GOODWIN'S WEEKLY 13 I
Presidential Campaigns Remembered By A Printer 1896 I
By LcROY ARMSTRONG H
a ND then came the Bryan cam-
paign. It will be tho last of
this series. You remember the
rust of them.
There was a man named Harvey,
and ho issued a book called "Coin." I
i don't supposo you could find one to
day, but they circulated by the tons
of thousands then. Harvey had a cu
rious knack of "making the wor3e ap
pear tho better cause," and he had
everybody quoting his arguments in
favor of some empirical scheme of
money which may or may not have
been good. Bryan had been arguing
for the "free and unlimited coinage
of silver at tho ratio of sixteen to
ono without the aid or consent of any
other nation."
Of course, 'Bland of Missouri had
boon the prophet of free silver for.
many a long and weary year. Ono of
! the newspaper wits put it this way:
1 There is a happy Bland,
, Far, far away;
Jingling silver in his hand,
All night and day.
And they sang it to a familiar tune.
There was, of course, a great deal
more Bland than. Bryan in the ante
convention argument. And yet tho
star of Bryan was rising. Ho had
been in congress but one term, and
Bland had been there for many years.
These were but two of the many in
! the Democratic party; and the Repub
lican parly had taken up the cry, am
many of the noisy members of that
1 organization declared themselves for
the white metal, and did it with such
eloquence and with such argument as
made tho gold-standard people very
uncertain as to what might happen
As a matter of fact, tho Democratic
party, if it kept to its traditions never
ought to have been an advocate of
free silver. That was a new thing,
and if anybody could take it up, it
must have been the Republican party.
But there was a growing sentiment in
that organization against what was
called tho "heresy."
And so tho campaign waxed warmer
as tho sun came nqrth, and tho Demo
crats assembled in Chicago for their
national convention. They were a dar
ing lot of follows, and they proposed
to declare themselves whether any
body else did or not. They wanted
silver, and they wanted it bad. They
believed tho country was with them,
and what they called tho advocates
of a gold standard is hardly yet fit to
print.
They held their meeting in what was
called tho Coliseum, which was at
that time down at Sixty-third street,
and which was lator burned. Old
man Gunther, a candy-maker, had
tho Llbby Prison whore tho Coliseum
Is now. Wo wont down there in
newspaper numbers. The old Herald
had been mighty good to mo, and tho
boys gave mo a place close to the
presiding officer's stand. Tho conven
tion wont along for a day or two, as
conventions will, tho struggle between
the gold men and tho silver men get
ting hotter and hotter, the galleries
mad for free silver, and tho delegates
s
divided. I supposo there has never
been better convention oratory than
was heard in tho Democratic session
of 1896. Bragg of Wisconsin, hoarso
aa a fog horn, pleaded with tho dele
gates not to abandon the old-time prin
ciples of Democracy at the urging of
apostles of tho new. Hill of Now
York stood before their contending
forces and repeated tho slogan which
had made him famous: 'I am a Demo
crat " and was interrupted with a
howl of cheers so that they never
heard his addendum: "But I am not a
revolutionist."
Massachusetts was divided with
George Fred Williams on the silver
side, and all the rest of the delegates
sitting in roproachful silence when tho
cheering went on.
Up town the committee on resolu
tions was struggling In half the rooms
of the old Sherman House, and Sena
tor Stewart of Nevada was keeping
tho newspaper boys In line by practic
ing with' them at the bar.
Altgeld of Illinois unconsciously
prepared the convention for the spec
tacular result, for his speech against
compromise was a classic in ib3 way.
Ho had no voice or presence, but he
was the dominating figure In the work
of preparation, in the crystallizing
sentiment in favor of all that Bland
and Bryan and Harvey had been work
ing for.
Tho details of that big session in
tho Coliseum are familiar to you. They
have been printed a million times.
But there was a phase of It that Im
pressed me. That was Bryan's ar
gument on tho adoption of tho reso
lutions the platform. Ho rose in his
place with the Nebraska delegation,
and began his address there, but was
called to the platform by the presid
ing officer, Richardson of Tennessee,
I think. And Bryan knew "as robins
know the coming of tho rain" that
this was his opportunity, his hour. He
was white as ho will be in his coffin
as he walked down that aisle, the con
vention shouting I1L3 name, for Bryan
had spoken once or twice, and there
was that in tho presence of the man,
in his voice, in his delivery, which
satisfied tho imagination. It builded
Democratic hope in those breasts
where lovo of triumph dwelt. I do
not mean In tho Now York delega
tion, where "what do we get out of
it?" is more important than the
chances of victory. That house was
truly Democratic by a big majority,
'and tho Democrats wanted to win.
And Bryan made them think they
-could win, just as the soldiers be
lieved they could win when Grant
camo along; just as tho Children of
Israel believed they could win when
King David led them.
He was white of faco but firm of
stop as he mounted to tho platform.
And the silence that greeted him aa
ho faced the multitude was the very
first of its kind that the convention
had known from tho opening hour.
His ,ooch is a classic. Tho logic
of u as close-knit and convincing.
Granting his promise and many
granted it Bryan waa right in every
conclusion. Ho was in no hurry. Ho
lacked some of the mild humor, some
of the smiles that have made his
later speeches effective. But it was
no time for laughter. They were in
no mood for jokes. It was serious as
one of tho old Abolition meetings 1
can remember as a small boy. But as
he proceeded I saw a man get up away
back there toward the rear of tho Cali
fornia delegation. Then two or threo
stood, leaning forward and listening
intently in the Ohio crowd. Then tho
rising and the tense attending were
oommon all over tho big body of tho
house.
Now and then you could hear tho
clapping of handa just one clap
up In the gallery, or down on tho
floor, as if sentiment had grown too
strong for control, but not strong
enough to silence the desire to hear
tho rest of it.
There was that strange silence in
the presence of thousands whenever
Bryan paused at tho end of ono of
hla telJlng sentences. The thing got
on my nerves. It Is appalling, that
utter stillness of a multitude, that per
fect attention to the speech of one
man. The people who didn't believe
him were still, of course. Far bo It
from them to aid In his applause.
That might sound like approval, like
acquiescence. And these who believed
his doctrine wore thlraty for It. They
wanted all of it. It was gospel to
them.
And so there was little wonder they
roused to frenzied acclamation as ho
came to his peroration. But they
never heard that sentence complete:
"You shall not press down on the brow
of my people a crown of thorns. You
shall not crucify them on a cross of
gold."
Long before he came to the end of
the striking figure the pent-up waters
of their enthusiasm tore away the bar
riers of restraint, and a rising volume
of noise burst on the ear beyond any
thing I ever heard from human lips.
They didn't hear all of it, but they
knew it was tho crowning and tho
climax of his fine oration. And it
seemed impossible that any man could
sit unmoved when that fire of indorse
ment mounted with tho hurrying
seconds.
The galleries wore simply wild.
Neither man nor woman there seemed
to have tho slightest sense of time
or place. They wore ono waving,
screaming, leaping masa of maniacs.
And tho body of tho house, where tho
delegates had been seated, was littlo
better. Bryan walked down tho stops,
tho rich red of conscious success
flushing tho choeka that had been so
white before, and the eyes blazing
across ..hot assembly as if gauging the
strength of opposition still romaining
for him to overcome.
But his work was finished, so far as
that assembly was concornod. Ho
could add nothing. Ho couldn't ovon
have checked It then. I d ubt If, In
that mood, the people would have por- H
mitted even him to guide and direct
them. They wore as uncontrollable as H
they were uncontrolled. After some H
few minutes of yelling some one H
snatched tho standard of hia state H
there always has been dispute as to H
which Btate started and camo down H
tho aiBle at the left side of the floor. H
They were on chairs in every direc-
tion, and before that first banner had H
turned the corner and reached the H
front of tho presiding officer's desk M
half a dozen states wore in the, pro-
cession. They waved their hats, or M
swung their coats, or tossed their JM
arms, and they all yelled "Bryan."
They called on other delegates to M
fall in. They swore in the fervor of H
their enthusiasm. They screamed and H
siozed hold on delegates still sitting. H
They hooted when they passed Sena- H
tor Hill of New York. They tried to M
lift George Fred Williams on their M
shoulders, but George Fred is a very H
big man, and they abandoned the at- H
tempt. But they laughed in the faces H
of the rest of the Massachusetts men H
the silent, disapproving bunch that H
refused to pay tribute. H
Maybe their paroxysms nowadays H
continue longer. These things grow. H
I don't remember how long the up- H
roar lasted, but it was an age. And H
from tho time it began till the end of H
tho convention there was never an in- H
atant of uncertainty as to candldato H
or platform. It was Bryan, and free H
silver. And these remained. H
Poor Bland got just what LaFolletto B
got in the present year. He had built H
the free silver house, and Bryan H
moved into it. And the beginning of H
the busiest campaign In the history of H
American parties was on. H
Few people in the ranks believed
the Republicans would dare declare H
for the gold standard after the chorus H
of approval for tho Bryan platform H
and the Bryan name. It seemed aa if H
free silver would sweep tho country. H
And there was where Mark Hanna H
proved tho wisdom of his mailing. He H
was not a nico man, that man Hanna. H
And his methods were hardly what j
can be called ethical. But he did see H
the way to win first tho St. Louis con- H
vontion, and then the campaign that H
followed. How well he worked at St. H
Louis we all remember, for Teller of H
Colorado, Dubois of Idaho and Cannon H
of Utah went weeping out of the con- H
ventlon rather than give their appro- H
val to tho gold standard plank. And jH
it was a gold party that adjourned H
when McKInley was nominated. H
The issue was squarely drawn. I H
don't know what would have happened H
if Palmer and Buckner had not been
nominated as gold-standard Demo- H
crats. Maybe that helped to divide H
the Democratic vote. I don't know H
what would have happened If the coun- H
try had not been covered to Its utter- M
most corner with disciples of sound H
finance. But Hanna was a man of M
many and much resources; and he M
loft nothing undone. Tho result la H
now known. HI