Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1908-08-21
BRYAN
ACCEPTS
In Hearty Accord
With Platform.
SHALL THE PEOPLE RULE
That Is the 0vershadowing
Question.
REPUBLICANS RESPONSIBLE.
All Present Abuses a Result Of
Their Acts. and They Are lm-
potent to Correct Them.

Mr.. Clayton and Gentlemen Of the
Notification Committee: l can not ac-
cept the nomination which you official
ly tender, without first acknowledging
my deep indebtedness to the Democrat
ic party for the extraordinary honor
which 1t has conferred upon me. Hav-
ing twice before been candidate for
the presidency, In campaigns which
ended in defeat. third nomination, the
result Of the free and voluntary act Of
the voters Of the party, can only be ex-
planned by substantial and undls-
puted growth in the principles and pol
icies for which I. with n multitude Of
others. have cOntendcd. As these prin-
ciples and policies have given me what
ever political strength possess. the
action Of the convention not only re-
news my faith In them, but strengthens
my attachment to them.
A Platform Is Binding.
SHALL In the near future. prepare u
more formal reply to your notification.
and. In that letter Of acceptance. will
deal with the platform In detail. 1t IL
sufficient, ut this time, to assure you
that l am In hearty accord with both
the letter and the spirit Of the plat
form. l endorse 1t In whole aud In
part. and shall, II elected. regard its
declarations as binding upon me. And,
l may add. platform is binding rs to
what 1t omits as well as to what 1t
contains. According to the democratic
idea, the people think for themselves
and select officials to carry out their
wishes. The voters are the sovereigns:
the officials are the servants, employed
for fixed time and at stated salary
to do what the sOvereigns want done,
and to do 1t in the way the sOvereigns
want 1t done. Platforms are entirely
In harmony with this democratic idea.
A platform announces the party's po-
sitiOn on the questions which are at is
sue; and an official Is not at liberty to
use the authority vested in him to
urge personal views which have not
been submitted to the voters for their
approval. If one is nominated upon a
platform which Is not satisfactory to
him, he must. II candid, either decline
the nomination, or. In accepting 1t, pro.
pose nm amended platform In lieu Of
the one adopted by the convention. No
such situation, however. coDfronts your
candidate, for the platform upon which
l was nominated not only contains
nothing from which dissent, but 1t
specifically outlines all the remedial
legislation which we can hope to &C.
cure during the next four years.
Republican Challenge Accepted.
The distinguished statesman who re-
ceived the Republican nomination for
president said, in his notification
speech: The strength Of the Republican
cause In the campaign at hand Is the
fact that We represent the policies es.
sential to the reform of known abuses.
to the continuance Of liberty and true
prosperity. and that We are determined,
rs our platform unequivocally declares.
to maintain them and carry them on"
In the name Of the Democratic party,
accept the challenge. and charge that
the Republican party is responsible for
all the abuses which now exist in the
federal government and that 1t Is i'm.
potent to accomplish the reforms which
| are imperatively needed. Further, I
can not concur In the statement that
the Republican platform unequivocally
declares for the reforms that are nee.
essary: on the contrary. l affirm that II
openly and notOriously disappoints the
hopes and expectations Of reformers.
whether those reformers be Republic
ans or Democrats. So far did the Re
publican convention fall short of its
duty that the Republican candidate felt
1t necessary to add to his platform In
several important particulars. thus 70.
buking the leaders Of the party. upon
whose cooperation he must rely for
the enactment Of remedial legislation.
AS l shall. in separate speeches. dis.
cuss the leading questions at issue.
shall at this time contine myself to the
paramount question. and to the far.
reaching purpose Of our party. as that
purpose IS get forth in the platform.
Shall the People Bullet
Our platform declares that the over.
shadowing Issue which manifests i&nol
In all the questions now under discus
sion, is "Shall the people rule?" NJ