The Holland Society of New York - Yearbook (New York, NY)

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186 Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The eloquence of the ora- at the function, moreover, attained a rare tory standard of brilliancy. Last and principal orator of the banquet was William Jennings H Bryan, whose subject was Peace. On entering the magnificent dining salon' the Nebraskanwas given a cordial reception. No more spontaneous or louder storm of plaudits, no more enthusiastic waving of handkerchiefs and napkins were ever heard or seen in the big room where so many great dinners have been held. But the sensational speech of the evening was supplied by james M. Beck, formerly Assistant Attorney-General of the United States, and now prominent at the bar as an attorney for the trusts. Speaking under the title of Our Hero Ances- tors, Mr. Beck so developed the address that it turned into an attack on labor. While deploring the thought that there had come a time of struggle between the plain people and organized wealth, the trust lawyer scored labor organizations and denounced what he termed the e' 'tyranny of the boycott. . . . T The N ew York I-Ieralal prints the following, ac- companied by a sketch of Mr. Bryan speaking from his place at the guests' table: Hollanders Fly Dove of Peace-Society, at Annual Dinner, Hears Orators in Pleas for an End of Wars in All the Earth+Chinese Minister and Bryan Speak-Former Eulogizes Tsar and Latter .would Listen to Still Small Voice . A-iPres1dent's Regrets-Wishes He could join His Fellow Dutchmen '-Orators All Talk on One Theme. ' I X p Peace, here, elsewhere, and for all time was the dominant note of half-a-dozen well-known speakers at the Nineteenth Annual Dinner of the Holland I

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185 We age bglad tlfiat M r. Beck made his eloquent plea for free a or an individual liberty against the labor oligarchy which will not let even the dead be bwied ve frequently spoken without the union label. We 'ha of the tyrannyof the boycott and the closed. shop, which ought to be utterly unendurable to ree s respecting American citizens.. We are glad: tedbc, that Mr. Bryan spoke of the corresponding tyranny of the great corporations that plunder the people, corrupt the citizenship, and defy the laws of the land. I t is especially worth while for such an audience to hear this, for the abuses of trusts do rnore to rnake honest wage-earners tolerant -of the abuses of labor unions than all the walking delegates and derna- gogues under heaven. , A I t would be well likewise if those who focus. their attention so exclusively on the abuses of trusts could hear with their spiritual ears the truths which M r. Beck declared. I f each could listen to the other side with open rnind, thousands who are now bound by prejudices of occupation and condition rnight be brought to co-operate for the preservation of true, historic American liberty. p g The New York Arnerican, formerly the New York ffournal, says : Labor Assailed at Banquet by I. M. Beck-Former Assistant U. S. Attorney-General Qnee1'S at Unions and Talks of Slavishness to LabO1' S Oligarchy. More than usually distinguished was the assileiiii- hlage last night at the annual dinner of the f . tri - land Society, held in the Astor GallefY 0 e

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187 ' Society of New York, T' Astoria last night. given at the Waldorf- William J 91'111i1'1gS Bryan talked of universal love and harmony, the Chinese Minister eulogized the Tsar of Russia for inaugurating the great move- ment for international peace, and the other O1-atm-S proclaimed against further slaughter by warring nations. President Roosevelt, a member of the Society sent a letter expressive of his regret that he could not be with his fellow Dutchmen g and in nearly every speech Mr. Roosevelt was referred to as a magnificent specimen of the sturdy Holland fibre that made New York and had not weakened with the coming of wealth and prosperity. A ' MRS. BRYAN THERE. The large banquet room was crowded, 'with a good attendance of women in the boxes. Mr. Bryan was the chief figure at the principal table, and Mrs. Bryan, with a group of friends, occupied the large box directly opposite her husband. With her were Mrs. Augustus Van Wyck, Mrs. Charles A. Towne, Mrs. James W.. Usborne and Miss Os- borne, Mrs. John W. Cox, Mrs. O. jf. Smith, and Mrs. john H. Girdner .... , r The I insurance Press calls special attention to the .new Dutch historian OD mentioned in the address of President Banta. The Commercial Advertiser says' in an editorial: The present is clearly Mr. Bryan's 'K hour Of glorious life. He has the centre of the Demo- cratic political stage, and the public must concen- trate its attention upon him whether it wishes to or not. Something happens daily to 11016 111m 11 - the centre of interest, and it is quite amusing to