The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-08-14
THE REAL ISSUE.

Mr.. Bryan's speech of acceptance is
notable for its conciseness, its maturity
of thought. its dignity of style and for
the directness with which II outlines the
real issues of the campaign. It's image
ry is less fervid. its rhetoric simpler
perhaps, than would have come from
the same source four or eight years ago
Indeed. every line shows the growth of
the man in grasp of public affairs and
realization of vital differences between
the two great parties.
Shall the people rule?" is the key
note Of the speech as II is of the Demo-
cratic platform; and in that question is
involved the whole problem of the
American people. Mr.. Bryan believes
the people should rule; that they
should be. the government, that the pre-
datory interests which have so long
utilized the machinery of the Repub-
lican party for the acquisition of spe-
cial privilege and enormous illegal
wealth, should be relegated to their
proper position in the republic.
Most pertinently he asks how these
predatory interests are TO be restrained
and the people be restored to power so
long as the Republican party is SUI
preme. He points out the fact that the
evils which Mr.. Taft promises to rem
edy have been created under Republi-
can administrations and maintained
while the Republicans held all the
branches of government. With ire
sistible logic he declares that the only
hope of restoring the government to the
people is by the defeat of the party
which has given over the government
TO the men and corporations who now
defy restraint
1t seems automatic. as Mr.. Bryan
says, that the great trusts which have
made Republican success possible and
have prohted by contributions 10 that
success. should laugh at any sugges-
ton OF reform by the party which they
control. Judge Taft may be sincerely
DESTROYS of achieving reform; he may
be honest when he pronounces for
remedial legislation, but the forces
which control his party, the men like
Cannon and Payne and Dalzell and Al
drich. who enact its legislation-these
forces and men would derermine the
fate of reform measures. How they
would determine ii is shown by the
session of congress just closed when
every reform measure recommended by
Roosevelt was killed by the cold stor-
age process in committee.
With all of his pronounced convic-
tiols as to what should be done 10 re-
store the government to the people, Mr..
Bryan's speech shows the conservatism
Of constructive method. not the radical
ism of destruction. In this feature the
speech must be a grievous disappoint-
nent TO those of his enemies who nave
been expecting him TO afford a pretext
for attack on the ground that his cleo
ton would be a menace to substantial
interests. The only menace in Demo-
cratic success is to the criminals who
have fattened on unjust, illegitimate
profits. protected by government favor;
10 the aggregations of capital which
have monopolized the control of human
necessities and capitalized that mo-
nopoly under the shelter of Repub-
loan tariff The honest citizen or cor
noration need have no fear OF Mr..
Bryan or of his party if elected; on the
contrary, the honest citizens sole hope
of relief from the extortion and oppre--
sion of monopoly depends upon the re-
storation of the government to the
neople through the Democracy.
Tho sneech is all that could have been
asked from a man who has been en-
trusted with the leadership of a great
party. 1t is aggressive, 1T has put the
opposition on the defensive. it promises