The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1896-09-30
ANOTHER GREAT SPEECH.
MR.. BRYAN STRIKES FROM THE
SHOULDER.

In his speech at Brooklyn, Mr.. Bryan
had, as usual, tremendous audience.
There were 10000 people in the Acad-
envy of Music
| By 8 o'clock the crush had become
SO thick that all the doors to the Acad-
envy were closed, shutting out clam
oring crowd of thousands who
thronged the entire block.
Mr.. Bryan said:
We have commenced warfare
against the gold standard, which will
not cease until victory is won. Before
| addressing myself to the money Ques-
ton, desire to say something in re-
gard to those planks of our platform
which have been assailed by the enc
my. l only speak of them because
| persons high in the Republican party
have called attention to them and
| sought to twist them into meanings
Interpretation which they will not
bear. Let me read to you the plank
| OF the Chicago pla tform, against which
SO much abuse has been levelled:
"We denOunce arbitrary interfer-
ence by federal authorities in local
affairs as violation of the constitu-
ton of the United States, as a crime
against free institutions"
That is the part which they say is
bad. When did that become bad?
let me read plank of another plat
form and see how this plank. which
am about to read, compares with the
one which l have read:
1.-THE maintenance inviOlate of the
rights of the state, and especially the
right of each state to order and con-
troll its own domestic institutions, &C.
cording to its own Judgment, exclu-
sively, is essential to that balance OF
power upon which the operation and
endurance Of our political fabric de-
ponds, and we denOunce the lawless
any state or territory, no matter un-
der what pretext. as among the great
est Of crimes" (Applause)
Do you know from what platform
that plank is taken? GA voice: "From
Abraham Lincoln's.') Yes, from
Abraham Lincoln's; that is plank IN
the platform Of the Republican party
Of 1860, and when you compare our
plank with that, you will find that
ours is mild in language compared
to this one. (Applause.) Abraham
Lincoln ran for president on that
| platform. He was elected president
on that platform, and in his inaugural
address quoted that plank in full and
reiterated it with his approval.
| They say that we are trying to de-
strOy our Institutions. Let me read
you the language of one whose name
l honor:
"Assidious efforts are making to ter
nj fvyf In lin unit I,
sion of social disorder, to represent
now presented to you as disorganizing
and to stigmatize It's supporters as de-
structive and agarian. We who now
address you have been the subjects of
these imputatiOn We pause, there
fore, for moment to repel them. We
entertain no sentiments adverse to
social order, we seek not to destroy,
but to preserve in their purity the in
situations of our country"
Whose language is that? It is the
language OF Samuel j. Tilden, used in
| an address to the farmers, mechanics
| and workingmen. There they accused
| the refOrmers as being disturbers of
the peace, and they asserted then, as
we do now, that we have come to save
the government which we love.
| Great applause.) They had just such
| a contest then as we have now. .
If banker dares have an opinion Of
his own, he is menaced with ruin, and
half of the New York banks who ter
rify and intimidate their try cor
respondents, stand with the great
London banks. which have padlocks
on the safes of the New York banks.
| l believe that the patriotism aud the
| firmness Of a patriotic people will pre-
vail in this struggle. TO think other
wise would be to despair of a govern
ment like this. My friends. we can
not have free government un . IS the
| people are free to act. If the people
have to obtain consent from few
PEOPLE before they can act, then their
action will have the same effect as
that Of few people, and we will have
democracy merely in form. We
would have plutocracy In effect,
which is the worst form. of govern
ment. | have read these extracts to
you, my friends, to show you that in
this day we are asSailed by the same
people who assailed those who were
aiding to make government better in
these days, who sought to tighten the
burdens upon the backs of the people
and give them larger share in the
coutrol Of the government under
which they lived. This is history re-
| peating itself, and, my friends. we
should not be discouraged by these
things. Let me read another extract:
Banded together by the same unity
! of interests. arraying them in an or
gained mass, which acts and opera tes
through all the ramitications Of soci-
ETY., constituting property by monop-
oily and perpetuities,, and binding to
| it political power and establishing an
| arts tocracy more potent, more perma-
| nent and more oppressive than any
which has ever existed. Such is the
dynasty of associated and privileged
wealth which is the ruling power at
present in nearly every civilized ma
ton"
Those are the words of Samuel j.
Tilden. 1 repeat them today, that
| this government Of associated wealth,
| this government by corporation, is the
most tyrannical government that any
| people ever suffered under. When you
hear that l am opposed to govern
| ments, you know that l am opposed to
governments by corporations; when
you know | am opposed to a govern
| ment by great aggregations of wealth
you will understand why they call me
an anarchist.
These wonderful speeches will de-
| scend to posterity among the most
valued heritages of our civilization.
The pity is that there are thousands