4 The Conservative.
BRYANISM AND JEFFERSONIAN DE
MOCRACY.
( Albert Wntkins in The Forum for Mny. )
* * * The English people wore forcing
their way , surely , though not with clear
sight , toward representative or parlia
mentary government , with a subordi
nate or responsible executive. This
principle of popular sovereignty had
been recognized , though not firmly es
tablished , under William and Anne.
George III undertook to go back to the
comparative absolutism of the Stuarts.
This contest between reactionary Tory
ism and progressive democracy was
waged alike in England and in the cole
nies. In the mother country it resulted
in the evolution of a government more
quickly and surely responsive to the
popular will , and with less obstruction
to it , probably , than the government of
any other country. In the colonies it
resulted in independence , and in a gov
ernment under a constitution which was
largely infused with the Toryism of the
time of George , and in which the pro
cess of evolution has been obstructed
by its written form. This circumstance
explains the presence to so large a de
gree of George-the-Third-Hamilton To
ryism in our government today , without
exciting wonder or even consciousness.
The framers of our constitution did
not comprehend that the some struggle
which won our independence hod also ,
in effect , won for the English people ,
independence from the hereditary up
per house of parliament , and the sov
ereign or executive in short , a govern
ment , directly by the elective house of
commons. Excepting such moral in
fluence as they wield , and their expense
as a relic , preserved by the pecular con
servative spirit of the English people ,
the monarchial executive and the titled
upper house of parliament have been al
most inert since the reform bill of 1882.
On the other hand , our own constitution ,
patterned as much as Hamiltonism could
make it so , after the English constitution
of George and as liberal and progress
ive a pattern as the world then afforded ,
remains to us in its original procrustean
letter , and in much of its original Tory
spirit.
Jefferson played his momentous game
of politics with a cue taken from the
great French radicals , whose spirit and
principles were even then in a life-and-
death grapple with the aristocratic or
der , which they overthrew , never suc
cessfully to rise again. This distinction
between two marked political tendencies
has come down to the present day
through the democratic party , which
Avas born of Jefferson's struggle , on the
one hand , and , on the other hand
through the federal party and its sue
cessors , the whig and republican parties
The French revolution reorganized the
whole social system , and placed i
upon a new basis.
The revolution of Jefferson in 1800 es
tablished new principles of nationa
polity , and organi/ed and administered
ho new American political society along
now lines , and in a new spirit. Jeffer-
on's democracy was abreast of the de
mocracy of the French philosophers who
inspired the French revolution. Ham-
Iton , on the other hand , wns behind
itt and Fox , who inspired the English
evolution against the reactionary To
ryism of George , but who were con-
ervatives in comparison with the revo-
utiouists of France. * * *
Sordid Republicanism.
The materialism of the republican is-
, ue was sordid and aggressive beyond
precedent , yet it seemed only to inspire
he desired confidence. The one notable
epublicau campaign speech in Mr.
Bryan's home town was made by Sena-
or Frye. He sustained the Philippine
) osition of his party almost in these
vords : "Some of the peace commis
sioners went to Parisdetermined to take
as little as possible from Spain ; I went
o get all we could lay hands on. " This
was part one , of his address. Part
wo was , in substance : "Your bellies
vere empty when McKinley came in ,
were they not ? Well , they're full now ,
ire they not ? What more do you
want ? " The first sentiment raised a
iweeping tornado of applause , the sig
nificance of which was startling to me ;
; he second was received all but as ard-
mtly. * * * * *
Incident to this strong , monopolistic
programme of the republicans is their
jolicy of taking care of their loyal nieni-
jers to the utmost , at the public ex
pense , by the lavish and greedy use of
; he tremendous resources now afforded
by the public patronage. Popular re
bellion against this policy might defeat
the republicans in 1902 and 1904 , if
the opposition should take up new lead
ers of "safe" principles and tendencies ,
who would stand for retrenchment and
honest , economical administration ; in
general , for reform in short , for the
corrective policy which brought mag
nificent success to Tilden once , and to
Cleveland twice. But the new leaders
must be of later date than the bourbon
democrat of the Cleveland regime. The
democratic party has moved ahead ma
terially since his day. Tilden and
Cleveland won , not because they stood
for the restoration of the ancient de
mocracy , but because they boldly cul
loose from it. They stripped the party
of its out-of-date habiliments and.
dressed it in contemporaneous clothes.
The power of Tilden's political per
sonality , platform , and letter of accept
ance , wrenched the party away from its
old obstructive policy , and , more im
portant still , put a summary end to its
coquetry with fiat money. Mr. Oleve
laud , in turn , cauterized the party's
silver recrudescence , and raised it to its
feet with a tonic of sound-money prin
ciples. His personal reputation made a
real issue of honest and economical ad
ninistration and the development of
ivil-service reform. Thus , in 1876 ,
884 , and 1892 a great body of the most
ntelligent , conservative , and iudopeu-
leut , yet progressive , voters was won
) ver to the long-distrusted party. If
he leaders will but lot nature take her
ourse , the same class will do the same
lung in 1902 and 1904 as it did under
Tilden and Cleveland. * * *
Bryan Should Confess Populism.
Mr. Bryan's natural followers , since
he election , will be confined to the ulti
mate or logical Jeffersoniau radicals.
To accommodate himself to this follow-
ng he should , consistently , and at once ,
tand for postal savings banks , public
wnership of telegraphs , and all means
f transportation , and perhaps of all -
leposits of coal and other staple min-
rals. This he will not do because his
endenoy is to build for the present and
not to wait for development or slow
> arty growth. He can win nothing
mictical on opportunist or temporary
ssues , because he is too widely dis-
rusted by conservative classes whether
on good grounds or not is not material.
Bryan's Fatalistic Confidence.
A German writer tells , in a current
story , of a Hebrew family that was in
need of the indispensable , unleavened
jread for the approaching feast of
Pesach. The improvident husband per
sisted day after day in spending his
slim earnings in unnecessary notions and
luxuries , always quieting his wife's re
monstrances and fears about the still-
wanting bread with the answer , "What
must be , must be. " He insisted that
because he must have the bread for an
all-important and sacred purpose , it
would be forthcoming. In his case his
fatalistic faith sustained him. While
he squandered the resources by which
lie might have secured the bread , at the
very lost the neighbors chipped in the
money and bought it for the distressed
wife. Mr. Bryan has had a fatalistic
confidence that his democratic ideals
would surely be realized , because to
him they seemed indispensable. But
here the parallel to the Hebrew story
ends. The unappreciative public re
fused to chip in the votes which Mr.
Bryan's improvidence had failed to secure -
cure by practical means ; and his follow
ers , who are wedded to him by the close
ties of faith and dependence , go hungry.
The Passing of the "Plain People ! "
From the beginning he has sought
ostentatiously to win a following of
"plain people. " This foible I always
believed would have a disastrous culmi
nation ; and it contributed very largely
to the great majorities against him ,
which distinguished the late election.
At the very beginning of his career , be
fore men of conservative , ripe judgment
in his home community had acknowl
edged his capacity or stability , the
