LAD #24 Bryan’s “Cross of Gold”

In his speech, William Jennings Bryan spoke on behalf of the Democratic Party to endorse the free coinage of silver at a ratio of silver to gold of 16:1; "we believe that the right to coin money and issue money is a function of government". The gold standard favors the wealthy minority and it does not benefit the common man, Bryan directs the speech towards the common man and he puts down McKinley's Republican platform. "This struggle between the idle holders of idle capital and the struggling masses who produce the wealth and pay the taxes of the country". The Democratic idea has been that if you legislate to make masses prosperous, their prosperity will find its way up and through every class that rests upon it". He also emphasizes the Democratic belief that the most important contributors to the American society are the common people. He champions "the commercial interests and the laboring interests and all the toiling masses".