The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1896-07-17

priva:5 gain, VIII have lost trtir r''iu
patton; when go F5rGons OF GctE'n
mcnt will be equally distributed and it,
blessings Likewise.
"Hail that day! When it GENES, tt
use tho language of another, Democracy
will be king. Long live the king!' y
At the end of that speech the mem
bers of the housc no longer questioned
the ability of the young man just come
among them. Natures that had been
prone TO discount the youthful inter.
loper from Nebraska recovered from
their error with no further delay.
No one sneered at Bryan after that,
and there were few who dared to risk
the discomfort of taclling the 1.-the
westerner who was SO quick and nimble
J on his mental feet
All through that congress-the Fifty
sccond-Bryan was one of the most
prominent figures in the house, although
he was its youngest member. He de-
voted limitlcss time to tariff reform.
and when he went hack to Nebraska it
was with the knowledge that he had
fought good fight.
He entered the next congress to fight
new battle He had Joined the forces
of Mr.. BANDS free silver warfare and
became the first lieutenant of the Mis-
souri, veteran. In the previous congress
Mr. BANDS right hand man had been
Mr. Pierce Of Tennessee. but he failed
of reelection. Pierce was not great
orator. but was an effective speaker and
skillful and adroit parliamentary gen
eral. What Bryan lacked i'll the latter
respect he fully made up by his bril-
liancy as speaker, and in the silver
debates of that congress he laid the
foundations for his political future.
He had sided with Mr.. Bland in the
previous congress. but it was not until
now that he became an out and out sill.
yer leader. Before that it had been
thought he favored free coinage because
Of supposed strong sentiment among
his constituents favorable to this legis-
lation. But now he showed that his
heart and sonl were i'll the cause.
His speech against the repeal OF the
Sherman silver coinage act was one of
the most remarkable ever heard in the
house. For three hours he held the close
attention of the largest audience, both
on the floor and in the galleries, drawn
to the capitol during that session. The
oldest members Of the house followed |
the speech with even more respectful
interest than had been accorded to Mr.. |
BANDS speech few days before, and |
Mr. Bryan's more attractive personality |
and his captivating eloquencc fixed the I
attention of hundreds present who were
less interested III the issue discussed.
After Bryan had declined a renomi.
nation for a third congressional term.
be became editor in chief of the World
Herald of Omaha, in which he was to
advocate the free and unlimited coinage
If silver, and incidentally, it was said,
10 promote his candidacy for the United
States senate. Another feature of his
was TO be "a hostility to the
and all that pars1ok of
Mr.. Bryan took hold Sept |. 1894,
md all went well until the Nebraska
Republican state central committee
made contract by which il should con-
rol two columns in the editorial page
Mr.. Bryan found that the Republicans
we're using their space TO publish matter
to his senatorial project and
he made fight IN the court, which was
lecided in favor of lis enemies.
When Bryan aspirations We're blasted
" the election of John NJ. Thurston TO
he senate, the silver toagued young
'rator retired to private life as an lex
He still continued, however, to advo-
ate in every way the free coinage OF
liver, and made frequent trips through
he west and south advocating it.