The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1896-07-30

William ]. BRYAN and Thomas E. Watson
were nominated for President and Vice resi-
dent respectively, by the Popullst convention
at ST. Louis.
The Convention met on July ~.
The floor. where the Delegates were gathered,
was in some respects crowded with rs unique
an assemblage as was ever massed under one
roof glance showed that they came from
The farm. the mine, the workshop and the lac
tory They discarded conventloDalltles- fui-
ly half of them sat in their shlrt-sleeEes' WIN
their coats slung over the backs OF their CHAIRS.
II f Taubeneck called the meeting TO ofueI.
Gov. Stone of Missouri, made the weicome au-
dress Ignatius Donnelly responded.
His appearance roused the 'middle-of-the-
road element to a burst of enthusiasm. The
movement which this Convention represented
he said was growth of the farm. III haa peen
conceived in the distress that prevailed among
the producers of the country. The people hao
felt the effects of disagreement. III there
was any movement on the face of the earth
called mn by the yeritable hand OF God 1t was
the Peoples party.
Senator Butler was received with great ap-
nlause I'VE are here" said he, because there
IS need for us to be here" He referred to the
fact that two National parties had already heiu
their Conventions These two parties had nad
charge of the Government for 30 years. Inc
people had during this time done their duty IN
the matter of creation of wealth. 1hey hao
caused the country so far as they could TO DIGS
som as the rose But these parties had oeen
unfaithful to their trust, and hao Oronght 'ne
country to the verge of bankruptcy. The ieaa-
ers of both had been unfaithful TO their trust.
Hence the need for the Peoples party. The
Democratic party, at Chicago, was driven TO
the alternative of siding with gold or the peo-
ME. "They were so frightened that IN thelr
desperation they finally committed graad ana
petty larceny. They stole our platform ana
tried to steal into our party"
This statement set the Convention Wllu
The interruptions became SO frequent that
Senator Butler after waving his arms appeal
;uplv to secu re- quiet, said that whom the gods
wish to destroy they first make mad. Every
time You interrupt me-" he said, you endan-
GER vour cause. This Convention has not been
crushed by either of the old parties and Will
not be stampeded. Our duty is 10 approve
what is right and condemn what is wrong.
When o'clock, the hour for the Convention
to convene, arrived the hall was in total dark
ness The delegates were hudded in the seats
in front OF the platform. while CHASTITY groups
OF faces swayed in the light of the lew candles
that lichered on the press tables.
About this time some shrewd mlddie-oi-the-
roa6er thought he discovered that the refusal
&c turn on the lights was part of scheme OF the
BRYAN people TO prevent the straightout ele-
men. from controlling This suspicion that the
lights were out in the interest of faction, as they
were turned out at the Cincinnati Convention
in 1876 by the opponents OF Mr. Biaine, aroused
storm OF protests, and the mlddie-oi-the-roao-
ers we're charging about in the dark to discover
the cause Of the unprecedented situation.
"Its scheme of the Bryan men," the Texas
delegation shouted. Some one mounted the
stage and yelled: The Bryan people have put
out the lights, hut if they nominate Byran we'll
split this Convention wide OPEN"
% m
emnhatically from the black, cavernous depths
of the hall. By this time the aises were choked
with delegates, pushing and cropping their vi y
about in the dark.
Chairman Butler appeared on the stage. Then
Senator Butler called the Convention TO order.
He announced that the Committee on Creden-
fials would not be able to report, and that as,
owing to a storm which blew down the electric
wires, there was no light he would declare the
Convention in recess until 10 o'clock Thursday
morning.
On the second day the Convention, afte,
frittering away several hours, got down IL
business late in the afternoon. The anti
Bryan men had their way in the decision
Of contested seats, but the Bryan men won
victory in the election of United States Senator
William V. Allen, of Nebraska, as Permanent
Chairman. Senator Allen made a speech ad
vocating the nomination Of Bryan, saying it wal
a choice between Bryan or Mckinley. At the
CONCLUSION OF Senator alien speech the tUH
vention adjourned until the next day. Thers
were several scuffies between Bryan and mid
dle-of-the road men.
The Convention became practically mob OF
the third day, when the anti-Sewailites got con
troll and il continued to be little more than
mob during the evening and up TO midnight
when nominations were being made and th'
ballot was being taken for Fice-President
The nominating speeches lasted until almos
exactly midnight when the rol-call began
The roll-call showed Tom Watson, of Georgia
to be the favorite. The first ballot was com
pleted half an hour after midnight. STAN
pede to Watson followed, and be was nominated
The confusion of the day and evening was tn,
result of the strategetic move of the middle-of
the-road Poprlists in overturning the repor
OF the Committee on Rules.
The report called for the nomination Of Pres
idental candidate first. The southerners. o
middle of the-road men. were determine
not to accept Sewall for Fice-President on
ticket with Bryan to whom. apparently. the
had become resigned as Presidential nominee
The Bryan men finally promised Southern
nominee for Vice President.
The middle-of-the-road men accepted the
feared treachery, and the State of Mort
Carolina changing its vote, overturned Tn
majority report OF the Committee on Rules.
This made il necessary to dominate a cand
date for Vice-President first and it was to til
task that the Convention gave itself durin
the evening and far into the night.
This is the ballot: