5
UANUARY 17, 1908
The Commoner.
The Special Interests and the Democratic Party
THE NEW YORK SUN, TOO
The New York Sun, famous alike for the
brilliancy of its editorial page and its subser
viency to special interests, goes to the support
of the New York World in its effort to dictate
the course of the democratic party. The story
is told in an editorial entitled "Two Ways to
Beat Bryan" and printed by the Minneapolis
Journal. The Journal editorial follows: "The
New York Sun wants to prevent the nomination
of Bryan. The New York World also wants to
prevent the nomination of Bryan. But they go
at it differently. The World demands a candi
date against him. The Sun demands a number
of candidates against him. The Sun's plan is
the most like the Sun. The World's is the most
like honest politics. The democratic convention
will be bound by the two-thirds rule. That is
to say, Mr. Bryan must get two-thirds' of the
delegates, and get them early, or he 'will not
be nominated. He is in the position of Grover
Cleveland in 1892 when Hill secured the New
York delegation and went to Chicago to beat
Cleveland by showing that he had not the sup
port of his own state. Bourke Cockran made
his famous speech, in which he said that Mr.
Cleveland was a very popular man in New York
on every day of the year except election day.
The sneer did not go with the convention. Mr.
Cleveland, on the first ballot, secured two-thirds
of all the delegates, without New York. Judge
Parker won at St. Louis in 1904, tho his task
was easier, since he had the enthusiastic sup
port of his own state. But it is conceded that
if either had failed to land on the first ballot,
he would have been beaten. Can Mr. Bryan
be beaten on the first ballot? The Sun says
Mr. Bryan's candidacy is hopeless in New York.
It believes New York, New England, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania and Delaware will vote against
him. These states have 240 delegates 60
less than one-third. Now if Texas should pre
sent Culberson and support him with 36 votes.
Virginia Daniel with 24 votes and Minnesota
Johnson with 22 votes, in the Sun's opinion tho
trick would be turned. Mr. Bryan would be
stalemated. He could not be nominated, and
while none of the others could count on the
nomination out of the turmoil, the convention
(might draw a new man acceptable to all wings
of the party. This plan, plausible as it appears,
runs up against the objection that the Sun has
not stated any reason for its faith that Mr. Bryan
would lose all the New England votes. He could
not lose them all unless it was so palpably evi
dent that Mr. Bryan was not the man, that he
could not get a majority, far less a two-thirds
majority of the delegates. It is easy to count
up the New England states and the Atlantic
states, and say these make a one-third minority
against Mr. Bryan. Do they? Won't they vote
for him in the absence of strong candidacies
elsewhere? This brings the discussion back to
the World's plan, which is to pick out a man
and make a fight against Mr. Bryan with him.
The first man picked by the World is Governor
Johnson of Minnesota. But Governor Johnson
says he is not a candidate. He says, moreover,
that he will not be a candidate so long as Mr.
Bryan is. Now. it must be evident that the
Bryan opposition cannot rally very enthusias
tically round a man who refuses the honor.
It begins to be apparent that Governor Johnson
must 'fish or cut bait, or row ashore,' The sit
uation is such that he must be either for Bryan
or be against him."
NOT A ONE-MAN PARTY
The New York World says: "In the cir
cumstances in which the democracy now finds
itself a party would be stark crazy to ignore a
man like John A. Johnson and allow a chronic
candidate like Mr. Bryan to gain the nomina
tion by default. A one-man -party is an evil
second in proportion only to a one-man gov
ernment. As Samuel J. Tilden wrote to Daniel
Manning in 1884, 'neither the democratic party
nor the republic for whose future that party is
the best guarantee is now or ever can be de
pendent upon one man for their successful pro
gress in the path of a noble destiny.' "
The democratic party is not a one-man
party, nor is the nomination going to Mr. Bryan
by default. Mr. Bryan will be nominated for the
simple reason that he is-the choice of the pre
ponderating majority of the men who constitute
the party. There are many democrats of renown
who are worthy of the nomination, but it Appears
that they are not tho choice of tho party this
year. Governor John A. .Johnson is a good dem
ocrat and a splendid man, but he is a stranger
to the great body of the parly at this time. In
time, possibly, the country may become Im
pressed with his availability and nominate him.
The World is greatly mistaken about Mr.
Bryan's strength. It is this strength that ac
counts for his superior availability. It is con
ceivable that there are several southern states
men who would be more acceptable to tho mass
of southern democrats than Mr. Bryan is, but
Mr. Bryan is certainly more acceptable to them
than any other northern man mentioned.
lb is absurd to talk about a one-man party
and still more absurd to belittle Mr. Bryan's
strength in all sections of the country eveu
in the east, where the World thinks he is espe
cially weak. Mr. Bryan is much stronger in the
east than Governor Johnson or Judge Gray or
perhaps any other democrat who has been men
tioned in connection with the nomination.
Tho World's persistent warfare upon Mr.
Bryan is calculated to create tho suspicion that
it fears he may be elected. Houston (Texas)
Post.
.JAMES J. HILL AT THE HELM
In furtherance of its boom for Governor
Johnson of Minnesota, the New York World
prints this story: "Soon after being elected
governor, J. J. Hill, the railroad and financial
king of the northwest, called on him. Two
farmers, who had been boyhood friends of tho
governor, had just been ushered into the private
office, when announcement was made that the
great Hill was outside. 'Tell him I will see him
when I have finished with those gentlemen,' said
Mr. Johnson. The private secretary urged an
immediate audience. Once a year the governor
gets angry and swears. That was one of the
anniversaries. Half an hour the governor sat
with the farmers. Then he went to the outer
room to his noted caller. 'Mr. Hill,' he said, 'I
never met you before and I appreciate you com
ing to pay me your respects. I knew you were
waiting outside for half an hour, but I would
have kept you waiting twenty-four hours rather
than have those two men go back to their homes
with the impression that John Johnson would
turn away the humble associates of his youth
and give preference to any man who chanced
to possess wealth and power. If you wish to
congratulate me, Mr. Hill, now, here is my
hand.' Mr. Hill grasped the hand and shook
it warmly, saying: 'I like you the better for it.'
This same James J. Hill said to the World cor
respondent a few weeks ago in New York:
'Look over John A. Johnson as a fit man for
the White House. Study him and you will find
there is a lot in him. He has courage, he has
ability and he has common sense.' In 189G
and in 1900 Johnson voted for Bryan, but was
not one of the fanatical followers of the Nebras
kan. His views today are at variance in many
respects from those of Mr. Bryan. He does not
recognize the divine right of Mr. Bryan to be the
dictator and autocrat of the democratic party for
all time. He thinks that Judge Gray of Dela
ware would be an ideal president, combining
In one man the experience and ripened judg
ment of three co-ordinate branches of govern
ment the legislative, the judicial and the ex
ecutive." Regarding the possibility of his own
candidacy, Governor Johnson says that he is at
tending strictly to his business as .governor, con
ferring with no political leaders, planning no
campaign, entering into no alliances and neither
spending a cent nor losing a minute's sleep be
cause his name has been mentioned."
THE WELLMAN ARTICLE
Mr. Walter Wellman, Washington corre
spondent of the Chicago Record-Herald and a
journalist of wide repute, takes occasion to warn,
those republicans who are disposed to think
Mr. Bryan an easy man to defeat. He says:
"Disregard the professional politician and get
down among the people 'the plain people,' Mr.
-Bryan himself loves to call them and you will
find that the Nebraskan is stronger' than ever
before. Ah I said some time ago, he htut worn
well. In his honesty and Kineerity tho people
have full confidence. Ho is the only democrat
who stands in a class with President Roosevelt
in tho affections of tho masses. Roosevelt and
Bryan arc the only universally popular public
men we have today, and logically, from the
standpoint of tho thought and hope of the vast
majority of the people, they should ho tho rival
candidates. The point I wish to make Is that
the men or the party who proceed upon the
theory that Bryan Is not dangerous as a vote
getter are likely to wake up some time and find
themselves sadly mistaken."
How will this strike those democratic news
papers that are in the habit of bewailing Mr.
Bryan's weakness? There are many such news
papers in the east and not a few in the south.
They regard Mr. Bryan as weak because of the
respectable number of voters of indepondont or
democratic tendencies who havo voted against
Mr. Bryan in the past and who do not like some
of tho policies ho advocates. It is quite true
that there is a class of votes that Mr. Bryan can
not get, which Governor Johnson, Judge Gray
or any other conservative man might get. But
what about the much greater number that no
conservative candidate can obtain, but which Mr.
Bryan can got? Those seqm to bo overlooked
and these votes, rather than the others, are like
ly to determine the result of the election.
Mr. Wellman Is quite right in saying that
Mr. Bryan is stronger than ever before. If he
has lost popularity at all, it is in the south where
a dominant conservative olomont dislike such
policies as government ownership. But these
southern conservatives are going to vote for him
just the same and, with these radical pollcios
omitted from the platform, as they will bo, since
Mr. Bryan himself says tho time is not ripe for
them, Mr. Bryan is more acceptable to them than
Judge Gray, Governor Johnson or Judge Harmon.
With Taft in the Held as the republican can
didate, there are in the north, middle west and
Rocky Mountain states, tons of thousands of
men who voted for Roosevelt who will just as
earnestly support Bryan, and there are other
tens of thousands who will not support tho re
publican candidate unless there Is money to
pay them for it.
Altogether, tho situation Is by no means
gloomy for democratic success. If the eastern
newspapers that profess to yearn for democratic
success will stop their sneering and grouching
and support the ticket, they may yet have an
opportunity of seeing a democratic administra
tion installed at Washington. Houston (Texas)
Post.
SIMPLY TRYING TO SPLIT THE PARTY
The St. Louis Globe-Democrat says: "The
National Democratic club of New York, which
has just had its Jackson day banquet, announces
that it will hare frequent dinners between now
and the Denver convention, for the purpose, so
its members say, of 'stimulating the growth of
true democracy.' And one of the means by
which that end can be accomplished projects
itself Into the favorite son movement by which
Judge Gray, Harmon of Ohio, Governor John
son of Minnesota and others are put forward to
keep a third of the delegates away from Bryan,
defeat him in the convention, and prepare a
feud which will beat their party as badly in
1908 as it was beaten in 1904."
RANK AND FILE WILL CONTROL
If the big corporations and financiers, to
gether with the newspapers they control and
politicians that serve them, can name one more
than one-third of the delegates to the demo
cratic convention, Bryan will not be the nomi
nee for president. Who would be the nominee,
in such a contingency, does not greatly concern
these interests. With' them it is anything to
beat Bryan.
That an effort Is being made to this end
there can be- no doubt. The publicity campaign
is In the able and unscrupulous hands of the
New York World and New York Sun, and as
sisting them are found, with but few exceptions,
all the large newspapers of the northern states,
that, while they call themselves democratic, sel
dom or never support democratic candidates un
less the corporations give the word. The under
ground work is in the hands of politicians who
draw their inspiration from Ryan, Belmont and