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letters received liy.Mt Bryanfoilowififc'tho No
vember election: .", '
V .J'
Robert M. Small, Ohio. Enclosed- you. .will
find a copy of a press report which appeared in
"The Ohio Stato Journal" at , Columbus , as of
Sunday, November 7;. Reading 'this- bUxtemml
one is reminded of "Tho Devil Interpreting.
Scriptures" that to judge the rewards .for
righteousness is absolutely withlii liis province.
To bo more charitable, reviewing our recent
political experience one is reminded of the con
ditions developed when children usurp, the du
ties of the household and farm -the .beds are
unmade, the 'dishes unwashed, th& orchardjLpn-,
pruned, and the fields, not properly tilled for
the sowing, ' ;
The real democrats of Ohio are not in(, sym
pathy with the presumptions exposed in this
procedure as outlined by this press report, arid
you can depend upon it that Ohio democracy
will right itBelf"ih duo timo. ' .
Governor Cox was successful in liis political
campaigns in Ohio only when handed a "rain-,
check," and like all such is the loudest "rooter"
When the home team wins and the most unatf
prcciative "knocker" when it loses. ... '
During the recent political campaign I heard,
and now hear from a great number of democrats
and republicans alike, "What a mistake was
made that the admonitions of Col. -Bryan were
not heeded." To mo this is a preface" to a de
mand which will later come from fhe people
that you again assume vthe leadership oil the
democratic "party of the nation, it Should, be
stated that n Will be a demand that you Continue
your leadership of true democracy. You are
assured of our beat Wishes. v
(Below is a copy of press! roportreterred i to in
abovV fetter. Ed.) . . . ". J ; v'Vi
Washington, Nov. 6 .-Denouncing. Vs-;"sjack-err
idempcrata who- refused v to; tal$ ifat tinthe
campaign, to elect GoYeraor-Coxl sbme qfUcers
of th democratic national cmmftted'm'a'de' froth- '
lioiiere today a "blacklist.' pf distinguished
democrats, including intimate advisors of the
administration, who, it is stated, can hereafter
expect neither support nor favor from the pres
ent, organization. Postmaster General Burleson-
heads the list. In the Frisco convention he was
one of MeAdoo's strongest supporters.1
- William. Jennings Bryan comes next on the
list. The. committee failed, to obtain a : single
speech from him during the campaign: "Others
listed are: Senators Gpre of Oklahoma, Reed of
Clssouri, Walsh of Massachusetts, Swansbn and
Glass of Virginia, Smith and Harris of Georgia,
Dial of South Carolina, Simmons and Overman
of North Carolina, Smith of South Carolina,
and Secretary of the Treasury Houston All of
the members of the federal trade commission
and federal reserve Tjoard are Included, it is said.
The publication precedes a meeting called by
. the, insurgent democrats' to dlsouss plans for re
organization of the party. Some of those' whose
names appear, on the "blaokllst" have been men
tioned as among those who. will attend the con
ference. - ' ..-.- .,'.-
Wm. G. Carter, Washington, D, C. To my
mind the result of the recent election completely
confirms my previous good opinion of your po
litical sagacity. I heard you at the Jackson Day
banquet in this city, advocate the idea of thO
president allowing the senate to ratify the peace
treaty as they desired and thus taking it out of
politics, at least so far as this campaign was
concerned, At that time I thought you, were
making a mistake but the result- shows me that
you were right and that my thought was wrong.
Further, I read with great interest yournonder
ful speech at San Francisco advocating, a DJtY
plank in the democratic platform and i most
heartily approve of every word you said on the.
subject and feel sure that if the democratic
pary had put a dry plank in Its platform and
nominated a candidate who was known to be
friendly to such a sentiment we would all have
ti-gbtip into the campaign with mofo I enthtfsiashi
and more force 'and the result-would" ;doubjtlesa
have been quite different. ' '.;. -
. . - . A J
W. H, Calhoun, California. -The election is
over and wo jbavecertainly had a landslide so
great as to -biiry the leaders of the' democratic
Jiparty so completely that they will never get out
of the debris again to run another campaign.
Had, tho democratic convention recognized ydu
and put. the prohibition plftnk in the. platform,
also your profiteering plank, thus giving the
people something worth fighting for, a prohibi
tion candidato as leader off the party would have
given us the temperance vote we could have
succeeded. But no, they must put Bryan out of
tho wa,. They did so and now suffer defeat for
themselves and the people out of a progressive
party to the rule of a few for the benefit of a
few. Yet I am thankful for the good- legisla
tion of tho last eight year, all of which is ow
ing to your effort in thu Baltimore convention
and which would be the result if you could have
controlled' tho convention at San Francisco. Yet
I am an admirer of President Wilson for tho
statesmanlike manner in. Which he has managdd
the affairs of the government as president. You
are yet young and you will get your reward,
.,
; Edward D. Poffenberger, Ohio. I read with
interest an article in pur local'.flaper written- by
yourself expressing your views on the election in
which you speak of Wilson laying the founda
tlorbnfor the defeat Commendation from' one
in my humble walk in life may not mean -much,
but t am one of tho hundreds of thousands that
helped to bring this about and, in a general
way, I think I was actuated by the same impulse
as many others. I have been a republican all my
life and voted against you twice, but T want to
state that you have In your article displayed a
keen perception and a correct diagnosis of the
causes that make Governor Cox's defeat so
overwhelming.. You have expressed concisely ln '
a general way the cause and effect, and the ar
ticle, coming as it does from a nan of yo.Ur
established standing in jthe nation as an unin-'
.'cumbered and free thinking democrat, must
have more weighty with the reading public than
it would from .any vther American citizen, to
day, and I want to congratulate you. -S orf tjie
personal inuependence that permits youto-,8tep
out and- criticise men in your party; hehvtHey
overstep jne nounas or rlgnt and lay aside ;tjhe
general gdod of all in preference for some per
sonal success or gratification. I wish we had
more men in both parties who would follow your
example.
We'all want peace, but we will not jeopardize
our country' rights .by giving any other coun-k
try the power to entangle us in war without o'.ur
full, somber and unreserved consent, and we re
publicans will expect- bur next' president to safe
guard; those rights as well as to put us, hot on
a basis with, but on a higher plane .of interna
tional agreement for preventing wars than it
was possible for those countries to conceive' or
at the time they ..composed the prOsent league.
T close with best wislies for the future andt,as-.
sure you of a clearer understanding of the man
William Jennings Bryan than I ever had before,.
-v Robert G. Haigh.t, New York. Now let us all
t whoop it up -for a real man, a real democrat, a
man every-real man Tvith red blood in his veins
; dearly loves,-the true and only democratic
leader, our own Wm. J. Bryan. With every ef
fort of my-life for 1924, I am sincerely as from
the first (1896) yours faithfully and forever.
'
L. Jj. Hunt, Virglnia.As the election is over
and we have gotten back to normal conditions
again, I want to write and tell you how much I
.appreciate your good work. In the first place,
I don't think the leagife of nations issue is what"
beat the democratic party. I believe that a
large majority of the American people want
some kind of a league of natlops to prevent
future wars, but 75 of tne American people
want Upright thing in polities, and I believe
that the day has come when the intelligence of
the. country is voting. That day, has passed
when the "court house bums," "bar-room flies "
and crooked politicians' can control the elec
tions, and when the citizenship of the country
went to the polls ther had the common sense to
pass judgment on the issue. When it was
known, that our president vetoed the prohibi
tion bill passed by congress - because the war
was oyer, and there was no further need for wai
time prohibition and then turned to the miners
and told them tn im hTr wi i.' --.. "
War, was not over, then swung around the circle
preaching the league of nations and not raisins
liis voice against profiteering and other eVils
we sa.w that some one was inconsistent '
. VTheii, when the Democratic rtarty in conven
tion at San.Francieico indorsed that- adminlstra
tioiMh toto; rthen w"e saw how you were treated
In the committee roorii when you .made such a
noble light for a law enforcement plank in the
platform J then -we followed you tp when you
carried the fight on before the convention, now
they voted you down and how you were de
feated ome oj! the American "people. shed
tears of sympathy. w .
v Then, when Hr, COX said that prohibition was
"as dead as slavery" we knew that was false
and he was "wet." Slavery Is -not' peddled over
the country in automobiles. Then, many people
went to the polls and- for the firstjime in their
lives voted against the democratic nominee.
May God, bless you and keep you" in good health
to continue your noble fight against -evil.
Alonzo B. Johnson, Michigan. I notice an ar
ticle by you In tlie Chicago Herald and
Examiner, Under date of November. 5, 1920, in
which you state plans or a change in democratic
policies. Am glad ybu are taking part in af
fairs once again. With best wishes for the suc
cess you so richly deserve.
- Homer StronshidOr, West VirginialTwo 'mil
lion Democrats were lost, strayodand stolen on
last Tuesday because their party4 has been for
about two years without effective leadership.
Being without such leadership as-nominated and
elected President Wilson in., 19 12 and again in
1916, made Us an easy prey for the very leader
ship which nominated and defeated Judge Parker
in 1904 and which fought us in 1912 and 1916,
and which nominated and defeated Governor
Cox. Every Democrat familiar with our party's
, history since 1684 must have expected, our de
feat this year, but he never dreamed that it
would reach sueh propdrtlons.
Finding us without effective; leadership in
duced the Republican leaders and press to at
tack ui viciously and effectively, and although
we-were stronglyentrenched behind the great
achievements of the yirty since 1912; no de
fense was made by . our press until, the sentiment
of the country had cryslallized against us. It
was then too late tp'make a counter attack, for
it is as difficult to reclaim a Democrat after he
is against his party as it is to convert a Repub
lican to Democracy. -. '
Qur defeat, was. on account of so many con
flictlng reasons that I am convinced it can be
turned into victory in 1924, "if not sooner, with
proper, leadership backed by an aggressive press.
I suggest that we should Immediately organ
ize the Democratic press of the country into an
effective fighting force. Wo should have an
organization composed " of representatives from
at least every state to-direct "the fj&li.t. The ma
terial should be supplied to every .Democratic
paper in th$ country, dally and weekly, to the
'end thai the whole Qountry wouid'bo reading at
about the. paihe time fh& news x and . editorials
-supplied by this organization. ..Byjvthis means
we would", mould public, opinion,, reclaim the
Democrats who liayd left u temporarily, and
convert. Regubiicans to Imdcracy- -and win.
Of course, this fight Will require undS, and I
suggest that there are enough Bryan; Democrats
to supply them. 1 am willing to take charge of
the collection of funds in this city.
And I would like to suggest that you take
charge of this, organization. Millions of Demo
crats and thousands of 'Republicans "Want
Bryan," and his ;magnificient leadership again
Kin win. ;.;-- . 'c-;. - ":r :
Joseph Howley, Pennsylyania.--I am inclos
ing herewith aneditpriat fronv. the. Pittsburgh
Reader; Your statement on tire late election
hit the nail on the hed exactly. Wb are ready
for another" battle under your' progressive lead
ership. With every "good wish and, with kind
est regards to Mrs-. Bryan.
"" I ' "i i. .
Wm. HTR.ogers, California, I write to thank
ou fpr your. silence. during ttie'yreeeht political
campaign. Your silence this time made votes
by the million againsa .continuation, of an auto
cratic gqVfernmeht airWahingtb'ri,, and tljus. pre
served our, republican fornrof government. Un
less the leadership of. the .Democratic party is
taken and conceded to, 'you I shall keep my
word and In the" future ,6e known as -independent
of the party, " "
-''
Henry Ev Sohniiedeskamp, , Illinuls.The
writer Is ,-a;member Jtt the, demociiatlc county
central coMmllee of Idanis, cqunty ?,feel that
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