The herald., 1896-10-30
TWENTY SIXTH YEAR. NO. 80.

apparently regardless of consequence
to the crowds.
At $3.50 a. m. Bryan reached the North
western depot in Chicago for a days
tour in the belt towns of Northern Illi-
nois. A large crowd cheered him loudly
and demanded a speech. Bryan smil-
ingly declined and disappeared within
the cars.
The train reached Elgin at 1925. He
was taken to a platform 200 feet from the
railroad and addressed large and en-
thusiastic audience. Bryan was intro
duced by I. N. Adrian, president of the
Bimetallic club of Elgin.
Mr.. Bryan said: Politicians have
been lodging the money question for
twenty years and financiers have been
settling it in their own way for twenty
years, and yet it is more unsettled than
it has been in all that time, and If this
election fails to restore bimetallism it
simply means four years more of agita-
tion until the people have another
chance to express themselves. (Great
applause)
You hear our opponents talk about
restoring confidence, that all that is
friends they ought to know that agita-
tion is the result of the condition, and
that agitation must continue while this
condition remains. If.the silver question
could have been put down merely by
saying be still, it would have been put
down long ago. If 1t could have been put
down by commands or threats or by in
timidation, it would have been put down
long ago. But I want you to remember
that in spite of all that f1nanciers have
done for twenty years to keep the silver
question down, it is still up before the
American people and will stay up be-
fore the American people. (Applause.)
We are accused of stirring up discomfort.
My friends, because a physician points
to disease, that does not argue that he
creates the disease. The disease is here
and we simply point it out, and you can
blind your eyes to 1t If you will, but you
can not cure the disease by refusing to
see it. (Applause.)
For years-aye, for centuries-bimet-
allism was the financial policy Of the
nations of the world. England started
the crusade against silver in 1876 She
stood alone as gold standard nation
after the discovery Of gold in this coun-
try and Australia. Then after gold be-
gan to increase there were three nations
of Europe which demonetized gold, for
fear money would become too cheap.
The very arguments used today against
silver were used then against gold, and
we were told that to pay in gold was to
cheat the widow and orphan and the
depositors in the savings banks. Gap
plause) If you will read book written
by the French writer, Chevalier, along
in the SOS you will find the identical ar
guments used against silver now that
were used against gold then. You can
take his book and put the word "silver"
where he uses the word gold" and you
will have the ordinary gold standard
argument of today ~
After they found that gold ceased to
increase and silver was increasing, then
they began the same kind of warfare
against silver that they had started
against gold. I have had people ask ME
why 1t is they demonetized silver when
silver was worth more than gold at the
time. The explanation is simple, my
friends. At that time silver was in
creasing and gold decreasing, and they
wanted to demonetize the metal that
was increasing, so they would have the
metal that was decreasing; because de-
creasing money means dear money, and
that Is what money changers always
wanted. (Applause.) There is another
reason why they demonetized silver in
favor Of gold. A large portion Of the an
nual product of gold is used in the arts,
uyIni nj nf ci1N 10
used in the arts, therefore there was
larger amount of silver available for
coinage than there was Of gold, and they
turned their engines against silver and
tried to demonetize it in order to have a
lesser quantity as money metal. My
friends, this crusade has gone on, nation
after nation has been forced to abandon
silver and substitute gold, and If they
win In this fight and throw the influence
Of this nation on the side Of the gold
standard I ask you where again can
common people find battle ground
where they can ever have as much hope
Of success as they can have in America
today. (Applause.)
Bryan's train reached Be1videre at
1125 o'clock and was met by a large
crowd most of whom were wearing yell
low ribbons bearing the word Mckinley.
Bryan was escorted to the platform and
delivered characteristic short speech.
He said:
When we declare for the restoration
of bimetallism we are not asking any
thing new. When we ask for free coin
age of silver remember we have free
coinage Of gold now and have had free
coinage of silver. Remember that we
have unlimited coinage of gold now and
have had unlimited coinage of silver.
When we ask for coinage at 16 to 1, re >
member that that is the ratio at which
gold and silver now circulate. We ask
no change in the size of either dollar,
We want dollars of the same weight, the
same size and the same f1neness that
we have today
When the train arrived at Rockford
Mr.. Bryan and his party were driven in
carriages to the Winnebago fair grounds
where large crowd gathered, said to
be the greatest number of people ever
assembled in the city. Mr. Bryan was
greeted with wild cheering. After be-
ing introduced by Mr.. c. w. Ferguson,
the nominee said, in part:
II you ask why it Is that SO MANY Re-
publicans are joining with us in the res
toration of bimetallism, I reply to you