Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1900-10-12
STUDENTS At Ann ARDOR
GAVE BRYAN HIS Chance
TO REPLY POINTEDLY TO CUES
TIONS MEANT TO BE DIS
TRACING.
REPUBLICANS AND TRUSTS.
THEIR INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP
AND DEMOCRATIC REMEDY
FOR THE EVIL.

1880
There was a mildly wild time this af-
ternoon when Mr.. Bryan came to Ann
Arbor. The students of the State Uni
versity, which is located here, were at
the meeting in large numbers and each
one made his presence felt. A plat
| form had been erected on the south side
of the court house building and the
entire south side of the square as well
as the adjoining street was covered
with a solid mass of humanity, a ma
| jority of those nearest the stand being
students.
Mr.. Bryan had no soone shown his
face than the boys began a clamor
| which did not cease for ten o fifteen
! minutes. Even after Mr.. Bryan ad-
vanced to the front of the stand the
din continued, but it ultimately sub
sided sufficiently to allow him to be-
| gin.
Il am glad to talk to you," he began,
"if you are willing to listen"
A few voices responded 1--WE are will
ing"
IF l were an imperialist," MI. Bry-
an went on, Il would call out an army
to suppress you, but l I'm not"
This sally seemed to please the
young men, and most of them laughed
and cheered. Some of them jeered to
such an extent, however. that an officer
was compelled to enter the crowd and
arrest several of the noisiest. After
this, while the Interruptions we're fire.
quent, they generally took the shape
of questions. One of the questions
brought the explicit declaration from
| Mr.. Bryan:
"The Democratic party is for the
free coinage of silver at the ratio of
16 to l, without waiting for the aid Or
| consent of any other nation"
By the. time Mr.. Bryan concluded the
confusion had ceased entirely, and he
closed amid. cheers.
At the time of the arrest of some
of the students Mr.. Bryan's attention
was not called to the fact, and he did
not know of it until after the close
of the meeting. When informed of
what had been done he Immediately
sent the following letter:
Hon. NJ. ]. C~avanaugh, Ann Arbor:
My Dear Sir-If it is true, as l am
informed, that some of the college boys
were arrested for disturbing the meet
ing, please ask for their discharge. I
am sure it was the result of boyish
thoughtlessness and not malice.
(Signed) Wv. j. BRYAN"
Mr.. Bryan took up the trust ques-
ton at the beginning of his speech and
asked:
Are you willing to defend a sys-
tenn by which a few men control a
great branch of industry, and sell to
the people at trust prices, buy of the
people at trust prices and then en-
ploy labor on such terms and condi-
tons as the trust may fix? You young
men do not want that kind of a gov
eminent. You do not want a govern
ment that can punish a horse thief but
cannot punish a trust magnate, do you?
That is the kind of a government you
have now. applause and jeers, and
cries of How about the ice trust?")
Il shall stop now long enough to
discuss the ice trust. Now, will you
explain to me why every Republican
knows there is an ice trust and yet
no Republican knows anything about
any other kind of a trust. Every di-
rector of the ice trust is a Republican,
t4Applause and cries of NO. and How
about Croker?")
Mr.. Croker is not a director. He is
simply a stockholder. (Cries of "Oh"
and %applause.) The Governor of the
State of New York is a Republican,
and If he were in New York furnishing
| tho ioo tr,,ct fnct0oI 0f -aol-;~-
speeches out here, there would be no
ice trust. (Applause.) You have a Re-
publican Legislature and a Republican
Governor in New York, yet the ice
trust f1ourishes. (Applause.) We had an
ice trust in Omaha last spring but We
have a Democratic attorney general
there, and he commenced suit against
the ice trust there, and it dissolved on
the first day of August, but they do not
do it in New York in that way. CAP
plause.) The ice trust in New York
confines its evil to the State of New
York, and the Republican Governor
and Legislature can protect the people
of that State if they want to. But the
Standard Oil trust over the whole
United States; SO does the sugar trust;
SC does the oil trust; so does the barb
wire trust; so does the wire nail
trust"
A voice: How about the cotton
trust?"
Mr.. Bryan: THE gentleman speaks
of the cotton bale trust. Now, let me
tell you the facts. The cotton bale
company has a patent for making
! round bales and it bales less than one
twentieth of the cotton of the United
states and yet you Republicans say
nothing about a salt trust that controls
IS per cent OF the output, but you
howl about a cotton trust that has one
twentieth of the output. Are you hon
es? (Cries OF "Yes.') Then you must
have been ignorant (applause) for nc
honest man would condemn a five PEI
cent cotton bale trust and defend a
95 per cent salt trust because it was
Republican. Great applause). Let
me call your attention to the fact thai
your party has no remedy for the
trusts. Your President, in his letter d
acceptance, spent more time telling you
not to hurt the good trusts than he die
in telling you how to hurt the bat
ones. Your candidate for Vice Pres
ident spent more time denouncing those
who denounce the trusts themselves
A voice: What would you do?"