The record-union., 1896-09-23

thusiasm swept through the over
crowded auditorium as he appeared
Almost every sentence Mr.. Bryan ut
tered was followed by loud cheers. He
spoke in part as follows:
The gold standard papers ask why I
come to Pennsylvania. / have nothing
to conceal. / come to secure if possible,
the electoral vote of the State of Penn
sylvania. If you withhold that vote, /
come upon another mission. That is to
tell the people of Pennsylvania that the
agitation for free silver will never cease
until the gold standard is driven back to
England. You say the craze is dying
out. You may apply to it such epithets
as you will, but the silver cause will
not die, because truth never dies. You
ask why / know this cause is true. l
could give many reasons, but one is
sufficient, that every enemy of good
government is against it. You know a
cause as you know an Individuality
the company it keeps. Our cause ap-
realS to the masses, because they are
interested in effectual laws. Our cause
IS opposed by those who want to use
the Government for private gain, be-
cause we are opposed to government
constituted for such purposes.
Il come to proclaim to you the gospel
described by the name of your city, and
yet you say you will give 100000 ma
jorty against the doctrine. CA voice,
'Never.0 l come to defend financial in
dependence in a city which declared ma
tional independence more than 1OO
years ago. The issue raised now was
raised then. People then said we could
not get along unless some foreign ma
ton looked after us. Some to-day
stand in the same position
Mr.. Bryan presented the various plat
for ms from 1884 to 1896, and continued:
The record is clear. The Democratic
party has never declared for a gold
standard and no man in office ever as
serted a gold standard after he was
elected unless he betrayed the people
who elected him. (Applause) deny
the right of any public servant to secure
office upon a platform and then abandon
it after he is elected. | was reared in a
different school of Democracy. When
find my conscience will not permit me
to carry out a platform on which l am
elected 1 will resign and let some other
man hold the office. That is the record
Of the Democratic party, and | stand
here not only as the regular nominee,
but as representing principles which
have been Democratic from the time
there was a Democratic party. Our
opponents tell US | am radical. / am
a conservatives The gold bugs, who
think / am radical, have joined with
the Populists of Texas, who think |
am not radical enough. / believe in law
and order | do not believe any man,
small or great, should be permitted to
defy the law.
You can find men who were talking
for free coinage three months ago who
will tell you they are in position where
they cannot say anything. They have a
note at the bank and cannot pay 1t just
now, and they are not at liberty to ad-
vocate what they believe, for fear the
note will be called in and the Sheriff will
close them This Government has
either got to be run in the interest Of
the people, or else has got to be robbed
in the interest of a few Syndicates.
Anybody who enjoys being robbed ought
to fall desperately in love with the Re
publican party, because it means to
continue the same sort of thing which
they have had for more than four years.
feel it my duty to defend the Admins
tration to this eXtent-that it is simply
carrying out the policy of the preceding
Republican Administration, and apply
ing that policy to a little more aggra-
waited condition.
I'VE are not going to change the size
of the silver dollar or the gold dollar,
but we propose that any man who owes
a debt shall be able to pay it in either
gold or silver. We are not going to say
that contracts already made under the
present law, which permits contracting
against silver, shall be changed, but we
are going to say that hereafter no man
shall be permitted by contract to de-
monetize what the Government makes
legal tender. We have laws saying a
man cannot collect more than a certain
rate Of interest. In these contracts
men do not always stand upon an equal
footing, and then the Government steps
in to protect the weaker from having
his rights trespasSed upon. If it is right
to say no man shall be permitted to
collect no more than a certain rate of
interest, il is right for the Government
to say when it has declared q certain
kind of money is legal tender that no
man shall write contract saying that
that law is a lie."
Mr.. Bryan did not speak at the over
flow meeting in front of the Academy Of
Music, as was expected but went di-
rect to Broad and Wharton streets,
where $1,000 people were congregated.
Mr.. Bryan acknowledged the greetings
of the assembly and stated that he was
too hoarse to address them. He then re-
tired and was driven to his hotel.