Birmingham state herald., 1896-01-18

possession of the highest offices in the gift of the people, is it not strange that
 there are no avowed aspirants to succeed
 MT Cleveland? Does the political his
 tory of any state or nation tell of a sin
 gle instance in which the political party
 winning the last contest had no leader
 ready to avow his willingness to contest
 for the continued supremacy of his par
 ty? Such appears to be the condition of
 affairs just now in the national demo-
 cratic party, as is made plain by the fol lowing account of the meeting of the na-
 tional democratic executive committee
 wired the Atlanta Constitution by its special Washington correspondent:
 Tn the history of the democratic party
 there has never been meeting of it's
 national committee such as that
 which tonight selected Chicago as it's place for holding the next national democratic convention The fight over the place of holding the convention was decidedly interesting and close. It was not until the twenty-ninth
 ballot that the committee selected.
 'The session of the committee was re- markable in that during it's entire session neither in the committee room nor about the Hobbies of the Arlington hotel was
 there the mention of a single name as a candidate for the presidential nomination If there are any candidates they are not here. Neither are their friends here. It Is the first time in the history of the dem ocratic party that such a thing has oc- cured.
 Tn the whole broad land there is not one man who has announced himself candidate. Even Mir Cleveland, who has
 been so often spoken of for fourth nom- nation. took pains to announce to sev- eral committeeman who called upon him
 that he would not be candidate. Whit ney, Stevenson and Hill have taken par ticular pains to silence their friends, and even Morrison has retired"
 There must be some prime cause for
 this state of affairs. Certainly it cannot
 be charged that congress is to blame,
 because 1t is known of all men that the
 president has had his way. If congress
 is to be justly censured al all it can only be for permitting the president to have his way so long as that way ran counter
 to the party platform and the judgment
 of a large majority of the democratic leaders, senators and representatives. Had the president, after attempting to | force his policy on the party and the l country, failed in the effort and this state | of affairs had followed, it would have | been but common justice to have saddled | the blame on congress, but such was not the case.
 | When congress assembled in extraordi- | nary session it developed that the policy | of the president was entirely different | from that of large majority of the demo- | cratic leaders, senators and congressman. | A determined effort on the part of the | president resulted in the enactment of | such measure as he assured the country
 would cure the evils complained of, and | thus it has gone on, the president having | his way, until now the time is upon us | when we must again appeal to the people. Strange as it may appear, we,are told that we have not a man in the great par ty which four years ago swept the coun- | try who is willing to avow that he wants | to serve the party by becoming the stand | ard bearer. Is 1t not remarkable? Is it | not still more remarkable that we are told by men and newspapers that the test of democracy in this state-the test of eligibility to hold office in this state-is to be the full, free overwhelming and un- | conditional indorsement of the adminis- | tration, which has brought the party to | this point-a point where no man is l forthcoming who expresses a desire to be nominated as it's candidate for so high
 an office as the presidency of the United States.
 Time will tell whether the obsequies of the national democracy are to be con- ducted from Chicago
 To use the language of MT. Gladstone, as he applied 1t to the Venezuelan agi- tation: "Is not our hope in the exercise of common Sense'-the old-fashioned common sense that was wont to control the masses from Jackson up to MT. Cleve- land?