Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive

Theses and Dissertations

1975

Bryan, Populism and Utah

Herbert E. Cihak Brigham Young University - Provo

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BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Cihak, Herbert E., "Bryan, Populism and Utah" (1975). Theses and Dissertations. 4602. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/4602

This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. BRYAN POPULISM AND UTAH

A thesis presented to the

department of political science brigham young university

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree master of arts

by

herbert E cihak

august 1975 this thesis by herbert E cihak is accepted in its present form by the department of political science of brigham young university as satisfying the thesis requirement for the degree of master of arts

J heithhelth melville cammicommiittqf chairman

eleeie001 robert H sloverslovercomrikitteecor itteeattee member J ar7r & lateyatete department chairman

11 TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES iv

PREFACE v introduction i1 chapter J THE POPULIST REVOLT 5 early farm alliances popuusxnpo jjlbprn f y awn rheaheyhee pepecletpepletoe lesies s party in utah

II11 BRYAN FREE SILVER AND SEWALL 15 the silver craze preconventionpre convention strategy cross of gold bryan into battle

iliIII111 REPUBLIC OR EMPIRE 45 the paramount issue campaign and defeat

IV UTAHS ABOUT FACE 57 utahs political climate an 1896 landslide reservations in 1900 appendixes 73 GLOSSARY OF POLITICAL personalities MENTIONED 88

SELECTED bibliography 91 iii 14

LIST OF TA BLES

1 farm organization issues in 1891 7

2 chicago coliseum 24

3 bryan campaign trips 36 4 1896 electoral results 39

5 1896 popular vote results 40 6 1900 electoral results 54

7 1900 popular vote results 55

IIV1 v PREFACE

during my earlyearlyaly schooling I1 thought william jennings bryan was some sort of political demagogue yet I1 learned while listening to a history lecture that utah voted overwhelmingly for mr bryan in the

1896 presidential election my curiosity was aroused and I1 tried to figure out why utah voted for bryan by such a large 83 percent plural- ity 1896 I1 bryans presiden- when 1 that in I discovered utah rejected bryan tial bid in 1900 I1 decided to try and explain the circumstances of this turn around in my thesis this study involved extensive research in three main areas populism the free silver craze and the beliefs of bryanism these three factors were studied in order to help understand the politics of utah some eighty years ago all of these areas of research were im- portant to my thesis conclusion

I1 am indebted to several people for assistance in finishing this project I1 extend my heartfeltheart felt appreciation to my parents mr and mrs gene engweiler for their constant support and encouragement to my old and good friend steven nelson I1 owe my thanks for his assis- tance in proofreadingproof reading editing and typing the rough draft kathy christensen served as the final authority and typist for this thesis and

I1 am grateful for her help v introduction

date summer of 1897 place western utah mining town mr bryan spoke in a little utah mining town the surround- ing mountains were so high that the valley in early afternoon was already in shadow he spoke from the secondstorysecond story balcony of the railway station to a great audience of miners with mine lamps on their caps mr bryan had just suffered a defeat he was speaking to them after an unsuccessful struggle but his youth and his deep earnestness rang to his audience on every clear note of his voice while he was speaking the shadows had deepened it was twilight when he closed his speech with the statement that all his life whether in victory or defeat n he would fight the battles of the common people his life was pledged to their cause through all the beaksyeaksyears to come with his closing phrase there came the moment when applause conven- tionallytionally follows but none came there was a deep silence and one miner after another took off his cap untilthatuntil that great crowd was standing with bared and bowed heads his mood of consecra- tion has carried to them after a tense pause such a roar of cheers filled the valley as sent echoes rattling from the hills a clamor of applause when mr bryan and our little girl and I1 came down to enter our carriage the miners crowded forward to shake his hand but again the crowd had grown still and so full of emotion were they that they could scarcely speak their words of gratitude and affection and those who could not reach his hand put out their hands to touch him 1

scope of stuystudy william jennings bryan what manner of man was he what qualities of political leadership did he possess what issues comericompricompriseds ed

awilliam1williamwilliam J and mary B bryan the memoirs of william J bryan philadelphia john C winston co 1925 appp 249250249 250 bryanism what was the significance of the populist movement how did bryan relate to utahs predominant mormon electorate these and other issues will be explored as I1 answer the thesis question why did william jennings bryan win 83 percent of utahs votes cast for president of the united states in 1896 yet lose the presidential election in utah four years later in order to answer my research question adequately poli- tics in america from 189019001890 1900 will be considered within the scope of this thesis populism the freefreesilversilversliver craze and imperialism were issues which affected W J bryan these same issuesi issuesssues affected the citizens of utah for one cannot divorce the state of utah from national politics during the 1890s 2

definitions the following definitions are provided to help understand the political jargon of the 1890s1890 the definitions quoted are W J bryanbryansI1 s 1 bimetallism that gold and livertiversilverslivers shall exist in a fixed ratio and both be made legal tender for public and private debts n3ifaif3

2 democracy the refers to the democratic party an archaic term

zogdebogdeogdenn standard 10 august 1892 gives an interesting account of utah interest in national politics

3deseretade3de seret news 7 september 1895 bimetallism and free coinage were defined 3

3 expansion extension of the lines of the republic without a change of its character 4 4 free coinage the owner of silver or gold bullion can have thatahat minted without an expense to him and the weight of a silver dollar in bullion would be worth one dollar 11

5 gold bugs A derisive term used by the freesilverfree silver pro- ponents to refer to gold standard advocates 6 imperialism the policy of empire thishasthis has specific reference to the possession of colonies

7 liberal party utah the gentile or antimormonanti mormon party in utah until 1894

8 peoplespeopled party utah the official mormon church of anti gentile party in utah until 1891

9 peoplespeopled or populist party A united states political party 189119081891190811891 190811908 which was composed of agrarian capitalists and advocated social and political reforms 10 populism the political dogma espoused by members of the populist or peoples party calling for free coinage of sil- ver public ownership of utilities an income tax and agriculturallaboragricultural labor reforms 11 plutocrat A member of a wealthy ruling class this term was used by yanitesbryanitesBr 11 to refer to wealthy gold standard industrialistsindestindust riali s ts

12120 populist A person who advocated the principles of populist or peoples party

13 sixteen to one A monetary ratio of gold to silver coinage advanced by followers of bryan

methods and problems

in order to answer my thesis question extensive research

saitisalt4saltsalt lake tribune 2526 march 1900 expansion and empire were defined 4

of material on bryan populism politipoliticaleaieal issues and utah politics was necessary I1 consulted theses ssertationsdissertationsdI1 books journals magazines and microfilmed newspaper articles my thesis has involved the qualitative analysis of data I1 have analyzed historical data in terms of its political implications and political relevancy only by measuring the political phenomena involved can we under- stand utahs aboutfaceabout face in the elections of 1896 and 1900

the problems I1 have encountered are those common to any historical research unavailability of recorded data many sources consulted have been inconsistent and unreliable the field of study surrounding bryan populism and early utah politics is strewn with error fallacies and partisanism many crossreferencecross reference checks however served to minimize the impact of the problems I1 have men- tioned CHAPTER I1

THE POPULIST REVOLT

earlyfarmearly farbfarm alliances the lure of cheap land the presence of railroads andaand a desire for a fresh new start brought many potential farmers to the midwest plains states during the 1870s and 1880s18801s much of the

129 000 000 acres of public lands distributed to the railroads was resoldre sold by the railroads to eager settlers immigrants were beckoned by the millions to come to the land of riches and plenty the early 1880s brought an excess of rain to the arid west and so mortgages population and land prices boomed farm orders or alliances also flourished by 1889 some six major farm organizations existed in the united states whose purposes were for the social educational and financial improvement of farmers the grange national farmers alliance farmers alliance and industrial union colored farmersfanFarberlsbertsmerls national alliance and cooperative union farmers mutual benefit association and the supreme association of patrons of industry were the largest such

ijohnjohn D hicks the populist revolt minneapolis univer- sity of minnesota press 1931 p 3

5 6 2 organizationsorgyanizations then farm prosperitprosperieprosperityY came to a grinding halt after a decade of agricultural overproduction the year 1887 will be remembered for its lack of rainfall hot winds chinch bugs and early frosts crop failures and railroad overextension added to the farmers boeswoes an article in the raleigh north carolina progressive farmer in 1887 summed up the farmers bewilderment at his plight there is something radically wrong in our industrial system there is a screw loose the wheels have dropped out of balance the railroads have never been so prosperous and yetyebyett agriculture languishes the banks have never done a better or more profit- able business and yet agriculture languishes manufacturing enterprises never made more money or were in more flourishing conditions and yet agriculture languishes towns and cities flourish and boom and grow and boom and yet agriculture languishes salaries and fees were never so temptingly high and desirable and yet agriculture languishes 3 the farm situation was to get worse much worse and a general depression would finally grip the total american economy farm leaders called upon farmers to resort to political action mary elizabeth lease of kansas told farmers to raise less corn and more hell ft4 A farm magazine editor in 1891 said A new body of men is taking upon itself political responsibilitieresponsibilitiess these men are orthodox in religionreligion earnest honest hardworking the very classclaas whose active

afrank2frankfrank M drew the present farmers movement f political science quarquarterly 6 june 1891 282310282 310 3 raleigh north carolina progressive farmer 28 april 1887 cited by hicks p 55

4hicksbhicksicks p 160 7

participation in civil affairs is desirable 1155 the following table out- lines the political issues that the various farm organizations promoted

in 18189191

TABLE I11

FARM organization ISSUES IN 1891

northno rth south colored mutual patrons farmissuesfarbfarm issues grange alliance alliance alliance ben As indus t abolition of national banks X X X X X X free coinage of silveslivesilversliverr X X X X X X sufficientsuffi ci ent issue of paper money X X X X X X

loans on land X X X X X E stablishmentestablishment of sub

treasuries A X X X income tax X X X X tariff revision X X X X X X tax on evi- dences of debt X X X

SOURCE frank M dredrewaw the present farmers movement political science quarquarterly 6 june 1891 295

sdrewadrew5drew p 310 8

so the farmers became political n As farm organizations banded together to fight for farm issues a new political party one which would listen to the common man was born the peoples party

populism is born the populist or peoplespeopled partywasparty was born as a result of the national farmers alliances joining hands various alliances as early as 1889 had called for a merging of forces in order to form a third political party in may 1891 at Cincincincinnatinatti ohio northern and southern alliance members decided to meet in early 1892 to choose a presidential slate the southern alliance had finally agreed that they could no longer work within the framework of the democratic party

in july 1892 the populist presidential candidate james B weaver stated in their flight from their task masters the people have about reached the reredaedd sea we cannot retreat either the floods will be parted for us and close as of old upon our pursuers or a life and death struggle will ensue between oppressors and oppressed between those who would destroy and enslave and those who are seeking to enter into the inheritance prepared for them by a beneficent father 60 in this life and death struggle 1 I the popopulistpulistpartyparty fought savagely their platform called for such heresiesheresies as the abolition of national banks the direct election of the president of the united states an increase in the amount of paper currency and the free and unlimited

ajames6james0 james baird weaver A call to action des moines iowa printing co 1892 p 375 9 coinage of silver 7 little did populists realize the future impact of the silver question upon america

during the 1892 election the peoples party picked up strength in the midwest south and mountain regions weaver received over

1 000 000 votes and 22 electoral votes for president kansas state government sported new populist officials wherever democrat and populist forces joined hands or fused success seemed imminent conditions in the early 1890s didnt improve in americamericaa in fact a financial panic swept the country in 1893 11 the cry of distress is heard on every hand business is paralyzed commerce is at a standstill riots and strikes prevail throughout the land ilotio80 the selfconfidentself confident populist party refused to fuse with silvermindedsilver minded democrats in 1894 As a result they went down to a thunderous defeat on to 1896

the populist national convention met in january 1896 and decided to meet again july 22 so as to pick up the pieces of the two old political parties after their national conventions few populists believed that the democrats would nominate a prosilverpro silver candidate and as a result the peoplespeopled party would merge all bolting silveritessilve rites into a third party but the democrats nominated a free

7anaanan abstract of the january 1891 populist resolutions is found in appendix 1 awilliam8williamwilliam hope harvey coins financial school ed richard hofstadter cambridge harvard university press 1963 p 346 10

silver advocate william jennings bryan many populists favored a fusion with the democratic candidate bryan others expressed the sentiment found in this poem 0 come into my party said the spider to the fly then he sharpened up his pencil and winked the other eye the way into my party Is across a single plank you can take it from your platform the rest can go to blank 9 at the populist national convention in july at st louis profusionistspro fusionists took over the convention and bryan was nominated for president populistsPopulists in order to preserve their partys integrity replaced bryanbryans democratic vicevicepresidentpresident with populist thomas watson of

georgia 10 with two vicevicepresidentialpresidentialpre fidentiasidentiasid entiaentla 1 running mates bryan went

down to defeat in 1896 although populists did score victories in nebraska north dakota idaho colorado and north carolina the populists split wide open after the 1896 elections middle of the roadroad11 or antifusionanti fusion populists badmouthed fusion as well as silver in the 1900 presidential elections the fusionist wing of the peoplespeopled party again nominated W J bryan the regular populists nominated wharton barker however for president in the next two presidential elections the peoplespeopled party fielded presidential ticticketsketsbets

9southernsouthern mercury 25 april 1895 cited by hicks p 346

ioaloa copy of the 1896 populist national convention platform is found in appendix 2 11 but with the defeat of barker in 1908 the party was effectively dead many factors contributed to the populist partys disintegra tion prosperity returned to the united states fusion with the demo- crats swallowed up the populist identity silver as an issue died out and america got caught up in the wave of patriotic imperialism 11 yet waspopulismwas populism on the whole a rational and forwardforwardlookinglooking response to the end of the frontier and rise of industrialism 11 as george tindall suggests 12 afarmabarmA farbfarm editor expressed some feefeelingstings about populism when hewroterewrotehe wrote the cranks are those who do not accept the existing order of things and propose to change them the existing order of things is always accepted by the majority therefore the cranks are always in the minority they are always progressibleprogressible thinkers and always in advance of their time and they always win called fanatics and fools at first thetheyy are sometimes persecuted and abused but their reforms are generally righteous and time reason and argument bring men to their side abused and ridiculed then tolerated then respectfully given a hearing then supported this has been the gauntlet that all great reforms and reformers have run from galileo to john brown 13 history has certainly treated the populist movement favorably

the peoplespeopletsopletz partypary in utah there is ample evidence of visits to utah in the early 1890s1890 Is

aobertilrobertfrobert F durden the climax of populismPO ulismmulism louisville university of kentucky press 1965 p 163 izgeorgeIZ george B tindall A populist reader new york harharperper & row inc 1966 pop ix

13linco1nlincoln nebraska farfarmersearmerismerts alliance 15 february 1890 cited by john hicks the populist revolt p 404 lz12 by populist leaders A persualpershal of the newspapers indicates that general weaver and W J bryan spoke in behalf of the free silver issue the first territorial populist convention in utah was held at salt lake city on april 6 1894 14 the 0ctobercnoberoctober 6 1894 issue of the deseret news carried an appeal for possible populist recruits we call upon all persons in favor of the white metal to associate themselves with the peoplespeopled party the only national party which has always stood out boldly for the free and unlimited coinagecomage of silver and gold at the ratio of 16 to 1 15 utah idaho and colorado were potential hot beds for populist support because of the populist free silver issue the un- limited coinage of silver was expected to 1 stimulate miningrmning and 16 2 inflate farm produce prices in the west populism in utah differed from populism in the west and the united states not that the issues were different but populism had a difficult time trying to adjust to utahs unique climate nationally over one half of the farmers were under a mortgage in utah 88 17 percent of the farms were mortgage free many utah farmers prepreferreprefereepreferredferrE d to seek answers to their farm woes through the mormon church organi- zation rather than resorting to populist tactictacticss

14lauren14 lauren dimter populism in utah M S thesis BYU 1964 p 36

15 deseret news 7 april 1894

16jean B white utah state elections phdph D dissertation university of utah 1968 p 99 17 dimterdimt e r p 14 13

the populist party in utah never reallyeailyreally got off the ground about the only utahnsutahna who became associated with the movement were

some industrial workers 2 immigrants and mormonsexexmormons or anti Morcormonsmormonsmons several peoplespeopled party newspapers appeared in the 18901s1890 these included the ogden reviewreview ogdenogdeneogdenx xrayX ray intermountainintermountain advocate and mercur miner 18 utah populists did succeed in winning some salt lake county elections through fusion with the democrats populists were rewarded several county elected offices by granting support to democratic candidates initially utah populist party leaders favored fusion or union at election time with the democratic party henry lawrence an early utah populist stated in 1896 the populists have fused this year with the democrats believing that bryan is the best man that rigfig19 could be elected to the presidency fusion however signaled the death of utah populism in 1898 when dwindling populist members were of no further use to the democratic party populist warren foster saidsaldsaidy here lies the mortal remains of populism it was born it fused it died but its soul has gone to the better land of socialism 120 many utah populists did become socialists and from all evidence the

18lbid18 ibid p 595 9 saitsalt lake herald 20 september 1896 2osalt20salt lake city living issues december 1898 cited by dimter p loo1001006 14

1900 elections were the last in which utah populists ran political candidacandidateste s CHAPTER II11

BRYAN FREE SILVER AND SEWALL

the silver craze

t they call it a craze and its advocates lunatics they think that those who entertain views on this subject contrary to their own are dishonest n so stated W J bryan in a september 1895 speech in utah what was the free silver brazencrazecrazen all about who supported the movement what was bryanbryans s role

until 1873 the united states was on a bimetallic monetary standard both gold and silver were coined at a ratio of 161 371 25 grains of pure silver to 23 20ZO grains of gold equalledequalled one dollar the US treasury had both gold and silver in ample supply to redeem any requests for the actual exchange of paper currency for precious metals in 1873 congress stopped the mass production of silver dollars and silver coins

in the late 1880s1880 silver in the united states began to be mined in large quantities suddenly it was expedient to do something for silver the sherman silver purchase act of 1890 forced the

ldeseretideipeseretIpeideslDes eretseret news 7 september 1896 p 626

15 16 secretary of the treasury to buy 4 5 million dollars of silver per month the act however required a fixed percentage of gold to be on hand per note issued so that as the circulation of silver certifi- cates increased the gold reserves dropped the united states gold reserves dropped to a point that a financial panic gripped the country in 1893 president cleveland then repealed the sherman purchase act 2 on one side of the issue stood the advocates of a single gold standard they were sound money men who believed that the united states should follow all other major nations of the world by backing up its dollar with gold reserves gold standard men denied that a

11 cribecrime11crime had been perpetratedpurpetrated in 1873 and abhorred the thought that silver with its falling price should serve as a standard for the value of the american dollar believers in sound or honest money for the most part were eastern industrialists bankers and financiers this group of citizens favored a restriction on the amount of currency in circulation and strong ties with their chief trading partner england As the price of gold increased and its value appreciated eastern mortgage holders made money gold became a symbol representing the wealthy in america on the other side of the issue stood free silver men and women

aharveyzharveyharvey p 26 17 those who favored the unlimited coinage of silver and gold at 16161igi 1 silveritesSilve rites claimed that the crime of 1873187311 n had outlawed silver and gradually raised the value of the gold dollar to intolerable heights debts contracted when the dollar was worth fifty cents now cost one dollar to repay besides the amount of redemption money available for credit notes etc had been reduced by one half when silver was eliminated as part of the united states monetary system silver supporters used emotion as a chief ingredient in their cause silver was the money of thethecommoncommon man As the two legs are cessarecessarynecessaryne to walk and two eyes to see so were these two monies

2 necessary to the prosperity of the people 113 As the priceprice of silver fell frofromm 1 32 per ounce in 1872 to 63 per ounce in 1894 silveritessilveriteesilveslivesilversliver iteslteeiteErites claimed that a conspiracy had been effected between england and the eastern bankers they declared

A war with england would be the most popular ever waged on the face of the earth if it is true that she can dictate the money of the world and thereby create worldwideworld wide misery it would be the most just war ever waged by men 4 the silver craze was fanned especially by the populistsPopulists who blamed low farm prices mortgages high railroadratesrailroad rates hunger and poverty on the use of gold as the UUSS medium of exchange william hope harveys 155 page book entitled coins financial school was printed in 1894 and outlined in the one and one half million copies

3lbid31bid p 30

41bidbid p 5 18 sold the free silver argument the fact that populist harveys book was widely read is attested to by william J bryan who remarked it is safe to say that no book in recent times has produced as great

5 an effect in the treatment of an economiceconoacono ffuafu c question it is interesting to note in an article published by Harharpersperlsperts weeklywee in june 1896 who the silver craze advocates were the free coinage movement is carried on by several classes of people very different from one another 1 the silver miners who care mainly for the price of theirtheirproductproduct and who expect from free coinage a very large profit 2 A small number of theorists who have reasoned themselves into an honest belief that free coinage will increase the volume of currency and by this means cure many of our economic ailments 3 A large number of people especially in the southandsouth and west who are dis- contented with their condition who have been made to look to the government for some miraculous contrivance to relieve them of their debts and the issuing of plenty of cheap money will have this effect 4 the politicians who are either too cowardly to resist any current of opinion or unscrupulous enough to start or encourage such currents for the sake of personal advancement 6 into the foray stepped william jennings bryan As a nebraska congressman from 189018941890 1894 he had advocated the coinage of silver in april 1895 bryan wrote an open letter to president cleveland and urged the president to remedy his contemptible views on gold by reading coins financial school mr bryan wrote when cleveland speaks about sound currency the almighty himself

5sibidbibidibid p 5 athe6thethe silver craze in the south and west harpersharpefsharperharpen weeweekly 27 june 1896 p 626 19

ij couldncouldntcoulden tell you what he means by it nlf7fa following his legislative career bryan took to the lecture platform he spoke at many silver conferences where a payment of

50 to 100 per speech was common during the fall and winter of

189518961895 1896 bryan toured the westernwes tern and southern states speaking on bimetallism and the income tax As vicevicepresidentpresident of the american bimetallic league W J bryan spoke at a bimetallic union gathering in september 1895 in salt lake city utah where he proclaimed the free coinage of silver to be the greatest economic question that had 0 ever come before the nation during its existence 18ll11

with bryan the silver knight 11 at the helm the silver craze gathered steam and adherents finally the silver moment took over the democratic party machinery an historian has commented the democratic movement toward silver inin the last six months before the chicago convention was like an avalanche a mere whisper at first then a half imperceptible shift in the landscape andsuddenlyand suddenly a crash an irresistible cataclysm 9

preconventionprpree C onventionconventionconvention stratstrat egy

speculation ran high in chicago in july 1896 as to who the

7newanew7 new york times 19 april 1895 cited by paolo E coletta william jennings bryan political evangelist 186019081860 1908 lincoln university of nebraska press 1964 p 106 8deseretspeserefc news 7 september 1895 galiangailangallan nevins grover cleveland A study in courage new york dodd mead and company 1962 p 689 20 democratic presidential nominee would be the results of state conventions seemed to indicate wide support for the issue of free silver under the democratic convention unit rule all of a states delegates must vote as a unit or block twothirdstwo thirds of the delegates voting was necessary to nominate a presidential candidate the silver forces claimed twothirdstwo thirds of the delegates so asilver candidate would probably be nominated in chicago illinois eastern newspapers listed boies of iowa bland of missouri matthews of indiana blackburn of kentucky mclean of ohio and tillman of south carolina as the chief democratic silverite contenders bryan teller and stevenson were dark horses 11

I1 enthusiastic support was evident among nebraska democrats for their favorite sonsonn and dark horsehorse11 presidential contender william jennings bryan congressmanexexcongressman bryan had first been elected to congress at age 30 from nebraskanebraskas first congressional district biographer louis koenig commented bryan was made for western audiences his supreme gifts of oratory brought excitement and hope into their lives of plod- ding toil and economic distress his flamboyance sincerity volubility his impregnable selfconfidenceselfseif confidence harmonized with the lifestylelife style and values of the frontierlandfrontier land culture 100 in 1895 william bryan had turned to writing editorials for the omaomahaha world herald performing his law duties and giving

loulsiolouislouis WO koenig bryan-B ryan a political biography new york G P putnamsPutnairsrrs sons 1971 p 112 21 lectures for which he was now paid nearly 200 per appearance bryan was popular throughout the country as americas foremost silver advocate his wife mary asked mr bryan to give up politics but william replied it would seem to me as if I1 was born for this life and I1 must continue to fight the battles of the people n

by november of 1895 bill bryan had concluded that the

logic of the situationsituation1111 made his nomination in 1896 inevitable As early as 1894 the bryanforpresidentbryan for president bandwagon had begun to roll when james dahlman wrote 11 I11 have begun to talk you for president and I1 mean it no gift in the hands of the people is too high for you 1112 spring of 1896 brought many letters ofsupportof support urging bryansbryanabryan1 s candidacy before the chicago convention metbryanmet Bryan laid some valuable groundwork he sent a copy of his silver plank to all democratic state chairmen and delegates of course he also announced his own presidential availability and urged all delegates to be noncommittal regarding their choice for president when senator charles S thomas of colorado received such a letter he remarked here was a young man barely thirty six living in a comparatively unimportant republican state west of the mississippi river audaciously announcing his probable candidacy for the presidential nomination the very

llibid11 ibid p 15515 5 12paolopaolo E coletta william jennings bryan political evangelist 186019081860 1908 lincoln univ of nebraska press 1964 la 103 22 seriousness of the suggestion emphasized its absurdity lt 13 following the republican nationalnafionalNafnaeionallonallonai convention in june 1896 at which silver republicans had bolted from the convention floor among them utah senator frank cannon bryan began to talkuptalk up silver among all parties dark horse candidate bryan also talked of bolting the democratic party should gold prevail 1I promispromisee you 11 he said to a nebraska gathering n I1 will go out and serve my country and my

114M A god under some other name 0 0 at the nebraska state democratic convention william bryan employed some smart political strategy by resisting attempts to nom- inate him as nebraskanebraskasIs presidential choice 1I do not believe 11 he asserted in contending for honors until the contention for principles is settleds 15 outwardly at least bryan was putting the silver issue ahead of his own wellbeingwell being one day before he left for chicago mr bryan said to his law partner dolph talbot

dolph I1 have found considerable sentiment for me for vice president things seem to be converging in that direction and it baynlaymay be that I1 shall be the nobinominomineeI1 nee if conditions are right well bill 11 replied talbot it would be a great honor for a young western congressman to be named by one of the two major parties for second place on the ticket but give them some of your eloquence androuandyouand you cant tell what will happen it is any

13cC S thomas harpers weeweekly I111 I1 october 1913 cited by koenig p 167 14william14 william J bryan the first battle chicago W B conkey co 1896 p 123

15koenig15 koenig p 168 23

bodysblodys race for the presidential nomination n116jig bryan and senators jones of arkansas turpie of indiana and daniel of virginia along with governors stone of missouri and altgeld of illinois met july 4 in a silver caucus at the sherman house in chicago this general silver committee was formed to help silveritessilve rites 1 control the convention organization 2 choose con- vention officers 3 write the convention platform 4 nominate the next democratic presidential candidate

cross of gold

the democratic national convention began at 1248 pmp m on july 7 1896 at the coliseumcoliseum11 in chicago the building covered five and a half acres and held 15 000 people it was the largest permanent exhibition hall in the world the following is a diagram of the assembly room haharpertrperlss weelyweekly magazine stated no one can expect to be heard in every part of this immense auditorium and it is probable that most of the audience can see only a dumb show with men going through the motions of talking it17illili the silver forces showed their strength early in the conven- tion proceedings as silveslivesilveriterite senator daniel replaced the national committeecommittees recommendation for temporary chairman senator hill

16waynewayne C williams william jennings bryan new york G P Putnaputnamsputnamsrms sons 1936 p 131

11 17harpeharpersrlsals weeklywee 0 july 1896 p 68 24

TABLE 2

CHICAGO COLISEUM E gallery

s 400 platform seats s Qu D 44 4 u N u S u 250 news desks ro D l rlr i

0C 2 000ooo delegate seats 0

gallery w

SOURCE harbeharpeharperris weeklywe I111 I1 july 189618 96 p 6816 81

556349556 349 on a straight silvergoldsilver gold vote bryans own nebraska silver delegation was challenged by nebraska gold democrats the creden- tials committee was 271627 16 pro silver so nebraska silveritessilverites were seated as were an additional four pro silver michigan delegates 18 these additional silver delegates gave the silver faction its needed twothirdstwo thirds control of the convention congressman bryan aspired to be chairman of the resolu- tions committee but he wasnt seated until the platform was nearly completed after the resolutions committee finished its work senator jones asked bryan to take charge of the debate on the

18bryan18 bryan first battle appp 188196188 196 25 platform the next day now bryan would get an opportunity to speak to the convention william jennings bryan went to his hotel room and polished up his cross of gold speech parts of which he had tried out on nebraska audiences before delegations trying to drum up teller and bland support visited him he stunned the teller delegation when he announced 1I expect to be the nominee of the convention iligillg11199 governor altgeld of illinois had suggested let bland have the nomination

m r this time your time will come rizo1120mu but bryan without even one committed delegation behind him would not wait later the evening of tuesday july 7 bryan talked about his convention speech the next day to his wife and friend from texas charles rosser

I1 will make the greatest speech of my life tomorrow in reply to senator hill I1 will be at my best hill is the brains of the opposition and when I1 have answered him it will dawn on the convention that I1 am a pretty good man to lead the fight so thatyouthat you both may sleep well tonight I1 am going to tell you something I1 am the only man who can be nominated I1 am what they call the logic oftheofodthethe situation liitilII 1 bryan worked out the details of the platform debate both gold and silver forces were given one hour and fifteen minutes for the debate representing the gold standard were senators hill and

19lewilliamsl9williams19williamsWilliams p 137

20ko20koenig20 Koenigenig p 170

2 191 iibidbibid21lbid I1 p 26 vilas and governor russell bryan and senator tillman carried the silver banner

wednesday evening july 8 arrived and the platform debate began senator tillman started first and gave a strong silver speech but interjected too much sectionalism into his address senator hill then attacked tillmantillmans free silver plea but he failed to stir any emotions senator vilas pounded the advocates of free coinage but was bland and his voice faltered governor russell whose voice was frail and could not be heard also attacked the financial plank As russell finished bryan sprang from his seat strode down the aisle and bounded up the platform steps twoatwo atatat a tibetime his presence touched off wild applause the convention was ready for some soul stirring speech ready for an opportunity to vent its emotions later bryan would relate

I1 am like the old colored papastorstor who delivered the sermon the colored pastor said to his flock therearethereaseTherthereeareare three parts to my speech the introduction the argument and the whoop emm up I1 will cut out the first two and give you only the whoop lebteblemem up tl that is what I1 did said bryan 22 william J bryan had a proper setting an attentive audience and 30 minutes in which to close debate for the advocates of a strong pro silver platform the audience acted as a trained choirchoirschoir1 as bryanss clear sharply distinct voice filled every foot of the coliseum

zzwilliams22williams22williams p 141 27

the humblest citizen in all the land when clad in the armour of a righteous cause is stronger than all the hosts of error I1 come to speak to you in defense of a cause as holy as the cause of bertylibertyli the cause of0 f humanity bryan broadened the definition of a businessman and addedaddedly the man who is employed for wages is as much a businessman as his employer after outlining the grievances of the common man bryan stated lt we beg no longer we entreat no more you we petition no more we defy them 0 shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold 23 As the last period fell from his lips there was an instants hush and then a storm burst forth whose fury seemed suddenly to have gone mad the cheers which rent the air utterly smothered the music of the powerful band in the gallery hats coats flags canes umbrellas handkerchiefs newspapers and everything else that could be thrown aloft or waved wildly were brought into use bedlam reigned for a long time and even after an enforced lull it broke forth afresh at every mention of bryans name 24 bryan swept the floor of the convention like a spark igniting a dry forestfireforestforesteirefire william jennings bryan was carried off his feet in the rush the air in his vicinity was a kaleidoscope of bigbigy hands all eager to congratulate him some felt honored to touch the hem of his alpaca coat the delegates swarmed around him and blockaded every inch of space they sat on his lap hugged him until his collar wilted shook his hand shouted into his ears danced all over his feet and hemmed him in until he could scarcely get his breath 25 without a doubt bryan could have been nominated on the spot

23bryanbryan memoirs p 111 see appendix 3 for the speech 24the democratic convention haharpersrperls weweekly 18 july 1896

25richard25 Richard L metcalf bryan sewall and free silver omaha edgedgewoodewoodawood publishing company 1896 p 333 28

and nominations were completed but the actual voting was delayed until the next morning the new democratic presidential nominee was satisfied to wait for the dawn of a new day when he could be sure that his nomination was more than a result of mass hysteria before adjourning though the pro silver platform was approved overwhelmingly

A and now bryan had only to battle for the nomination itself 26 bryan was the logic of the situation n governor boies of iowa was too new a convert to the silver boverbovenmovementmovernent senators blackburn and tillman were from states too far south As proved the case congressman R P bland was too old and unexciting that left the boy orator of the plattepiatteplattedplattedwilliamwilliam jennings bryan the ex congressman from nebraska was young clean dynamic and brilliant bland had an early first ballot lead on the fourth ballot bryan had 280 votes to blandblands 241 the next ballot saw a stampede to bryan as first illinois and then ohio switched their 48 votes to brianobryanbryano missouri withdrew blandiblandss name and william jennings bryan had become the youngest democratic party choice for presi- dent of the united states 27 bryan was nominated by a perfectblendperfect blend of oratorical brilliance political savvy and pure luck without money organiztionorganization or publicity he had triumphed in fact bryan started out for chicago

26seesee appendix 4 for a copy of the 1896 chicago democratic party platform

vkoenigkoenig p 203 29

with 100 in his pocket and returned to lincoln nebraska with 40 00oo to spare 28 arthur sewall wealthy maine shipbuilder was selected as bryans vicevicepresidentialpresidential running mate the dignified and aged sewall added depth of experience and maturity to the democratic ticket later in the month of july the bryansewallbryan sewall ticket picked up the national silver party nomination at st louis missouri the aforementioned populistsPopulists also nominated bryan in july but they ran tom watson for vice president this situation prompted one humor- ist to quip bryan had two vices to kinleysmckinleysmekinleysme one 1129

bryan into battle

nominee bryan entered the 1896 presidential campaign armed with a basketbasketfullfull of presidential party endorsements he was the presidential candidate of the democrats populistsPopulists national silver party henry georges single taxpayers edward bellamys nation- alists the reverend W D P bliss christian socialists and one of the prohibitionist parties this multinominatedmulti nominated candidate decided to take his campaign to the people by traveling throughout the country on a train while his republican opponent william mckinley stayed on the front porch of his canton ohio home many people felt that it was undignified for a presidential contender to hit the campaign trail to

28bryan28 Bryan firstfirst battle p 219 29williams29 williams p 173 30 which bryan replied

I1 have been looking into the matter and have decided that I1 would rather have it said that I1 lacked dignity than to have it said that I1 lack backbone to meet the enemies of the government who work against its welfare in wall street 30 william jennings bryan on the stump was an extrovert who possessed self confidence enthusiasm and a genuine affinityforaffinity for oratory and a political fight three quaqualitieslitiescities marked him for leader- ship love of people power to interpret popular demands and the 31 ability to ggiveYV e vovoicevolceice to popular passion bryan was an idealist who was willing to put principle above politics in anan effort to solve the problems of society his sincerity was legendary mr bryan although not a widely read man immersed him- self in the bible the history of the democratic party and the writings of thomas jefferson like jefferson bryan believed that the greatness of america lay not in the strength of government 2 but in the governmentgovernments release of the individual talents and energies of its people and in 32 the right of the ability of the people to govern themselves

free government 11 stated bryan cannotmannot11 long survive when the thousands enjoy the wealth of the country and the millions share its poverty in common n3333 he was no demagogue but rather a man who

30 bryan first battle p 477 3colettacoletta p 207

3zibidibid p 210 33bryan33 bryan first battle p 83 31 wanted to convert the ideals of democracy into reality for many of americas secondclasssecond class citizens the presidential nomination of bryan evoked a less than favorable response throughout much of the country the bitter mood of antibryananti bryan sentiment was strongest in the east coast media Harharpersperisperls weeweekly carried the following assault on bryan in august 1896 it is clear from mr bryans speech that he is an ignorant man and if he and his party were to obtain possessipossessionpos sessiI1 on of the government the country would be forced to pay dearly for the foolish theories and doctrines which have found favor with his un- trained mind 34JJ the following poem also typifies the antibryananti bryan literature which appeared in most of the large U S newspapers journals and magazines in 1896 bryan the boy candidate this is indeed the age of prodigies the boys the thing the populace to please boy preachers in the pulpit stand boy trumpeters are found in every band boy writers write boy fighters fight boy singers sing and spain rejoices in a boyish king the czars a boy and german is wilhelms toy and now amamoungstoungst these boys galore we have an orator A great big pinkcheekedpink cheeked gassy boy just bubbling oer with words and joy hes set his steady baby stare

historys34historyshistorysHis torys answer to mr bryan harperharperss weekly 29 august 1896 32

upon the presidential chair because like boys of good intent he wants to be a president n he makes boy speeches in which he teaches boy lessons in a boyish way he knows it all nor hesitates to say that black is white or white is black if he can win a point by sailing on that tack he means well as do other boysbo s and merely grins to find that he annoys and like most kids he rather likes the things the law forbids his sympathies go out quite unabashed to those whom most deservedly the law hath lashed he has a liking as have other youth for romance rather than for truth and stead of training withthewith the good and true prefers association with a pirate crew sweet perfect boy his partys joy dont criticize him harshly for you see he only aims at puerility

and in that line 0 c his powers seem almost divine 135 josiahquincyjosiah quincy and colorado senator henry teller exhibited a probryanpro bryan sentiment and both expressed confidence in the bryan nomination senator teller responded

I1 consider the nomination an exceptionally strong one bryan is an able man of high character a strong friend of silver and closciosclosee to the people he will make an excellent president 36 mr quincy suggested that however weak the nomination of mr bryan might be under other conditions or upon a different platform there is every

35johnjohn K bangsbanga bryan the boy candidate 11 harpers weeklywee 8 august 1896 kiberkimer36elmerelmer ellis henry moore teller caldwell idaho the caxton printers 1941 p 273 33

reason to believe that he is the best possible nominee for the democratic party in its present situation from the mere stand- point of success at the comingcorning election candidate and platform are in complete accord 37J the democratic presidential candidate would not be stopped by the attacks of americas press for he had a part to play in the greatest conflict that america had seen in time of peace this was to be a battle fought over the issues which were troubling the united states in 1896 we have declared the money question to be the para

QO mount issue of the campaign lf bryan said 38 mr bryan sounded like a general leading his troops into battle when he added we have commenced a warfare against the gold standard and we expect to continue that warfare until there will not be a man in this country who will dare to raise his voice in favor of the gold standard we believe in bimetallism it has been the policy of this country in the past all parties have declared for it time and again 399 candidate bryan was accused of making the silver question an emotional sentimental one to which he retorted

oarour opponents say that this boneymoneyr question is a business question they try to rid it of sentimentsent ement but there 3iss not much business which is devoid of sentiment the man whotoilswho toils all day is engaged in busbusinessinesso but why because he is working for those whom he loves better than his own life he accumulates property he lays aside something for a rainy day but why when a man accumulates you call it a matter of business and yetye t my friends hishi s hopes and interests are entwined about his accumulations because he expects that after he is gone his own

37joseph37 joseph quincy issues and prospects of the campaign N north american review 163 august 1896 184 38bryan38 bryan first battle p 515

1 391b39lbidid 9 p 53153 34 flesh and blood will enjoy his property take sentiment from life and there is nothing left when our opponents tell Uuss that we are running a sentimental campaign we reply to them that we are simply placing the heart of the masses against the pocketbooks of a few 40

much as william bryan would have liked to stick to the money question the whole democratic platform became an issue and suffered widespread assault because of its radicalism 11 one such reference to the democratic platform appeared august 1 the voters of the country must be shown the significance of this dangerdangerousous movement they must not only be taught the fundamental principles of finance and the error of mr bryans attitude on the money question but the gross immorality of the rest of his platform its invitation to the people to become a nation of swindlersswindswindlerylers its assault upon private property on the judiciary and on individual rights and its doptionadoptiona ofaltgeldsofaltgelds favorite theory that the federal authority shall not be employed to dispersdiapersdispersee mobs that are destroying life and property 414 william jennings bryan touched off his campaign in earnest august 13 with his acceptance speech of the democratic nomination in new yorks madison square garden bryan traveled some 18 009 miles on four major trips in 1896 one dabindayinday in october on his swing through michigan he spoke to 25 audiences as he visited muskegon holland fennvilledennvilleFennville bangor hartford watervlietWatervliet benton harbor niles dowagiacDowa giac decatur lawrence kalamazoo battle creek marshall albion jackson 2 leslie mason and lansing 6 42

4040lbidibid p 464633

4111a41 A practical question 11 harpersha perisperts weekly I11 august 1896 42brybryanan first battle p 561661 35

one worker on the bryan train the idler if said of the candidate he can make 20 speeches a day and travel 300 miles without it having the slightest effect apparently upon hibhimhirnbirn every morning heheseemsseems to be the freshest man in the car 43 but bryanbryans pacepa aeqe was slowed for a week when he collapsed of fatigue in wilmington delaware in his last campaigncampaign trip east the campaign of1896of 1896 was exciting as bryan barnstormedba rn sto rmedamed throughout the nanationtion in search of support the audiences were enthusiastic though most who attended were probably curiosity seekers it is estimated that bryan spoke directly to five million persons the bryan soft alpine hat was the rage and silver or gold fizzelfizzes made with holland gin and either egg white or egg yolk wetted thirsty throats bryan kept on plugging for the free coinage of silver in his speeches which prompted senator henry teller to comment 1I am pleased with bryanbryans speeches he does not let down and he is not frightened by the vicious attacks upon him and his principles 44 As the campaign intensified so did the personal attacks the following articles appeared in september mr bryan speaks constantly of his own active campaign for the presidency as a revolution inih the sense that no such man as he was ever thought of before by any considerable number of people as worthy to be a candidate for president he is right also this charge what a downright lie yes that is the proper word to say

43koenig43 Koenig p 242

44ellis4444ellispEllis p 281 36

TABLE 3

BRYANS CAMPAIGN TRIPS hrathr6t TRIP 550mile5 second6econd 5895

I1 f t A t

THIRD TRIP 12537mile1255712857 mm5 FOURTH 544344 1 l

057

SOURCE bryan first battiebattle p 609gog 37

that goldstandardgold standard advocateadvo6ateadvocatessareare cowards and have consciences that tell them they are bringing ruin to the human race accordi- ng to mr bryan no upright men oppose him mr bryan you know that is untrue 45 throughout the campaign william jennings bryan was plagued by three major problems two vice presidents democratic boltersbaltersbolters and insufficient campaign funds in regards to the first obstacle bryan related the opposition of the populists to the nomination of mr sewall placed me in an embarrassing position throughout the entire campaign it was the most trying feature a6aailoiiotl o bryan was able to secure cooperation between democrats and populistsPopulists however and a scheme was agreed upon to fuse electoral votes in 28 states

on september 2 1896 the bolting democrats met at indianapolis indiana to form a third party of gold standard adherents senator john palmer 79 year old illinois native was the presidential nominee bryan said that the fight made by them against the chicago ticket was more bitter if possible than that waged by the republi- cans n47 few people failed to notice that the presence of the national democratic ticket represented an overt attempt to reduce bryanbryans vote total W J bryanwasbryan was not fooled by the baltersbolters true motives either and stated

45franklin45 Franklin matthews mr bryan as revealed by his speeches 11f harpeharper s weweekly 26 september 1896 46bryan46 Bryan firstfirst battle p 297 47lbid471bid p 388 38

there is a fish which it is said effects its escape by so clouding the water that it cannot be seen and in this campaign the gold democrat is engaged in clouding water while he gets over into the republican ranks 48 probably bryans biggest hurdle was the lack of adequate campaign funds A shortage of pamphlets brochures and advertising was visible the bryanwarbryanBryanwarar cheschest amounted to only about 500 000 mckinley and his campaign chairman mark hanna raised 7 million some estimates of republican expenditures go as high as 16 million all stops were pulled out to defeat bryan bryan wrapped up his campaign for president in nebraska on election ninightahtght november 3 he said to an aide dan bride

I1 have presented the issues to the american people I1 have done my part it is up to the people to decide if they should choose me if they elect mckinley I1 will feel a great burden tedoffliftedoffliflifted off my shoulders 97 the people did decide and bryan lost 271176271 176 to mckinley in electoral votes and 7 million to 6 500 000 in popular votes A shift of some 19 000 votes in key states would have swung the election to bryan the following factors contributed to why bryan lost 1 vote fraud 2 republican business coercionco erciarci on 3 antinewspaperanti newspaper coverage

4 too little money 5 the republican smokescreensmoke screen of international bimetallism 6 wheat price rises 7 democratic baltersboltersbol ters and 8 new gold discoveries

48lbid481bid p ppe 5635639

49koenig49 Koenig p 251 TABLE 4

1896 ELECTORAL RESULTS

eugene SOURCE edgar robinson the presidential vote 189619321896 1932 standford w university standford university press 1947 p 6 0 0 404.0

TABLE 5

1896 POPULAR VOTE RESULTS

election of 18961696

TABLE 30 electoral and popular vote

states mckmchCK B mckinley bryan palmer levering matchett bentlebentiebeblie alabama 11 54737 131226 6464 2147 arkansas 8 3751237.512 110103 889 893 california 8 1 146688146688.688 688 144618 22006006006.006 2573 1611 1047 colorado 4 26279 161269 1 1724 1160igo 386 connecticut 6 110297 5674056740 4336 18061806 1223 delaware 3 2045220452 16615 966 602 florida 4 11288 3232736736 1778 654 georgia 13 60107 94733 2809 5613 idaho 3 6324 23192 181 illinois 24 607130 465613 6390 9818 1147 793 indiana 15 323754 305573 2145 3056 329 22226767 iowa 13 289293 223741 4586 3192 453 352 kansas 10 15951159541 17304 1209 1721 630 kentucky 12 1 218171 217890 5114 4781 louisiana 8 22037 77175 1915 I1 maine 6 8046180 461461.461 34587 1867 1589 maryland 8 136978 104746 2507 5922 588 136 massachusetts 15 278976 106206106log 206 ll1111809809bog8og 30603060 2137 michigan 14 293582291582291.582 237268 6968 5025 297 1995 minnesota 9 193503 139735 3216 4348 954 mississippi 9 5123 63793 1071 485 missouri 17 30430490940 363653630652 235520355 2169 610 292 montana 3 lo1010494494 42537 186 soggog 186 nebraska 8 103103064064o64 115999 2885jp 1243 797 nevada 3 11938j 938 8376 new hampshire 4 57444 21650 3420 776 228 49 new jersey 10 2213712210371 133695 6378 5617 3986 new york 36 819838 5515135510513 19295 1608616086 17731 north carolina 11 15543155243 174488 578 681 253 north dakota 3 26335 2068620 686 358 ohio 23 259915259915 477497 1858 5a845084 1165 27412 741 oregon 4 4877948 779 46739 977 919 pennsylvania 32 728300 433433228melmul 11000 19274 1683 873 I1 rhode island 4 373737437 14459 11166166166.166 1161 558 5 south carolina 9 9317 58801 824 south dakota 4 41042 41225 683 tennessee 12 149703 168878 22106aslloaapi106lo6 31403140 texas 15 167520 3703704340434.0434 5046 178610786 utah 3 13491 64607 21 vermont 4 51127 10640 11331331331.331 733 virginvirginiaia 12 1353881350388 15415985985985.985 212920129 234420344 115 washington 4 39153 5164651 646646.646 1668 968 148 west virginia 6 105379 94488 678 1223 wisconsinwisconsin 12 268135 165523 4584 7509 1314314 346 wyoming 3 1007210072072.072 10375 159

TOTALS 271 176 701137347113734 65167265167226516.722 135456 131285 36475360475 14003

SOURCE swend petersenpeter sen A statistical history of the american presidential elections ungar publishersFlublishers new york 1963 p 64 41

the causes for mr bryans defeat I1 listed in order of importance from my perspective A brief description of each issue

which contributed to the bryan loss in 1896 now follows

vote fraud money was used to purchase foreign and negro votes bryan votes were counted for mckinley kentucky west virginia illinois indiana ohio and michigan contained areas where there were more votes cast than people unregistered people voted on federal reservations iowa and minnesota reported voting irregulari- ties louisville chicago philadelphia baltimore and new york imported negro and white voters who were paid to vote as many as

six times some 60 000 phantom ballots were cast in chicago alone honest returns would have given the states of maryland west virginia california kentucky indiana and ohio to Bryanbryan5050

republican business coercion it is evident that republican money was used to scare and coerce laborers the omaha world herald told how bryan lost by every kind of coercion and intimidation the part of money power including threats of lockouts and dismissals and impend- ing starvation by employment of the largest corruption fund ever used in the country and by the subordination of a large portion of the american press bl51 in michigan a refrigerator company announced that it would reemployre employ 450 workerworkerss if mckinley was elected A new york textile mill would

socoletta50colettanocoletta50SO coletta p 193 510mahaslqmaha world herald november 6 1896 cited by coletta p 189 42

receive an order for 5 000 pairs of papantsntsants on condition of a bryan defeat 52 the president of a large factory in steinway new york assembled his workers the night before the election and told his employees men vote as you please but if bryan is elected to-

morrow the whistle will not blow wednweanwednesdaye sdayaday morning ttbw53 some industrialists privately planned to resort to force of arms should coercion at the polls fail to stop bryan

antinewsantiantlantinewspapernewsnewspaperlerber coverage over 90 percent of the nations newspapers opposed bryan this total included 50 percent of the democratic and independent newspapers

insufficient campaigncampaignfundsfunds As noted bryan was out- spent at least eight to one the republican party fielded ten speakers for gold to every one silver speaker mckinley printed 120IZO million copies of speeches for rculationcirculationci to bryanbryans ten million copies

international bimetallism candidate mckinley stated that the republican party if victorious would call a worldwideworld wide convention to explore the possibility of a world bimetallic standard this ploy N convinced many people that mckinley was for bimetallism

risingrisingwheatwheat prices the price of wheat made rapid

5zdurdendurden p 141

53williams53will53 williamslabslamsiams p 191955 43 advances the month before the electiofielectioft some 20 cents a bushel jump was recorded in october discontented republican farmers now returned to mckinlessmckinleysMcKinleys ranks I1

democratic baltersboltersboltersoboiBoltersterseterSo while the national democratic ticket only polled 130 000 votes many more gold democrats defected to the republican party A united democracy would have elected bryan

gold discdiscoveriesoveriesovertesov erieserles new gold mines were discovered in 1896 the silver issue became a deadhorsedeadhousedead horse even before election day

even in defeat the eastern newspapers would not show bryan any mercy the new york tribune wrote of bryans defeat he goes down with the cause and must abide with it in the history of infamy he has less provocation than benedict arnold less intellectual force than aaron burr less manliness and courage than jefferson davis he was the rival of them all in deliberate wickedness and treason to the republic 544 the partisan Harharperharperlsperlss weeweekly commented by defeating mr bryan the country has escaped an actual experiment in socialism a mr bryan and his party are not loyal citizens of the republic who have been simply advoca- ting their chosen methods for extending its blessings and for making it a more efficient instrument of good government they are enemies of the republic and if they or their successors ever succeed they will establishcablishestablish a socialistic organization in

54newnew yorktribuneyork tribune november 1896 cited by W J bryan first battle p 4924920 44 its stead 555 so ended the political career of william jennings bryan or

i did it not quite bryan had much work to do yet I1inn order to make the democratic partypa rty powerful in america over the next 30 years he would broaden the base of the democracy to include farmers laborers immigrants small businessmen and negroes that bryan viviewedewed his 1896 election defeat as only a preclude to another presidential battle is evident in an article he wrote for north american review in december 1896 mr bryan stated we entered the contest with a disorganized army we emerge from it a united and disciplined force without loss of a soldier we are ready for another contest tt56ilbolibo

55thethe triumph of true americanism ll11 harpers weeweekly 14 november 1896

56has56 has the election settled the money question 11 north american review 163 december 1896 p 710 CHAPTER liiIII111

REPUBLIC OR EMPIRE

the paramount issue in bidmidmidnovembernovember 1896 william jennings bryan launched his campaign for the democratic presidential nomination in 1900 when he saidsaldsal d in denver those who fought in hethetbhe battle will continue in the ranks until bimetallism is restored n brbryanyan received thousands of letters after the election of 1896which1896 which caused him to observe unless some change in conditions occurred I1 would be renominated in 1900 for although defeated the six and half millions of voters came out of

1122 the campaign of 1896 a coimpactmpactcompact and undismayed army from the memoirs of mr bryan it is clear that he planned to gain the nomination in 1900 by 1 advocating free silver 2 build- ing the party organization and 3 extending his contacts with groups of people everywhere in 1897 he lectured throughout the country on silver and other chicago platform planks he evidently was success- ful in winning adherents for one female voter of a western state

10mahamaha world herald 16 november 1896 cited by coletta p 213

bryan memoirs p 119

45 46

exclaimed 111 I am a christianchristianoristianwobanomanwoman and I1 am not afraid to say as a christian that I1 honestly believe william J bryan is inspired of

3 godgodo u113 bryan also resorted to the written word to communicate his views to even greater audiences

when war broke out with spain in the spring of 1898 bryan enlisted as a private at lincoln nebraska governor holcomb commissioned bryan a colonel in charge of a nebraska regiment which was subsequently sent to florida mr bryan resignedresigned from the army when a treaty with spain was signed without having seen any combat action my reason for leaving the army was that the sentiment in favor of imperialismimperialismw wasas widespreadwide spread and that many democrats had been led to join in the cry for expansion as it was then termed I1 believed imperialism to be dangerous to the country and so 4 believing I1 resigned my position in the army to oppose it the year 1899 found bryan covering the country speech- making on a presidential scale the war had stimulated industrial and agricultural production wages and employment were up increases in the gold supply strengthened the gold reserve the successful war with spain caused mckinleymckinleys popularity to rise yet bryan plodded on this time alerting america to the danger of imperialism

3koenigoenig p 309 chariesacharles4charlescharles morrow wilson the commoner william jennings brbryan garden city new york doubleday and company 1970s1970 p 255 47

to bryan expansion was antagonistic to the ideals which americahadAmericamericaahadhad cherished since the days of the declaration of independence expansionism meant entangling alliances in asia and a repudiation of the doctrine of consent of the governed in denouncing imperialism bryan realized that he must educate the public to its evils so through- out most of 1899 and 1900 the boy orator n sought to mold public opinion many of mr bryanbryans pronouncements against imperialism were eloquently argued speeches the day after his discharge from the army in december

1898 bryan said this nation cannot endure half republic and half colony half free and half vassal our guns destroyed a spanish fleet but can they destroy that selfevidentself evident truth that governments derive their just powers not from luperisuperisuperiorI1 or force but from the consent of the governedgoverned335 january 1899 colonel bryan expressed the following opinion when the desire to steal becomes uncontrollable in an inindivi-divi dual he is declared to be a kleptomanicklepkleptomaniactomanic and is sent to an asylum when the desire to grab land becomes uncontrollable in a nation we are told that the currents of destiny are flowing through the hearts of men and that the american people are entering upon their manifest mission 6 president william mckinley asked who shallhaulshallshalishail haul down the flag that floats over our dead in the philippines n william jennings

awilliam5williamwilliam jenningsbryanjennings bryan republicR ublicbublic or empire the philippine question oakland california occidental publishing co 1900 appp 131413 14

6paolopaolo E coletta bryan mckinley and the treaty of paris n pacific historical review 26 may 1957 135 48 bryan replied the flag is a national emblem and is obedient to the national will when the american people want it raised they raise it when they want it hauled down they haul it down shall we keep the philippines and amend our flag shall we add a new star the blood star to indicate that we adorn our flag with a milky way composed of a multitude of minor stars representing remote and insignificant dependencies no a thousand times better to haul down the stars and stripes and substitute the flag of an independent republic than to surrender 7 the doctrine that gave glory to old glory 0 although bryan recognized that imperialism would be the paramount issue in the election of 1900 he would not let the silver issue die in june of 1900 he stated his desire to revitalizere vitalize the silver question when he stated

since 1896 the same sordid doctrine that manifested itself in the gold standard has manifested itself in several new ways and today three questions contest for primacy the money question the trust question and imperialism 8 the mostthatbostmost that bryan wouldallowwoulwould allowdallow the issue of imperialism to do was to take its place alongside free silver

early in the summer of 1900 thetche populists met in sioux falls south dakota and nominated bryan for president and charles A towne for vice president bryan accepted the nomination at topeka kansas the national silver party met july 4 at kansas city missouri W J bryan was the partypartys s unanimous choice towne eventually withdrew

7bryanobryanbryan republic or ebeemeempempirei re p 15 awilliam8williamwilliam J bryan the issue in the presidential campaign M north american review 70 june 1900 758 49

as vice president and stevenstevensons on was chosen in his place by both populists and silveritesSilve rites the 1900 democratic convention met in july at kansas city bryan took a hands off approach toward the convention and he refused to either attend or dictate terms richard metcalf associate editor of the omaha worldheraldWorld Herald served as bryans spokesman bryan was not satisfied to just reaffirm the chicago platform

in 1900 but he wanted the delegates to reiterate the platform especially the silver plank mr bryan believed that a watered down

silver plank would cost him Is1 000 000 votes even though bryan

knew that nearly 75 percent of the convention delegates favored drop-

11 pingtheping the silver plank from the 1900 platform he stated 0 when

asked if I1 would be a candidate in case the convention decided to leave

out that plank I1 replied that I1 would not consent to be a candidate under

those circumstances 11119 by one vote the convention adopted the pro bryan silver plank in order to keep william jennings bryan as their standard bearer to william bryan the acceptance of another democratic

presidential nomination was a duty M only he could possibly defeat mckinley and sweep other democrats into office this time bryan wouldnt stump the country no regular program of speeches by me will be mapped out and no special itinerary arranged 11 he

9bryanobryanbryan memoirs p 123 50 declared 10 bryarsbryans renomination was again met with hostility from the nations press in the july 14 issue fiarelarFlarharperflarpersflapperspers weekly editorialized

in 1896 the serpent was scotchedscorchedscotched in 1900 it should be killed and every vestige of it wiped from the face of the earth vice presidential candidate adlaiadial stevenson althoualthoughah a former vice president under grover cleveland was also denounced as a man with- out character convictions or strength

camcapcampaignealeaipaignagn andand defdefeateat the 1900 presidential campaign was a rematch between bryan and mckinley this time the battle was fought over different issues bryan spoke out for free silver in the west and south advocated anti- trust legislation in the midatlanticmid atlantic states and condemned imperialism in the east he was criticized in the press because his treatment of them the issues depends rather upon geographical conditions than 1112i upon considerations of the higher welfare of the nation as a unit bryans advocacy of imperialism as the paramount issue in the campaign did not click most americans seemed to enjoy the new worldwideworld wide prestige that the mckinley administration had garnered

1okoenigkoenig p 342 11iianlian11anan entangling alliance 11 liarharperris weekly 14 july 1900 p 6426 4 2

12crokerism 11 harpers weekly 13 october 1900 p 956 51 of the imperialist issue people asked what is there in it but the empty wind of rhetoric u on one occasion missouri congressman champ darkclarkmark was attacking imperialism an old farmer in the crowd cried out well I1 guess we can stand it so long as hogs are 20 cents a hundred 13 prosperity spoke louder than concern over a problem in asia known as imperialism mr bryan hammered away at trusts too the fruits of monopoly like the divine right of rule 11 he argued will remain the possession of a few from generation to generation while the real producers of wealth will be condemned to perpetual clerkship or servitude 14 bryanbryans antitrustanti trust campaign fell flat on its face when it was discovered that the new york democratic leader richard croker was involved in an ice trust croker a strong bryan backer was corrupt and ruthless yet bryan made the illfatedill fated remark great is tammany and croker is ititss prophet n115 bryan decided that shunning the stump was producing only lukewarmluke warm response so he began a strenuoustrenuouss barnstorming campaign in october he concentrated on the mississippi river and the mason dixon line states in five and one half weeks he traveled 16 000 miles

13williams13 williams p 236

14 koenig p 332 15inin the enemies country n Harharpersperisperls weeklywee 27 october 190019 0 0 p 1010040 4 52

and delivered 600 speeches his whirlwind campaign did little to diminish democratic party divisions though because bryan refused to associate with gold democrats one source of irritation to bryan as he stumped the last few weeks of the campaign proved to be republican vicevicepresidentialpresidential candidate theodore roosevelt everywhere bryan went he seemed to

cross rooseveltroosevelts s path A humorous side of the conflict occurred in a st louis railway yard when their cars met

wellweliweilweilwellweli governor ll11 said mr bryan how is your voicevolce its as rough as the populist platform 11 replied the governor how is yours colonel mine is as broken as republican rl11 mr promises was the rejoinder of brbryan16an and the cars moved on amid the wild cheers of the populace roosevelt proved to be a formidable challenger to bryan young and

dynamic governor roosevelt traveled 21 000 miles and visited 567 towns and cities near the end of the presidential campaign bryan sensed the hopelessness of his cause the national democratic party was still plagued by a lack of funds republicarepublicansns out spent democrats ten to one in 1900 silver republicans deserted bryan in favor of mckinleymckinleys pro imperialism stand then there was the fact that bryan as a candidate had no compelling or appealing issue for the voters republican chairman mark Hannhannahadhannahanhannaahadhad said there is only one issue

16 humor of the campaign 11 harpers weeweekly 20 october 1900 p 980 53 17 in this campaign my friends and that is let well enough alone lr

bryans last message to the voters in 1900 was a warning of possible voter frfraudaud he exclaimed republicans will buy every vote that can be bought coerce every vote that can be coerced intimidate every laboring manchomanwhoman who can be bribed corrupt every count that can be corrupted 18 now to await the peoplespeopled verdict william jennings bryan had to settle for another presidential defeat this time he picked up strength in the east and actually carried new york city the west however forsook him even his home state of nebraska went for mckinley the final vote totals showed that mckinley had been reelected with 292 electoral votes and 7 2

million popular votes to bryans 155 electoral votes and 6 3 million popular votes an editorial of the time received to sum up the countries feeling at bryans second defeat all the weaknesses and fallacies of bryanism aside it is a fortunate thing that the election had resulted as it has it would have been a plpityty if the tried and faithful servants of the people had been turned out of office with their work still far short of its full fruition after having conducted the affairs of the nation since 1897 so admirably with such wholesome vigor and with such a high degree of wiswisdomwisdornweisdorndorn 19 after the election of 1900 charges of voter fraud were levied

17koenig17 koenig p 341 goletta18coletta18 coletta appp 272273272 273 19harperlsharpes weweekly 17 november 1900 p 1078 TABLE 6

1900 ELECTORAL RESULTS

SOURCE robinson p 8 4ini n 55

TABLE 7

1900 POPULAR VOTE RESULTS

Electelectionioalon ofion 1900

TABLE 31 elemralelemualelectoral and popular vote

states remckic frbr mckinley bryan woollexwoolwooi ley debs barker lailaliallalloneygalloneymalloneyloneyioney eiliselliseills lardlnrd alabama 11 55634 96368 3796 928 3751 arkansas 8 44800 81142 584 27 972 340 california 9 164755 124985 5087 7572 colorado 4 93072 122733 3790 714 389 684 connecticut 6 102572 7401474014 1617 1029 908 delaware 3 22535 18863 546 57 florida 4 7499 28007 223420234 601 1070 georgia 13 35056 81700 1396 4584 idaho 3 27198 29414 857 232 illinois 24 597985 503061503061 17626 9687 1141 137313373 672 352 indiana 15 336063 309584 13718 2374 1438 663 254 iowa 13 307808 209265 9502 2790 1026 259 169 kansas 10 185955 162601162601 3605 1605 kentucky 13 226801 234899 2814 770 2017 299 louisiana 8 14233 53671 maine 6 65435 36823 2585 878 maryland 8 136185 122238 4574 904 388 145 massachusetts 15 239147 157016 62086 208208.208 9716 2610 michigan 14 316269 211685 1111859859859.859 2826 837 903 minnesota 9 igo19046146i 112901 8555 3065 1329 mississippi 9 5753 51706 164411644 missouri 17 314092 351922 5965 6139 4244 11294294 294.294 montana 3 25373 37145 298 708 169 nebraska 8 121835 114013 3655 823 ialo1104 nevada 3 3849 6347 new hampshire 4 54798 35489 1271 790 new jersey 10 221754 164879 7190 4611 691 2081 new york 36 822013 678462 22077 12869 12622 north carolina 11 133081 157752 1009 830 north dakota 3 35898 20531 735 520 illiii111 ohio 23 543918 474882 10203 4847 251 1688 4284 oregon 4 46526 33385 2536 1494 275 pennsylvania 32 712665 424232 27908 4831 642 2936 rhode island 4 33784 19812 1529 1423 south carolina 9 3579 47283 south dakota 4 54530 39544 11542542542.542 169 339 tennessee 12 123180 145356 3882 413 1322 texas 15 130641 267432 2644 1846 20981 162 utah 3 47139 45006 209 720 106 vermont 4 42569 12849 367 383 virginia 12 115865 146080146080 2150 145 63 1673673.67 washington 4 57456 44833 2363 2006 866 west virginia 6 119829 98807 1692 219 268 wisconsin 12 265756 159279 10022 7051 505 wyoming 3 14482 1016410164

TOTALS 292 155 72198281219828 6358160.3581606358160358160 210200 95744 50605 33435 5695 521

SOURCE petersen p 67670 56 against the republicans congressman lentz of ohio said bribery ran riot in every ward and township in the district 11 former illinois governor john altgaltgeldalag eldeid remarked the enemy simply bought the ground from under us 11 senator teller of colorado concluded republicans had plenty of money for purposes legitimate and illegiti- mate 11 republican senator george norris of nebraska nastoldwastoldwas told that republicans printed ballots headed by democratic candidates for 21 president and vice president but followed with republican electors besides voter fraud and coercion bryan lost because he had a poorly organized campaign he supported too many issues he was stung by too much crokerismcrokerism1Crokerisbism and the silver issue proved to be an albatross at a time of general prosperity the country was not ready to test an untried and unproven leader bryan returned to his farm at lincoln now he had time to think about his political future and time to enjoy his association with his numerous friends of whom he wrote 1tlI am sure that no one in this country probably no one who has ever lived has had more friends kept them for a longer period or0 r received from them greater loyalty or more constant support tiz22

2ocolettanocoletta20coletta20 colettagoletta p 283

2lgeorgegeorge W norris fightingatinhtin liberal new york collier books 1961 p 155

22bryan22 Bryan memoirs p 131 CHAPTER IVIN

UTAHS ABOUT FACE

utahs political climate utahs political history is unique among the 50 states members of the church of jesus christ of latterlatterdayday saints mormon had fled from illinois at the peril of their lives to the arid great basin region of western america in the great salt lake valley mormons developed an empire which extended its influence throughout the west during the 19th century mormon influence was felt in the social cultural and political attitudes of utahnsutahna

beginni-beginningng in 1849 many petitions by utah for admission to the union were denied before statehood admittance on january 4 1896 factors which complicated statehood included the mormon practice of plural marriage mormon church influence in government utah political parties based on religion and later the presence of a federal government commission to supervise utah internal affairs utahhistorianutah historian leonard arrington suggested that a deaidealdeal11 was ladebadejademaden by the mormon church and national republican leaders in order to achieve utah statehood he wrote As part of the deal by which this was arranged statehood church officials are said to have given congressional and 57 58

administration leaders to understand that they would support a proposition to prohibit forever the practice of polygamy in utah that the church would dissolve its peoplespeopled party and divide itself into republican and democratic supporters and that the church woulddiwould continuediscontinues its alleged fight against gentile business and relax its own economic efforts whether or not a formal deal was effected some significant changes

occurred in utah politics in the early 1890s18901s

in 1890 L D S church president wilford woodruff issued a

manifesto banninbanningg the mormon practice of plural marriage the year

1891 brought the dissolution of the mormon peoples party the following year political parties in utah were organized along national party lines republican and democrat utah in 1890 was thought to be antirepublicananti republican because of republican sponsorship of antipolygamyanti polygamy laws yet within a few years utah was consistently in the national republican column come election time why did utah become republican several suggestions seem evident 1 the democratic financial panic of 1893 2 opposition to president clevelands refusal to aiaidaldid depressed silver 3 movement to conservative economic and social philosophy from mormon communal control 4 interest in a protective tariff for wool sugar 29 etc and 5 L D S church influence while most of the afore- mentioned reasons for utahs monememovememovementnt into the G 0 P are self

beonardileonardbleonardleonard J arrington great basin kingdom lincoln university of nebraska press 1958 p 379

richard D poll A state is born 11 utah historicshistoricahistoricalHistorica 1 quaquarterlyrterlyaly 32 winter 1964 29 59 explanatory the last reason needsneeds s61isorne comment

the mormon church in the 1890s1890 exercised a dominant con- trol over utah politics aside from any pronouncements to the con- trary earlykarlyea rlyaly in the 1890s1890 L D S authorities had urged church members to become republicans at stake confebonfeconferencesbencesrences regional gatherings of the church apostles presiding authorities asked for volunvolunteevolunteervolunteerstee rs to join the republican cause some members were even 0 directed to do so 3 further evidence of mormon church interest in utah politics came in april 1896 the L D S church hierarchy issued a political manifesto requiring all mormon leaders to receive official church sanction before engaging in political activities the manifesto in part stated we unanimously agree to and promulgate as a rule that should always be obserobservedobservedinvedinin the church and by every leadinleadingg official thereof that before accepting any position political or otherwise which would interfere with the proper and complete discharge of his ecclesiastical duties and before accepting a nomination or entering into engagements to perform new duties said officials should apply to the proper authorities and learn from them whether he can consistently with the other obligations already entered into with the church uponassumingupon assuming his office take upon himself the added duties and labors and responsibilities of the new position 4 that the mormon church meant business can be seen from the fact that democratic apostle moses thatcher was removed from the

bibid3ibid3 ibid p 282 8

asal4salisalt4saltt lake herald 7 april 1896 60 quorum of the twelve apostles when he refused to sign the manifesto

an 1896 landslide from the above description of utahs political history the 1896 presidential election should have been a breezeforbreeze for the republican party yet william jennings bryan democratic nominee swept the state with nearly 83 percent of the popular vote why bryan was a wellknownwell known figure to utah political audiences he had visited the state as early as 1893 when an invitation to address the transmississippitrans mississippi congress in ogden was extended A part of the invitation said your reputation as an orator in defense of western

115n country interests has permeated the western country 11 again in

1895 1897 and 1900 bryan spoke in defense of western country interests to utah audiences of course the western country interest which william bryan addressed himself to was free silver bryanss charm oratory and issue were irresistible to utahnsutahna in 1896 many democratic leaders argued convincingly that silver the principal product of utah had an enemy in mckinley republicanism and a friend in bryan democracy even republicans got on the silverbandwagonsilversliver bandwagon and utah republican national committeeman 0 J salisbury added 1I cannot consistently support mckinley on that kind of a platform and will not do so iio6

5bryanobryanbryan memoirs p 119 aitisalt6saltalt laketribuneLakelake tribune 22 june 1896 61 the republican newspaper salt lake tribune also commented there will be but one trouble this year in politics and that willwiiilii111 be to unite the friends of silversliversilver of all parties in baceaceachh state to vote for the same electors the west and south are for silver the great labor organizations throughout the country are for silver the farmers of the mississippi valley are for silver the manufacturers of pennsylvania of new york and connecticut are just now trying to solve a problem and the solution will be to make them all silver men 7 with all of these forces in utah for prosilverpro silver bryan had little difficulty in defeating mckinley bryan won 64 607 votes to 1349113 491 for republican william mckinley a landslide utahs three electoral votes in utahs first presidential contest went democratic

reservations in 1900 march 24 to 26 1900 found william J bryan on the stump in utah plugging the issue of free silver bryan stated

I1 do claim credit for one thing and that is I1 never advocate a thing unless I1 believe in it and when I1 do believe in it I1 dont care whether anybody else advocates it or not I1 will advocate it you aaskA me when I1 am going to drop the silver question iwillawillI1 will tell you that I1 dontdont intend to drop it until seventy millions of people assert and declare the right to attend to their own business without asking the aid or consent of any other nation on earth 8 bryan also spoke about taxation and the puerto rico tariff on the issue of trusts the nebraskan said 1rlI believe it is possible to destroy the trusts I1 believe it is necessary that they should be

71bidbid

sibicsibid8ibid 1 25 march 1900 626 2 destroyed tigfig119uQ concerning imperialism william bryan suggested the man who wants imperialism must repeal the declaration of independence and nullify the declarations of principles set forth in that sacred document dishonor will be the reward of those who ask the american people to spend the best americanamericanbloodblood in trying to buy trade in the philippine islands 10 the boy orator of the platte aisoalsoaiso related a story of how america supposedly got involved in the philippines when he said

A republican senator said that god had opened the door to the philippines pushed us in and shut the door and the question that occurred to me was who told him so n did god tell him so if so I1 would like to know the day and the hour because I1 think I1 can prove it was somebodysomebodys else sic voice that he heard I1 want to find out who stands for spokesman for the almighty I1 deny that anany7 man has the right to lead us into the shedding of human blood by command of the almighty H As if anticipating the cry that prosperity called for no change in government bryan issued a challenge let everyone who has receivedreceived his share of the prosperity vote the republican ticket and if we can get thevotesthe votes of all who have not received their share we will have the largest majority that any party ever had in the united states 12 the salt lake tribune said that many who listened to bryantbryanss speeches in utah in 1900 were not in accord with his remarks the 1900 presidential campaign was quite a heated battleinbartleinbattbattlebattieleinin utah at eureka thomas kearns criticized bryan for arguing too

9lbid91bid

10 ibiiblibidd ibid

ibiiblibidd 63 many issues when he charged bryan has too many issues in the south trusts in the east antiantl expansion in utah and other rockrockyy mountain states silver and on the pacific coast expansion the democrats have no more at stake than we have and are no better silver 13 men 0 the democratic partparty will do nothing for silver bryan was pictured by the republican party as a backsliderback- slider on the silver question many newspaper articles insinuated that bryan no longer favored the free and unlimited coinage of silver n the november 1 1900 issue of the salt lake tribune said that bryan was asked will you if elected president pay the obligations of this government in silver or in gold 11 bryan was alleged to have given an 81 word reply with no answer 14 the salt lake herald tried to quash the idea that bryan was not a friend of silver when it editorialized As the ardent advocate of free silver the opponent of trust mon- opoliesopolies the firm friend of freedom here and in the new posses- sions mr bryan is the champion of the plain people the men who pay the taxes who furnish the fighting force of the nation who produce its food its gold and silver its wealth of every kind if you the voters of utah believe in free coinage in the right of every man to the fruits of his own toil in the sup- pression of private monopoly the extension of such liberty as our forefathers fought for you will vote for william J bryan 15 whether bryan actually favored silver or not was unimportant to many utahnsutahna for the true issue was not silver but prosperity most utah citizens agreed with the following article

131bidibid I11 november 1900 141bidibid 15salt lake herald 4 march 1900 64 the result of the election in utah in 1896 was a protest of her people against intolerable burdens unnecessarily brought upon them and the country generally without war pestilence drought floods or calamities in any form with ample harvests with a royal product from her mines the business of the country was stranded and the chief cause was apparent enough the condi- tions have all changed what would a democratic triumph mean this time would it be a protest against prosperity would it be a notice that the people of utah are dissatisfied with their present progress and want a return to the conditions of 1896 w16

since conditions had changed why diandidndidnt bryan change too this question was asked after mr bryanbryans utah visit in 1900 some utahnsutahna observed mr bryan stands just where he did four years ago that is the trouble the country has moved on since then four years ago the business of the country was paralyzed and mr bryan could look into the nationnations face and tell the people of their sufferings and what would relieve them today he but looks at the backs of people and when he tells them how they are suffering they are too busy to listen when he tells them that a great bless- ing is in store for them if they will heedhisheed his advice they are too busy to be interested when he tells them that there is a conspir- acy on foot the design of which is to steal from them their liber- 15 ties theythinkthey think of the 1 000 000 free voters of this country and jest laff 1117 it is hardly fair to expect that the men who only supported mr bryan four years ago because of silver should cling to him still it is not a question of good faith or bad faith it is simply a question of justicjusticee so stated a salt lake newspaper 18 the issue of imperialism was also debated although less

sait16saltsalt lake tribune 24 march 1900 17ibid171bid 26 marmarchch 190019 0 0

181bidibid 25 march 1900 65

strenuously in 1900 utahnsutahna heard B H roberts a mormon leader

say that he found in bryan a prototype of thomas jefferson in 1800

ALA man who had been provided by god to steer the ship of state from the shoals that designing men had set for it niirigfrig1119 roberts spoke out against imperialism at the salt lake wigwam on october 27 and pleaded shall we by proving recreant to our own principles and tradi- tions and adopting the imperialistic tendencies and policies now tendered us by the republican party allow free government to perish from the earth if not then cast your vote for W J bryan and the debodemocraticdemocratic party for this is the issueis sue aye the paramount issue in this campaign 20mu

bryan may have suffered somewhat from B H roberts 1 strong endorsement for roberts was elected utah congressman in 1898 but denied his seat in congress because he was a polygamist roberts sought vindication by utahs voters in 1900 attheat the polls the people of utah may have been influenced to favor imperialism by the mormon church in 1900 As early as 1844 joseph smith founder of the church of jesus christ of latterlatterdayday saints stated the position of the mormon church in regard to expansion when he commented in his USU S presidential platform As to the contiguous territories to the united states wisdom would direct no tangling alliance oregon belongs to this govern- ment honourhonourablyably and when we have the red mans consent let the union spread from the east to the west sea and if texas petitions congress to be adopted among the sons of liberty give

191bidibid 3 november 1900 deseret evening news 29 october 1900 66

2 her the riright9ht hand of fellowshifellowshipfellow shishl P and refuser efuse not the same friendly grip to canada and mexico and when the right arm of freemen is stretched out in the character of a navy for the protection of rights commerce and honor let the iron eyes of power watch from maine to mexico and from california to columbia thus may union be strengthened and foreign speculation prevented from opposing broadside to broadside 211 to many of utahs voters joseph smiths plea for expansion in 1844 may have seemed like the same ring of the imperialist bell in 1900 the official LLDSD S churchmagazinechurch magazine improvement era in 1898 carried two pro imperialist articles in an editorial the mormon church lamented the coming war with spain but added once under the influence of american institutions the mixed population of those islands hawaiian would soon learn the necessary lessons of self government 1122 benjamin cluff president of the mormon brigham young university academy at provo utah in the same issue of the improvement era wrote whenever the anglosaxonanglo saxon blood comes in contact with the blood of inferior peoplepeopless it rules and in hawaii was repeated in a bildblidmildnuld and peaceful way the evolutionary steps that took place in america 1123 As early as march 1900 the salt lake herald charged that

ljoseph2 joseph smith history of the church of jesus christ of latterlatterdayday saints 6 salt lake city deseret book company 1969 p 206

221ZZIiprovementimprovement era 1898 vol 1 no 6 p 455 23ben23 benjaminjabinjamin cluff the hawaiian islands and annexation improvementimj2rovement era 1898 vol 1 no 6 pep 4464460 67 certain mormon polygamists and washwashingtonagtonngton D C political authorities had made a bargain in regards to the 1900 election according to one source the republican national camricomricommitteedtteeattee under the direction of mark hanna had made a deal with the LLDSD S church president lorenzo snow the details of the deal were never fully specified nor the charges collaborated by substantial evidence but they were repeated in all parts of the country and quite generally believed in the state of utah the deal was explained thusly perry heath their utahutahssl first assassistantistantdistant postmaster general and secretary of the national committee was reported to be the intermediary he is said to have offered the church assurance that there would be no constitutional amendment directed against polygamy or adverse legislation otherwise in return the church would bring utah into the republican column and wield as much influence as possible in the same direction in surrounding states the disappearance of bryans 1896 majority a total of 53 000 votes was incontrovertible evidence of mormon church political control in the opinion of critics defenders of the church pointed to the republican margin of 1895 when heber M wells republican candidate for governor had almost the identical margin he secured in 1900 moreover the church leaders whose political views were known had been gold standard men in 1896 and had been properly appalled at the silver sweep 244 mormon apostle reed smoot replied that the stholesvhole11vhole thing was based on falsehood n2525 it cannot be determined whether the mormon church and the

cop 1900 gik many republican party did engageeik in bargain making in but

24frank H jonas and garth N jones utah presidential elections 189619521896 1952 ft utah historical quarterlyquar 24 october 1956 29329429329429393 294 25lbid2 5 ibid 68 charges to that effect pervaded the election campaign from mendon utah november 5 came this report patriarch hughes a mormon leader stated that mckinley and the republican party were pledged against the antipolygamyanti polygamy amendment of the constitution and to protect polygamists against arrest and imprisonment in exchange for the republican electoral vote of utah 26

A report from logan utah november 3 read throughout the county republican they are quietly but industriously at work urging mormon democrats to vote for mckinley giving as a reason for so doing the statement that mckinley will stand by the Morcormonsmormonsmons in some instances they have come out squarely telling the people that the election of mckinley will mean the restoration of polygamy in utah from every quarter of the county there comes this story and from idaho also in this city and also in idaho this talk can be traced to apostle M F cowley 27 the report from idaho came from paris idaho and was dated november 5 1900 it reported president william budge of the bear lake stake of the mormon churcchuocchurchh has been injecting politics into religion in this community with the result that the first presidency of the church sat down on him president budge called a meeting of bishops high councillors and prominent mormons on friday at this meeting he declared it to be the wish of the brethrenbrethrenrtrt that idaho be switched to the republican columnnextcolumn next tuesday 28 the mormon church newspaper deseret news responded to the above reports by stating the deseret news is authorized to state emphatically that the

26salt lake herald 6 november 1900 bibidvibid27lbid 4 november 1900

28lbid281bid 5 november 1900 69

church is not engaged in politics 0 & 0 the church presidency have not directly or indirectly signified how any members of the church should vote every member of the church is absolutely free to vote according to hihiss or her personal convic- tions or party fealty z9za9 president snow also denied that he had authorized bear lake stake president william budge to make any political pronounpronouncementscements both the republican and democratic national committees were confident of victory as the campaign for president in 1900 drew to a close utah newspapers carried headlines which were confident of victory on november 6 at chicago on november 3 chairman payne of the republican committee remarked the results of the campaigncampaign indicate clearly that the administrationadmin1 stration of president mckinley will be sustained by the people and that he will securdasecureasecure a largerlargen vote than in 1896 001130 senator walsh of the democratic com- mittee optimistically said 1I have no hesitancy in saying to the herald that ihonesbhonesI1 honestlytlyaly believe mr bryan will be elected president of the united states tuesday next 31 when the votes were all tabulated in utah william jennings bryan was defeated in one of the biggest utah turn abouts bryan had gained only 49 percent approval by utahs voters after his land- slide 83 percent effort in 1896 mckinley had outpolledoutpolled bryan 47 099

29lbid291bid t 6 november 1900

bibid3ibid301bid 4 november 1900 3 1 ibid 70 to 44 944 the democratic paper salt lake herald mused altogether the returns national state and county furnish about as large a dish of crow as the democratic party has had served uupp in recenrecentt yearyearss crow Is not regarded as an epicurean dish but if it has to be taken the democrats of utah will take it without a grimace and pray for grouse next time 32 but who or what was responsible for the democrats eating crow in 1900 that question was on the minds of utahnsutahna in november of 1900 it is difficult to assess what actually caused william bryan to lose the 1900 presidential election in utah yeyett we must put to rest the conclusion that he lost solely because silver was not an important issue to the utah electorate in 1900 certainly silver was a part of the cause for bryanbryansbryanb defeat bryan was portrayedortrayed in utah as a deserter from the silver movement the issue of silver was alive in utah until 1932 but new gold dis- coveriescoveries and prosperity served to negate the value of silver as an issue in 1900 bryan tried to buck the pro imperialist tide in utah at the turn of the century the mormon people were patriotic flagwavingflag waving americans who delighted as much as any people in recounting the triumph of american over spanish forces L D S church doctrine stressed the importance of spreading mormonism throughout the whole world often a war served to open a nationnations door the existence of mormon church influence in utah politics

3 ibid 7 november 1900 71 has been traditional even today that influence is manifest on occa- sions although as a general rule not overtly it is my opinion that in 1900 L D S church leaders did desire to see bryan defeated as they did in 1896 I1 also surmisesurmize that many church members inter- preted the antibryananti bryan sentiment held by leading church authorities to be a church policy a policy of antiantl bryanism brought about by a deal with washington probably no formal deal did exist but the mormon leaders may have used their own personal persuasion to in- fluence friends family and associates an influence which contributed mightily to bryans 1900 defeat in utahitahoutaho two thoughts penned byamericanby american politicians of a different era express my feelings about william jennings bryan colorado senator henry teller stated if there is a man in the united states today who comes near to abraham lincoln that man is william jennings bryan I1 say bryanism is americanism and if we couldhavewouldhavecoulcoulddhavehave less hannaismHannaism and more bryanism we should be better off 33 president franklin delano roosevelt said of bryan political courage was not a virtue to be sought or attained for it was an inherent part of the man he chose his path not to win acclaim but rather because that path appeappearedared clear to him from his inmost beliefs he did not have to dare to do what to him seemed right he could not do otherwise 34 many of the reforms that william jenningsjenaingsnings bryan advocatedadvoaavocatedbated

33 koenig p 329

341bidibid p 11 72 were realized in his own lifetime others have come about since his death in 1925 bryan left a rich legacy to american politics a legacy of honesty sincerity courage and perseverance utah was indeed fortunate to receive many visits and suchwisebuchmuchwisemuch wise counsel from the boy orator of the platte 11 APPENDIXA PPE NDIX 1

ABSTRACT OF THE OMAHA resolutions JANUARY 1891

that we most emphatically declare against the present system of government as manipulated by the congress of the united states and the members of the legislatures of the several states therefore we declare in favor of holding a convention on february 22 1892 to fix a date and place for the holding of a convention to nominate candidates for the office of president and vice president we declare that in the convention to be held on february 22 1892 that deprerepresentationrepre s tationentationendentation shall be one delegate from each state in the union that we favor the abolition of national banks and that the surplus funds be loaned to individuals upon land security at a low rate of interest that we demand the foreclosure of mortgages that the govern- ment holds on railroads that the president and vicevicepresidentpresident of the united states should be elected by popular vote instead of by an electoral college that the alliance shall take no part as partisans in a political struggle by affiliating with republicans or democrats that we favor the free and unlimited coinage of silver that the volume of currency be increased to 50 per capita that all paper money be placed on an equality with gold that we as landownersland owners pledge ourselves to demand that the government allow us to borrow money from the united states at the same rate of interest as do the banks that senators of the united states shall be elected by vote of the people

lfromalfromrom the national economist 4333 february 7 1891 see also the omaha daily bee january 28 1891 SOURCE hicks populistP eulistpulist revolt p 432

73 APPENDIX 2

PEOPLES PARTY PLATFORM

Tthehe oplespeoplespe party assembled in national convention re- affirms its allegiance to the principles declared by the founders of the republic and also to the fundamental principles of just government as enunciated in the platform of the party in 1892 we recognize that through the connivance of the present and preceding administrations the country has reached a crisis in its national life as predicted in our declarations four years ago and that prompt and patriotic action is the supreme duty of the hour we realize that while we have political independence our financial and iindustrialI1 independence is yet to be attained by restoringrestoringto to our country the constitutional control and exercise of the functions necessary to peoples government which functions have been basely surrendered by our public servants to corporate monopolies the influence of european money changers has been more potent in shaping legislation than the voice of the american people executive power and patron- age have been used to corrupt our legislatures and defeat the will of the people and plutocracy has been enthroned upon the ruins of demo- cracy to restore the government intended by thefathersthe fathers and for the welfare and prosperity of this and future generations we demand the establishment of an economic and financialfinancfidanciallallai system which shall make us masters of our own affairs and indleindependentpendent of european control by the adoption of the following declaration of principles I11 we demand a national money safe and sound issued by the general government only without the intervention of banks of issue to be a full legal tender for all debts public and private a just equitable and efficient means of distribution direct to the people and through the lawful disbursements of the government 2 we demand the free and unrestricted coinage of silver and gold at the present legal ratio of 16 to 1 without waiting for the con- sent of foreign nations 3 we demand that the volume of circulating medium be speedily increased to an amount sufficient to meet the demands of business and population and to restore the just level of prices of labor and production 4 we denounce the sale of bonds and the increase of the interestinterestbearinginte re st bearingbea ring debt made by the present administration as unnecessary 74 75

and without authority of law and demand that no more bonds be issued except by specific act of congress 5 we demand such legislation as will prevent the demoneti- zation of the lawful money of the united states by private contract 6 we demand that the government in payment of its obliga- tions shall use its option as to the kind of lawful money in which they are to be paid and we denouncedemouncedemounce the present and preceding administra- tions for surrendering this option to the holders of government obliga- titionson s 7 we demand a graduated income tax to the end thataggrethat aggre- gated wealth shall bear its just proportion of taxation and we regard the recent decision of the supreme court relative to the income tax law as a misinterpretation of the constitution and an invasion of the rightful powers of congress over the subject of taxation 8 we demand that postal savings banks be established by the government for the safe deposit of the savings of the people and to facilitate exchange

1 transportation being a means of exchange and a public necessity the government should own and operate the railroads in the interest of the people and on a nonpartisannon partispartisanan basis to the end that all may be accorded the same treatment in transportation and that the tyranny and political power now exercised by the great railroad corpor- ations which result in the impairment if not the destruction of the political rights and personal liberties of the citizen may be destroyed such ownership is to be accomplishedaccompli shed gradually in a manner consis- tent with sound public policy 2 the interest of the united states in the public highways built with public moneys and the proceeds of extensive grants of land to the pacific railroads should never be alienated mortgaged or sold but guarded and protected for the generalgeneralrai welfare as provided by the laws organizinorganizingorganizin g such railroads the foreclosure of existing liens of the united states on these roads should at once follow default in the pay- ment thereof by the debtor the companies and at the foreclosure of said roads the government shall purchase the same if it becomes necessary to protect its interest therein or if they can be purchased at a reasonable price and the government shall operate said railroads as public highways forthefor the benefit of the whole people and not in the interest of the few under suitable provisions for protection of life and property giving to all transportation interests equal privileges and equal rates for fares and freight 3 we denounce the present infamous schemes for refunding these debts and demand that the law now applicable thereto be executed and administered according to their true intent and spirit 4 the telegraph like the postofficepostoffice system being a necessity for the transmission of news should be owned and operated 7 1 by the government in the interest of the people

I11 the true policy demands that national and state legislalegislationtion shall be such as will ultimately enable every prudent and industriindustriousinduindustrystrious citizen to secure a home and therefore the land should not be mono- polized for speculative purposespurposesopurpo seSo all lands now held by railroads and other corporations in excess of their actual needs should by lawful means be reclaimed by the government and held for actual settlers only and subject to the right of every human being to acquire a home tiponupon the soil and private land monopoly as well as alien ownership should be prohibited 2 we condemn the frauds by which the land grants to the pacific railroad companies have through the connivance of the interior department robbed multitudes of actual bona fide settlers of their homes and miners of their claims and we demand legislation by congress which will enforce the exemption of mineral land from such grants after as well as before patent 3 we demand that bona fide settlers on all public lands be granted free homes as proviprovidedprovidedindedinin the national homestead law and that no exception be made in the case of indian reservations when opened for settlement and that all lands not now patented come under this demand we favor a system of direct legislation through the initiative and referendum under proper constitutional safeguards

1 we demand the election of president vice president and united states senators by a direct vote of the people 2 we tender to the patriotic eoplepeoplep of cuba our deepest sympathy in their heroic struggle for political freedom and independ- ence and we believe the time has come when the united states the great republic of the world should recognize that cuba is and of right ought to be a free and independent state 3 we favor home rule in the territories and the district of columbia and the early admissionadmi ssion of territories as states 4 all public salaries should be made to correspond to the price of labor and its products 5 in times of great industrial depression idle labor should be employed on publicpublicbublic works as far as practicable 6 the arbitrary course of the courts in assuming to im- prison citizens for indirect contempt and ruling by injunction should be prevented by proper legislation 7 we favor just pensions for our disabled union soldiers 8 believing that the elective franchise and an untrammeled ballot are essential to a government of for and by the people the partypartys s condemn the wholesale system of disfranchisement adopted in some of the states as unrepublican and democraticundemocraticun and we declare it to be the duty of the several state legislatures to take such action as 77 will secure a full free and fair ballotbailot and an honest count 9 while the foregoing propospropositionsdtions constitute the platform upon which ourpartypurpartyour party stands and for the vindication of which its organization will be maintained we recognize that the great and pres- sing issue of the pending campaign upon which the present presidential election will turn is the financial question and upon this great and specific issue between the parties we cordially invite the aid and co- operation of all organizations and citizens agreeing with us upon this vital question SOURCE bryans first battle p 271 APPENDIX 3

YOU SHALL NOT CRUCIFY MANKIND

UPON A CROSS OF GOLD 11 mr chairman and gentlemen oftheodtheof the convention

I1 would be presumptuous indeed to present myself against the distinguishedgentl gentlemenemen to whom you have listened if this were a mere measuring of abilities but this is not a contest between persons the humblest citizen in all the land when clad in the armor of a righteous cause is stronger than all the hosts of error I1 come to speak to you in defense of a cause as holy as the cause of liberty the cause of humanity when this debate is concluded a motion will be made to lay upon the table the resolution offered in commendation of the adminiadaminiadminis-s trationtration we object to bringing this question down to the level of persons the individual is but an atom he is born he acts he dies but principles are eternal and this has been a contest over a principle never before in the history of this country has there been witnessed such a contest as that thrthroughahrough which we have just passed never before in the history of american politics has a great issue been fought out as this issue has been by the voters of a greatpartygreat party on the fourth of march 1895 a few democrats most of them members of congress issued an address to the democrats of the nation assertinassertionasassertingsertin 9 that the money question was the paramount issue of the hour declar- ing that a majority of the democratic party had the right to control the action of the party on this paramount issueie-sue and concluding with the request that the believers in the free coinage of silver in the democra- tic party should organize take charge of and control the policy of the democratic party three months later at memphis an organization was perfected and the silver democrats went forth openly and cour- ageouslyageous ly proclaiming their belief and declaring that if successful they would crystallize into a platform the declaration which they had made then began the conflict with a zeal approaching the zeal which inspired the crusaders who followed peter the hermit our silver democrats went forth from victory unto victory until they are now assembled not to discuss not to debate but to enter up the judg- ment already rendered by the plain people of this country 78 79 the gentleman who preceded me ex governor russell spoke of the state of massachusetts let me assure him that not one present in all this convention entertains the least hostility tto0 the people of the state of massachusetts but we stand here representing people who are the equals before the law of the grgreatesteatesteanest citizens in the state of massachusetts when you turning to the gold delegates come before us and tell us that we are about to disturb your business interests we reply that you have disturbed our business interests by your course we say to you that you have made the definition of a business- man too limited in its application the man who is employed for wages is as much a businessman as his employer the attorney in a country town is as much a businessman as the corporation counsel in a great metropolis the merchant at the crossroads store is as buchmuchbuchamucha a business- man as the merchant of new york thefarmerthe farberfarmer who goes forth in the morning and toils all day who begins inln spring and toils all summer and who by the application of brain and muscle to the natural resources of the country creates wealth is as much a businessman as the man who goes upon the board of trade and bets upon the price of grain the miners who go down a thousand feetinticfeet into the earth or climb two thou- sand feet upon the cliffs and bring forth from their hiding places the precious metals to be poured into the channels of trade are as much businessmen as the few financial magnates who in a back roobroomroom corner the money of the world Wwee come to speak of this broader class of businessmen they tell us that this platform was made to catch votes we reply to themthatthebthem that changing conditions make new issues that the prin- ciples upon which democracy rests are as everlasting as the hills but that they must be apalieapplieappliedd to new conditions as they arise conditions have arisen and we are here to meet those conditions they tell us that the income tax ought not to be brought in here that it is a new idea they criticize us for our criticism of the supreme court of the united states my friends we have not criticized we have simply called attention to what you already know if you want criticisms read the dissenting opinions of the court there you will find criticisms they say that we passed an unconstitutional law we deny it the income tax law was not unconstitutional when it was passed it was not unconstitutional when it went before the supreme court for the first time it did not become unconstitutional until one of the judges changed his mind and we cannot be expected to know when a judge will change his mind the income tax is just it simply intends to put the burdens of government justly upon the backs of the people I1 am in favor of an income tax when I1 find a man who is not willing to bear his share of the burdens of the government which protects him I1 find a man who is unworthy to enjoy the blessings of a government like ours they say that we are opposing national bank currency it is true if you will read what thomas benton said you will find he said that in ssearchingearching history he could find but one parallel to andrew 80

jackson that was cicero who destroyed the conspiracy of catilinecarilineCatiline and saved rome benton said that ciceciceroro only did for rome what jackson did for us when he destroyed the bank conspiracy and saved america we say in our platform that we believe that the right to coin and issue money is a function of government we believe it we go forth confident that we shall win why because upon the paramount issue of this campaign there is not a spot of ground upon which the enemy will dare to challenge battle if they tell us that the gold standard is a good thing we shall point to their platform and tell them that their platform pledges the party to get rid of the gold stan- dard and substitute bimetallism if the gold standard is a good thing why try to get rid of it I1 call your attention to the fact that some of the very people who are in this convention today and who tell us that we ought to declare in favor of internationalbetailmetallbimetallbi bimetallismisbism thereby declar- ing that the gold standard is wrowrongng and that the principle of bimetallism is better these very people four months ago were open and avowed advocates of the gold standard and were then telling us that we could not legislate two metals together even with the aid of all the world if the gold standard is a good thing we ought to declare in favor of its retention and not in favor of abandoning it and if the gold standard is a bad thing why should we wait until other nations are willing to help us to let go here is the line of battle and we care not upon which issue they force the fight we are prepared to meet them on either issue or on both if they tell us that the gold standard is the standard of civilization we reply to them that this the most enlightened of all the nations of the earth has never declared for a gold standard and that both the great parties this year are declaring against it if the gold standard is the standard of civilization why my friends should we not have it if they come to meet us on that issue we can present the history of our nation more than that we can tell them that they will search the pages of history in vain to find a single instance where the common people of any land have ever declared themselves in favor of the gold standard they can find where the holders of fixed invest- ments have declared for a gold standard but not where the masses have mr john griffin carlisle kentucky statesman said in 1878 that thithlthiss was a struggle between the idle holders of idle capital and the struggling masses who produce the wealth and pay the taxes of the 1countryI if and my friends the question we are to decide is upon which side will the democratic party fight upon the side of the idle holders of idle capital or upon the side of the struggling masses that is the question which the party must answer first and then it must be answered by each individual hereafter the sympathies of the democratic party as shown by the platform are on the side of the struggling masses who have ever been the foundation of the democratic party there are two ideas of government there are those who 81 believe that if you will only legislate to make the welltodowell to do prosper- ous their prosperity will find its way up through every class which rests upon them you come to us and tell us that the great cities are in favor of the gold standard we reply that the great cities rest upon our broad and fertile prairies burn down your cities and leave our farms and your cities will spring up again as if by magic but destroy our farms and the grass will browingrowingrow in the streets of every city in the country my friends we declare that this nation is able to legislate for its own people on every question without waitingwaitin g for the aid or con- sent of any other nation on earth and upon that issue we expect to carry every state in the union I1 shall not slander the inhabitants of the fair state of massachusetts nor the inhabitants of the state of new york by saying that when they are confronted with the proposition they will declare that this nation is not able to attend to its own business it is the issue of 1776 over again our ancestors when but three millions in number had the couragec to declare their political independence of every other nation shall we their descendants when we have grown to seventy millions declare that we are lesslessindependentindependent than our forefathers no my friends that will never be the verdict of our people therefore we care notuponnot upon what lines the battle is fought if they say bimetallism is good but that we cannothavecanncannotothavehave it until other nations help us we reply that instead of having a gold standard because england has we will restore bimetallism and then let england have bimetallism because the united states has it if they dare to come out in the open field and defend the gold standard as a good thing we will fight them to the uttermost having behind us the producing masses of this nation and the world supported by the com- mercial interests the laboring interests and the toilers everywhere we will answer their demand for a gold standard by saying to them you shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns you shall not crucify mankind upon a rosscosscrossc of gold there was never any question about the success of this most effective convention speech of all time toward the close every sen- tence was followed by a burst of applause and at the end the building rocked with a unanimous ovation not only did bryan defeat the move to kill the democratic party1partys s silver declaration but on the next day the thithlthirtysixyearoldthirtyrtyarty six yearyean oldoid orator was nominated for the presidency one speech had catapulted him to the top of the ladder the ceremony of acceptance of the nomination was held next month at bryanbryans request at madison square garden in new york city in order as he said that our cause might be presented in the heart of what now seems to be the enemy s country 11 in the shadow of wall street on august 12 an intensely hot day nyanbryanryan gave his second national address this time he read from a manuscript and substituted logic of impassioned appeal arguing like a seasoned lawyer and this time one third of the 82 audience walked out for them it was a big disappointment but for republican politicians it was a revelation and a warning they began to view the boy orator of the platte with real alarm

SOURCE houston peterson ed A treasurtreasury of the worlds great speechesspeechesbeches new york grolier inc 1973 appp 638642638 642 APPENDIX 4

democratic PLATFORM

we the democrats of the united states in national conven- tion assembled do reaffirm our allegiance tottofcotco those great essential principles of jesticeqsticejustice and liberty upon which our institutions are founded and which the democratic papartyrtyhashas advocated from jeffersons time to our own freedom of speech freedom of the press freedom of conscience the preservation of personal rights the equality of all citizens before the law and the faithful observance of constitutional limitations during all these years the democratic party has resisted the tendency of selfish interests to the centralization of governmental power and steadfastly maintained the integrity of the dual scheme of government established by the founders of the republic of republics under its guidingsguidings and teachings the great principle of local self government has found its best expression in the maintenance of the rights of the states and in its assertion of the necessity of confining the general governmentgovernmentto to the exercise of the powers granted by the constitution of the united states the constitution of the united states guarantees to every citizen the rights of civil and religious liberty the democratic party has always been the exponent of political liberty and religious freedom and it renews its obligations and reaffirms its devotions to these funda- mental principles of the constitution recognizing that the money question is paramount to all others at this time we invite attention to the fact that the federal constitution named silver and gold together as the money metals of the united states and that the first coinage law passed by Ccongress under the constitution made the silver dollar the monetary unit and admitted gold to free coinage at a ratio based upon the silverdollarsilver dollar unit we declare that the act of 1873 demonetizing silver without the knowledge or approval of the american people has resulted in the appreciation of gold and a corresponding fall in the prices of commo- dities produced by the people a heavy increase in the burden of taxa- tion and of all debts public and private the enrichment of the money- lending class at home and abroad the prostration of industry and impoverishment of the people

83 84

we are unalterably opposed to monometallism which has locked fast the prosperity of an industrial people in the paralysis of hard times gold monometallism is a british policy and its adop- tion has brought other nations into financial servitude to london it is not only un american but anti american and it can be fastened on the united states only by the stifling of that spirit and love of liberty which proclaimed our political independence in 1776 and won it in the war of the revolution we demand the free and unlimited coinage of both silver and gold at the present legal ratio of 16 to 1 without waiting for the aid or consent of any other nation we demand that the standard silver dollar shall be a full legal tender equally with gold forallborallfor allailali debts public and private and we favor such legislation as will prevent for the future the demonetization of any kind of legaltenderlegal tender money by private contract we are opposed to the policpolicyandpolicyyandand practice of surrendering to the holders of the obligations of the united states the option reserved by law to the government of redeeming such obligations in either silver coin or gold coin we are opposed to the issuiiskuiissuingI1 ng of interestinterestbearingbearing bonds of the united states in time of peace and condemn the trafficking with banking syndicates which in exchange for bonds and at an enormous profit to themselves supply the federal treasury with gold to main- tain the policy of gold monometallism congress alone has the power to coin and issue money and president jackson declared that this power could not be delegated to corporations or individuals we therefore denounce the issuaissuanceinsuance of notes intended to circulate as money byb national banks as in derogation of the constitution and we demand that all paper which is made a legal tender for public and private debts or which is receivable for dues to the united states shall be issued by the government of the united states and shall be redeemable in coin we hold that tariff duties should be levied for purposes of revenue such duties to be so adjusted as to operate equally throughout the country and not discriminate between class or section and that taxation should be limited by the needs of the government honestly and economicaeconomicalecoeconomicallynomicallyliy adbadministeredadmI1nisteredbisterednistered we denounce as disturbing to business the republican threat to restore the mckinley law which has twice been condemned by the people in national elections and which enacted under the false plea of protection to home industry proved a prolific breeder of trusts and monopolies enriched the few at the expense of the many restricted trade and deprived the producers of the great american staples of access to their natural markets until the money question is settled we are opposed to any agitation for further changes in our tariff laws except such as are necessary to meet the deficit in revenue caused by the adverse decision 85

of the supreme court on the incometaxincome tax but for this decision by the supreme court there would be no deficit in the revenue under the law passed by a democratic congress in strict pursuance of the uniform decisions of that court for nearly one hundred years that court having in that decision sustained constitutional objections to its enactment waichhichwhich had previously been overruled by theablestthe ablest judges who have ever sat on that bench we declare that it is the duty of congress to use all the constitutional power which remains after that decision or which may come from its reversalrever salsai by the court as it may hereafter be constituted so that the burdens of taxatiotaxationn may be equally and impar- tially laid to the end that wealth may bear its due proportion of the expense of the government we hold that the most efficient way of protecting american labor is to prevent the importationtheimportation of foreign pauper labor to compete with it in the home market and that the value of the home market to our american farmers and artisans is greatly reduced by a vicious monetary system which depressed the prices of their products below the cost of production and thus deprives them of the means of purchas- ing the products of our home manufactoriesmanufactories and as labor creates the wealth of the country we demand the passage of such laws as may be necessary to protect it in all its rights we are in favor of the arbitration of differences between employers engaged in interstate commerce and their employees and recommend such legislation as is necessnecessaryaratoarytoto carry out this principle the absorption of wealth by the few the consolidation of our leading railroad systems and the formation of trusts and pools require a stricter control by the federal government of those arteries of commerceconnnerce we demand the enlargement of the powers of the inter- state commerce commission and such restriction and guarantees in the control of railroads as will protect the people from robbery and oppression we denounce the profligate waste of the money wrung from the people by oppressive taxation and the lavishlavllavifavl sh appropriations of recent republican congresses which have kept taxes high while the labor that pays them is unemployed and the products of the peoplespeopled toil are depressed in price till they no longer repay the cost of produc- tion we demand a return tothabothato thatt simplicity and economy which befits a democratic government and a reduction in the number of useless offices the salaries of which drain the substance of the people we denounce arbitrary interference by federal authorities in local affairs as a violation of the constitution of the united states and a crime against free institutions and we especially object to govern- ment by injunction as a new and highly dangerous form of oppression by which federal judgesJ in contecontemptmptampt of the laws of the states and the rights of citizens become at once legislators judges executionexecutionersers and we approve the bill passed at the last session of the united states senate and now pending in the house of representatives relative to 86 contemptscontempts in federal courts and providing for trials by jury in certain cases of contempt no discrimination should be indulged in by the government of the unitedstatesunited states in favor of any of its debtors we approve of the refusal of the fiftythirdfifty third congress to pass the pacific railroad fund- ing bill and denounce the effort of the present republican congress to enact a similar measure recognizing the just claims of deserving union soldiers we heartily indorse the rule of the present commissioner of pensions that no names shall be arbitrarily dropped from the pension roll and the fact of enlistment and service should be deebedeemedeemedd conclusive evievlevi- dence against disease and disability before enlistment we favor the admission of the territories of new mexico arizona and oklahoma into the union as states and we favor the early admission of all the territories having the necessary population and resources to entitle them to statehood and while they remain territories we hold that the officials appointed to administer the government of any territory together with the district of columbia and alaska should be bona fide resideresidentsntsants of the territory or district in which their duties are to be performperformededo the democratic party believes in home rule and that all public lands of the united states should be appropriated to the establishment of free homes for american citizcatizcitizensens we recommend that the territory of alaska be granted a delegate in congress and that the general land and timber laws of the united states be extended to said territory the monroe doctrine as originally declared and as inter- preted by succeeding presidents is a permanent part of the foreign policy of the united states and must at all times be maintained we extend our sympathy to the people of cuba in their heroic struggle for liberty and independence we are opposed to life tenure in the public service except as provided in the constitution we favor appointments based on merit fixed terms of office and such an administration of the civilservicecivil service laws as will afford equal opportunities to all citizens of ascertained fitnessfitnebitne s s we declare it to be the unwritten law of this republic estab- lished by custom and usage of one hundred years and sanctioned by the examples of the greatest and wisest of those who founded and have maintained our government that no man should be eligible for a third term of the presidential office the federal government should care for and improve the mississippi riverandreverandRivrivererandand other great waterways of the republic so as to secure for the interior states easyaaseasy andand cheap transportation to tide water when any waterway of the republic is of sufficient importance to demand aid of the government suchaidsuchardsuch aidald should be extended upon a definite plan of continuous work until permanent improvement is secured 87

confiding in the atisjtisjusticeiceieelee of our cause and the necessity of its success at the polls we subxiitsubrriit the foregoing declaration of principles and purposes to the considerate judgment of the american people we invite the support of all citizens who approvea droveprove them and who desire to have them made effective through legislegislationdation for the relief of the people and the restoration of the countryscount rys prosperity

SOURCE bryanbryantsabryants first battle p 406 GLOSSARY OF POLITICAL personalities MENTIONED altgeld john peter democratic illinois governor of german birth who gained a reputation for opposing1 federal intervention in the 1894 chicago pullman strike early bland presidential supporter barker thartonThchartonwhartonarton peoplespeopled party presidential candidate in 1900 and 1908 blackburn joseph Uuo S senator for kentucky and a democratic con- tender for president in 1896 bland richard P missouri congressman and the primary demo- cratic presidential aspirant in 1896 boies horace democratic presidential contender in 1896 prosilverpro silver governor of iowa bryan william jennings nebraska congressman and three times un- successful democratic presidential nominenomineee cannon frank one of utahs first senators a silver republican who bolted the 1896 national convention and supported bryan clark champ missouri congressman and bryan stump speaker in 1900 cleveland stephen grover president of the united states 188518891885 1889 and 189318971893 1897 strong gold standard advocate croker richard new york democratic leader of tammany hall supporter of bryan in 1900 dahlman james democratic leader and supporter of bryan in nebranebraskaska foster warren early populist leader and editor in utah hanna marcus wealthy and influential republican leader senator from ohio 88 89

harvey william hope author of coinscom s financial school and other populist tracts lived in utah 189018931890 1893 hill david democratic senator and pro gold adherent from new york holcomb silas populist nebraska governor and strong bryan supporter

jonejonessjabejamejabes james s arkansas senator andheadand head of the democratic resolu- tions committee in 1896 also democratic national committee chairman laurence henry utah congressional candidate and populist leader lease mary elizabeth kansas orator and stump speaker for early farm and populist movements matthews claude 1896 democratic presidential aspirant and governor of indiana mckinley william ohio congressman governor and republican president of the united states 189719011897 1901 mclean john wealthy ohio editor and democratic leader who vied for the presidency in 1896 norris george liberal republican senator from nebraska palmer john M united states senator from illinois and nominee of the national democratic party for president in 1900 roberts B H mormon leader in utah U S democratic congress- man bryan advocate roosevelt theodore new york governor vice president of united states 1901 assumed presidency upon assassination of mckinleyofmckinley in september 1901 russell william F senator from vermont pro gold advocate at 1896 democratic convention salisbury 0 J republican national committeeman from utah in 1900 sewall arthur wealthy maine industrialist democratic leader vicevicepresidentialpresidential nominee in 1896 90 smoot reed mormon apostle and republican utah senator stevensen adlaiadialadlaieE vicevicepresidentpresident under cleveland 189318971893 1897 also unsuccessful vicevicepresidentialpresidential nominee with bryan in 1900 grandfather of 1952 and 1956 dernderxdemocraticcraticiocraticsocraticio presidential candidate stone william democratic governor of missouri key silver backer teller henry moore silver republican senator from colorado bolted the 1896 republican national convention spoke throughoutthroughoutthe the country for bryan after he unsuccessfully tried to win the nomin- ation at chicago tillman benjamin democratic populist leader in south carolina strong and fiery advocate of silver thomas charles S democratic senator from colorado staunch silver defender towne charles congressman from minnesota silver republican nominated by populists as vicevicepresidentpresident in 1900 withdrawn turpie david senator democratic from indiana free silver and bryan promoter vilas william F senator from vermont pro gold advocate at 1896 democratic convention watson thomas georgia congressman and populist vicevicepresidentialpresidential nominee in 1896 and presidential candidate in 1904 weaver james B union civil war general united states congress- man and 1892 populist party presidential candidate SELECTED BIBLbibliographyEOGRAPHY

books arrington leonard J great basin kingdom lincoln university of nebraska press 1958 bryan wiwilliamilialilaliiam jenningjenningss the first battle chicago W B conkey co 1896

the memoirs of william jenningsjenninjzsnjus bryan philadelphia john C winston co 1925 republic Empireorempireor Emilrm2lr0 e the philippine question oakland Occidentaccidentialoccidentialial publishing co 1900 coletta paolo E william jennings bryan political evangelist 186019081860 1908 vol 1 lincoln university of nebraska press 1964 durden robert F the climaxclimaxofof populism louisville university of kentucky press 1965 ellis elmer henry moore teller caldwell idaho the caxton printers 1941 harvey william hope coins financial school edited by richard hofstadter cambridge harvard university press 1963 hicks john D the populist revolt minneapolis university of minnesota press 1931 koenig louis W brbryan-yan a political biographbiography 0 new york G P putnams sons 1971 metcalf richard L bryan sewasewall11 and free silver omaha edgewood publishing co 1896 nevins allan grovegrover r cleveland A ststudy in courage new york dodd mead and company 1962

91 92 norris george W ightingfightingFighting liberal new york collier books 1961 smith joseph history of the church of jesus christ of latterlatterdayday saints vol 6 salt lake city deseret bookcompanybook company 1969 tindall george B A popopulisteulistpulist reader new york harper & row inc 1966 weaver james baird A call to action des moines iowa printing co 189218 920 williams wayne C william Jenjenningsninas bryan new york G P putnams sons 1938 wilson charles morrow the commoner william jennings bryan garden city new york doubleday co 1970

journals bryan william J has the election settled the money question the north american review 163 august 1896 175194175 194 the issues in the presidential campaign n the north american review 170 june 1900 753769753 769 colleta paolo E bryan mckinleyMcKinitylly and the treaty of paris tr pacific historical review 26 may 1957 131146131 146 jonas frank H and jones garth N utahtah presidential elections 189619521896 1952 lt utah historical quarterly 24 october 1956 289307289 307 poll richard A state is born u utah historical quarterlyquar 32 winter 1964 9319 31 quincy josiah issues and prospects of the campaign H the north abeamericaname rican review 163 august 1896 175194175 194

dissertations theses dimter lauren populism in utah n MA thesis brigham young university 1964 white jean bickmore utah state elections 189518991895 1899 phphdD dissertation university of utah 1968 9 newspanewspapers deseret evening news 29 october 1900 deseret news 7 april 1894 7 september 1895 lincoln nebraska farmerfarmersyarmeryarmenIs alliance 15 february 1890 cited by john D hicks the populist revolt p 404 minneapolis university of minnesota press 1931 new york times 19 april 1895 cited by paulo E coletta william jennings Bbryanry political evangelisteva st 186019081860 1908 vol 1 p 106 lincoln university of nebraska press 1964 new york tribune november 1896 cited by william J bryan the first battle p 492 chicagchicago0 W B conkey 1896 ogden standard 10 august 1892 omaha world herald 6 november 1896 and 16 november 1896 cited by coletta pages 189 and 213 salt lake city living issues december 1898 cited by dimtedamtedimterr populism in utah 11 p 100 provo brigham young univer- sity press 1964 salt lake herald 7 april 1896 4 march 4 5 6 7 november 1900 raleigh north carolina progressive farmer 28 april 1887 cited by hicks p 55 salt lake tribune 22 june 1896 24 25 26 march 1900 1 3 november 1900 southern mersymercymensy 25 april 1895 cited by hicks p 346

magazines bangs john K the boy candidate ll11 harharpersrsr1s weeklywe 29 august 1896 cluff benjamin the hawaiian islands and annexation n improvIimprove1 rov ment era 1898 vol 1 no 6 p 446 matthews franklin mr bryan as revealed by his speeches harpers weweekly 26 september26september 1896 94

13 17 harpers weeklyee 1 14 july 20 27 october november 1900 27 june 11 18 july 1 29 august 26 september 1896 thomas C S harpers weekly 11 october 1913 cited by louis W 16 koenig bryan A political biosblosbiographyraphy p 1677 0 new york G P putnams sons 1971 BRYAN POPULISM AND UTAH

herbert E cihak department of political science

MA degree august 1975

ABSTRACT

william jennings bryan exercised great political power for thirty years in america through his efforts the democratic party power base was broadened to include jews negroes businessmen and farmers bryanbryans call for political and social reform found many supporters in the state of utah it is difficult to assess what actually caused william J bryan to lose the 1900 presidential election in utah yet we must put to rest the conclusion that he lost solely because silver was an unimportant issue to the utah electorate in 1900 the powerful influence of the church of jesus christ of latterlatterdayday saints on utah politics had much to do with bryans reversal

azzz COMMITTEE approvalapprovab 11111.1mia J eaithearth melville committee chairman

robert H slover cornncommitteeatteeittee member

ii department chairman