Omaha daily bee., 1896-10-23
REALIzINn rHE RESPONSIBILITY.

REALIZING THE RESPONSIBILITIES.
In one of his speeches in Ohio Mr..
Bryan said he fully realized the respon
sibiltioS of the great office for which h
Is candidate Does the course which
paign indicate that he has a proper
realization or appreciation of the char
acter, the dignity and the responsible
ties OF the office of president of the
United Statesy Let us see.
Two days after Mr.. Bryan was nomi-
mated he said in speech at Mattoon.
ILL.,: IL have been taught to believe that
public servant was but public man
chosen for Il certain term and to do
certain public work You can't always
tell whether man will make good
hired man or not Sometimes he makes
a good hired man and sometimes he
does not" Herein Mr.. Bryan enuDciated
his conception of the chief executive
of the nation, that he Is Il "hired man,
and this theory he proclaimed in sub
scqucnt speeches. In one of these he
said that person chosen to public
office. no matter how exalted the office
or how lowly. sis nothing but II hired
man." and in another. n public servant
Is Il hired man" The motive of Mr..
Bryan in enuncating this idea is easily
understood, but it was the first time
that a candidate for the highest position
in the gift of the American people de-
sccndcd so low in the tactics Of the
dent of the republic ''hired man" and
it showed that either the candidate had
no proper conception of the character
and dignity of that exalted office or he
was willing 10 deprociate it in order to
catch the applause of the ignorant and
The thoughtlcSS. The constitution of
the United States does not make the
president Il hired man. 1t clothes him
with great and independent powers. He
Is communicating of the army and
navy; he In large measure controls the
foreign policy of the government; he
commissions all the officers of the
United States; lie has the veto power,
and he is charged by the constitution TO
take care that the laws be faithfully
executed" The trainers of the organic
law evidently did not regard the posi-
tiun of chief executive as that of
"hircd man" and it remained for the
p0pGcratic candidate for that high Office
10 thus designate its incumbent. No
better illustration could be given of the
shallowncss and the dcmagogic nature
of Mr.. Bryan.
But what sort of realization of the
responsibilities of the presidency can n
candidate for that Office have who
travels about the country seeking votes
by appeals to sectionalsm and to popu-
lar passion and prejudice, by melting
class hatred and arraying one element
of the people against another! The
president of the United States is the
chief executive of the whole people. He
should have preference for no section
OF no class. The present attitude of Mr..
Bryan and his party is one of hostility
TO ii section of the country and to Il class
of the people. He makes war on tine
east and on the employers of labor. He
sows the seeds of discord and revolt.
Can such man be taken seriously when
he says he realizes the responsibilities
Of the office for which he is "A candidate?
Furthermore, Mr.. Bryan approves the
attack made in the Chicago platform on
the federal judiciary. Does this show
that he realizes the responsibilities of
the executive Office? He denies the
right of the president to take care that
the laws be faithfully executed" in Ger
tain contingencies. How does this com
port with his professed realization of
presidential responsibilities?
Mr.. Bryan was in public life long
enough To learn something of the du-
ties of the president of the United
States. but that lie has an adequate ana
proper conception OF the exalted char
acter ana the weighty responsibilities of
that Office may Well be questioned in
view of his course and utterances in the
campaign. These show that he has n
narrow and shallow idea of the office
and necessarily suggests that if elected
to it he could hardly do otherwise than
allow 1t TO deteriorate to the low stand
ard expressed in his characterization of
the president as a ''hired man."