Conservative *
against Russia , Austria and Italy ; to
Greece against the unspeakable Turk ,
to Turkey as against all Europe ; and to
China to protect Manchuria against
Russia in short , to the whole world ; it
being not yet too late to embrace within
the Monroe doctrine the failing cause of
the Boers.
There is no limit to the foreign com
plications and the imperialism to which
Mr. Bryan's use of the Monroe doctrine
would lead. Suppose the Filipinos get
into war with Japan and are conquered ,
after giving just cause of war. Japan
would claim the rights of conquest.
Then we must go to war with Japan ,
with the "Monroe doctrine" nailed to
the masthead , to preserve Philippine
independence. To call such a scheme
nonsense does not fit the occasion. The
scheme is full of actual , perpetual , enor
mous danger. It departs as far from
Washington's admonition and from the
Monroe doctrine as the Ohioago plat
form departs from the principles of Jef
ferson , Bentou , Jackson , Cleveland ,
Tilden and Bayard.
The initial point of departure in the
discussion of this subject is at the word
"independence" . I am not arguing
against Philipp } ' a independence. I do
not pretend to foresee the outcome. But
I see only three possible solutions.
Either those islands will remain under
the political sovereignty of the United
States , with a territorial government ,
as any other territory not admitted as a
state , or they will ultimately be admitted
as a state , or they will be granted inde
pendence. With their independence
granted our military forces , our flag ,
our protectorate should be withdrawn.
Otherwise the Filipinos will not be
working out their own destiny. There
would be no necessity for withdrawing
the Monroe doctrine. It never went
there.
Some candidates for the presidency
have been better , politically safer , than
the declaration of principles or policies
formulated by the party conventions
which nominated them. Mr. Bryan's
platforms are bad enough , but the can
didate is worse.
For the present purpose it will be
assumed that Mr. Bryan is absolutely
sincere and politically honest. That
would make his election a much greater
danger than if he were only a clever
demagogue playing on passion , discon
tent and ignorance for the purpose ol
vote catching. He has given snfflcienl
proof of a willful and imperious temper.
An Unbalanced Mind.
His wanton affront to a gentleman
and to all democrats who had dissented
from the popnlistio departure of 1896 , in
answer to an official invitation to a
political dinner , and his singularly in
discreet meddling in the Kentucky con
test of 1890 , against the advice of dis
oreet and conservative democrats of that
state , are striking admonitions of his
mental and emotional make-up. If the
relations between the executive and the
egislative departments of the govern
ment , and if our relations with foreign
countries are to be expressed in the style
of the letter to Mr. Belmont , neither
nterual harmony nor external
peace will bo long secure. If great
) olitical functions are to be discharged
n the feeling that prompted Mr. Bryan
to congratulate the Kentucky legislature
on the fact that it was of a particular
mrtisan complexion , that body then
jeing about to enter upon the discharge
of a very grave constitutional duty , a
function at least semi , if not wholly ,
iudicial in its nature , and in the dis
charge of which a decision igreeable to
Mr. Bryan could not be rendered with
out overriding the choice of a majority
of the people of Kentucky as duly
ascertained and certified by a board of
officers , a majority of whom were dem
ocrats , then indeed it may bo asked
whether in his view partisan ends are
not more sacred than the right of self-
government by majorities. The final
determination of that great litigation is
not here criticised. The decision of the
supreme court of the United States that
it had no jurisdiction to review and
reverse the decision of the court of ap
peals of Kentucky was right. And in
view of the provision of the constitution
of Kentucky that the legislature should
be the tribunal to decide finally such
contests , it is not perceived how the
court of appeals of Kentucky could do
otherwise than to follow the decision of
the legislature and accept it as1 final ,
though it may have been purely partisan
and against the evidence. It was Mr.
Bryan's method and style of treating
the question that illustrates his alarming
nnfitness to have a controlling influence
in any great public emergency.
Dangerous , if Sincere.
And why would he , as president , be
more dangerous , if honestly earnest ,
than if he were a mere clever political
intriguer ? Because most men , even
conscious demagogues , when actually
clothed with office and power and con
fronted with responsibility , are toned
down and made more cautions , prudent
and conservative by a sense of that
responsibility. Mr. Bryan's narrowness
of view and fierceness of will would
drive him all the more irresistibly , for
being politically sincere , to the accom
plishment of his wishes and the fulfill
ment of all his promises. What are
those wishes ? What are those prom
ises ? To whom have those pledges been
made ? Think of it , and then let voters
imagine , if they can , William Jennings
Bryan refraining from urging and car
rying into effect any one of his pei
theories and policies ; and imagine , if
they can , that a will so imperious as his
undoubtedly is , could resist the clamor
of his followers if he dared to make the
attempt. He would have three-fourths
of them arrayed against him at the first
sign of hesitation ;
What are those pledges ? Dominating
all others is 16 to 1 , with all its cense
quences. The conversion of the
supreme court into a political instru
ment and machine. To stop "govern
ment by injunction , " which has no
meaning if it does not moan that when
mobs are destroying property , detaining
; he United States mail and bringing
liter-state commerce to a standstill ,
courts shall not exercise a well-estab-
ished power , and grant a peaceful and
bloodless remedy. To prevent all "arbi-
trary' ' interference by the United States
military forces in the affairs of the
states a denunciation aimed at president -
dent Cleveland's suppression of the
Ohioago riots , or else aimed at nothing.
Bryanism Characterized.
Then , what is Bryanism ? Undisguised -
guised ambition that has passed the
point of fever heat and settled into a
permanent .consuming white heat ; arro
gance of temper that brooks no opposi-
kion ; conceit that is ridiculous ; uu-
bounded self-confidence and self-suf
ficiency ; abnormal activity , so restless
and intense , that it comes near being a
disease ; catching at his own new born
ideas , no matter how crude or how
vague when put on paper , as flashes of
revealed truth ; gifted with a torrent of
language that "goes on forever" ; be
yond doubt with the courage of his con
victions and having in his following
every element of unrest , every material
for civil commotion ; these qualities and
forces , behind the platforms of Kansas
City and Chicago , constitute Bryanism.
No offense or sneer is meant by annex
ing the final syllable to his name. The
ism is a necessity of the case in attempting -
ing to express the whole situation in one
word. The platforms if fairly trie din
practice would soon tumble to pieces.
Bryanism is congenital. And whoever
thinks that such a character , with such
forces behind him , would not as presi
dent press all that he believes and all
that he has promised is a political
ostrich who does not see his own danger
because he intentionally thrusts his head
under the sand to avoid seeing his pur
suers.
Writing , as I do , for democrats , it is
not irrelevant or egotistic to state the
obstacles I overcame in resolving to
support MoKinley against Bryan as
soon as it was manifest more than a
year ago that 1896 had to be fought over
again.
Viewed as a Democrat ,
I believe the war against Spain was
just. I believe that Porto Rico is as
much a part of the soil and territory of
the United States as New Mexico or
Alaska. Therefore I believe that the
Porto Rican tariff was a legal , a finan
cial and a political error. I believe that
all tariff protection is erroneous in the-