The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1906-09-07
"The Great COmmOner" Receives the Great
est Ovation Ever Accorded Private
Citizen.
10000 People Fill Madison Square Garden
and Applaude the 'First American
Citizen to the Echo.

i Garden entrances. The immense aud
itorium began to fill so quickly that
the ushers and policemen had Difficult.
ty in adhering to the seating arrange.
ments. 1t was good-natured aud.
fence, which had cheer on the ton
que for every one. There were calls
and counter calls from the various
State delegations. The Nebraska
Bryan home folks" arrived in a body
and were given seats just back of the
speakers stand. The hall was devoid
of decorations other than the bunting
and flags about the temporary stage,
but each person had been presented
with flag by the reception committee
and the waving of these made a pic
ture such as the Garden, a scene of
many notable gatherings, has seldom,
If ever, Witnessed.
Before the speaking was called to
order a band played merrily such
tunes as Maryland" my Old Ken
lucky Home" Way Down Upon the
Suwanee River" and other Southern
melodies calling forth tumultuous ap-
plause, but when the first strains of
Dixie" were sounded the thousands
of Bryan welcomers were on their feet
in an instant and the cheers COM
pletely drowned the band for time.
AS each notable Democratic visitor
entered the Garden and was recogniz-
ed his name was called and the cheer
ing was renewed.
No Vacant Seats.
Twelve thousand persons, many of
them women, were seated by z o'clock
and an hour later there was not a va
want seat. The galleries early were
damned. Hundreds of policemen and
fifty firemen were on duty in case of
emergency
At 8 o'clock, when Mr.. Bryan had
not yet arrived, Harry w. Walker, on
behalf of the Commercial Travellers
Antitrust League, called the assem-
blage to order, saying:
Ladies and gentlemen, fellow-citi.
zens from all over this broad land:
"On behalf of the Commercial Anti
Trust League, l have the great honor
of asking this homecoming welcome
to come to order. The league well
comes back Mr.. Bryan, fresh from his
triumphs in the Old World, as the most
distinguished and best beloved private
citizen on earth.
1T is my real pleasure to introduce
to you the Chairman of the Reception
Committee, Missouri's Governor, Hon.
Jos. W. Folk"
Governor Folks Address.
Gov. Folk was given an ovation He
said:
What we say here may count for
little; our words may be of only pass
ing moment and soon forgotten. But
those ideals that bring us here will
live when those present at this assem-
bly, shall have passed away. We come
not of ourselves alone to welcome |
home the distinguished American in
whose honor we gather, but to voice |
the love and faith of millions in the |
great leader who has again set foot |
upon his native land-millions who |
love him because his hands are clean, |
his heart is pure, and his soul has not |
been touched or tainted with the scars
of unearned gold. Nor in him alone |
do we place our trust, nor in aught
that is human, but rather in those
eternal truths which he has loved
and served so well.
I'VE are on the Threshold of the
greatest political awakening this Ma
ton has ever known. 1t marks the be-
ginning of new age. The next few
years will be distinguished as the
time in which industrial problems are
solved, the reign of the special priv
llege brought to an end, and the doc
trine of equal rights fixed in National
policies and in the conscience of man.
kind. Things are not tolerated for
now that not long ago were
submitted to in silence. Only few
years past bribery was considered
merely conventional. Legislative halls
we're made dens of thieves, and the
ouch of the unclean dollar of privi-
eyes was over ALL Dishonesty in pub
Continued on Tenth Page.