Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1896-10-27
BRYAN ATIHIS ALMA MATER
Discusses Free Coinage of Silver Before
Students at Jacksonville.
Or. sTURTEvANT HIS FIRST TEACHER
Advocate Of 10 to 4 Doctrine Declares
His Principles Are Founded ON
the Groundwork of stnbil-
ity TN the Dollar.


the nolsest demonstration that ever was
given any one within the walls of the chapel
of the Illinois college was the one paid to
william Jennings Bryan this morning by
the students of his alma mater. Shortly
after 10 o'clock he spoke to the students
! of the college from which he graduated
and the applause which greeted him seemed
| out of place in the room devoted to the
devotional exercises OF the institution. His
address, while of a political nature and
defense of the proposition for free coinage
of silver at 16 to 1, was so automatically
| given that no student within his hearing
| could take offense at It. The same simple
exercises in which he partook for six years
| as a student in the college were gone
| through with this morning. DR.. John T..
| Bradley. the president OF the Illinois col
| lege. presided oyer the meeting and the
| exercises were opened by the reading OF
| the scriptures by DIR. Bradley, responsive
| reading OF a bible lesson and prayer by DR..
| T, =. Carter, professor OF natural science.
| Then DR.. Bradley gave n short Introductory
| address, saying that OF the distinguished
| alumni of the College OF Illinois who had
| reflected honor upon that institution no one
| ever stood in such. public distinction as the
! guest OF the morning. After Mr. Bryans
| address, DR.. Bradley announced that in
honor OF the presence OF the distinguished
of the day as a holiday and he called upon
| the members OF the Sigma Thi to escort Mr..
| and Mrs. Bryan to the carriage and act as
guard Of honor through the grounds OF the
institution. The members of that fraternity
drew up in line asd, singing their fraternity
song marched on either side of the carriage
and when the vehicle containing the guests
had reached the gates, the students bade the
! nominee and his wife Godspeed and sup
plemented the farewell with long and loud
college yells. In his speech at the college
| Mr.. Bryan said:
A man who forgets his mother loses the
| respect of all good people. and so n man
who leaves college and forgets his alma
mater can hardly expect to enjoy the
TEEN of good people. 1t always gives me
great pleasure to come back to Illinois
college because | remember the days in
which L spent two years In Whipple
academy and four years In college as not
only among the most pleasant days of my
life. but the most profitable days of my
life. and when l return to these scenes
flood OF memories presses upon me.
DIR. STURTEVANT HIS TEACHER.
1 remember that It was here as a young
man that began to study the subject of
political economy and IL was under that
so many years, Pr Sturtevant that be-
came first Interested in the great public
questions OF the day, | remember his
a boy, and for many years l could find
no better arguments In defense of one of
the questions before the public than his
book which was q text book i'm the college.
And when another question became before
the people and began to engage public
! thought, wondered whether he had COW
cred that question In his book and what
then his great mind had applied itself to
the ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS which underlie
the principle which now so arouses the
thoughts of the PEOPLE. When 1 began to
examine. found iftbt,t in that book-f don't
You did whe6 s in college S" " e mU Ra.
or tho Sclsnco\ of-Agealth,p by DR.. sturte.
want, foundlthst-lp,. that book he had
| rxrHM n ft,faIR tnl tarfn cir,t..
which underisssShe money question.
! Delie we, mat young men will believe me
questions has been with one Single PURPOSE
and that has been to find out what solution
jority OF the people. We have differ r i,c,
OF opinion and II is proper that there should
you know none. of us are infalilhle' we are
an apt to make mistakes. But believe
that those who desire most to ascertain the
truth and who labor hardest to find out
what is best will come the nearest to arrlv-
ing at just conclusion, and that no one
who desires to know the truth, who desires
to do the best that can be done. ever OBJ
iects to herring from one who may differ
from him. You know that truth does not
exist in secluslon. Truth comes from the
clash of ideas. from the comparison of
views. Error is the only thing that fears
public discussion. Truth has a power within
otent but truth.
TRUTH ALWAYS LIVES.
And now, while we differ here, as young
men, upon various questions which arise, /
know that you will agree with me when |
say that In the long run that policy which
proves to be best Is going to be adopted
and that those who attach themselves TO n
righteous cause are sure to triumph at last.
! never get among young men but that
feel that ! ought to impress upon them a
lesson which was impressed upon me; and
that is, that when n man believes he is
right he can AFFORD to stand alone; he can
not what people call you that determines
character. 1t is what you are.
In the study of this question now before
| no I W. MT IN n 70 van txvn I,
things that DIR. Sturtevant said in order
that you may apply those things in your
that the great difference there is among
| people comes from the application or mis-
application of truth Now, in this cam
paign we are trying to find out what is
| the best kind of money. Some say that
one kind of standard will give the best
kind of dollars; others say that another
| kind OF standard will give the best kind
| OF dollars. You must have something by
which you can judge these standards;
| gested the means by which you can arrive
at an idea on this subject. You will find
that he says: This function of money be-
comes very important in the case of time
| contracts. If one contracts to pay 100
bushels of wheat in twelve months, the
next harvest may be a very bad one and
OF paying 100 bushels worth twice as much
as when the contract was made, This
such liability will make men averse to
all time contracts and throw a great i'm
peulinent IN the way or the working of
| the natural law of exchange"
NOW, say that the doctor recognized
| that when man made a contract he
ought to be paid in the same way, with
| the same quantity of value that ii had
| when II was made, and then he goes on
to argue that II you attempt to make con-
tracts IN any KIND OF commodity those
fluctuations IN value would make the con-
tract inequtabie; and then he turns to gold
and silver, and says: I'm the two metals
gold ana silvert we have substances which
possess to degree quite wonderful the
essential qualiiYoof money, universal de-
sirableness. nhey, sustain such a relation
TO human TASTE and use that they have
been universally desired all along in the
| WORLDS history from the earliest antiquity
OF which we have any authentic record
| Nor Is there any reason TO suppose that I'm
the future, however distant, they are to
be supplanted from that pace in human re-
gard which they have always occupied"
STABILITY IN THE DOLLAR.
l was glad when / began to study the
money questions that Dr. Sturtevant recog-
nlzed that theogreat thing desirable in
aollar, was stability and I can find no bet
ter Illustration than. the one l first read,
where he speaks Of II being inequitable TO
compel man % deliver 100 bushels of wheat
when wheat had doubled In value. Now you
| know the whole bone of contention in this
contest In which we are engaged Is as to
which kind of standard gives you the best
| dollar There are some people who talk