Evening star., 1934-05-04
ROOSEVELT LAUDS
BRYAN'S SINCERITY
Tells 1000 at Statue Un.
yelling This Was Keynote
of His Character.

President Roosevelt told an audience
yesterday afternoon at the unveiling
of a statue in honor of the Nebraskan
Un the banks Of the Potomac River,
at Constitution avenue and Riverside
drive.
The Chief Executive, who spoke
briefly at the dedication exercises, de-
clared: 1T was that sincerity which
brought to him the millions of de-
voted followers; it was that sincerity
which served him so well in his life
long fight against sham and privilege
and wrong. It was that sincerity
which made him force for good in
his own generation and has kept alive
many of the ancient faiths on which
we are building today"
1000 Attend.
Braving drizzling rain, with
clouds shrouding the gray Potomac,
some 1000 persons, including ardent
admirers and kinfolk of Bryan, turned
out for the ceremonies. Ambassador
Josephus Daniels, former Secretary
Of the Navy and fellow cabinet off,
Ger with Bryan in the Wilson cab
met, deliver the principal address, Of
fering the monument to the Nation.
Blair Lee of Silver Spring, Md, for
mer United States Senator, and old
friend Of Bryan, also paid tribute
Bryan's grandson unveiled the memo
rial, and President Roosevelt accepted
it on behalf of his fellow country
men.
Speaking Of justifying Bryan's
fright to a place with the American
inmortals in this American pan
theon," Ambassador Daniels asserted:
I'VE who were his associates know
that he consecrated himself, body and
soul, to the advocacy of causes which
In their spirit will be as vital tomor-
row as when in yonder Capitol or in
nearby church or cathedral he sum-
moned men never to sell the truth
to serve the hour Nobody will care
about or little reck of the ephemeral
campaign issues which he debated.
As his speeches are read and conned
by the coming generation, however,
they will see that underneath the pol
icies which divided the people, in his
day, Bryan was guided always by un-
derlying fundamental foundations of
truth and justice. It was upon the
solid rock of principles, not policy,
that he rested all his contentious"
Traces Career.
Ambassador Daniels portrayed the
career of the great commoner,
through the days when he was a
rising young orator, his advocacy of
currency reform, his espousal of the
cause of world peace, of women's
suffrage, of national prohibition, of
direct voting for United States Sem
ators, of income taxes, of publicity of
campaign contributions and of the
setting-up of post for labor in the
cabinet. The Ambassador declared
that Bryan was unsurpassed in his
generation for moving eloquence.
Though William Jennings Bryan
held public Office only six years and
three months, he exerted greater in
ffuence over a longer period of time
upon public opinion and in the enact
ment of laws and constitution changes
than any public man of his genera
ton. /" Indeed it may be doubted
If his equal in persuasive eloquence,
potential for third of a century,
has lived upon the earth"
Turning to Bryan's diplomacy, Am
bassador Daniels said: The day may
come-it will come as world COM
merce is sure to expand under en-
lightened trade arrangements by the
nations-when the construction of the
Nicaraguan canal will bring the long
cherished dream of John T. Morgan
to fruition. Then we shall realize the
craftsmanship of Secretary Bryan in
securing treaty, which will bless not
only Nicaragua and the United States
but all the nations of the earth as
Well."s = y
Text of Address.
Following Mr.. Daniels address,
came President Roosevelt, who said:
This memorial to William Jennings
Bryan, erected pursuant to authoriza-
tion by joint resolution of the Con-
gress, I gladly accept on behalf of
the United States.
Our Nation thus recognizes through
its Government the essential quail
ties and the high services of a great
American.
No selfish motive touched his public
life; he held important office only
as a sacred trust of honor from his
country; and when he sought a man
date from his fellow citizens the soul
of his inspiration was the further
ance of their interests, not his own;
not of group, but of all. No man
of his time was or could have been
more constantly in the limelight than
he; yet we can look back and scan
his record without being able to point
to any instance where he took posi-
tion that did not accord with his
conscience or his belief
To Secretary Bryan political courage
was not a virtue to be sought or at
tained, for it was an inherent part of
the man. He chose his path not to
win acclaim, but rather because that
path appeared clear to him from his
inmost beliefs. He did not have to
dare to do what to him seemed right;
he could not do otherwise.
Cites Fight Against Sham.
1t was my privilege to know
William Jennings Bryan when I was
a very young man. Years later
both of us came to the Nations
Capital to serve under the leadership
of Woodrow Wilson. Through this
service and the intimate relations
which ensued learned to know
and to love him.
AS we look back on those days
the many of us who are gathered
here together who were his friends
and associates in the Wilson ad-
miniStration-I think that we would
choose the word sincerity" as fit
ting him most of all. 1t was that
sincerity which brought to him the
millions of devoted followers; it was
that sincerity which served him SO
well in his lifelong fight against
sham and privilege and wrong. It
was that sincerity which made him
force for good in his own gen.
Grafton and has kept alive many of
the ancient faiths on which we are
building today.
1t was Mr.. Bryan who said
II respect the aristocracy of learn
ing I deplore the plutocracy of
yUea1th hit 7 thank God for the de-