Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1900-08-17
MR. BRYAN's SPEECH.


The 81 erch Of acceptance Of Vim. j.
Bryan is the sensation of the day. The
paper is masterly presentation OF
Democratic doctrine, and while the
Democrats are not surprised at its
power, the enemies of Mr.. Bryan ale
dumfounded. Mr.. Bryan has been the
object of the cartoonist and newspaper
scribbler, and their pictures and filings
showed him as the man of mouth only;
the bowler and whoOper, the blow
hard and the blathertkite. Tue more
quiet, but IN his own mind the more
scathing and whitening writer, the
magazine aud essay maker, had shown
the fallacy of Bryan's arguments-the
shallowness Of his wisdom and the
BON bast of his utterances, and alto
gethsr they had narrowed him down
to the smallest of human shapes, in
tine he was the midget of the political
dime museum.
But alas he has suddenly been trans
formed into the giant of that arena,
and those who before reviled and jeer
ed and scoffed at him, have fed, and
now even his bitterest haters admire
bis genius. The calm, unprejudiced
words of wisdom with which he has
summed up the differences between
the parties, and the remedies for ex-
isting wrongs are 80 we'll osen that
the wisest can find no fault, and the
most unlearned can understand them.
H is letter has been variously criticized,
favOrably and unfavOrably. In this
community the Washington Post is
read and its editorial strength we'll
known and respected. 1t is staunchly
Republican, though it claims to be
independent. 1t supported Mckinley
in the last campaign. OF Mr.. Bryan's
speech the Post in part says:
1t is, we admit, generally an easier
task to criticise and condemn than to
praise. Flaws are easy to discover;
fault finding comes naturally to the
human mind At the same time, there
is captiOus and foolish criticism, and,
on the other hand, there is dignified
and sensible argument. Mr. Bryan s
speech is OH the latter plane. He had
not descened to the level of the politiic
ian, but discusses what he believes to
be a grave danger to the republic with
calmneSS, clearness, and forces. He
explains and defends his support of the
ratification OF the treaty OF peace with
Spain by saying that he expected ia
vorable action would end the war, re-
lease the volunteers, remove the cause
for military expenditures, and bring
independence to the Filipinos In
this he admits be was mistaken, the
defeat in the Senate of the Bacon resO
luton, which promised independence,
being evidence that the Republican
party was determined to keep the
Filipinos in a state of subsection. In
this connection, be repeats the we'll
Of the Philippine Islands, If the latter
are retained as part of the United
States, must either be subjects or clti
Zens. Ii they are to be subjects. the
Republican party has entered upon a
policy of imperialism. He finds
nowhere, in any Republican speech or
party declaration, any evidence that
the Filipinos are to be made citizens.
Mr.. Bryan is for expansion, but it
must be, to his mind, expansion that
means new States and more citizens.
Any other kind of territorial acquisi-
ton is, he argues, at variance with the
idea of a republic. 1t is government
by force. a government of taxation
without representation in defiance OF
the very principles for which our fore.
fathers fought in 1776. He would have
the American people brought to theiI
old mornings. Nor does he find in the
Republican platform any expressed in
tentiOn of granting to the Filipinos
that independence to which, ne says
they are as much entitled as the Cub
ans. The Philadelphia Convention de
clared that the Filipinos should have
the blessings of liberty and civlliza
tiOn. and 1.-The largest measure of self
government consistent with their wei.
fare and our duties.'' But this. he as
serts, is exactly what King George
promised the American cOlOnists, and
with which they were not content.