The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-03
BRYAN has HEARD NO KICKS.
BUT HE'S TO CONSULT LEADERS
ON RAILROAD DOCTRINE.
says n'S Not . New Issue with Hm-The
'IHOme Folks start for Nebraska With
the Great COmmOner AFTER He Has
broken bread with BIRD \. CoIer.

In a hna! interview while crossing to
the Jersey shore yesterday afternoon to
take his train West William J.. Bryan said
TINT he had not heard any strong protest
from men high up in the Democratic ranks
against his ~enunciation Of the Federal and
State ownership OF railroads doctrine.
When asked il any national committe emen
Of the Democratic party had approached
him with the warning that insistenoe on
the railroad ownership idea would result
harmfully in the coming Congressional
elections MFR. Bryan replied guardedly
that he had consented TO give some time
to the committeeman for a joint considera-
ton OF the mooted question.
-~Spesking from a personal standpoint
said Mr.. Bryan when he was asked for a
final statement On his way to the Penn
sylvania depot, -the reception l have re-
ceived since my return has been very
gratifying. From a political standpoint
l think it has shown a marked change in
public sentiment along lines Of economic
questions, especially those questions re-
lating to the trust issue. The only I'M
p ~leasant feature about my reception has
been that have been so busy speaking
and travelling from one place to another
that have not had a chAnce to meet and
shake hands with all Of those who ave
come to see me, many from a long distance.
Il appreciate the way these people have
endeavored to meet ME, and il is a cause
Of deep regret that | have not been able
to find the opportunity TO meet each one
personally. | promised to go to Connect
icut and New Jersey without thinking that
those trips would deprive me Of the OPP
p~ortunity of meeting my friends. While
no reception could be quite so good as that
one expect to get when l arrive at Lincoln,
still that will hardly be more cordial than
the reception accorded to me here in the
East"
After Mr.. Bryan had made this formal
statement he was asked several questions
suggested by recent spa comment
and the issues raised by his public utter
ances.
The intimatiOn has been given that
so much opposition has been raised to
your -pronounoement in favor Of Federal
and State ownership OF railroads that y 1
hdNc ucctuou hOt - press iLdl ISSUE, Wa
suggested by one Of the newspaper men.
in the first place." said Mr.. Bryan, Il
ave not heard any strong protest, such
as some Of the papers say has been voiced.
l saw the headlines OF one paper that said
that several prominent Democrats took
exception to my views on the railroad
question but l did not see their names
mentioned. Until know their names l do
not think their protest IL very important"
Mr.. Bryan was asked IL any strong party
leaders had come TO him to tell him they
were sorry that he had forced the issue
on the railroad question.
This Is not a new issue with me, . replied
Mr.. Bryan. My views on the subject we're
known before | went on my trip. l AVE
talked with very few leaders since my re-
turn On the subject Of government owner
ship. l talked with some before my speech
in Madison Square Garden and with some
after that speech was made. But | have
not talked with the men quoted in the papers
a. seriously Directing to my ideas, because
their names are not given and maybe 1
don't know them"
Have any national committeeman Of the
Democratic party approached yon with a
request that you allow the railroad issue to
slip into ~abeyance because OF the hurt that
further urging Of it would cause to the
coming Congressional elections?" was asked.
We'll, ! have agreed TO give soma tims
to the national com mitteemen for a further
consideration OF the railroad issue, but we
have not yet set the time for our meeting"
1T was asserted by one paper that you
hal dropped the railroad question, and tho
reason given was that yol hal not toIchst
upon that topic in any Of your speeches il
Jersey" said a newspaper man.
mo, / have not dropped the railroad
issue. replied Mr.. Bryan. The speeches
l made in Newark and Jersey City wore al
short ones, you know"
Mr.. Bryan was asked to explain further
the statements made by him at the dinner
given him by newspaper men on Saturday
night to the effect that he had known five
years before the insurance Investigations
that the big companies involved were fol-
lowing irregular practices.
Seventeen years ago." he replied, "a
New York newspaper man old me enough
about the Irregularities that he knew TO be
going on in the conduct of the business OF
the Big Four to lead me TO withdraw the
insurance carried with one Of those com
panies and place it elsewhere. l believe
that more than half Of the men who sat
dow to dinner with me last night knew
five years ago that the big companies had
interlocked and were making fortunes by
the shifting Of the funds"
II was suggested that, since he was a
newspaper man himself seventeen years
ago,M Mr.. Bryan should have used the in
formation he had an the basis Of an in
vestigation and a good news story.
Il didn't know enough then TO get to
work on IL" said he.
Mr.. Bryan said that he has already ac-
oepted invitations to speak in several differ
ent States In the middle West and South.
He will go TO 81, Louis on September II. On
the following day he will speak in Louis
vile, Ky. He will address an audience in
Cincinnati on the night Of September IS.
Thence he will 60 70 q town In southwestern
Virginia the name Of which escaped Mr..
Bryan when he was detailing his itinerary.
Two or three cities In North Carolina will
be visited by him. Then he will 90 to
Alabama and Tennessee. He had made no
plans to go TO Michigan, de had been re-
ported in one OF the Western papers.
Before the Bryan party left New York
the press agent for the Commercial Travel