The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-06-18
STORY-OF A BRYAN MEETING

After his return to Washington
Mr.. Bryan received the following let
ter, which is self-explanatory:
Philadelphia, March 26, 1915.
Hon. William Jennings Bryan, Calu
met Place, Washington, D. c.
My Dear Sir-The writer was one
of the 10000 who rose and pledged
II themselves to the cause of temper
ance in response to your eloquent ap
peal in Billy" Sundays Tabernacle
Philadelphia, March is.
When | entered the Tabernacle
the thought of pledging myself tc
the cause of temperance had never
entered my mind. / simply attended
the meeting to listen to what you had
| to say on the subject. | sat with
the University of Pennsylvania con-
tingent, section 10, within a short
distance of the rostrum Beside me
sat two professors, representing two
of the leading universities of the
country.
Before you were presented to the
audience, pledge cards were passed
around, and as ! had no thought of
signing l passed mine on. had
never even been a moderate drinker,
let alone an excessive one, ana there
fore felt that there was no necessity
for me to sign any pledge. Then
again, ! felt that it was somewhat
undignified, an admission of weakness
as it were, to sign any pledge, and |
was in this frame of mind when the
chairman presented you to the audi
ence. In the early part of your lee
ture, as you outlined your subject,
was more convinced than ever that
it would be a foolish and unneces-
sary act to sign one Of those cards,
and later, when a dozen of them
were passed to me at one time,
handed them to the man occupying
the seat in front of me- ! was with
you in principle, however, and felt
that my presence would indicate, at
least my moral support.
Suddenly like the crash of artil-
lery, you hurled the appalling statis-
tics of liquor full at your audience.
Two and one half billions spent an
nually in the United States for
drink" and only seven hundred and
fifty millions on education. l was
astonished, shocked and from that
moment / leaned forward to catch
every word.
You continued to present one as
founding comparison after the other
in such rapid sequence that the
CHASTITY spectre of drink seemed to
spread its foul wings over the entire
country like some cursed influence
presaging degeneration and degrad-
alton, vice and crime. You asked
where the drunkards come from,
and answered. From the moderate
drinkers, since they could never
come from the teetotalers." Then
you added-"If you are a moderate
drinker, stop for the sake of your
example to your son, and to those
with whom you come in contact. If
you are an immoderate drinker, stop
for your own sake"
/ had a son at home, a great big
six-footer, just out of prep school.
He had been captain of his track
team, and had broken the record for
the high jump and the broad jump.
He had never tasted liquor in his life,
You had struck home. For his
sake" / said to myself, and | asked |
the man in front of me to whom
had laughingly handed the dozen |
cards, If he had one left. He had |
and he gave it to me. / turned to
both of the professors and asked II
hey would unite In this great move
ment, to cut a broad swath of tenn
Derance from the Atlantic to the Pa
,ifc. They laughed derisively, but
hat did not affect me.
"For the sake of your SON." The
words were still ringing in my ears.