Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1899-04-22

THAT OF 1896 OR NOT.
|. Buffalo, N. Y, April 21.-Fully 5000
people crowded Music Hall tonight to
listen to Col. VIM. ]. Bryan. Among
those in the boxes were Mayor Conrad
Diehl, Vicar General Connery, of the
diocese of Buffalo, and the chief city
officials.
Col Bryan appeared upon the stage
at 1928 o'clock with a large company.
He was enthusiastically received, the
crowd rising and cheering for some
time. Among those on the platform
were Frank L. Bapst, chairman of the
Democratic general committee; Nor
man E. Mack, Supreme Court Justice
Robert c. Titus, and Oliver H. P. Bel
mont.
Justice Titus presided. He spoke
against territorial expansion and urged
the Democratic party to plant itself
squarely in opposition to that cher
esq.,"
The chairman introduced Mr.. Bel
mont, who was received with hearty
applause. He said in part:
The Democratic party to-day holds
great responsibility towards the peo-
pie. 1t remains with it to decide weth-.
er existing conditions shall continue or
not. The party has never been given
greater opportunity to vindicate its
claim that it is the party that stands
for government by the people and for
the people with equal rights to all and
special privileges to none.
The responsibility of the Democratic
party is doubled from the fact that if
it fails to GUST the enemy in 1900 it
will by so doing give it long lease of
the seat of the government and allow
it to entrench it's position by the intri-
cate system of patronage.
l ann a believer in Democratic principles
and believe that the minority should &C
auiesce in the decision of the majority,
but | believe that the interests of every
city State or section of the country
should be considered in framing national
policy. The city of New York is Demo-
cratic and 1 can say the State, though
we were beaten in the last election, is also
Democratic and it's vote will be essential
in the election of 1900.
I deem it, therefore, urgent that every
Democrat of New York should rally to
his party and give assurance of his sup
port to the next national platform,
whether it win be that of SO, pure and
simple or whether it will be that of '96
modified or added to.
The Republicans, as expressed by TINS
administration, stand for trusts. monop-
olies and concentrated wealth and imper-
iahsm, and to all of these things l hold
Democracy is opposed.
l am not opposed to wealth-no one
would believe me if l pretended TO be-but
l ann opposed to trusts and monopol1es
because l consider they interfere with in
dividual effort which has made the Amer
lean citizen what he is, a free and indie
pendent man. 1 deny in every way the
idea that the Democratic party IS opposed
to wealth. as our Republicans pretend.
Wealth is as safe in Democratic hands as
it is in Republican, but the right of the
individual to acquire it will be safer under
a Democratic administration.
Justice Titus paid a high tribute to Col.
Bryan, who was received with trench
dous cheering.
Mr.. Bryan said that he had been accus-
ed of not having worldly goods sufficient
to make him a safe custodian of property,
but that he was glad that the one who
preceded him (BelmonD had enough of
worldly possessions to take him out of
the ranks of anarchists at least.
Mr.. Bryan said that he loved the Demo-
cratic party, but he loved the nation bet
ter. He sad that the Republicans now
look to Alexander Hamilton, but in 1853
they celebrated the birthday of Thomas
jefferson. He asserted that the Repuhli-
can party had reversed its former policy
of man above the dollar, but that now,
he charged, the Republican party places
the dollar above humanity. Passing on
to the war revenue tax. Mr.. Bryan said:
When in hour of peril the adm .nistra-
ton hunted around for any old thing to
put stamp on TO help the government
even those who want TO send teiegrams
to the poor Filipinos are compelled to pay
a tax. Why are the senders of kilograms
taxed? Because the telegraph companies
have more influence with the republican
administration than all the hundreds of
thousands of people who send kilograms"
He said that the government could take
the son from his mother and stand him
up before the enemys guns, but could not
hay its hands upon the millions of aocu-
mulated wealth. The responsibility he
claimed was due to the influence OF
wealth with the Republican party.
Mr.. Bryan claimed that the Democratic
party will be reunited in 1870 without the
weakening of the policy of 1896.
"A financier meets smaller financier
or ordinary man and asks him if he favors
free silver. The ordinary man answers
yes. The first speaker says: What.
man of your intelligence The other fee
bly, whispers, Yes. The first man gasps,
Well, 1 declare" That is the end of the
argument of the gold bugs
Col. Bryan reviewed the currency ques-
ton, saying that he had often been told
that we never had bimetalEsm and he al
ways replied: Never mind, get it back
and you can call it whatever you like
The difference between a gold bug and
free silvertte is that the former changes
his song every six months in the year
but the free silverite sing the same song
for years and it grows sweeter ali the