Birmingham state herald., 1896-07-29

country for years and which elected it's candidates four years ago by an over whelming majority, should surrender and accept the popullst ticket is absurd. Bryan because it wants to see him elect ed, because it believes that this will as sure free silver, because he was the per- sonal choice of four-fifths of the dele gates. But what Is true of the populists and Bryan Is not true of the democrats and Watson. There are probably not a thousand democrats in the whole country who would like to see Tom Watson in the vice presidential chair. He Is not their choice by any means, and about the last man they would select. It is a rather unequal trade if 5,000,000 demo- crats should be asked to vote for a man whom they do not want, because 100000 populists propose to vote for Bryan, for whom they expressed a preference months before the nomination of Wat son was even suggested.
 Any combination or fusion on this line, any attempt to force on the demo- cratic voters a man whom they do not like, and whom they would be sorry to see occupying the vice presidential chair, would undoubtedly injure the sill yer cause. We are inclined to believe that there are many democrats who favor Bryan who would hesitate to vote the electoral ticket if it meant Watson
 
 a superfiuity, but the experience with John Tyler and Andy Johnson is a warn- ing against nominating as vice president a man of views antagonistic to the head of the ticket and asking the voters to support him.
 We are satisfied that any attempt to displace Sewall with Watson would cause harm to the ticket, and would lose almost as much democratic support as 1t would gain in votes from the peoples party. Let the democrats support their nomi- nees, Bryan and Sewall, and the popu- lists theirs, Bryan and Watson. This can easily be done on the basis the Times Democrat suggested without two Bryan electoral tickets, by simply dividing the electors between the two parties on the basis of their vote in 1892. Mr. Watson will then get every popular and electoral vote to which he is entitled, no more and no less, and the same will be true of Mr. Sewall.
 MT. Bryan was nominated by the populist convention after he had taken down his name in consequence of the insult to SeWall, and he is not required to officially accept the nomination under these circumstances. The populists placed him in nomination against his will and on conditions which he had all ready refused. They expressed their de- sire and intention to support him under all circumstances and we imagine they
 
 that the populist rank and file would voted for him even if the St. Louis con- vention had failed to nominate him. But Mr. Bryan and the democratic party bear a different relation to the populists from what they would have done had the dem ocratic ticket been indorsed in toto. It is not a fusion or combination, but the two parties have simply decided on the same candidate for president.
 "The matter now becomes a question of electoral tickets, and will depend upon the several state committees. If conn bnation on electors can be made in the close and doubtful states on the same ba- sis as the republicans and populists united in 1892 in Louisiana, it will mean the election of Bryan beyond all ques- tion, the probable election of Sewall, and if that fails the choice of free silver man for vice president by the senate.
 ''This is the only legitimate way of settling the present difficulty, and it Is an honorable one. There is no reason why the votes of democrats who do not want Watson should be given to him or vice versa as to Sewall; and there could be nothing sillier than that the popular vote for Bryan should be split up between two electoral tickets so as to elect the minority candidate"