The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1896-08-19
EFFORT OF HIS LIFE,
Mr.. Bryan's Madison Square
Garden Address.
HE DEFENDS THE PLATFORM.
Eorces Arrayed Against Him Not
Underestimated.
RIGHTEOUSNESS RELIED UPON.
DEMONSTRATION of Society Not the
RIGHTEOUSNESS RELIED UPON.
Reconstruction of Society Not the
Object of the Campaign.
FREE COINAGE ABLY DISCUSSED.
No Apology to oner For the Plank In
the chicago rIatfoFm with Rersr.
onse 10 the Action of the


ense 20 the Action Of the
supreme Court.
| New York, Aug. !3.-The following IL
the speech of Hon. William j. Bryan.
delivered at Madison Square Garden,
Wednesday night. upon receiving otti-
clal notice of his nomination for presl-
dent of the United states, by the DEM
ocratic convention at Chicago:
MIR. Chairman, Gentleman OF the Com
mittee and Fellow CitiZens-I shall, at
q future day and In n formal letter.
| accept the nomination which Is now ten.
dered by the notification committee. and
/ shall at that time touch upon the is>
sues presented by the platform. 1t Is
fitting. however. that at this time In
the presence of those here assembled,
speak at some length in regard to the
campaign upon which we are now en-
| terlng. we do not underestimate the
| forces arrayed against us. nor are we
unmindful OF the Importance of the
| struggle in which we are engaged; but
relying for success upon the righteous
ness of our cause, we shall defend with
all possible VIgoT the positions taken by
| our party.
we are not surprised that some of our
| opponents. in the absence OF better ar
gument. resort to
ABUSIVE EPITHETS,
but they may rest assured that no lam
guage, however violent, no inVectives.
| however vehement, Will lead us to de-
| part a single hairs-breadth from the
course marked out by the national
| convention The citizen, either public
or private, who assaIls the character
and questions the patriotism of the mil
lions who have arrayed themselves un-
der the banner there raised.
| 1t has been charged by men standing
| high in business and political circles
that our platform is menace to pri-
Vatc security and public safety and 1t
| has been asserted that those whom
| honor being
| represent not only mediate an attack
upon the rights of property but are the
foes of social order and national honor.
Those who stand upon the Chicago
platform are prepared to make known
and to defend every motion which in
huences them, every purpose which an
| imates them and every hope which in
spires them They understand the ge-
MUS OF our Institutions. they are
STAUNCH SUPPORTERS
OF the form of government under which
we live and they build their faith upon
foundations laid by the fathers.
Our campaign has not for its object
| the reconstruction of society. We can
not insure to the vicious the fruits of
| Virtuous life; we would not invade the
| home OF the provident in order to sup
| ply the wants of the spendthrlft: we do
| not propose to transfer the rewards OF
Industry to the lap of Incidence. Prop
| erty is and will remain the stimulus to
| endeavor and the compensation for toll.
| We believe. as asserted In the declara-
| ton of independence, that all men are
| equal, but that does not mean that all
| men can or have equal possessions, in
| possessions or merit. 1t means that all
| shall stand equal before the law and
that government officials shall not, in
| making. constituting or enforcing the
| law. discriminate between citizens.
| assert that property rights. as well as
| the rights of persons, are safe in the
| hands of the common people.
| WE ARE NOT SURPRISED
to find arrayed against us those who
are the beneficiaries of government IA
Voritlsm-they have read our platform.
| Nor are we surprised to learn that we
must In this campaign face the hostility
| OF those who find a pecuniary advantage
in advocating the doctrine of non-inter-
| ference when great aggregations OF
| wealth are treSpassing upon the rights
| OF individuals. We welcome such oppo-
| sition-it is the highest edorsement
| which could be bestowed upon US. We
are content to have the cooperation OF
those who desire to have the govern
| ment administered without fear or
| favor.
1t is not the wish OF the general public
| that trusts should spring into existence
and override the weaker members of
| society; 1t Is not the wish of the general
| public that these trusts should destroy
competition and then collect such tax
as they Will from those who are at their
mercy; nor Is 1t the wish OF the general
| public that the instrumentalities of gov
eminent have been so often prostltuted
20 purposes of private gain.
Those who stand upon the Chicago
platform believe that the government
should not only avoid wrong doing. but
| that II should also prevent wrong do
| Ing; and they believe that the law
should be enforced alike against all enc
mics of the public veal. They do not
| excuse petit larceny, but they declare
that grand larceny Is equally n crime;
| they do not defend the occupation of the
| highwayman who
ROBS THE UNSUSPECTING
traveller. but they include among the
| transgressors those who through the
more polite and less hazardous means
| of legislation, appropriate to their own
use the proceeds of the toll of others.
The commandment, Thou shalt not
| steal" Numbered from Sinai and reit-
Grated in the legislation OF all nations.
| Is no respector of persons. 1t must Le
| applied to the great as well as the small;
| to the strong. as well the weak; to
| the corporate person created by law a.
well as to the person of flesh and blood
| created by the Almighty.
No government Is worthy of the name,
| which Is not able to protect from every
| arm uplifted for his injury the humblest
citizen who lives beneath the nag. 1t
| follows as necessary conclusion that
| vicious legislation must be remedied by
| the people who suffer from the effects of
| such legislation and not by those who en-
| Joy its benefits.
| The Chicago platform has been con-
| demned by some because It dissents
from an opinion rendered By the Su-
prene court declaring the income tax
| constitutional. Our critics even go
so far as to apply the name anarchist
to those who stand upon that plank OF
the platform. 1t must be remember
ed that we expressly recognize the bind
ing force of that decision SO long as 1t
stand
a PART OF THE LAW
of the land. There is in the platform no
suggestion OF an attempt to dispute the
authority of the Supreme court The
party is simply pledged to use "all the
| constitutional power which remained af-
| Ger that decision, or which may come
from its reversal by the court as II
may hereafter be constituted"
Is there any disloyalty in that pledge?
| For a hundred years the Supreme Court
| of the United States has sustained the
| principle which underlies the income
| tax Some twenty years ago this same
| court sustained without dissenting
voice an income tax law almost ldentl-