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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (May 15, 1903)
"nr-w " t""m v ' The Commoner. WILLIAH J. BRYAN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. i 5 I v Jr Vol. 3? No. 17. Lincoln, Nebraska, May 15 i93- WhoIeNo. 1 ai. An Ex Parte Statement Tho Brooklyn Eagle, in launching the Cleve land boom, says: "He is today regarded as tho only man "who could heat Theodore Roosevelt This reduces the case to those who would like to heat Mr. Roosevelt and those who would not He can be beaten by Grover Cleveland, in our present opinion, but he might not be by any other democrat Therefore, those who would not have Cleveland, may, by the support of any other democrat, fail to beat Mr. Roosevelt, and would thereby contribute to. Mr. Roosevelt's re-election." How pleasant it must be to be 'able to settle questions so easily. The Eagle first decides that Mr. Cleveland is the only man who could beat Mr. Roosevelt, and having settled that it pro ceeds to brand as men desiring the election of Mr. Roosevelt, all who oppose its decree. And this from a paper that helped to elect Mr. Mc Kinley! The democrats who have been loyal to the party answer the Eagle in two ways: In the first place, they deny that Mr. Cleveland would be a strong candidate. In 1894, after two years of experience," the people repudiated his adminis tration and elected a republican congress by an enormous, majority, "What reason, have we to be ifeve that they would treat hlnT "more kindly now? Two years later, in 1896, ho left the demo cratic party and threw his support, nominally at least, to the Palmer and Buckner ticket, and that ticket not only failed to carry a single state or county, but actually carried but one precinct in the United States, and that was .ot a large pre cinct, but an obscure frontier precinct in western Kansas where there were but six voters in the precinct, and the Palmer and Buckner ticket only received three out of the six. What was there in the result of that contest to indicate that Mr. Cleveland would be popular today? If it is said that Mr. Cleveland's friends voted the republican ticket instead of the Palmer and Buckner ticket, will that be urged as an evidence that he would become a popular democratic can didate? If Mr. Cleveland's friends voted the re publican ticket in order to carry out his wishes, why don't they secure his nomination by the re publican party? Why don't they boom Mr. Cleve land for the vice presidency on the Roosevelt ticket? Or, if that would not be acceptable, why don't they have Mr. Moigan arrange with Mr. Roosevelt to run for vice president with Mr. Cleveland as the republican candidate for the presidency? They seem to be very much afraid that the business interests of the country '.111 be disturbed by a real battle between the people and organized wealth. Surely a combination between the friends of -Mr. Roosevelt and the friends of Cleveland ought to settle the matter entir .7, if both are as popular as their friends say they are. It is absurd in the extreme to mention in connection with the democratic nomination a man who, in the two last campaigns, did not sup port the ticket and any one would see it who had any knowledge of democratic voters or any sym pathy with democratic principles. A I esson of History. A reader of The Commoner suggests that elnce the reorganizers must know that their 'plan does not promise, democratic victory, they must be interested in aiding the republicans. The reor ganizers ought to understand this, if they can remember as far back as 1894, but some of them argue that the democrats of tho south will vote ' the ticket anyhow, no matter who is nominated or what the platform Is, and that the reorganizers can carry enough votes in the east to give the necessary number of electoral votes. The leading papers among the reorganizers assume that thero will bo a largo falling off In tho democratic voto, but they arguo that tho falling off will bo in states whoso votes are not necessary. But if the reorganizers will look back to 1894 they will seo that even in the eastern states tho .democratic vote fell off under tho same leadership that is suggested now. JJJ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmKmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmBmmmimmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm President's St. Louis Speech ORGANIZE Organs of tho reorganizers, newspapers fiat have habitually bolted democratic nominations, 4iro proceeding with calm assurance to choose the democratic presidential candidate for 1904. These organs seem now to havo settled upon Grover Cleveland, although they are no more enthusiastic concerning his availability than thoy were as to the availability of tho several presidential candi dates they have offered during tho past six months. It is significant that these men who have had so much to say concerning "harmony" and who havo pretended that their great desire was to harmonize the democratic party, have chosen as "their candidate a man who, although repeatedly honored by the party, deserted it during two pres idential campaigns, even though ho knew that thd party was required to carry the burden of bis. political sins. It will occur to a great many democrats that these disciples of "harmony" have chosen a very strange olive branch. Whatever may be said concerning the char acter of an effort to harmonize the party with Grover Cleveland as harmonizer-In-chief, it will, very generally, be admitted that if the reorgan izers are to be permitted to control the demo cratic party, Grover Cleveland is their logical candidate. This is true because Mr. Cleveland represents the evils against which tho democratis party has always been presumed to stand and to ward which, during the campaigns of 1896 and 1S00, the democratic party directed stern protest But although time will demonstrate to the satisfaction of these reorganizers that they cannot make progress with Mr. Cleveland as their preferred candidate, the man whom they finally choose for this honor will bo one upon whom the same influences that dominated Mr. Cleveland's second administration may confidently depend for faithful protection of their special Interests. In the presence of this situation, then, every democrat who believes in the perpetuation of dem ocratic principles and who desires that his party shall remain true to itself, must exert himself in order to prevent these influences from obtaining control of the party. The reorganizers are amply supplied with money and they will loose no op portunity to advance their cause. It will be the duty of democrats everywhere to organize for the protection of their party and for the defense of the principles with which tho representatives of special interests are at war and upon which tho success of popular government must depend. The Commoner calls upon democrats to or ganize in every precinct throughout the United States. A democratic club in every precinct and pledged to the defense of democratic principles may do much to prevent the republicanization j the democratic party. These clubs may exert powerful influence in primary elections and J their members are watchful thoy may see to It that delegates chosen to democratic conventions are faithful to democratic doctrine. The Commoner will furnish a form of con stitution and membership blxraks for the use of democratic clubs and as rapidly as these clubs are organized the fact should be reported to this office. Tho president's speech at the dedication of the St Louis exposition is mainly important, first, becauso of his falluro to emphasize Jefferson's con nection with tho purchase. Ho only referred to Jefferson onco in tho entire speech, and then only incidentally. In mentioning tho trans-MissfssIp-pl country, ho speaks of "this-great region ac quired for our pooplo under the presidency of Jefferson." One would suppose that so Import ant an addition to our territory would havo jus tified tho president in giving some slight praise to tho man whoso foresight and statesmanship led him to see at an early date tho importance of making the trans-Mississippi country a part of the American republic. Tho second thing noticeable in tho speech was his attempt to turn tho occasion to partisan advantage. Tho wholo burden of his speech was expansion, expansion, expansion. Tho entire speech was an effort to justify the Philippine pol icy of the United States without expressly men tioning it He started in by declaring that the Louisiana purchase determined that" wo should be a "great, expanding nation, Instead of relatively a small and stationary, one." Ho said: "This work of expansion was by far tho greatest work of our people during tho years that intervened between tho adoption of tho constitution and the outbreak of the civil war;" that "our triumph in this process of expansion was indlssolubly bound up with tho success of our peculiar kind of federal government;" that "only tho adventur ous and far-seeing can bo expected to welcome the process of expansion, for tho nation that ex pands Is a nation which Is entering upon a great career, and with greatness thero must of neces ity come perils which daunt all save the most stout-hearted " etc. VHe took occasion to discuss the different forms of colonization, condemning both tho Greek and the Roman forms. Greece, he explained, formed colonies, but each colony as created became en tirely independent of tho mother state, and in af ter years often an enemy.' "Local self-government, local independence," he said, "was secured, but only by the absolute sacrifice of everything rep resenting national unity." "National power and greatness were completely sacrificed to local lib erty." TJtome, ho asserted, did exactly the op posite! "The imperial city rose to absolute do minion over all the p3oples of Italy, and then expanded her rule- over tho entire civilized world by a process which kopt the nation strong and united, but gave no room whatever for local lib erty and self-government All other cities and countries were subject to Rome. In consequence this great masterful race of warriers, rulers, road-builders and administrators stamped their indelible impress upon the af ter-life of our race, and yet let an overcentralizatlon . eat out the vital, of their empire until it became an empty shelVso that when the barbarians came they destroyed only what had become worthless to the-.worId." pie then explained the American plan of mak ing each acquisition a component part of the whole! ""We," he said, "expanded by carving the wilderness into territories, and out of these ter ritories building new states when once they had received as permanent settlers a sufficient num ber of our own people. Being a practical nation we have never tried to force on any section of our new territory an unsuitable form of govern ment marely because It was suitable to another section under different conditions. Of the terri tory covered by the Louisiana purchase a portion ". -- X, & Ci