The San Francisco call., 1896-08-28
BRYAN AT BUFFALO.
Denies That He Is an Anarchist and
Talks More About SiIver.

BUFFALO, n. Y, Aug. N.-No pubic
man ever received heartier reception IN
Buffalo during political campaign than
that given William J. Bryan to-day.
The throng 81 the station when the
train came in was great in numbers, and
it manifested its enthusiastic interest IN
The candidate in such way that Mr.. and
Mrs. Bryan were nearly crushed by the
pressure around them. Norman Il. Mack,
editor of the Buffalo Times, and leader OF
the Bryan forces here. John Cuneen, Sec
retary of the Democratic State Committee,
Chairman Cuddeback of the County Dem
ocratic Committee and number OF other
local Democratic leaders composed the re-
ception committee that met the nominee
and escorted him to the waiting carriages
The reception took place in Music Hall,
where an immense crowd bad assembled.
The enthusiasm was of a character never to
be forgotten when Mr.. Bryan came to the
front and there was q raging torrent OF
cheers and applause. He began his speech
with expressions of gratitude for the evl-
dences of interest that the people OF the
Empire State are taking in the campaign.
Among other things he said:
shall carry back to the people of the West
the news that the Chicago platform is sup
ported and indorsed not only by the West and
South alone, but by all the thinking millions
of the East as well. l am aware that in the
making of platform it is impossible to suit
the opinions of all. l recognize that people
who think will differ and that we often find
in platform things with which we canEot
fully agree and we sometimes fail to find in it 8
mention OF policies which we recognize as
i'm mportant.
But platforms are not written by all of
party. They are written by majority Of a
party And when the majority of a party
writes platform the others in the party must
either stand upon it or get out of the party.
[Cheers.l
While platform covers a great many ques-
tions necessarily there must be one supreme
issue in it, and in this campaign there is
supreme issue. The issue is made between
those who believe in gold standard and those
who oppose gold standard. There is no mid
die ground. Those who are not with us are
against us. There is no place between the
lines for people to stand. The Republican
platform does not say that gold standard is
q good thing. There are those who are sup
porting the Republican party who believe that
a gold standard is good thing, but they have
not the courage to risk the issue before the
people who have suffered from a gold standard
for twenty years.
We must judge people-not by their words,
but by their acts Our opponents tell us that
they will try to secure an International agree
ment, and that they simply want to maintain
gold standard until other nations will help
US to let go of it. [Laughter.l The Democratic
party is opposed to a gold standard; not only
opposed to it, but unaIterably opposed to it.
1t is so much opposed to it that it will not per-
nit the American people to be bound to it,
though every nation on earth shall demand it.
[Applause.1 We did not achieve independence
for the purpose of bowling to the yoke of any
foreign power. [Cheers.l The arguments in
favor of bimetallism are directed toward the
intelligence of a man who thinks and the
heart OF man who feels.
If some man living in foreign land were to
ask his nation to surrender the power ana
right OF selfgovernment and vest legislative
power in the United States, what would we
think of that mans patriotism? If we would
despise the foreigner who would attempt or
desire to let the United States control his
nation, what contempt must foreigners feel
for those Americans who are willing to sur
render the right TO govern themselves? lap
plause.l
Our opponents tell us in their platform land
the one authority to construe the platform
emphasizes the declaration) that this Nation
cannot undertake to open its mints to silver
without the concurrent aid of other nations.
1t does not say that we are not able to do SO
for a month ora year or for only Presiden-
tal term. According to the statement this
Nation will never be able to do it until other
nations join US in the act. That is the doc
trine-we must know the gold standard not for
a few months, but for an indefinite duration
of time.
Here Mr.. Bryan quoted from Mr.. Car
isles speech on bimetalism in 1878 to the
effect that the destruction of half the
property of the world-including houses,
ships and railroads-would not be felt
more sensibly than the permanent ami
hilation of one-half of the metal money of
the world, and he commented upon it by
saying:
Who are the anarchists? Are they the ones
who are to restore the gold and silver coinage
of the constitution? Are they the ones who
want to reinstate the financial system which
had the Endorsement of all the statesmen from
Washington through Jefferson and Jackson
down to Lincoln? Or shall we find the anar-
chists among those who want financial policy
that would do more than destroy half the
houses sink half the ships and tear up half the
railroads of the world? [Applause.l We pro-
pose a financial policy. Our opponents pro-
pose nothing. Without daring TO defend the
gold standard they preach the doctrine OF
"grin and bear it, and they offer no hope to
the human race. [Applause.l
We ask for unlimited coinage. We have had
1t in the past, We ask coinage at 16 to 1. We
have had it in the past. And we ask that the
American people shall do their own legislat-
ing for themselves, without waiting for the
aid or consent of any other nation, and we
have done it in the past.
Under free and unlimited coinage of silver,
the United States stands ready to take the
ounce of silver bullion brought from any place
in the world and convert 1t into 81 20 of
American money. If you say that it is not fair
TO take away part of the purchasing power of
an ounce of gold tell you that it was fair to
have put into that gold that part which the
law placed in it. The remonetization of silver
will not take out of gold any more than the de-
monetization OF silver put into gold. They
tell US that because Mexico has failed to main
tain the parity between gold and silver there
fore we must fail.
There is just one kind of man who can
think that, and that is man who knows so
little OF geography or history as to think that
Mexico is as large as the United States. When
they argue that the failure OF Mexico proves
that we must fail they simply argue that the