The herald., 1898-12-24
70 BRYAN
sErGHBoRs AT
!nr.N
.dLD HAUL DOWN OLD GLORY
Whenever That Action Is Right, as
Has Already Been Done at
Many Times
Associated Press Special Wire

ASSoSidttQ L ASoS oPSSifA W 'As-
LINCOLN, Neb., Dec. 23.-Col. w. d.
BRYAN returned to Lincoln tins afternoon
and was tonight rendered reception at we
Oliver theater by the Womans Blmetaiilc
league. The house was crowded and Col.
Brvau received an ovation. He was nitro
duced by Gov. l1olcomb, who formally wei
coined him home and compiimented HIM ior
his patriotism in enlisting in the army.
After thanking his neishbors Tor their
cordial welcome and comphmenting the
members OF his regiment he Justlf1ed his
resignation as follows:
Il had five months of peace IN the army
and resigned in order to take part M lleht.
/ am as much interested in the people OF
the United States as | am in the people OF
Cuba. and unless | am mistaken III Judging,
we are called upon to meet more important
problems in the United States Just now
than will confront or army i'll Cuba;
''Some of these problems were under dis
cussion before hostilities began. Others
have been thrust upon us as result OF the
war. Let me improve this, my first oppor-
tunty, to assure you that my zeal Tor ,he
reforms advocated few months ago has
not 1.-The least abated. Vital questions
cannot be killed or buried, and we were
dealing with vital questions when the call
to arms resounded through the land
"The American people have not accepted
the old standard as final 1t has wrought
more injustice in our country during the
last twenty-five years than SPAN mas
wrought in all her colonies, and cr-osition
to it will grow until the gold and silver
coinage of the constitution is fully restored.
The trusts which now flourish in defiance of
law are more merciless than Weyler was,
and the new trust-the paper money trust,
which is seeking to obtain control OF all
paper money of tho nation-ls greater
menace to the country's welfare than any
foreign foe
"There are, however, two new questions
which demand immediate attention, because
congress is asked to act upon them at once.
'''Ihe president recommends that the reg
ular army be permanently increased TO l00,
600 men. This question must be met now OF
not at all.
Taking up the question of imperialism,
Mr. Bryan said that the president misin
terpreted the sentiment of the people. They
are opposed to giving the Philippine islands
back to Spain, but they have not as yet de
clared in favor OF embarking upon colonial
policy. So great a change, he said, could
not be undertaken without more inv,sstiga
ton and deiiberation than the people have
yet given to the subject.
The principal part of Mr.. Bryan's speech
was devoted to the Philippine question. In
this connection he referred TO President
McKinley's inquiry, who will haul dowii
the fag!" and replied.
.'The flag is a national emblem and il
obedient to the national will 1t is made
for the people, not the people for the flag
When the American people want the flag
raised they raise it, when they want it
hauled down they haul it down. The flag
was raised on Canadian soil during the wal,
of 1872 and it was hauled down when peace
was restored. The flag was planted upon
Chapultepec during the war with Mexico
and it was hauled down when the war was
over. The morning papers announce that
Gen. Lee ordered the flag hauled down in
Cuba yesterday, because it was raised too
soon. The flag will be raised in Cuba again
on the lst of January, but the president de
clares in his message that it will be hauled
down as soon as a stable government is es-
tablshed Who will deny to the people the
right to haul the flag down in the Philip
pines, if they so desire, when stable gov
ernment is established there?
Cur flag stands for an indissoluble union
Of indestructible states. Every state rep
resented by a star and every territory sees
in the constitution a star of hope that will
some day take its place in the constellation.
What i. there in the flag to awaken the zeal
OF rouse the inspirations of vassal colonies,
which are too good to cast away but not |
good enough to be admitted to the sister |
hood of statesy
"Shall we keep the Philippines and amend |
our flag! Shall we add a new star-the |
blood star, Mars-to indicate that we have
entered upon career of conquest? Or shall
we borrow the yellow, which in 1896 was the !
badge of gold and greed, and paint Saturn
and his rings to suggest carpetbag move !
ment, with its schemes of spoliation? Or +
shall we adorn our flag with Milky Way
cOmDOsed of multitudeS of minor Stars rem |
resenting remote and insignificant depend |
encies!
"No; a thousand times better to haul
down the Stars and Stripes and substitute |
the flag of an independent republic. than
to surrender the doctrines that give glory
to Old Glory. II was the flag of our fathers
in the years that are gone; it is the flag of |
q reunited country today; let it be the flag |
OF our nation in the years that are to come |
Its stripes of red tell of blood that was shed |
to purchase liberty: its stripes of white pro |
claim the pure and heaven born purpose of
a government which derived it, iu,tipowers |
from the consent of the governed The !
mission Of that flag is to float, not over
OF commonwealths, but over |
the land Of the free and the home Of the |
brave, and to that mission it must remain |
forever true, forever true.
Col. Bryan's speech was the only one of |
length at the reception
Col. w. J. Bryan was asked todayabout
the interview appearing under a St Louis |
date in regard to his seeing Andrew Car |
negidof New York He said:
told the reporter that | did not go to |
New York on purpose 20 see Mr. Carnegie |
but that | went on other business. He |
luotes me as saying that | did not see Mr.. |
'anegle. That l. an error; ! did see him