Evening star., 1925-04-04

The modern romance of the Com
moner who became q millionaire has
been given many chapters In the
editorial columns since the
country heard recent reports of the
value Of William Jennings Bryan's
property in Florida and of his receiv-
ing 500 a day for speeches booming
real estate in that State.
"If Brother Bryan wasn't a predes-
tined millionaire" suggests the st.
Louis Post-Dispatch, "the copy-book
maxims are worse than empty twad-
die; they are sinister receptions, of
a piece with Mother Goose. The man
has been thrift incarnate. He has
never sown so much as one solitary,
little wild oat. The primrose path
has never borne the imprint of his
solid, pragmatic sole. In keeping
what he got he has been and is a
keeperissimo. And he has been no
slouch of a getter. AS a professional
mourner for the woes of the common
people he has been a wonder. So here
he is, arrived at the place charted in
his stars. Vale, Commoner; Hail
Caesar"
The achievement Of a million is
looked upon as proof of Mr.. Bryan's
greatness by the Nashville Banner,
many defeats into such vast profits.
mo one wishes him anything but
good fortune" declares the Banner,
yet those Of US in their prime who
recall his philippics against money
in bulk, possessed by single individ-
uals, will wonder how he feels to be
one Of them. OF course, he continues
to protest against indignities to the
masses, against crowns of thorns
upon labors brow, against crucifixion
of the proletartat upon gold crosses
and such like. We credit him with
sincerity. No one can doubt that his
heart and soul are one and both
overwhelmingly for those who must
earn by toll"
A protest against those who have
pursued Mr.. Bryan since the Platte
first came to public notice is uttered
by the Memphis News-Scimitar, which
remarks: There is an element in
this country that Mr.. Bryan has never
been able to please. The crowd that
crtticizes him for earning 500 a day
for a speech extolling the beauty of
Florida, the climate and all that
Florida Is, has always been critical of
him. They used to criticize him for
saying prohibition was practical, and
now they criticize him for changing
the subject when prohibition is men
TONED. They ought to give him a rest
now that he is giving them one
I'VE do not intend to speak dis
paragingly Of Bro. Bryan because
of his wealth." observes the Little
Rock Arkansas Democrat HE made
that money in chautauqua work,
politics. reporting prize fights for
newspapers and investing in real es-
tate. But we wonder IL he could de-
liver his famous Thou Shalt Not
lecture today and feel in his heart
that bitterness toward capital which
ranked there when he was poor
boy a quarter of century ago" The
Des Moines Capital also believes that
The cannot, with good grace, continue
| to talk about the curse of gold His
| old place is vacant and we shall~have
| to look for a new Commoner."
The Greenville Piedmont says: 1T
seems unusual that the great tribune
| of the people, whose voice has been
SO often uplifted against the power of
vast accumulations Of wealth, should
have become a millionaire, but he
| has come by It honestly. He has
worked hard and saved. invested care
fully and wisely, and, as the years
have rolled by, has developed into a
| first-rate business man. Probably no
| other person in the worlds annals
has made so much money through
| public speaking"
An attack upon the enforcement of
prohibition in Florida is made by the
Chicago Tribune, In a discussion of
Mr.. Bryan's position. "As reason for
an advancing real estate market,
| states the Tribune, "of which Mr..
Bryan speaks sympath etically and op-
| timistically, mono is better than Vol
stead. Florida Ia the wettest Stae
lin the Union, 1he most some Tepu-