The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-08-04
stronger than Evsr.

Lie eUplo utlcIS OIL az
knowledd truth when it says this
age has produced no more wonderful
man than W. J. Bryan. He stands
to-day before the American people
their most peerless citizen although
the shadow of defeat is resting upon
him. His popularity, instead OF
waning, has increased and the sffec'
ton of the people for him is something
remarkable, the like of which has not
been witnessed since the days of JEFF
ferson, Jackson and Henry Clay.
Wherever he goes the people turn out
in crowds to hear and see him. And
this is not all due to the man himself,
but to the cause he represents. This
is not local but the cry comes from
every State and Territory in the
Union. Not long since A.. B. Will
ialus, late of the Greenville News and
a bitter opponent of Bryan, bore tes.
timony to the fact that if the election
were held to day Bryan would be
overwhelmingly elected. All the evil
dence from the doubtful States, where
the tide of battle was turned against
him last year goes to show that the
cause he represented is stronger than
ever. Hon. Champ Clark, who cam
psigned in the First Missouri district
lately and afterwards delivered an ad-
dress at Roanoke College in Verginia,
says he found it the same everywhere
that the one thing most certain to
bring down the house was the predic.
ton that Brysn would he inaugurated
president In 1901. There has recently
been q convention Of democratic edi.
tors of Missouri and Indiana which
was in the nature of = conference, and
the almost unanimous opinion of
those editors was that there should'b be
no backdown from the Chicago plat.
form and that Bryan was the logical
candidate in 1900. The sentiment
was almost unanimous and universal
in favor of continuing the fight for
silver. One of the most prominent
editors of Indiana said that the men
who worked for silver in 1896
were just as devoted to it IS ever and
hundreds who opposed 1t had come
over and if the battle were to be
fought over now Bryan would carry
the State by a tremendous vote. A
Mr.. Wolff, who is the president of a big
iron and ship-building plant at Port
land, Oregon, and a Republican be-
sides, says ''if an election were held
now for president the whole Pacific
slope would vote to elect Bryan over
any man the Republicans could
name" There is no weakening of the
lines hera in this State, as we well
know, and the testimony from all
other quarters is the same. Even in
Ohio the Republicans r quaking in
their boots for the promised prosperity
upon the election of Mckinley which
has not come, and in Kentucky the
Republicans are making no pretence
to a ghost of a chance of carrying
the fall Collections. The gold men
are fond of nugging the delusion to
their bosoms that the silver cause is
dead and they talk and write glibly
about the passing of Bryan" The
wish is father to the thought. Bryan
is passing but not passing away. He
is only passing on to a higher plane
of popularity and to deeper depths in
the hearts of the people. The people
feel that the argument is closed and
the issue joined and there is nothing
to be done now but fight it out to g
successful issue.