Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1908-02-13

Bryan than of others. He has shown
the ability to grasp fundamentals and
to state them in an effective and sim
pie manner. He surely has the cour-
age to say what he thinks, a virtue not
possessed by all politicians. He is not
afraid of the interviewer and never
sidesteps an honest question. Nor has
he that cheap and despicable habit
found in some public men of talking
for publication and then denying his
statements. to the ruin of some poor
scribe. Bryan has always been popu-
lar with newspaper men. Without re-
gard to party, they have rated him at
his worth, and their judgment is by no
means to be despised. Your average
reporter is expert in detecting shams-
he meets so many Of them.
AS for the accusation that Mr.. Bryan
runs for office too much, he could
doubtless respond that the American
people can get rid of this tendency by
electing him. just as some girls free
themselves from the opportunities of
a too ardent sutton by saying Eyes"
An Early Title.
Still another Of the early characterize
tons of 1.-The Commoner' has gone out
OF fashion. He is no longer called the
boy Orator of the Platte" One reason
is that he does not live on the Platte,
but on Salt creek, the suggestive name
by which the stream that flows through
Lincoln is known. A second cause of
the change is that it is hard to refer
to a man who has lost most of his hair
as juvenile.
One more fond delusion regarding
the Nebraskan is likewise disappear.
ing. He no longer is regarded as ex
cessively radical. Bryan himself has
always insisted that he is a conserva,
tive and has often said that some day
his opponents would be forced to come
to him to ave them from the actua
radicals they themselves had reared
up-not entirely a bad prophecy in the
light of some recent events, for most
OF the people of this country have no
only advanced to the ground occupied
by Bryan, but some of them have gone
far beyond him.
There is n charge that the rea'
radicals make against Mr.. Bryan with
some consistency-that, despite his
great will power and undoubted cour.
age. he has proved vacillating. They
aver, for example, that he changed
front on his support of Parker and on
the government ownership Of rail
roads. They say he has had too many
paramount" issues, only to cast them
aside when they appeared unpopular
Is this the Achilles heel that will prove
his ultimate undoing?
Congressman at Thirty.
Mr.. Bryan was born the year of Lin
coins first election, 1860. He was vale
law with Lyman Trumbull, went t.
congress at the age of thirty. sprans
into national fame by q speech ON the
tariff and won his first nomination tt
the presidency at the age Of thirty-siA
by a speech ON free silver. He has
been lawyer. editor. politician and lee
turer. Once he narrowly missed being
a preacher. and even now he says he
would rather talk religion than poll
tics. He was even a baseball pitcher
and a fairly good one. That was in his
salad days, when he wore a beard tt
make him look older.
One of the notable characteristics OF
the Democratic leader is the lightning
like rapidity with which he makes de
cisions. He can say mo" as quickly
and decisively as any man in public
life. His fighting nose and jaw an6
his wide, thin Tipped mouth are no
false alarms.
delight of the Chautauquas.'
Bryan's forms of recreation are farm
ing-by provisioning ducks ant
making speeches. His regular occupa
tons are soliciting subscriptions fo1
the Commoner and running for presi
dent. He tells good stories and has {
new stock from his trip around thu
world. AS the Emperor Titus wa:
called 1.-The delight of mankind" MI
Bryan could be called 1.-The delight O
the Chautauquas."
Everybody knows, Of course, abou
the Bryan country home. His farm O,
the outskirts of Lincoln is almost a.
famous al Horace's Sabine farm. Th,
only difference is that Horace RAISED
poetry on his place, while Bryan raise.
"aristocratic' hens.
Bryan's great antelope in histor,
was Brutus-both orators and both de
feated! Both also wrote about thei
travels, but Brutus' stuff was so plati
tudinous and commonplace that it ha!
not survived.
Mrs. Bryan was a classmate of he,
husband, and to help him she studied
law and was admitted to the bar. Sh,
is that rare and delightful combina
ton. an intellectual woman who il
thoroughly domestic. One of the beau
ties of American civilization is thu
ideal home lives of our public men
and in this regard Bryan is near tn,
summit.
This much can be said Of William ]
Bryan with truth: He is actually s
great ma He is one of the first, Il
not the very first. of living orators
He is a potent moral force. He tool