The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1908-02-05

New York, Feb 4-WHlian Jennings
Bryan. speaking before the Civic Forum
at Carnegie Hail tonight. attacked in
turn monopoIists. stock exchange gamo-
ling. and predatory wealth.
The stock exchange came in for the
hardest pounding Mr.. Bryan character
ized the game there as being played with
loaded dice and marked cards. gel. cent
Legitimate and 20 Fer cent gambling. There
is no form OF swindnug unknown ana
unpracticed there. To him it is a sur
prise that the 100000 Of people in this
country do not rise in their honest wrath
and drive these New York Stock Ez-
change gamblers either into honesty or
out Of the country.
Measured by the number Of suicides
caused. Monte Carlo is an innocent pleas
ure resort compared with the New York
Stock Exchange. and when it comes to
the amount Of money changing hands
and the effect on other people, the no.
torious island gambling resort is stiu
more insignificant in comparison.
On Par with HighWayman.
Mr. Bryan put the monoDolist on the
par with the highwayman who points
the revolver az his victims head and
/ says: Money or your life" and the
/ lawyer who helps him to keep out Of
Jail is no better than the man who
aids the hishwayman to escape.
/ Carnegie Hail was well filled, but
( the audience was far from being OF
the regular Bryan type. There was only
/ one real demonstration and that was
when Bryan called upon the country
10 march 10000 900 strong against ths
| stock exchange
Edward N. Sheppard presided. He
/ described Mr Bryan as q man who
had done his work so well that, al
| though the White House is occupied
/ by q political adversary. se inspires
and controls the political ideals OF the
+ White House almost as he does The
gatherings or nis own party.
The Nebraskan rather repudiated this
Introduction, and took up the cudgeIs
for his friend, Mr. Roosevelt, as an In
dependent thinker.
Glad of Chance TO Speak.
/ Mr.. Bryan began by expressing his ap-
/ probation of the opportunity 70 present
in this great center Of trade and
finance" the hacken-eyed subject Of "lar-
ceny." He did not select this subject
with any intention Of presenting an ar
/ gument against stealing and he was 60
ing TO assume that those who listened 10
him agreed that the commandment
/ against 1t should be obeyed. II was his
/ purpose rather 10 make some applica-
/ tions Of the commandment to present con-
diuous, for he was satisfied that many
are guilty without really being conscious
/ of disobedience to the commandments oE
/ committing any wrong"
AR Bryan was aware that law writer's
/ have divided larceny into two classes
/ petit larceny and grand larceny. But in
modern times there is a tendency TO di-
vide the latter into two classes, so that
now we are inclined 10 think Of larceny
as petit larceny, grand larceny and glo-
rious larceny
by glorious larceny 1 do not refer 10
the policy which nations have INDUCED
in Of taking the property Of other nations
/ by force-an act sometimes described as
not only innocent but patoriouc. I re-
/ fer rather 70 that tendency quite dis
/ cernablc at the present day, to regard
! stealing upon a large scale as less rep-
/ rehensible than stealing upon a small
! scale
Laws Aid In Operations.
! In Mr.. Brysn's opinion, stealing through
/ the operation Of the law, If not so fre-
/ quent. reaches a larger aggregate in prop
! erty value than stealing I'm violation OF
! law inequality of taxation is merely a
/ form of larceny. he said. The effect is
/ just the same between TWO men as If one
/ took the others property and applied is
/ To his own use. The fact that the gov
| ernment acting as a collector took tie
! s. from the man who is oyerburdeHed and
gave it to the man who is nderburden-
/ ed does not change the character Of ths
! transactsn. Through monetary legisla-
| tion also larceny may he practiced.
/ The subject Of private monopoly. ac-
/ Cnrding TO the speaker, furnishes another
/ Illustration OF larceny, and here 70 is
! that larceny rises TO it's glorious prcpor-
tions: not only because of the amount
taken. but also because of the respects
ability of those who received the stolen
goods.
Mr.. BTyan's Speech.
| In full, Mr.. Bryan's speech was as fol-
/ lows:
! Mr. Chairman. Ladies and Gentlemen.
/ I appreciate the opportunity which ths
/ Civic Forum has given me of presenting
/ in this great center of trade and finance
/ q subject which however hackueyed it
may seem, still forces itself upon as,
namely-the subject OF larceny. The
commandment Thou shalt not steal'
/ presents as clearly as il can be presented
a moral truth that may be classcd among
the self-evdent truths The greatest
service that one can render a truth is to
state it so plainly that IL can be UNDER
stood. / do not mean that any truth
can be stated so plainly that IL viii not
be denied by those who find it % their
interest TO deny IT, I believe that il was
! Lord AlaCaulay who said that eloquent
and learned men could boz found 10 dis
pute the law Of gr3vitatiOn il any Pc
cuniary advantage were To be gained by
/ it, What / mean 20 Say is, that a truth
can be stated so plainly that those who
desire 10 see il. can see IL. and that when
/ Il is seen, il needs no defense. IT, for in
stance, you may say to a man that it Is
wrong 10 steal and he replies: oh, Z
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