The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-10-20
BY W. ] PEELE

In an age OF little men seeking place,
pelf and power, it is rather remarkable
that any convention of politicians
should have stumbled upon such a man
as Bryan-that a NIB Of pertisans
should have nominated @ o partisan.
IG is equally remarkable that his nomi
nation by one faction of the silver
forces did not preclude and prevent his
nomination by the other. It must
have been providential that such a man
should have been trained for such a
time, and that he should have been
discovered and proclaimed leader By q
class Of men who never 6csed SO wisely
before. So strong is this man and the
cause Of which he is the embodiment
that all candidates, State and local,
gain strength by tieing themselves on
20 his boom. Few, il any, officers in
North Carolina will b elected who dare
openly to oppose him and his
Talk with any local Republican nom!
nee you please, and even when to h0td
the endorsement of his own party ma
chine he feels obliged to vote for No
Klnloy, he will privately apologize for
so doing and will tell you that person
dLiy he is in favor of 0 mo
ey, easier debts and lighter taxes They
are bound to talk this way, or they
could not get the support Of n white
man in ten. The silver campaign has
already won two thirds Of the voters
in North Carolina and they know it.
Col. Dockery, for a long while the
idol of his party in North Carolina,
will have none Of Mark Hanna's boo
die, and despises his system of finance.
Does anybody suppose that his infu
ence and arguments carry no weight
with his former associates and admir-
ers7 Does anybody suppose that there
is no conscience and no reason among
the hundred and fifteen thousand vo-
ters in North Carolina who still have
left in them sympathy with the Repub-
lican organizations I know the ma
chine leaders claim that the average
Republican, white and black will vote
as he is directed by the machine. If
this is 50, then their organization is as
bad, as co~nscienceless, as corrupt and
as dangerous as the Democrats have
always charged. II the votes of one
hundred and fifteen thousand free cleo.
tors car be cast according to the die
tates of a dozen or more bosses or
committeeman, or according to the die
Gates of n nonresident boss in con
troll Of the dCz n, then such votes and
voters are a serious menace to civil
liberty. I am sorry to be obliged to
confess that very many of them can
be SO controlled, but / believe there are
a considerable number of them that
can and will be Influenced by men like
Dockery. In my alignment even many
negroes, having voted with the Popu-
lists two years ago and won the only
victory they ever helped to win, will
vote with them egain for their can.
didate Bryan in spite of their
bosses. In my Judgment M Guth
RE will poll twenty thousand R9publi-
Can votes, most of them negroes, too.
The Republicans, with Gil their money,
C snnot hold their own voters in lice,
and even with the aid of the goldbug
Democrats, they will poll about one
hundred and fifteen Thousand votes for
Marx Hanna's electoral ticket, with a
possibility Of one hundred and twenty
five thousand. In my Judgment, there
is not nov much danger Of electlng
the gold trust electoral ticket in North
Carolina, though / do not say this to
put anybody Go sleep. Watch and pray
and vote. I wish, however, to make
one remark in this connection, which
some Of you may have cause to re
member hereafter: That professed
silver man who falls to vote and work
for the cooperation Bryan electoral
ticket, as now constituted in North
Carolina, will find himself bankrupt
in political influence after the election.
From him the moral political and pc
cuniary support Of the great masses OF
the silver voters will be forever with
drawn.
I do not believe that Mark Hanna is
now making any serious effort to car
ry this State for Mckinley. I have in.
formation that he did try to prevent
! electoralco operation and ha oing failed,
practically gave up the game, though
he may be keeping up enough show
to divert attention from his reaI
battle. The probability is that he sees
that Bryan will be elected President az