Figure 8. — Bryan campaign ribbons 

 and badges from the campaign of 

 1896. In this year, Bryan was 

 nominated by the Democratic Party, 

 the Populist Party, and tlie National 

 Silver Parts- which was composed of 

 persons who were devoted to the 

 issue of silver coinage. (Sinith- 

 sonian plioto 48144-K, Becker 

 colleeiion.) 



Fii^ure 9. — Bryan campaign Riiinci.N 

 iVoni the campaign of 1896. Arthin- 

 Scwcll, the Democratic vice-presi- 

 dential nominee, was a wealthy 

 and relatively conservative gentle- 

 man frotn Maine. (Smithsonian 

 phoin 48iqi-E, Becker collection.) 



Te.\as, and Duluth, Minnesota.'*" At Omaha on 

 November 25-26, Bryan served as president of the 

 Trans-Mississippi Commercial Conference, devoted to 

 securing favorable legislation for the West.'*" During 

 that winter he lectured in the East, and also made a 

 rapid tour of Colorado, speaking under the auspices of 

 the Rocky Mountain Lyceum on "Our Form of 

 Government and the Ills Which Afflict It." '*'' Al- 

 though he was comforted by some evidence from the 

 East of interest in his cause and himself, Bryan's chief 

 support continued to lie in the West and South, where 

 his evangelical campaigning had its greatest appeal.'*^ 



1" Bryan papers, letters to Bryan during 1895 from Charles 

 O. Baldwin, Duluth, on August 20, October 5, and November 1 ; 

 George R. Laybourn, Duluth, November 8 ; Charles M. Rosser, 

 Terrell, Texas, November 3; clippings from Duluth Press, n.d. 



I'" Nebraska Stale Journal, November 27, 1895 (Bryan clippings 

 collection, Nebraska State Historical Society). 



I" Bryan papers, letters from John Marcus Dickey, director of 

 the Rocky Mountain Lyceum, to Bryan, January 6 and 28, 

 1896. 



•J» Bryan was encouraged by messages from the East. See, 

 for example, B. Lundy Kent of Wilmington, Delaware, who 

 wrote: "After hearing you that evening I know you are one of 

 the powers in this great movement for justice & human liberty," 

 February 29, 1896. M. E. Hennessy of Donahoe's Magazine, 

 Boston, February 11, 1896, stated: "It may interest you to 

 know that thousands of democratic minds in the East are 

 greatly interested in you and your future." 



One Kansas friend wrote of the contest between good 

 and evil: ". . . The contest upon which we must 

 enter in this country ... is reduced ... to a con- 

 flict between good and bad men; the honest, the 

 sympathetic, the humane, the true men of the country 

 will stand by the people, come weal, come woe; .... 

 The knaves, the moral idiots, the depraved and in- 

 describable scamps . . . will stand for the combines, 

 corporations, the trusts, the consolidated enemies of 

 mankind." '^^ To persons who thought in such 

 terms, Bryan's message was very appealing. He also 

 captivated leaders of the organized silver movement.'*' 

 The e\idence does not warrant any firm conclusion 

 regarding the impact of Bryan's lecturing in 1895 and 

 1896. Several facts are worth noting, however. 

 Toward the end of his travels, Bryan was making 

 valiant efforts to organize the Democratic Convention 



'5» David Overmyer, Topeka, Kansas, February 29, 1896, to 

 Bryan. Letters from Ray P. Hisey, Rives (Rome), Richland 

 County, Ohio, March 1, and M. L. Becker, Lima, Ohio, 

 April 17, 1896, indicate the substantial grassroots support 

 which developed out of Bryan's tour. 



'ii Bryan papers. letters to Bryan from George P. Keeney, 

 secretary, Pacific Coast Branch of the American BiMetallic 

 League, October 22 and December 30, 1895; and Edward B. 

 Light, secretary of the National BiMetallic Union, October 22, 

 December 18 and 26. 1895. 



PAPER 46: BRYAN THE CAMP.MGNER 



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