humanity, a man of splendid abilities, of tried courage and of unquestioned integrity and stainless private character, who owes his candidacy to no special interest, but to the movement in behalf of the whole people, who is free from all entangling alliances which might tend to fetter his actions in behalf of justice and the commonweal, and who, when elected to the Presidency of the United States, will owe that election to the manhood suffrage of the country and not to money, to the plain people and not to the plutocracy, to the masses and not to those who style themselves the classes, to the self-sacrificing labors, the loyal support and the enthusiastic championship of the hosts who labor, and not to the contributions of the rich; and whereas, being thus freely called by the uncorrupted suffrages and voluntary choice of his fellow-citizens in the Republic to the performance of the sacred duties of the most exalted office in the world, he will be free to enter upon the discharge of those duties withou fear of favor, and with no other obligation than that of conscience to worl: for the welfare of the whole land, therefore,

Resolved, by the Trade Unionists' Silver Club of Chicago, That we pledge our unwavering and loyal support in this campaign to William Jennings Bryan for the high office of President of the United States of America, believing that his election will be conducive to the general welfare of our beloved country, and will surely tend to the establishment of better financial conditions wherefrom the toiling masses of the whole world will derive manifest and great advantage.

Resolved, That a copy of this minute be furnished Mr. Bryan, to evidence in some measure our esteem for him as a citizen, our confidence in him as a leader in this struggle for humanity and our love for him as a man. Dated in the City of Chicago, October 29th, 1896.

O. E. Woodbury, President.

H. G. Berry, Secretary.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:

W. T. Sherman, S. S. Vaughn, Joseph Daze, Fred H. McManus, P. J. The Executive Committee: W. T. Sherman, S. S. Vaughn, Joseph Daze, Fred H. McManus, P. J. Dalton, John G. Mitchell, Alfred C. Cattermull.

As we were on our way from the depot to the reception, some eggs were thrown at our carriage. We knew nothing of the incident ourselves, however, until two boys were charged with the commission of the offense and confessed their guilt. At the risk of being accused of countenancing lawlessness I asked for their release and soon afterward was fully rewarded for so doing by manly letters of apology from both of the boys.

Hon. Thomas Galian, member of the Executive Committee of the National Democratic Committee, and Robert E. Burke, Esq., secretary of the Cook County Democratic Committee, were with me at all of these meetings, and others joined us from time to time. Hon. Joseph Martin, candidate for Congress, accompanied us on several occasions.

The Dispatch, an ardent silver paper, aided us greatly during the Chicago campaign.

CHAPTER XLVIII.

A

FROM LAKE MICHIGAN TO NEBRASKA.

NIGHT'S ride from Chicago enabled us to reach Green Bay,
Wis., in time for an early morning meeting. The air was

cool, and, to be entirely frank, the audience at first shared somewhat the temperature of the atmosphere, but warmed up as the meeting proceeded.

We made short stops at a number of places, prominent among which may be mentioned Appleton, Oshkosh, Fond du Lac, Watertown, Jefferson, Janesville and Madison. At Oshkosh ex-Congressman Miller, a colleague in the Fifty-second Congress, was a member of the Reception Committee. Hon. James Malone, member of the Democratic Notification Committee, was with us during a part of the day, and ex-Congressman Clinton Babbitt, also a former colleague, was one of our party during the entire day. Our host upon this trip was ex-Governor Peck, whose sterling qualities and genial ways have given him a reputation which outshines, if possible, the reputation of his "Bad Boy."

As the campaign drew to a close the canards increased in number and variety. Natural or unnatural deaths had terminated the careers of cabinet rumors, of stories in regard to promised postoffice appointments and employment by the silver barons, and last of all the report that I had been an indifferent performer of an inferior part in a small theatrical company. But now religious prejudices were appealed to, and I was accused of being about everything which anybody could find fault with. As an illustration of the conflicting charges I might add that I received on the same day two letters, one announcing that a newspaper had charged specifically that I was a member of a certain lodge or council of the American Protective Association, and the other calling attention to the circulation of a statement accusing me of unfriendliness to public schools. Learning that these charges, circulating generally by word of mouth rather than through the papers, were influencing the opinions of some, and knowing that time did not permit correction through ordinary channels, I gave out during the day an interview upon the subject and afterward embodied it in my speech at Madison. It will be found below:

Madison Speech.

I have not attempted to answer all of the misrepresentations which have been circulated in this campaign, but in the closing days I feel that it is necessary to call your attention to an attack which has recently been made by the enemy. I find that the Republicans are circulating among Catholic citizens the charge that I am or have been a member of the American Protective Association. I have also learned that I have been accused of being a member of a society which I think is known as the Junior Order of American Mechanics. At the same time I have been accused in other quarters of being opposed to the public school system and of having voted against the teaching of the English language in the public schools of New Mexico. While I have attempted to confine my discussion of public issue to the questions raised by my platform, and have considered the money question as paramount to all others, I take this opportunity to explain my position upon the religious controversy which has been raised, and ask the press associations to give the matter publicity.

I am not and never have been a member of the American Protective Association or of the Junior Order of American Mechanics, or of any other society hostile to any church, religion or race; nor have I ever applied for membership in any such organization. While I am a member of the Presbyterian church, I have always believed that there should be no religious test applied in the holding of public office, and I have not allowed religious differences to affect my conduct in the discharge of the duties of public office. I am a believer in the public school system. I attended public schools myself and my children are now attending public schools. While I recognize the right of parents to send their children to private schools and colleges, if they so desire, I believe that the free public school must remain a part of our system of government in order that the means of education shall be within the reach of every child in the land. The Democratic members of Congress voted against a proposed amendment to the constitution of New Mexico which compelled the teaching of the English language in the public schools, not because the Democrats were opposed to public schools, or to the teaching of the English language in such schools, but because they did not deem it necessary or wise to require a pledge from the people of New Mexico which had not been required of the people of the other Territories seeking admission. I trust that what I now say may reach all of the voters, because it is the only opportunity I shall have of meeting these misrepresentations. I trust that those who support the policies set forth in the Democratic platform will not allow themselves to be alienated from my support by any affidavits which may be circulated by political enemies. I have tried so far as I could to conduct this campaign in an open and honorable way, and have insisted that those who are with us should refrain from personal criticism of my opponent and leave the people to pass judgment upon the principles which we represent.

At Monroe we bade adieu to Wisconsin, and, crossing through Illinois, began Saturday at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. The next meeting was at Ottumwa, where great enthusiasm was manifested. The presiding officer was Hon. Fred White, ex-Congressman from the Ottumwa dis

trict, who had the honor of placing Mr. Boies in nomination at the Chicago convention. The following is the Ottumwa speech in full:

Ottumwa Speech.

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: We are now at the close of a memorable campaign, a campaign in which greater issues are involved than were ever involved in any previous campaign in the United States in time of peace, a campaign which has aroused a deeper feeling than has been aroused by any previous campaign in time of peace, a campaign which has witnessed more unselfish devotion to a cause than has ever been witnessed in any previ ous campaign in time of peace. Men who had never spoken before in public have gone forth in this campaign because their hearts were so full of the truth that they could not keep silent. If they had taken from us every man who had made a public speech before, we would have had sufficient of public speaking from these new men who have demonstrated that eloquence is the speech of one who knows what he is talking about and believes what he says.

The time has now come for you to sit in judgment as sovereigns of the greatest nation on the earth, and all that we ask of you is that you make your votes represent what you believe.

The cause of bimetallism has grown every day of this campaign. There has not been a single moment when there was a cessation in the progress of the cause, and why? Because our cause is just and our arguments unanswerable. I claim no credit for the work that has been done; bimetallism has not grown because I have advocated it, but because it appeals to all. Our opponents have accused us of arraying class against class, yet to them belongs the discredit of making more appeals to class and sectional prejudices than any other party has ever made. They have tried to array the money loaner against the man who borrows money; they have tried to array the merchant against his customers; they have tried to array the wage earners against the farmer; they have tried to array the financiers against the rest of the people: they have tried to array the soldiers against their country. There is not a class to which they have not appealed. Aye, they have even gone into religion and have appealed to missionary societies and to church boards, and have told them that the free coinage of silver would lessen the value of their investments.

My friends, our appeal has been to the great producing masses and to those who believe that the prosperity of the nation must begin with those who toil and find its way upward through the other classes of society. We have tried to apply the doctrine of bimetallism to all of the people, and we insist that there is only one class which profits by the gold standard, and that is the class which owns money, and trades in money, and grows rich as the people grow poor.

Bimetallism appeals to the farmers because they have suffered from falling prices while their debts and taxes have refused to fall. We want to restore bimetallism and then maintain the parity between the dollar and property. Bimetallism appeals to the wage earner because it makes it more profitable to invest money in enterprises and in the employment of labor than to lock

it up in a vault and gain the rise in the value of dollars. Bimetallism gives to the laboring man an opportunity to work, and we point to the fact that in all the times past, laboring men have been more prosperous when two jobs of work were looking for one man than when two men were looking for one job of work.

Bimetallism appeals to the business man because business failures everywhere testify to the fact that the merchant cannot sell when the people are not able to buy. We want to increase the consuming capacity of the American people by having money in the country for them to obtain when they sell their crops and for them to spend in the purchase of food and clothing for their families.

The gold standard has separated the mouth from the money to buy food for it; it has separated the back to be clothed from the purse that contains the money to buy the clothing. We want to close the gap between gold and silver and, by so doing, close the gap between the needs of the human race and the money required to satisfy those needs. Bimetallism appeals to the professional man because the professional man lives upon those who produce the wealth of the country and upon those who exchange wealth; and if he destroys the foundation he destroys his own prosperity. Bimetallism appeals to the soldier; the soldier who was willing to give his life, if need be, to make this one nation, is willing to give his vote this year to make this nation an independent nation rather than the province of some foreign empire.

Our cause appeals to the minds of those who think and to the hearts of those who feel, while the gold standard, when rightly understood, appeals only to those who love money more than they do mankind.

I want you to remember that no evil was ever reformed by those who profited by the evil; that no bad law was ever repealed by those who obtained the benefits of the bad law; that no vicious system was ever corrected by those who profited by the vicious system; and so, in this campaign, the people who have grown rich from the gold standard having banded themselves together to maintain it, we must appeal to those who have suffered in order to obtain relief from the gold standard. We have been making an appeal to the people of this country and I have tried to do my share of the work. I have worked as hard as I could, and yet I do not want you to think that my physical strength is exhausted.

My hand has been used until it is sore, but it can handle a pen to sign a free-coinage bill, if I am elected. I have been wearied with work, but I still have the physical strength to stand between the people, if they elect me, and the Wall street syndicates which have been bleeding this country.

My friends, you have been told that I am a dangerous man. There is nothing in my past life, either public or private, that justifies any citizen in saying that my election would be a menace to law and order, or to our form of government, or to the welfare of society; but there is much in what I have said and done to create a suspicion that my election would be a menace to those who have been living on what other people have earned.

I believe in the cause for which I speak. I have never claimed infallibility, but when I believe a thing I stand by it. And I believe in the restoration of bimetallism, and if I have behind me the hearts, as well as the votes,