Great Falls weekly tribune., 1896-07-17
Will Be the Standard Bearer Of the
Democratic Party in the
Contest.
ENTHUSIASTIC NOMINATION
A Candidate and Platform That Must
Insure Success for Free
Coinage.

Bryan of Nebraska, the young, classic
featured orator from the plains of tn,
Platte, swept the convention off it's fee
today and was nominated for presiden
on the fifth ballot. Political history
furnishes no precedent for today's pro
ceedings in the Coliseum, either as {
great spectacular show or as the result
of the deliberations of the convention ot
a great political party. Bryan is but 3(
years old, younger by 10 years than any
other man ever nominated for the CHIEF
magistracy of the American republic
He came, like young Lochinvar, out
of the west, which has never before nomi
mated presidential candidate, to WOO &
bride for whose hard the country's great
chieftains had been suitors. His name
WAS barely mentioned in the preliminary
skirmishing. Four days ago, when the
convention met, he was not entered in
the lists. But yesterday he made
an impassioned speech and stirred
the convention to frenzy by his
eloquence. That speech overthrow the
diligently organized labor of weeks and
months for other asprants for the honor.
The cause of silver was uppermost in
the minds of the delegates when assem-
bed here. For the cause they dclber
ately placed the eastern wing of the
party on the altar. Now that the con-
vcntion is coldly anaIyzed, it is seen that
the support Of Bland and Boies as can
didates was never soidy grounded
1t was only as representatives of the
issue that they rallied delegates to their
standards, and, even after many of
them had attached themselves to the
fortunes Of one or the other of the can
dldates, they appeared restless and in
an instructive way seemed to be asting
about for a new Moses. The far seeing.
stald and seasoned leaders of The silver
men, realizing that their new creed
would ALLEVIATE eastern democrats.
believed in an alliance with the silver
republicans beyond the Missouri,
through Teller's nomination, and he
rank and file would have none OF it
Yesterday, when Bryan made his
speech, the delegates suddenly saw in
him great advocate of thcir cause, and
they turned to him with an imp"toosity
that nothing could balk. They
wanted d tribune of the people
They felt they had what they wanted in
the eloquent young Nebraskan who set
their ImaginatiOnB on fire. If he hau
been placed in nomination thea, the
convention would have been etGmpeded
as it was today, Some of the gray
haired leaders saw and feared it, Last
night, when he was 'aced in nomination,
those who thought of him as the new
candidate were confirmed in their opin-
ion, The idea, which George Fred VIII
iiams conveyed in his seconding speech,
that it needed the strength OF youth to
endure the hardEnips of the new cause,
that young arms would WELD tie arimi
ter of the indignant people, sank home
The leaders, v no doubted the wisdom Of
nominating SO young and Inexperienced
man, tried to check the STAN 1ede by
adJourning until today, hoping nights
reflection would suffice At the auggea-
ton OF adjournment there was rebellion.
The motion was declared carried against
the storm of opposing votes from the
Bryan enthusiasts, who wanted to nomi-
nate their candidate at once.
A nights reflection only made them
more determined. This morning when
the convention proceeded to ballot,
Bryan showed second on the frat roll
call He had already oyerhauled Boies.
Only Bland was ahead, and il was a
struggle for the Missouri farmer to get
2}S votes, which he received on the bal
lot. On the fourth ballot, Bryan took
the lead and Bland fell back, hopelessly
beaten. The nomination was unani-
nous on the next ballot. Some have
sought to find in the nomination of 1880 of
Garfield, who was not candidate, q
parallel with Bryan's nomination today.
But there is no parallel. Garfield was
only nominated after one of the hardest
and most protracted convention contests
of the century. Grant, Blaine, Edmunds,
Sherman and Washburn were then coy
testing for mastery, and after 35
ballots, the rival leaders and the conven-
ton turned to Garfield, who had electri-
fled the delegates by his matchless ora
tory and commanding presence. Today
the support of the other candidates elm
ply melted away and Bryan won with
out struggle. On the first ballot Bland
got 23S, Bryan l05, Boies sc, Matthews
5S, Mclean 81, Pattison 93 Blackburn
S3, Pennoyer 10, Tillmsn II, Stevenson 2,
Teller 8, Russell 2, Hill l. There were
1856 gold men who refused to vote. They
declined to participate in the nomina-
tion on the platform which had been