Omaha daily bee., 1896-07-16
ALL THINK BRYAN A WINNER
Silver Leaders Gathering at St, Louis Agree
on that Point.
POPS MAY SPLIT OVER ENDORSEMENT
George Kccncy Expects the Ncbrnsknn
to Garry New York aud Snys
lie Has II Chance In Every
State. ..fi

ST. LOUIS, July l5.-It becomes more and
more evident each day as the time for the
meeting OF the popullst national convention
draws near that the members of that party
Will clash over the Endorsement of Bryan
for president. Letters from all over the
country are pouring in, some dcnouncing
and some demanding Endorsement. and
everything indicates there is a decided diff
ference Of opinion. 1t is the belief Of .some
populists here that the party is near the
danger line of a split over the question.
They express the hope. however, that some
definite plan OF action agreeable to all can
be decided upon at the meeting OF the ma
tional executive committee here next Satur-
day. Many OF the ~populist leaders are await
ing the coming of the free silver senator's
who bolted the republican convention. Upon
the course they take will depend in a meas
ure the action OF the anti-Bryan following.
If the republicans come out openly for Bryan
and the Chicago platform the opposition
may not make much of a fight.
Chairman Taubeneck and his assistants
are busy completing the preliminaries and
prepared for the big rush of populists ex-
pected Saturday. Mr.. Tauboneck still de-
clines to discuss the movement in favor of
Bryan and Sewall. His invariable statement
Is: II have nothing for publication"
The biggest fight neg. to the one indors-
ing candidates will be that over the platform.
A very strong wing of the party, headed by
Chairman TaubeneCk. Sergeant-at-Arm Nc
Dowell, Chairman Roselle of the Missouri
state committee and many OF the members
of the national committee. proposes to make
a fight for the adoption OF the Omaha plat
form instead OF an Endorsement OF the Chi
cago declaration. In discussing the probable
action of the populist convention In the mat
ter of indorsing w. j. Bryan for president,
Mr.. ]. T. Flynn. who is n delegate-at-large
to the American bimetallic convention from
California, and also editor of the Populis,
OF San Francisco, said: There may be some
doubt about what the convention will do,
but there is none about what the populists
themselves Will do. They will vote for
Bryan almost to a man. The fact that Bryan
stands upon a democratic platform. and
especially such a platform as was con-
structed at Chicago, is no disqualification.
There is very little difference between the
Omaha platform and the Chicago PLATFORM"
KEENEY SIZES THINGS UP.
Hon. George Keeney, general organizer Of
the national silver party. with headquarters
in New York City, is here to attend his
party convention. which convenes next
week. 'Thore has been for months, said
Mr.. Keeney. "a bitter contest between the
representatives of plutocracy on one side and
the middle classes and daily wage earners
on the other, and it is going to be fercer
from now on till the election. 1t has been
among my duties to labor among the last
named classes, and l think they will win.
l have made a careful canvass of the whole
state, but put in most of the time in New
York City and Brooklyn. In northern and
western New York the agriculturists and
viticulturists are for free silver. irrespective
of party. just as surely as the same classes
are in the west and south. Mckinley and
Hobart cannot come down to the Harlem
river with 10000 majority. They would need
at least 100, 900 to stand any kind of a
chance Of carrying the state. 1t did not
take me long in mixing with the labor or
CARNATIONS to find they were as much. If
not more, bitterly opposed to Wall street
than the farmers of Kansas. They were
ready to rally to any standard that would
give them a glimpse Of freedom and a
promise of better times. From them | went
TO the smaller mercantile class. | found
them of the same mind, but afraid to say
so, because the moment they showed their
hand they knew their stores would be closed
by the plutocrats from whom they obtained
credit. ! went to the organization known
as the young democracy, which polled 1000
votes in the last election, and | laid our
cause before them. Tammany was trying
to crush them. They saw their opportunity
and assured me they would act independ-
emily of Wall street domination. 1t was
under their auspices and that of the silver
organization, composed of all elements, that
| got up the meeting for Senator Tillman
at Cooper union. There is not a state in
the union in which Bryan has not a good
fighting chance, and there must be no hest
fancy in waging the war everywhere. He
will be met by volunteers all along the
line"
Ex-Attorney General w. H. Standish of
Grand Forks. N. D.. chairman Of the silver
party OF his state, is here to attend the con-
vention of his party. Il am quite sure
Bryan will carry North Dakota, whether he
is endorsed by the st. Louis convention or
not. The people out there read and think
for themselves, and they are out to win