Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-07-06
BY CLINTON w. GILBERT
Copyright. 1890, bv Public Ledger Co.

topDrt0ht, 1890, bU Pubhc LcdOer Co.
San Francisco, July 6.-Why are
there not more William ]. BryanS?
Why do young men set out to be
Charles NJ. Schwabs or Harry Sinclairs,
and why does not one initiate the career
Of William ]. Bryan?
Consider Mr.. Bryan. He has grown
rich. not very rich, but rich enough.
He has run three times for the pres
idency. He has achieved great personal
triumphs in three Democratic National
Conventions in which he was not nomi-
mated himsclf--in 1904. when he made
his dramatic appearance before hostile
body of delegates against the nomina-
ton of Parker; in 1912 at Baltimore
when he headed off the nomination OF
Chamr Clark. who had a majority OF
the convention and caused the choice
of Wilson. and here at San Francisco.
when he made his brilliant speech for
prohibition.
He has led great reforms and seen
many of them accepted by the country.
He has been one of the great forces in
shaping America for the past genera
ton. And Mr.. Bryan has done all this
with voice. a facility in speech and
good conscience. He is not great
statesman. lie made bad secretary
of state. and would make worse
President.
Sure Of Moral Values
Nature gave him n remarkable voice,
fine presence before he got fat,
facility in the use Of words, and what
ever it is that develops in a man a
conscience that can be depended upon
gave him a perfectly sure measure of
moral values. With this equipment Mr..
Bryan did the rcst--madc himself, in
face of organized hostility, in face of
press that dslikcd him. misunder-
stood him and sometimes misrcprcsentcd
him. one of the great leaders of public
opinion in America. Why not a career
to initiate, even If you DO not have the
same ends in view as Mr.. Bryan?
Why do not young mon form the am
bition to be an orator? Any young
man having the voice of Mr.. Bryan and
the verbal facility Of Mr.. Bryan could
make fortune at the bar or as n pub
lie lecturer. or could be a great force
in public life. In ancient Greece or
Rome men spent years Of arduous
study learning oratory to become. IL
they could. tho CiccrOs and Demos
thencscs of their day. Why dons they
now? Public life is bare of good
speakers.
In the Senate and House Of Repre-
sentativcs not n half dozen men know
how to use their voices or their bodies
| in spcaking. The great national con
vPntions have developed one first class
bit Of oratory. Mr., Bryan's; ono well
written. but indiifcrontly spoken ad-
dress, Mr.. Cummings s. and one fairly
rest Of it was drcary waste. When
Mr.. Bryan disappears from Democratic
National Conventions there will be
much less fun than there is TODAY.
There is not anybody coming up to take
his place.
The country trusts to nature to fur
nish its orators and does not give
nature much help in the way of train
ing. 1t is rather contcmptuous and
suspicious of Oratory when it comes.
We act on the theory that orators.
like poets. are born and not made. And
our attitude toward oratory is about
as Skeptical as our attitude toward
poetry used to be before free verse
writer's made poetry fashionable again
Advantages OF Spoken Word
We consider the spoken word. 1t /,
much frecr than the written word. Hat
Mr.. Bryan welded pen instead o
tongue, he might have had difficulty il
reaching n public. The publication o
books, newspapers and magazines il
highly organized. 1t requires much cap
ital. Mr.. Bryan might have had trouble
had he written instead OF spoken II
finding medium for the expression o
his opinions. No capitalist would b,
willing to back him as editor.
Mr.. Bryan Is essentially an editor o.
preacher. Yet what editor or preache
has reached SO wide public as Mr.
r