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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1920)
w A J The Commoner JANUARY, 1920 II W? a and that right, will ultimately prevail forWun of reversals of temporary progress. UJf'ta richly earned the title of "The Great H lr He has invariably been the chain C,om measures that liave helped the progress 5fthe average man. And many have come to PEAS; a consequence, no man in this country corn el -in eaual following, not even the president Si foUowing entirely independent of office- ThTcountry has reason' to, bo gratified, that i those times, when so many vital problems Lront us Bryan will be found in the i thick 1 e coining campaign Ho may not be the Presidential candidate. He may not be allowed Stake over the steering wheel of the demo cratic political craft. But whether Bryan steers or merely "sets the rmirse " or even if he is permitted only stand :ng room on the democratic ship, the, people of the United States may rest assured that at least one nolitical party will be more progressive, more ,ibGral and closer to the people than it would be jf Bryan were sent ashore. Omaha News. BRYAN "CIRCULATING ROUND" Democracy's leaders are viewing without per ceptible enthusiasm the political activities of William Jennings Bryan An incorrigible otismist, the Nebraskan is outlining to a more or less interested country precisely what his party will and will not cham pion in the 1920 presidential campaign. Opposition to Wall Street, woman suffrage and prohibition enforcement are .among the things which must be foremost in the platform of the successful candidate for the nomination he says. Observer's in his own camp feelingly comment on his statement as indicative of a fixed bolief in the Bryan mind that only one man, he a several times candidate for the presi dency on the Democratic ticket, can meet these requirements. Nevertheless, Mr. Bryan is going ahead blithe ly making arrangements to enlighten the coun- ' try relative to Democracy's plans, hopes, aspira tions and ambitions. He w ' deliver a "keynote speech", early in the New Year, to be followed by a tour of ,ihe country, during which he will make a nuriiDor of timely remarks anent matters political, eco nomical and otherwise. In many matters there is a well-grounded sus picion that this "swing- around the circle" is preliminary to an .announcement that "the Com moner" is in a receptive mood, is running up lightning rods and otherwise is disposing him self so as, to make it easy for the national con vention to select him . as the party's standard bearer. " y Campaigning of .this kind by Bryan is not ex pensive. In fact, it may be regarded as in the nature of an investment, for it serves to keep him prominently before a public to which .he delights to appeal in his well-known role of lecturer extraordinary to rural America. Seattle wash., Times. WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN Abraham Lincoln on one occasion said, "If you desiro to grow politically, attach yourself to a. growing moral idea and you will grow with It.' Mr. Bryan embodies in his personal life tho theory of politics enunciated by that state pent of Mr. Lincoln raised to the u'th power. Mr. Bryan has been beaten, apparently repu diated, dead and buried politically more times than any other man who has ever appealed to jne imagination of the nation and he returns jull of iifQ resurrected, sometimes it appears mua ""Eer1 being than he was before. The reason for this must be knuwu to those Jho are intimate with the personal and private lire of Mr. Bryan. , But to those of us who are jot privileged so to be, but simply observe him jrom the standpoint of the public, we feel that "us perpetual political life of a defeated candi date is duo to the fact that Mr. Bryan runs by - conscience, that he speaks from the inside out, that while his ambition, of course, was to e President, yet he had a higher and holier ambition and that was to make His life a true character. As a writer in-a magazine some, years ago writing concerning Mr. Bryan said, "Whether jw agree with ' him or not, you cannot be Jiosely associated with him without coming to Je conclusion unreservedly ttiat Bryan loves od and God loves Bryati." ' Mr. Bryan has always been faithful to that yeJ Ideal. He has had millions of followers WQo believe in him personally and trust him personally, who don't want to see him Presi dent of tho United States. Ho is an opponent of many politicians -but is without bitternoa. He has been willing to take tho unpopular aide when he believed himself to be right, though the whole nation- was going in tho other dl- rection. Those who love him wished that ho was not so pronounced at such times in his. opinions, but they are forced to admire him after all because he has not hesitated to sacrifice politi cal ambition- and expediency to that higher am bition. Ho undoubtedly will bo tho most potent fac tor in tho next national democratic conven tion barring President Wilson. Ho has tho se cret in his own life of keeping sweet in tho nlidBf of discouragement and defeat, "and it is this that Wins for him in the end, tho personal regard if not tho political loyalty of many. Chronicle-Telegram, Elyria, Ohio. BRYAN FOR "PRESIDENT If the Democats do not nominate President Wilson for re-election in spite of tho third term bugaboo, they will nominate Williams Jennings Bryan, and he will bo elected. Times and con ditions have changed since 1896 and the poli cies of Bryan then enunciated have been proven correct. His 16 to 1, about which so much was said and which caused a split in the demo cratic party and a Palmer & Buckner ticket to be put in the field, has now become a reality for silver today is above parity with gold, and we have bimetallism, with this country boom ing as never before. Then it was Bryan who espoused woman suffrage till it is today a real ity and the women can vote for president. Five years ago, Mr. Bryan stumped tho country against booze and stated that "this fight shall go on till this country is dry," and the 16th of January will see this Bryan policy a law. He is the favorite of labor for he has over stood by the worklngman. We were in the con vention that first nominated Bryan and heard his wonderful speech when he-said, "You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold, nor press down 'upon the brow of labor a crotyn of thorns." Bryan was elected at that cluctlon but the forces of' Mark Hanna, then tho repub lican boss, controlled the ballot boxes and they counted Bryan out, and It was last Sunday that a Chicago paper told about "Mark Hanna's $20, 000,000 campaign of 1896, spent in tho last month before the election." Bryan has not been In tho limelight' for several years but there are thousands who will rally to his stand ard and his slogans of, "woman suffrage," "death to booze," "plenty of money for the common people" and "the laborer is worthy of his hire." The' Democrat nas a lew uuuuruu Bryan buttons left from his last campaign and may have use for them next fall As Secretary of State he secured the signatures of thirty nations to a treaty setting forth that they would not declare war on this country for a year after the cause had been created, thus giving time to talk, things over and possibly Prevent it. Watch him. Democrat, Jerseyville, Illinois. AWAITING FOR LEADERSHIP The Leader editor's prophecy is beginning to materialize. His prediction that a cry wou come up out of tho east for W. J. Bryan to again lead the democratic hosts, was not idle, eossin Press dispatches Monday from New York carried the information that the re-organ-Sat on of the old New York Bryan League was being hastily accomplished. That re-organization of those forces would be taken up through nt the New England states and that a mighty oiiv nf Vhe Bryan forces of the east, would at Sifl tie Jackson day Banquet at Washington, Tnn?v 8th Sd hear witness to the fact of the January 8tn anoui back." New Yorkers great commoners com , bacK. . are talking. Bryan. wr i hfs run .ernor MarUn Glynn, of Hew , confronted ning mate. Democ rati wa tQ thIs year with the fact that the J, name on the must be reckoned with. Bryan sn ticket will drawHHrVvote over any other man, for tne women " m draw, the owe Mr. BVfnHd and more than that prohlhltlon vote solid ana more hTnndSZ t s'rutUng cock of itself hell-bent on niaKng u Bryans great sacri over the war quest on a nd rya b fice for the P'ffi. The American bo understood and apprecm Amer mothers will ""war and love and revere nobler and purer manhood and womanhood fori the nation, will elect hlnvBluo Jliy Loader. J i , I NlNISTIilBX-TWJBtfrY AAIPAION There la but one man with whom tho Demo crats can win tho proaldoncy next yoar If thoy can win at all and that Ik W. J, Brysri, and who has boon tho nomlnoo of tho party thrlco already. Mr. Bryan earrlos the distinction of having been dofoatod throo times by tho corpor ate Interests, find yet ho has lived to goo almost every roform ho advocatod and Inltlatod, to be como tho law of the land, and his position on every national Issue since 189G haa been adopted by tho party, and if it has any chance to wla next year, it has that chanco with Mr. Bryan as Its standard-bearer. There is ono thing to bo rocognizod In Wil liam J. Bryan by organlzod labor, and that Is tho fatt that it can always know his position on any issue presented, and this Insures that ho will bo fair with labor, and that is all that labor wants at tho hands of any man, in or out of public ofllco. Ho Is a true friend of tho whole people, and his servlco for tho last twonty-fIvo years fully establishes that fact. Ho Is for tho people as against tho special privi lege class,, or any other class, and that IS ex actly what makes him tho strongest man in any political party today. Texas Railway Journal (Labor), Ft. Worth. MR. BRYAN Hon. William J. Bryan is now towering head and shoulders above tho gathering of statesmen in Washington, as ho, has done for tho last quarter of a century whenever any gathorlng of Importance has assembled. This marks about tho "steenth" time he has been resurrectod, as he had again been reported as "dead" for some time past. Without Bryan in '9G tho democratic party would have beon dead, and without tho elixir that Bryan has constantly Injected into it since, it would have had a great many narrow escapes from dissolution since that time. Mr Bryan continues to be not only tho greatest American statesman, but also tho world's fore most citizen, the gymnasts of his carping critics to thocontrary notwithstanding. Farmlngton (Missouri) Times. GHOST OF BRYAN Tho ghost of Win. Jennings Bryan, three times a presidential candidate, will not down. Just as It was thought that he was dead and burled, silver comes back to its own, a welcome visitor these strenuous times of Inflated cur rency, and with it comes W. J., enough of a ,, menace to tho aspirations of those who would run this government for tho benefit of tho big lnterosts to disturb their dreams of fixing things so that thoy. may reap a big harvest from tho toll of others. Those fellows shy at just a ghost of Bryan. Wayne, Neb., Democrat. NEW BOOKS "In the Footsteps of St. Paul." His life and labors in the light of a personal journey to tho cities visited by St. Paul. By Francis E. Clark. D. D LL.D., president of tho United Society of Christian Endeavor, author of "Old Homes of Now Americans," "The Holy Land of Asia Minor," etc. G. P. Putnam's Sons, Pubs., New' York. In this new volume Dr. Clark has succeeded presenting the life of St. Paul in an unusually vivid and sympathetic light. His personal journey , iiA Mttaa nnrl nvor the routed travelled bv the great Apostle has given the author a background that enables him to reveal in a most intimate way the real life and labors of ono of the great est figures of all time. Dr. Clark's new work will be found interesting, helpful and inspiring to all students of the Bible. "Our Italian Fellow Citizens." In Their Old Homes and Their New. By Francis B, Clark, D. D., LL. D., president of the" United Society of Christian Endeavor, author of "Old Homes of New Americans' "In the Footsteps of St. Paul' etc. Small, Maynard & Co., Pubs., Boston. Price $1.50 net; by mall, ?1.G5. ' ; Those who are interested in the problems of Americanization, and of making genuine pa triots of newcomers to our shores, will find Dr. Clark's new book an interesting contribution to this subject. The reading of this book will givya an insight into the real Italian- character and lead to a better understanding of the problems confronting this large portion of our population. The work of Americanizing our foreign-bora population, as Dr. Clark so ably points out, is one of the presslnc needs of the country. vf. iJiUintti5s;