His broad , studded , antebellum shirt
bosom shows this a9 clearly as does his
childlike faith in the integrity and om
niscience of the people. With him vex
populi is always vex Dai. And this , too ,
in the face of the fact that in modern
politics men who affect solicitude for
the people are called demagogues.
Now the truth of the matter is that
Mr. Bryan is not a demagogue. He is
absolutely honest , which a demagogue
is not. He is absolutely brave , which a
demagogue is not. He is passionately
sincere , which a demagogue is not.
When Bryan came to Nebraska , a dozen
years ago , his town , his Congressional
district , and his state were overwhelm
ingly republican. A demagogue would
have joined the majority party. Bryan
took up the cause of tariff reform and
fought a losing fight. When he became
convinced that free silver was right , he
preached it in his Congressional district
with his party organization and the odds
of battle against him. He ran for the
United States Senate in ' 94 with his
party's State convention indorsement.
If he had trimmed a little on free silver
the Cleveland gold democrats might
have turned the scales in his favor. But
he didn't trim ; he lost. When Bryan
left the voluntary army of the United
States in ' 98 his party had been oppos
ing the ratification of the peace treaty
with Spain. Bryan opposed his party
and favored the ratification of the
treaty. A dishonest man would have
gloried in fighting the treaty. Today
silver sentiment is dying in the West.
Bryan would not lose an electoral vote
by abandoning silver. He would gain
thousands of franchises in the East by
tuch a course. But because he believes
that the free coinage of silver is righ
wild horses cannot drag him from his
stand.
Bryan shows his greatest personal
strength in the fact that he is today , and
has ever been , utterly without a politi
cal machine. Bryan is machineless , not
because he abhors the machine , but
because he ignores it. He would not
know whatt to do with captains and
lieutenants. If his party should begin
to turn from him , Bryan could not call ,
"What ho , warder , let the portcullis
fall , " in a score of states and check the
stampede. If oratory would not stop
the panic the multitude would have to
leave him as it came to him. After
which he would go on lecturing till that
gave out , and running for the senate till
that gave out , and for congress till that
gave out , when he would return to his
law office and continue as he was in the
beginning , an honest , hard-working ,
ordinary country lawyer , with an extra
ordinary voice and a forceful , direct ,
plausible way of putting short Anglo-
Saxon words that often move juries ,
but are not so thrilling in briefs.
Bat if , on the other hand , Bryan's
presidential ambition should be gratified ,
, t
y
Conservative *
the country would have a startling
spectacle. It would be like that of a
southern gentleman in swallow-tails and
a choker , but one generation removed
from his periwig , suddenly shunted half
a century ahead and jammed into the
oak-bottomed chair of a railroad presi
dent. The gentleman of the old school
would try honestly to do his duty. But
he would have such difficult things to
.earn , and such an incapacity of learn-
ng them , that he would out many a
antastio caper and in the end make a
mess of it as bad as a thorough-going
rascal would. Mr. Bryan , trying to run
; he presidential office as Jackson ran it ,
might make many important and ex
pensive personal discoveries. He might
discover that the world has moved since
Jackson's day ; that the present phase of
udustrial evolution is not a conspiracy
against God and man ; and that an in
telligent conscience is a surer guide than
an ear trained to catch the voice of the
people.
At the bottom of the magnetism which
pulls men toward Bryan is the growth
in the popular mind of a faith in social
ism and a hope to see the state lay hold
of the industrial system and untangle its
many snarls. During this century of
mechanical progress the economic world
has liberally jumped a cog in the pro
cess of its evolution. Many people
believe that society is not properly
adjusted , that the machinery of indns
try is not in gear , and too many people
are being ground by it. There is a wide
spread belief that repairs are needed
and because Bryan gets out with his
oratorical hammer and knocks upon the
industrial system and the existing order ,
unthinking people have hailed him as
the master mechanic. But Bryan is not
a builder. Oratory is rarely construc
tive. It is an illusion , a legerdemain ,
and the world is learning to disassociate
oratory from statesmanship. William
Allen White , in McOlure's Magazine.
SECRETARY GRESHAM'S PORTRAIT
GOES TO JAPAN.
A life-long friend of the late Walter
Q. Gresham contributes the following
tribute to the memory of the late Secre
tary of State , to the Chicago Legal
News :
During the early part of 1895 , artist
Prank M. Pebbles , of this city , made a
portrait of the late Secretary of State
Walter Q. Gresham. The last sittings
for this portrait were given by the secre
tary during the few days immediately
preceding the beginning of the illness
which resulted in his death in the early
morning of May 28th , five years ago.
This portrait now hangs in the diplo
matic room of the State Department at
Washington , with portraits of all the
other distinguished men who have had
charge of the nation's foreign affairs
since the foundation of the government.
By reason of the conspicuous part
Secretary Gresham had in the official
recognition by the world's great powers
of the modern Japan , the Japanese gov
ernment signified a desire to place a
portrait of Judge Gresham in the Impe
rial Gallery at Tokio , In fulfillment of
this purpose a replica of the State De-
mrtment picture above referred to has
eeu. forwarded to Japan , and the Chi-
iago Legal News places before its
eaders with this issue a reproduction of
B striking likeness.
President Cleveland's Tribute.
In his proclamation announcing the
death of Secretary Gresham , President
Cleveland "speaking from the depths of
personal affliction , " reminded his
countrymen that they had lost a pure
and able public servant , ' a wise and
patriotic guardian of all their rights and
nterests , a manly and loyal American ,
and a generous and lovable man. " It is
doubtful if the distinguishing charac
teristics of any individual were ever
summed up with clearer accuracy. The
rare qualities that combined to intrench
him in the affections of his countrymen
never ceased to dominate his actionsand
although he was made the target for the
most acrimonious criticism for some
official acts during his incumbency of
the State Department secretaryship , it * i
is significant that the policy which I
brought about these attacks was in
strict accord with his frequently expressed -
pressed conviction that a spirit of abso
lute justice should at all times charac
terize the attitude of the United States
with respect to foreign questions. He
felt that-one and the code
- same of mor
als should rule the conduct , not only of
individuals , but of nations as well , and
he was never able to bring himself to
see that the mere fact that one party tea
a controversy was weak and the other
strong , should put that controversy into
a class by itself , where the fundamentals
of right and wrong should be inappli
cable.
He was jealous of the honor of his
country. He believed that there were
some things which an imperial govern
ment might do ( considering its own
safety ) that a republic could not do. He
had no kind of doubt that the acquisi
tion of distant islands by the United
States was forbidden by all consider
ations , "both of high morality and
sound policy. " He viewed with horror
the proposition to forcibly annex the
domain of an alien people , and he did
not believe that the real glory of this
government demanded that we should
be perpetually running the flag up on
something new.
Annexation of Hawaii.
His views in this respect found ex
pression early in his career in the State
Department. When the second Cleve
land administration came into power ,
the treaty for the annexation of the
Sandwich Islands had been negotiated
