The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-07-26

convention shall be- CCheers) This is a
greater question than the personality of its
candidates. and l. as an individual, tell you
tnat Is the TACT After your action last Iase
Mr.. Bryan L utterly refused, and here and
now utterly refuse TO confer either with
Mr.. Bryan or Mr.. Jones as 10 who shall be
the nominee of this convention. loud APP
plause) That is "A matter that We nave a
right to determine for ourselves 1t Is the
tO,OOoe0 people that Is at stake. NOW, thel.
/ am here to do but one thing. and to ask
the consideration and attention of this con-
Nentlon TO tfat one tning- know II hnoN
anything that / am proceeding upon right
lines. You know how long have fought In
your behalf; listen now TO what | have 10
say. 1 have borne your standard tand L
know / was undeserving) First. sixteen
years ago. in 1880. and twelve years after
ward, unsolicited, you made me your stand,
ard bearer in 1882. / did my best i did all
/ could do, with the means at by command
to support our principles among the people.
Now. / stand here in the crucial Juncture
of our party's history and Il shall proceed
to believer my convictions deliberately up
on the condition of affairs. and ask that
poraneous speaker for more than forty
years. and permit me to read from manu-
script what l have 10 say.
Mr. Weaver then read his speech nomi-
mating Bryan. He concluded as follows:
In obedience TO my highest conception OF
duty. with solemn CONVICTION that lam am
dency of the United States distinguished
gentleman. who. let il be remembered, has
already been three times ln0OrSeu Dy the
Populist party of his own State-once for
Representative IN Congress-: once for Unite
States Senator. and only last week for the
presidency. l name that matchless eham.
pon of the people. that intrepid foe of
corporate greed. that splendid young
statesman-William j. Bryan, of Nebras-
ka.'
A YELLOW CROSS AND CROWN OF
There was a great demonstration at the
| conclusion of the speech. Delegates
jumped TO their chairs and flags, hand
kerchiefs, coats, hats and State guidons
were waved in wild confusion. Through
| one of the side entrances four men carried
| a big yellow cross four by eight feet in
| size, surmounted by a crown OF thorns On
| it was inscribed those eloquent words with
which Bryan closed his brilliant speech at
| Chicago. You shall not press a crown OF
| thorns upon the brow of labor; you shall
not cruelty mankind upon cross Of gold.
| big crayon portrait of the Nebraska
| Cross. banners and State guidons were
! carried frantically about the pit. Then,
the the" stage sa Where for Ave minutes they
! danced in confusion while the delegates
howled with delight. Mr. keppler OF Ne
vada, who bore the cross, finally planted 1t
/ at the edge of the stage. and the bearers
| of the State banners and flags descended
| to the pit and continued their demonstra-
IN.
delegation a free fight almost occurred.
! Men struggled and fought TO bar the
! passage, but the way was finally cleared.
| Several men fought like mad over the pos
| session of the Missouri standard. LII was
! broken into bits, but stalwart young
Bryan man carried a piece of 1t through
! in triumph 40 the platform. while the
struggling dsputants were separated by
| the police The Texas and Arkansas stand
| ards alone were kept close to the middle
| of-the-road banner. around which they
! formed a hollow square like desperate men
| in battle, to reDulse the charges or the
Minerva Roberts, a beautiful young lady.
led the cheering in the Colorado delega-
| ton. While the demonstration was at its
height thousands of copies of a Bryan
| silver march were flung high in the air
| and fell in clouds on the frantic delegates.
| Each of the verses concluded with these
words:
! "Chink, chink. chink:
No crown of thorns for labors brow.
| Chnk. chink, chfnk;
No cross of gold for mankind now,
Chink chink, chink;
We'll not to single standard bow.
| Chink chink chink;
| We vote for freedom now
| when uuiet was restored. after seventeen
minutes of bedlam, Mr.. Fields. who was
! General Weayer's running mate in 1892
| bobbIed forward on his crutch. and. after
| his speech, moved to suspend the rules and
| make Bryan's nomination unanimous. The
| convention rose almost en- masse and
cheered. but above the chorus of cheers
| came the sharp cries of the Texas men,
sNo, No.'' they yelled. Chairman Allen
declared the motion carried, but. yielding
| TO the protest. decided TO allow call OF
| States on the motion.
STUMP" ASHLEY PROTESTS.
The Texas men wildly protested. and
| Chairman Allen at last recognized stump
| Ashley of the Lone Star State. for per
sonal explanation" Ashley. who has been
| disturbing factor in the convention,
| spoke from the stage. He opened with a
| few facetious remarks about the docility
| of the Texan nature and it's worldwide
| conservatism, and then announced that
| Texas was ready to indorse Bryan If Bryan
| would indorse the platform adopted.
| 'Stumps' speech was not well received.
| George Schilling of Wisconsin. attempted
| to secure recess until Bryan could be
heard from, but he was howled down. and
/ Chairman Allen ordered the roll call TO pro-
ceed
Alabama and Arkansas were not ready.
| The greatest confusion prevailed Colorado
voted forty-five for the suspension OF the
rules and nomination of Bryan. Men stood
on chairs and howled for recognition.
manded to know whether any other names
| could be placed in nomination. The confu-
! sion grew SO great that II was lmpossioie
| to proceed. The Texas delegation charged
the platform in a mass. One of them
shouted I'VE will never be quiet if you
continue Isii, that roll CALI r,e, The
alarms, while his assistants plowed
through the dense crowd about the plat
form and pleaded with the delegates to
take their seats When n sembiance of
quiet was restored, Congressman Howard
came on the stage and protested against
! infiiction of the gag law
! Chairman Allen stated the question to be
on the motion to suspend the rules and
nominate Bryan by acclamation.
by God, we won't stand IT.! yelled Is.
/ III. Noles.
Doesn't it require a two-thirds vote to
carry that motion?" shouted an irate Ar
kansas delegate.
The Chair replied that 1t did not
| A California delegate screamed that such
| a proceeding was unprecedented. he
| thought the delegations should have a
chance to place in nomination whom they
! chose.
The Chair held that when the roll was
| called delegations could vote for any one
! else. This ruling provoked another storm
Of protests and only confounded the con-
! fusion.
Some one got on the platform and read.
above the din, a telegram TO Henry d..
| Lloyd of Chicago. from Eugene V. Debs,
declining to permit the use of his name.
AT last. as the only way of restoring
| order. General Fields withdrew his motion
| and the call of the States for noTnin ations
was continued. Mr.. Castor, of California,
appeared as the first speaker of the series.
who seconded Bryan. Mr.. Castor is a MAJ
| Of imposing personal appearance and is
! possessed of voice of sufficient volume
to permit his being heard all over the hall
and he was listened 10 with apparent in
terest. He said that the fact that Bryan
| opposed to that den of infamy'-
| Wall street-was sufficient To convince him
that Bryan was entirely acceptable TO the
| Pop11ists.
CRIES OF GAG LAW"