Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1908-09-28
A TRIBUTE TO BRYAN
BY HON. ]. c. MONAGHAN OF
NOTRf DAME UNIVERSITY.
An AppreCiative Article of The Dem.
OCraiiC Candidate for Pres eSident
Taken from the September Issue
of Extension, a Catholic Church
Magazine.

of Extension, a Catholic Church
Magazine.
1t is now twelve years since Brv-
ans ''cross of gold" speech in Chicago
Why? Like all true eloduence like
the Grafton for the crown, and the
Philippics of Demothenes, it had
in it the ring of sincerity. Bryan
rings true. In religion. in morals. in
politics, in every pathway of life. the
great Nebraskan rings true. This it
is that gives him power. 1t is this
that has endeared him to the hearts
of our people; and it this that has
helped him to hold them, in spite of
all kinds of adverse efforts Of his
enemies, down to the present day
Never, in all our history, has a party
been so loyal to Il man as the De-
mocratic party has been to Bryaa.
Neither Webster nor Clay, Blaine nor
Mckinley, could boast of such 10y
atty and love.
It is mistake to date the rise of
Bryan from the Chicago convention
of 80. He was in Congress in 1892.
He was active then. energetic and ag
gressive. His work in Congress gave
great promise No speech on the tai e
I>1I al III =
far-reaching. 1t is to be regretted
that Mr.. Bryan did not remain in
Congress. That was the place for
him. His "cross of gold" speech was
the worst mistake he ever made. It
was the mistake of his life. 1t leHd
him from the thOrny path of cOnstruc-
tive craftsmanship to the flower-flled
path of the popular orator. The ma
ton had no great need of Chautau-
quans; it had them in hundreds IT
did need great constructive setes-
in twenty-five years, and not five iii
fifty.
The first time l met Bryan he re.
minded me of Cicero. l said, $50
must the young Cicero have ap-
peared." I did not think of Caesar
then; I never think Of Caesar now.
when I see, hear of, or read after,
Mr.. Bryan. Even the mature man is
suggestive, but no longer of Cicero.
Is Bryan Dangerous
Is Bryan a radical? If 50. is he
this Republic are the men who think
William Jennings Bryan is danger
Gus, or that he would be a dangerous
president. Bryan believes in law, he
believes in order. His whole life is
full of facts, as well as words, to
prove it. He is no more a dreamer
than I am, than are hundreds of his
countrymen. l hope, as l would to
God that every man who ever knelt
at a mothers knee in this broad land,
that he is an idealist, that he has
high ideals. God only knows what
the nation would be now had it not
had it's idealists, its Hancocks and
Henrys, it's Otises, and it's Lincoln S
and Lees. But, say some, Bryan is
to bring in government ownership
of railroads, socialism, anarchy
Nobody is in any doubt about the
dangerous men in this Republic Some
are even to be found in railroad Of
fees. They are the INSCRIPTIONS men
who would run up the freight rates
or run down the wage-scale to pay
dividends for sublimely watered stock.
Against these, Bryan is iron or brass.
No! Mr. Bryan is not dangerous.
That is the last thing to think of
in connection with his candidacy for
the presidency.
His Education.
Is he fit? Bryan, bred in the
Drawn and brain breeding west, will
bring to Washington not only what
he went there with, in the early nine
ties, but the ripened result of fifteen
years of careful plowing, hoeing,
reaping and harvesting of the golden
grain fields Of the world. No man
has had such a chance to study, not
even Taft. No man ever made better
use of his time. On the basis Of his
college education, Bryan has been
able to build up superstructure sur.
passing anything Of which we have
knowledge. In day that is dawning
when we are to be one of the worlds
great powers, politically as we'll as
commercially, his knowledge Of the
worlds affairs, his splendid share in
the worlds work, will fit him for just
such work as he will find on his desk