Bravo to the Ladies

The ladies have been too long neglected in the National Statuary Hall and that has finally been noticed!  I am particularly pleased by Nebraska and Kansas, who are both in the process of sending two of their great ladies to Washington!!

My first in this 3-part series is particularly exciting because I have seen the maquette, or small version of the future full sized sculpture, to be added as one of the two representatives of Nebraska in the National Statuary Hall.  I am also pleased to have met Creighton University sculpture professor and renowned midwestern sculptor Littleton Alston, who revealed the maquette at the 2019 Annual Spring Conference.  

More than 70 artist-applicants from throughout the United States were considered by the selection committee prior to choosing Sculptor Alston.  About his choice settling upon how he wished to depict Cather, he said that he wanted to capture her intelligence and the twinkle in her eyes, "standing, as if surrounded by nature, at home in the Nebraska prairie."

Littleton Alston introduces his Willa

 As Littleton Alston gently lifted the drapery covering the unfired clay sculpture, the ohs and ahs of Cather scholars and fans filled the room.  Several of those scholars, so learned about details of Cather herself as well as of her writing, whispered excitedly about the walking costume the sculptor had chosen for Willa.  'That is the attire she wore in New Hampshire to walk up the mountain to the tent that had been set up for her as a private place to find the solitude for writing,' was whispered in varous versions.  Even the walking stick she used has been included in the maquette.  

Sculptor Alston studied many photograph in making his decision about the depiction of Willa Cather, and perhaps he saw a picture of Cather wearing her New Hampshire hiking attire.  However, the choice does seem especially appropriate for her arrival in Sculpture Hall.  The beautifully beaded evening dresses she loved for attending the opera would not have been appropriate for the serious opportunity of representing Nebraska in the halls of Congress.  I hope Willa would be pleased.

Lyn with Littleton Alston

The new statues of Willa Cather and Ponca Chief Standing Bear will replace the former Nebraska statues in Sculpture Hall of Julius Sterling Morton and William Jennings Bryan.  (Of course, Bryan was the People's Party Presidential nominee when they chose to join the Democrats in nominating Bryan for President.  Isaac would surely have cast his vote for Bryan.) 

Next week will continue with the new statue representing Kansas.

Money and Politics

I just finished reading Moyers on America, A Journalist and His Times, published in 2004. (I often buy books that I overlooked when they were originally released, and sometimes I am even slow to read books I buy new.  So, before you dismiss this as a blog about recent politics--although 2004 isn't really very recent--I am actually going to blog about the mid-1890s.)

Those of you who are regular followers of the blog are already familiar with the election of 1896, when the Populists joined the Democrats to nominate William J. Bryan, although they split the vote over the Vice-Presidential nominee.  You may want to scroll down to "A Documentary Treasure," posted 11-8-18 to see the local ballots from that election and to "A Peek Into the Voting Booth in 1986" to consider the political environment of that era.

However, the quote from Moyers that inspired this blog is from the wealthy businessman, Mark Hanna, who raised money for the Republican William McKinley.  Hanna said,, "There are two things that are important in politics.  The first is money, and I can't remember what the second is."  Quoting from Moyers, Hanna was "the first modern political fund-raiser, and money was all that mattered to him.  He tapped the banks, the insurance companies, the railroads, and the other great industrial trusts of the late 1800s for contributions of some $6-7 million to the campaign of presidential candidate William McKinley:  big bucks back then."  Bryan raise only 1/10th of that amount.

If you are a serious blog supporter you may even recognize Hanna's name, for he appeared in a political cartoon that I have previously posted, still engaged in financial political matters.  This time, according to the cartoonist and  Nebraska Senator Allen, whose words inspired the cartoon, Hanna was engaged in a little payback for the wealthy McKinley supporters.

To explain the cartoon, President McKinley called for volunteers in 1898 for the Spanish-American War and proposed bonds to pay for the war.  Sen. Allen objected:  "...the people desire to pay as they go.  ...They do not want this government at the end of the war indebted more than it is at the present time."  Allen believed speculators were trying "to foist upon the people a perpetual national debt.  ...There is not one of that power, sir, who would not see this government sunk to the bottom of the ocean if he could make a fortune by it."

You may remember that the sinking of the Maine had been erroneously blamed on the Spanish.  The cartoon caption reads:  "Hanna--"I don't see anything down there that money won't pay for." He is depicted as a diver amassing bars of gold as a result of the war.  To refresh your memory about the Spanish-American War, you may want to visit "Remember the Maine," posted 8-11-2016.

The vast amounts of money spent on elections today may dwarf Hanna's efforts in 1896, but election fund raising and the benefits those contributions have for our elected officials (and the influence gained by contributors) make Hanna's quote as understandable today as it was in 1896--"There are [still] two things that are important in politics.  The first is money, and I can't remember what the second one is."

(You can click on the images to enlarge them.)

A Documentary Treasure

I would not expect any of you to be surprised by the expectation that valuable things might be found at a bank.  However, who might have expected the discovery of this particular documentary treasure?  

The Peoples Bank in Pratt, Kansas has its own 'history detective' who manages to explore the historic documentary heritage of that bank in spare moments.  Founded in 1887, dating back to both the era in which Isaac Beckley Werner was documenting events in his daily journal and also the era of the Populist Movement, the Peoples Bank has witnessed a great deal of history.  When their in-house detective discovered that I share his passion for history, and specifically history of our region and the time of the Populist Movement, he knew he had met someone with whom to share his discoveries of special documents among the forgotten papers stored at the bank.  What a treasure he found recently!

The story behind the treasure is one of the high points of my manuscript, for the document is from the moment when the People's Party reached its political peak and became a national power, while at the same time splintering because of differences within the party that led to its decline.

The Gold Bugs buzz around Uncle Sam

One group, known as Mid-Roaders, wanted to adhere to the initial goals around which the People's Party had formed, having to do with regulation of railroad rates, breaking up monopolies, and  weakening the political power and influence of the wealthy.  The other group, known as Fusionists, wanted to fuse with one or the other of the two major political parties in order to combine enough votes to elect their presidential candidate.  In Northern states, like Kansas, the populists had sometimes worked with the Democrats to defeat Republicans, but in Southern states the old and more powerful political machinery was Democratic, so populists joined with Republicans to defeat the Democrats.  The Mid-Roaders opposed the tactic, pointing out that once elected the politicians ignored the goals of farmers and other laborers.

However, by 1896, the issue of abandoning the gold standard and returning to bi-mentalism, in which both gold and silver supported our national monetary system, had split all three of the parties--the young People's Party and the established Democrat and Republican parties.

Just as a bicycle needs 2 wheels, the Gold standard needs Silver

In the People's Party, the old-line members, the Mid-Roaders, wanted to adhere to their broader goals, but the newer leadership, the Fusionists, wanted to put old goals on the back burner and elevate Free Silver above above everything else.  The same split happened in the Democratic Party, with the majority favoring Free Silver and the minority splitting to form the National Democratic party.  In the Republican Party there was also a split, but its minority was smaller and had less impact.

President Cleveland can't compete without bimetalism

The People's Party Fusionists believed so strongly in Free Silver that they succeeded in convincing the populists to join with the Democrats to nominate William Jennings Bryan.  In exchange, they asked the Democrats to allow the People's Party to name the Vice-President.  The Democrats refused.  William Jennings Bryan was the Presidential candidate for both parties, but the People's Party nominated a well-known and popular Southern populist, Tom Watson, (hoping to win Southern votes) as their Vice-Presidential candidate, while the Democrats nominated a wealthy New Englander named Arthur Sewall.  Sewall ties to Railroads and Banking, (the archenemies of Populists), thinking his credentials could attract Eastern and non-labor votes from the Republicans.

If you have been counting, that makes five different political parties, and it gets even more complicated.  Back-room deals within the populist delegations, including Kansans, were made to swap votes, in which some People's Party leaders agreed to support the Bryan-Sewall ticket in exchange for Democrat support for down-ballot populist candidates.  (More about that later.)  Those 'deals' resulted in six different tickets.  Add the Prohibition Party, which was a strong third party at that time, and the Independent Party, and eight different choices were included on the ballot.

As I said earlier, my research had made me very familiar with this odd political situation, but I never imagined that I would see this odd ballot.  Now I have!  As the People's Bank 'history detective' has surmised, an actual 1896 ballot may very well have survived because someone at the bank was frugal and decided that the blank backs of the unused 1896 presidential election ballots made perfectly good scratch pads. (See back of ballot above.)

Two ballots, the Middle-of-the-Road Populist ticket and the People's Party ticket, have Thomas E. Watson as the vice-presidential nominee.  That may seem to be a distinction without a difference, but it was not.  The President and Vice-President were the same, but the Presidential Electors were different.  That was important.  In fact, after the election NO presidential electors cast their votes for Thomas E. Watson, regardless of where voters may have marked their ballots.   

Tom Watson had not asked to be put on the ballot as the vice-presidential nominee, and he had not been present at the convention when that was done, but he accepted the decision and campaigned.  The new-comers to the Populist Movement not only engineered the Free Silver strategy and participated in the back-room deals, they openly supported Sewell.   When Watson visited the Kansas People's Party state headquarters, he faced the humiliation of entering through a door over which a banner reading "Bryan and Sewell" was hung.

That, and other such treatment that Watson saw as disloyal to a man who had stood with the People's Party in the past, changed him.  His bitterness caused him to turn away from things he had once championed.  Reading his political history before and after 1896 is like reading the record to two different men.

Bryan lost the election, the strategy failed, and the self-inflicted wounds within the People's Party led to its decline.  The amazing ballot found by the Peoples Bank 'document detective' Phillip Toalston is a unique piece of Kansas political history at a time when the State of Kansas wielded great political power.  Thank you Phillip!

Remember, you can click on the images to enlarge them.  

   

Presidential Election of 1896

Democratic Presidential Banner from 1896

Americans seem to think the Presidential Election currently in the news is the wildest one yet, but last week's blog shared some of the elections that have been called "the dirtiest."  This week I will share events of the 1890 elections, the last Presidential Elections of Isaac B. Werner's lifetime, which were pretty crazy!!

The era most of us know as the Gilded Age was great for a small segment of Americans, but for farmers like Isaac, as well as other workers engaged as miners, small ranchers, and factory laborers, times were hard.  The big issue became whether adhering to the gold standard to keep a stable economy was best or whether implementing bimetalism to include silver would benefit more ordinary Americans.

Cartoon from St. John, KS County Capital

For farmers and other working class people who were suffering most economically, 'Free Silver!' became the rallying cry.  The Republicans had the political wealth and power, but the People's Party believed that if they joined with the Democrats in nominating William J. Bryan as their Presidential candidate that their combined votes could defeat the Republicans. 

The caption on the cartoon showing Uncle Sam trying to ride his bicycle with only one wheel, identified as "Gold" reads:  "The country will never be Prosperous again until Silver is restored to full and unlimited coinage."  The "Silver" wheel lies on the ground, crushed by "Demonitization" with the guiding light of a lamp left behind on the ground labeled "Common Sense."

It was William Jennings Bryan's Cross of Gold speech at the Democratic Convention, with its reference to drip down economics, that probably lifted him above other potential nominees, and it was certainly Bryan's nearly exclusive focus on "Free Silver" that led the People's Party to nominate him, despite the fact that he was not a member of their party!

When it came to selecting the Vice-Presidential candidate, however, the Democrats and the People's Party nominated different candidates.  The Democrats chose a wealthy man from the east coast, hoping he would bring some votes from those Republicans who favored silver (and there were a few who did).  The People's Party nominated one of their own as the Vice-Presidential candidate, wanting to be represented on the ticket. 

The tactic did not succeed.  Republican McKinley received 271 electoral votes while Bryan received only 176.

Four years earlier in the 1892 Presidential Election, bimetallism had also been an issue, with the Democrats choosing Cleveland as their candidate, the Republicans choosing Harrison, and the People's Party choosing Weaver.  Cleveland prevailed with 277 electoral votes to Harrison's 145 and Weaver's 22.  The poor economy during Cleveland's administration was blamed on adherence to the gold standard by many in the People Party and Cleveland's own Democratic party, and they demanded bimetallism.

Political Cartoon from St. John, KS County Capital progressive newspaper

The above political cartoon uses the bicycle theme to illustrate why bimetallism beats the gold standard.  President Cleveland is depicted riding a unicycle, cheered on by the wealthy.  The caption reads:  "Cleveland--'This blasted wheel wobbles too much.  I never can catch that fellow ahead and you might as well save your breath.  I am in a perplexing and delicate predicament as a result of ill-advised financial expedients.'"

The poor economy set the stage for the Democrats in 1896 to nominate Bryan as their candidate.   People's Party candidate Weaver's weak performance in 1892 motivated the populists in 1896 to make the unusual decision to select the nominee of the Democratic ticket for their own Presidential candidate, while at the same time nominating a different man for Vice President. 

The Republicans who favored bimetallism split from their party to form a splinter party, as did the Democrats who favored retaining the Gold standard, while the People's Party nominated a Democrat as their candidate, resulting in William Jennings Bryan having two different running mates.  Talk about a crazy Presidential Election!

So, as you follow the news of the upcoming Presidential Election of 2016, perhaps you can take some comfort in the fact that as crazy as it may seem to you, America has survived crazy Presidential elections in the past.

By the way, although Bryan did receive a strong showing of 47% of the popular vote in 1896 to McKinley's 51%, the electoral vote was McKinley 271, Bryan 176.  That difference shows how important it is that candidates pay attention to states with more electoral votes during their campaigning.  It also explains why we see so many charts on our television screens showing the likely votes of the "Important" electoral states and why Isaac's old home state of Kansas, with fewer electoral votes, is rarely mentioned by the television commentators. However, in the 1896 Presidential election, Kansas was at the heart of political news.

Why celebrate July 4th?

Painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, 1900

Ask people to quote the opening words of America's Constitution, and at least some of them will begin, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal..."  Those are important words, but they do not come from the Constitution.  They open the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence.  We celebrate July 4, 1776 because 56 men were brave enough to sign The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America.  Doing so made them traitors to the British Crown.  Today we know that their quest succeeded, but at the time they affixed their signatures the likelihood of success was shaky, to say the least.

Their Declaration began, "When in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another...they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation."  These quoted sections are familiar to many Americans, and the date of the Declaration is known to nearly everyone, but many of us have forgotten or never read the detailed reasons given by the signers.  We sought our independence because of what those signers believed were "...a History of repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.  To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World."

The U.S. Declaration of Independence

The key phase to this Declaration, in my view, is "let Facts be submitted."  It is the linchpin to our democracy.  These founding fathers did not simply say, 'Great Britain is a long way off and we are of an independent nature, so let's establish our own nation.'  Rather, they provided specific facts in support of their actions.  Neither did they stop by simply alleging "repeated Injuries and Usurpations."  They listed what they found injurious and wrongful appropriations.

When they concluded their Declaration by "mutually pledge[ing] to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor" they understood the consequences should their cause fail.  It was facts that they set before the world and facts which made ordinary men in the militia of the separate states take up arms.

In 1776 ordinary Americans needed to rely on the honor of their leaders' word.  Today we have Fact Checkers!

Political cartoon from County Capital

The drift toward name calling and distortion of facts was already well established by the time workers confronted wealth and power with the progressive movement.  Initially, Isaac joined with others in his county in a local Farmers' Alliance, and their goals included:  "To develop a better state mentally, morally, socially, and financially;" and "Constantly to strive to secure entire harmony and good-will among all mankind and brotherly love among ourselves."  The Alliance was the organization upon which Isaac and many other Kansas farmers placed such hope for educating and improving farmers lives and the methods which would allow them to succeed. However, ultimately workers came together politically, and the ideals of the Alliance were overwhelmed by political language.  Political speakers and political cartoons villainized those with opposing views and exaggerated and distorted facts to support their opinions and belittle the opinions of their opposition.

Were there exaggerations among the facts given in support of declaring independence from Great Britain.  Probably.  But causes are more likely to succeed when facts form the motivation for actions.  The People's Party failed when they set aside their original goals and followed the call of a candidate whose oratory drifted away from facts and appealed to emotions."...[W]e shall answer their demands 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 cross of gold," cried William Jennings Bryan, and the People's Party left behind their own goals to join the Democrats in nominating the young Nebraska orator for President.  The power of strong language stirs voters now, as Bryan's oratory did in Isaac's time, but the Founding Fathers' example of basing decisions on facts remains a model for every generation.

Politician Wm Jennings Bryan as Author

 

"The First Battle" by William Jennings Bryan, pub. 1896

Our small hometown is very fortunate to have a wonderful public library.  During an Open House at the library, I noticed a shelf of books the library was selling to raise funds.  The title, "The First Battle," caught my eye, along with the author's name of W.J. Bryan.  I opened the cover to find a yellowed check-out form with not a single stamp to show that the book had ever been checked out since its acquisition by the library.  Handling it carefully because of its fragile condition, I was amazed to discover a book written by the 1896 presidential candidate of both the Democrats and the People's Party, William Jennings Bryan, and published the same year of that  failed candidacy.  I bought it to add to my research materials of the late 1800s.
 

Preface to Bryan's Book, p. 11

Preface to Bryan's Book, p. 12  



 

                      In an unusual Preface to the book, Bryan's words are presented in his own handwriting.  In part, they read:  "The campaign of 1896 was a remarkable one whether we measure it by the magnitude of the issues involved or by the depth of interest aroused.  I have been led to undertake the present work by a desire, felt by myself and expressed by others, to have the more important incidents of the campaign put into permanent form for the convenience of those who have taken part in the contest and for the use of those who shall hereafter desire to review the struggle.  The amount of work done by the advocates of free coinage is beyond computation and the number of those who took an active part in the contest to [sic] great for enumeration..."  Included in the book are not only texts of speeches and other documents by Bryan but also documents of other men instrumental to the Silver issue, the primary theme of Bryan's 1896 candidacy. 

 

                      In another rather unusual decision, Bryan chose his wife to serve as his biographer, inserting her brief genealogy of his family and following that with her personal biography of her husband's life.  She recorded his birthday of March 19, 1860 and his family's move from Salem, Illinois, to a 500 acre farm outside of town when Bryan was five.  He entered public school at the age of ten and attended there for five years before entering Whipple Academy, the prep school for Illinois College at Jacksonville, IL, where he remained for eight years, acquiring a classical education.  He met his wife, Mary Baird, in September 1879, while they were both students in Jacksonville, (she attending a school for young ladies), and having graduated from college, he entered Union College of Law in Chicago in the fall of 1881.  He began his legal practice on July 4, 1883, and he and Mary wed on October 1, 1884.

 

As for his political biography, he first became interested in politics during his father's Congressional political campaign of 1872, and according to Mary, "...from that time on he always cherished the thoughts of entering public life."  It was the summer of 1887 when legal business took him to Kansas and Iowa, that he made a side trip to Lincoln, Nebraska, and was so impressed with the prairie town that he decided to move to Lincoln and begin a legal practice with a former classmate from law school.  That practice commenced on October 1, 1887, and Bryan immediately became active in Democratic politics in Nebraska.

 

William & Mary's Home

 With his handwritten Preface and his wife's biography having opened the book, Bryan begins his own text with this title to Chapter 1:  "My Connection with the Silver Question Begins."  There is no question that Bryan's political career was built on identifiable issues and skills.  Perhaps foremost was his formidable skill as an orator; without question his principal political issue was Free Silver; and underpinning his reputation was his strong reputation as a Christian man.  His career is bookended by the "Cross of Gold" speech at the Democratic convention of 1896 that probably led to his selection as the party's presidential candidate (See my blog "The People's Party Urged Silver, July 18, 2013) and it essentially closed with the so-called "Scopes Monkey Trial" of 1925.

 

Bryan was well known for lacing his oratory with frequent Biblical references and quotations, just as he did in his stirring challenge to the Republicans not to "press down upon the brow of labor a crown of thorns" nor "crucify mankind upon a cross of gold."



Darrow, left, & Bryan, right, at Scopes trial 

It was surely that reputation that influenced his selection as attorney for the state in The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes in which Clarence Darrow, the famous defense attorney, was hired to defend school teacher, John Thomas Scopes.  The highly publicized trial became a contest between those who believed the Bible took priority over all human knowledge and those who believed evolution could be reconciled with matters of faith.  The Tennessee law made it illegal for any state-funded school to teach evolution, and with two such famous lawyers representing opposing sides, the trial was covered by newspapers far beyond Dayton, Tennessee.  Bryan won, with Scopes found guilty and fined $100, (although the verdict was overturned); however, Darrow took the unusual tactic of putting Bryan on the witness stand as an expert on the Bible, and Bryan's testimony left him feeling humiliated and exhausted.


Images of Bryan selected for his book

While those two events probably bookend his reputation today, in his own lifetime he was well known for  many distinguished achievements.  Not only was he chosen in 1896 as the presidential candidate of both the Democratic and the People's parties, he was chosen as the Democratic presidential candidate again in both 1900 and 1908.  He was the Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson (1913-1915), and people were willing to pay to hear him speak to the extent that he supported his family from speaking engagements for many years.  Despite his achievements, Bryan's star was never again so high as during the 1896 presidential election, and many believe that L. Frank Baum's depiction of the Cowardly Lion in the Oz book published in 1900 was intended to caricature and ridicule Bryan.

By the time of the 1896 Presidential election in which Bryan first ran, Isaac was no longer living; however, the Silver issue was the controlling question for the People's Party even before Isaac's death, and there was no greater champion of that issue that William Jennings Bryan.

Remember, you can enlarge the images by clicking on them.