The herald., 1896-07-22
THE POpULISTS WILL FIGHT
Aud Whatever Faction Wins the Other
Fellows Will Bolt
The Prospects Seem to Promise That Bryan
Leaders VIII Control
klp6dls cfthe Road Men Take the Halls Ring
with Their Orsiory, but Their
Claims Of Strength Are
Baseless
Associated Press Special wire.

Associated Press Special Wire.
ST. LOUIS, July 21.-The Populist and
Silver conventions convene tomorrow,
the former in the hall in which the Re-
publican national convention was held,
and the latter in Music hall, where Gro
ver Cleveland was re-nominated in 1883.
Interest in the Silver convention has
been eclipsed by the bitter struggle
among the Populists over the question
of nominating or endorsing Bryan The
program of the Silver convention is cut
and dried. There is no division of senti-
ment. Congressman Francis Newlands
of Nevada will be temporary chairman
and William P. st. John, the New York
banker, permanent chairman. They
will deliver their speeches, a platform Of
a single plank in favor of the free COIN
age of silver at 16 to will be adopted,
Bryan and Sewall will be endorsed and
the convention will adjourn.
The Populists. on the other hand, are
rent and torn by internal dissensions
and the contending factions will plunge
Immediately into a fierce and deter
mined fight, which may be prolonged for
four or five days. and which, from pres
ent indications. will probably result in
a bolt, no mater which faction prevails
The heterogeneous complexion Of the
convention, comprising as 1t does. many
whose opinions on the question seem di-
ametrically opposed and who hold and
advocate these opinions with bulldog
tenacity that neither argument nor sua-
sion seem able to shake the conflicting
interests and the conditions that hedge
the situation about, would stagger the
Oldest political prophet were he to at
tempt to forecast the result with any
thing like centainty.
The Bryan men still appear to be in
control and the leaders are very conf
dent that they are in the majority. Prac-
tically all the experienced generals are
aligned with them. They have the ad-
vice and counsel Of Senator Jones and
the shrewd managers who are vigilantly
watching every point in the battle. and
able allies in the Republican silver bolt
ters and the delegates to the Silver con-
vention. They have a very thorough
organization for systematic and effective
work. Today they were reinforced by
the arrival of 500 Bryan Populist shout
ers from Nebraska. headed by Gov. Hol-
comb, $50 energetic Populist workers
from Kansas and many from other parts
of the west. They are pressing upon
the middle of the road delegates the view
that the situation presents the single
issue, Mckinley or Bryan; that the west
ern Populists insist upon grasping the
opportunity to vote on the silver issue,
where their votes will count and that
failure to nominate Bryan will split the
party wide open and cause dissensions
that will never heal. They confront the
southern delegates and scattering squads
from other sections who want to keep
in the middle of the road and have no
truck" as some Of. them express 1t,
with either of the old parties, especially
the Democratic party, with which they
have been at war.
While strong in their opinions. and vo-
ciferous in their declarations that they
will never surrender, the middle of the
road delegates are practically a disor-
ganized crowd. They keep a great deal
Of enthusiasm at their meetings, and
loudly claim as high as 400 majority in
the convention. The hotel corridors ring
with their oratory and applause of their
followers, but their claims of victory
cannot be figured out on paper unless in
the final contest those who insist upon
compromise should side with them. In
certain quarters, however, they appear
to have unquestionably gained strength
In Washington state, for instance, out
of the seventeen Bryan men who came in
the delegation they claim to have cap
tured all but two. They argue that they
have disrupted both the old political
parties, and with four more years of old
party rule they will be able to sweep the
country; Their meetings are the feature
of the convention thus far. At meeting
today some one raised the cry that a
man named Silas Ross of Buffalo was
here in the interest of the Republicans
to prevent the endorsement of Bryan,
and fight was only averted by the dis
covery that the man at whom the as
sault was leyeled was some one else
The National Reform Press associa-
tion is backing the middle of the road
delegates with all the power it,possesses
Altogether, they are making deafening
noise which, as Senator Allen says
creates an. impression Of numbers and
strength !, ''
Despite the wild claims Of the shout
ersS IL WAS apparent today. that some
Of tksjf leaders were weakening. They
were a Jfing, IN a more temperate strain,
and ya, suggesting compromises as
tie ,bssts sTaad out Of the tangle-
.cyclp,1s Davis, for instance, prepar-.
ed ., resolution which he said he would
er, leclaring that in order to defeat
Mckinley and the gold standard, the