Evening star., 1896-07-22
Opening the National Convention at
st. Louis.
GOV. STONES ADDRESS OF WELCOME
Senator Butler Made Temporary
Chairman.
PLANS OF The BRYAN MEN

| ST. LOUIS, No, July 21.-It is not at all
clear that an Endorsement by this populist
convention would not hurt Bryan as much
| as 1t would benefit him.
In spite of the intense opposition on the
part OF the southern populists to any sort Of
association with democrats, IL looks as IL
Bryan would be ultimately nominated But
| something more than his nomination is de-
sired by those who are seeking TO strength
en- the free silver ticket What the demo-
Gratis want is populist votes, not popuIist
| ideas; what they are in danger of getting
| out OF this convention is quite as many and
varied populist ideas as votes. The nomIna-
ton OF Bryan by this convention, in order
| TO be OF any value TO him, must be made
| soieiy on the grounds Of the Importance of
| the silver issue and the necessity of LAYING
| aside dlftere1ces on other matters for the
| ume being, in order to unite their forces
In TINS one cause. A nomination based on
| the grounds that Bryan is a good enough
| populist for this convention or n nomina-
| ton coupling Bryan's name with the eight
| cen hundred and odd different theories OF
government and social and political philo-
| sophy which finds support here would SIM
ply be great burden placed upon the
| shoulders of the democratic candidate and
would probably cost him quite as many
| votes as he would get by It.
1 Therefore the sole consideration is not
the naming Of Bryan 10y the populsts, but
the manner of the Endorsement has got to
be considered also. 1t would have been an
easy matter any time to arrange with the
| middle-of-the-rcad" men to make BRYAN
their candidate If they were given the
privilege to make the platform, fix I'D the
| organization and put one of themselves on
| the tail of the ticket Silver would occupy
but small space in the platform they
| would give him TO stand on, and IL would
| ngure IN still smaller way in the cam
| paign II this were done. There would be
so many other things of a striking and
| novel character TO attract attention that the
| public would speedily lose sight of the
| question of mere coinage.
| This sort OF situation is just what the
| silver popuiists want to avoid. They want
| Bryan nominated. but they want his nomi-
nation to be made without any embarrass-
| ing surroundings. The two things must go
together or the nomination is not worth his
having, and he could not afford to accept 1t.
The Situation Described.
The situation here is not that of fight
| on the part of democrats to capture the
| populsts and a struggle on the part of the
| populists to keep from being captured. The
| democrats do rot directly figure In the
| fight. In this contest the Bryan men are
populsts, iust the opposition are popu-
| lists. The difference between them is that
| the opposition is composed chiefly of radi-
| cal and eccentric elements, while the others
want to eet the issue that is directly be-
fore them. leaving new theories to be test
| ed in the future.
The contest in the party is really as to
1
! of paramount Importance. Those who hold
| that 1t is favor the uniting of all the silver
forces to elect Bryan. The other wing
| cares less for silver than for many other
things, and many of them do not believe in
silver coinage at all. They would not sac
| rifice the smallest personal interest to in
| sure the free coinage of silver, but they
| would burn at the stake, singing song of
| human salvation, if their martyrdom were
| in the cause of some of their theories Of
| government. Nest of them are earnest
| and devoted men, each in his peculiar way
| and to his own individual case. Ninety per
cent of them are sincere In their desire to
relieve mankind from misery and make the
| whole world blossom like a rose. Most OF
| them have no doubt that this can be done
and that they know how to do it.
| Bryan Men Practical Politicians.
| The Bryan populists are the practical men
| and experienced politicians. What they
| want is to strike blow at what they call
| the gold power" and they willing, IL
| this can be done, by uniting with the demo-
| Gratis, to avail themselves of the opportunity
| and to trust to the future to deal with the
| democrats as they would with an adver-
| sary at the end of truce. The populist
! party has two adversaries in the two old
| parties: if they can combine with one TO kill
| the other they trust to fight il out with
| the remaining adversary afterward This
is the purely practical populistic view. The
| men who for silver first and foremost
| above all things else are in favor of uniting
| the silver forces on one candidate, no mat
| ter by what party nominated.
The PopuIists' Mistake.
1t was by a miscalculation that the popu-
| lists got themselves in the hX they are now
in. The bulk of their party, leaving the
| delegates here out of consideration alto
.gether, are for the free coinage of silver,
and it is realized even by the most radical
| that they cannot well afford to have the
| sponsibiity put on this convention for the
| defeat of free coinage. Their mistake was
| in fixing date for this convention after the
| other two parties had acted. They are COM
| planning Of this lack of judgment. The
| idea in fixing the later date was that neither
| the republicans nor the democrats would
| indorse the free coinage of silver at their
| national convention; that there would be
| bolt of silver men from both the democratic
| and the republican conventions, and that
| the populistic convention, uniting later
| could adopt q free coinage plank, nominate
| a free silver candidate, and then gather in
| the boilers from the other conventions and
| all other silver men. This was Senator
| Marion Buffers idea. Ii was not thought
possible that the silver democrats could
| control the Chicago convention against the
| influence of the administration. II turned
| out otherwise. The democrats were the
| first in the field, and the popuists find them
| selves confronted with the proposition that
I they must make common cause for silver OF
have their good faith questioned.
No Nearer Agreement.
In the meeting of the convention this
| morning the warning elements wer nd
| nearer ar agreement Than before. The
! wrangling through the night seemed In.