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Bryan Birthday Banquet, March 20, 191 1
Tho Lincoln-Bryan Club gavo a Bryan birth
day banquet at Lincoln, Neb., on tho evening of
Monday, March 20th. Tho Lincoln (Neb.)
Journal gives an extended report of tho affair
from which report tho following is taken:
"Thirteen hundred enthusiastic democratic
banqueters celebrated tho fifty-first birthday of
W. J. Bryan at the Lincoln auditorium.
Enthusiasm was at a high pitch throughout tho
long program. No one minded the hot, stuffy
hall, but listened intently to the principles
advocated by the speakers, without an exception
progressive in tendency. No effort was made to
hide the fact, by Nebraska speakers, that the
democratic party is divided between progres
sives and standpatters, just as much as tho re
publican party is divided. Tho applause showed
plenty of sympathy for the sentiment advocated.
"It was an opon secret that tho big banquet
had been planned to show to the majority of the
domocratic party of the state that Bryan was
not tho dethroned leader he is fondly hoped to
bo by tho men now in the saddle guiding the
democratic party. It was planned to make the
affair state-wide in order to indicate that all
democrats had not severed allegiance to the
'Sage of Fairvlow' because of his attitude on
tho liquor question last fall. As the plan grew
the managers became more optimistic, speakers
of national prominence readily agreed to bo
present and the demand for reservations at tho
'dollar dinner' camo in thick and fast.
"Tho managers arranged for tho largest hall
of tho city and ordered that all plates possible
bo laid. Republicans and democrats alike
asked permission to attend. Delegations from
many outside towns came in to bo on hand to
pay tribute to tho leader. Legislators who had
said bitter things against him at limes caught
tho spirit and were on hand at least to listen.
"The result was that not in its history has
Lincoln scon a greater gathering of banqueters
for any purpose, and seldom has such wild
enthusiasm been invoked ad at times responded
to tho clear-cut convincing declarations of the
speakers.
' "The managers of tho celebration had ar
ranged that nine of the thirteen speakers should
be Nebraska men, all identified closely with
tho party in Nebraska. And in these speakers
tho managers found men who were able to
handle political conditions In Nebraska with
out gloves. Senator Skiles, representing the
upper houso of the state legislature, charged
that there wore two divisions in the democratic
party, progressive and Btandpat, just as much
as there wore in tho republican party. The
democrats had, through tho leadership of Mr.
Bryan, advanced many principles in behalf of
the people. In 1907 it took democrats to help
progressive republicans enact needed reforms.
In 1911 on every vital lineup in tho initiative
and referendum, candor compelled tho speaker
to admit, it took all the republican progressives
to win victory.
"Dr. P. L. Hall, of Lincoln, vlco chairman of
tho democratic national committee was toast
master. Speakers living in the stato were first
on the program and all responded except W. H.
Thompson of Grand Island and ex-Governor
Ashton C. Shallonborger, who sent regrets. The
toastmastor read telegrams from Norman Mack
of Buffalo, democratic national chairman and
from Governor Eugene Foss of Massachusetts.
"In the audience were Congressmen Lobeck
of Omaha, Latta of Tokamah, Sloan of Geneva,
and Maguiro of Lincoln. Governor Aldrich sat
on tho platform.
"The beginning of the dinner was delayed
through a plan of the managers to have the
speakers all seated before throwing open the
doors. Hence the jam on the outside grew
to enormous proportions, more and more im
patient as time elapsed. The crowd without
began gathering at 6 o'clock. By 7 o'clock tho
waiting ticket holders spread north and south
for half a' block and out into tho street. They
sang songs, twitted the guardian police, broke
tho glass doors, all in utmost good-humor that
had something of impatience in it.
"Inside thirteen long tables stretched the
length of the main floor of the auditorium "
Prayer was offered by Rev. Rudolph Cauchev
of Lincoln. '
PRESIDENT MEIER'S SPEECH
0. W. Meier, president of tho club, in intro
ducing tho toastmastor, said: "Fellow Citizens
and Friends It has become an annual feature
of tho Lincoln Bryan Club to celebrate the birth
dny of our great leader. From year to year
these festivities have grown, until tonight tho
nniv mrrnf wn bn.vfi is that we are unable to
accommodate as wo would like all who have
come. This magnificent hall is not largo enough,
for this gathering. I wish that this spread
might have been arranged out doors under the
canopy of heaven. In planning for this banquet,
it soon became apparent that this year's celebra
tion in honor of Mr. Bryan would again attract
state-wide interest and might have national
significance. It was therefore considered fitting
and proper to have our national committeeman
preside at this feast. I now have the honor to
present to you one who needs no introduction
to a Nebraska audience, the vice president 6t
the national committee, Dr. Phillip L. Hall,
your toastmoster."
TOASTMASTER HALL'S ADDRESS
In calling the great gathering to order, Dr.
P. L. Hall, national committeeman from Ne
braska, and vice chairman of the democratic
national committee, spoke as follows: "It has
been tho custom for many years for the Lincoln
Bryan Club to celebrate the anniversary of the
birth of the gue'st of the evening, Mr. Bryan,
and on this, the fifty-first anniversary of that
event, we have gathered here once more to greet
him and honor him. We feel grateful to the other
distinguished guests present who have come
from their distant homes to join us in this
event, and the magnificent audience that fills
to overflowing this auditorium speaks the love
and esteem that exists in this, his home, for
our honored patron."
MR. SKILES' SPEECH
Senator C. M. Skiles, of the Nebraska state
senate, said: "I am a democrat by birth, edu
cation and choice, and up until the present
session of the legislature I always supposed I
was in good standing. I began the battle for
democracy in the presidential campaign of 1876,
when a boy a little older than myself shouted
into my ears 'Hurrah for Hayes, Tilden's no
good.' My democratic enthusiasm was in no
way suppressed by the fact that in the personal
encounter that followed, I came out second,
best. Close observation of democracy's struggles
since that time have convinced me that I -was
simply the victim of the general democratic rule.
"The rank and file of the democratic party is
now, and for many years has been, distinctively
progressive. They believed that the republican
party was being used as a shield behind which
the vested and special interests were sapping
the income, resources, and life-blood of the
people. They saw great and gigantic campaign
funds used for the purpose of perpetuating this
party in power in consideration of special
grants and privileges given in return. They
saw this party win elections on platform planks
pledges never meant to be fulfilled. They re
cently saw a great presidential contest made
on the issue of tariff revision, and then wit
nessed the spectacle of a president of the United
States, for the sake of party regularity, attempt
ing to make the American people believe that
a revision upward was a substantial compliance
with the platform pledge. We common, every
day democrats have honestly and conscientiously
S2iTCJ JMl the de?11?cratic party was always
right and the republican party most always
wrong. During the last few years however the
rank, and file have been watching,' not only the
party record and the party platforms, but have
careful y noted the roll calls in congress and
the individual-votes of their representatives and
they are familiar with the fact today that had
the democrats in congress stood solidly with
the insurgent republicans, that the tariff would
have been revised downward in many instances
instead of upward. They Know iSat some of
oSiiS? S? emooratB supported Aldrich and
Cannon with tho same loyalty as did their most
partisan republican followers, m short "he
SSWS1"1 t0Cd Upon them So cat is
out of tiie bag, so to speak; that there are two
k nds of democrats in congress, as well as two
progreive PUbliCanSth stand"Patt a!S the
"And, gentlemen, fifty days in tho Nebraska
legislature will convince any student of poUtics
or any fair-minded man, or even tho most bitter
partisan, that what is true in the national
legislature is true, to great exfent in thl
state legislature. For nearly a quarter of ?
century in this state, the railroads, stockyards
breweries and churches gave their united sun
port to the nominees of the republican nartv
One legislature after another met and adjourned
without giving relief to the people, refung
' VOLUME 11, NUMBER 18
to abolish tho pass evil, refusing to reduce
freight, passenger or express rates, or to compel
the special Interests of the state to bear their
just share of the burdens of taxation. Tho
democratic party demanded theso reforms year
alter year, and the individual members of the
party spent their own time and money to advo
cate these reforms and to point out the evils
that existed. The public conscience was finally
awakened by these efforts and enough insurgent
republicans elected, who, by joining "with the
democratic minority, were able to reduce freight,
passenger and express rates andf abolish the rail
road pass the fountain head 'of political cor
ruption. Thus encouraged, the democratic party
secured a majority in both branches of the next
legislature and enacted the bank guarantee law
as promised in their platform, but it was still
difficult to Becure needed legislation along many
lines, and special interests were still accused
of dictating to a large extent to the organiza
tion and policy of the legislature. The legisla
ture was not always responsive to the demands
of the people, refusing to submit amendments
to the constitution, refusing the people the
right to vote upon questions of great public in
terest, and the democratic party said, we will
give the people direct legislation, or the initia
tive and referendum. We will place the tools of
government in the hands of the people where
they have always belonged, and we will give
the people themselves the right to amend their
constitution, to pass good laws, and to veto bad
ones. And thus direct legislation was written
into the platform of the democratic party and
a solemn pledge given to the people that this
pledge would be kept in case the legislature
was democratic. The republicans also, were
forced to adopt it. The present legislature is
democratic, according to party label, and the
first bill introduced in both houses of the legis
lature was the initiative and referendum, con
taining provisions along the lines of the bill
introduced in the Nebraska legislature two
years ago and in accordance with the pro
visions in other states, where the principle was
in practical operation.
"Few doubted but what this measure would
receive the unanimous supnort of every member
of the legislature but again " it wasTf oiind that
there were two1 kinds' of demtfcra'tS as" Weir as
two kinds of republicans in the Nebraska legis
lature, as well as in the national legislature.
Why, do you know that some of the members
we're so conservative When this bill came up,
that they spoke about the constitution in a
whisper. The constitution of this state, adopted
thirty-six years ago, when we had a few thous
and population, suddenly became so sacred that
to allow the people to change it was equal to
allowing an infidel to enter the holies of holies
or the sanctum sanctorum. They said the
people once given the power to amend their
own constitution, the bill of rights, free speech,
free schools and the right to worship God ac
cording to the dictates of one's own conscience
might be abolished. Some were so conserva
tive that they no doubt actually believed that
the people once given the right to change their
constitution or enact any laws they saw fit,
would repeal the law of gravitation and the
Ten Commandments. After fifty-three days of
almost continuous fighting, the bill was finally
passed, and while in some respects, is unduly
restrictive, and unnecessarily expensive to the
people, is on the whole a workable and pro
gressive measure, and is a substantial com
pliance with the platform pledge. Candor
compels me to say that on every critical vote
in committee of tho whole on proposed amend
ments, on parliamentary procedure, and the
appointment of important committees, it re
quired the combined vote of the progresive
democrats and the progressive republicans to
overcome the combined opposition of the stand
patters of both parties and to save the bill from
amendments that would have made the law prac
tically inoperative.
"Abraham Lincoln once said, 'This govern
ment cannot exist half slave and half free,' and
wilmen Lknow and yu know, from the
Lnw Ve ?g?i.and impressible conflict that is
fi?I 5 i ? thls natIon and In tniB state neither
trn,ie?Ublic.a? ,or the democratic party can con-
tmexIat ,half stnd-pat and half progres
S5tThre ls. little or no difference today
Z? l stand-patters in the republican
Xv m, tho ,Btand-patters in the democratic
wSL, lxure is little or no difference today
Snr7J ? ith Preressives in the domocratic
nnrtv mo tho , Progressives In the republican
bSSim Gre, is littl0 or no difference toelay
p the democratic party and tho republi
can party, for there are two kinds of democrats
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