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The Commoner
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VOI. 20, NO. 7
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wine thereof and was runkon; his sons, in
mortification, took a xwment and, walking
backwards that they might not seo their father's
nakednoss, spread the garment oyer him as he
lay drunk in . hid tent. Back in the twilight
daya whon Homer sang of the fall of Troy
etn then (lie word "Winebibbor" Was used.
&g term of reproach. Alexander tho Great,
in a drunken quarrel, alow a favorite gouoral
who had- once saved his life, Wine has not
cwMssd to he a mocker; Ibanyoz, the greatest
living novcljst of Spain, tells us that in his
native land it is wine not whisky, hut wine
that destroys the young men oX promise he
fore they are old enough to ho of service, to
4helr country. This is tho Vordict of history
'confirmed by our own experience; and it con
demns beer as Well as wine.
Come with us and"meot tho quostlon square
ly; let it bo sottlod that we may take up other
questions that deraancl the attention of the
Amorloan people. Why" should we be drawn
away Trow tho tremendous problems that con
front us today In order to quarrel over tho
amount, of alcohol to be allowed in a non-intoxicating
drink, (Applause), If you cannot
get alcohol enough to mako you drunk, why do
you, want alcohol at all? Why not cut it out
altogether and go on about your business.
(Great applause),
H is argued that, if you adopt the platform
plank that I suggest, some will leave tho party.
That is true; you cannot do anything good
without giving some an oxouse for leaving the"
party ,Rut, in politics, you weigh those who
epifl, against those who go. While we may
lo$ ome, we will draw to our support a much
greater dumber; and when these new recruits
come they will come because of love for the
principle for which We stand. (Applause) They
will not, couio because afflicted with a disease of
tfc throat they will not come a invalids to
abf$e $)R a, time in a hospital! They will come
btcaue they stand for the home against the
HoiW greatest enemy.
ft I were to wlect a text 1 have already
uelecid it. On the night of the sixteenth daL
of last January whon, at the 'nation's capital,
we celebrated tho Passover from the old era to
tho new, I was honored by the loaders of this
great cause with tho privilege of being the
lattt speaker' at the meeting. I watched the clock
ain'd when" 16 was within one minute of the time
when this nation would become saloonless for
ever more, I quoted a. passage from the Bible
the language In which the Angel assured
Joseph- and. -Mary that it was safe to take the
young.' childVJesua baok to the Holy, Land you
recall the words: "They are dead that sought
the young child's life." (Applause). When
ye remember that' King Alcohol has slain a
Million . mo ro children than Herod over did,
what- language can more appropriately express
the Joy In the hearts of the paronts today than,
those words: "They are dead that sought the
young child's life."
Are you t afraid that we shall- loso some
vote O, my countrymen, have more faith in
th Virtue of tho people. If there be any here
whowould seek the support of those who de
sire Hd carry us back into bondage to acohol,
Jet them remember that it is hotter to have
rijhe gratitude of one soul saved from drink
than the applause of a dfunken world. (Great
applause). It is better to have the mothers of
the land think of our party as they press their
babes to thoir breasts and thank God that they
are now safe from tho temptations of the saloon
aye; far better than to hear all the hurrahs
that can come from those who would mako
money by selling poison to their follow men -who
would for money raise the death rate among
the little children in thoir neighborhood. (Ap
plause) , .
And now, because tho limitations- placed up
on my time by parliamentary law, I ,must turn
very briefly to four other propositions, only
stopping to add that I wish it wore possible to
discuss and settle one question at ' a, time,
(Cries of "Go on, go dn").
I shall speak of prohibition againwhen I
use tho 510 minutes that I have in-closing, (Ap
plause). Now let me in a moment's time ask
you to consider four other amendments, which,
in my judgment, would help our party to win. l
The iirst is a national bulletin. We have no
newspapers in this country except those under
private control, and these arojlivided into two
clalsa.es; namely, those that are owned hyjhdn
; and, patriotic men and used"1 tor a patriotic
purpose, and those owned by predatory corpora
tions and used to deceive those who read their
editorials and news columns. (Applause)-. - It
is not fair that the voters should be loft to the
mercy either of a biased press or to bo exploited
by tho subsidized papers that cell their read
ers at so much per head. Tho very best of
our papers are owned and edited by men who
are human, and, because human, aro biased.
They cannot give both sides fairly even when
they try. Tho organs of tho plunderbund do
not try to give either si3e honestly. Thq Demo
cratic party should declare that it is in favor
of light rather than darkness, because its deeds
aro not evil. Democratic principles and policies
do ' not fear tho light ofday. A government
publication, furnished toall who desire it, of-,
fers tho only means by which the people can
receive, thru unpolluted channels, the informa
tion that they-need. Such a bulletin would in
form them as to the issues before tho country,
and the editorials, written by chosen represent
atives of both parties, would furnish the argu
ments on all sides. There should be adver
tising space for the proper presentation of the
claims of candidates for national officos. These
ftnroo things are nocessary for the following rea
sons: First, because government by the "con
sel of the governed is a mockery unless the
people know to what they are consenting; (Ap
plause) second, the voters cannot vote Intelli
gently unless they hear both sides, Out of the
conflict of ideas comes truth. We believe with
Jefferson that "error is harmless when reason
is left free to combat it." But reason cannot
combat error unless it isi presented to those who
must decide. (Applause). The third reason, is
that. wo do notwant any more candidates for
president excusing large campaign contribu
tions, as Republican candidates tried to do, on
the ground that It is necessary to spend enor
mous sums of money in order to get the facts "
before the people. We do not want . them to,
spend either large sums of their own money, o,e
Targe sums contributed by others. Any wan of
merit should 1 able to aspire to .tht higher of
fice, withoi:the gift of the people, tegaMJess of
whether, he has a fortune himself or rich .friends
or is poor. (Applause),
My third plank deals with the profiteers,
You have read the plank, I cannot go into detail.
The records now show thatvsome of these prof
iteers have been making a thousand per cent,,
some two thousand, some three thousand, and
ome even five thousand. This profiteering be
gan when our country was at war; when young
men were leaving college to offer uppn their
country's altar .their preparation for life; when
mothers were-giving up their sons, wives their N
husbands, andChildren their fathers; and when
the country was straining every nerve., It has
continued and even increased . since hostilities
ceased.
I went to tho Republican, convention and
urged delegates to write into their platform a
, strong plank on profiteering. I told hem that
I would gladly bring such a plank here and ask
this convention to insert the same plank in our
platform, so that we could act jointly for the
protection of society against those plunderers.
(Applause). But they did not do it. Why?
Because nearly all the profiteers wore there in"
the convention, or in the gallery, or nearby. (Ap- "
plauge). I suppose wo have here, all the prof
iteers who were " not at 'Chicago, and possibly
some who were. -(Laughter). We may still
have some in our party. The profiteering plank
in our platform is not harsh enough; my plank
Is written for the express purpose of driving
out of the Democratic party and into the Re--publican
party every profiteer who is not al
readya member of the Republican party; so
that, when we put tho profiteers in the peni
tentiary, they will enter as Republicans and
not as Democrats. (Applause and laughter)
My. fourth plank Is against universal com
pulsory military training. (Applause). A Re
publican seriate committee reported a' bill pro
viding for universal compulsory military train
ing which contemplated an annual appropriation
of about 700 .millions of dollars a year a larg
er sum than We. ever spent on the army and
navy before the"war waged to make the "world
safe for democracy." Is it possible that after
wo have spent 2,5 hillfons of dollars in this war
and sacrificed an hundred thousand precious
lives, we must load our people down with this
grevlous burden of taxation, and train every
young man In the gentle' art. of taking 'human
life, on the tho.ory hat war Is a necessary part
of civilization? No, the Democratic party should
do as our Democratic congressmen did in tho
House of Representatives; -this convention
should assure tho nation that there is one party
that will nevor support universal compulsory
military training in time of peace. (Applause)
And now, my friends, I have only a moment
left for a subject to which I shall devote moro
time, in- my closing "ISO minutes. I propose as
my fjlfth amendment a plan that, at least, gives
hopoof an early entrance into the League of
Nations.. It will enable us to remove the issue
from the campaign and do our duty to our own
people and the world. You may i think it com
prehensive; but it needs a large and compre
hensive plan to meet tho extraordinary condi
tions of today.
Our nation has shamed itself before the
world for n year! Why is it that while our
government could speedily-go into tho war, and
under the leadership dt our President, mobolize
the resources of the nation as no other nation
ever mobolized its resources in the same
length of time why isjt that we could do this
but cannot get out of the war? Why is it that
Germany and Great Britain and France and
Italy, and even poor devastated Belgium, can
mako peace while w.e confess ourselves impotent
to ratify a treaty? Why? Because we have
a provision In our constitution that requires a
two-thirds vote of the Senate to ratify a treaty
The constitution should be so changed that the
American people can end a war as quickly as
they can begin it." (Applause). We fought for the
most fundamental if Democratic principles,
namely, the right of. the majority to rule. If
that is worth fighting for In Europe it is worth
recognizing in the United States and worth
recognising in; representative bodies as well as
when the peojple vote directly,
If w;e endorse this, doctrine and how can
wo refuse to endorse it?. we mre then in a posi
tion to demand that the. Republican senators
shall meet'Us in Washington and there join with
Democratic senators in an effort to -secure im
mediate, ratification, on, any trm& that, a major
ity may agree upon, leaving for the future such
changes as may be deemed-necessary. If they
"refuse to accept our challenge we- will go out
and take the larger and the better part of the
Republican party away from the leaders. Tho
people o;f all parties favor a league pf nations
and they want our nation to do its part in
world affairs. " If they do join us in securing
raif ication,t they will turn over to our party the
moral leadership of the world.
' The Lord has delivered them inte our hands.
vWe have a Democratic president who can re
cpnvene the Senate; we have enough Demo
cratic senators to convert a majority into the
necessary two-thirds majority by voting or not
voting, whjlchever they prefer. The issue lies
with us, and we cannot "shift the blame, how
ever inexcusable the Opposition of: Republican
senators has been.
-Is it not worth while for the Democratic party
to present these alternatives to the Republican
.party? Is it not worth while to -place In the
hands of Woodrow Wilson the standard of civil
ization and allow America to" lead in tho con
quest of the world for universal' peace? Some
day the sonff thje shepherds heard at Bethlehem
will be sung in every lana why not make it
the international anthem now? (Great applause).
Mr. Bryan's Closing Speech
(After, others had spoken, "Mr.,' Bryan con
cluded tho discussion as follows:)
My friends, I only have twenty minutes and
I need every second of the time. In the
first place I desirev to say just a word"' about the
National Bulletin." I want some way of get
ting -information to every1 voter; I want them to
know the facts when they come to vote; I want
them to hear the arguments pro and con; let
them know tho truth, and- the truth will make
them free. J have faith in .'the virtue, integrity,
and patriotism; of the American people, but
how can these 'things find expression in govern
ment unless tho voters have the arguments on
, each side from the highest sources. We need
a paper thru which every candidate ca'n lay his
claim be.fora the voters."1 vo want it so that
they will not sell a congressman's position on the
bargain counter. We want it so that they can
not opethe door of the United States Senate
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