V ,
Conservative *
DEMOCRATIC PROSPECTS.
President McKinley's statement that
he is not a candidate for a third term ,
and would not accept a renomination if
it were tendered to him , has turned at
tention afresh to the possible candidates
for the succession. There is no lack of
such on the republican side. In making
a catalogue we might safely take , as a
beginning , a list of senators of the
United States belonging to that party ,
including their presiding officer. Fifty-
three of these will be disappointed , and
it would be a safe wager that the fifty-
fourth will not get the prize. Govern
ors of states have had better luck than
senators during the present genera
tion. There are some such now
who are well within the range of choice ,
but , as it is not our custom to make
nominations so long beforehand , we
shall not do violence to their modesty
by mentioning them. There are no
generals or admirals who stand out with
sufficient distinctness to make one of
them a probable choice three years
hence. As for judges , the unwritten
law which runs against the union of
things political and judicial is still in
force , and ought to continue so.
Wealth and Poverty.
The wealth of the republican party
in presidential timber is not more re
markable than the poverty of the demo
crats. All of their senators and their
governors of states except three ( Colorado
rado , Montana , and Washington ) are
southern men. All of these who have
sufficient force of character to be con
sidered for the presidential office were
either in the confederate army or in the
confederate service in some other ca
pacity. This ought not now to be a dis
qualification , but it is still considered
such by a large body of voters in the
North , so that it would be unsafe to put
one of them in nomination , even
though he has since fought , like Gen.
Wheeler , under the stars and stripes.
Moreover , the veterans on either side in
the civil war are now well advanced in
years.
Besides senators and governors , there
are some men of position and reputation
in the democratic party , but they are
mostly outside the range of choice by
reason of their failure to support Mr.
Bryan in one or both of the campaigns
when he was the party's regular nomi
nee. Among these may be mentioned
John G. Carlisle , Charles S. Foirchild
William O. Whitney , J. Sterling Mor
ton , William F. Vilas , and ex-Senators
Caffery and Lindsay. There remain , of
those who seem to be still in the public
eye , Richard F. Olney , David B. Hill
Arthur P. Gorman , and Mr. Bryan him
self. Mr. Olney will be in his seventietl
year before the election of 1904 takes
place , and that fact alone will probably
take him out of the range of choice
Of Hill and Gorman it is sufficient to
say that , however attractive they may
be to old-fashioned democrats , they can
got no independent support , without
which success at the polls will be almost
mpossible.
Possibility of Another Populistic Nomi
nation.
Thus , although wo do not believe that
Mr. Bryan will be nominated again , the
poverty of the democratic party in
available candidates is such that we are
forced to consider him as a possible can
didate. Will his chances before the people
ple be any better in a third race than in
the first and second ? We think not. On
the contrary , they will be worse , for the
reason that the issue on which he made
his first campaign , and which he in
sisted on dragging into his second one ,
has ceased to be attractive to his own
followers. However much they maybe
attached to him personally , they no
longer associate him with a principle of
government. The silver question is
dead , to all intents and purposes. The
South will never again allow a silver
plank to be put in the national platform.
Yet Mr. Bryan is tarred with that stick
as badly as ever.
He told his friends privately in the
campaign of last year that , if he should
be elected president , he would find some
way to make government payments in
silver under the present law. As late
as February 4 , of the present year , he
wrote a letter to the chairman of the
house committee on coinage , protesting
against the pending measure to make
silver dollars redeemable in gold , be
cause , as he said , that would be "equiv
alent to the retirement of silver as
standard money. " Silver was actually
retired as standard money in 1878. A
standard is something by which meas
urements are made. To suppose that
silver is standard money requires us to
believe that 871 grains of the fine
metal are worth a dollar , whereas any
body can buy that quantity for less than
fifty cents. We mention this latest out
put of economic doctrine from Mr.
Bryan merely to show that , whatever
his party or the public generally may
think of the silver question now , his
views remain unchanged , and apparently
unchangeable. Therefore the party
cannot nominate him a third time with
out running against the same stone wall
that destroyed its chances last year.
Something Unexpected May Happen.
To get rid of the silver issue com
pletely , it is necessary , therefore , to
nominate some other candidate than
Mr. Bryan , and , as we have seen , first
rate candidates are scarce. Still , the
democratic party in ante-bellum times
achieved considerable success with sec
ond-rate candidates. Polk , Pierce , and
Buchanan could not be classed higher
nor could Van Bnren at the time when
he was nominated. Moreover , new and
trong leaders often develop very quick-
y. Much will depend upon events to
happen in the next three years , and upon
he issues that develop themselves mean
time. The republican party may fall
asunder by reason of the tariff question ,
; he trust question , and the reciprocity
xeaties , all locked together as they are.
New issues may be forced to the front
3y the still undetermined questions in
; he supreme court respecting the status
of the Philippines. Our relations with
Cuba may become critical. Thus the
chapter of accidents may do something
for the democrats. New York Evening
Post , June 12 , 1901.
AN INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF
ARBORICULTURE.
On May 26th , at Connersville , Ind. ,
was organized a society to be known as
the International Society of Arboricul
ture. The purpose of the association is
to introduce judicious methods in deal
ing with forests and woodlands ; to ad
vance and advocate a public interest in
this subject ; to promote the afforesta
tions of unproductive lands ; to encour
age the planting and care of shade trees
in parks , public and private grounds ,
and along streets and highways ; to in
spire an interest in our remaining native
forests , and groves of ancient trees , and
to seek their preservation ; to supply in
formation to railway officials in regard
to timber culture for railway uses , and
incite railway and other corporations to
plant trees for economic purposes.
It is rep'orted that the society starts
out with a membership of 800 persons.
J. Sterling Morton , Nebraska City , Ne
braska , is president ; Jno. P. Brown ,
Connersville , Indiana , is secretary.
Nebraska Farmer.
CASE OF BETTER JUDGMENT.
If Paul Morton , now of the Atchison ,
has been offered the management of the
Harriuian combination , and a salary of
$50,000 a year , he is in better luck than
his father , J. Sterling Morton , was ever
in. The elder Morton and the editor of
the Age , though they have not met since
the commencement of the war between
the states , have been personal and
political friends for nearly fifty years ,
and that is longer than Paul has lived.
J. Sterling has been a member of the
Nebraska territorial legislature , terri
torial secretary and territorial governor ,
and head of the agricultural department
in Cleveland's cabinet , but he never got
$50,000 a year or anything like it. In a
letter to the writer several years ago , he
said his sons had shown better judgment
than their father. They had kept out
of politics and attended to business.
Beaumont ( Tex. ) Age , June 7 , 1901.
