Arizona silver belt., 1896-07-23
LINCOLN AND BRYAN.

There are many things connected with the candidacy of William J. Bryan which remind one of Abraham Lincoln. The origin and character of the two men arc not dissimilar. Both sprsng from sturdy pioneer stock and were reared upon the farm in an environment which instilled into their minds rugged honesty, frugality and self-reliance, qualities indispensable to the molding of great characters. Their antscedents and associations were such as to endear them to the common people and it was their devotion to the cause of humanity that revealed their genius.
 Lincoln dedicated his life and superior abilities to freeing race from slavery. Bryan has thrown the force of his impulsive and sympathetic nature into an effort to redeem the masses from q bondage no less destructive of human happiness and the great principles of liberty and equality upon which our government is founded. Lincoln was execrated and paid the penalty of his life, but not until his mission had been fulfilled and the Union preserved.
 It is not to be wondered at, therefore, Shat Bryan should be misrepresented and his motives impugned. His polit- ical opponents delight to associate his name with Altgeld and Tillman, as forming triumvirate whose methods and purposes are revolutionary and who appeal to the passions and preiudices of the rabble. Could anything be far ther from the truth? The closest scrutiny of Bryan's career fails to dis. close the slightest tendency to dema- gogism. Bryan is the champion of the peoples cause, but there is nothing resctionary in his methods or purposes. The reforms he advocates are all within constitutional bounds.
 In his recent speech at Kansas City, he said of the platform adopted at Chicago: 'It is in my humble judg- ment one of the most splendid presenta- tions of public policies ever adopted by 6 national convention. It is the plat form of our common country and ap- peals to them who love mankind to arise in its defense. It breathes the spirit of the Declaration of Indepen- dence. It presents those fundamental truths upon which all true government must rest. You will find in it the key. note, that all men are created equal, and that the object of government is to secure to the individual his inalien' able rights and protect each man, from fhe humblest to the greatest in the enjoyment of life, liberty and happi, ness"
 What would Lincoln say did he live in these degenerate times? The answer is suggested by one of his speeches dur. ing the memorable campain of 1858, when he was candidate for the senate against Douglas. In paying tribute so the Declaration of Independence he said, "Wise statesmen (the sign. CTS of the Declaration) as they were, they knew the tendency of posterity to breed tyrants, and so they estab- lished these great self-evident truths that when, in the distant future, some man, some faction, some interest, should set up the doctrine that none but rich men, or none but white men, or none but Anglo-Saxon white men, were entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, their posterity might look up again to the Declaration of Independence, and take courage to renew the battle which their fathers began, so that truth, and justice, and mercy, and all humane and christian virtues might not be extinguished from the land; so that no man would here. after dare to limit and circumscribe the great principles on which the temple oi liberty was being built. :"
 The impression sought to be made Iinon fha rilhlic mind hu fha nolditas