The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1897-10-17
william Jennings Bryan's Great Argument A.
Nashville.
|ocRAcY IS STRONGER NOW THAN EVER
~ on Defensive, but Is Are Now
Answering Their Own Arguments--Trying to Get Credit
In the Rise Of Products.

-, t.o'S~ls, you tnlnk nigh tariff is q
good thing. Don't you know that whenever
you have high tariff you always have
some party denouncing 1t? Democrats, you
mink low tariff good thing. Don't YOU
Know That whenever you have a low tariff
you generally find some party denouncinx
~ And yet we had bimetailsm for eighty
one years, and no party ever denounced II.
mat Is record which any party can be
proud Oh. ASK your republican friends
nous an Endorsement of bimetallsm.
But there Is harder proposition than
that. We have abandoned bmetallism
and adopted the gold standard without any
party In the United States asking for it.
What do you think OF that? Change tho
financial policy Of a nation 90 from a
system universally commended for eighty
one years to an experiment. and no party
asking that 1t be done. affirm that the
American people never adopted the gold
standard; 1t was adopted for them by con-
gress l affirm next, that congress did not
KNOW that 1t was adopting the gold stand
ard when II did. Why. the speaker, as Mr..
Gaines has suggested, did not know 1t when
he signed the bill. Senators and members
stated that after 1t was found out that
they did not know that the bill changed
the monetary system Of the nation.
We'll, now, for twenty years we have
had people say that 1t was Impossible to
get bill through congress containing an
important provision without the knowledge
OF congress. Republicans. did you know
that events had robbed you OF this argu-
ment that you have been making for
twenty years? II any republican tells you
that IL is impossible to get bill through
congress containing a provision of which
congress is ignorant, You ask him who put
section % into the Dingley bill
Let me lay down another proposition,
and. republicans, this is the hardest OF the
three. We had the gold standard for
twenty-three years, and in all that time no
political party in national convention
praised 1t. What do you think OF that?
Do you know of any other policy that was
ever so bad that the people endured it for
twenty three years when it had no party
defending it? 1t is true of the gold stand
ard. VIII any advocate Of the gold stand
ard explain why the blessings of the gold
standard were SO concealed that no party
discovered those blessings for twenty
three years? My friends, this is not fic
tion; this Is history. | want to ask your
gold standard friends why it was that for
twenty three years every party held out the
promise of abandoning the gold standard?
IF you doubt that we were on the demo-
cratic side last fall, read what some Of the
leading democrats said after we had In
structed q majority. They went to Chicago
boasting that when the delegates found out
how the delegates from New York felt
about 1t that they would d!sobey their in
structons-actually boosted that in spite
OF instructions to the contrary they would
still carry the convention, but they didn t
do it. My friends it ID bad to have those
leave us who have worked with Us, but Of
all the democratic conventions to leave.
I would rather have any pretended demo-
crat leave that convention than any other
convention the party ever held, because he
| can not go out any say he was democrat.
According to the returns, seven millions
| and little more favored the republican
| platform. But did you ever read the repub-
| lican platform? That was not gold stand
| ard platform, believe. that it carried out.
1t is the same as the gold standard plat
| FORM but it does not declare for the gold
standard That platform declared for the
| double standard. 1t pledged the republican
| party TO do what it could to secure inter-
| national bimetallsm. and MIR. Mckinley
| in his letter of acceptance renewed the
| pledge, and when he was elected he started
+ to carry out the pledge and recommend the
| appointment of commission. Do you
mean to say that it is victory for the gold
| standard to elect a party pledged to get
| rid of it? And yet my friends, that is just
what the American people did. Six and a
half millions of people voted for independ-
| emit bimetallism seven millions for inter-
/ national bimetallism; thirteen millions anu
| one half people voted to condemn the gold
| standard after twenty three years OF trial
There was another platform vote. the
| boiling democrats adopted platform IN
which they declared that the gold STANDARD
was good Well, my friends. II anybody
| wanted to vote for the gold standard th<e
was a platform that expressed his ideas
| They nominated their ticket, they went OH
| t,at, ft,ytt and .
900 votes. or a little less than l per cent
of the votes of the United States.
"In that minority report you VIII fine
| that the boiling democrats declared ina
they were afraid that free coinage would
interfere with the security OF internafiona
bimeallism, toward which they said ira
every effort should be directed; so You SCI
at Chicago they wanted TO get rid OF Inc
gold standard and they were opposed u
free coinage for fear IL would interfere
with the getting rid OF the gold standard
Now. do not know whether you have any
! COLL standard democrats In your town o
not. but, my frlenas, | want a. gold demo
crat TO answer this question: Did the gol
democrats believe in gold standard a
Chicago? If they did, they tried to prae
tice fraud upon their companions IN I'M
convention, for there thoy were In FAVOR
international bimetallism.
Peter Cartwright was once asked II n
was sanctified. and he said. Yes, In spots
The gold democrat is honest in spots. h
spends so much time IN talking about hon
est money that he has no time to be homes
in his efforts to get any kind OF money
Now, my friends, you can not eyade tn
proposition The gold democrat vas eithe
a fraud and pretender at Chicago OF b
was a bimetallist. But do not want I
dwell longer on this phase OF the subjec
!, Nov. during the campaign some re
pub,icans abused me. Some papers sal
hard things against me. II there are an
republicans here tonight I am going
convince them ! am better man tina
j they gave ME credit for. 1t is not wort
while fer man to stand out on col
night and talk to the people who wei
through the fight last fall without losln
their integrity want somebody agaips
me. MY friends. want to convince 20
that I am bHtter man than the repup
licans thought was, and better patrio
/ was proud of the manner In when OF
psople submitted to defeat; proud Of 2eop,
bowed to the will Of the majority we di
not know Just where the majority cam
| 49,. So, u,, howed 10 IT, But, 'ny fTienu