Daily Kennebec journal., 1925-07-27

virtually dominant In the Demo.
cratic party for nearly fS years,
William j. Bryan was three times
nominated and defeated for the pres
idency. Then, like Elijah of old. he
cast his maptle upon the Elisha Of
Princeton and exerted potent in
f1uence in bringing about Woodrow
Wilson's first nomination for the Of
flee to which he, himself, had vainly
aspired.
known in his youth as "the silver
tongued boy orator of the Platte it
! was Mr.. Bryan's eloquence in his
famous 'cross Of gold" speech at
the democratic national convention
in Chicago in 1896 that made him
the choice of his party. He polled
more than 6,5OO,O0O votes in his
| first campaign.
The former Secretary Of State
was born in Salem, ILL.,, March 19.
1860. His father was Silas Lillard
Bryan, native of Culpepper coun-
| ty, Virginia a lawyer and judge.
The son, after graduating from IL
linois College in 1881 and Union Col
| ege of Law, Chicago, in 1888, enter
| ed the law office Of Lyman Trumbull,
| former United States senator. Sub
sequently he removed to Jacksonville.
ILL.,, where he practiced law until
! 1887 when he settled in Lincoln,
| Neb.
During the presidential campaign
| of 1888 young Bryan's speeches in
| behalf Of the Democratic ticket at
tracted attention and in 1890 he ac-
cepted a nomination for Congress
in the First Nebraska district, a
| Republican stronghold because. no
one else would have it," he said.
! since it was believed no Democrat
could win He was elected and
served from 1891 until 1895. He was
made member of the important
| Ways and Means Committee in his
| first term.
Two speeches in this period gave
Mr.. Bryan nation wide prominence.
! one against the policy of protection,
| delivered on March 16. 1892 and the
other against the repeal of the sill
yer purchase clause of the Sherman
! Act on August 16. 1893. In the lat
| ter he advocated the free and un-
! limited coinage of silver, irrespective
, of international agreement at ratio
, of 16 to l." a policy with which his
name was afterwards most promi-
| nently associated until he entered
| the cabinet of President Wilson.
| The first nomination Of Mr.. Bryan
| for the Presidency at the Democrat
| ic National Convention in Chicago on
July 10, 1896, has since been char
acterized as one Of the miracles" OF
| American politics. The nominee, af-
| ter serving in Congress had run for
| the United States Senate and been
| defeated by Senator John NJ. Thurs
! ton of Nebraska. Abandoning the
| law, Mr.. Bryan became editor OF the
| Omaha World Herald and champion
I the cause of bimetallism as Wig
! crously With the pen as he had upon
| .ae forum. lie had been beaten for
a third term in Congress on the is
| sue Of "cound money" and when the
| time came for the National conven-
| ton this question was rending both
| big political parties. There were Free
| Silver Republicans as well as DEM
| ocrats, but the nominee of the Tor
| mer. Henry NJ. Teller of Colorado.
threw his support to Bryan when
| the Nebraskan won the nomination
at Chicago.
| The "cross of gold" speech by
| Bryan which has been quoted often
J er, perhaps, than any other OF ms
| Silver Republicans as well as Dem :
| words, and which made him rival
| of William Mckinley for the presf-
| dency-camc al the close OF a debate
on the flocr of the convention IN ad-
| vocacy of a free silver plank. Men
/ nationany prominent in the party
| had preceded him, and opposed the
| plank unless it should provide for
bimetallism by international agree
| ment. The situation was tense when
| the Nebraskan, then only 36 years
| old-one year more than the Consti-
! tutional requirement for a presl-
! dent--arose to speak.
7 Everybody was tired: everybody
| seemed. ready for compromise. Not
SO the delegate from Nebraska.
| There was fire in his eye when he
| began to speak:
II would be presumptuous, indeed,
| to present myself against the distin-
guished gentleman to whom you
have listened" he said, 'if this were
| a mere measuring of abilities, but
this Is not a contest between per-
| sons. The humblest citizen In all
| the land, when clad in the armor of
a righteous cause, is stronger than
all the hosts of error. l come to
| speak to you in defense of cause
| as holy as the cause of liberty-the
cause Of humanity"
| Then charging the evils Of the day
THE idle mills, the social unrest
and low wages-to the scarcity of
money and the idle holders of idle
capital in Wall Street." he con-
| tinued:
"The Individual is but an atom;
he is born, he acts. he dies; but
| principles are eternal: and this has
been contest over a principle.
Having behind us the producing
masses of this nation and the world,
supported by the commercial inter-
ests, the laboring interests and the
| toilers everywhere, we will answer
those who demand a single gold
standard by saying:
| "You shall not press~down upon
! the brow of labor this crown of
thorns. You shall not cruelty man
kind upon this cross of gold"
The convention was stampeded for
| Bryan, who was nominated over
| eight other candidates on the fifth
| ballot, following speech by Geor-
| gia delegate in which the, eloquent
Young orator was referred to as "a
| Saul come to lead the 1sraelites TO
battle" Subsequently Bryan received
the nominations of the Peoples and
! the National Silver parties.
| The nominee broke all speaking
records in his first campaign, travel
ling more than $4,000 miles and
making about 600 speeches in y
! states. He polled 6,502,925 votes to