Omaha daily bee., 1897-01-08
iYAN At BANQUET TABLE
Guest Of the Silver Branch Of 0hicago's
Democracy.
FAITHFUL CELEBRATE JACKSON DAY
Late Aspirnnt TO the Presidency
Talks TO His Compntriots-snys
He Poses No Longer ms
n Candidate.

the fremont mouse the SILVER DTaHVH vi 'uo
democracy held tonight its banquet In cele-
grafton of jackson day" The banquet
was under the auspices of tho w. j. Bryan
league and was held one day In advance
of Jackson day proper, as the guest oil the
league, William j. Bryan, could not be pres
ent tomorrow night, having an engagement
in Omaha.
The banquet hall was tastefully and Law
ishly decorated with greens, cut flowers ana
the national colors and presented an ex-
tremely handsome appearance when, at lo
o'clock. the doors we're opened to 300 fol-
lowers OF Mr. Bryan. AS the members or
the league marched into the hall every
member bore upon his left breast the badge
OF the league, which was worn tonight 10.
the first time. 1t Is OF purple satin ana
hangs suspended from n silver bar, upon
which Is printed the name of the wearer.
Mr. Bryans picture Is upon the badge IN
the form OF medallion set In silver ana
the background of purple Is relieved py
elaborate trimming of silver -
Carter II. Harrison, the nrst presluent
of the league, was at the head of the table
and acted as toastmaSter. Mr.. Bryan belnS
seated Immediately at his right. III was
fully midnight when Mr.. Harrison rappeu
for order and In a few pleasant, wei CHOSEN
words introduced Mr. Bryan. The latter
was greeted with great applause when he
rose to speak in response to the TOAST
"Andrew Jackson" and frequently through
out his address he was competed 10 pauso
while his hearers took time to demonstrate
their approval of his sentiments Mr.
Bryan's address was as follows
In view of the fact that the club under
whose auspices we meet had done me the
honor to take my name l ice, ,niS ,lS' 80 " rae %
neat here what / have said elsewhere.
namely, that my Judgment disnpproves OK
the use of my name ii,, IN eopnye'r5 Mw nhiection
is two-fold one. a., a., . ,,,,
In the first place, believe that cause
is so much greater than any individual
that II should not be burdened ny any
mistakes which he may make. Whlie
man lives he is Liable to err, amn ms ,,;n, Oh
rors are apt to injure any cause with whlch
he Is closely Identified. during caih- c
paign n cause must be idcnuued, ior tne
time being, with candidates Tor pupnc Oh
flee. but when the campaien Is over anu anu
the candidate no longer stands IN repre-
sentative capacity. l believe II Is WISE 10
dsassociate him from the cause as lar as
possible in order that public attention may
be conferred upon principles ana pohcies
rather than upon men.
The other objection tS n pcrsonRl one.
| do not want to stand for four years in
| the attitude of a candidate for me presl-
| dency | do not want jealous friends to
| be continually alarmed lest ! should 40
something to ALLEVIATE some OF those VINO
| have given me their confidence ana sup
! port. In the past 1 have spoken out upon
public questions which In my Judgment
! needed to be discussed. and desire to
| occupy the same position In the iuture:
| be time enough to select candidate, ana
we can then select candidate suited
| to the conditions then existing and lit FOR
| the work then to be done. Fully appre-
ciating the high compliment paid me and
deeply grateful therefor, l still repeat my
suggestion that my name be no longer
| connected with the names of clubs.
As we are assembled upon this occasion
| to do honor TO the memory of Andrew
| Jackson we may properly discuss the re-
| lations which should exist between the
| democrats who endorsed the Chicago plat
| form and the so-called democrats who
aided in the election of republican pres
| ident
HAVE A RIGHT TO THE NAME.
| The democrats who controlled the Chicago
| convention earned their right to the ?arty
| whatever rule their claims may be meas
which the people rule. In other words. It
Is a government such as Lincoln described:
| "a government of the people, by the people
and for the people" And "A democrat In the
broadest sense Is one who believes in this
| in this form of government, mean actual,
| sincere, heartfelt belief. not formal and
ernment. Measured by this definition, those
who supported the Chicago platform are
of the people to govern Themselves and tne
| right of the American people TO legislate
less of the wishes of those who live in other
lands.
/ In n technical sense, democracy Is OUT
The democratic party of the United States
in national convention, assembled ,a ae-
Sordng witch to custom adopted plHa
of nearly two-thlrds OF very
large proportion of the democrats of the
nation. That convention had right to de-
fine democracy In a party sense ana we
dorsed ts Ra paorm T are e and
that those who refused to support the plat
form are not democrats.
g g there should
contest over this point. 1t is strange that
those who secured for their candidate less
United States should insist that they are
entitled to be called the real democrats and
numbers on the ground that the majority
of them voted for the republican candi-
party definition of democracy, then there
may be as many definitions as there are
cago nominees have a right 10 call them
selves better democrats than those who
supported such nominees. then the boiling
democrats who boted the boiling ticket
and voted for the republican nominees have
a right to call themselves better democrats
than the boilers who supported the boiling
| ticket.
RIGHT OF THE MAJORITY
The right to the party organization be-
longs to the majority, and the right to the
party must also belong to the majority.
There should be difficulty in UNDER
standing the relations which should exist
| between the democrats who remained In
the party and those persons who went out
| of the party
| A party Is defined az an association OF
| persons who agree upon an important ques-
| tion questions and who unite to give
| effect to their ideas. The money question
| became the paramount issue OF the day;
the democrats In convention took "A posi-
| tlon upon the question and made gall
liant fight in defense of the platform
adopted. If the money question was now
considered settled another issue could be
taken up and a new alignment made.
But the money question is not settled.
The contest for the restoration OF the
money of the constitution Will go on with
renewed vigor. The people who advocated
free silver before the election advocate
| II now. The election has decided the presi-
dency for four years and II has deter
mined the complexion OF congress for two
years, but II has not overthroWn the
convictions OF those who believe that tho
gold standard is a conspiracy against tho
welfare OF the producing masses, nor has
II changed the convictions OF those who
believe that trusts must be abolished and
corporations made to obey the law.
This campaign has shown the impossible
ity of keeping bimetallists and gold stand
ard advocates In the same political organl-
cations, nnd II will be more difficult task
I'm the future than II has been this year.
To use n common illustration, a hen IL
always disturbed II she has In her brood
n few ducks which insist upon padding
in the water while the chickens are con-
tent to scratch upon the land. The DEM
ocratlc party win In like manner be III
| nj ease IN A "A fCH Wph-fOltpl mem-