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CHARLES W. BRYAN, PUBLISHER
VOL. 8, NO. 33
Lincoln, Nebraska, August 28, 1908
Who!e Number 397
:
THERE'S NO DISCRIMINATION
Chairman Mack and other democrats- are making a fuss because the railroads refused
to make special rates for the Bryan notification this Week, though special rates were made
for the Taft notification. They should remember that railroads are not in the habit of
charging regular rates for their own construction material or for their employes. How
can the railroads conduct a political campaign if they put the people and the corporation
agents on the same footing? In 1896 and 1900 the railroads treated republicans and
republican meetings as railroad affairs. Why shouldn't they do so this 'year? San
Francisco Star. - ...
JOHN W. KERN'S SPEECH OF ACCEPTANCE
Gentlemen of the Notification Committee: For the kindly and
courteous manner in whjph you have conveyed to me the official
.notification of my nomination as the democratic candidate for vice
president of the United States, and for the eloquent words just
spoken by your chairman in your behalf, I thank you one and all.
I appreciate most highly this great honor conferred upon me by
the unanimous vote of the representatives of my party in national
convention assembled, and I shall strive most earnestly to earn a
continuation of the confidence and good will manifested by that
action. I did not seek this nomination. Indeed, if my own personal
desires had been consulted, another would have received the honor,
but it having come to me without solicitation, I prize it all the
more, and accept it, with a full sense of the burdens and responsi
bilities. As a candidate I shall try to wear the honor worthily, and,
as faithfully .as I can, discharge all the duties properly, devolving
on me as one of your standard bearers, and if elected I promise to
serve all the people of the republic fiy the conscientious discharge
of the duties of the office.
I have no thought that the men who made up that great con
vention at Denver "nominated me as their candidate because they
believed that I had ability or merit superior to that possessed by
any one of the distinguished gentlemen whose names were considered
in connection with the vice presidential nomination. Many years
of service on my part might have had some slight influence in de
termining their action, but I am persuaded that it was the chief
purpose of the convention, in choosing a son of Indiana as its can
didate, to show its appreciation of the great democratic party of
this splendid commonwealth, made up as it is of more than a third
of a million of men, good and true the very flower of the great
democratic army of the republic. I prefer to accept this proffered
honor in the name of these loyal democrats of Indiana, for whom
the honor was, I believe, really intended. It is pleasing to me to be
associated in this campaign with the distinguished gentleman to
whom the standard of the party has been committed. For years we
have been friends. I recognize in him a man of spotless character
and high ideals, always actuated by patriotic motives and an earnest
desire to promote the welfare, the honor and glory of his country.
Ke betfame your candidate because his nomination was demanded by
the rank and file of the party, which demand was emphasized by
a popular movement in his favor, which, as it proceeded, so grew in
volume and force as to become irresistible.
He enters upon this campaign unpledged to any special inter
ests,, under no obligations to any unlawful or other combination of
capital, looking to no corporation for campaign contributions
absolutely free to serve jthe people by carrying out the pledges of
his party's platform. While he is the foe to unlawful monopoly, '
and is prepared to lay a heavy hand upon the lawless, whether
rich or poor, without fear or favor, and to combat the encroach
ments of greed upon honest endeavor, he is the friend of every
legitimate business enterprise, whether conducted by individual or
corporation, and will sympathize with the promotion of every move
ment which makes for the welfare and prosperity of the country.
A distinguished republican, the other day referred to his influ
ence with his party as a one man power, If by that he meant to
say that Mr. Bryan possessed the power, in a marked degree, to
influence the thought and arouse the conscience of the republic, as
no other man of his time, or if he meant that by his upright life,
"his consistent course, his appeals for right living, and patriotic
action, he has earned the confidence and personal affection of mil
lions of his countrymen, and gained the respect and admiration of
all the people of the vorld who love liberty and humanity, then the
distinguished gentleman was right, with respect to the one man
power of William Jennings Bryan.
Mr. Bryan has exerted no other power. He had had no subor
dinates to command, no officeholders to direct. I think it may be
safely said that there were no postmasters, nor other federal office
holders or employes in the Denver convention. Every delegate to
that convention "carried his sovereignty under his own hat," and,
as an independent American freeman, owing no allegiance save to
country and flag, cast his vote for Bryan because in his heart
he believed that the nomination and election of such a man wens
demanded by the best interests of the republic.
The republican nominee for vice president in his recent speech
of acceptance affected the belief that the question "Shall the people
rule?" implied a charge of venality against the American electorate.
He affirmed, with great emphasis, that under recent republican ad
ministration the people have ruled without let or hindrance.
It is passing strange that in a republic like this there should
. be occasion for a discussion of this question. It is a government of
the people and by the people. They presumably govern themselves
through their servants whom they send to represent them in con
gress. Their-will, when known, ought to be supreme, and should
be given immediate effect.
And if the will of the people once known is not given effect,
then the people do not rule.
Will any intelligent man claim that there is or has beejfe ny '
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