The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1897-09-24


In letter to the Mail and Breeze
John J. ingalls,, among other things
has the following to say of VIM
J. Bryan's speech at Atchison &
couple of weeks ago:
Mr.. Bryan has a strong, STURDY
ruling presence and his manner on
the platform here was easy, offhand
and colloquial without much energy
and no attempt at what is common
ly called eloquence. He let off no
fire works, nor any sky-Scrapers.
He had no studied sentences, nor
any flights or phrases that had been
composed. His few gestures were
montonous and mechanical lske the
motions of a lahore at the bench or
the forge. There was neither pero-
ration no. exordium nor climax in
his address, no conference in his
thoughts. nor grace in their delivery.
1t was typical stump speech, the
rolling praire of oratory without
height or hills or visible horizon.
From less interesting person than
Mr.. Bryan it would have seemed or
binary and commonplace, and been
like the seed which fell by the way
side. Nothing Mr. Bryan has done
so far entities him to be classified
among the intellectually great. He
has disclosed no creative nor con-
structive power. He exhibits no
reserved force. Apparently he is
not a student. He shows no marks
of growth and development from
the activity through which he has
passed. His nature is neither deep
nor profound. He does not go
down to the roots of things. He is
an opportunist, and his conduct is
for the emergency. Nothing gives
Mr., Bryan less concern than facts.
If facts collide with his theories so
much the worse for the facts. Facts
may change, but theories are i'm
movable. Mr.. Bryan was confront
ed at Atchison by condition that
confounded all his theories; by facts
that demolished all his predictions,
but he WAS in no wise disconnected
by detection. Like the the trapeze
performer, who, hanging head down
ward in mid air, simultaneously
with the bang of the drum, swings
through space and grasps the dis
tant bar while the spectators APP
plaud the agility which has conquer
ed the law of gravitation, SO Bryan,
in the presence of dollar wheat,
general prosperity and an inunda-
ton of money, jumped from the
Chicago platform, and with the
bang of the drum, landed with both
feet on bimetallism and the law of
the shortage in Europe and if Nc
Kinley was the author of the famine
in Indial After the applause which
followed this pleasantly had subsid-
ed, he quoted Blaine, Sherman and
Carlisle on the evils of the contrac-
ton of the currency by the demone-
tization of silver, unmindtul of the
fact that we have the largest amount
of full legal tender silver money
possessed by any ration. Many
cross-road students of political
economy are beginning to preceive
that the price of commodities de
ponds more on the number of peo-
pie that want them, than on the
number of dollars that have been
coined, and that if man these days
has thousand bushels of number
one wheat he will have no practical
trouble about his per capita. Bry-
ans strength with the silver demo-
crazy, the silver Republicans and
the Populists appears to be unim-
paired. There is no rival in sight.
He is, perhaps, more formidable
than a stronger man would be, be
cause he will excite less antagonisms
among competitors. We should do
we'll not to disparage him, nor to
underrate the power of the revolu-
tionary movement he represents.
demand and supply. Last fall his
indispensable recipe for good times
was an increase of the per capita
by the immediate free and unlimit-
ed coinage of silver at the ratio of
10 to 1. Silver and wheat were the
Siamese twins of his debate. Low