The Coconino weekly sun., 1896-11-26
PUT UP JOB FOR BRYAN.
Inside History of His Nomination Is Dis
clOaed.

closed.
Bryan's nomination was no accident,
so far as he and his friends were con-
cerned. When he stood up to make his
cycntful speech he was throwing loaded
dice, which had been prepared nearly
two years before. The boy orator had
assisted his friends in pulling the wires
for many months, and every move in the
game had been studied out.
This information was CLEANED in Ne
braska during the week preceding cleo
ton, and the authority for the story
which follows is no less a person than
James c. Dahlman, chairman of the
democratic state central committe of
Nebraska, Mr.. Bryan's confidential po-
litical adviser and friend. He gave the
Tribune correspondent permission to
print the story after election, and mean
while every statement he made was
verified from other sources, the whole
proving conclusivcly that William Jen-
nings Bryan knew he was playing for
high stakes when he made his cele-
brated cross of gold speech at the Chi
Cago convention.
] He was not only fully aware of the
plans of his Nebraska friends, but was
consulted at every stage, and on him
self alone depended the final maneuver
which secured to him the opportunity
to speak just at the right time to cap
ture the convention. The story, as
told by Chairman Dahlman, supple
mented by the statement of others,
bears the impress of truth on it's face,
and can easily be verified by anyone
who cares to do so.
In the summer of 1894 parties were
more or less split in Nebraska. The re-
publicans were divided, and so were the
democrats. The former split over the
governorship. The latter broke into fac
tions on the money question. William
Jennings Bryan had been elected to
congress twice and had demonstrated
first great power of glib oratory, and,
: secondly, a marvellous facility for unit
ing different factions and parties.
The democrats, divided, could do moth
ing. by a union with the populists they
might control the state. Bryan was just
the ,pan TO unite the free-silver wing of
the Nebraska democrats with the
''pops." He was for free trade and free
silver, had always affiliated with the
populists from the day he went into
politics, and possessed glittering ora
torical powers from which much could
be expected.
Bryan was still in the lower house of
congress and fully expected to be can
didate for reelection, when little
coterie of democrats of the silver faction
in Nebraska put their heads together
and determined that the hard times and
the general feeling of unrest were an
opportunity not to be missed, and that
the laxative young lawyer from Lin
coin could, If handled properly, be
landed in the white house.
Until the extra session of 1898 Bryan
had been tariff reformer only, and his
first speech on the silver question was
admitted to be failure. He began to
study it, however, for use in the next
congressional campaign, and the long
period of idlenss in the house when the
senate was wrestling with the tariff bill
gave him abundant opportunity to post
himself.
The Nebraska silver democrats led
the young congressman up into high
mountain and pointed out the richness
of the land which should be his II he
obeyed instructions. They promised to
make him first senator from Nebraska
to succeed Gen. Henderson, and then
president to succeed Grover Cleveland.
1t was pointed out to him that the
brains and leadership of the democratic
party were all in the gold faction, while
the silver men had no candidates who
were really strong except in the south,
and the selection of man from that
section was out of the question.
1t was believed that the situation in
Nebraska was such that the necessary
start in the presidential race could
easily be secured. 1t was proposed to
form an active coalition with the popu-
lists, giving them the state government
and reserving the United States senator
for the democrats. Mr.. Bryan consent
ed to the plans outlined to him, and the
necessary steps were at once taken to
put them into execution.
The Nebraska silver coterie got to
gether during the early part of 1894 ard