian tomb. As I looked at them this 
 thought came into my mind : If one of those grains 
 had been planted on the banks of the Nile the year 
 after it grew, and all its lineal descendants had been 
 planted and replanted from that time until now, 
 its progeny would to-day be sufficiently numerous 
 to feed the teeming millions of the world. An un 
 broken chain of life connects the earliest grains 
 of wheat with the grains that we sow and reap. 
 There is in the grain of wheat an invisible some 
 thing which has power to discard the body that 
 we see, and from earth and air fashion a new body 
 so much like the old one that we canno.t tell the 
 one from the other. If this invisible germ of life 
 in the grain of wheat can thus pass unimpaired 
 through three thousand resurrections, I shall not 
 doubt that my soul has power to clothe itself with 
 a body suited to its new existence when this earthly 
 frame has crumbled into dust. 
 
 A belief in immortality not only consoles the in 
 dividual, but it exerts a powerful influence in 
 bringing peace between individuals. If one actually 
 thinks that man dies as the brute dies, he will yield 
 more easily to the temptation to do injustice to his 
 neighbor when the circumstances are such as to 
 promise security from detection. But if one really 
 expects to meet again, and live eternally with, 
 those whom he knows to-day, he is restrained from 
 evil deeds by the fear of endless remorse. We do 
 not know what rewards are in store for us or what 
 punishments may be reserved, but if there were 
 
THE PRINCE OF PEACE 285 
 
 no other it would be some punishment for one who 
 deliberately and consciously wrongs another to 
 have to live forever in the company of the person 
 wronged and have his littleness and selfishness laid 
 bare. I repeat, a belief in immortality must exert 
 a powerful influence in establishing justice between 
 men and thus laying the foundation for peace. 
 
 Again, Christ deserves to be called The Prince 
 of Peace because He has given us a measure of 
 greatness which promotes peace. When His dis 
 ciples quarreled among themselves as to which 
 should be greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, He 
 rebuked them and said: "Let him who would be 
 chief est among you be the servant of all." Ser 
 vice is the measure of greatness ; it always has been 
 true; it is true to-day, and it always will be true, 
 that he is greatest who does the most of good. And 
 how this old world will be transformed when this 
 standard of greatness becomes the standard of 
 every life! Nearly all of our controversies and 
 combats grow out of the fact that we are trying 
 to get something from each other there will be 
 peace when our aim is to do something for each 
 other. Our enmities and animosities arise largely 
 from our efforts to get as much as possible out of 
 the world there will be peace when our endeavor 
 is to put as much as possible into the world. The 
 human measure of a human life is its income ; the 
 divine measure of a life is its outgo, its overflow 
 its contribution to the welfare of all. 
 
 Christ also led the way to peace by giving us a 
 formula for the propagation of truth. Not all of 
 those who have really desired to do good have em- 
 
286 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 ployed the Christian method not all Christians 
 even. In the history of the human race but two 
 methods have been used. The first is the forcible 
 method, and it has been employed most frequently. 
 A man has an idea which he thinks is good; he 
 tells his neighbors about it and they do not like it. 
 This makes him angry; he thinks it would be so 
 much better for them if they would like it, and, 
 seizing a club, he attempts to make them like it. 
 But one trouble about this rule is that it works 
 both ways; when a man starts out to compel his 
 neighbors to think as he does, he generally finds 
 them willing to accept the challenge and they spend 
 so much time in trying to coerce each other that 
 they have no time left to do each other good. 
 
 The other is the Bible plan "Be not overcome 
 of evil but overcome evil with good." And there 
 is no other way of overcoming evil. I am not much 
 of a farmer I get more credit for my farming 
 than I deserve, and my little farm receives more 
 advertising than it is entitled to. But I am farmer 
 enough to know that if I cut down weeds they will 
 spring up again ; and farmer enough to know that 
 if I plant something there which has more vitality 
 than the weeds I shall not only get rid of the con 
 stant cutting, but have the benefit of the crop 
 besides. 
 
 In order that there might be no mistake in His 
 plan of propagating the truth, Christ went into de 
 tail and laid emphasis upon the value of example 
 "So live that others seeing your good works may 
 be constrained to glorify your Father which is in 
 Heaven." There is no human influence so potent 
 
THE PRINCE OF PEACE 287 
 
 for good as that which goes out from an upright 
 life. A sermon may be answered; the arguments 
 presented in a speech may be disputed, but no one 
 can answer a Christian life it is the unanswerable 
 argument in favor of our religion. 
 
 It may be a slow process this conversion of the 
 world by the silent influence of a noble example 
 but it is the only sure one, and the doctrine applies 
 to nations as well as to individuals. The Gospel 
 of the Prince of Peace gives us the only hope that 
 the world has and it is an increasing hope of the 
 substitution of reason for the arbitrament of force 
 in the settlement of international disputes. And 
 our nation ought not to wait for other nations it 
 ought to take the lead and prove its faith in the 
 omnipotence of truth. 
 
 But Christ has given us a platform so funda 
 mental that it can be applied successfully to all 
 controversies. We are interested in platforms; we 
 attend conventions, sometimes traveling long dis 
 tances; we have wordy wars over the phraseology 
 of various planks, and then we wage earnest cam 
 paigns to secure the endorsement of these plat 
 forms at the polls. The platform given to the 
 world by The Prince of Peace is more far-reaching 
 and more comprehensive than any platform ever 
 written by the convention of any party in any 
 country. When He condensed into one command 
 ment those of the ten which relate to man s duty 
 toward his fellows and enjoined upon us the rule, 
 "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," He pre 
 sented a plan for the solution of all the problems 
 that now vex society or may hereafter arise. Other 
 
288 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 remedies may palliate or postpone the day of set 
 tlement, but this is all-sufficient and the reconcili 
 ation which it effects is a permanent one. 
 
 My faith in the future and I have faith and 
 my optimism for I am an optimist my faith and 
 my optimism rest upon the belief that Christ s 
 teachings are being more studied to-day than ever 
 before, and that with this larger study will come a 
 larger application of those teachings to the every 
 day life of the world, and to the questions with 
 which we deal. In former times when men read 
 that Christ came l to bring life and immortality to 
 light, they placed the emphasis upon immortality ; 
 now they are studying Christ s relation to human 
 life. People used to read the Bible to find out 
 what it said of Heaven ; now they read it more to 
 find what light it throws upon the pathway of to 
 day. In former years many thought to prepare 
 themselves for future bliss by a life .of seclusion 
 here; we are learning that to follow in the foot 
 steps of the Master we must go about doing good. 
 Christ declared that He came that we might have 
 life and have it more abundantly. The world ii 
 learning that Christ came not to narrow life, but 
 to enlarge it not to rob it of its joy, but to fill it 
 to overflowing with purpose, earnestness and happi 
 ness. 
 
 But this Prince of Peace promises not only peac3 
 but strength. Some have thought His teachings fit 
 only for the weak and the timid and unsuited to 
 men of vigor, energy and ambition. Nothing could 
 be farther from the truth. Only the man of faith 
 can be courageous. Confident that he fights on 
 
THE PRINCE OF PEACE 289 
 
 the side of Jehovah, he doubts not the success of 
 his cause. What matters it whether he shares in 
 the shouts of triumph? If every word spoken in 
 behalf of truth has its influence and every deed 
 done for the right weighs in the final account, it is 
 immaterial to the Christian whether his eyes be 
 hold victory or whether he dies in the midst of the 
 conflict. 
 
 "Yea, tho 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." 
 
 Only those who believe attempt the seemingly im 
 possible, and, by attempting, prove that one, with 
 God, can chase a thousand and that two can put ten 
 thousand to flight. I can imagine that the early 
 Christians who were carried into the coliseum to 
 make a spectacle for those more savage than the 
 beasts, were entreated by their doubting compan 
 ions not to endanger their lives. But, kneeling in 
 the center of the arena, they prayed and sang until 
 they were devoured. How helpless they seemed, 
 and, measured by every human rule, how hopeless 
 was their cause ! And yet within a few decades the 
 power which they invoked proved mightier than 
 the legions of the emperor and the faith in which 
 they died was triumphant o er all the land. It is 
 said that those who went to mock at their suffer 
 ings returned asking themselves, "What is it that 
 can enter into the heart of man and make him die 
 
290 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 as these die?" They were greater conquerors in 
 their death than they could have been had they 
 purchased life by a surrender of their faith. 
 
 What would have been the fate of the church if 
 the early Christians had had as little faith as many 
 of our Christians of to-day ? And if the Christians 
 of to-day had the faith of the martyrs, how long 
 would it be before the fulfilment of the prophecy 
 that "every knee shall bow and every tongue con 
 fess?" 
 
 v I am glad that He, who is called the Prince of 
 Peace who can bring peace to every troubled heart 
 and whose teachings, exemplified in life, will bring 
 peace between man and man, between community 
 and community, between State and State, between 
 nation and nation throughout the world I am 
 glad that He brings courage as well as peace so 
 that those who follow Him may take up and each 
 day bravely do the duties that to that day fall. 
 
 As the Christian grows older he appreciates more 
 and more the completeness with which Christ sat 
 isfies the longings of the heart, and, grateful for 
 the peace which he enjoys and for the strength 
 which he has received, he repeats the words of the 
 great scholar, Sir William Jones : 
 
 "Before thy mystic altar, heavenly truth, 
 
 I kneel in manhood, as I knelt in youth, 
 Thus let me kneel, till this dull form decay, 
 
 And life s last shade be brightened by thy ray." 
 
 (NOTE: This address is not copyrighted and can be re- 
 published by anyone desiring to do so.) 
 
Ill 
 
 MAN 
 
 Delivered at the commencement exercises of the Nebraska 
 State University, on June 15th, 1005, and also at the com 
 mencement exercises of Illinois College. 
 
 THE Psalmist asks of Jehovah, "What is 
 man, that thou art mindful of him, and 
 the son of man, that thou visitest him?" 
 And answering his own question he adds: "For 
 thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, 
 and hast crowned him with glory and honor." 
 
 Man, in the sense in which the term describes 
 the human being to whom the Creator has given 
 dominion over earth, and air and sea, and upon 
 whom He has imposed responsibilities commen 
 surate with capabilities and possibilities man, as 
 thus defined, is an appropriate theme for an occa 
 sion like this, and its consideration is worthy not 
 only of those who, having completed the course of 
 study prescribed by this institution, go forth to 
 meet life s problems, but worthy also of the thought 
 of those of us who are older. 
 
 Miracle of miracles is man ! Most helpless of all 
 God s creatures in infancy; most powerful when 
 fully developed, and interesting always. What un- 
 fathomed possibilities are wrapt within the swad 
 dling clothes that enfold an infant! Who can 
 measure a child s influence for weal or woe? Be- 
 (291) 
 
292 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 fore it can lisp a word, it has brought to one 
 woman the sweet consciousness of motherhood, and 
 it has given to one man the added strength that 
 comes with a sense of responsibility. Before its 
 tiny hands can lift a feather s weight, they have 
 drawn two hearts closer together and its innocent 
 prattle echoes through two lives. Every day that 
 child in its growth touches and changes some one; 
 not a year in all its history but that it leaves an 
 impress upon the race. What incalculable space 
 between a statue, however flawless the marble, how 
 ever faultless the workmanship, and a human being 
 aflame with the passion of eternity. 
 
 If the statue can not, like a human being, bring 
 the gray hairs of a parent "in sorrow to the 
 grave, " or devastate a nation, or with murderous 
 hand extinguish the vital spark in a fellow being, 
 neither can it, like a human being, minister to suf 
 fering mankind, nor scatter gladness "o er a smil 
 ing land," nor yet claim the blessings promised in 
 the Sermon on the Mount. Only to man, made in 
 the Divine likeness, is given the awful power to 
 choose between measureless success and immeasur 
 able woe. 
 
 Man shares with the animal a physical nature 
 he has a body, the citadel of the mind, the tem 
 porary tenement of the soul. It is necessary that 
 this link in the endless chain that connects the gen 
 erations past with the generations yet to come shall 
 be made as strong as conditions, heredity and envi 
 ronment, will permit. Infinitely varied are the 
 physical capabilities bequeathed to us by our an 
 cestors. Some of us are heirs to virtuous estates 
 
MAN 293 
 
 with which no courts can interfere; some of us 
 bear in our bodies the evidence of ancestral sins 
 and are living proof of the fact that the iniquities 
 of the parents are visited upon the children. All 
 of us inherit both weaknesses and elements of 
 strength. It is within our power to conserve and 
 to increase the strength that has come down to us, 
 and it is also within our power to dissipate the 
 physical fortune which we have received. Nothing 
 but a proper conception of the creature s steward 
 ship under the Creator can protect the individual 
 from the rust of inaction, the wear of excess and 
 the waste that arises from a perverted use of the 
 powers of the body. 
 
 If civilization can be defined and I know of no 
 better definition as the harmonious development 
 of the human race, physically, mentally and mor 
 ally, then each individual, whether his influence is 
 perceptible or not, raises the level of the civiliza 
 tion of his age just in proportion as he contributes 
 to the world s work a body, a mind and a heart 
 capable of maximum effort. No one lives unto him 
 self or dies unto himself. The tie that binds each 
 human being to every other human being is one 
 that cannot be severed. We cannot without blame 
 invite a physical weakness that can be avoided or 
 continue one which can be remedied. The burdens 
 to be borne are great enough to tax the resources 
 of all when service is rendered under the most 
 favorable conditions; no one has a right to offer 
 less than the best within his power. 
 
 Every kind of sport, every form of exercise that 
 contributes to the development of the body, without 
 
294 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 mental deterioration or an impairment of the moral 
 forces, can be encouraged. Not only does the body 
 demand attention in the growing years, but it re 
 quires continuous care throughout the entire life. 
 A stunted body is the penalty for overwork in the 
 child, a weak body the penalty of lack of exercise, 
 but nature s punishments are not visited upon 
 youth alone. The overworked or underfed man or 
 woman cannot escape nature s penalty, neither can 
 those escape who, fancying themselves more fortu 
 nate, invite the evils of idleness and overfeeding. 
 An eminent Swiss, Carl Hilty, in his book on 1 1 Hap 
 piness," declares that regular employment at some 
 work which satisfies the conscience and the judg 
 ment is essential to any true enjoyment of life, 
 and Tolstoy quotes with approval the opinion of 
 the Russian writer, Bonderef, who insists that sys 
 tematic manual labor is a religious duty as well 
 as a physical requirement. If any one supposes 
 that education should relieve him from a personal 
 knowledge of bread-labor "the primary struggle 
 with nature" he is in grievous error. At present 
 the strength of the race is materially lessened by 
 \ the decay consequent upon the idleness of those 
 who have come to regard physical toil as a disgrace 
 (unless endured for amusement), and the average 
 length of life is shortened by those who convert 
 the normal function of eating into gluttony. Those 
 who approach life in the right spirit and seek the 
 highest development must in the very beginning 
 understand the importance of so mastering the 
 body and its forces as to make them potent for 
 good. In the care of the body three things are 
 
MAN 295 
 
 necessary: First, food sufficient in quantity and 
 proper in quality to insure growth until maturity 
 and health afterwards. At present we have at one 
 extreme those who suffer from lack of nourishing 
 food and at the opposite extreme those who ruin 
 their health with high living. Second, the body 
 needs exercise sufficient in quantity and kind to 
 keep it in good working order. At present a large 
 number, young and old, work too long, while, on 
 the other hand, many do not work at all. Third, 
 the body needs rest sufficient for recuperation. 
 Today a portion of the population have too little 
 opportunity for rest, while others rest until they 
 become weary of resting. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to add that no habit, how 
 ever pleasant it may be, can with wisdom be ac 
 quired or with safety continued which increases 
 the probability of sickness, tends to weaken the 
 body in the struggles with diseases, or in any other 
 way impairs the vital forces. The total drain upon 
 the nation s strength resulting from the use of 
 liquor and tobacco can scarcely be estimated, not 
 to speak of other forms of dissipation. 
 
 But man must be more than a perfect animal ; he 
 does not rise above the level of the beast if he per 
 mits his thoughts to rest entirely upon blood, and 
 bone and muscle. The prolongation of life would 
 scarcely be worth the effort, or the warding off of 
 disease reward the care, if there were not more in 
 human life than food, toil and rest. 
 
 The presence of these graduates, attended by 
 parents, relatives and friends, is evidence that there 
 is in this community a recognition of the import- 
 
296 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 ance of the training of the mind. The scholastic 
 course prescribed by our educators and paid for 
 out of the productive labor of the state represents 
 a considerable pecuniary outlay. No compulsory 
 legal requirements are necessary to convince a large 
 majority of the parents of the short-sightedness of 
 denying to a child the mental training given by 
 our schools. From the first day in the kindergarten 
 to the last day in the university the student follows 
 a path marked out by discriminating wisdom and 
 guarded by sympathetic interest. Those who are 
 foolish enough to exchange the permanent advan 
 tage of an education for the temporary gain of re 
 munerative employment have, as a rule, a pro 
 tracted season of repentance. As the workman 
 gains rather than loses by the time employed in 
 sharpening his tools, so the student accumulates 
 more capital by careful preparation than he can 
 by too early an entrance upon money making. 
 There is in some quarters a disposition to regard 
 what is contemptuously called "book-learning" as 
 of little value except in the professions. No error 
 can be more harmful, and it arises from a miscon 
 ception of the purpose of education. Books are 
 not to be despised; they contain the best thought 
 of the authors and these best thoughts are again 
 sifted by time. While one should know people as 
 well as the written page, still books are faithful 
 friends. 
 
 Even if the student s thoughts were centered 
 upon himself there could be no excuse for inade 
 quate preparation or for the attempt sometimes 
 made to substitute technical training for general 
 
MAN 297 
 
 instruction. But when it is remembered that in 
 struction is not purely for the benefit of the indi 
 vidual, but for the public as well, the importance 
 of a liberal education becomes still more apparent. 
 The person who understands the fundamental prin 
 ciples of science can render a larger service than 
 one who is ignorant of the lines along which nature 
 acts; mathematics teach exactness in thought and 
 argument ; literature and language give readiness, 
 expression and illustration, while history equips us 
 with that knowledge of the past which is essential 
 to a proper estimate of the future. And how shall 
 we excuse the blindness of those if there be such 
 who, believing in popular institutions, would 
 deny to the masses a knowledge of political econ 
 omy, sociology and the science of government a 
 knowledge so useful in the discharge of the high 
 duties of citizenship? "Whether a boy intends to 
 dig ditches, follow the plow, lay brick upon brick, 
 join timber to timber, devote himself to merchan 
 dising, enter a profession, engage in teaching, ex 
 pound the Scriptures, or in some other honorable 
 way make his contribution to society, I am anxious 
 that he shall have all the education that our schools 
 can furnish. He will do better work because of 
 his education ; he will have his mind for his com 
 panion and will not be tempted to loaf upon the 
 streets when the day s work is done, and he will be 
 in a position to demand reasonable conditions, 
 reasonable terms and reasonable compensation for 
 those who toil. 
 
 Where an education has seemed to be a detri 
 ment in business or has yielded a less dividend 
 
 II 20 
 
298 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 than mignt properly be expected, it can be traced to 
 a deficit in purpose rather than to a surplus of 
 learning. 
 
 And this leads us to the consideration of the ne 
 cessity for a moral development to accompany 
 mental training. An athlete bent on mischief can 
 
 i- do more harm than a dwarf or an invalid ; and so, 
 a well-disciplined mind, misdirected, is capable of 
 doing more serious damage than an ignorant mind. 
 Society is poorly repaid for the money spent upon 
 education if the one who profits by the expenditure 
 feels ashamed to cooperate with those whose toil 
 supplies him with food and clothing. That labor is 
 dignified, that work is honorable, is a truth that 
 
 i needs to be imprest upon every young man and 
 upon every young woman. It is worthier by far to 
 add something to the world s store of wealth than 
 to spend the money that others have earned. We 
 must have food, and clothing and shelter, and we 
 must earn these things or some one must give 
 them to us. A young man s self-respect ought to 
 make him ashamed to sponge upon the world for a 
 living; he ought to insist upon repajdng with in 
 terest the service which society renders him; and 
 this rule applies to young women as well as to the 
 young men, for the forms of service are infinite 
 and the return that women make to society is as 
 valuable as the return made by men. The essential 
 thing is that each person, man or woman, shall 
 recognize the obligation to contribute in helpful 
 ness. 
 
 There is no place for the drone in human society, 
 and as public opinion becomes more enlightened we 
 
MAN 299 
 
 shall give less regard to those, however refined or 
 well educated, who consult their own pleasure at 
 the expense of others and more consideration to 
 the bread-winners whose hands are calloused and 
 whose brows are acquainted with perspiration. 
 
 There is evident on every side a distortion of 
 view as to the relative desirability of a life of pro 
 ductive labor as compared with a life of luxurious 
 ease, and a widening gulf seems to divide the two. 
 This should not be true. The bud, blooming in 
 beauty and fragrance, might as justly scorn the 
 roots of the rosebud because they come into contact 
 with the soil, as that any man, however trained in 
 mind or supplied with means, should hold in con 
 tempt those who with brain and muscle coax the 
 annual crop from mother earth, fashion the fabric 
 which protects him from heat and cold, or bring 
 fuel from the coal mines. 
 
 An education is incomplete which does not place 
 a noble purpose behind mental training and make 
 the hands willing to work. The work should ulti 
 mately be the largest work of which the hands are 
 capable, but at all times it should be the work that 
 most needs to be done. That education is also de 
 fective which so inflames one s vanity or so shrivels { 
 one s heart as to separate him in sympathy from his 
 fellows. Education has been known to do this 
 yes, education has even been known to make a grad 
 uate ashamed of his parents, f A Chicago paper 
 recently reported such a case. A mother who had 
 been denied the advantages of the schools, but who ; 
 had by economy and sacrifice enabled her son to 
 attend college, visited him after he had established 
 
300 BBYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 himself in the practise of the law. She had looked 
 forward for years to his success, and started upon 
 her visit with great expectation. She soon learned, 
 however, that her presence embarrassed her son 
 that he did not want his clients to know that she 
 was his mother. Her heart was broken, and as she 
 waited at the depot alone for the train that would 
 bear her back to her humble home, she poured forth 
 her sorrow in a letter. If I thought that any of 
 those who receive their diplomas on this glad day 
 would allow their superior advantages to lessen 
 their affection for their parents or to decrease their 
 devotion to them, I would wish them children again. 
 Better loving companionship than intellectual soli 
 tude, but there is no reason why the scholar should 
 be less a son or daughter. Head and heart should 
 be developed together, and then each forward step 
 will bring increasing joy, strengthen family ties 
 and make early friendship more sacred. 
 
 If he is culpable who shrinks from full partici 
 pation in the work of this struggling world, or 
 shirks the responsibilities which he is by education 
 prepared to assume, still more culpable are those 
 who, by employing their talents against society, 
 prey upon those who supplied their training. If 
 by force of fraud or cunning one seeks to appro 
 priate to his own use that which he has not earned, 
 he turns against the public the weapons put into 
 his hand by the public for the promotion of the 
 common weal. 
 
 The old-fashioned methods of wrong-doing are 
 everywhere condemned, but Professor Ross of the 
 Nebraska University has pointed out some of the 
 
MAN 301 
 
 new methods of wrong-doing which do not bear 
 the odium which they deserve. He calls attention 
 not only to the dishonesty involved in the adultera 
 tion of food, but to the actual bodily harm done 
 by the mercantile use of the poisons. There has 
 been an enormous increase in the quantity of adul 
 terants used and a woeful lack of conscience mani 
 fested among those who find a profit in the prac 
 tise of dangerous impositions. Professor Ross also 
 presents some statistics to show the mortality due 
 to the failure to use safety appliances the lives 
 of employes being coined into larger dividends for 
 the benefit of the stockholders. But not all of 
 those who make misuse of their intelligence are en 
 gaged in either the adulteration of food or in doing 
 bodily harm through unprotected machinery. The 
 pecuniary damage done by the market speculator 
 is even greater. The gross sum every year ab 
 stracted from the pockets of the wealth producers 
 by the misuse of the stock exchange and the cham 
 ber of commerce is enormous, for this sum not only 
 includes that which is lost by those who yield to 
 the temptation to sit in the game of speculation 
 with the manipulators of the market, but it in 
 cludes that still larger sum which measures the in 
 jury done legitimate dealers who are the innocent 
 victims of man-made fluctuations. 
 
 I know of no more imperative need today than 
 that there should be a clear recognition of the law 
 of rewards, namely, that each person is entitled to 
 draw from society in proportion as he contributes 
 to the welfare of society. This law is fundamental. 
 It conforms to that sense of justice w r hich forms the 
 
302 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 broad basis of social intercourse and a firm founda 
 tion for government. This sense of justice is of 
 fended when any one, either through the favoritism 
 of government or in defiance of government, ac 
 quires that for which he has not given an equiva 
 lent. There are certain apparent exceptions, but 
 they will upon examination be found to be only 
 apparent or to present evidence of an attempted 
 approximation to the standard. For instance, by 
 general consent there is acquirement by right of 
 discovery. A man finds something of which man 
 has not before known, and altho the discovery may 
 not have caused him great effort, yet it may be of 
 great value. There is justice in giving him a reas 
 onable compensation out of the thing which he has 
 discovered, but the fact that the government under 
 whose jurisdiction the land lies limits by metes and 
 bounds the land which the pioneer may claim is 
 evidence of an effort to fix a relation between ser 
 vice and compensation. And so if one discovers 
 precious metals the law determines the amount of 
 land that can be claimed under the discovery. The 
 inventor, also, in return for the benefits conferred 
 upon society, is given a temporary monopoly of the 
 sale of the thing invented, but the fact that he is 
 protected for a limited time only is another proof 
 of the general desire that the reward collected from 
 society shall be proportioned to the benefit con 
 ferred upon society. It is hardly necessary to add 
 that in the case of an invention the attempt is often 
 a crude one, the inventor in many cases losing in 
 large part or entirely the protection intended for 
 him, while some one prepared to furnish money for 
 
MAN 303 
 
 experimentation receives the lion s share of the 
 benefits. 
 
 The inheritance would seem to furnish the most 
 notable exception to the rule of rewards, and yet it 
 cannot really be considered an exception, for a 
 man s right to provide for those dependent upon 
 him is as sacred as his right to provide for himself, 
 and the mutual obligations between parent and 
 child take inheritances out of the ordinary rules 
 of property, and yet even in this case the graded 
 taxes now imposed upon inheritances in various 
 States and they should be imposed in all States 
 indicate a tendency to limit the testamentary dispo 
 sition of property. Gifts are either, first, an ex 
 pression of affection or friendship, or, second, pay 
 ment for service rendered or payment in advance 
 for service to be rendered to the donor or to others. 
 
 But turning from the exception to the rule, what 
 could be more salutary today than a universal 
 recognition of this law of rewards? If instead of 
 measuring success by the amount received each one 
 measured success by the amount actually earned, 
 what a transformation would be wrought in the 
 world! If each one were so perfectly under self- 
 control and so attached to a high ideal as not to 
 desire more from the world than a just reward for 
 his contribution to the world s welfare, society 
 would present a changed appearance. Nearly all 
 injustice, nearly all of " man s inhumanity to 
 man," can be traced to an attempt on the part of 
 the wrong-doer to obtain something for nothing or 
 something for which only part payment is offered. 
 A conscientious application of this law of rewards 
 
304 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 would not only go far toward adjusting disputes 
 between labor and capital, but it would go far 
 toward removing the barriers between the classes. 
 The employe to make a just complaint against his 
 employer shows that the latter is claiming a larger 
 share of the joint profit than is his due, and the 
 employer to bring a just indictment against his 
 employe alleges that the employe is seeking a larger 
 compensation than he has earned. There would be 
 little difficulty in adjusting hours of labor and the 
 conditions of labor if the primary question of par 
 ticipation in profits could be adjusted, and that 
 adjustment cannot be equitably made upon any 
 other basis than that of equivalent values. With 
 universal acquiescence in this rule the usurer would 
 disappear, carrying his train of evils with him; 
 with the establishment of this rule the stock job 
 ber and the market gambler would cease to disturb 
 the law of supply and demand, and the reign of 
 watered stock and of exploitation would be at an 
 end. The observance of this rule would make fac 
 tory laws unnecessary and relieve from premature 
 toil hundreds of thousands of children who now, 
 to the shame of our civilization and to the perma 
 nent harm of our country, become sullen supporters 
 of the family when they should enjoy the delights 
 of childhood and the advantages of school. Those 
 who, instead of trying to see how much they can 
 squeeze out of the world, are anxious to give to the 
 world a dollar s worth of service for a dollar s 
 worth of pay, are protected against every form of 
 swindling, for the "get-rich-quick" schemes which 
 spring up and impose upon the public until they 
 
MAN 305 
 
 are exposed and driven out, always appeal to the 
 speculative spirit, and lead their victims to expect 
 something for nothing. 
 
 It must not be understood, however, that the law 
 of rewards comprehends all of one s obligations. 
 There is a clear distinction between justice and 
 benevolence. Justice requires that each person 
 shall be secure in the enjoyment of that which he 
 earns, but there is something better than justice. 
 True, the elimination of injustice is greatly to be 
 desired, but if the world contained nothing more 
 comforting than justice, there might still be a vast 
 amount of suffering and woe. After the govern 
 ment has exhausted human wisdom in the effort to 
 so adjust rewards as to secure to each person a fair 
 and just compensation for all that he does, religion 
 steps in and suggests a still higher and broader 
 rule. Justice would leave the individual to suffer 
 for his own errors and to pay the penalty for his 
 own mistakes, but love, as taught in the Bible and 
 exemplified by the Author of our religion, teaches 
 us "to feel another s woe" and to bear one an 
 other s burdens. If sickness overtakes a neighbor 
 it does not satisfy the conscience to say: "lie 
 brought it upon himself, let him suffer." If a 
 wife is impoverished by the dissipations of a hus 
 band it does not satisfy the conscience to say: "She 
 ought to have known better than to marry him," 
 or "She ought to leave him." If a child is left 
 friendless it does not satisfy the conscience to say: 
 "It is not my child; I owe it nothing." In a mul 
 titude of ways we are daily brought face to face 
 with the fact that this world needs something more 
 
306 BEY AN S SPEECHES 
 
 helpful, more encouraging, more uplifting than 
 justice, and love supplies this need. A high ideal 
 of life, therefore, leads us to be more exacting with 
 ourselves than we are with others. We must use 
 a larger measure when we estimate society s claims 
 upon us than when we calculate our claims upon 
 society, for while we have a right to expect from 
 society a fair compensation for what we do, we are 
 in duty bound to make to society a contribution 
 which no legal definition can measure. 
 
 Those who attempt to construct the world with 
 out reference to the spiritual forces which are at 
 work defend altruism on the ground that it is an 
 enlightened self-interest; they contend that the 
 doing of good to others, even sacrificing for others, 
 yields a reward in pleasure. The difficulty about 
 the philosophy that rests upon such calculations is, 
 first, that it is impossible for one to look far enough 
 ahead to form any accurate opinion as to the time 
 or manner in which the reward is to come, and sec 
 ond, that time spent in calculation can better be 
 spent in acting. The person who attempts to keep 
 a book account of the good he does, does not, as 
 a rule, do enough good to justify an entry in the 
 book ; the spirit that leads him to keep the account 
 continually hampers him in his work. Life is 
 made up of an innumerable number of small acts, 
 not considered worth doing by those who are guided 
 by selfish considerations. Of the countless millions 
 of kind and generous acts done, but few would 
 have been done had it been necessary to reason 
 out just in what way the bread "cast upon the 
 waters" would return. 
 
MAN 307 
 
 The spring is the best illustration of a life con 
 forming to the Christian ideal. As the spring 
 pours forth constantly of that which refreshes and 
 invigorates, seeking nothing in return, and asking 
 not who is to be the recipient of its bounty, so a 
 life consecrated to a noble purpose pours forth a 
 constant flood of helpfulness; and man is as little 
 able to follow through succeeding generations the 
 good that he does as the spring is to trace the 
 refreshing influence of its waters. 
 
 I have dwelt at length upon the ideal because it 
 is of transcendent importance both to the indi 
 vidual and to those about him. Whether life is a 
 success or not depends far more upon the moral 
 purpose than it does upon the health or mental 
 strength of the individual. History is replete with 
 instances where men and women have accomplished 
 much in spite of great physical infirmity. Help 
 less cripples and persons deformed have some 
 times won a fame denied to athletes and to gladi 
 ators; sightless eyes have often beheld spiritual 
 beauties which multitudes have failed to find ; the 
 bed of the invalid has sometimes been a throne 
 from which have flown blessings greater than a 
 monarch can bestow. Not only has a high pur 
 pose overcome physical obstacles, but it has often 
 made up for the lack of educational advantages. 
 In innumerable cases an uneducated person, in- 
 spired by love for a great cause and filled with zeal, 
 has surpassed those far better equipped, but lack 
 ing a compelling purpose. 
 
 If I were gifted with the power to penetrate the 
 future and could discern the careers which lie 
 
308 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 before the graduates of this day, I would doubt 
 less note a wide difference in accomplishments. 
 Making allowance for different standards of meas 
 urement, some will be more successful than others ; 
 some will surprize their friends by the progress 
 which they make, others may prove a disappoint 
 ment, and the ideal which to-day lies within each 
 heart, or may hereafter be planted there, will have 
 more to do in explaining the success or failure than 
 the studies that have been pursued here more 
 than any health report would indicate. 
 
 In the Memorabilia of Socrates you will find an 
 interesting description of the choice of Hercules. 
 The great philosopher quotes another Greek in sub 
 stance as follows: 
 
 "When Hercules was advancing toward the period when 
 the young begin to give intimations whether they will enter 
 life by the path of virtue or by that of vice, he went forth 
 into a solitary place and sat down perplexed as to which 
 of these two paths he would pursue. Two maidens ap 
 peared before him, one in gaudy attire and with froward 
 manner said : Hercules, if you will follow the path that 
 I point out you shall taste of every species of pleasure, and 
 lead a life free from every sort of trouble. Your whole 
 time will be occupied in considering what meat or drink will 
 please you, and what will most delight you. Hercules 
 asked her name, and she replied : My friends call me Hap 
 piness but those who hate me give me to my disparagement 
 the name of Vice. 
 
 "The other maiden, more reserved in manner and more 
 modest in demeanor said to him : Hercules, I shall not de 
 ceive you. The path that I point out is full of labors, full 
 of trials, full of difficulties, but it is a path that leads to 
 immortality. If you seek to be beloved by your friends 
 you must serve your friends. If you desire to be honored 
 by any city, you must benefit that city ; if you wish to be 
 admired by all Greece for your merit you must endeavor to 
 be of service to all Greece. And her name was Virtue." 
 
MAN 309 
 
 That which is told in story by the ancient phil 
 osopher is set forth in the form of an injunction 
 by the Master, for when his disciples asked who 
 should be greatest in the kingdom of heaven, he 
 answered, "Let him who would be chief est among 
 you be the servant of all." Thus, if we seek au 
 thority from history whether profane or sacred 
 we find that he is the greatest who does the most 
 of good. This is the law from which there is no. 
 appeal a law confirmed by all experience, a law 
 proved by the inscriptions upon the monuments 
 reared by grateful hands to those whom the world 
 calls great. 
 
 And what an opportunity for service this age 
 presents! If I had my choice of all the ages in 
 which to live, I would choose the present above all 
 others. The ocean steamer and the railwa} r train 
 bring all the corners of the earth close together, 
 while the telegraph wire and wireless gives 
 wings to the news and makes the events of each 
 day known in every land during the following 
 night. The printing press has popularized knowl 
 edge and made it possible for each one who desires 
 it to possess a key to the libraries of the world. 
 Invention has multiplied the strength of the hu 
 man arm and brought within the reach of the 
 masses comforts which, until recently, even wealth 
 could not buy. The word "neighborhood" no lon 
 ger describes a community; that "all ye are breth 
 ren" can be more readily comprehended than ever 
 before. It is easier for one to distribute blessings 
 to the world today than it was a few centuries ago 
 to be helpful to the residents of a single valley. A 
 
310 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 good example set anywhere can be seen everywhere, 
 so intimate has become the relation between man 
 and man. 
 
 And yet with the wonderful spread of knowledge 
 and the marvelous range of achievement there is 
 vast work to be done. Conscience has not kept 
 pace with commerce, nor has moral growth in 
 creased with the growth of wealth. The extremes 
 of society have been driven farther and farther 
 apart, and the chord of sympathy between rich and 
 poor is greatly strained. Destitution and squalor 
 lurk in the shadow of palaces, and great law 
 breakers vie with petty thieves in ignoring the stat 
 utes of the State. The instrumentalities of govern 
 ment are being used for public plunder, and those 
 who make fortunes through legislation employ a 
 tithe of their winnings for the corruption of the 
 sources of public opinion. Not only is a bribe 
 dangled before the eyes of the indigent voter, but 
 those who profit through the control of the gov 
 ernment do not hesitate to subsidize newspapers 
 and to scatter their hush money wherever a pro 
 test can be silenced. 
 
 The opportunity is here and the field inviting. 
 A great orator complained a generation ago that 
 the scholar in the republic was not doing the work 
 for which his education fitted him. He declared 
 that the great truths relating to society were not 
 the result of scholarly meditation, but had been 
 first heard in the solemn protest of martyred pat 
 riotism and the loud cries of crusht and starving 
 labor that the scholars, instead of making history, 
 were content to write it "one-half truly and the 
 
MAN 311 
 
 other half as their prejudices might blur and dis 
 tort it." 
 
 Let not this reproach be truthfully uttered 
 against the scholars of America today. With a 
 soil capable of supporting a vast population ; with 
 a climate that gives infinite variety and furnishes 
 healing for every ill; with a people commingling 
 the best blood of all the races, and a government 
 which furnishes the greatest stimulus to high en 
 deavor here the scholar ought to find the most 
 powerful incentive and be inspired to the most 
 heroic effort. Whether he turns his attention to 
 the improvement of crops and herds, to mechanical 
 labor, to the perfecting of methods of exchange 
 or to the cheapening of transportation, or ministers 
 as a physician to the ills of the body, or as an in 
 structor to the wants of the mind, or as a religious 
 teacher to the needs of the heart, no matter to 
 what he devotes himself, infinite possibilities are 
 before him. In whatever walk of life he takes his 
 place he cannot shirk the duties of citizenship, for, 
 living in a land where every citizen is a sovereign 
 and where no one dares to wear a crown, he mustt 
 help to make the government good or share the 
 blame for permitting evils that might be corrected. 
 
 If we apply the term coward to one who, from 
 fear of bodily harm, falters upon the battlefield, we 
 must find some harsher term to apply to those 
 who ignominiously withdraw themselves from the 
 struggle of today, in the presence of the tremen 
 dous problems which require for their wise solu 
 tion all the energies of the body, all the powers of 
 the mind and all the virtues of the heart. 
 
312 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 Members of the graduating class : I have endeav 
 ored to impress upon your minds and hearts, first, 
 the possibilities for good or evil of a human being, 
 and, second, the responsibility which great oppor 
 tunity imposes upon him. I have endeavored to 
 suggest the relation which should exist between 
 body and mind and heart. I have endeavored to 
 emphasize the paramount importance of the moral 
 element. Your labors are not ended, but begun. 
 You are not going into undisturbed retirement, but 
 into the nation s busy, throbbing life. You have 
 been "burning the midnight oil"; henceforth you 
 stand in the sunlight. Fear not to mingle with the 
 poor and the unlearned ; they need you most. You 
 will find among them the homely virtues and you 
 will find among them honest inquiry, for it was not 
 in speaking of such that it was said: "The cares 
 of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke 
 the truth." 
 
 Strive to make your lives resemble a purifying 
 stream, remembering that the higher the reservoir 
 from which you draw the greater will be the pres 
 sure. Let not happiness be the aim of your lives, 
 for happiness eludes those who most eagerly pur 
 sue it, but comes unbidden into the homes of those 
 who labor for higher ends. 
 
 Beware of selfishness, for selfishness defeats itself. 
 "He that findeth his life shall lose it" is true in 
 other than a religious sense, while he who surren 
 ders himself unreservedly to some great cause gains 
 a larger life than the one surrendered. Wendell 
 Phillips gives fitting expression to this truth when 
 he says, * * How prudently most men sink into name- 
 
MAN 313 
 
 less graves, while now and then a few forget them 
 selves into immortality." 
 
 I have endeavored to suggest an ideal which may 
 be helpful to you when the festivities of this closing 
 week are past and you turn to the sober work of 
 life. No ideal is a sufficient one that will not satisfy 
 us in our declining years, as well as in the days of 
 youth and the days of maturity. Aye, more, no 
 ideal is all that it should be unless it is so lofty as 
 to be visible from both sides of the river that sep 
 arates the temporal life from the life that is eternal. 
 Be not discouraged because you strive for that 
 which cannot be wholly attained. The ideal is 
 only ideal because it is beyond our reach, and yet 
 it may guide us as the polar star guides the mariner 
 upon the open sea. If perfection is not possible 
 to us, neither is it required of us. When we have 
 done our full duty our consciences will acquit us, 
 and our friends will not condemn. "We work in 
 the real, but we live in the ideal," some one has 
 said, and yet the ideal is the most real thing that 
 we know, as all can testify. 
 
 Ask the mother who holds in her arms her boy, 
 what her ideal is concerning him and she will tell 
 you that she desires that his heart may b^ so pure 
 that it could be laid upon a pillow and not leave a 
 stain ; that his ambition may be so holy that it could 
 be whispered in an angel s ear, and that his life 
 may be so clean that his mother, his sister, his 
 wife, his child, could read a record of its every 
 thought and act without a blush. But ask her if 
 she will require this perfection in her son before 
 she showers her love upon him, and she will answer 
 
 II 21 
 
314 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 "No." She will tell you that she will make him. 
 as good as she can; that she will follow his foot 
 steps with a daily prayer; that in whatever land 
 he wanders her blessing will abide with him; and 
 that when he dies she ll hope, hope, yes, hope that 
 the world will be better that he has lived. This is 
 all that she can do. All that any of us can do for 
 ourselves or for others is the best that opportunity 
 and circumstances permit. 
 
 The development of the individual is never com 
 plete. Solomon describes the path of the just as 
 like the shining light that shineth more and more 
 unto the perfect day," and Holland, putting the 
 same thought into verse, says: 
 
 ^ Heaven is not gained by a single bound. 
 We build the ladder by which we rise 
 From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies, 
 And mount to its summit round by round." 
 
 So, with the work of government and the work of 
 civilization. We find an unfinished work when we 
 arrive; we leave the work unfinished when we are 
 called hence. Each day marks out our duty for us, 
 and it is for us to devote ourselves to it, whatever 
 it may be, with high purpose and unfaltering cour 
 age. Whether we live to enjoy the fruits of our 
 efforts or lay down the work before the victory is 
 won, we know that every well-spoken word has its 
 influence ; that no good deed is ever lost. And we 
 know, also, that no one can count his life on earth 
 as spent in vain if, when he departs, it can be said : 
 The night is darker because his light has gone 
 out ; the world is not so warm because his heart has 
 grown cold in death. 
 
IV 
 MISSIONS 
 
 An address delivered before a number of church societies, 
 beginning in the fall of 1906. 
 
 HAVING been a church member from the age 
 of fourteen, and having taken an interest 
 in church work, I had contributed to for 
 eign missions as to other branches of Christian 
 work, and had heard numerous addresses by mis 
 sionaries respecting the work done in the foreign 
 field. In planning a trip through Asia I had in 
 tended to visit a mission station for the purpose of 
 informing myself as to the environment of the mis 
 sionary and as to the details of his work; circum 
 stances, however, very much enlarged my oppor 
 tunity for observation, and I feel that I am only 
 performing a duty when I endeavor to convey to 
 your minds the impression made upon my mind 
 by what I saw in the Orient. My experience and 
 observation suggest answers to the objections which 
 I had heard raised to missionary work in foreign 
 lands, and it may be worth while to consider some 
 of these objections. 
 
 First, it is argued that "we need the money at 
 home" and cannot afford to send it abroad. I am 
 satisfied that this objection is not sound. The 
 ministers present will bear me out in the assertion 
 that money contributed to foreign missions is not 
 (315) 
 
316 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 subtracted from money available for home missions. 
 The foreign missionary work is, as a rule, sup 
 ported by those who are interested in home mis 
 sions. The man who excuses himself from contrib 
 uting to foreign missions on the ground that he 
 wants to keep his money for home missions, gener 
 ally finds some excuse for withholding his money, 
 even from home missions. The enthusiasm aroused 
 by work in other lands so enlarges the Christian s 
 sympathies that the home missionary work is bet 
 ter supported than it would be if foreign mission 
 ary stations were abandoned. 
 
 Akin to the first objection is the second, that 
 "we ought to correct the evils at home before we 
 attempt to give instruction abroad." No one will 
 deny that we have a great deal to do at home, but 
 when shall we begin to help others if we must be 
 perfect ourselves before we attempt to extend aid? 
 If an individual refuses to give advice to others, or 
 to lend assistance in the reformation of others until 
 he is himself perfect, he will never render any 
 service to others, for none of us are perfect. Our 
 nation will in like manner, postpone forever the 
 rendering of service to other nations if it waits 
 until there is nothing more to be done at home. 
 No matter how much progress we make, there will 
 always be room for improvement; the higher we 
 rise, the larger the area of our vision and the more 
 we see that needs to be done. If we are ever 
 going to be helpful, we must be helpful while we 
 are still imperfect. The command is not, "Let 
 him that is perfect help the imperfect," but rather, 
 "let him that is strong help the weak." Every 
 
MISSIONS 317 
 
 effort that we put forth to help others strengthens 
 us. I remember hearing, in my youth, the story 
 of two travelers in the mountains. One was over 
 come by cold and sank down discouraged; the 
 other, instead of leaving him to perish, stayed, 
 and by rubbing him sought to prolong his life. The 
 effort kept both alive until help came. And so I 
 am satisfied that the work done in the foreign field 
 strengthens us for the work to be done at home, 
 and that the evidence which the missionaries bring 
 us of the triumphant march of Christianity inspires 
 us to greater activity, both at home and abroad. 
 
 Some complain that the missionaries make but 
 few conversions. It is a matter of regret that pro 
 gress is not more rppid. and yet thpt is no reason 
 why we should give up the task. The progress of 
 Christianity in the United States is not as rapid 
 as we would like to have it. More than half of 
 the adult males of the United States do not attend 
 any church, and that, too, in a land where we see 
 on every hand evidences of the advantages which 
 Christianity has brought to our country. If here, 
 where the environment tends to bring people into 
 the Church, so many remain outside, we must not 
 be surprized if the spread of our religion is even 
 more slow among the heathen where it is often 
 necessary for one to leave home and friends and to 
 submit to social and business ostracism to become 
 a follower of Christ. 
 
 But in spite of all the opposition met by the mis 
 sionaries Christianity is spreading. The growth of 
 Christianity from its beginning on the banks of the 
 Jordan, until today, when its converts are baptized 
 
318 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 in all rivers of the earth, is so graphically described 
 by the Rev. Charles Edward Jefferson, of New 
 York, in his book entitled, "Things Fundamental," 
 that I take the liberty of quoting him : 
 
 "Christ in history! There is a fact face it. According 
 to the New Testament, Jesus walked along the shores of a 
 little sea known as the Sea of Galilee. And there he called 
 Peter and Andrew and James and John and several others 
 to be his followers, and they left all and followed hiim. 
 After they had followed him they revered him, and later 
 on adored and worshiped him. He left them on their faces, 
 each man saying, My Lord and my God! All that is in 
 the New Testament. 
 
 "But put the New Testament away. Time passes ; history 
 widens ; an unseen Presence walks up and down the shores 
 of a larger sea the sea called the Mediterranean and thi.8 
 unseen Presence calls men to follow him. Tertullian, Augus 
 tine, Anselm, Aquinas, Francis of Assisi, Thomas a Kempis, 
 Savonarola, John Huss, Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthou, 
 Ulrica Zwingli, John Calvin another twelve and these all 
 followed him and cast themselves at his feet, saying, in the 
 words of the earlier twelve, My Lord and My God ! 
 
 "Time passes ; history advances ; humanity lives its life 
 around the circle of a larger sea the Atlautiic Ocean. An 
 unseen Presence walks up and down the shores calling men 
 to follow him. He calls John Knox, John Wesley, George 
 Whitefield, Charles Spurgeon, Henry Parry Liddon, Joseph 
 Parker, Jonathan Edwards, Horace Bushnell, Henry Ward 
 Beecher, Richard Saltus Storrs, Phillips Brooks, Dwight 
 L. Moody another twelve and these leave all and follow 
 Tiini. We find them on their faces, each one saying, My 
 Lord and my God ! 
 
 "Time passes; history is widening; humanity is building 
 its civilization round a still wider sea we call it the Pacific 
 Ocean. An unknown Presence moves up and down the 
 shores calling men to follow him, and they are doing it. 
 Another company of twelve is forming. And what took place 
 in Palestine nineteen centuries ago is taking place again in 
 our own day and under our own eyes." 
 
 A fourth objection is advanced by a few, namely, 
 that our missionaries may by their mistakes get us 
 into trouble with other nations. Of course, people 
 
MISSIONS 319 
 
 are liable to make mistakes, whether they live 
 abroad or at home. We all make mistakes, the non- 
 Christian as well as the Christian, the layman as 
 well as the preacher, and a minister may make 
 mistakes in Asia as well as in the United States, 
 but I am convinced that the good that the mission 
 aries do far outweighs any harm that can come from 
 their mistakes. They make us more friends than 
 enemies. The Americans who go into foreign lands 
 to make money are much more apt to involve us 
 in diplomatic controversies than the missionaries 
 who devote themselves to the uplifting of the peo 
 ple among whom they go. 
 
 The last objection to which I shall refer is one 
 that is now made with less frequency than for 
 merly, namely, that God is too merciful to punish 
 the heathen if they die without an opportunity to 
 hear the gospel and that, therefore, it is not neces 
 sary to carry the gospel to them. Some have even 
 carried this argument to the point of asserting 
 that if the heathen are free from guilt until they 
 have a chance to reject the gospel, we endanger 
 them when we put them in a position where they 
 may reject it. I am not going to attempt to set 
 limits to the mercy of the Almighty or to interpret 
 his plans respecting the heathen in the next world, 
 but I have seen the heathen in this life, and I be 
 lieve that we owe it to them, as a religious duty, 
 to carry to them the Christian conception of life 
 that they may have the benefit of it on earth, no 
 matter what the future may have for them. If 
 Christ s conception of life is worthy to be adopted 
 by us, it is worthy to be communicated to people 
 
320 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 everywhere and this service the missionaries are 
 rendering. 
 
 The missionaries, Protestant and Catholic, are to 
 be found all over Asia. 
 
 I found several departments of work fully organ 
 ized. The missionaries are building churches and 
 increasing the number of congregations ; I attended 
 church at several places and was imprest with the 
 earnestness of the native Christians. Japan, it 
 seems to me, furnishes a great field for missionary 
 work, and Korea is scarcely second to it. In China 
 the native Christians showed, during the Boxer 
 trouble, a heroism which equalled that displayed 
 by the early Christians. 
 
 The medical missionaries are increasing in num 
 ber and they are doing a very important work. 
 The aid -which they render is of a kind that chal 
 lenges attention, and when natives know that the 
 medical missionary is actuated by love rather than 
 by a desire for gain, they inquire into the source 
 of his love and the reason for its manifestation. 
 
 The American College is also a potent influence 
 for good. These schools spring up about the mis 
 sionary stations and are constantly growing in 
 attendance and in influence. I followed an un 
 broken chain of them for some six thousand miles 
 from the Pacific to the Mediterranean; I looked 
 into the faces of hundreds, yes thousands, of boys 
 and girls taught by Americans or by teachers paid 
 with American money, and I rejoiced that, if our 
 country could not boast that the sun never sets 
 upon its possessions, it has a prouder boast, namely, 
 that the sun never sets upon American philan- 
 
MISSIONS 321 
 
 thropy. Before the sun goes down on one center 
 of civilization established by American money, it 
 rises upon another, and the boundaries of these cen 
 ters of civilization are constantly enlarging; after 
 awhile the boundaries will meet and when the 
 Orient is redeemed, America will deserve a large 
 share of credit. One cannot measure the far- 
 reaching good that these schools are doing. When 
 we calculate the impress that a life can make upon 
 a nation, and then remember that thousands are 
 instructed in these schools and go out from them to 
 touch the lives and hearts of the people of the 
 Orient, who will attempt to estimate the total good 
 done? Infinite opportunities open before each 
 teacher and each one who contributes to the work 
 has a part in the result. 
 
 I found that the Young Men s Christian Associa 
 tion and the Young Women s Christian Association 
 have already gained a foothold in Asia. At Kaga- 
 shima, Japan, I attended a meeting held under the 
 auspices of the Young Women s Christian Associa 
 tion, and at a number of places I was the guest of 
 the Young Men s Christian Association. At the 
 close of a Young Men s Christian Association meet 
 ing in Allahabad, India, an Indian arose and asked 
 me to assure the people of the United States that 
 Christian ideals have made a deeper impression 
 than the church membership in India would indi 
 cate. He expressed appreciation of the mission 
 aries and the teachers who had been sent to them, 
 and complained only that the number was so small 
 compared with the great population of India. 
 
 It may not be out of place briefly to call atten- 
 
322 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 tion to the religions which our missionaries have 
 to meet. If I had derived no other benefit from 
 the trip I would consider the time well spent be 
 cause of the acquaintance that it gave me with 
 the religions and philosophies of the East. 
 
 If a tree is to be known by its fruits, surely the 
 fruits of Christianity justify its followers in claim 
 ing for it a vast superiority over other religions, 
 whether we compare the doctrines taught or the 
 general effect produced by the religions. 
 
 Take Mohammedanism for instance. It has sev 
 eral merits. First, it rests upon a belief in one 
 God the Mohammedan has as great faith in Je 
 hovah as the Christian has. Second, it teaches 
 prayer. The Mohammedan is as careful to observe 
 the hour of prayer as is the Christian, if not more 
 so. Five times a day he kneels, his face toward 
 Mecca, and supplicates his Creator. No matter 
 where he is, the prayer is on his lips. If he is 
 traveling across the desert, he dismounts from his 
 camel and spreads his blanket upon the sand. 
 There is something to respect in a religion that 
 compels man to commune with his heavenly 
 Father. 
 
 But the Mohammedan religion degrades woman. 
 In the Mosque there is a place for men to kneel, 
 but if the women enter at all they visit only the 
 gallery, and there they are screened from the sight 
 of men while they look down upon the worshipers. 
 At the age of twelve the girl is taken from the 
 companionship of others, and after that she can 
 not go unveiled in the presence of men, except 
 those of her own family. Among the followers 
 
MISSIONS 323 
 
 of the Prophet society loses the inspiration of 
 woman s presence and woman loses the advantages 
 of social intercourse. Christianity, on the other 
 hand, recognizes that woman s rightful place is 
 by the side of man ; Christianity regards man and 
 woman as equal cotenants of the home and as 
 joint partners in the responsibilities and joys of life. 
 
 Mohammedanism is propagated by force, while 
 Christianity rests upon love and is spread by 
 moral suasion. Dr. Parkhurst once illustrated the 
 difference between force and love by using a ham 
 mer to represent force. With it a chunk of ice 
 could be broken into a thousand pieces, but each 
 piece would still be ice. Love he likened to a ray 
 of sunshine falling upon the ice ; it would act slowly 
 but surely, and in a little while there would be 
 no more ice. Love is the most potent influence in 
 the world; it is the weapon for which there is no 
 shield, and Christianity is moving with irresistible 
 force because love is the principle which underlies it. 
 
 Buddhism is an agnostic religion. One of the 
 Buddhist papers published in Burma urged the 
 sending of delegates to an international agnostic 
 congress. A Buddhist monk, in enumerating the 
 advantages of Buddhism, told me that one did not 
 have to believe anything to be a Buddhist. It is a 
 reformation of Hinduism. Buddha taught that 
 one could " escape from the wheel" from the 
 endless round of existence, by absorption into the 
 spirit of the universe. Arnold has described it 
 as "the dewdrop melting into the sea." To the 
 Buddhist, life is a calamity from which escape is 
 to be sought in the loss of individuality; Chris- 
 
324 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 tianity regards life as an opportunity to be crowned 
 at its close with still higher existence. 
 
 The Buddhist believes that if one has done evil 
 through an indefinite number of lives, he can turn 
 over a new leaf and finally, through an indefinite 
 number of existences, do enough good to overcome 
 the evil; the Christian believes that through re 
 pentance past sins can be blotted out, and the new 
 life commenced at once. No wonder that a Jap 
 anese in contrasting Buddhism with Christianity 
 said that the former looked down while the latter 
 looked up. 
 
 I was more disappointed in Confucianism than 
 in either Mohammedanism or Buddhism, for I had 
 been led to form a higher opinion of the philosophy 
 of the Chinese Sage. I had not read much that 
 Confucius had said, altho I had read tributes to 
 his wisdom, but the more I read of his utterances, 
 the more my admiration for him diminished. I 
 have wondered whether some have not magnified his 
 teachings in order to find in them justification for 
 the rejection of the teachings of the Nazarene. 
 The golden rule of Confucius reads, "Do not unto 
 others as you would not have others do unto you." 
 The Golden Rule of Christ is, Do unto others 
 as you would have others do unto you." There is a 
 wide difference between the two; one is nega 
 tive and the other positive; one enjoins a life 
 of negative harmlessness, while the other commands 
 a life of positive helpfulness. You could stand by 
 a stream and watch a neighbor fall in and drown, 
 and if you did not push him in you need not pull 
 him out; and yet you would not violate the nega- 
 
MISSIONS 325 
 
 live form of the rule, but you would violate the 
 positive form of the rule. 
 
 The Chinaman, following the doctrine of Con 
 fucius, does not regard it as a duty to help others, 
 but the streams of Christian benevolence girdle 
 the globe. 
 
 A follower of Confucius asked him if there was 
 any one word that would cover all the relations of 
 society, and he answered, "Is not reciprocity such 
 a word." Reciprocity? That is a balancing of 
 benefits; if a person does you a favor, do him a 
 favor, and do him just about as much of a favor 
 as he does you keep it even. It is the calculating 
 selfishness upon which the materialist would build 
 a morality. According to the philosophy of Con 
 fucius, we should measure our service to others by 
 the service that others have rendered us ; but Christ 
 teaches us to measure our service, not by the service 
 that has been rendered, or by the service that may 
 be rendered, or by the service that can be rendered, 
 but by the need of those unto whom we minister. 
 Reciprocity? That is not sufficient. The Chris 
 tian nations of the world spend hundreds of mil 
 lions a year to make life more pleasant for the 
 helpless and unfortunate who cannot hope to repay 
 a single dollar of the money spent upon them. 
 
 Another follower of Confucius asked him what 
 he thought of the doctrine that evil should be 
 rewarded with good, and he replied: "If you 
 reward evil with good, with what will you reward 
 good ? And then he announced his rule, Reward 
 evil with justice and reward good with good." 
 Reward evil with justice? How can one tell what 
 
326 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 justice is if his heart is full of hatred and he is 
 waiting for an opportunity for revenge? Only 
 when love takes the place of hatred only when one 
 understands his relation to God, and understanding 
 his relations to God, learns of his kinship with his 
 brother can he know what justice is or the meas 
 ure thereof. If I were called upon to name the 
 one thing which more than any other distinguishes 
 the Christian religion from all other religions and 
 moral codes, I would name forgiveness Christ 
 taught forgiveness, and, therefore, he could com 
 mand his followers to love their enemies and to 
 return good for evil. 
 
 The Chinese boast that they live up to the ideals 
 of Confucius, but those ideals could be embodied 
 in the life of a nation without lifting the nation to 
 a high plane, and I believe that the philosophy 
 of Confucius is largely responsible for the fact 
 that China has stood still for twenty centuries. 
 The people easily overtook the ideals of Confucius, 
 and when a man overtakes his ideals his progress 
 stops. It is the glory of the Christian ideal that 
 while it is within sight of the weakest and the 
 lowliest, it is yet so high that it keeps the best 
 and noblest with their faces turned ever upward; 
 and Christian civilization is the greatest that the 
 world has ever known because it rests upon a con 
 ception of life that makes life an unending strug 
 gle upward, with no limit to human advancement 
 or development. 
 
 If religions are to be measured by the results 
 recorded in history, behold the greatness of Chris 
 tianity! Except where they have borrowed from 
 
MISSIONS 327 
 
 the Christian nations the followers of Mohammed, 
 the followers of Buddha and the followers of Con 
 fucius are practically where they were fifteen hun 
 dred or two thousand years go, while Christianity 
 took the races of Europe when they were called 
 barbarians and in ten centuries has enabled them 
 to reach a civilization surpassing all the civiliza 
 tions or the past. 
 
 How shall we show our gratitude for the bless 
 ings that Christianity has brought to us? We are 
 largely indebted to it for the benefits which flow 
 from universal education ; who will measure its 
 advantage to our nation ? Christianity has strength 
 ened the doctrine of self-government by teaching 
 the claims of brotherhood ; who will estimate the 
 benefit which this nation has derived from the be 
 lief that all men are created equal? Christianity 
 has given us a system of religion which leads us 
 to the worship of a Creator; it has taught us a 
 sense of responsibility to a personal Gccl, and it 
 has set before us a measure of greatness in which 
 he is to be the chiefest among us who is the servant 
 of all. What is it worth to us and to our children 
 to be permitted to enjoy the triple blessings of 
 universal education, free government and the Chris- 
 tion religion? We cannot repay the debt to those 
 who gave us these things ; they are dead. These 
 blessings have come through generations of toil and 
 sacrifice. We must make repayment to those about 
 us and to those who come after us. We can make 
 part payment by transmitting these institutions to 
 posterity, not only unimpaired but improved; but 
 WQ shall not discharge the debt entirely unless we 
 
328 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 bring these institutions to the attention of others 
 who know them not, and the foreign missionary 
 field furnishes us one avenue through which to 
 manifest our gratitude to God for the inestimable 
 privileges of a citizenship to which Christianity has 
 so largely contributed. 
 
 [NOTE : This address is not copyrighted, and can be re- 
 publisfced by anyone desiring to do so,] 
 
V 
 FAITH 
 
 An address delivered at a number of colleges beginning 
 in 1907. 
 
 FAITH exerts a controlling influence over 
 our lives. If it is argued that works are 
 more important than faith. I reply that 
 faith comes first, works afterwards. Until one be 
 lieves, he does not act, and in accordance with his 
 faith, so will be his deeds. 
 
 Abraham, called of God, went forth in faith to 
 establish a race and a religion. As a result of his 
 faith a race has been produced not surpassed in 
 its achievements by any other race in history, and 
 as a result of his faith nearly four hundred millions 
 of human beings are adherents of a monotheistic 
 religion. It w r as faith that led Columbus to dis 
 cover America, and faith again that conducted the 
 early settlers to Jamestown, the Dutch to New York 
 and the Pilgrims to Plymouth Rock. Faith has led 
 the pioneer across deserts and through trackless 
 forests, and faith has brought others in his foot 
 steps to lay in our land the foundations of a civil 
 ization the highest that the world has known. 
 
 I might draw an illustration from the life of 
 each one of you. You have faith in education, and 
 that faith is behind your study; you have faith in 
 this institution, and that faith brought you here; 
 
 n 22 (329) 
 
330 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 your parents and friends have had faith in you 
 and have helped you to your present position. 
 Without faith we are told it is impossible to please 
 God, and I may add that without faith it is impos 
 sible to meet the expectations of those who are most 
 interested in you. Let me present this subject 
 under four heads: 
 
 First You must have faith in yourselves. Not 
 that you should carry confidence in yourselves to 
 the point of displaying egotism, and yet, egotism 
 is not the worst possible fault. My father was wont 
 to say that if a man had the big head, you could 
 whittle it down, but that if he had the little head, 
 there was no hope for him. If you have the big 
 head others will help you reduce it, but if you have 
 the little head, they can not help you. You must 
 believe that you can do things or you will not un 
 dertake them. Those who lack faith attempt noth 
 ing and therefore can not possibly succeed; those 
 with great faith attempt the seemingly impossible 
 and by attempting prove what man can do. 
 
 But you can not have faith in yourselves unless 
 you are conscious that you are prepared for your 
 work. If one is feeble in body, he can not have the 
 confidence in his physical strength that the athlete 
 has, and as physical strength is necessary one is 
 justified in devoting to exercise and to the strength 
 ening of the body such time as may be necessary. 
 
 Intellectual training is also necessary, and more 
 necessary than it used to be. When but few had 
 the advantages of a college education, the lack of 
 such advantages was not so apparent. Now when 
 so many of the lawyers, physicians, journalists, and 
 
FAITH 331 
 
 even business men, are college graduates, one can 
 not afford to enter any field without the best pos 
 sible intellectual preparation. When one comes into 
 competition with his fellows, he soon recognizes his 
 own intellectual superiority or inferiority as com 
 pared with others. ) In China they have a very 
 interesting bird contest. The singing lark is the 
 most popular bird there, and as you go along the 
 streets of a Chinese city you see Chinamen out 
 airing their birds. These singing larks are entered 
 in contests, and the contests are decided by the birds 
 themselves. If, for instance, a dozen are- entered, 
 they all begin to sing lustily, but as they sing, one 
 after another recognizes that it is outclassed and 
 gets down off of its perch, puts its head under its 
 wing and will not sing any more. At last there 
 is just one bird left singing, and it sings with an 
 enthusiasm that shows that it recognizes its victory. 
 So it is in all intellectual contests. Put twenty 
 men in a room and let them discuss any important 
 question. At first all will take part in the discus 
 sion, but as the discussion proceeds, one after an 
 other drops out until finally two are left in debate, 
 one on one side and one on the other. The rest 
 are content to have their ideas presented by those 
 who can present them best. If you are going to 
 have faith, therefore, in yourselves, you must be 
 prepared to meet your competitors upon an equal 
 plane, and if you are prepared, they will be con 
 scious of it as well as you. 
 
 A high purpose is also a necessary part of your 
 preparation. You can not afford to put a low pur 
 pose in competition with a high one. If you go out 
 
332 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 to work from a purely selfish standpoint, you will 
 be ashamed to stand in the presence of those who 
 have higher aims and nobler ambitions. Have faith 
 in yourselves, but to have faith you must be pre 
 pared for your work, and this preparation must be 
 moral and intellectual as well as physical. 
 
 Second Have faith in mankind. The great fault 
 of our scholarship is that it is not sufficiently sym 
 pathetic. It holds itself aloof from the struggling 
 masses. It is too often cold and cynical. It is better 
 to trust your fellowmen and be occasionally de 
 ceived than to be distrustful and live alone. Man 
 kind deserves to be trusted. There is something 
 good in every one, and that good responds to sym 
 pathy. If you speak to the multitude and they 
 do not respond, do not despise them, but rather 
 examine what you have said. If you speak from 
 your heart, you will speak to their hearts, and 
 they can tell very quickly whether you are inter 
 ested in them or simply in yourself. The heart of 
 mankind is sound ; the sense of justice is universal. 
 Trust it, appeal to it, do not violate it. People 
 differ in race characteristics, in national traditions, 
 in language, in ideas of government, and in forms 
 of religion, but at heart they are very much alike. 
 I fear the plutocracy of wealth ; I respect the plu 
 tocracy of learning; I thank God for the democ 
 racy of the heart. You must love if you would be 
 loved. "They loved Him because He first loved 
 them" this is the verdict pronounced where men 
 have unselfishly labored for the welfare of the 
 whole people. Link yourselves in sympathy with 
 your fellowmen ; mingle with them ; know them and 
 
FAITH 333 
 
 you will trust them and they will trust you. If 
 you are stronger than others, bear heavier loads ; if 
 you are more capable than others, show it by your 
 willingness to perform a larger service. 
 
 Third If you are going to accomplish anything 
 in this country, you must have faith in our form 
 of government, and there is every reason why you 
 should have faith in it. It is the best form of 
 government ever conceived by the mind of man, 
 and it is spreading throughout the world. It is 
 best, not because it is perfect, but because it cant- 
 be made as perfect as the people deserve to have. 
 It is a people s government, and it rejects the vir 
 tue and intelligence of the people. As the people 
 make progress in virtue and in intelligence, the 
 government ought to approach more and more 
 nearly to perfection. It will never, of course, be 
 entirely free from faults, because it must be admin 
 istered by human beings, and imperfection is to be 
 expected in the work of human hands. 
 
 Jefferson said a century ago that there were 
 naturally two parties in every country, one which 
 drew to itself those who trusted the people, the 
 other which as naturally drew to itself those who 
 distrusted the people. That was true when Jef 
 ferson said it, and it is true today. In every 
 country there is a party which is seeking to enlarge 
 the participation of the people in government, 
 and that party is the growing party. In every 
 country there is a party which is endeavoring to 
 obstruct each step toward popular government, and 
 it is the dying party. In this country the tendency 
 is constantly toward more popular government, 
 
334 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 and every effort which has for its object the bring 
 ing of the Government into closer touch with the 
 people is sure of ultimate triumph. 
 
 Our form of government is good. Call it a 
 democracy if you are a democrat, or a republic 
 if you are a republican, but help to make it a 
 government of the people, by the people and for 
 the people. A democracy is wiser than an aristoc 
 racy because a democracy can draw from the wis 
 dom of the people, and all of the people know more 
 than any part of the people. A democracy is 
 stronger than a monarchy because, as the historian, 
 Bancroft, has said: "It dares to discard the im 
 plements of terror and build its citadel in the hearts 
 of men. And a democracy is the most just form 
 of government because it is built upon the doc- 
 trine that men are created equal, that governments 
 are instituted to protect the inalienable rights of 
 the people and that governments derive their just 
 powers from the consent of the governed. 
 
 We know that a grain of wheat planted in the 
 ground will, under the influence of the sunshine 
 and rain, send forth a blade, and then a stalk, 
 and then the full head, because there is behind the 
 grain of wheat a force irresistible and constantly 
 at work. There is behind moral and political truth 
 a force equally irresistible and always operating, 
 and just as we may expect the harvest in due sea 
 son, we may be sure of the triumph of these eter 
 nal forces that make for man s uplifting. Have 
 faith in your form of government, for it rests upon 
 a growing idea, and if you will but attach yourself 
 to that idea, you will grow with it. 
 
FAITH 335 
 
 But the subject presents itself in another aspect. 
 You must not only have faith in yourselves, in 
 humanity and in the form of government under 
 which we live, but if you would do a great work, 
 you must have faith in God. Do not call me a 
 preacher, for I am but a layman; yet, I am not 
 willing that the minister shall monopolize the bless 
 ings of Christianity, and I do not know of any 
 moral precept binding upon the preacher behind 
 the pulpit that is not binding upon the Christian 
 whose acceptance would not be helpful to everyone. 
 I am not speaking from the minister s standpoint 
 but from the observation of every day life when I 
 say that there is a wide difference between the de 
 sire to live so that men will applaud you and the 
 desire to live so that God will be satisfied with you. 
 Man needs the inner strength that comes from faith 
 in God and belief in His constant presence. 
 
 Man needs faith in God, therefore, to strengthen 
 him in his hours of trial, and he needs it to give 
 him courage to do the work of life. How can one 
 fight for a principle unless he believes in the tri 
 umph of the right? How can he believe in the , 
 triumph of the right if he does not believe that 
 God stands back of the truth and that God is able 
 to bring victory to truth? The man of faith, be 
 lieving that every word spoken for truth will have 
 its influence and that no blow struck for righteous 
 ness is struck in vain, fights on without asking 
 whether he is to fall in the beginning of the 
 battle or to live to join in the shouts of triumph. 
 He knows not whether he is to live for the 
 truth or to die for it, and if he has the faith 
 
336 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 he ought to have, he is as ready to die for it as 
 to live for it. 
 
 Faith will not only give you strength when you 
 fight for righteousness, but your faith will bring 
 dismay to your enemies. There is power in the 
 presence of an honest man who does right because 
 it is right and dares to do the right in the face 
 of all opposition. It is true today, and has been 
 true through all history that "One with God shall 
 chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to 
 flight." 
 
 If your preparation is complete so that you are 
 conscious of your ability to do great things ; if you 
 have faith in your fellowmen and become a colab- 
 orer with them in the raising of the general level 
 of society ; if you have faith in our form of govern 
 ment and seek to purge it of its imperfections so 
 as to make it more and more acceptable to our own 
 people and to the opprest of other nations; and if, 
 in addition, you have faith in God and in the tri 
 umph of the right, no one can set limits to your 
 achievements. This is the greatest of all the ages 
 in which to live. The railroads and the telegraph 
 wires have brought the corners of the earth close 
 together, and it is easier today for one to be helpful 
 to the whole world than it was a few centuries 
 ago to be helpful to the inhabitants of a single 
 valley. This is the age of great opportunity and 
 of great responsibility. Let your faith be large, 
 and let this large faith inspire you to perform a 
 large service. 
 
 (NOTE: This address is not copyrighted and can be 
 republished by anyone desiring to do so.) 
 
VI 
 THE PRICE OF A SOUL 
 
 Abstract of an address delivered, first at the North- 
 wusteriv Law School Banquet iii Chicago, then as a Coui- 
 aioiieeuient Oration at the Pierce School in Philadelphia 
 and, in 1909, extended into a lecture. 
 
 THE fact that Christ dealt with this subject 
 is proof conclusive that it is important, 
 for He never dealt with trivial things. 
 When Christ focused attention upon a theme it was 
 because it was worthy of consideration and Christ 
 weighed the soul. He presented the subject, too, 
 with surpassing force; no one will ever add em 
 phasis to what He said. He understood the value 
 of the question in argument. If you will examine 
 the great orations delivered at crises in the world s 
 history, you will find that in nearly every case the 
 speaker condensed the whole subject into a ques 
 tion, and in that question embodied what he re 
 garded as an unanswerable argument. Christ used 
 the question to give force to the thought which he 
 presented in regard to the soul s value. 
 
 On one side He put the world and all that the 
 world can contain all the wealth that one can ac 
 cumulate, all the fame to which one can aspire, 
 and all the happiness that one can covet ; and on 
 the other side he put the soul, and asked the ques 
 tion that has come ringing down, the centuries: 
 (337) 
 
338 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 "What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole 
 world and lose his own soul?" 
 
 There is no compromise here no partial state 
 ment of the matter. He leaves us to write one term 
 of the equation ourselves. He gives us all the time 
 we desire, and allows the imagination to work to 
 the limit, and when we have gathered together into 
 one sum all things but the soul, He asks What if 
 you gain it all all ALL, and lose the soul ? What 
 is the profit? 
 
 Some have thought the soul question a question 
 of the next world only, but it is a question of this 
 world also; some have thought the soul question a 
 Sabbath-day question only, but it is a week-day 
 question as well; some have thought the soul ques 
 tion a question for the ministers alone, but it is a 
 question which we all must meet. Every day and 
 every week, every month and every year, from the 
 time we reach the period of accountability until we 
 die, we each of us all of us, weigh the soul ; and 
 just in proportion as we put the soul above all 
 things else we build character; the moment we 
 allow the soul to become a matter of merchandise, 
 we start on the downward way. 
 
 Tolstoy says that if you would investigate the 
 career of a criminal it is not sufficient to begin 
 with the commission of a crime; that you must go 
 back to that day in his life when he deliberately 
 trampled upon his conscience and did that which 
 he knew to be wrong. And so with all of us, the 
 turning point in the life is the day when we sur 
 render the soul for something that for the time 
 being seems more desirable. 
 
THE PRICE OF A SOUL 339 
 
 >st of the temptations that come to us to sell 
 the soul come in connection with the getting of 
 money. ^The Bible says, "The love of money is the 
 root ofall evil." If I had been making the state 
 ment, I think I would have said that the love of 
 money is the root of nearly all evil. But that is 
 probably due to the fact that I am so conservative 
 in thought and in method of statement, that I pre 
 fer to leave a margin in the statement of a propo 
 sition, so that if anybody disputes it I can bring 
 proof of more than I said. But the Bible says, "The 
 love of money is the root of all evil/ and I shall 
 not attempt to weaken the statement. If it is a 
 mistake at all it is so slight a mistake that we need 
 not spend time in correcting it. 
 
 And because so many of our temptations come 
 through the love of money and the desire to obtain 
 it, it is worth while to consider the laws of accumu 
 lation. We must all have money; we need food 
 and clothing and shelter, and money is necessary 
 for the purchase of these things. Money is not an 
 evil in itself money is, in fact, a very useful serv 
 ant. It is bad only when it becomes the master, 
 and the love of it is hurtful only because it can, 
 and often does, crowd out the love of nobler things. 
 
 But since we must all use money and must in our 
 active days store up money for the days when our 
 strength fails, let us see if we can agree upon the 
 rules that should govern us in the accumulation of 
 the money that we need. How much money can a 
 man rightfully collect from society? Surely, there 
 can be no disagreement here. He cannot rightfully 
 collect more than he honestly earns. If a man col- 
 
340 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 lect more than he honestly earns, he collects what 
 somebody else has earned, and we call it stealing 
 if a man takes that which belongs to another. Not 
 only is a man limited in his collections of what he 
 honestly earns, but no honest man will desire to 
 collect more than he earns. 
 
 If a man cannot rightfully collect more than he 
 honestly earns, it is, then, a matter of the utmost 
 importance to know how much money a man can 
 honestly earn. I venture an answer to this and 
 say that a man cannot honestly earn more than 
 , fairly measures the service which he renders to so- 
 Xciety. I cannot conceive of any way of earning 
 I money except to give to society a service equivalent 
 \in value to the money collected. This is a funda 
 mental proposition and it is important that it should 
 be clearly understood, for if one desires to collect 
 largely from society he must be prepared to render 
 a large service to society; and our schools and col 
 leges, our churches and all other organizations for 
 the improvement of man have for one of their chief 
 objects the enlargement of the capacity for service. 
 There is an apparent exception in the case of an 
 inheritance, but it is not a real exception, for if the 
 man who leaves the money has honestly earned it, 
 he has already given society a service of equivalent 
 value and, therefore, has a right to distribute it. 
 And money received by inheritance is either pay 
 ment for service already rendered, or payment in 
 advance for service to be rendered. No right- 
 minded person will accept money, even by inherit 
 ance, without recognizing the obligation it imposes 
 to render a service in return. This service is not 
 
THE PRICE OF A SOUL 341 
 
 always rendered to the one from whom this money 
 is received, but often to society in general. In 
 faci, most of the blessings which we receive come 
 to us in such a way that we cannot distinguish 
 the donors and must make our return to the whole 
 public. 
 
 But I need not dwell upon this, because in this 
 country more than anywhere else in the world we 
 appreciate the dignity of labor and understand that 
 it is honorable to serve. And yet there is room for 
 improvement, for all over our land there are, scat 
 tered here and there, young men and young women 
 and even parents who still think that it is more 
 respectable for a young man to spend in idleness 
 the money some one else has earned than to be him 
 self a producer of wealth. And as long as this sen 
 timent is to be found anywhere there is educational 
 work to be done, for public opinion will never be 
 what it ought to be until it puts the badge of dis 
 grace upon the idler, no matter how rich he may 
 be, rather than upon the man who with brain or 
 muscle contributes to the Nation s wealth, the Na 
 tion s strength and the Nation s progress. But, as 
 I said, the inheritance is an apparent, not an actual, 
 exception, and we will return to the original propo 
 sition that one s earnings must be measured by the 
 service rendered. This is so important a proposi 
 tion that I beg leave to dwell upon it a moment 
 longer, to ask whether it is possible to fix in dollars 
 and cents a maximum limit to the amount one can 
 earn in a lifetime. 
 
 Let us begin with one hundred thousand dollars. 
 If we estimate a working life at thirty-three years 
 
342 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 and I think this is a fair estimate a man must earn 
 a little more than three thousand dollars per year 
 for thirty-three years to earn one hundred thousand 
 dollars in a lifetime. I take it for granted that no 
 one will deny that it is possible for one to earn 
 this sum by rendering a service equal to it in value. 
 What shall we say of a million dollars? Can a 
 man earn that much? To do so he must earn a 
 little more than thirty thousand dollars a year for 
 thirty-three years. Is it possible for one to render 
 so large a service ? I believe that it is. Well, what 
 shall we say of ten millions? To earn that much 
 one must earn on an average a little more than three 
 hundred thousand a year for thirty-three years. Is 
 it possible for one to render a service so large as 
 to earn so vast a sum? At the risk of shocking 
 some of my radical friends I am going to affirm that 
 it is possible. But can one earn a hundred million ? 
 Yes, I believe that it is even possible to serve so 
 ciety to such an extent as to earn a hundred mil 
 lion in the span of a human life, or an average of 
 three million a year for thirty-three years. We 
 have one man in this country who is said to be 
 worth five hundred million. To earn five hundred 
 million one must earn on an average fifteen million 
 a year for thirty-three years. Is this within the 
 range of human possibility? I believe that it is. 
 Now, I have gone as high as any one has yet gone 
 in collecting, but if there is any young man with 
 an ambition to render a larger service to the world, 
 I will raise it another notch, if necessary, to en 
 courage him. So almost limitless are the possibili 
 ties of service in this age that I am not willing to 
 
THE PRICE OF A SOUL 343 
 
 fix v. maximum to the sum a man can honestly and 
 
 legitimately earn. 
 
 Not only do I believe that a man can earn 
 five hundred million, but I believe that men 
 have earned it. I believe that Thomas Jefferson 
 earned more than five hundred millions. The 
 service that he rendered to the world was of such 
 great value that had he collected for it five hun 
 dred millions of dollars, he would not have been 
 overpaid. I believe that Abraham Lincoln earned 
 more than five hundred millions, and I could go 
 back through history and give you the name of 
 man after man who rendered a service so large 
 as to entitle him to collect more than five hundred 
 million from society, but if I presented a list con 
 taining the name of every man, who, since time 
 began, earned such an enormous sum, one thing 
 would be true of all of them, namely: that in not 
 a single case did the man collect the full amount. 
 The men who have earned five million dollars have 
 been so busy earning it that they have not had time 
 to collect it; and the men who have collected five 
 hundred million have been so busy collecting it that 
 they have not had time to earn it. 
 
 Jefferson did not collect all he earned ; in fact, he 
 began public life well to do for a man of that period, 
 and died poor impoverished by visits of those who 
 called to tell him how much they loved him and how 
 much they appreciated his work. Lincoln did not 
 collect the full amount ; neither Jefferson nor Lin 
 coln would have cared to collect five hundred mil 
 lion. What would either one have done with such 
 a sum? Or, what is more important, what would 
 
344 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 five hundred millions of dollars have done with 
 Jefferson or Lincoln? 
 
 In that wonderful parable of the sower, Christ 
 speaks of the seeds that fell and of the thorns that 
 sprang up and choked them, and He himself ex 
 plained what he meant by this illustration, namely : 
 That the cares of this world and the deceitfulness 
 of riches choke the truth. If the great benefactors 
 of the race had been burdened with the care of big 
 fortunes, they could not have devoted themselves 
 to the nobler things that gave them a place in the 
 affection of their people and in history. 
 
 It seems, therefore, that while one cannot right 
 fully collect more than he honestly earns, he may 
 earn more than it would be wise for him to collect. 
 And that brings us to the next question : How much 
 should one desire to collect from society ? I answer, 
 that no matter how large a service he may render 
 or how much he may earn, one should not desire to 
 collect more than he can wisely spend. 
 
 And how much can one wisely spend? Not as 
 much as you might think, and not nearly as much 
 as some have tried to spend. No matter how hon 
 estly money may be acquired, one is not free to 
 spend it at will. We are hedged about by certain 
 restrictions that we can neither remove nor ignore. 
 God has written certain laws in our nature laws 
 that no legislature can repeal laws that no court 
 can declare unconstitutional, and these laws limit 
 us in our expenditures. 
 
 Let us consider some of the things for which we 
 can properly spend money. We need food we all 
 &eed food, and we need about the same amount ; not 
 
THE PRICE OF A SOUL 345 
 
 exactly, but the difference in quantity is not great. 
 The range in expenditure is greater than the range 
 in quantity, for expenditure covers kind and quality 
 as well as quantity. But there is a limit even to ex 
 penditure. If a man eats too much he suffers for 
 it. If he squanders his money on high-priced foods, 
 he wears his stomach out. There is an old saying 
 which we have all heard, that "The poor man is 
 looking for food for his stomach, while the rich man 
 is going from one watering place to another looking 
 for a stomach for his food." This is only a witty 
 way of expressing the sober truth, namely, that one 
 is limited in the amount of money he can wisely 
 spend for food. 
 
 We need clothing we all need clothing, and we 
 need the same amount. The difference in quantity 
 is not great. The range in expenditure fcr cloth 
 ing is greater than the range in quantity, because 
 expenditure covers style and variety as well as 
 quantity, but there is a limit to the amount of 
 money one can wisely spend for clothing. If a man 
 has so much clothing that it takes all of his time 
 to change his clothes, he has more than he needs 
 and more than he can wisely spend money for. 
 
 We need homes we all need shelter and we need 
 about the same amount. In fact, God was very 
 democratic in the distribution of our needs, for he 
 so created us that our needs are about the same. 
 The range of expenditure for homes is probably 
 wider than in the case of either food or clothing. 
 We are interested in the home. I never pass a little 
 house where two young people are starting out in 
 life without feeling a sympathetic interest in that 
 
 II 23 
 
346 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 home ; I never pass a house where a room is being 
 added without feeling interested, for I know the 
 occupants have planned it, and looked forward to it 
 and waited for it ; I like to see a little house moved 
 back and a larger house built, for I know it is the 
 fulfillment of a dream. I have had some of these 
 dreams myself, and I know how they lead us on 
 and inspire us to larger effort and greater endeavor, 
 and yet there is a limit to the amount one can 
 wisely spend even for so good a thing as a home. 
 
 If a man gets too big a house it becomes a burden 
 to him, and some have had this experience. Not 
 infrequently a young couple will start out poor 
 and struggle along in a little house, looking for 
 ward to the time when they can build a big house. 
 After a while the time arrives and they build a 
 big house, larger, possibly, than they intended to 
 and it nearly always costs more than they thought 
 they would, and then they struggle along the rest 
 of their lives looking back to the time when they 
 lived in a little house. 
 
 We spea& of people being independently rich. 
 That is a mistake ; they are dependently rich. The 
 richer a man is the more dependent he is the more 
 people he depends upon to help him collect his in 
 come, and the more people he depends upon to help 
 him spend his income. Sometimes a couple will 
 start out doing their own work the wife doing the 
 work inside the house and the man outside ; but they 
 prosper, and after a while they are able to afford 
 help. They get a girl to help the wife inside and a 
 man to help the husband outside; then they pros 
 per more and they get two girls to help inside 
 
THE PRICE OF A SOUL 347 
 
 and two men to help outside, then three girls inside 
 and three men outside. Finally they have so many 
 girls helping inside and so many men helping out 
 side that they cannot leave the house they have to 
 stay at home and look after the establishment. And 
 this is not a new condition. One of the Latin poets 
 complained of "the cares that hover about the 
 fretted ceilings of the rich," and it was this condi 
 tion that inspired Charles Wagner to write his little 
 book entitled "The Simple Life," in which he en 
 tered an eloquent protest against the materialism 
 which makes man the slave of his possessions and 
 presented an earnest plea for the raising of the spir 
 itual above the purely physical. I repeat, there is a 
 limit to the amount a man can wisely spend upon a 
 home. 
 
 But a man can give his money away. Yes, and 
 no one who has ever tried it will deny that more 
 pleasure is to be derived from the giving of money 
 to a cause in which one s heart is interested, than 
 can be obtained from the expenditure of the same 
 amount in selfish indulgence. But if one is going 
 to give largely he must spend a great deal of time 
 in investigating and in comparing the merits of the 
 different enterprises, and I am persuaded that there 
 is a better life than the life led by those who spend 
 nearly all the time accumulating beyond their needs 
 and then employ the last few days in giving it 
 away. What the world needs is not a few men 
 of great wealth, doling out their money in antici 
 pation of death what the world needs is that these 
 men should link themselves in sympathetic interest 
 with struggling humanity and help to solve the 
 
348 BKYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 problems of today, instead of creating problems for 
 the next generation to solve. 
 
 But you say, a man can leave his money to his 
 children? He can, if he dares. But a large for 
 tune, in anticipation, has ruined more sons than it 
 has ever helped. If a young man has so much 
 money coming to him that he knows he will never 
 have to work, the chances are that it will sap his 
 energy, even if it does not undermine his character, 
 and leave him a curse rather than a blessing to those 
 who brought him into the world. And it is scarcely 
 safer to leave the money to a daughter. For if a 
 young woman has a prospective inheritance so large 
 that, when a young man calls upon her, she cannot 
 tell whether he is calling upon her or her father, it 
 is embarrassing especially so if she finds after 
 marriage that he married the wrong member of the 
 family. And, I may add, that the daughters of the 
 very rich are usually hedged about by a social en 
 vironment which prevents their making the ac 
 quaintance of the best young men. The men who, 
 twenty-five years from now, will be the leaders in 
 business, in society, in government, and in the 
 Church, are not the pampered sons of the rich, but 
 the young men who, with good health and good 
 habits, with high ideals and strong ambition, are, 
 under the spur of necessity, laying the foundation 
 for future achievements, and these young men do 
 not have a chance to become acquainted with the 
 daughters of the very rich. Even if they did know 
 them they might hesitate to enter upon the scale 
 of expenditure to which these daughters are accus 
 tomed. 
 
THE PRICE OF A SOUL 349 
 
 I have spoken at length in regard to these limita 
 tions, altho we all know of them or ought to. 
 The ministers tell us about these things Sunday 
 after Sunday, or should, and yet we find men chas 
 ing the almighty dollar until they fall exhausted 
 into the grave. A few years ago I read a sermon 
 by Dr. Talmage on this subject ; he said a man who 
 wore himself out getting money that he did not 
 need would finally drop dead, and that his pastor 
 would tell a group of sorrowing friends that, by a 
 mysterious dispensation of Providence, the good 
 man had been cut off in his prime. Dr. Talmage 
 said that Providence had nothing to do with it, and 
 that the minister ought to tell the truth about it 
 and say that the man had been kicked to death by 
 the golden calf. 
 
 A few weeks ago I read a story by Tolstoy, and I 
 did not notice until I had completed it that the 
 title of the story was, What shall it profit ? The 
 great Russian graphically presented the very 
 thought that I have been trying to impress upon 
 your minds. He told of a Russian peasant who 
 had land hunger who added farm to farm and 
 land to land, but could never get enough. After a 
 while he heard of a place where land was cheaper 
 and he sold his land and went and bought more 
 land. But he had no more than settled there until 
 he heard of another place among a half civilized 
 people where land was cheaper still. He took a 
 servant and went into this distant country and 
 hunted up the head man of the tribe, who offered 
 him all the land he could walk around in a day for 
 a thousand rubles told him he could put the 
 
350 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 money down on any spot and walk in any direction 
 as far and as fast as he would, and that if he was 
 back by sunset he could have all the land he could 
 encompass during the day. He put the money 
 down upon the ground and started at sunrise to get, 
 at last, enough land. He started leisurely, but as 
 he looked upon the land it looked so good that he 
 hurried a little and then he hurried more, and 
 then he went faster still. Before he turned he had 
 gone further in that direction than he had intended, 
 but he spurred himself on and started on the second 
 side. Before he turned again the sun had crossed 
 the meridian and he had two sides yet to cover. 
 As the sun was slowly sinking in the west he con 
 stantly accelerated his pace, alarmed at last for fear 
 he might have undertaken too much and might lose 
 it all. He reached the starting point, however, just 
 as the sun went down, but he had overtaxed his 
 strength and fell dead upon the spot. Then his 
 servant dug a grave for him and he only needed six 
 feet of ground then, the same that others needed 
 and the rest of the land was of no use to him. Thus 
 far Tolstoy told the story of many a life not the 
 life of the very rich only, but the story of every 
 life in which the love of money is the controlling 
 force and in which the desire for gain shrivels the 
 soul and leaves the life a failure at last. 
 
 I desire to show you how practical this subject 
 is. If time permitted I could take up every occupa 
 tion, every avocation, every profession and every 
 calling, and show you that no matter which way 
 we turn no matter what we do we are always 
 and everywhere weighing the Soul. 
 
THE PRICE OF A SOUL 351 
 
 In the brief time that it is proper for me to oc 
 cupy, I shall apply the thought to those depart 
 ments of human activity in which the sale of a soul 
 affects others largely as well as the individual who 
 makes the bargain. 
 
 Take the occupation in which I am engaged, jour 
 nalism, It presents a great field a growing field ; 
 in fact, there are few fields so large. The journal 
 ist is both a news gatherer and a molder of 
 thought. He informs his readers as to what is 
 going on, and he points out the relation between 
 cause and effect interprets current history. Pub 
 lic opinion is the controlling force in a republic, 
 and the newspaper gives to the journalist, beyond 
 evsry one else, the opportunity to affect public 
 opinion. Others reach his readers through the 
 courtesy of the newspaper, but the owner of the 
 paper has full access to his own columns, and does 
 not fear the blue pencil. The journalist occupies 
 the position of a watchman upon a tower. He is 
 often able to see dangers which are not observed 
 by the general public, and because he can see these 
 dangers he is in a position of greater responsibility. 
 Is he discharging the duty which superior oppor 
 tunity imposes upon him ? I might mention a num 
 ber of temptations which come to the journalist, but 
 I shall content myself with a few. First, there is 
 the temptation to conceal the name of the real 
 owner of the paper. The proprietor of a paper 
 should be known, but his identity is not always 
 disclosed. The corporate entity which plays so 
 large a part in the business world has entered the 
 newspaper field. The names of the stockholders 
 
352 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 are not published and we do not always know what 
 individuality directs the paper s policy. Year by 
 year the disclosures are bringing to light the fact 
 that the predatory interests are using 1jhe news 
 papers and even some magazines for the defense of 
 commercial iniquity and for the purpose of attack 
 ing those who lift their voices against favoritism 
 and privilege. A financial magnate interested in 
 the exploitation of the public secures control of a 
 paper; he employs business managers, managing 
 editors, and a reportorial staff. He does not act 
 openly or in the daylight but through a group of 
 employes who are the visible but not the real direc 
 tors. The reporters are instructed to bring in the 
 kind of news which will advance the enterprises 
 owned by the man who stands back of the paper, 
 and if the news brought in is not entirely satisfac 
 tory it is doctored in the office. The columns of 
 the paper are filled with matter, written not for the 
 purpose of presenting facts as they exist, but for the 
 purpose of distorting facts and misleading the pub 
 lic. The editorial writers, whose names are gener 
 ally unknown to the public, are told what to say 
 and what subjects to avoid. They are instructed 
 to extol the merits of those who are subservient to 
 the interests represented by the paper, and to mis 
 represent and traduce those who dare to criticise 
 or oppose the plans of those who hide behind the 
 paper. Such journalists are members of a kind of 
 "Blackhand society"; they are assassins, hiding in 
 ambush and striking in the dark; and the worst of 
 it is that the readers have no way of knowing when 
 a change takes place in the ownership of such a 
 
THE PRICE OF A SOUL 353 
 
 paper. Editorial poison, like other poisons, can 
 be administered more successfully if the victim is 
 in ignorance as to who administers it. 
 
 There are degrees of culpability and some are 
 disposed to hold an editorial writer guiltless even 
 when they visit condemnation upon the secret di 
 rector of the paper s policy. I present to you a dif 
 ferent and I believe higher ideal of journalism. 
 If we are going to make any progress in morals 
 we must abandon the idea that morals are defined 
 by the statutes; we must recognize that there is a 
 wide margin between that which the law prohibits 
 and that which an enlightened conscience can ap 
 prove. We do not legislate against the man who 
 uses the printed page for the purpose of deception 
 but, viewed from the standpoint of morals, the 
 man who, whether voluntarily or under instruc 
 tions, writes what he knows to be untrue or pur 
 posely misleads his readers as to the character of a 
 proposition upon which they have to act, is as 
 guilty of wrong-doing as the man who assists in 
 any other swindling transaction. 
 
 Another method employed to mislead the public 
 is the publication of editorial matter supplied by 
 those who have an interest to serve. This evil is 
 even more common than secrecy as to the ownership 
 of the paper. In the case of the weekly papers and 
 the smaller dailies, the proprietor is generally 
 known, and it is understood that the editorial pages 
 represent his views. His standing and character 
 give weight to that which appears with his endorse 
 ment. A few years ago, when the railroad rate 
 bill was before Congress, a number of railroads 
 
354 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 joined in an effort to create a public sentiment 
 against the bill. Bureaus were established for the 
 dissemination of literature, and a number of news 
 papers entered into contract to publish as editorial 
 matter the material furnished by these bureaus. 
 This can not be defended in ethics. The purchase- 
 of the editorial columns is a crime against the pub 
 lic and a disgrace to journalism, and yet we have 
 frequent occasion to note this degradation of the 
 newspaper. A few days ago Senator Carter, of 
 Montana, speaking in the United States Senate, 
 read several printed slips which were sent out by a 
 bankers association to local bankers with the re 
 quest that they be inserted in the local papers, 
 suggestion being made that the instructions to the 
 local bankers be removed before they were handed 
 to the papers. The purpose* of the bankers asso 
 ciation was to stimulate opposition to the postal 
 savings bank, a policy endorsed affirmatively by the 
 Republican party and, conditionally, by the Demo 
 cratic party, the two platforms being supported at 
 the polls by more than ninety per cent, of the 
 voters. The bankers associations are opposing the 
 policy, and, in sending out its literature, they are 
 endeavoring to conceal the source of that literature 
 and to make it appear that the printed matter rep 
 resents the opinion of some one in the community. 
 The journalist who would fully perform his duty 
 must be not only incorruptible, but ever alert, for 
 those who are trying to misuse the newspapers are 
 able to deceive "the very elect." Whenever any 
 movement is on foot for the securing of legislation 
 desired by the predatory interests, or when restrain- 
 
THE PRICE OF A SOUL 355 
 
 ing legislation is threatened, news bureaus are es 
 tablished at Washington, and these news bureaus 
 furnish to such papers, as will use them, free re 
 ports, daily or weekly as the case may be, from the 
 national capitol reports which purport to give 
 general news, but which in fact contain arguments 
 in support of the schemes which the bureaus are 
 organized to advance. This ingenious method of 
 misleading the public is only a part of the general 
 plan which favor-holding and favor-seeking corpo 
 rations pursue. 
 
 Demosthenes declared that the man who refuses 
 a bribe conquers the man who offers it. Accord 
 ing to this, the journalist who resists the many 
 temptations which come to him to surrender his 
 ideals has the consciousness of winning a moral 
 victory as well as the satisfaction of knowing that 
 lie is rendering a real service to his fellows. 
 
 The profession for which I was trained the law 
 presents another line of temptations. The court 
 room is a soul s market where many barter away 
 their ideals in the hope of winning wealth or fame. 
 Lawyers sometimes boast of the number of men 
 whose acquittal the} have secured when they knew 
 them to be guilty, and of advantages won which 
 they knew their clients did not deserve. I do not 
 understand how a lawyer can so boast, for he is an 
 officer of the court and, as such, is sworn to assist 
 in the administration of justice. When a lawyer 
 has helped his client to obtain all that his client is 
 entitled to, he has done his full duty as a lawyer, 
 and if he goes beyond this, he goes at his own peril. 
 Show me a lawyer who has spent a lifetime trying 
 
356 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 to obscure the line between right and wrong, try 
 ing to prove that to be just which he knew to be 
 unjust, and I will show you a man who has grown 
 weaker in character year by year, and whose advice, 
 at last, will be of no value to his clients, for he will 
 have lost the power to discern between right and 
 wrong. Show me, on the other hand, a lawyer who 
 has spent a lifetime in the search for truth, deter 
 mined to follow where it leads, and I will show 
 you a man who has grown stronger in character 
 day by day and whose advice constantly becomes 
 more valuable to his client, because the power to 
 discern the truth increases with the honest search 
 for it. 
 
 Not only in the court room, but in the consulta 
 tion chamber the lawyer sometimes yields to the 
 temptation to turn his talents to a sordid use. The 
 schemes of spoliation that defy the officers of the 
 law are, for the most part, inaugurated and di 
 rected by legal minds. President Roosevelt, speak 
 ing at Harvard a few years ago, complained that 
 the graduates of that great university frequently 
 furnished the brains for conspiracies against the 
 public welfare. I was speaking on this very sub 
 ject in one of the great cities of the country some 
 months ago, and at the close of the address, a judge 
 commended my criticism and declared that most of 
 the lawyers practicing in his court were constantly 
 selling their souls. The lawyer s position is scarcely 
 less responsible than the position of the journalist, 
 and if the journalists and lawyers of the country 
 could be brought to abstain from the practices by 
 which the general public is overreached, it would 
 
THE PRICE OF A SOUL 357 
 
 be an easy matter to secure the remedial legislation 
 necessary to protect the producing masses from the 
 constant spoliation to which they are now subjected 
 by the privileged classes. 
 
 If a man who is planning a train-robbery takes 
 another along to hold a horse at a convenient dis 
 tance, we say that the man who holds the horse is 
 equally guilty with the man who robs the train ; 
 and the time will come when public opinion will 
 hold as equally guilty with the plunderers of society 
 the lawyers and journalists who assist the plun 
 derers to escape. 
 
 Most of you, I presume, will engage in what is 
 known as business, although I confess that I have 
 no sympathy with the narrow definition which is 
 often given to the word business. Every person 
 who contributes by brain or muscle to the nation s 
 wealth and greatness is engaged in business and is 
 a necessary factor in the world s progress. 
 
 Commerce is an increasing factor in the business 
 world. It includes both exchange and transporta 
 tion and stands next in importance to production. 
 Production comes first, but production could only 
 be carried on on a limited scale without the ex 
 change of merchandise. To desire to gain an hon 
 orable distinction in this department of labor is a 
 worthy ambition. lie who improves the instru 
 ments of trade brings purchaser and consumer 
 nearer together, and thus facilitates exchange, may 
 count himself a real benefactor. But even here 
 there are temptations to be avoided. Let me sug 
 gest three. First, speculation. I do not mean to 
 say that the element of chance can be entirely elim- 
 
358 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 inated from any kind of business. The farmer 
 take his chances upon the seasons; the merchant 
 takes his chance upon the market; the railroad 
 owner takes his chances upon both the season and 
 the market ; and we all take our chances upon sick 
 ness and death. Uncertainty enters into every hu 
 man calculation, but a distinction can be drawn 
 between those uncertainties which are unavoidable 
 and those uncertainties Avhich are of the very es 
 sence of the transaction. There is a legitimate 
 work for the stock exchange and for the chamber 
 of commerce, but there is an illegitimate and vicious 
 speculation on the stock exchange and the produce 
 market which has lured many business men to their 
 fall. The ordinary methods of accumulation are 
 necessarily slow when competition is left free to 
 regulate profits, while the gambler is spurred on by 
 the hope of quickly realizing a large profit upon a 
 small investment. It is not strange that many are 
 charmed by the siren song of the stock ticker, but 
 it means ruin, and to the extent that a man yields 
 .jo the temptation his morals are weakened. There 
 is but one sure measure of rewards, viz., one that 
 compensates each in proportion as he serves society. 
 The securing of something for nothing by a lucky 
 turn of a card, or by a sudden change in the mar 
 ket paralyzes one s purpose, and, in time, renders 
 him unfit for patient arid persistent effort. I might 
 emphasize the fact that gambling in stocks and 
 farm products often leads to embezzlement, lar 
 ceny and suicide, for these are the fruits of specu 
 lation when it becomes a disease. But I prefer to 
 put my argument against gambling upon the 
 
THE PRICE OF A SOUL 359 
 
 broader ground that it is, in all cases, a demoraliz 
 ing influence, whether the gambler wins or loses. 
 
 I might dwell upon the evil effects of speculation 
 upon innocent parties whose property is juggled 
 up or juggled down by the manipulations of the 
 market, but I would appeal, not only to the inno 
 cent outsider, but to those who may be tempted by 
 the profits promised to the inside ring. I would 
 suggest, however, that those who by cornering the 
 market suspend the law of supply and demand, 
 add crime to vice and defraud those who are in 
 duced to invest in a "chance" which has no actual 
 existence. 
 
 Monopoly is the second commercial (^emptatioj 
 Monopolies have been attempted ever since trading 
 began, and they are more common today than ever 
 before because more money can be made out of 
 them. Many well-meaning business men permit 
 themselves to be drawn into practises which are 
 not only indefensible in the realm of conscience, but 
 which violate the statutes. The officers of the law 
 are constantly engaged in an effort to prevent the 
 monopolizing of trade. 
 
 It is strange that anyone should attempt to de 
 fend a private monopoly, for its plan and operation 
 can be easily understood by any one who knows 
 either human nature or history. No judge would 
 be permitted to preside in his own case ; no juror 
 would be allowed to serve in a suit to which he was 
 a party, and yet the head of a monopoly arbitrarily 
 decides every day questions where his interests are 
 on one side and public interests on the other. Can 
 he be trusted to decide impartially and to exact only 
 
360 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 a reasonable profit ? It is absurd to expect him to 
 do justice to those with whom he deals. The stu 
 dent of history knows that the monopolist has al 
 ways been an outlaw. Three centuries ago, under 
 Queen Elizabeth, the House of Commons protested 
 against the monopolies which she had authorized, 
 and I found, when in the Holy Land, that a very 
 complete monopoly existed there some seventeen 
 hundred years ago. Josephus tells how John of 
 Gishala secured a monopoly in olive oil and charged 
 ten times as much for the oil as he paid for it. 
 For the benefit of those who think that all monopo 
 lies are traceable to the rebate, I venture to sug 
 gest that the oil trust of Palestine was successfully 
 operated before railroads existed. But even though 
 John had nothing better than a fast freight line 
 of donkeys and distributed the oil in goat skins, lie 
 showed as correct an understanding of the possi 
 bilities of monopoly as any trust magnate has today, 
 and I have wondered whether our John secured his 
 idea of an oil trust from John of Gishala. 
 
 We need laws making the private monopoly im 
 possible, but we must have back of these laws a 
 moral sentiment which will condemn the club 
 wielded by the monopolist, as moral sentiment now 
 condemns the hjgnwayrfran s bludgeon. 
 
 The third /femptation/ to which the commercial 
 man is subje*c^^-is-tfe^corruption of politics. Just 
 in proportion as a corporation secures a monopoly 
 of the business in which it is engaged, in that pro 
 portion the necessity for government regulation 
 increases, and I may add, the difficulty of securing 
 regulation increases in proportion to the necessity 
 
THE PRICE OF A SOUL 361 
 
 for it. Municipal corruption has become a byword, 
 and the lobbyist has made his evil presence felt at 
 the national and State capitals. Bribery is becom 
 ing a fine art, and neither the voter nor his repre 
 sentative is spared. The one lesson that must be 
 taught is that the man who gives a bribe is as 
 wicked as the man who accepts it I am not sure 
 but that he is more wicked, for the necessities of 
 the man who accepts the bribe if need can palliate 
 such an offense are usually greater than those of 
 the man who offers it. I appeal to you to assist, 
 in every possible way, in the creation of a public 
 sentiment which will ostracise the business man 
 who purchases legislation with the profits derived 
 from privileges already secured, or who advances 
 corruption money in anticipation of the profits 
 which governmental favors promise. 
 
 In the counting room as well as in the editor s 
 library and in the lawyer s office one hears the 
 heart-searching question: What shall it profit a 
 man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his 
 own soul?" and happiness, honor and usefulness 
 all hang upon the answer. 
 
 I would not be forgiven if I failed to apply my 
 theme to the work of the instructor. The purpose" 
 of education is not merely to develop the mind ; it 
 is to prepare men and w r omen for society s w r ork 
 and for citizenship. The ideals of the teacher, there 
 fore, are of the first importance. The pupil is apt 
 to be as much influenced by what his teacher is as 
 by what the teacher says or does. The measure of a 
 school can not be gathered from an inspection of 
 the examination papers; the conception of life 
 
 II 2-1 
 
 v/ 
 
362 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 which the graduate carries away must be counted 
 in estimating the benefits conferred. The pecuniary 
 rewards of the teacher are usually small when 
 compared with the rewards of business. This 
 may be due in part to our failure to properly 
 appreciate the work which the teacher does, but 
 it may be partially accounted for by the fact 
 that the teacher derives from his work a satisfac 
 tion greater than that obtained from most other 
 employments. 
 
 The teacher comes into contact with the life of 
 the student and, as our greatest joy is derived from 
 the consciousness of having benefited others, the 
 teacher rightly counts as a part of his compensa 
 tion the continuing pleasure to be found in the 
 knowledge that he is projecting his influence 
 through future generations. The heart plays as 
 large a part as the head in the teacher s work, be 
 cause the heart is an important factor in every 
 life and in the shaping of the destiny of the race. I 
 fear the plutocracy of wealth ; I respect the aristoc 
 racy of learning; but I thank God for the democ 
 racy of the heart. It is upon the heart-level that 
 we meet ; it is by the characteristics of the heart that 
 we best know and best remember each other. As 
 tronomers tell us the distance of each star from the 
 earth, but no mathematician can calculate the influ 
 ence which a noble teacher may exert upon pos 
 terity. And yet even the teacher may fall from 
 his high estate, and, forgetting his immeasurable 
 responsibility, yield to the temptation to estimate 
 his work by its pecuniary reward. 
 
 Let me turn for a moment from the profession 
 
THE PRICE OP A SOUL 363 
 
 and the occupation to the calling. I am sure I 
 shall not be accused of departing from the truth 
 when I say that even those who minister to our 
 spiritual wants and, as our religious leaders, help 
 to fix our standards of morality, sometimes prove 
 unfaithful to their trust. They are human, and the 
 frailities of man obscure the light which shines 
 from within, even when that light is a reflection 
 from the throne of God. The ministers have for 
 years considered the liquor question a moral ques 
 tion, and I would not chide them for their activity ; 
 but I think too little emphasis has been placed upon 
 the importance of total abstinence. Whether a 
 Christian can drink in moderation without harm 
 to himself is purely a physical question, and some 
 Christians have overestimated their ability to con 
 fine their drinking within safe limits; but there is 
 a moral question which is much larger, namely, can 
 a Christian afford to indulge the appetite for drink 
 if his example leads weaker men to ruin? 
 
 The great apostle said that, if eating meat made 
 his brother to offend, he would eat no meat. It is a 
 part of the minister s work to cultivate such a love 
 of brother in the Christian heart that the Christian 
 will paraphrase the language of the apostle and 
 say: If drinking maketh my brother to offend, I 
 shall not drink. 
 
 Then, too, we have not sufficiently considered 
 man s social needs. Man must have communion 
 with his friends, and we have left the saloon to 
 furnish about the only meeting place in the cities 
 and towns. Rooms should be opened where men 
 can meet with wholesome surroundings and free 
 
364 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 from the temptations that are ever present where 
 men meet in a room provided by one who has a 
 pecuniary interest in cultivating an appetite for 
 drink. 
 
 The ministers must deal with all questions that 
 involve morals, and every great question is in its 
 final analysis a question of ethics. 
 
 We need more Elijahs in the pulpit today more 
 men who will dare to upbraid an Ahab and defy 
 a Jezebel. It is possible, aye, probable, that even 
 now, as of old, persecution would follow such bold 
 ness of speech, but he who consecrates himself to 
 religion must smite evil wherever he finds it, altho 
 in smiting it he may risk his salary and his social 
 position. It is easy enough to denounce the petty 
 thief and the back-alley gambler ; it is easy enough 
 to condemn the friendless rogue and the penniless 
 wrong-doer, but what about the rich tax-dodger, the 
 big law-breaker and the corrupter of government? 
 The soul that is warmed by divine fire will be satis 
 fied with nothing less than the complete perform 
 ance of duty; it must cry aloud and spare not, to 
 the end that the creed of the Christ may be ex 
 emplified in the life of the nation. 
 
 Not only does the soul question present itself to 
 individuals, but it presents itself to groups of indi 
 viduals as well. 
 
 Let us consider the party. A political party can 
 not be better than its ideal; in fact, it is good 
 in proportion as its ideal is worthy, and its place 
 in history is determined by its adherence to a high 
 purpose. The party is made for its members, not 
 the members for the party; and a party is useful, 
 
THE PRICE OP A SOUL 365 
 
 therefore, only as it is a means through wliich one 
 may protect his rights, guard his interests and 
 promote the public welfare. The best service that 
 a man can render his party is to raise its ideals. 
 He basely betrays his party s hopes and is recreant 
 to his duty to his party associates who seeks to 
 barter away a noble party purpose for temporary 
 advantages or for the spoils of office. It would be 
 a reflection upon the intelligence and patriotism 
 of the people to assert, or even to assume, that 
 lasting benefit could be secured for a party by the 
 lowering of its standards. He serves his party most 
 loyally who serves his country most faithfully; it 
 is a fatal error to suppose that a party can be 
 permanently benefited by a betrayal of the nation s 
 interests. 
 
 In every act of party life and party strife we 
 weigh the soul. That the people have a right to have 
 what they want is a fundamental principle in free / 
 government. Corruption in government comes from 
 the attempt to substitute the will of a minority for! 
 the will of the majority. Every measure which 
 comes up for consideration involves justice and in 
 justice right and wrong and is, therefore, a ques 
 tion of conscience. As justice is the basis of a 
 nation s strength and gives it hope of perpetuity, 
 and, as the seeds of decay are sown whenever in 
 justice enters into government, patriotism as well 
 as conscience leads us to analyze every public ques 
 tion, ascertain the moral principle involved and 
 then cast our influence, whether it be great or 
 small, on the side of justice. 
 
 The patriot must desire the triumph of that 
 
366 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 which is right above the triumph of that which he 
 may think to be right if he is, in fact, mistaken; 
 and so the partizan, if he be an intelligent partizan, 
 must be prepared to rejoice in his party s defeat 
 if by that defeat his country is the gainer. One can 
 afford to be in a minority, but he cannot afford to 
 be wrong; if he is in a minority and right, he will 
 some day be in the majority. 
 
 The activities of politics center about the election 
 of candidates to office, and the official, under our 
 system, represents both the party to which he be 
 longs and the whole body of his constituency. He 
 has two temptations to withstand, first, the tempta 
 tion to substitute his own judgment for the judg 
 ment of his constituents, and second, the tempta 
 tion to put his pecuniary interests above the inter 
 ests of those for whom he acts. According to the 
 aristocratic idea, the representative thinks for his 
 constituents ; according to the Democratic idea, the 
 representative thinks with his constituents. A 
 representative has no right to defeat the wishes of 
 those who elect him, if he knows their wishes. 
 
 But a representative is not liable to knowingly 
 misrepresent his constituents unless he has pecuni 
 ary interests adverse to theirs. This is the tempta 
 tion to be resisted this is the sin to be avoided. 
 The official who uses his position to secure a pecuni 
 ary advantage at the expense of those for whom 
 he acts is an embezzler of power and an em 
 bezzler of power is as guilty of moral turpitude as 
 the embezzler of money. There is no better motto 
 for the public official than that given by Solomon : 
 "A good name is rather to be chosen than great 
 
THE PRICE OF A SOUL 367 
 
 riches, and loving favor rather than silver and 
 gold." And there is no better rule for the public 
 official to follow than this to do nothing that he 
 would not be willing to have printed in the news 
 paper next day. 
 
 One who exercises authority conferred upon him 
 by the suffrages of his fellows ought to be fortified 
 in his integrity by the consciousness of the fact that 
 a betrayal of his trust is hurtful to the party which 
 honors him and unjust to the people whom he 
 serves, as well as injurious to himself. Nothing 
 that he can gain, not even the whole world, can 
 compensate him for the loss that he suffers in the 
 surrender of a high ideal of public duty. 
 
 Permit me, in conclusion, to say that the nation, 
 as well as the individual and the party, must be 
 measured by its purpose, its ideals and its service. 
 "Let him who would be chief est among you, be the 
 servant of all," was intended for nations as well 
 as for citizens. Our nation is the greatest in the 
 world and the greatest of all time, because it is 
 rendering a larger service than any other nation 
 is rendering or has rendered. It is giving the world 
 ideals in education, in social life, in government 
 and in religion. It is the teacher of nations, it is 
 the world s torch-bearer. Here the people are more 
 free than elsewhere to "try all things and hold 
 fast that which is good ; " "to know the truth and 
 to find freedom in that knowledge. No material 
 considerations should blind us to our nation s mis 
 sion, or turn us aside from the accompli shment of 
 the great work which has been reserved for us. 
 Our fields bring forth abundantly and the products 
 
368 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 of our farms furnish food for many in the Old 
 World. Our mills and looms supply an increasing 
 export, but these are not our greatest asset. Our 
 most fertile soil is to be found in the minds and the 
 hearts of our people, and our most important manu 
 facturing plants are not our factories, with their 
 smoking chimneys, but our schools, our colleges and 
 our churches, which take in a priceless raw mate 
 rial and turn" out the most valuable finished product 
 that the world has known. 
 
 We enjoy by inheritance, or by choice, the bless 
 ings of American citizenship ; let us not be unmind 
 ful of the obligations which these blessings impose. 
 Let us not become so occupied in the struggle for 
 wealth or in the contest for honors as to repudiate 
 the debt that we owe to those who have gone before 
 us and to those who bear with us the responsibili 
 ties that rest upon the present generation. Society 
 has claims upon us; our country makes demands 
 upon our time, our thought and our purpose. We 
 cannot shirk these duties without disgrace to our 
 selves and injury to those who come after us. If 
 one is tempted to complain of the burdens borne by 
 American citizens, let him compare them with the 
 much larger burdens imposed by despots upon their 
 subjects. 
 
 I challenge the doctrine, now being taught, that 
 
 we must enter into a mad rivalry with the Old 
 
 World in the building of battleships the doctrine 
 
 that the only way to preserve peace is to get ready 
 
 yfor wars that ought never to come! It is a bar- 
 
 ^barous, brutal, unchristian doctrine the doctriue 
 
 I of the darkness, not the doctrine of the dawn. 
 
astmolds the world like 
 
 THE PRICE OF A SOUL 369 
 
 Nation after nation, when at the zenith of its 
 power, has proclaimed itself invincible because its 
 army could shake the earth with its tread and its~ 7 
 ships could fill the seas, but these nations are j 
 dead, and we must build upon a different founda 
 tion if we would avoid their fate. 
 
 Carlyle, in the closing chapters of his "French 
 Revolution" says that 
 artillery parks, ancLat 
 
 snfL clfly+^afld t.hprL he^ 
 is love, ^ajrlvj^i&__^iglit Love is the greatest / 
 power in the world. The nations that are dead 
 boasted that their flag was feared; let it be our 
 boast that our flag is loved. The nations that are 
 dead boasted that people bowed before their flag, 
 let us not be content until our flag represents senti 
 ments so high and holy that the opprest of every 
 land will turn their faces toward that flag and 
 thank God that there is one flag that stands for 
 self-government and for the rights of man. 
 
 The enlightened conscience of our nation should 
 proclaim as the country s creed that "righteousness 
 exalteth a nation" and that justice is a nation s 
 surest defense. If there ever was a nation it is 
 ours; if there ever was a time it is now, to put 
 God s truth to the test. With an ocean rolling on 
 either side and a mountain range along either coast 
 that all the armies of the world could never climb 
 we ought not to be afraid to trust in "the wisdom 
 of doing right," 
 
 Our government, conceived in liberty and pur-- 
 chased with blood, can be preserved only by con 
 stant vigilance. May we guard it as our children s 
 
370 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 richest legacy, for what shall it profit our nation 
 if it shall gain the whole world and loss "the spirit 
 that prizes liberty as the heritage of all men in all 
 lands every where ?" 
 
 [NOTE : -This address is not copyrighted, and can be re- 
 published by anyone desiring to do so.] 
 
MISCELLANEOUS SPEECHES 
 
I 
 
 CHARACTER 
 
 Graduating oration an/1 valedictory, delivered at the com 
 mencement of Illinois College, in June, 1881. 
 
 IT is said of the ermine that it will suffer capture 
 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 worthless 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 seems. 
 
 The counterfeit, however, only proves the value 
 of the coin, and, altho reputation may in some de 
 gree 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 brilliant wit, pungent 
 
 (373) 
 
374 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 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 enthu 
 siasm 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 at 
 tracted ? Are there not those, whom like the Greeks 
 w r e 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 
 _Jtself alike in nations and individuals. 
 " Eschines was talented ; his oration against the 
 crowning of Demosthenes was a masterly produc 
 tion, excellently arranged, elegantly written andi 
 effectively delivered ; so extraordinary was its mer 
 its, that, when he afterward, as an exile, delivered 
 it before a Rhodian audience, they exprest 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 "hireling of Philip." 
 < - ^- Napoleon swept like a destroying angel over 
 almost the entire eastern world, evincing a military 
 genius unsurpassed, skill marvelous in its perfec 
 tion, and a (courage} which savored almost of rash 
 ness, yet ever demonstrated the wisdom of its dic 
 tates. For a while he seemed to have robbed for 
 tune of her se cret, and bewildered nations gazed in 
 silence while he turned the streams of success ac 
 cording to his vacillating whims. 
 -Altho endowed with a perception keen enough 
 V to discern the hidden plans of opposing generals, he 
 
 h 
 
CHARACTER 375 
 
 could but see one road to immortality a path 
 which led through battlefields 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 we^ps. Talent, genius, power, 
 these he had-f chSracter,Jhe 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 them 
 selves. 
 
 .It was the well-known character of Demosthenes, 
 not less than his eloquent words; his deep convic 
 tions, not less than the fire of his utterance; his 
 own patriotism, not less than his invectives against 
 the Macedonian that brought to the lips of the re 
 animated Greeks that memorable sentence, "Let us 
 go against Philip/ 
 
 C Perhaps we could not find better illustrations of 
 the power and worth of character than are pre 
 sented in the lives of two of our own countrymen 
 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 ap 
 pointed guardian of its birth; the other, the pre 
 server of its life. 
 
376 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 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 tranquility of peace; a character 
 which allowed neither cowardice upon the battle 
 field nor tyranny in 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. 
 I Nor is it the gift of fortune. In this, at least, 
 we are not creatures of circumstance ; talent, spe 
 cial 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 unconsciously. There 
 is character formed by our association 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 
 

 
 CHARACTER 377 
 
 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 ad 
 mire. 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 pic 
 ture 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. 
 O If we delight in gossip, and are not content 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, 
 Awhile 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 it 
 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 the grandest intellectual and 
 moral achievements; a character that cannot be 
 concealed, but which will bring success in this life 
 and form the best preparation for that wilich is 
 beyond. 
 
 The formation of character is a work which con 
 tinues through life, but at no time is it so active 
 as in youth and early manhood. At this time im 
 pressions are most easily made, and mistakes most 
 easily corrected. It is the season for the sowing of 
 the seed the springtime of life. ^ JThere is no com- 
 
 II 25 
 
378 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 plaiiit in the natural world because each fruit and 
 herb brings forth after its kind; there is no com 
 plaint if a neglected seed-time brings a harvest of 
 want ; there is no cry of injustice 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 today; as little reason have we to im 
 peach the wisdom of God if our wild oats, as they 
 are called in palliation, leave scars upon our man- 
 / > hood, 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 characters 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 
 imprest 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 
 
CHARACTER 379 
 
 longer shall we listen to your warning voices, no 
 more meet you in these familiar class-rooms, yet 
 on our hearts " deeply has sunk the lesson" you 
 have given, and shall not soon depart. 
 
 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, honored 
 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-by ; 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 before 
 us, let us encourage each other with strengthening 
 words. 
 
 Success is brought by continued labor and con 
 tinued watchfulness. We must struggle on, not 
 for one moment hesitate, nor take one backward 
 step ; for in 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 view the cheerful sky, 
 In this, the task and mighty labor lie. 
 
380 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 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 from 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 ush 
 ered out into the varied duties of 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. 
 
II 
 
 GRAY S ELEGY 
 
 Delivered in 1890 in presenting a copy of Gray s Elegy 
 to the opposing candidates for Congress at the close of a 
 series of debates. 
 
 MR. CONNELL : We now bring to a close 
 this series of debates which was arranged 
 by our committees. I am glad that we 
 have been able to conduct these discussions in 
 a courteous and i rlendly 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 humble life that literature contains. 
 Grand in its sentiment and sublime in its simplicity, 
 we may both find in it a solace in victory or defeat. 
 If success should crown your efforts in this cam 
 paign, and it should be your lot "TV applause of 
 list ning 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 per 
 form our part, but in the hour of your triumph 
 recall the verse : 
 
 (381) 
 
382 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 Let not ambition mock their useful toil, 
 Their homely joys and destiny obscure ; 
 
 Nor grandeur hear, with a disdainful smile, 
 The short and simple annals of the poor. 
 
 If, on the other hand, by the verdict of my coun 
 trymen, 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 is born to blush unseen, 
 And waste its sweetness on the desert air. 
 
 But whether the palm of victory is given to you 
 or to me, let us remember those of whom the poet 
 says: 
 
 Far from the madding crowd s ignoble strife, 
 Their sober wishes never learn d to stray ; 
 
 Along the cool sequester d vale of life 
 They kept the noiseless tenor of their way. 
 
 These are the ones most likely to be forgotten by 
 the Government. When the poor and weak cry 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 those least able to lose and gives to 
 those who are least in need. The safety of our 
 farmers and our laborers is not in special legisla 
 tion, 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 
 
GRAY S ELEGY 383 
 
 people out of their pockets. Let me, in parting, 
 express the hope that you and I may be instru 
 mental in bringing our Government back to better 
 laws which will give equal treatment without re 
 gard to creed or condition. I bid you a friendly 
 farewell. 
 
t,. 
 
 c.fna 
 
 in 
 
 MEMORIAL DAY AT ARLINGTON 
 
 Delivered in Arlington Cemetery, Washington, D. C., on 
 Decoration Day, May 30, 1894. 
 
 WITH flowers in our hands and sadness in 
 our hearts we stand amid the tombs where 
 the nation s dead are sleeping. It is ap 
 propriate that the Chief Executive is here, accom 
 panied by his Cabinet; it is appropriate that the 
 soldier s widow is here, and the soldier s son; 
 it is appropriate that here are assembled, in num 
 bers growing less each year, the scarred survivors, 
 Federal and Confederate, of our last great war; 
 it is appropriate, also, that these exercises in honor 
 of comrades dead should be conducted by comrades 
 still surviving. All too soon the day will come 
 when these graves must be decorated by hands un 
 used to implements of war, and when these speeches 
 must be made by lips that never answered to a roll 
 call. 
 
 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 rein 
 forcements when succor meant escape from death ; 
 neither can we, standing by these blossom-covered 
 mounds, feel as you have often felt when far away 
 from home and on hostile soil you have laid your 
 (384) 
 
MEMORIAL DAY AT ARLINGTON 385 
 
 companions to rest ; but from a new generation we 
 can bring you the welcome assurance that the com 
 memoration of this day will not depart with you. 
 We may neglect the places where the nation s 
 greatest victories have been won, but we cannot for 
 get 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 com 
 memorate. 
 
 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 soldier and his dependents. 
 We are grateful for the services rendered by our 
 defenders, whether illustrious or nameless, and yet 
 a nation s gratitude is not entirely 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 our 
 selves 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 greatness 
 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 
 
386 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 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 receive. 
 
 The officer was a patriot when he gave his ability 
 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 husband 
 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 patri 
 otism, the mother stood first among the patriots 
 when she gave to the nation her sons, the divinely 
 appointed support of her declining years, and as 
 she brushed the tears away thanked God that he 
 had given her the strength to rear strong and cour 
 ageous sons for the battlefield. 
 
 To us who were born too late to prove upon the 
 battlefield our courage and our loyalty it is grati 
 fying 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 prin 
 ciple of equality and derives its just powers from 
 the consent of the governed ; 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 
 preparations for those responsibilities which pres- 
 
MEMORIAL DAY AT ARLINGTON 387 
 
 ent times and present conditions impose upon us. 
 We can find instruction in that incomparable ad 
 dress delivered by Abraham Lincoln on the battle 
 field of Gettysburg. It should be read as a part 
 of the exercises of this day on each returning 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 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 cannor consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. 
 The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have con 
 secrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. Th > 
 worid will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, 
 but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us. 
 the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work 
 which they who fought here 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 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 preser 
 vation of the nation which they once sought to dis- 
 
388 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 member. No greater victory can be won by citizens 
 or soldiers than to 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 gov 
 ernment 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 in the Peloponnesian war, 
 lauded the loyalty of his countrymen when he said : 
 
 "It was for such a country, then, that these men, nobly 
 resolving not to have it taken from them, fell fighting, and 
 every one of their survivors may be willing to suffer in its 
 behalf." 
 
 The strength of a nation does not lie m 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 pos 
 terity the blessings which they enjoy. It is for us 
 of this generation so to perform the duties of citi 
 zenship that a " government of the people by the 
 people and for the people shall not perish from the 
 earth." 
 
IV 
 AT HIS RECEPTION IN LINCOLN 
 
 Delivered at Lincoln, Neb., on September 5, 1906, at the 
 non-pa rtizaii reception tendered to Mr. and Mrs. Bryan by 
 the citizens of Lincoln on their return from a tour of the 
 world. 
 
 IX the Arabic language there are some six hun 
 dred words which mean "camel," and for the 
 last few days I have been wishing that there 
 were that many words in the English language 
 which meant "thank you." I have had occasion 
 to use the old familiar term "thank you" a great 
 many times since I landed in New York. In Lon 
 don I had occasion to regret that I could speak 
 but one language in that meeting where the repre 
 sentatives of twenty-six nations were assembled; 
 but if I could speak all the languages known to 
 man I would not be able to express the gratitude 
 which my wife and I feel for the generous welcome 
 which has been extended to us on our return home. 
 The home folks met us in the harbor of New York, 
 and I never looked into the faces of a group of 
 friends more gladly in my life. They took charge 
 of us, and they have floated us upon a stream oi : 
 welcome 1,500 miles long, several leagues wide, and 
 of immeasurable depth, until that stream has emp 
 tied itself into this ocean of good-will. To come 
 home to those among whom we live and find this 
 kindly feeling touches our hearts ; to find those who 
 (389) 
 
390 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 differ from us in political opinion vicing with those 
 who agree with us to make our reception delightful, 
 more than pays us for anything that we have been 
 able to do. 
 
 It is kind of our dear old minister to offer the 
 invocation and my heart joins his in its ascent to 
 the throne of God in gratitude for that providence 
 which has kept us amid the dangers of foreign 
 lands and brought us safely through the perils of 
 the deep. It is kind in the chief executive of the 
 city to welcome us to this, his rich domain ; and it 
 is kind in the governor of this great State to join 
 in giving us a greeting as we come home. The 
 fact that Governor Mickey, with whom I have not 
 always been able to entirely agree, has overlooked 
 the opposition that has sometimes arisen, only 
 shows how much there is in life tha t we can enjoy 
 together, and how little, after all, political differ 
 ences ought to count between men. I might de 
 scribe it thus, that the things that we hold in com - 
 mon are like the sunshine of the day, while partizan 
 differences are like the clouds that come and in a 
 moment pass away. 
 
 I am glad to be here with you, and I speak for 
 my wife and children as well as for myself, when I 
 thank you a thousand, thousand times. I do not 
 know how I can repay you for the joy you have 
 given us, unless you will permit me as occasion 
 offers to bring such lessons as I am able to bring 
 from what we have observed in other lands. When 
 we conceived this trip around the earth, it was with 
 the belief that there would be education in it. We 
 thought so highly of it that we were willing to take 
 
AT HIS RECEPTION IN LINCOLN 391 
 
 the children out of school for a year, and I believe 
 that it was worth more than a year s education. 
 But it has been instructive far beyond what we 
 imagined, and we have been able to store up infor 
 mation that will not only be valuable in the years 
 to come, but will give us something to reflect upon 
 in the closing years of our lives. I have for years 
 appreciated the honor and the responsibility of 
 American citizenship. Twenty-two years ago when 
 I returned to my college to receive the Masters 
 Degree I took as the subject of my address, "Ameri 
 can Citizenship. and as I recall the language that, 
 I then used I am sure that even then I understood 
 somewhat of the importance of our nation s posi 
 tion among the nations of the earth. During the 
 nearly a quarter of a century that has elapsed my 
 appreciation of my nation s greatness has increased, 
 but never has my pride in my nation grown as it 
 has during the past year. 
 
 Following the sun in his course around the globe, 
 I have noted everywhere the effect of American 
 influence. Before I left home I had spoken at times 
 of altruism and its part in the world s affairs. But. 
 my friends, I have learned something of altruism 
 since I was last among you, and I affirm without 
 fear of contradiction that there is no nation 011 
 earth which manifests such disinterested friend 
 ship for the human race as this dear land of ours. 
 Not only do I affirm that our nation has no equal 
 living, but I affirm that history presents no ex 
 ample like ours. In many ways our nation is lead 
 ing the world. I have found in every land I have 
 visited a growth of ideas that underlie our govern- 
 
392 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 inent. A century and a quarter ago certain politi 
 cal doctrines were planted on American soil, and 
 those doctrines have grown and spread until there 
 is not a nation on earth that has not felt the impulse 
 that was started in this country at that time. There 
 is not a nation in the world in which the democratic 
 idea is not moving and moving powerfully today. 
 Go into Japan and you will find that they not only 
 have a representative government, but that they 
 are continually endeavoring to make that govern 
 ment more responsive to the sentiment of the peo 
 ple. Go into China, that great nation which has 
 slumbered for twenty centuries, and you will find 
 that there is a stirring there and that the Dowager 
 Empress has within a year sent commissioners 
 abroad to investigate the institutions of other lands 
 with the purpose of granting a constitutional gov 
 ernment to the flowery kingdom. 
 
 Within a year public opinion in Russia has 
 forced a reluctant czar to grant a douma, and 
 while that douma has been dissolved it has been 
 dissolved with the promise that another shall take 
 its place. Not only do you find the democratic sen 
 timent and I need not tell you that I use the 
 word in no partizan sense not only is this spread 
 ing, but education is spreading throughout the 
 world. 
 
 It is still true that millions, yes, hundreds of 
 millions, sit in darkness. It is true that in one of 
 the nations of the Orient scarcely one in a hundred 
 can read intelligently a letter written to him. It 
 is true that in another Oriental nation less than 
 one per cent, of the women can read and write. It 
 
AT HIS RECEPTION IN LINCOLN 393 
 
 is true that you find many places where there is 
 great intellectual darkness, but, my friends, in every 
 nation which I visited there is growth, there is 
 progress. A viceroy of China declared that in five 
 years he had established four thousand schools in 
 his one district, that in a nation which until re 
 cently knew nothing of the public school. I found 
 that even in Turkey they are beginning to realize 
 the necessity for education, and the governor of 
 one of the Turkish States told me that it was neces 
 sary that the people of Turkey should be educated 
 if they were going to hold any place among the 
 nations of the earth. Not only are they establishing 
 public schools, but they are establishing private 
 schools. Not only private schools, but schools sup 
 ported by contributions from abroad. 
 
 All over the Orient you will find schools estab 
 lished by Americans and supported by money con 
 tributed each year by Americans interested in the 
 cause of education. And after having visited these 
 schools, and the churches which stand beside them 
 at every point at which we stopped in the Orient, 
 we reached Bombay and found there also these 
 schools supported by American money. I told them 
 that if we could not boast that the sun never set 
 upon our possessions we could boast that it never 
 set upon American philanthropy. I am proud of 
 this work that my country is doing, and none of us 
 are wise enough to look into the future and see 
 what may be done by these boys and girls who owe 
 their intellectual training to the benevolence of 
 American citizens. And in the presence of the 
 ladies who grace this occasion let me say, that one 
 
 II 26 
 
394 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 who travels abroad, especially in the Orient, learns 
 to appreciate what America does for the woman. 
 There is no other nation in which woman stands 
 as high as she does in the United States. There 
 is no other nation in which woman so nearly ap 
 proaches the position that the Creator intended her 
 to fill. I have had some difficulty in bringing my 
 countrymen to accept the double standard as ap 
 plied to money. I think, however, they will agree 
 with me when I apply the double standard to man 
 and woman, and they will forgive me if I consent 
 to a change in the ratio from 16 to 1 to 1 to 1. 
 
 Another thought that has imprest itself upon me 
 is the superiority of our religion over the religions 
 of the east. When I visited China I had a high 
 conception of the philosophy of Confucius, but 
 when I had seen Confucianism applied to human 
 life and exemplified in Chinese society ; when I had 
 studied the words of Confucius I lost my admira 
 tion for the philosophy of Confucius. I found that 
 there were several points where this system came 
 into direct antagonism with the teachings of Christ. 
 I have heard it said that Confucius gave what was 
 equivalent to the golden rule when he said: "Do 
 not unto others that which you would not have 
 others do unto you. But if you will examine the 
 difference you will find that there is a world wide 
 space between the negative doctrine of Confucius 
 and the positive doctrine of the Nazarene. The 
 negative doctrine is not sufficient. Life means 
 something better than negative harmlessness ; it 
 means positive helpfulness prompted by love for 
 mankind. 
 
AT IIIS RECEPTION IN LINCOLN 395 
 
 Once when Confucius was asked what he thought 
 of the doctrine that you should do good to those 
 who injure you, his reply was that you should 
 recompense good with good, and evil with justice; 
 but Christ says love your enemies, and do good to 
 those that hate you. How can you know what 
 justice is if revenge is rankling in your bosom? 
 Christ gave us the doctrine that takes from the 
 heart the desire for revenge; by putting love in 
 its place, He makes it possible for men to know 
 what justice is. 
 
 And as we traveled through India and saw the 
 idolatry that one finds there ; as we saw them dip 
 up w r ater from the sacred Ganges; as we saw 
 them bathing the limbs of the dead in these waters 
 to consecrate them before they were burned ; as we 
 watched them in their devotion and in their super 
 stitions, our hearts turned with love and longing 
 to the little churches of this country where God is 
 worshiped in a different way. 
 
 But, my friends, I am not here to speak to you 
 to-night. It has been announced that we are to 
 have the pleasure of shaking hands with you as 
 soon as I have concluded my remarks. I have been 
 taking a survey of this audience. Mrs. Bryan and 
 I have at times shaken hands with as many as 3,600 
 an hour, and I have been looking over this audience 
 and wondering how high the sun would be in the 
 sky tomorrow morning when we are through. As 
 we have not had our full quota of sleep since we 
 landed in New York I must not postpone that 
 sleep too long. I shall not occupy more of your 
 time than to sav that we come home again with de- 
 
396 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 light. We have seen nothing abroad that is so dear 
 to us as home. 
 
 To-night we shall not rest on the trembling bosom 
 the mighty deep; we shall rest rather on these 
 billowy plains of the boundless West, and I am sure 
 that the alfalfa-scented air of these lands will be 
 sweeter than the spicy breezes of Ceylon. And I 
 know that in our home upon the hill where we can 
 meet you and talk over the days when we have been 
 absent we will be far happier than we would be in 
 -any castle on the Rhine. 
 
V 
 
 THE CONSERVATION OF 
 NATIONAL RESOURCES 
 
 At the conference at the White House, called by Presi 
 dent Roosevelt to consider the conservation of the nation s 
 resources, Mr. Bryan, as one of the special guests, delivered 
 the following address on May 15, 1908. 
 
 I HESITATE to speak at all, because the Gover 
 nors who are assembled here represent con 
 stituencies, and those constituencies, well 
 marked, are looking to them for the protection of 
 State interests in conjunction with the development 
 of National interests. I recognize that a private 
 citizen, like myself, with no fixt constituency 
 (laughter and applause) speaks, if he speaks at 
 all, either for himself or for a nebulous portion of 
 the nation. I recognize, too, that such an one 
 speaks with less authority ; and I have been anxious 
 that those who are in official position should discuss 
 these questions and leave us unofficial visitors to 
 the last. 
 
 It is impossible in the short time that one can 
 properly occupy to take up and elaborate any of 
 these themes; therefore, I am going to present in 
 writing certain observations which I think apply 
 to the entire subject. 
 
 I acknowledge my obligation to President Roose 
 velt for the opportunity which he has given me to 
 participate in this meeting. The conference marks 
 (397). 
 
398 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 the beginning of a new era, during which increas 
 ing attention will be given to the far-reaching prob 
 lems involved in the conservation of the Nation s 
 resources. (Applause.) The epoch-making speech 
 with which the Chief Executive opened the first 
 session must exert a powerful influence upon the 
 country at large, as it has upon those who were 
 fortunate enough to hear him. 
 
 The assembling of the Governors of nearly all the 
 forty-six States is in itself an historic event of the 
 first magnitude, for this meeting, and the future 
 meetings which this one assures, will facilitate co 
 operation between the States, make easier the doing 
 of those things which should be done by the Na 
 tional Government, and stimulate the several States 
 to act more speedily and with better information 
 upon the things which should be done by the States 
 independently. There has been some difference of 
 opinion as to the relative spheres of the Nation and 
 the State, but such discussions as we have had here, 
 will help to define these spheres and to harmonize 
 conflicting opinions. 
 
 I am a strict constructionist, if that means to 
 believe that the Federal Government is one of 
 delegated powers and that constitutional limitations 
 should be carefully observed. I am jealous of any 
 encroachment upon the rights of the States, believ 
 ing that the States are as indestructible as the 
 Nation is indissoluble. It is, however, entirely con 
 sistent with this theory to believe, as I do believe, 
 that it is just as imperative that the general Gov 
 ernment shall discharge the duties delegated to it, 
 as it is that the States shall exercise the powers 
 
CONSERVING NATIONAL RESOURCES 399 
 
 reserved to them. There is no twilight zone be 
 tween the Nation and the State, in which exploit 
 ing interests can take refuge from both (great ap 
 plause), and my observation is that most not all, 
 but most of the contentions over the line between 
 the Nation and the State are traceable to preda- , 
 tory corporations which are trying to shield them 
 selves from deserved punishment, or endeavoring 
 to prevent needed restraining legislation. The first 
 point which I desire to make is that earnest men, 
 with an unselfish purpose and concerned only for 
 the public good, will be able to agree upon legisla 
 tion which will not only preserve for the future the 
 inheritance which we have received from a bountiful 
 Providence, but preserve it in such a way as to 
 avoid the dangers of centralization. Nothing that 
 is necessary is impossible; and it would be a re 
 flection upon the intelligence, as well as upon the 
 patriotism of our people, to doubt the value of 
 gatherings of this kind. 
 
 The time allotted to each speaker is so short 
 that instead of attempting to discuss the various 
 questions presented I shall content myself with a 
 few suggestions in line with the very able papers 
 that have been presented by the specialists who 
 have appeared before us. I begin with the propo 
 sition that it should be our purpose, not only to 
 preserve our Nation s resources for future genera-^ 
 tions by reducing waste to the minimum, to see to 
 it that a few of the people do not monopolize that 
 which is in equity the property of all the people. 
 (Applause.) The earth belongs to each genera 
 tion, and it is as criminal to fetter future genera- 
 
400 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 tions with perpetual franchises, as it would be to 
 unnecessarily impair the common store. (Ap 
 plause.) I am glad that Secretary Garfield empha 
 sized this point. It is one that must always be kept 
 in mind by the Nation and by the several States. 
 
 The first national asset is to be found in the life 
 of the people, and Mr. Mitchell very properly, and 
 with great force, pointed out the importance of 
 safeguarding the life, the limbs and the health of 
 those who are engaged in converting the Nation s 
 natural resources into material wealth. I would go 
 a step farther and say that we could well afford to 
 include in the appropriations made by Congress a 
 sum sufficient to carry on necessary investigations 
 into the causes of diseases, national in their scope, 
 and to stimulate the search for remedies Vhich 
 would add to the life, health and usefulness of the 
 whole population. (Applause.) 
 
 I was surprized at the statistics given in regard 
 to our coal and our iron ore. While it is possible 
 that new coal measures and new ore beds may be 
 discovered, we cannot afford to base our conduct 
 upon speculations as to what may yet be discov 
 ered. We should begin an intelligent supervision 
 and conservation of that which is known to exist, 
 and I respectfully submit that it is worth while to 
 ask ourselves whether we can afford to offer a 
 bounty to those who are engaged in exhausting the 
 supply of raw materials, which, when gone, can not 
 be replaced. Surely if there is any importation 
 which we can properly encourage by a free list, it is 
 the importation of those raw materials of which 
 our own supply is limited. (Applause.) And what 
 
CONSERVING NATIONAL RESOURCES 401 
 
 I say in regard to coal and iron ore is equally ap 
 plicable to timber. It is hardly consistent to dis 
 courage the importation of lumber while we worry 
 about the devastation of our forests. 
 
 Mr. Hill has rendered the conference a real ser 
 vice in presenting the facts and statistics set forth 
 in his address on land and its cultivation. Few of 
 us, probably, were conscious of the impairment of 
 the crop value of our soil. I am sure that a clear 
 understanding of this subject will lead to a still 
 further enlargement of the work of the Depart 
 ment of Agriculture and to still closer cooperation 
 between the Department of Agriculture and the 
 States in teaching economical methods of agri 
 culture. (Applause.) Already the rapid growth 
 of the agricultural college offers encourage 
 ment and I am glad to express my appre 
 ciation of the valuable work done by Secre 
 tary Wilson and his associates in bringing from 
 abroad fruits, plants and grasses suited to the dif 
 ferent sections of our country. As the farmer pays 
 more than his share of the taxes and receives less 
 than his share of the direct benefits which flow 
 from national appropriations, it is only justice to 
 him that we shall be liberal in the support of every 
 e-ffort put forth for the improvement of agricul 
 ture. (Applause.) 
 
 Irrigation has justified the arguments which led 
 to the inauguration of the work. No one who has 
 witnessed the transformation of the desert into field 
 and garden can doubt the wisdom of the steps that 
 have been taken. Here, as elsewhere, both the Na 
 tion and the State can find a field for legitimate 
 

 402 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 activity; and I am sure that there will be a con 
 tinuation of this work until all of the waters which 
 can be utilized for that purpose have been appro 
 priated. 
 
 I will add here that last September I visited the 
 southern part of Idaho and saw there a tract of 
 land which had been recently reclaimed under the 
 operation of the Carey law. I had been there ten 
 years before; the ground was so barren that it 
 seemed as if it were impossible that it could ever 
 be made useful. When I went back this time and 
 found that in three years 170,000 acres of land had 
 been reclaimed; that where three years ago noth 
 ing but the sage brush grew they are now raising 
 seven tons of alfalfa to the acre, and more than a 
 hundred bushels of oats; that ten thousand people 
 were living on that tract; that in one town that 
 had grown up in that time there \vere 1,910 inhabit 
 ants, and that in the three banks they had deposits 
 of over $500,000 when I found this change I had 
 some realization of the magic power of water when 
 applied to these desert lands. (Applause.) 
 
 The same principle which was invoked in sup 
 port of irrigation can be invoked in support of 
 drainage. The question is not whether the water 
 shall be brought on the land or taken off the land ; 
 it is whether the land shall be made tillable and its 
 wealth-producing qualities utilized. Drainage of 
 the swamps is, therefore, as legitimate a work as 
 the reclamation of arid wastes. 
 
 No subject has been brought out more promi 
 nently at this conference than the subject of for 
 estry, and it justifies the time devoted to it; for 
 
CONSERVING NATIONAL RESOURCES 403 
 
 our timber lands touch our national interests at 
 several points. Our use of timber is enormous, but 
 immense as would be the inconvenience and loss 
 caused by the absence of lumber, other results that 
 would follow from the destruction of our forests 
 would be still more disastrous to the Nation. As 
 has been shown, the timber on our mountain ranges 
 protects our water supply. Not to speak of changes 
 in climate which might follow the denuding of our 
 mountains, the loss to the irrigated country could 
 not be remedied, and the damage to the streams 
 could not be calculated. And if this is not enough 
 to arouse the interest of all, I may add that the de 
 struction of the forests on the mountain ranges 
 would, in time, impair the underflow upon which 
 we rely for our well water. 
 
 The good effects of this conference are already 
 apparent in the determination exprest by several 
 Governors to at once appoint Forestry Commis 
 sions and to begin such work as the States can do. 
 (Applause.) In this case action is so urgent and 
 the field to be covered so large, that both the Nation / 
 and the several States can exercise themselves to 
 the full without danger of doing too much. (Ap 
 plause.) 
 
 The national reservations already made in the 
 West, and the new reservations that ought to be 
 made, and are likely to be made, in the "White 
 Mountains and the Appalachian Range, can doubt 
 less be so administered as to protect national inter 
 ests without unduly burdening the States in which 
 the reservations are located, or needlessly interfer 
 ing with the development of those States. No na- 
 
404 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 tional policy need retard the development of the 
 Western States, and their own interests would re 
 strain them from sacrificing future wealth and pro 
 tection for temporary advantage. 
 
 Lastly, I come to our interior waterways. I shall 
 not defend the improvement of these waterways on 
 the ground that such improvement would help to 
 regulate railroad rates (altho it would aid regula 
 tion), for whenever the people are ready they will 
 exercise the power which they now have to regulate 
 by legislation. But water traffic is less expensive 
 than traffic by rail, and there are many commodi 
 ties which can be transported much more cheaply 
 by water than they possibly could be carried on 
 land. It has been estimated that an expenditure of 
 $500,000,000 on interior waterways would result in 
 a saving of nearly $200,000,000 annually. 
 
 If this saving were equally divided between the 
 producers and the consumers it would be an enor 
 mous profit to both ; and Mr. Carnegie has pointed 
 out that water transportation, by requiring less 
 iron and less coal in proportion to the freight car 
 ried, would enable us to postpone the exhaustion of 
 our iron mines and our coal beds. 
 
 The development of water transportation is es 
 sentially a national project because the water 
 courses run by and through many States. And yet, 
 as has been pointed out, it would be possible for 
 the States to do a certain amount of developing 
 along this line if they were permitted to avail them 
 selves of the use of the water-power that could be 
 developed. 
 
 Just a word, in conclusion, about an investment 
 
CONSERVING NATIONAL RESOURCES 405 
 
 in permanent improvements. Money spent in care 
 for the life and health of the people, in protecting 
 the soil from erosion and from exhaustion, in pre 
 venting waste in the use of minerals of limited sup 
 ply, in the reclamation of deserts and of swamps, 
 in the preservation of forests still remaining, and in 
 the replanting of denuded tracts money invested 
 in these and in the development of waterways and 
 in the deepening of harbors, is an investment yield 
 ing an annual dividend. If any of these expendi 
 tures fail to bring a return at once the money ex 
 pended is like a bequest to those who come after 
 ward. And, as the parent lives for his children as 
 well as for himself, so the citizen provides for the 
 future as well as for the present. 
 
 This conference will be remembered by future 
 generations, because they, as well as ourselves, will 
 be the recipients of the benefits which flow from it. 
 We have all been strengthened by communion 
 together ; our vision has been enlarged, and the en 
 thusiasm here aroused will permeate every State 
 and every community. (Great applause.) 
 
VI 
 COMMERCE 
 
 An address delivered at the banquet given in Chicago on 
 October 7, 1908. by the Chicago Association of Commerce, 
 Mr. Taft and Mr. Bryan being guests. 
 
 1 APPRECIATE the opportunity of being pres 
 ent on this occasion. I appreciate the gener 
 ous words of the chairman in presenting me 
 to you. I think that it is a good omen when we can 
 lay aside partizan feeling on an occasion like this, 
 and, forgetting the things that separate us, remem 
 ber the things more numerous and more important 
 that unite us in the bonds of a common citizenship. 
 
 I think I can see signs of progress in politics. 
 "When I first began to run for president there were 
 no occasions of this kind. I note a large charity, a 
 broader liberality, and a more kindly feeling than 
 has sometimes prevailed in the past. Here, the 
 chairmen of the respective committees meet, will 
 ing, even in the heat of the campaign, to pause for 
 a moment in the giving out of estimates. Here the 
 treasurers suspend for a moment the investigation 
 of the business connections of those who send in 
 checks; and here "two distinguished citizens at 
 large" meet, both uncertain as to which will be 
 confined. 
 
 We shall carry away delightful recollections of 
 this night, for, whatever the election may show, we 
 can remember one occasion when we were treated 
 with equal consideration. 
 
 (406) 
 
COMMERCE 407 
 
 I am glad to meet at this board one who has been 
 honored by his party with leadership in a great 
 campaign. I am glad to testify to my appreciation 
 of his abilities and his virtues. If I am successful, 
 the victory will be the greater to have won over 
 such ; and, if I am defeated, the sorrow will be less 
 to have been defeated by such. 
 
 I esteem it an honor to be the guest of this asso 
 ciation in this city. This is the city in which I 
 studied for two years when I was preparing for the 
 law. I am better acquainted with Chicago than 
 with any other city, and no one residing within its 
 borders has a larger faith in its future than I. 
 
 I am honored to be the guest of a commercial 
 association, for I recognize the importance of com 
 merce. Commerce is the second step in material 
 progress. First comes production, and then ex 
 change. Without exchange, production loses much 
 of its value. Those who produce need commerce, 
 and commerce cannot exist without production first. 
 
 Commerce is a great and growing force in the 
 world. Commerce has contributed enormously to 
 the world s progress and to mankind s well-being. 
 Every step in the development of commerce is an 
 upward step. Commerce is today extending its 
 influence throughout the world and binding people 
 together as never before. Compare the possibili 
 ties of today with the possibilities of a few cen 
 turies ago, and who will measure the difference? 
 Whenever an invention of importance is heralded 
 some one exclaims that it will deprive people of 
 employment, and sometimes the labor-saving ma 
 chine is condemned because it enables a few to do 
 
408 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 what it formerly required many to do in the same 
 length of time. But the labor-saving machine is 
 rather a labor-multiplying machine. When steam 
 displaced the craft that moved by oars it did not 
 decrease, but multiplied, the number of those upon 
 the sea. When the steam engine took the place of 
 the wagon it did not displace those who drove the 
 wagons; it increased the number of persons en 
 gaged in transportation. Twelve years ago a state 
 ment was made and signed by the five men who 
 stood at the head of five great railway orders, and 
 in that statement the world was told that 800,000 
 men were engaged as employes in the railway ser 
 vice. 
 
 Every new invention, I repeat, has enlarged the 
 demand for labor as it has multiplied the efficiency 
 of labor. I am not prepared to say that we have 
 yet recognized the duty of society to bear some of 
 <the burdens that may fall temporarily on people 
 displaced by improvements that bring a large gain 
 to society. I am not sure that we have yet recog 
 nized that when society is the gainer society ought 
 to compensate those who individually suffer for so 
 ciety s benefit. But whether w r e have found an 
 accurate adjustment or not, there is no doubt that 
 society has largely gained. 
 
 One of the great improvements, one of the in 
 ventions that has made largely for the development 
 of commerce, is the corporate entity. The corpora 
 tion is a step in advance. It enables people to do 
 things jointly that they could not do alone. It 
 relieves those who cooperate of the embarrassment 
 of partnership and it substitutes larger opportuni- 
 
COMMERCE 409 
 
 ties, and thus facilitates the work of exchange. No 
 one who has estimated with intelligence the useful 
 ness of the corporation will for one moment think 
 of destroying the power that the corporation gives 
 for cooperative effort. (Applause.) 
 
 But every new step in advance brings new re 
 sponsibilities. When the railroads took the place 
 of the turnpike, laws were necessary that were not 
 necessary on the highway. Society, recognizing 
 that the railroad had become a necessity, adjusted 
 itself to the railroad, and then proceeded by legis 
 lation to correct whatever abuses might arise in 
 the management of the railroad. (Applause.) And 
 so society, accepting the corporation as an estab 
 lished fact, is proceeding to enact such laws as may 
 be necessary to make the corporation serve the pur 
 pose for which it was created. I am sure that the 
 members of this association, organized for the pro 
 motion of the city s interests, for the development 
 of the city s commerce and for the advancement 
 of the city s good, recognize that with the large 
 power that corporate action gives, restriction is 
 necessary. 
 
 There are many differences between the natural 
 man and the corporate man. There is a difference 
 in the purpose of creation. God made man and 
 placed him upon His footstool to carry out a divine 
 decree; man created the corporation as a money 
 making machine. When God made man He did not 
 make the tallest man much taller than the shortest ; 
 and He did not make the strongest man much 
 stronger than the weakest; but when the law cre 
 ates the corporate person that person may be an 
 
 II 27 
 
410 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, a million times 
 stronger than the God-made man. When God made 
 man He set a limit to his existence, so that if he 
 was a bad man he could not be bad long ; but when 
 the corporation was created the limit on age was 
 raised, and it sometimes projects itself through 
 generation after generation. 
 
 When God made man He gave to mankind a soul 
 and warned him that in the next world he would 
 be held accountable for the deeds done in the flesh ; 
 but when man created the corporation he could not 
 endow that corporation with a soul, so that if it 
 escapes punishment here it need not fear the here 
 after. And this man-made giant has been put forth 
 to compete with the God-made man. We must as 
 sume that man in creating the corporation had in. 
 view the welfare of society, and the people who 
 create must retain the pow r er to restrict and to con 
 trol. We can never become so enthusiastic over the 
 corporation, over its usefulness, over its possibili 
 ties, as to forget the God-made man who was here 
 first and who still remains a factor to be considered. 
 
 I take it, then, that I can assume that all who are 
 interested in commerce, and interested in the cor 
 poration as a means of developing commerce, will 
 recognize the necessity of making competition be 
 tween the natural man and the fictitious person 
 approximately equal so that the natural man may 
 not be trodden under foot. 
 
 Commerce is important. You can scarcely esti 
 mate its importance, and yet commerce is depend 
 ent. In fact, my friends, the more complex society 
 becomes the more dependent we are. We some- 
 
COMMERCE 411 
 
 times speak of people being independently rich. 
 We do not mean that; we mean that they are de- 
 pendently rich, for the richer they are the more 
 dependent they are. The more a man has the 
 more he must employ to secure this thing which he 
 calls wealth. The larger his annual income, the 
 larger the number of people who labor that he 
 may have a part. 
 
 Commerce cannot live without agriculture. I 
 dare not say on this subject what I once said, for 
 it is too near the election to hope to correct mis 
 representations that might be made. I once said, 
 
 Burn your cities and leave the farms, and the 
 cities will grow up again as by magic ; but destroy 
 the farms and the grass will grow in the streets of 
 your cities." I said that once, but I dare not say 
 it again, for I found after the election that a dodger 
 had been circulated in a distant State which read 
 like this: "Burn your cities. W. J. Bryan." 
 
 But while experience has taught me caution, 
 while I find as others do that advancing years bring 
 conservatism in language, still I am yet young 
 enough to venture the assertion that the prairies of 
 the Middle West are indispensable to the City on 
 the Lakes. Not only is commerce dependent upon 
 the farmers who in their fields convert God ? s bounty - 
 into a nation s wealth, but commerce is dependent 7 
 also upon those humble toilers who in the factory 
 and on the train are turning the wheels of our in 
 dustrial progress. 
 
 While we gather here to enjoy the bounties that 
 are spread we are much like the people on the upper 
 decks of a ship who ride peacefully along through 
 
412 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 the waters because down in the hold, in the dark, 
 there are men with bodies bare and hands soiled 
 with dirt, keeping the fires burning while the ship 
 moves on. 
 
 The manufacturer is as dependent upon the men 
 whom he employs as they are dependent upon him 
 for employment. The clerks in the stores, who run 
 back and forth, who carry merchandise and keep 
 the accounts, are as necessary a part of commerce 
 as those who preside and direct. The great lesson 
 that we must learn is that society cannot dispense 
 with any of the elements engaged in production. 
 
 We must learn the great truth, that we are linked 
 together by indissoluble bonds, bonds that we should 
 not sever if we could, bonds which we could not 
 x sever if we would. And we must learn that prog 
 ress cannot be measured by the progress of a few, 
 but by the advancement of the mass. On occasions 
 like this, I deem it not inappropriate to remind you, 
 as I desire to be reminded, that we must work to 
 gether if we work at all. 
 
 Upon what basis can we work ? There is but one, 
 and that is a basis that measures justly each indi 
 vidual s share of the joint product. Every man 
 who, by his brain or muscle, contributes to the sum 
 total of this nation s wealth must have a part of 
 that wealth as his reward. He may be a captain 
 of industry ; he may be a general in command ; but, 
 my friends, there must be a reasonable relation be 
 tween the pay of the general and the pay of the 
 enlisted man, for the general needs the soldier as 
 much as the soldier needs the general. 
 
 To my mind, the world s greatest problem today 
 
COMMERCE 413 
 
 is not to correctly solve the questions about which 
 my distinguished friend and I dispute. These are 
 surface indications of a larger problem. Go into 
 different lands and you will find people speaking 
 many languages ; you will find differences in dress ; 
 you will find differences in tradition ; you will find 
 differences in religion, and you will find differences 
 in government, but there is one problem that is 
 universal; you encounter it everywhere; it has no 
 latitude, it has no longitude. It is not the problem 
 of today or yesterday or tomorrow ; it is the problem 
 that has existed since man s race began, and will 
 exist while time endures. That problem is the ad 
 justment of the rewards of society. Upon the set 
 tlement of that problem aright depends the future 
 of mankind. 
 
 Is there a Divine measure of rewards? I believe 
 there is. What is that measure? It is the divine 
 measure ; it is the law that God stamped upon the 
 world and imprest on man ; it is the law by which 
 society must be governed, if governed aright ; and 
 this law is that every citizen shall draw from so 
 ciety a reward proportionate to the service that he 
 renders to society. And in proportion as we ap 
 proximate to the right solution of that problem will 
 W 7 e place progress upon a sure and permanent foun 
 dation. 
 
 I think it is well that we should gather here 
 from all parts of this Union, for better acquaint 
 ance will make us better friends. It is w r ell that 
 we should meet together as the representatives of 
 different parties for the more we know of each 
 other, the more we are convinced that, whatever 
 
414 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 our differences may be, our impulses are the same 
 and that patriotism is stronger in all of us than the 
 partisanship that separates us. 
 
 It would also be well if we could more frequently 
 mingle together as the representatives of differ 
 ent occupations, of different work, of different ele 
 ments of our industrial population. For I am satis 
 fied that, if the people could meet each other face 
 to face, and know each other, heart knowing heart, 
 an impetus would be given to a larger brotherhood ; 
 and that, instead of being actuated by -that short 
 sighted selfishness that leads one to try to lift him 
 self upon the prostrate form of another, we would 
 learn that the broadest selfishness, the most far- 
 sighted self-interest, is embraced in the command 
 ment: 
 
 "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." 
 
VII 
 TO HIS NEIGHBORS 
 
 Delivered at Lincoln. Xeb.. on November 2, 1908, as the 
 closing speech of the campaign. 
 
 I SHALL not make a political speech tonight. 
 After such a generous welcome, I prefer to 
 speak to you as a man to those who live be 
 side him. There are unpleasant experiences in 
 public life, but its rewards far outweigh them, and 
 nothing has occurred in my life that I appreciate 
 more than the cordial reception that you have given 
 me in my home city at the close of this campaign. 
 To have lived among you with the publicity that 
 attaches to a presidential campaign, and then to 
 have such evidence of your good will, makes this 
 night memorable. While it has sometimes been 
 humiliating to have it thrown up to me in other 
 parts of the country that my home city has never 
 given me a majority 
 
 Voices : We shall give it to you this time. 
 
 Thank you. While I repeat, it has been humiliat 
 ing, yet, as a matter of fact, I have always had a 
 large complimentary vote from the Republicans of 
 Lincoln. When I ran for Congress in 1890, I was 
 defeated in this county by only a little more than 
 400, and when I ran for Congress again in 1892, I 
 was defeated in this county by only a little more 
 than 300 ; and even in the heat of presidential cam- 
 (415) 
 
416 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 paigns, I have always had a large number of votes 
 from men who were not connected with the political 
 party of which I am a member. If this fact were 
 known, there would not have been so much criticism 
 of the fact that I have never carried this city with 
 its large normal Republican majority. I want to 
 thank the Republicans, who, in the past, have given 
 me their votes. Without the votes of many Re 
 publicans I would not have been elected in 1892, for 
 my majority was only 140; and without that elec 
 tion I would not have been nominated for the presi 
 dency in 1896. I can feel grateful, therefore, to 
 the Republicans who gave me my start, and whose 
 votes were absolutely necessary to my election on 
 that occasion. Whatever the Republicans of Lin 
 coln may do in the future, they have done enough 
 in the past, by laying the foundation for my politi 
 cal career, to make me their debtor while I live. 
 My friends, I am at the end of my third presi 
 dential campaign. Tomorrow 15,000,000 of voters 
 will decide whether I am to occupy the seat that 
 -Washington and Jefferson and Jackson and Lin 
 coln occupied. You will have your part in my 
 victory or in my defeat. It may be that the elec 
 tion will turn on Nebraska, and it may be that Ne 
 braska will turn on votes, so few in number that 
 the city of Lincoln may decide the result. If fate 
 decrees that my name shall be added to the list of 
 Presidents, and Nebraska added to the list of 
 States that have furnished Presidents, I shall re 
 joice with you. If, on the other hand, the election 
 shall be against me, I can feel that I have left 
 nothing undone that I could have done to bring 
 
TO HIS NEIGHBORS 417 
 
 success to my cause. And I shall find private life 
 so full of joy that I shall not miss the presidency. 
 
 I have been the child of fortune from my birth. 
 God gave me into the keeping of a Christian father 
 and a Christian mother. They implanted in my 
 heart the ideals that have guided my life. When 
 I was in law school, I was fortunate enough, as I 
 was in my college days, to fall under the influence 
 of men of ideals who helped to shape my course ; 
 and when but a young man, not out of college yet, 
 I was guided to the selection of one who, for 
 twenty-four years, has been my faithful helpmate. 
 No presidential victory could have brought her to 
 me, and no defeat can take her from me. I have 
 been blessed with a family. Our children are with 
 us to make glad the declining years of their mother 
 and myself. When you first knew me, they called 
 me, in derision, "The Boy Orator of the Platte." 
 I have outlived that title, and my grandchildren 
 are now growing up about me. I repeat, that I 
 have been fortunate, indeed. I have been abund 
 antly rewarded for what little I have been able to 
 do, and my ambition is not so much to hold any 
 office, however great, as it is to know my duty and 
 to do it, wliether in public life or as a private 
 citizen. 
 
 If I am elected, I shall be absent from you but 
 four years. If I am defeated, you will help me to 
 bear my defeat. xVnd I assure you that the affec 
 tion that my countrymen have shown is to me 
 dearer than all earthly office. I shall be content, if 
 I can deserve the continuation of that affection. I 
 have been touched by the demonstrations that have 
 
418 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 been given in other parts of the country, but in 
 twelve years and in three campaigns, I have never 
 had a welcome anywhere more generous, more en 
 thusiastic than you have given in Lincoln tonight. 
 I believe I am going to be elected. More than 
 that, I believe it is going to be more than a bare vic 
 tory; I believe that there is a stirring of the con 
 science of the American people, a moral awaken 
 ing, an uprising that means a sweeping victory. 
 But that victory would be robbed of much of its 
 sweetness if it were won outside of Nebraska en 
 tirely; that victory would lack much if Lincoln 
 did not contribute to it; it would be robbed of 
 much of its sweetness if my little precinct at 
 Normal did not contribute to it. It will make life 
 among you* more pleasant if I can feel that this 
 city has at last relieved me of the sneers and 
 criticism that are hurled at me when I travel. If 
 you, among whom I have lived ; if you, who have 
 known my every word and thought and act if you 
 believe me worthy of that high office, I will swear 
 in your presence that no one who votes for me will 
 ever have occasion to be ashamed of the vote he 
 casts. 
 
VIII 
 LINCOLN AS AN ORATOR 
 
 Delivered at Springfield, 111., on February 12, 1909, the 
 one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lin 
 coln. 
 
 LINCOLN S fame as a statesman and as the 
 Nation s chief executive during its most 
 crucial period has so overshadowed his 
 fame as an orator that his merits as a public 
 speaker have not been sufficiently emphasized. 
 When it is remembered that his nomination was 
 directly due to the prominence which he won 
 upon the stump; that in a remarkable series 
 of debates he held his own against one of the 
 most brilliant orators America has produced; and 
 that to his speeches, more than to the arguments of 
 any other one man, or, in fact, of all other public 
 men combined, was due the success of his party 
 when all these facts are borne in mind, it will ap 
 pear plain, even to the casual observer, that too 
 little attention has been given to the extraordinary 
 power which he exercised as a speaker. That his 
 nomination was due to the effect that his speeches 
 produced, cannot be disputed. When he began 
 his fight against slavery in 1858, lie was but little 
 known outside of the counties in which he at 
 tended court. It is true that he had been a mem 
 ber of Congress some years before, but at that 
 time he was not stirred by any great emotion or 
 (419) 
 
420 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 connected with the discussion of any important 
 theme, and he made but little impression upon 
 National politics. The threatened extension of 
 slavery, however, aroused him, and with a cause 
 which justified his best efforts, he threw his whole 
 soul into the fight. The debates with Douglas have 
 never had a parallel in this, or, so far as history 
 shows, in any other country. 
 
 In engaging in this contest with Douglas, he met 
 a foeman worthy of his steel, for Douglas had 
 gained a deserved reputation as a great debater, 
 and recognized that his future depended upon the 
 success with which he met the attacks of Lincoln. 
 On one side an institution supported by history 
 and tradition, and on the other a growing senti 
 ment against the holding of a human being in 
 bondage these presented a supreme issue. Douglas 
 won the senatorial seat for which the two at that 
 time had contested, but Lincoln won a larger vic 
 tory he helped to mold the sentiment that was 
 dividing parties and re-arranging the political map 
 of the country. When the debates were concluded, 
 every one recognized him as the leader of the cause 
 which he had espoused, and it was a recognition 
 of this leadership which he had secured through his 
 public speeches that enabled him, a Western man, 
 to be nominated over the Eastern candidates not 
 only a Western man, but a man lacking in book 
 learning and the polish of the schools. No other 
 American President has ever so clearly owed his 
 elevation to his oratory. Washington, Jefferson 
 and Jackson, the Presidents usually mentioned in 
 connection with him, were all poor speakers. 
 
LINCOLN AS AN ORATOR 421 
 
 In analyzing Lincoln s characteristics as a 
 speaker, one is imprest with the completeness of 
 his equipment. He possest the two things that are 
 absolutely essential to effective speaking namely, 
 information and earnestness. If one can be called 
 eloquent who knows what he is talking about and 
 means what he says and I know of no better 
 definition Lincoln s speeches were eloquent. He 
 was thoroughly informed upon the subject ; he was 
 prepared to meet his opponent upon the general 
 proposition discust, and upon any deductions which 
 could be drawn from it. There was no unexplored 
 field into which his adversary could lead him; he 
 had carefully examined every foot of the ground, 
 and was not afraid of pitfall or ambush, and what 
 was equalty important, he spoke from his own 
 heart to the hearts of those who listened. While 
 the printed page can not fully reproduce the im 
 pressions made by a voice trembling with emotion 
 or tender with pathos, one cannot read the reports 
 of the debates without feeling that Lincoln re 
 garded the subject as far transcending the ambi 
 tions of the personal interests of the debaters. It 
 was of little moment, he said, whether they voted 
 him or Judge Douglas up or down, but it was 
 tremendously important that the question should 
 be decided rightly. His reputation may have suf 
 fered in the opinion of some, because he made them 
 think so deeply upon what he said that they, for 
 the moment, forgot him altogether, and yet, is this 
 not the very perfection of speech? It is the pur 
 pose of the orator to persuade, and to do this he 
 presents, not himself, but his subjects! Someone, in 
 
422 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 describing the difference between Demosthenes and 
 Cicero, said that "when Cicero spoke, people said, 
 How well Cicero speaks; but when Demosthenes 
 spoke, they said, Let us go against Philip/ " j In 
 proportion as one can forget himself and become 
 wholly absorbed in the cause which he is present 
 ing does he measure up to the requirements of ora 
 tory. 
 
 In addition to the two essentials, Lincoln possest 
 what may be called the secondary aids to oratory. 
 He was a master of statement. Few have equalled 
 him in the ability to strip a truth of surplus 
 verbiage and present it in its naked strength. In 
 the Declaration of Independence we read that there 
 are certain self-evident truths, which are therein 
 enumerated. If I were going to amend the proposi 
 tion, I would say that all truth is self-evident. Not 
 that any truth will be universally accepted, for not 
 all are in a position or in an attitude to accept any 
 given truth. In the interpretation of the parable 
 of the sower, we are told that "the cares of this 
 world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the 
 truth," and it must be acknowledged that every 
 truth has these or other difficulties to contend with. 
 But a truth may be so clearly stated that it will 
 commend itself to anyone who has not some special 
 reason for rejecting it. 
 
 No one has more clearly stated the fundamental 
 objections to slavery than Lincoln stated them, and 
 he had a great advantage over his opponent in be 
 ing able to state those objections frankly, for Judge 
 Douglas neither denounced nor defended slavery as 
 an institution his plan embodied a compromise, 
 
LINCOLN AS AN ORATOR 423 
 
 and he could not discuss slavery upon its merits 
 without alienating either the slave owner or the 
 abolitionist. 
 
 Brevity is the soul of wit, and a part of Lincoln s 
 reputation for wit lies in his ability to condense 
 a great deal into a few words. He was epigram 
 matic. A molder of thought is not necessarily an 
 originator of the thought molded. Just as lead 
 molded into the form of bullets has its effective 
 ness increased, so thought may have its propagating 
 power enormously increased by being molded into 
 a form that the eye catches and the memory holds. 
 Lincoln was the spokesman of his party he gave 
 felicitous expression to the thoughts of his fol 
 lowers. 
 
 His Gettysburg speech is not surpassed, if 
 equalled, in beauty, simplicity, force and appro 
 priateness by any speech of the same length of any 
 language. It is the world s model in eloquence, 
 elegance and condensation. He might safely rest 
 his reputation as an orator on that speech alone. 
 
 He was apt in illustration no one more so. A 
 simple story or simile drawn from every-day life 
 flashed before his hearers the argument that he 
 wanted to present. He did not speak over the heads 
 of his hearers, and yet his language was never com 
 monplace. There is strength in simplicity, and Lin 
 coln s style was simplicity itself. 
 
 He understood the power of the interrogatory, 
 for some of his most powerful arguments were con 
 densed into questions. Of all those who discust 
 the evils of separation and the advantages to be 
 derived from the preservation of the Union, no one 
 
424 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 ever put the matter more forcibly than Lincoln 
 did when, referring to the possibility of war and 
 the certainty of peace some time, even if the Union 
 was divided, he called attention to the fact that the 
 same question would have to be dealt with, and then 
 asked : * Can enemies make treaties easier than 
 friends can make laws?" 
 
 He made frequent use of Bible language and of 
 illustrations drawn from Holy Writ. It is said 
 that when he was preparing his Springfield speech 
 of 1858, he spent hours trying to find language that 
 would express the idea that dominated his entire 
 career namiely, that a republic could not perma 
 nently endure half free and half slave,- and that 
 finally a Bible passage flashed through his mind, 
 and he exclaimed: "I have found it! A house 
 divided against itself can not stand. : And prob 
 ably no other Bible passage ever exerted as much 
 influence as this one in the settlement of a great 
 controversy. 
 
 I have enumerated some, not all but the more 
 important of his characteristics as an orator, and 
 on this day I venture for the moment to turn the 
 thoughts of this audience away from the great work 
 that he accomplished as a patriot, away from his 
 achievements in the line of statecraft, to the means 
 employed by him to bring before the public the 
 ideas which attracted attention to him. His power 
 as a public speaker was the foundation of his suc 
 cess, and while it is obscured by the superstructure 
 that was reared upon it, it cannot be entirely over 
 looked as the returning anniversary of his birth 
 calls increasing attention to the widening influence 
 
DREAMERS 427 
 
 to do the work I want to do, but when I quote 
 scripture and they attack my authority, I can let 
 them fight it out with the Bible while I go on about 
 any business. 
 
 The Bible tells of dreamers, and among the most 
 conspicuous was Joseph. He told his dreams to his 
 brothers, and his brothers hated him because of his 
 dreams. And one day when his father sent him out 
 ,where his brothers were keeping their flocks in 
 Dothan, they saw him coming afar off and said: 
 "Behold, the dreamer cometh." They plotted to 
 kill him and he is not the only dreamer who has 
 been plotted against in this old world. But finally 
 they decided that instead of killing him they would 
 put him down in a pit, but some merchants passing 
 that way, the brothers decided to sell him to the 
 merchants, and the merchants carried Joseph down 
 into Egypt, 
 
 The brothers deceived their father and made him 
 think the wild beasts had devoured his son. 
 
 Time went on and the brothers had almost for 
 gotten the dreamer Joseph. But a famine eame- 
 yes, a famine and then they had to go down into 
 Egypt and buy corn, and when they got there, they 
 found the dreamer and he had the corn. 
 
 So 1 decided that it was not so bad after all for 
 one to be a dreamer if one has the corn. 
 
 But the more I thought of the dreamer s place in 
 history, the less I felt entitled to the distinction. 
 
 John Boyle O Reilly says that 
 
 "The dreamer lives forever, 
 While the toiler dies in a day." 
 
 And is it not true ? 
 
428 BRYAN S SPEECHES 
 
 In traveling through Europe you find great 
 cathedrals, and back of each there was a dreamer. 
 An architect had a vision of a temple of worship 
 and he put that vision upon paper. Then the build 
 ers began, and they laid stone upon stone and brick 
 upon brick until finally the temple was completed 
 completed sometimes centuries after the dream 
 er s death. And people now travel from all corners 
 of the world to look upon the temple, and the name 
 of the dreamer is known while the names of the 
 toilers are forgotten. 
 
 No, I cannot claim a place among the dreamers, 
 but there has been a greatjireamer in the realm of 
 statesmanship Thomas J^rraShn.. He saw a peo 
 ple bowed beneath oppression and he had a vision 
 of a self-governing nation, in which every citizen 
 would be a sovereign. He put his vision upon pa 
 per and for more than a century multitudes have 
 been building. They are building at this temple 
 in every nation ; some day it will be completed and 
 then the people of all the world will find protection 
 beneath its roof and security within its walls. I 
 shall be content if, when my days are numbered, it 
 can be truthfully said of me that with such ability 
 as I possest, and whenever opportunity offered, I 
 labored faithfully with the multitude to build this 
 building higher in my time. 
 
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