The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-04-07
Great C0nnOneT Speaks In Denver Upon Issues of the
 Coming Campaign
TAFT BARON OF WORK
 ON BEHALF 0F REFORM
Bryan Declares That No Real Reform Can Be Expected of Republicans, While Democrats Will Labor
 for All Reforms.

Denver, Col. April Civilian J. Bryan closed day of activity by ad- dressing $50 persons tonight in the EI Jebel temple banquet hall, in addition to hg idreds of others who filled every seat fh the galleries. The banquet had been arranged by the Bryan democratic cluo of Colorado and it's president, former Congressman John S. Shaffroth, presided Everything was in readiness to serve the benquet when the half hundred or more walters. who had been engaged became involved in dispute with the caterer and went on strike. After parlying for some time, the men left the building Members of the club giving the banquet then served as best they could, after which the speech making began.
 MT. Bryan said:
 'The quantitative theory of money has been proven to be correct, for we have 50 per cent per capita more money in circulation now than we had in 1S96 and with that increase, we lave had higher prices and better times The silver ques- ton is no longer an issue, but its elimin- alton is due to the fact that we have se- cured from another source the increase in currency which was expected from the restoration of bimetallism.
 But the money question is not the only question upon which our position has been proven correct, by the course of events Our protest against the trusts ! Pas been shown to be well founded, and the whole country now understands that a private monopoly Is indefensible and uncomfortable.
 Tariff Question.
 .'On the tariff question, also, the dem- .ocrats' position is being strengthened by the demands of the republicans. Sec retary T;,ft started out to make his cam paign on a platform which declared for tariff revision, the revision to be post poned until after the election. As he travelled over the country he found the tariff reform sentiment so strong that he finally reported the conclusion in the pl form of his state convention that { fx reform is so urgent that special Z ses~ sn of Congress should be held i'm medately after the fourth of March. But even more significant is the surrender made by Vice President Fairbanks, for his state convention declares in favor of a special session of Congress to be called immediately after the election, four months earlier than Secretary Tafts spec l ial session And we have two candidates | to hear from yet It is gratifying to see republicans vieing with each other in their advocacy of tariff reform. But t.,e people are not likely to entrust the reduction of the tariff to the men who are 1 not willing to have tariff reform at once 1 and who have not discussed the tariff un- ! til the exigencies of the convention l made it necessary.
 Railroad Regulation.
 sOn the question of railroad regulation l we have another democratic division. The l oteI I,ox a d. ton for 12 years and when at last the | President taking his inspiration from the l democratic platform, asked for an en- | largement of the scope of the interstate | commerce law, he received more loyal | support from the democrats than from | the republicans, but railroad regulation is | not yet effected. We must know how | much the railroads are worth and we | must prevent the future issue of watercd | stocks. But since the states began to l legislate on the subject of railroad regu- | lation the railroad managers began to de- | mand the surrender by the states of pow | CT to legisate in regard to railroads and | insist that Congress shall exercise ex- | elusive control
 ..The President has yielded to this de- | mand and recommended the national in corporation of railroads, and as, Secretary | Taft is indorsing the Presidents policies, | he is supposed to favor this. The na- tional incorporation of railroads is a step | backward rather than forward and 1t must be resisted by the democrats.
 What Taft Lacks.
 ''secretary Taft seems to be regarded as the representative of the reform ele- | ment and yet he has so little of the re- form spirit and his railroad record is so | barren of any work on behalf of reform | that he will hardly satisfy the expecta- tions raised among republicans by some AR @l,a D,.ac d Qpf a Tfc o6y cacy of perpetual franchises in the Phil fppine islands coupled with perpetual | guarantee of insome, shows that he looks at the corporation question from the | standpoint of the corporation, rather than from the standpoint of the public.
 "On the subject of imperialism the last | nine years have shown the folly of CO., lonial policy. We are paying at least | s1O0OO0000 a year for the privilege of fol- lowing at the tail of the European pro- cession, for our army and navy alone costs us more than $100000,000 a year Tn excess of their cost 10 years ago.
 ..Secretady Taft testified before Con- gress that we never could hope to have more than twenty or thirty thousand Americans in the Philippines. We have IAnot anything, like that number there, but even if we had it would cost us more than $500 year for each one of the PsO.0O0 to make up the hundred million a year of additional expense. We could better afford to pick out the 5000 we l want to go to the t....ppines and sup port them at good hotels. doing nothing, than. t5 nNsjntain an imperialistic policy for the peori.7,tby giving them a chance 0 ''7'r I ire Orient
 NJ 1stform Expected.
 ssp reai fetetm can be expected from tfis feuanAcaaf tbecause they are deeply 4naante1 te nis fatory interests for their ilsaf'en and r s4retary Taft, who is con