The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1896-11-29

|
| keen BRYAN In the background until -
| favorable opportunity occhrr.n' anu thc ~
| TO spring him on the CONVENTION VIII ~
tne dramatic force op'"li ,,,, ",h,rs Ie
| ing ayowed candidates, could not pdItlcl-
| pate in the proceedings, bul bryan, a
! young man, could be a delesa'e' tdne a
| prominent part, ana captule III, eo'i' - .,
| ton. IL We 81 course. necessary 10 Sc
| cure the Nebraska delegation. Secretary
| Morton, Postmaster Euclid Martin. OF
| Omaha, and other to,u Dei'loS,a'.
| though lacking votes Welulis hau H., ~
| nominal control OF the orgahlzapon. ii AZ
/ Tity. Sheerin and the other offcers OF tne
! national convention were 6olu mn "n'
| could be depended upon 10 seat me solu
| delegation from Nebraska on the hfst can
| OF the roll. The silver men were contest
/ ants. and Bryan's possible candidacy nau
| to Do kept I'm the background, hfst' De
cause he could not make the necessary
! grand stand plav II an aNOwed candiudlc.
| The sprinfr = Z 1896 wa- spent IN strength
| enlng Bryan I'm outside states and secur-
| ing reliable silver contesunE d.leEatlon
\ from Nebraska, with Mllllam dehhibsS
/ Bryan at its head. All this was success
| fully accomplished. and the next scene
| Of the Boy Orator was at the Republican
! National Convention AT ~. LOUIS. nc
was cstcnsibly correspondent LOT MS pa
| per. and had a seat among the other cor
RESPONDENTS. but he did not do much work
| and the files Of the paper snow II.
he was there for just TWO Things. one
was 10 study the crowd ma OUT VIVA
| stirred them and how the mechanism OF
| a great national convention could be util-
! lied. He saw his late rival Tor the sena-
| tOrship. Thurst1n made chairman, ana
| saw him capture the crowd again ana
again. What TnurstOn could DO Bryan
could do. lie saw Foraker, from tho
| mmittce on Resolutions, capture the
| crowd. and what Foraker could do BY
an could DC.
Tho second thing was to establish close
4 relations with Teller. Dubois, IcttlgreW,
| Mantle, Cannon. IOWne, ana the oiner
! boilers who were soon TO be knocking at
the doors Of the Democratic convention.
! Both these objects were accomplished.
| The methods of great convention had
! been closely studied. the temper OF large
crowd tested and close relations estab-
lishcd with the silver Republicans.
All WAS ready for the last act at Chi
cago. The first thing 10 do was 10 secure
the admission of the Nebraska silver del
cgatiOn, headed by Bryan himself. This
must be done for the express purpose OF
giving the boy orator chance 10 get
on the Committee on Resolutions. Until
10 was accomplished net word was
! brCathed ass TO the possibility Of Ncbras-
k1 furnishing The candidate. Euclid Mar
tin and his crowd were thrown out, and
Bryan. Dahlman. and the others were adj
miitcd. They at once chose William j.
Bryan ~ their representative on the
Committee on Resolutions which would
make the report which would prcclptate
Bryan know what was expected OF him2
Chairman Dahman says positively that
Bryan not only knew, but from the min
ute Dee entered on bis work with the com
mittce began TO scheme TO get the closing
Jones and tho ether managers fell into
the trap. They knew Bryan was clever
speaker, and were perfectly willing To
wind up their case with some fireworks.
Tho division OF time was made Bryan
was given the last speech. and the plot
tcrs went 10 work convinced that their
scheme was certain OF success. They
knew that llll and others would talk
long and earnestly. and tire out the gal
lcrics and the delegates.
Tho convention was for silver by an
overwhelming majority. and all that was
necessary was 90 light the spark and
have the fuse handy. Dahlman had come
10 Chicago two or three days before the
convention 20 set mp the pins. As soon as
tho delegation was seated he and others
began quietly 90 take up Bryan Dahl
man himself went 90 Daniels. Of North
Carolina Hokc Smiths secretary. and
urged him 10 keep out OF the Bland.
Boies. and Mclean camps. Louisiana ana
two other States We're similarly visited
and given tip tO be ready.
Then the schcmcrs began % make over
lures 10 Illinois. They lid their best 10
capture Altgold. but could accomplish
nothing. They bad enough scattering del
cgatcs however, 90 make sure that neith-
er Bland. EOies. Matthews nor Mclean
could secure the nomination. The only
thing they feared was the gold men. Oth-
crwise they had the game in their own
hands.
AN went well and just as it had been
arranged. Iil and others made lcng.
heavy speeches. and the people were tr-
ed Of talk. Then Bryan arose 10 close
the debate. His voice was clear and pen-
Grating and people in the back galleries
woke up simply because they could hear
what was said after hours of dun drOning.
NJ. Iaar I.ar.f
been preparing for the event for months.
lie had his speech well in hand. and he
know that be was not expected TO make
81 logical argument FOR silver. but a bril-
liant explosion Of oratOrical fireworks fer
the express purpose Of capturing the
crowd. The speech was carefully worked
up TO the cross of gold climax, which had
been asslmilated from another Congress
mans speech long before. and when VII
liam Jennings Bryan sat down Do knew
that the die had been thrown. that the
nomination was within his grasp, ana
with 10 the possibility OF the presidency it,
self.
The rest is public history. Jones. Of
Arkansas. Aitrcld. 'fillman. ana the lead
Crs OF the ljOics. Bland. Matthews and
Mclean bOCms We're beside themselves.
They saw when too late how they had
been tricked. When the nominations were
made they forced am adjournment and
sat mp AN night trying 10 devise scheme
10 head off Bryan. They saw through his
schemes when il was too late.
The gold Democrats could then have
beaten Bryan. bat they sat silent or de-
serted the convention bah altogether. The
leaders Of the convention were compelled
TO drop into line one after another. and.
before they had fairly recovered from
their surprise. the Bo- Orator of the
Platte was the candidate for President
OF the United States
Bland Boics. Matthews. and Mclean
took but little part in the campaign just
closed. They each knew they had been
beaten by clcVcriv arranged theatrical
trick Jones intended 10 be national chair
man for Bland Ile was glad 10 get the
same job fer Bryan. but Jones had never
forgotten how 10 WAS that the closing
speech of the debate on the platform was
So eagerly sought for by the Nebraska
phenomenon. and Gov. Altgcld long ago
thought out what might have happened n
De bad been worrsd hy the overturcs or
the Nebraska silver men.
Yet 400 these mon now consider that
Bryan was the strongest man who could
have been nominated. and he will be the
candidate OF the same crowd in 1900 N
he is alive and well. Tho schemes Of two
years standing were carried out 10 tine
letter and that William Jennings Bryan
Is not now hooked Ass The next tenant OF
the White House is only due 10 tho fact
that the people Were BOO the end too much
for the Nebraska Presidcnt-makers.-
Washington Correspondent Chicago Tri-
bunc.
When Queen Wihelmina was In Eng
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