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4 Conservative.
A DEMOCRATICTKETKOSPECT.
EDITOU CONSERVATIVE :
I feel that I must congratulate all
democrats upon the victory achieved at
the polls on November 6for'.decenoy and
true democracy. In the defeat of Bryan
the republicans are to be commiserated
for populism has already turned its
back upon democracy and is again re
turning to its haunts amid the miasmic
swamps of republican corruption and
bigotrywhere it was bred.
It is a source of pleasure to every true
democrat to look back over the horrid
nightmare of the last four years and
feel that not one democrat of those we
hadTlearued to love for their'integrity ,
patriotism and devotion to justice , hns
been tainted by the"noxious exhalations
of Bryan. There is no call for "reorgan
ization " .of democracy. The simoon of
populism has swept over the land. De
mocracy bent to the blow and now that
nothing is .left of that'awful scourge ex
cept low rumblings in the mountains of
Colorado and "Montana , the democratic
parly arises at once. Even our enemies ,
the republicans , have been forced to
honor the steadfastness of all our lead
ers to the honor of our country.
Un.ui | tIy.Crlticlsc ; l.
Bryan has been criticised unfairly be
cause he made his bed with Oroker , Alt-
gelt , Allen , Jack Ohinn and their ilk.
The truth of the matter was he had no
choice. Not a solitary democrat in the
Union with a reputation to lose ever
bent a knee to the egregious egotism of
Bryan. None but those whose reputa
tions , if lost , would be an undisguised
blessing , could afford to associate with
the peerless prevaricator of the Platte.
The nation has had another lesson
that no man can pronounce himself "it. "
The republicans neither in 1896 nor in
1900 faced democracy. It was Bryan
pure and simple. No allegiance to
democracy was asked. "Any old thing"
went if allegiance to "Bryan" was as
sured. His monumental egotism
actually imbibed him with the concep
tion that his remarkable individuality
was sought by the nation and he needed
no party.
All the campaign method needed was
for him to show himself to the waiting
throngs. Such conceit is without
parallel in the world's history and there
is no God-given ratio capable of express
ing it.
Wlmt Bryan has Done.
Those who think Bryan was a friend
to democracy should ponder , and if pos
sible , conceive what greater destruction
he could have wrought had he been an
enemy.
In 1890 by au accidental landslide
that covered the whole state of Ne
braska , ho was elected to congress and
because he received the support of popu
lists commenced his career of fusion. In
1892 he conceived his return to congress
/ A-- *
depended upon fusion and with charac
teristic egotism and selfishness com
menced his attack upon democracy , not
considering for one moment any result
except his own success.
In the democratic state convention
at Omaha when the whole state was
afire for Cleveland he attempted to force
upon us a silver plank and fairly launch
ed himself upon his career of disintegra
tion and destruction. At that time we
had full control of every branch of the
general government. From the Hud-
sou river to the Missouri and between
the great lakes and the gulf ( the very
heart of our empire ) there were but
four states in the hands of the republi
cans. The great fight for tariff reform
had been fought and won. Then came
the onslaught of the Bryan mob upon
Cleveland. They joined the republicans
in vituperation and abuse until even the
cheek of Billy Mason was suffused with
a blush of shame.
They loaded the tariff bill with the in
come tax and other weights until it sunk
beneath a war of popular disapproval.
The name of democracy when branded
with the mark of the Cain of populism
became a byword and honest democrats
hid their heads in shame and the nation
has trampled into the dust the infam
ous conglomeration of political vagaries
known as Bryanism.
Democracy IB Shorn of Power.
Democracy is shorn of all semblance
of power in every branch of the general
government. Thirteen democratic gov
ernors , including those in the great
states of New York , Illinois , Wisconsin
and Indiana , have gone down under the
storm of indignation that arose when
the monster of repudiation and national
dishonor raised its head bearing the
stolen robe of democracy.
North of the seceded states Bryan
has saved from the wreck four moun
tain states whose combined population is
less than half of that of Nebraska.
Could any less havoc have followed a
campaign of bombast and class preju
dice ?
Today democracy stands purged of
all this foul humor that has been inject
ed into her system. In the next demo
cratic convention not even a Nebraska
hybrid will have the temerity to even
hint at one of the thousand vagaries
massed in the one word ' 'Bryanism. "
"Great is tammany and Croker is its
prophet" like all utterances of the peer
less prognosticator has sounded the
downfall of that engine of corruption.
In the presence of the great defeat of
alleged democracy the tears refuse to
flow. T. M. S.
JAMES H. ECKELS.
James H. Eckels delivered an address
last week before the Young Men's
Christian Association of the Fourth
Presbyterian church , Chicago. In part
he said :
1 'If I were a preacher I would take
for my text to night : 'Am I my
brother's keeper ? ' This question has
remained unanswered in scripture in
order , I think , that we may all answer
it for ourselves , and it is always
answered in the affirmative. All the
work that is done by the charitably in
clined , by the religiously inclined , and
that is done for the good of others ,
is done for the good of all. This is what
helps and improves society and makes
better men and better women. The
home and school associations are sup
posed to have a beneficial influence on
the boy and girl. The church carries
forward this work toward the higher
Christian life. The school develops
from the standpoint of practical life ,
supplementing the teaching received in
the home not always , I am sorry to
say , carrying on the religious instruc
tions of the home. That something
which is left out by the school , is sup
plied by the Young Men's Christian
Association. The greatest good accom
plished by the institution is in teaching
the young man to look out for his best
advancement , not only with regard to
his own interests , but in connection
with the development of those around
him. No factor is more essential in a
young man's faculties which fit him for
a business position than his character.
Business men want to know , not only
that he is honest in his work for them ,
but to what extent he is truthful , moral
and upright toward his fellow man in
his life apart from his position. If the
individual is upright and truthful it is
safe to say that the aggregate will be
also. You must work up from the in
dividual to the aggregate , not from the
aggregate to the individual. The Young
Men's Christian Association and such
organizations , therefore , ought to have
the assistance of the church. There
must be a kindred feeling bet ween them.
No organization , I would venture to say ,
has been so beneficial to the church as
the Young Men's Christian Association.
' ' Business afford to
men can help
these institutions in a selfish way , as
they make the young man a better clerk.
The church should assist them as they
decrease crime and drunkenness. For it
seems that the country needs nothing so
much as good citizens. Building up
character in school , college and church
is the best way to make good citizens.
All must bear in mind that which is a
potent fact , namely , that good does not
not always come from generosity , as
many generous people do little good ;
nor does it come from virtue , as virtue
is not always beneficial to others ; nor
from scholasticism , as scholastic men are
not always much good. But that in
which this institution does good is in
building up of character according to
the example of Christ. And that work
will continue to increase and spread as
these institutions multiply. And as it
continues , more and more strongly will
come that affirmative answer as to
whether we are our brother's keeper.
Chicago Times-Herald ,
' Y
