The Indianapolis journal., 1897-01-04
BRYAN'S LECTURE TOUR.
He Showed Good Sense at Last in
Abandoning IL.
Philadelphia North American

Philadelphia North American.
1t should rather go 10 his credit for COM
mon sense than be mentioned in reproach
that Mr.. Bryan has abandoned the lectur-
ing tour he was under contract to under
take. The whole matter was undertaken as
a speculation. One of the syndicate. and
probably all. had put his money on Bryan's
election and lost all. But this person con-
ceived the project of the tour. expecting To
make "A good thing for Mr.. Bryan and at
the same time recoup his losses. The tour
like the wagers, must be accounted for as
bad judgment. The success of the Popo-
cratic ticket was never at any time possi-
BILE of achievement. For the most part men
who bet on such success bet small and
hedged. Some lost their heads. no doubt
and forgot to hedge Out OF this neglect TO
hedge their bets on Bryan came the much
heralded fifty-thousand-dollar lecture pro-
Ject.
The singular part of this second chapter
of the Popocratic movement is the dense
stupidity of its projectors MIR. Bryan Is
said TO be an orator and ne certainly made
about six hundred addresses during the
canvass But il was not difficult matter
to make six hundred speeches of the quail
ity OF Bryans. In all that he said and I'm
all thai he is charged with having said
there is not "A sentence that will ever be
quoted to illustrate any subject. Whatever
the man may be otherwise he is not a man
of wide information nor il he logician.
He never strays into new and fresh fields
of thought, utters no original sentences
showing the gift of many sidednsSs. and
seems not to have the happy faculty of
presenting old truths in new and
no reason for revising the opinion OF inls
paper often expressed while Brvan's
speeches formed part OF the literature OF
the day. a man rushing about the country
as comet rushes through space would in
evitably attract attention. Bryan certainly
did attract audiences. but not because he
had any remarkable revelations 10 make.
and there IS ample reason To suppose that
had he retraced his steps hc would have
failed TO draw even moderate crowds. The
fact is that the Bryan progress WAS one
of the most stupendous fakes the world
has seen since the South sea bubble was
exploited by Law.
Yet the idea of a lecture tour originated
in the Bryan progress during the canvass.
Ii was evidently supposed that the an
nouncernent Of the presence Of such Dhe-
nomenon would always insure fun houses.
Nobody seems TO have suspected that
Bryan is. neither by ature. temperament
ror training. fitted for the lecture platform.
at least none of the syndicate of exploiters.
But failure WAS freely predicted by men
who had sounded the depths OF Bryan lit
erature. No maa who had spent httle
time over the speeches he made ever doubt
ed that the scheme would fail IL had no
foundation except false and superficial
view of the ability 9 man 10 repeat sub
stantially one set OF phrases six hundred
times Ii was not a matter OF brains. but
a matter of pluck and endurance Bryan
dropped out when he made bis first speech
his lecture at Atlanta. and for the same
reason--he had nothing new or original to
offer Though a crowd might assemble 10
hear such a man. where admission WAS
free. IL was 10 prove quite otherwise when
the audience was expected 10 stand and de-
liver AT the door Bryan's nrst lecture was
described as "a frost. simply because II
was stale fiat and unprofitablc. This
pricks the bubble and fixes the future
status OF Dir. Bryan