The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-10
First Addresses Are Made Al Peoria Before Enthusias-
 tic Thousands
RIGHTS OF STATES MUST
 BE CAREFULLY GUARDED
MT. Bryan Discusses the Relation of State and Nation and Says a Sue cessful Government Always
 Guards State Rights.

Peoria. H., September s-Democracy leader William J. Bryan, was the man | of the hour in Peoria today. From the | moment he set foot in the city at noon until his departure tonight for Evans vile. Ind, he was accorded series of demonstrations which breathed sim cerity and admiration. Within ten 1 minutes after his arrival he was ad-
 dressing vast throng in front of the hotel, the crowd insisting that he give them talk. He took for his text the more striking passages of his Labor Day address in Chicago, and dwelt at
 some length on the right of trial by
 jury in cases of indirect contempt. Dur ing the afternoon and evening he made | three other speeches, the principal one at the Coliseum, which was filled to it's capacity, and which necessitated an overflow address fin courthouse square. | His set speech on The State and Ma
 tion," In which he declared in favor of | state rights, was received with vocifer- ous applause. and every manifestation of approval.
 When he had finished his prepared speech, he launched into discussion | of the various issues of the campaign and reiterated his charge that MT. Taft was not satisfied with the republican 1 platform, and had been compelled to | amend 1t in many particulars.
 When the train pulled out of the de- 1 pot tonight the actual invasion of the
 east by the democratic candidate was begun. From this point until the trip
 is concluded September 2s at Lincoln,
 MT. Bryan will travel in private car.
 Accompanying him are Former Cover
 nor W. s. Jennings of Florida; Robert
 S. Rose, secretary; four newspaper
 men, and A. E. Manning who will look
 after the comfort of the party. Gov.
 Jennings will have the complete man. | agement of the car.
 While in West Virginia and Mary land, MT. Bryan will seize the oppor- tunity to confer with the democratic | county charmen of those states, the meetings having been arranged by Jno. ] W. Tomlinson, of Alabama, head of the organization bureau, who will be rep resented by Gov. Jennings and will give several talks on organization work.
 Bryan's Speech.
 MT. Bryans address was as follows: The success of our system of govern ment rests upon the careful observance of the constitutional division of power between the state and the nation. A number of expressions have been coined to describe the relations existing be- | tween the federal government and the several subdivisions, but no one has
 been more felicitous in definitions than Taff re1nr in d drpx xu In lines of demarkation. He presented the historic position of the democratic party when he declared himself In fla
 vor of "the support of the state gov ernments In all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our do-
 nestle concerns, and the surest bull , warks against anti-republican tenden- l cies," and the preservation of the gen | eral government In Its whole constitu. tional vigor. thu she anch or of our safety at home and peace abroad" The | democratic platform, adopted at Dem yer. quotes the language of Jefferson and declares that it expresses the partys position at this time.
 1 It would be almost as difficult to main- tain a free. self-governing republic over | a large area and with a large population ! without state governments as 1t would be to maintain such a republic without , general government The interests of the different parts of the country are so varied, and the matters requiring legis- lattve attention so numerous. that it would be impossible to have all of the work done at the national capitol. One has only to examine the bills introduced in each Congress, and then add to the number the bills introduced at the leg islative sessions of each of the 46 states. to realize that it would be beyond the power of any body of men to legislste intelligently on the multitude of questions that require consideration.
 Abuse of Power.
 Not only would national legislators lack the time necessary for investga- tion, and therefore lack the information necessary to wise decision, but the in- difference of representatives in one part of the country to local matters in other parts of the country would invite ths abuse of power. Then, too, the seat of government would be so far from the great majority of the voters as to pre- vent that scrutiny of public conduct which Is essential to clean and honest government. The union of the separate states under a federal government offers the only plan that can adapt itself to in- definite extension.
 Our constitution expressly reserves to the states and to the people respectively all powers not delegated to the federal government. and only by respecting this division of powers can we hope to keep the government within the reach of the people and responsive to the will of the people Because in all disputes as to the relative spheres of the nation and the states the final decision rests with the federal courts, the tendency Is naturally toward standardization, and greater care Is required to preserve the reserved rights of the states than to maintain the au- thority of the general government.
 In recent years another force has been exerting an increasing influence in ex- tending the authority of the central gov ernment. I refer to the great corpora tions. They prefer the federal courts to the state courts and employ every pos- sble device to drag litigants before the United States judges. They also prefer congressional regulation to state regr- lation. and those interested In largo cor- ---------~>~-~~~-~---~~~ CONTINUED ON PAGE n