Given a Grand Welcome
W. J. Bryan gets a Magnificent Ovation in Hamilton.
IT WAS A PUBLIC HOLIDAY
Every Form of Business Laid Aside in Order to Greet the People's Leader -- The Reception Delightfully Pleasant and Informal.
Special Dispatch to the Standard.
Hamilton, Aug. 16 -- It was Mr. Bryan's intention, when he planned a visit to Montana, to receive a portion of his time in which he and Mrs. Bryan might be the guests of Marcus Daly and it was the thought of Mr. Daly that some of that time might be best spent in the Bitter Root valley, where he could find rest from the fatigue of his journey and the meetings that he has attended and at the same time meet the people of Western Montana. Thus it was that the meeting at Hamilton came to be held to-day.
Nowhere in Montana has Mr. Bryan received a more magnificent ovation than the one accorded him to-day by the Bitter Root country. It was splendid. Hamilton has made this day a public holiday and all business has been suspended in honor of the distinguished visitor. The big mills, the stores, banks and offices shut their doors last night and the town has devoted itself solely to doing honor to the leader of the cause so near and dear to the hearts of the people. In its demonstration of respect and admiration, the city has been joined in with by the people of the whole valley. On the ranches from Lou Lou to Ross' Hole harvesters have laid idle in flieds of ripe grain while the farmers have journeyed to the city to show their interest in the cause of bimotallism and their admiration for its leader.
Last night their city received the finishing touches from the decorators and this morning's sun rose upon a maze of flags and bunting. Across the streets banners hung, expressing in terse sentences the cordial welcome of the people for their idol. From early morning until the hour appointed for the meeting at the fair grounds, the people of the valley came into Hamilton. They came in vehicles of all descriptions, in trains, in carts and wagons and in carriages and on horse back, on bicycles and on foot, from all directions and from all parts of the valley, until at 11 o'clock, when, as Mr. Bryan entered the speakers' stand at the fair grounds, there were fully 4,000 people in the enclosure waiting to hear him speak. Those who were here to-day and who had been present at Butte and Anaconda when Mr. Bryan was received, state that the Hamilton reception was as pleasant as either of them and the boundless enthusiasm of the throng made the occasion a particularly pleasant one.
The arrival of the special train from Missoula and the lower valley marked the beginning of the day's proceedings. On this train were two or three hundred people. The 25th infantry band from Fort Missoula was also aboard and immediately upon its arrival the boys in blue gave a concert at the station. This concluded, the band, with the local reception committee, proceeded towards the Riverside ranch, where Mr. Bryan is staying as the guest of Marcus Daly. Mrs. Bryan and her hostess, Senator Mantle, Senator Matts, Representative Hartman and others. Behind the carriages the men from the mills, logging camps, ranches and stables fell into line and this procession moved through the streets of Hamilton and on to the fair grounds.
Here as in the city everything was elaborately decorated and people. The scene was an impressive one and as Mr. Bryan left his carriage a cheer rose from 4,000 throats backed by that matchless Bitter Root lung power, that must have startled the members of the geological survey who are at work on the high peaks on the Bitter Root range.
It was five minutes past 11 o'clock when Hon. Robert A. O'Hara rose to introduce the speakers. Most of the vast audience had been waiting for an hour, but all weariness was forgotten. Mr. O'Hara introduced Mr. Bryan with brief remarks and, as the distinguished guest stepped forward, he was received with tumultuous applause. It was several minutes before he could be heard and then he proceeded with his speech, which was singularly appropriate to the time and place and entirely different from his previous addresses in Montana. He spoke pleasantly and with informality. Nothing lie it was ever heard here before and the people listened almost breathlessly, save when they broke forth in cheers. Mr. Bryan said in part:
"I had heard much before I came to Montana of this beautiful valley and its matchless surroundings, but I was not prepared for what I have seen since I have been here. I congratulate you upon living in such a beautiful place and I am glad that the opportunity has been offered me of visiting you. There is no political significance in my present trip. We had a campaign last fall in which we presented our political views, and we were beaten. I do not now expect to say anything new upon the subject of bimetallism to you, who worked so hard last fall, and who still maintain so much interest in the cause that is so near my heart. I am here to visit one of the finest and largest ranches in the world, and I take this opportunity to thank you for the hard work you did last fall and for your present great interest in the cause. I do not take these splendid demonstrations that have been made in Montana as a personal matter, but as the indorsement of the cause which I have represented and which is so near and dear to my heart. We are here in a common cause. I lie you and you lie me because we think alike and because we believe that we think right.
"The last campaign was in many respects a remarkable one. The people began to study for themselves the financial problem and, so much confidence have I in the American people that I believe that they will ultimately arrive at the right solution of the problem. When a man is not sick he will not take medicine. When he is sick he may take the right medicine or the wrong. When a man's physician gives him medicine and he finds that it does not work right he will eventually try another doctor. The people last fall discovered that the country was sic. The people, many of them, naturally turned each to his own party for relief. Some of them are already looking for a new physical and this careful study of the question will result in its ultimate settlement in the right way and in success of our doctrine."
In speaking of the contraction of the currency, Mr. Bryan said: When a man is hungry there is one school of philosophers who would shrink his stomach to fit his condition and another school that would give his food to fill his stomach that he has. The republicans are trying to shrink the country's stomach. We believe that food should be furnished. We believe that there should be more money. Money depends on law, as crops depend on nature. It a people we be that more money is needed, it must be made by law. It should be the will of the people that regulates this. Some people say that they think there is already money enough. When you find a man like this, you will find that he is one of those who have money and usually you will find that he is always talking about bringing in money from abroad. If we have money enough, why should we bring in more from abroad, and if we have not make it in our mints and not get it from foreign lands and pay interest upon it."
Concerning the study of the financial question, Mr. Bryan said: "We expect to go on presenting this subject to the people. They will tell us in the East that we should not agitate. That is the only way by which any great reform can be accomplished. Those who protest that we should not agitate the silver question are now themselves agitating in favor of the single gold standard. The papers in the East which denounce us for agitating are themselves guilty of what they condemn in us. After all, people are very much alike. I have been in every state in the union and I find that people everywhere are very much the same. They are governed in their opinions to a great degree by their own interests. Nobody expects that people will knowingly make laws that will injure themselves. Some people, however, profess to believe that the control of the national treasury should be turned over to a few men who have had experience. Suppose the president should send for that most famous and most infamous financier, J. Pierpont Morgan, and should ask him how to run the financial part of the government. Mr. Morgan would be pleased. He would say that there is, first, monometallism which necessitates the selling of bonds by the government and, 'I sometimes buy bonds.' Second, he would say there is bimetallism under which no bonds are necessary. He would conclude by saying that he had studied the two systems and believed that monometallism is the only one for this nation. He would add further: 'I have the courage to express my convictions, even if I make $5,000,000 in doing it.' His opinion would be modified by his own interests as a bond buyer."
In regard to the greenback question, the speaker said: "We have now the proposition of retiring the greenbacks. The national bank men want to do this. They want to make the money that the people now save by issuing greenbacks and treasury notes, which draw no interest, must be retired and the country must issue bond on which interest must be paid. There is no reason why the greenbacks and treasury notes should be a drain upon the treasury's gold. The government may redeem them in either silver or gold. There is no need of the endless chain of drawing out gold and then selling bonds to get more gold and paying interest upon it. The truth now is that the bonded debt of this country does not depend upon the will of the people who pay taxes, but upon the dictation of the makers of money. We wee called dangerous last fall. Why? Because we do not believe in turning over the government to these same makers of money. I have been called a disturbr and an anarchist because I do not believe that the government should be in the hands of these avaricious, greedy, grasping financiers.
"But I did not come here to make any extended speech. There is no need of talking to you upon this matter. My only excuse for speaking to-day is that you are so deeply interested in this cause. In bimetallism we do not expect to reach a perfect dollar. That is impossible under any system. But we do expect to approach much nearer perfection than under the present system. If we cannot get a dollar that is absolutely perfect, let us get as near to it as we can."
In conclusion, Mr. Bryan thanked the Bitter Root people for their interest in the cause of bimetallism and assured them that, all over the country, the people are considering the question as serious. There never was a campaign when the defeated party rallied so quickly. This is because the people all over the country believe that they are right. The interest is not local and for every man that the Mountain states send to work for silver, the prairies will send five. There is no sectionalism in the interest in this question any longer." Mr. Bryan interspersed his speech with numerous apt and witty stories. The applause which followed his address was more enthusiastic than his greeting had been. When it had died out there were calls for Senator Mante, Representative Hartman and Senator Matts, each of whom responded briefly. Mr. Daly was called for but did not respond. After the speech making Mrs. Bryan received the ladies in the grand stand and Mr. Bryan shook hands with the crowd at the foot of the steps of the judges' stand. It was 1 o'clock before this ceremony was ended and Mr. Bryan drove away, followed by repeated cheers. The afternoon was spent by some of the party on the Riverside ranch. Others went fishing and all took a rest. Tomorrow noon the Bryan party will leave for Missoula, where Mr. Bryan will speak in the afternoon.