The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1900-10-25
THAI MAN BRE AN"
Impartial History Will do Uin JUS
tiCc--Onc OF the Most Rcmark nbIc
Political IIcadors the World Has
E,vor KNOWN

Political Icaders the World Has
Evor known.
Columbia state.
Lees than one month from today the
presidential election will take place.
In that time aErcat deaf can happen
and the result may be worry different
from what it would be were the rlrc.
tion to occur tomorrow, but one thing
Is certain whether he is elected pres.
idont or not, Williams Jennings Bryan
most remarkable political leaders the
world has ever known.
A few years ago this man bryan WAS
q lawyer and editorial writer in Ne.
braSka. He had served - short white
in Congress whcr" his reputation had
rested chiefly upon his familiarity with
the tariff question. His discussions Of
this usually dry subject were cXucp.
tionally interesting and entertaining
and though then quite young man,
he WAS looked upon with Iufor hy the
leaders Of the tnriI rcfurmlra.
The issues were shifted and the coin
age question became Paramount. To
this the Ncbruskan gave his earnest
attention and it is history that nc be-
came The leader OF one party because
he could talk free silver in 4 moro in
tcrcsting and convincing mannrr than
any other man in the country.
His opponents cdulOu;ly tried to per
suadr the people that this mun BRYAN
is Il fellow Of On3 iGca-trcc silver
forg citing, or rather ignoring, his rec.
ord as u tariif dcbAtcr before silver
WAS the leading issue. II any were in
c.incd to accept This estimate OF B'yun
they have now reason to re jCct IL even
il they could find none before.
Another and q new issue has arisen.
The Jariil and bimctallism were old
Issues even when they were paramount.
They had been thoroughly discussed
in Congress and had played their part
moro or less prominently in prcsidon-
tial campaigns. a beginner was nhl0
to draw upon speeches and arguments
OF the past and it required originality
in conception and expression 20 say
anything original on either subject.
But not SO in this campaign. The
paramount issue is entirely new to this
republic. No one ever dreamed even
four years ago that thc:c would one
day again be wagcd great political
battle involving the preservation OF
The republican form OF government in
the United States. Indeed the issue
was upon Us while only u few rc"liH-
cd it.
The man who recognized its Import
nncC first and most thoroughly was
this same Bryan, who had been put
down as a shallow person OF ono idea
Ii was he who saw how the Mckinley
administration Was drifting towards
militari<m and Imperialism, white
those terms were still almost unknuEn
in this free country. Having entered
the army in q war for liberty, he &c
signed when IL became plain that the
army WAS to be used In war Of con
quest. RcsigninG H. began at once
To light the vicious tendencies OF she
administration, and rs the chosen anu
rcchoscn leader OF MS party, he h",
kept up this goodiy tight. When he
first began TO TAX "ImpcrlnIism, ," there
were '>'T who understood the siunili.
cancc uI the situation. Many Of his
own party fHilcd to realize the malni-
tudc OF the issue, and some OF his most
admiring adhcrcDts Thought he was
making mistake both from the stand
point Of party policy and Of patriotism.
They hcsOugnt him to stop: they point
ed out that he could not hope to ever
DC elected president on An issue that
Involved hauling down the Il AZ they
showed hm that hi8Uwn party WAS not
only divided on this question, but thu
those who agreed win him were ANA.
thctiC or untnIlucntinl. All these con,
| siuCratiOns and more were presented
| to him. a mere politician would hav,
yielded. n time yer would have
endorsed the presidents foreign pole,
on the safe plea OF patriotism and then
sought out IL domestic issne. That was
what the Liberals did in England in
hn n an ins sf all In, al
the courage TO dcnounco the uniust
war upon the Beers and made the fight
on other lincs--and lost, as they de-
served to lose.
Hut Bryan, not hcinG mere DOliti
Cinn nor LlmC-scrVcr, refused to hCHu
all these warnings OF the wise men.
he kept on, in scnson and out OF sea
son, talking against imDuriHiiSm. =
lie found Is few men and several news
papers who appreciated the dangerous
departures the administration was
making in It's purchase OF the Philip
pines and It's attempt to conquer the
natives. But whom Bryan began the
agitation his packers were exceedingly
scarce. Nothing uauntcd he kept on.
He made speeches ard he wrote arti-
cles for the newspapers, the reviews
and the magazines. lie dclvcd into
tllSlOly bIlI bGu(iitu COlS VlGNGlOnSl iSW
more than ever before. ri fight began
to attract general attention ana others
came to his aid being convinced after
studying the question as Bryan had
done. They were led to consider the
effect OF militarism anu imperialism
upon other republics. They found
Bryan WAS right. They studied the
constitutional question involved and
again found Bryan right in c0ntcnding
| that the republic could not govern
colonies outside Of the constitution
Imperialism had become an issue.
Almost alone, that man Bryan hAd
! aroused the people to its lmpDrtancG
| III became the issue 0! the hour and
naturally enough Bryan was looked to
as the leader Of those who you'd de-
stroy Imperialism. The " man Of one
idea" had added "a third TO his rcpcr.
toire. He discussed Imperialism with
all the force, nIl the cloqucncc, all the
| logic with which he had debated tho
tariil and the coinage questions, and
not content with these, nc took up tht
other great issue, trusts, and to that
applied bis same powers Of convincing
logical ciOQucnCc.