Los Angeles herald., 1907-01-27
BRYAN RECEIVES
HIGHEST TRIBUTE
OLDEST FRIENDS ARE THE
STAUNCHEST
Great commoner Praised by Those
Who Have Known Him from
lldhood-eprlngs from
Sturdlest Stock
,continued from Page sikh

but to the Increased gold production
of the world.
His big eyes frightened and he re-
piled Instantly:
THE cultivation of an ideal that will
make people measure life by what they
put into II and not what they get out
of It,"
And our greatest economic need2"
Such q readjustment of government
as will enable each individual to draw
from society q reward proportionate TO
what he gives society"
What Is our greatest moral dan
ger?"
"The man who will allow himself to
become the servant of his possessions"
And our greatest economic danger?
Inequality in the distribution OF
wealth, which results In those VINO
actually produce the most getting the
least"
Bryan is not q Socialist, but he Is an
Indiyidualst, and q strong one. He be-
lieves the Democratic party will be able
to win back many of the votes 1t lost to
the Socialists at the last general cleo
ton, IL 1t will make Its national fight
on the really vital questions OF the time
and not fool with sleeping issues. And
think he believes in letting the silver
question sleep
He thinks the large Socialist vote in
1904 was caused by the determination
of many liberal Democrats, who could
not vote for Parker, to support the So
cialist rather than the Republican cam
didate.
When you mention to him the posi-
biity of his being candidate for the
presidency, he says he is not thinking
anything about that at present and asks
you to look at a charming picture or
his married daughter and her two chill
dren. One of his grandchildren bears
marked resemblance to him.
AT present the only members OF the
family at home are Mr.. Bryan and his
wife. The younger daughter, Grace
Baird Bryan, is at school in Virginia
and William jennings jr., the one son.
is attending a military academy in In
diana. So the place Is a bit lonely
thohgh a very much elongated dach-
shund, which Miss Bryan brought back
from Germany, and q fluffy dot OF Il
white dog of American parentage liven
matters once in q while. And then
there Is horseback riding, which is q
favorite pastime with Mr.. Bryan and of
which his wife is also fond. Almost
every pleasant day they canter while
along the country roads.
And almost every day, save when the
weather is extra bad, some part of Mr..
Bryan's time is devoted to receiving and
entertaining visitors. Some came all the
way from distant states just to spend
an hour with man who Is close to
their ideal OF what man should be;
and others stop off at Omaha on their
way across the country to run down 10
Lincoln Some are old friends from
Salem, ILL.,, where he was born, or Jack
sonville, where he went to school and
where as boy he used to recite his
speeches to a dear old lady with whom
he there boarded.
His First Grafton
The first piece he ever spoke in public
was Patrick Henry's famous liberty or
death grafton, but he didn't do 1t well
enough to win any prize at all. Then he
tried 1.-The Palmetto and the Pine" and
won third place in that contest. With
Bernardo del Carpio'' he captured Sec
ond prize and in his sophomore year at
Illinois college he gained first place
with an essay on Labor" So you see
he climbed the oratorcal ladder round
by round.
His first political speech was to have
been made in the summer of 1880, when
he was 20 With two other speakers ho
was billed for Democratic address at
a farmers picnic near Salem. When he
reached the grounds however, he found
no one there but the owner of the
grove, a heel-of-fortune man and two
lemonade sellers, and after waiting in
vain for more of all cndience he went
back to town with his speech unsaid!
He laughs deep laugh when he tells
of that day, to which he had looked
forward with such high hope and which
turned out to be such a fizzle.
AS l said, Bryan always changes the
subject when the presidency is NELL
toned, so it is impossible to discuss
this topic with him. Some of his closest
friends feel that the thing for him to do
is to come out with fiat-footed refusal
IL, oil lAxxy hi To INka1
sidered for any office. They think this
would give him a measure of strength
and influence never before attained by
any public man, and there Is good logic
behind their position But 1 believe
Bryan wants that third nomination,
which now seems to be headed his way
and have excellent cause for thinking
he rather expects 1t to arrive on time.
Next to the president he is undoubt-
edly the most popular living American
and If the two lived side by side as
farmers, the order might be changed
Shining through the dignified charm Of
manner is the light of a fine character
such as cannot fail to attract, be it
found where 1t may. His total alb
stinence in the matters of smoking
drinking and swearing are but minor
considerations in this regard. The big
thing, which wins him the sort of sup
port worth having, Is his devotion to
what he believes is right, whether thai
belief >carry him to defeat, as 1t has
done in the past or to the highest office
within the gift of the people, as 1t may
do in the future.
But wherever 1t lands him you will
always find him little bit happier at
FairVlew than in any other place.
There we leave him, working over his
new lecture 1.-THE Way of the World"
and incidentally trying to decide just
how many acres he would best plant in
corn next year.
And back we trudge to the green, troll
ley shed, with fresh memories Of de-
lightful home and a big man-yes. n
very big man, any way you look at him.
FORMER NEBRASKAN