Perth Amboy evening news., 1906-09-13
BRYAN in
kEN TUCKY.
NehFaskan atlOuisWIle on South
c ern Tour WattersOn Halls
Him Chieftain.

two years, William ]. Bryan was wei
coined here with spontaneous gladness,
He seized the occasion to read a state
ment in explanation of his New York
speech on government ownership of
railroads.
Bryan's arrival in the city provoked
a great outburst of acclamation from
thousands of marchers and other thou
sands in the streets. His reception nj
the armory, where he addressed 12,0Oo
persons, was wildly enthusiastic.
When Mr.. Bryan entered the hall on
the arm of Mr.. Watterson there was a
demonstration that lasted ten minutes,
thousands of flags waving with the
surges of cheers that swept over the
throng. As soon as the noise subsidized
MIR. Wattcrson began his address Of
welcome.
Watterson pointed to Mr.. Bryan and
said: Here he is. God bless him and
give him wisdom" The audience yelled
for five minutes.
Mr.. Watterson said in part as fol-
lows:
There is but N paramount issue
for the neXt presidential battle, ana
that is the rescue of the government
from hands that have misused ana de-
bauched it and its restoration to the
custody of the plain but sovereign peo-
pie.
THE parties to it are upon the n
hand a standing army CT trained poll
ticians held together not alone by the
cohesive power of the public patron
age. but by a community Of interest as
unyielding as it is unthinking, richly
capariSoned in all the panoply of sue
cessful war, and on the other hand the
mass and body of those who hew the
wood and draw the water and pay the
taxes. undrilled, unskilled and widely
separated, often CROPPING in the dark,
sometimes misdirected by divided
counsels. always lacking the
by which results are reached and dam
gers turned. but never yet united ex-
cept to conquer.
Il recognize as our chieftain in this
approaching conflict the Hon. William
Jennings Bryan of Nebraska.
I'VE purpose to reform, not to revo-
~lutionize. the government. We pur-
pose to re-establish Democratic institu-
tons in the nations capitol, returning
to the voters what belongs to the vot-
ers. We purpose to drive from the
fioor of the senate those who sit there
not as servants of the people, but as
corporation counsel. We purpose to
drive from the floor of the house the
speaker and his rules committee, who
have made an autocracy of that which
was created a legislative body. In a
word, we purpose to readjust the lost
balance between the people and their
lawmakers.
Our jury is the nation. II proof the
record of the Republican party, our
witness Theodore Roosevelt and our
attorney Mr.. Bryan of Nebraska"
Senator w. j. Stone of Missouri in
troduced Mr.. Bryan. The demonstra-
ton that greeted Mr.. Bryan on his en-
trance to the hall was renewed as the
Nebraskan rose to speak. Following
his response to the welcome Il great
hush fell on the crowd when Mr.. Bry-
an announced that he would read a
statement on Il topic which had been
generally discussed since he had touch
eel on it during his speech at New
York" He then read his statement,
which in part follows:
in my speech at the New York re-
ccption ! made some remarks concern
ing the government ownership of rail-
ways and thought that | had express
ed myself so clearly that my position
could not be misconstrued even by
those who desired to misconstrue 1t.
after quoting from the Democratic
platform of 1900 that n private mo-
nopoly is indefensible and ~intolerable'
and after laying it down as n principle
that public ownership should begin
where competition ends and hat the
people should have the benefit OF any
monopoly that might be found neces-
sary | stated that | had reached the
conclusion that railroads partake So
much of the nature OF a monopoly that
they must ultimately become public
property
This statement of my views has
been assuiled by some as an attempt
to force these views upon the Demo
cratic party and by some rs an an
nouncement Of an intention to insist
upon the Incorporation of these views
in the next Democratic national plat
form.
Let me answer these two charges.
| have tried to make it clear that | eX-
pressed my own opinion. and l have
never sought to compel the acceptance
OF my opinion by any one else. Reserv-
ing the right to do my thinking. / re-
spect the right Of every one else to do
his thinking.
: IF you ask me whether | expect the
! question of government ownership will
be an issue in the campaign of 1908
answer l do not. If you ask me whetb.
err it ought to be i'll the platform | re-
; ply | cannot tell until l know what the
, Democratic voters think upon the sub.
ject. If the Democrats believe that the
!. next platform should contain a plank
D =. - 49,