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The Commoner
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JUNE, 1918
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tho deck of a warship, while I, depicted-, a 'a
tyrant as relentless as Nero, was . standing on
the bridge surrounded by weeping officers.
The approval, however, outside of these ,ro
stricted circles, was general. The order T was
hailed with so much satisfaction by the fathers
and mothers of the country that my mail was
doubled and trebled for a month or twoV By
the time congress assembled, those who had
thought to attack the order upon the floors Of
congress found there was not a man in either
house who ever raised the issue. By that time,
too, the navy officers learned that it was. far
from any thought of mine to reflect upon tho
service. I took4 occasion to let the public know
that so far as.the mass of the officers were con
cerned there was no need for the order. It was
issued to safeguard the young men who wero
coming into the service. The public well un
derstood that that ,was Ihe reason and heartily
approved. itv . .
The order, dated June 1, 1914, was as fol
lows: ,
"Tho use or introduction for drinking pur
poses of alcoholic .liquors on board any naval
vessel, or witbjnany navy yard or station, is
strictly prohibited, .and commanding, officers will
be held directly; responsible for the enforcement
of this order.!'.. ...
PUNCHING PROHIBITION POINTS PRE
SENTJ3D BY BRYAN
By 0. K.i'injSa.cramento, Cal., Bee, June 6.
William Jennings Bryan, the Commoner of
Nebraska, Hhree, times a candidate for pfesi- '
dent of the United States, appeared in the Chau--tauqua
tent last night And delivered a lecture
dealing with man's Telation to government, to
society, and to his God.
Bryan is still ;the 'wonderful orator of other
days. He has the 'same deep, resonant, musical
voice. His words are purest English, except
when he deliberately drops into slang and1 story
telling. ' His ' enunciation is perfection itself.
The slightest whisper caft be heard distinctly '
at a distance because he articulates so plainly,
because each word comes out clear-cut from its
"well of English uridefiled."
To listens Mm lsfan education in Itself:' :
And many4 so-called "orators" would find it
advantageous to study and follow tho Bryan
method; so they" could at least make themselves
at all times intelligible without shrieking.
To those who haVe heard Bryan so often, a7)d
particularly in the heat of bitter political con-ventions-especially
when he brought thft great
Baltimore gathering to its knees and forced it
to nominate 'Woodro'w Wilson for president of
the United -States' against its designs, its will
and its prepared plansand when at two o'clock
in the morning he arose from a bed at St. Louis,
where he wast afflicted with incipient pneumonia,
to drive, the gold, jplank out of the platform of
a national convention which had already adopt
ed it the lecture good as it was, was to a de
gree disappointing.
The feeling of" something lacking was some
thing akin to that which comes over one fa
miliar with the. stage power and magnificence
of a great tragedian, when he hears that same
actor give readings' from Shakespeare.
For there is' ad much difference between the
power and magnetism of some Booth over an
audience upon the stage, and the quieter qual- '
lues of the same actor a- he reads in the peace
ful atmosphere of a church gathering, as be
tween the sweep of William Jennings Bryan , ,
dominating by his magnificent oratory opposing
hundreds and Jeering thousands in a packed
convention, and the even tones of the same man
conversationally reasoning at a Chautauqua
gathering.
But even to! those the lecture last night was
a treat in many -respects. "', .,.,.'
There were some very powerful passages
and some beautiful imagery; some eloquent
Pathos.
The lecture was puncfuated throughout by Jthe ,
Piquant, Bryanesque humor. And no matter ,
now much any might disagree with his reason
ing here and there, he certainly presented- his"
side of the case inarvelOusly well. : ''
Bryan devoted considerable of his attention "'
to his present dominating hobby of prohibition; '
No man can feel other than respect for the
sincerity of this advocate. '-" ,"
vi5e, has neve been anything else than a pro;-1 ,"
hibitionist, All his life long he has believed in ' '
that principle. It is not with him, as with yo l
many hundreds and thousands of othersefiheY0
a political embracement of the hour against his
conscience, or a following of tho crowd because
iInxks ProhtoUipn is on the winning wave
Whatever Mr. Bryan says about prohibition,
or any other subject, he says from a sincere
heart; and therein and therefore ho is to be re
spected. The humor of Bryan was well established
throughout the lecture.
And unconsciously he was just as humorous
in one particular point whero he had no inten
tion of being humorous, as elsewhere where ho
deliberately became humorous.
Ue scored the breweries and their "infamous
act? in holding back the hands of the govern
ment on a necessary food bill until they had
brought tho government to some of their terms.
Coming from the president of tho National
Dry Fede'ration, and from a man who has en
dorsed everything the prohibitionists have done,
that, was the very acme of unconscious and all
thq, more delicious humor.
For the history of national legislation in the
past year has been potently if not picturesquely,
illustrated by the efforts of the prohibitionists
to hold back the hands of the nation in the hour
of her crisis, until such times as they could
cram prohibition down the throats of an un
willing people.
And today they stand phalanxed in a black
mailing effort to compel the President of tho
United States to force prohibition upon tho peo
ple without their consent, by refusing to pass a
food appropriation, bill until he succumbs.
But if you told Bryan of the underlying hu
mor in his violent denunciation of the breweries
for such offence, he wouldn't be able to see it in
a lifetime. ' ' "
No deeply sincere man, wedded to. one par
ticular hobby, ever can see the humor that is
so patent to the bt)ier side.
Undoubtedly all ' who Jcnow and appreciate
the sincerity and the earnestness. and the hon
esty of this man tiirdughOut his long career will
be glad to hear any message he' may have to
deliver. "-
And those' who ktiow his worth, but can not
agree With him, will agree to disagree as friends.
So, in line with its life-long rule The Bee
presents a faithful report of Bryan's lecture,
with particular attention to his prohibition appeal.
MR. BRYAN IN CALIFORNIA
An audience that crowded the big Chautau
qua tent to capacity and overflowed in the stand
ing space beyond its walls, greeted William Jen
nings Bryan when he appeared on the lecture
platform last evening. Despite differences of
political creed tho residents of Eureka evinced
an eager interest in the appearance here of the
great Commoner, who, through the force of an
astute mind and the silver tongue of oratory,
has stood for a score of years before the world
as one of the most prominent figures in Amer
ican life.
It is as unnecessary as impossible to try to
give adequate expression of Mr. Bryan's gift of
expression, but the smooth logic, the sequence
of cause and effect leading in an over narrow
ing circle to the one great object the speaker
sought to convey, came as a revelation to those
who heard him.
Taking as his central theme the "Funda
mentals of Life," Mr. Bryan analyzed his sub
ject under three sub-topics Man's relation tQ
his government, to society and to his God. The
address was prefaced by a prelude relative to
governments in general, in which a concise an
alysis of the science of government as it exists
in various countries was given, the speaker,
through a series of questions asked and an
swered, arriving at the .unquestionable conclu
sion that democracy is the peer of all govern
ments yet tried upon the earth. Humboldt
Times,, Eureka, Cal., June 3.
Hon. William Jennings Bryan did Humboldt
a great service last night at Chautauqua. His
lucid, patriotic appeal to carry on the war, abol
ish' intoxicants, and live up to what we know to
be right, will live long among our people.-Hum-boidt
Times, Eureka, Cal.
LECTURE AT GRASS VALLEY
Yesterday was Bryan day in Grass. Valley. .The
ere'at American arrived, at 11 o'clock, attended ,
-a luncheon of the Chamber of Commerce at.noon
and talke'd in a huinorotis ,strafn,for a .half how,
took a nap," viMtea? the mines and last night de-
livered his great leeture to between 1100 an,
1200 people at the Chautauqua tent. The Com
moner is ageing very gradually and still pre
sents a robust appearance. His drMtwa un
conventional, what appeared to be an alapaca
coat being worn for the comfort of it this rather
hot weather.
Bryan is tho same genial, approachable, lik
able man as in his days of stronuous political
campaigns. It was his first visit hero and h
expressed much surprise at finding a community
so largo and favorably conditioned. Llko many
an other stranger, Bryan was misled by" the
name of tho town into thinking ho was bound
for a small hamlet.
Bryan dovotod three-quarters of an hour of
his lecture period to tho war, and his appeals
for tho support of the government and-tho back
ing up of tho men who actually go to tho front
was so powerful as to move tho most indifferent.
Ho gave considerable attention to the liquor
question, declaring that tho use of foodstuffs for
the manufacture of intoxicating liquors in any
quantity should bo stopped, and placing In tho
same category with tho German spy who tampers
vith an aeroplane tho man who seeks to de
crease the efficiency of the pilot of the machine
by furnishing him with intoxicating drinks. r
Grass Valley, Cal., Union, Juno 7.
PRESIDENT'S WAR SAVINGS APPEAL
President Wilson has authorized tho follow
ing signed statement:
This war Is one of nations not of armies i
and all of our one hundred million people must
be economically and industrially adjusted to war
conditions if this nation is to play its full part
in the conflict. Tho problem before us is not,
primarily, a financial problem, but rather a
problem of increased production of war essen
tials and tho saving of the materials and tho
labor necessary for tho support and equipment
of our army and navy. Thoughtless expenditure
of money for nonessentials uses up the labor
of men, the products of the farm, mines, and
factories, and overburdens transportation,, all
of which must be used to the utmost and at
their best for war purposes.
The great results which wo seek can be ob
tained only by the participation of every mem
ber of the nation, young and old, in a national
concerted thrift movement. I therefore urge
that our people everywhere pledge themselves,
as suggested by the secretary of the treasury,
to 'the practice of thrift; -to serve the govern
ment to their utmost in Increasing production
in all fields necessary to the winning of tho war;
to cdnserve food and fuel and useful materials
of every kind; to devote their labor only to the
most necessary tasks; and to buy only those
things which are essential to individual health
and efficiency; and that the people, as evidence
of their loyalty, invest all that they can save
In Liberty bonds and war savings stamps. The
securities issued by tho treasury department are
so many of them within the reach of every one
that the door of opportunity In this matter is
wide open to all Of us. To practice thrift in
peace times Is a virtue and. brings great benefit
to the individual at all times; with the desper
ate need of the civilized world today for ma
terials and labor with which to end the war, the
practice of individual thrift Is a patriotic duty
and a necessity.
I appeal to all who ,now own either Liberty
bonds or war savings stamps to continue to
practice economy and thrift and to appeal to
all who do not own government securities to do
likewise and purchase them to the extent of
their means. The manwho buys government
securities transfers the purchasing power of his
money to the United States government until
after this war, and to that same degree does not
buy in competition with the government.
I earnestly appeal to every man, woman, and
child to pledge themselves on or before the 28th
of June to save constantly and to buy as regu
larly as possible the securities of tho govern
ment; and to do this as far as possible through
membership In war-savings societies. The 28th
of June ends this special period of enlistment
in the great volunteer army of production and
saving here at home. May there be none unen
listed on that day!
WOODROW WILSON.
Some statistician ha figured it out that it
everybody Jnthe, Jliiited States will eat- bna
prunea day it willrave 100,000 tons, of sugar:
a. year.
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