The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923, February 25, 1910, Image 1

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    Commoner.
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WILLIAM J. BRYAN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR
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VOL: 10, NO. 7
Lincoln, Nebraska, February 25, 1910
Whole Number 475
Mr. Bryan at Lima
Mr. Bryan spoke at the National club at Lima,
Peru, January 25, 1910.
The president of the club, Dr. Prado
Ugarteche, the son of a former president of
Peru, introduced Mr. Bryan as- follows:
"In the name of the National club I would
wish to express the great satisfaction I have in
thanking you for having accepted our invitation.
The universal reputation of this prominent pub
lic man and eminent orator, was already known
to us, but, this knowledge is now increased by
-personal and actual acquaintance. A current of
effective and broader sympathy has at this mo
ment been increased by our respect and admira
tion. The National club representing all the
Peruvian society, will be the representative of
its commerce, and must also express to you that
It considers itself much obliged by the excep
tional honor that you have conferred on it this
day, and that it will be inscribed in its annals
as one of the best days of its life."
Mr. Bryan responded:
Mr. President, Members of the Club, Ladles
and Gentlemen: I appreciate your very cordial
welcome and the kind words that, have been
spoken in presenting. me to you. I am not flat
tering the distinguished gentleman who is hon
ored with the presidency of this ..club when I
say that if, when I die, the name Bryan is as
well known and as highly honored in my coun
try as the name "Prado" is in this; I can wish
no more. I may add also that I would be con
tent to let my fame as an orator rest upon my
speech thig - ffterilp.on;.-.tlCI could present my
thoughts as. gra'cef filly 'and as eloquently as ho
has presented his. I am not presumptious
enough to think that any large part of the gen
erous welcome that has been extended can be
counted as personal; I recognize that the at
tention that has been shown me has been shown
to me not as an individual, not because of any
merit of my own, but because I am a citizen
of the United States and I accept this evidence
of your friendship with more gratitude and more
appreciation than I would accept it if it were
a personal tribute to me.
I am pleased to learn of the cordial good will
that is felt in Peru for the people of the United
States and I assure you that I speak the senti
ments of all of our people when I say that your
good will is fully and heartily reciprocated. I
shall be glad, when I return to my home, to tell
them that as a citizen of the United States, and
because a citizen of the United States, I was
hospitably received and entertained by the presi
dent of your republic, by the mayor of your
city and by the president and members of this
distinguished club, which represents your civil,
your social, your political and your business life.
If -I were to attempt to discuss the political
questions which are at issue in the United States,
you might with justice dispute my right to
speak for the people of my country, for in the
elections which we have had recently the vote
CONTENTS
MR. BRYAN AT LIMA
INSURGENT ULTIMATUM
TIMELY QUOTATIONS
EDUCATIONAL SERIES MONOPOLY AND
NATIONAL INCORPORATION
PRACTICAL TARIFF TALKS
DISAPPOINTMENT
WHERE THE OLD SHIP IS LEAKING
MR. TAFT'S INJUSTICE TO HIMSELF
TRYING TO EXPLAIN HIGH COST OF
. LIVING . ,
CURRENT TOPICS .
HOME DEPARTMENT , 'M
WHETHER COMMON OR NOT l : ,.
INJVVO KJV l-XXIU VVIKiXV
WASHINGTON NEWS
-.t
of confidence has been in favor of those repre
senting the other side of these questions'; but,
my friends, the questions that divide us politi
cally are few in number and of little importance
compared with the principles and policies that
unite us as citizens. I can, therefore, speak as
a representative of all the people of the United
States when I discuss the questions of national
policy as they relate to our dealings with other,
countries, and I can assure you that In the'
United States there is sincere goodwill, not only
towards this country but towards all the coun
tries of the earth. If there is anyone in Peru
who disputes or doubts the pacific intentions of
the people of my country, I bid him visit the
United. States, travel from east to west, from
north to south, talk with our people, anywhere
and everywhere, and he will find that wo have
some ninety millions of people working out their
destiny with Ideals as high, I hope, as can be
found anywhere else in the world, and desirous
of entering into rivalry with other nations only
in that legitimate field where the contest is to
see who can hold highest the torch of' civiliza
tion that lights the world to higher ground.
The relations that exist between the United
States and Peru are not only cordial but they
are destined to become more cordial, and I can
riot do better this afternoon than give you some
of the reasons that lead me to believe that we
are going to know each other better and like
each other more as the years go by.
In the first place we are your neighbors; God
has joined us by a strip of land, and while we
hope soon to make a little rent in that strip,
it will not be wide enough to separate South
"America from North America. There is a cer
tain interest that naturally comes from proxi
mity; people who live side by side must feel a
deeper interest in each other because of knowl
edge that necessarily comes with that proxi
mity. We are near enough together to feel
that interest that neighborhood inspires; we are
co-tenants of the western hemisphere and, as
such, we must not only live together but wo
should live together and will live together as
friends and not as enemies.
There is another reason why our relations
are destined to become more intimate. The ca
nal will bring us nearer together; the telegraph
has almost eliminated space; steam has brought
the corners of the earth nearer together and
the canal will bring us into still closer rela
tionship with each other. If you will take a
map of North America you will find that New
York is a thousand miles nearer to the Pacific
ocean at Panama than it is to San Francisco;
the Pacific ocean comes around, as It were, to
meet the states of the east and save them the
necessity of crossing the Rocky Mountains.
When the canal is completed the great steamers
can start in New York and reach the western
shores of Sputh America in a very short time;
and with that lessening of time, with that short
ening of distance, with that closer communica
tion there will come more travel between your
country and ours. Our manufacturers and our
exporters will be sending their representatives
here in increasing numbers to take advantage
of the trade that will necessarily c'ome with this
improvement in the facilities for commerce. And
commerce is, in itself, a binding tie. It is true
that wars have been waged for commerce and
yet, my friends, you will find that the senti
ment in favor of peace grows with expanding
commerced Every sail is blown by winds that
make for peace and every steamer that plows
the ocean is an advance agent of peace. Go
back into the days when they had no commerce
and no communication with each other and there
was more of war, more of bloodshed and more
of enmity in proportion to population, than there
is today. Commerce increasing as it must, will
strengthen the bonds of peace and will increase
acquaintance and goodwill.
But there is another reason why the relations
between our country and your 'country must be
friendly relations. You are demonstrating the
truth of the theory of government which was
planted on American soil a centuTy'and a quar
ter ago and as you have been, stimulated by our
example, inspired by our fight for liberty and
000
INSUKGIONT ULTIMATUM
Either tho "insurgonts" of today are
tho republican party of tomorrow or else
when tomorrow comes there will bo no
republican .party.
There are no birds in last year's nest.
There are, no votes for the republican
party in 1912 or in 10 10 because it freed
the slaves in the civil war or saved us
from the silver basis in 189 G.
A few states In the south are surely 0
democratic and a few states In the north
are surely republican, but the decisive
votes in tho deciding states will bo for
the republican party only by reason of
what it now does and seems likely to
do to free tho masses and save tho gov-
eminent from the clutch of organized
privilege.
The president is depending upon Aid-
rich and Cannon, tho servants of or-
ganized privilege, to put through tho
Roosevelt policies ho so ardently desires,
and his face is turned away from the "in-
surgent minority, to whom those policies 0
are dear. It is a false situation which
. can not last. Nor can any dependence
bo placed upon those so-called leaders to
enact those policies into law.
In looking to Aldrich and Cannon to, ,
. beat organized privilege off from ih'etpre---
rogatives and power it enjoys, tho presi-
dent is leaning on a broken reed. He
belongs with the insurgents and they be-
long with him.
Either tho "insurgents" of today are
tho republican party of tomorrow or else
when that tomorrow comes there will be
0 no republican party. Indianapolis News
(rep.)
will continue to be influenced by our example,
we can not but feel an Interest In your experi
ment and wish you God-speed in tho application
of democratic ideas of government to the people
of Peru.
I might add here that I have learned with
great satisfaction of the increasing number of
students who are going from Peru to the United
States. I trust that as communication Is made
easier the number will bo multiplied and I am
willing to go further than that and have our
government plant upon the Isthmus, within the
limits of the canal zone, an American college
for the benefit of those young men who find it
Inconvenient to go further than that in their
search, for instruction in American history and
in the ideals of government as applied under tho
American flag.
The best thing in this world is an ideal; it
is the most valuable thing; and as I see how
tariff laws vex commerce, I am glad that an
ideal can cross boundary lines without having
to go through customs houses. Our country has
received ideas from all other countries and its
ideas are for the benefit of all the world. When
1 visited Japan a few years ago the first recep
tion given me was by a club formed of young
men who had studied in the United States and
I thought it a compliment to our country that
these young men, who had been educated in our
colleges, should band themselves together under
a name that, when translated into English, meant
"Friends of America Society." It strengthened
a thought I had in mind, namely, that the way
for our nation to conquer the world is not with
arms, but with ideals. In proportion as we can
bring people from other lands into our country
and there give them the best that we have and
stimulate them, as far as our example is cal
culated to stimulate, we can effectually influence
the world. And whether I , speak for all of my
countrymen or not I speaifor myself when I
ridel that I believe that peace can be promoted
much better by bringing yoiing men to our coun
try and making them acquainted with our ideals
and our aspirations, than it can be promoted
by any expenditure on ships or soldiers. For,
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