Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-10-04
MEETING IN A BLIZZARD
Whether He Can Mold Public
Opinion is a Question.
HIS FIGHT ON EXPANSION
Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star.

"iitil hight HtppeH oH Tie Ills
fall. The notion has been spread quite gen.
orally through the west that if the fusion
lists in Bryan's state fail to carry it opposi-
| ton to his heading the ticket will grow in
the east and south. 1t would make no diff
ference in most of the western states. Ne
braska would still give him a loyal delega-
ton, and his friends are in full control of
the party organization In the neighborlrg
sections. Yet if he fails to carry his own
state the coming November the chances of
his carrying it in 1900 are Iessened and the
so-called conservative democrats would
have good grounds for asking what the
good was of nominating candidate who
could not carry his own stronghold. This
view might not be taken by the masses Of
the democrats throughout the country who
are wrapped up in Bryan, and probably
would not be taken by them. But it has
a certain force which must be recognized.
Bryan Accepts This View.
Mr.. Bryan seems to give weight to this
notion. He is determined that If his own
energies can bring it about, the result in
Nebraska shall be an emphatic indorse-
ment of his candidacy and of his leader
! snip His quest for the presidency must
| be fatiguing one, but it is undated The
hunter zeal for the chase, which grows
from season to season, is exemplified in
MN He has already canvassed the state
PAS''s 'ii'IouoiiiS AFTER the manner OF mis-
| congressional campaigns, when he gave
the hfst revelation of his physical en-
durance Before the election he will make
| another canvass of it. One two set
speeches during the day, with incidental
| remarks at incidental places thrown in and
an evening rally at one of the larger towns
mas been the measure of his activity. Often
ne drives across the country to keen his
appointments, and sees a few farmers dur
| ing these drives.
His Meetings as an Index
Bryans meetings may fairly be taken as
an index of the interest in him personally
and In the issues on which he talks though
they cannot be accepted as sure signs of
| the result because political meetings are
never a certain index of the election The
most that can be gathered from them is
whether the party spirit Is active or apa-
Iheuc Where both parties have good rail-
hes, as usually happens in campaign
worth hSht1ng, the probabilities of the cleo
tlon are not made clearer Regarding Bry-
an S meetings, l read in the republican
newspapers that he was making the usual
exhibition OF himself to small gatherings
OF women, babies and few voters; that
his TRADES were disgusting everybody who
heard them, and that the only effect of his
meetings was to make republican votes
FROM the fusionist journals l gathered that
MI Bryan was talking to multitudes who
heard him eagerly; that he was leading a
new crusade, and that, after he appeared in
We're converted to his views on expansion
that the republican vote in that locality
substantially disappeared. Verbal reports
gwen me We're a trifle less exaggerated, but
lhey We're too conflicting to be reconciled
several republican politicians told me that
BRYAN was talking somewhere in the state
they did not know just where-but that
nobody was paying any attention to him
TWO or three populistS, in answering nv
question: became wildly enthusiastic and
said there never had been anything like
Bryan's meetings this year.
Way to Get at the Truth.
There is way to find out the truth in
conf1lcting accounts of this kind. That is
by getting the testimony of disinterested
observers and by seeing for ones self. 1
asked the travelling men whom l met on
the trains and in the hotels Several of
them had run across Bryan at the various
towns they visited. They were surprised
TO hear that a political campaign was on in
Nebraska. They didn't know why anybody
wanted to talk politics when business was
SO good, and they were too busy themselves
to listen to political speeches, but Bryan
seemed to be making quite stir and had
d good many people out to hear him. That
was all the travelling men knew or cared.
missed couple of Bryans day meet
ings in which he talked to the farmers, but
finally located town rally at Portsmouth
Inc train was late and the lower part of
the town was deserted. The hotel keeper
hill. Anybody there?" 1 asked. About
thousand ne replied. Bryan had a big
crush when he arrived, but they're coming
away now" A townsman riding up in the
omnibus with some members of his family
had spoken of the Bryan crush rather
contemptuously, but said everybody was
there.
Speech in a Blizzard.
Climbing the hill in the dark, I heard
familiar tones waited from quarter of a
mile They he foyo
because they were couched in silver
phrases. By the time reached the top of
the hill the speech had shifted to expan-
SIGN. The crowd was partly sheltered I'M
de" the lee of the brick school house from
blizzard which was sweeping down from
the Black Hills. Part were seated on the
rough benches which had been provided.
circus style, and part We're standing. All
We're shivering Mr. Bryan was standing
under a big electric light talking as easily
against the blizzard as if he We're seated
at his own fireside.
He had on a black skull cap, and under
the glare of the electric light he looked
like pale monk from the cloister. His
talk was easy and conversational. He was
quoting Scripture. Daniel Webster. Lin
coin and doggerel poetry to maintain his
arguments against expansion There Is
nothing that he says at Nebraska meetings
which does not appear in his published
speeches, and 1t is not worth while analyZ-
ing this particular address Mr. Bryan
u
cutting his speech short half an hour
Character of His Audience.
What interested me was the audience. I
noticed a number of farm wagons hitched
outside the school house grounds. Though
the night was bad one it was plain many
people from the surrounding country had
come in to hear Mr.. Bryan. l counted 100
persons seated around the platform, and an
equal number seemed to be standing up or
moving about. Making allowance for the
people who had been unable to stay in the
open air. 1T was fair to assume that 1900
people had been present at the meeting.
That attendance was very good one for
community the size of Plattsmouth 1t
would include nearly everybody who was
capable of attending political rally, in
GLIDING republicans.
Later in the campaign the republicans
will probably have rally at Portsmouth
which will be addressed by some speaker Of
national prominence They will fill tAo