The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-07-11
A POPULIST VIEW
OF DEMOCRACY.
Wardall Admires Bryan,
but SneerS at the
Platform.
WILL HAVE NO FUSION.
The Peoples Party Leader Re-
views the Democratic Ma
tional Platform.
CALLS IT A STUMP SPEECH
Southern Party Bitterness Will Pre-.
vent Any Alliance With the
Democrats.

a EOpullSB 6SClndD6 OF ZIG O6uOCIdblC
platform, w. ]. Bryan and the political
prospects of the Democratic and Populist
parties was expressed yesterday by E. Nj.
Wardall, chairman of the State Central
Committee of the Peoples party.
Mr.. Wardall, who is plain, level-headed
fellow, who always talks with candid good
sense and never gets excited, says that
Bryan is a strong candidate, but that he
looks at the platform more than at the
nominee, and that with the exception of
the silver and one or two other planks, the
Democratic platform is a loose stump
speech full of well-sounding phrases that
may mean anything or nothing.
Wardall says that the Populist party will
go ahead independently and would prob
ably nominate Teller if he would come
into the Populist party first and stand
squarely on its platform.
The Populist leader sat with State Sec
rotary R. E. Bush at the Peoples party
State headquarters in the Donohoe build
ing, at Market and Taylor streets, where
the business that now goes quietly on con-
Germs mainly the preparations for the st.
Louis convention on the 22d inst. and the
departure of the California delegation on
the 10Th inst.
81 think that Bryan is the strongest man
they could have put up" said Mr.. War
dali, in expressing early impressions three
hours after Bryan had been named in Chi
cago. "Heis a magnetic man, and as far
as l know he has clean record. He is
man of ability and took a strong stand
with Mcguire in Congress in opposition to
the funding bill.
"But his weakness Is that he is West
ern man. He is in section of the coun-
try that it is impossible for the Democrats
to carry. Nebraska has Populist Cover
nor, and its Democracy is split wide open.
His majorities will have to come mainly
from Indiana and Ohio and some States
about them. He cannot carry States that
Bland or Blackburn would carry.
II would rather have seen Bland nomi-
mated. Bland might have secured even
more electoral votes than Bryan will, but
Bryan will hurt US more. He is young,
bright, brainy man with no war record to
be used against him either way, and he
will appeal to the progressive West, where
be will come into competition with US
more than Bland would have done.
There is no possibility of our indorsing
Bryan
you see our strength is in the South"
put in Secretary Bush on this point, "and
there our fight is with the Democrats. We
are nearer to the Republicans there. The
Democrats are the ones that have counted
US out of offices in the South and the feel
ing between the parties is bitter from
Texas to Georgia. The South will largely
control our convention as far as the selec-
ton of a candidate is concerned
''The election of Bryan on the Demo
cratic platform" continued Mr.. Wardali.
would afford but little and temporary
relief-just enough to make it impossible
to get adequate relief later. We would
rather wait four years and get what we
want.
81 think that the silver Republicans
will come to us, and if so we Will carry
he IS
the party will favor Teller if he will stand
on our platform. We will not nominate
him as a silver Republican.
but the man nominated at Chicago
doesn't cut the main figure. What go
on is this, and Mr.. Wardall pulled from
book a copy of the Chicago platform,
which he proceeded to briefly anayze in
a cursory way, according to his own no.
tons. His analysis suggests that great
many other sensible American citizens
will anaIyze 1t the same way when the
thinking period fairly arrives.
This is a weak platform. 1t isn't
specific. 1t reads like stump speech and
loose one at that.
Lets see. This ee-coinaee plank is
plain enough and is about what we would
adopt, as far as the first sentence goes, but
the next | am in doubt about. Tt seems
to favor letting all existing contracts to
pay in gold stand as they are, while
favoring a law preventing future special
contracts to pay in gold We believe that
money that is good enough to pay the
Government in is good enough to paw
mortgages in and that existing sneciaI
contracts to pay in gold ought to be de-
cIared void. A law should declare that all
contracts should be payable in any legal
tender money and believe that our con-
vention will so declare
This paragraph about bonds is a good,
fair declaration in part. but at the end is
n 10 M not vrxsk IA
And we demand all the paper money
which is made legal tender for public and
private debts, or which is receivable for
dues to the United States, shall be issued
by the Government of the United States
and shall be redeemable in coin'
1--WE are opposed to the redemption of
greenbacks in coin. That is one of the
troubles now. Greenbacks are used to
pump gold out of the treasury 1t is an
other way of maintaining the gold stand
ard. Money should be INTERCHANGEABLE
and not redeemaole in any other kind ex-
cept at the option of the Government. As
whole the financial question is not COW
cred completely and satisfactorily.
"The whole tariff plank doesn't mean
anything except that the Mckinley bill is
denounced, and we are not with them in
that. We demand protective tariff Init
one that will protect the laborer and pro-
ducer and not the trusts. The plank
doesn't say anything for the Wilson bill.
1t is dodge. it is insincere and it doesn't
express any party attitude.
The income tax plank might mean
anything. We demand a constitutional
amendment, if necessary, to establish a
graduated income tax.
This labor plank IS peculiar thing.
1t talks about. preventing the importation
OF foreign pauper labor but imported
cheap labor is not necessarily 'pauper'
labor. Like the rest of the platform, it is
loose stump speech instead of declara-
tion OF principles. 1t doesn't demand the
restriction OF foreign immigration. Pau
per labor doesn't mean anything. The
plank doesn't pledge the party to any
thing and is merely written to catch the
eye of the people.
The same paragraph says regarding
railroads: we demand the enlargement
of the powers of the Intersy ate Commerce
Commission and such restrictions and
guarantees in the control of railroads as
will protect the people from robbery and
oppression That Is meaningless. 1t
doesn't say that rates should be lowered
or the water squeezed out of stock. The