Omaha daily bee., 1896-09-05
TuE COMPANY uE KEEPS.

| THE tONPiNI HE KEEPS
Mr.. Bryan said in one OF his recent
| speeches thnt YOU can always tell q
! man by the company he keeps" II was
not lu original observation, nor was
| 1t made IN the exact language of the
| Dld maxim. but none the less It is onc
/ Of the very few things said by Mr..
! Bryan since lie went east which has
| the endorsement of human experience
| 1t Is proverbially true that Il man is
known by the company he keeps.
Applying this to Mr. Bryan, what sort
Of position does IL place him in? What
! Is the character of the mon who domi-
! natcd the convention that nominated
! him and who are now most Jealous i'll
his support? Is there any one Of them
whom the sober Judgment of the Ameri-
can people would select for any public
station of great responsibility? There
| was no one in the Chicago convention
who eXcrted greater influence than Gov.
crnOr AltGeld and probably next to him
was Senator 1illman These men have
attained some political prominence In
their respective states. but they are
generally regarded. and very properly
so, as dangerous dcmagogucs. who are
ready to inctc the people TO revolu-
tion in order to carry out their political
doctrines There are worthy citizens
unQuestOnably. who were among the
ma aiority in the Chicago convention, but
the leaders there are men whom the
A al tn In
any high position in the government
Yet these are the right-hand supporters
of Mr.. Bryan and would have his ear
and help to shape the course of his ad-
ministraton if he should he elected. He
is i'll their company now and would be
compelled to recognize them if he be
came president.
What sort of political company has
Mr.. Bryan been keeping since he went
east? Who that has been distinguished
in public life or in the councils of the
democratic party has publicly affiliated
with him? His managers invited Sena-
tor Hill TO preside ut the Madison
Square garden meeting. but that aStutc
politician declined and they had to be
content with Eliot DanfOrth, Il corrupt
and diScrcdited politician who for four
or five years had disappeared utterly
from public life. AS the New York
Evening Post says the only other demo
Mr.. Bryan were Sheehan, the Buffalo
defaulter. Mr.. Sulzer, the former Tam
many speaker of the assembly, ana
Hoy PurrOy and Jimmy Oliver of Tam
many Hail" Although Mr. Bryan was
in New York City for several days he
did not have the company of any of the
distinguished democrats of that city or
state. They kept aloof and only the
small politicians of more or less un-
savory records called upon the popo
cratic candidate. 1t is true that Senator
Hill recognized Mr. Bryan in n social
way when he was at Albany, but he
declined to affiliate with him publicly.
Whitney Hewitt, Fairchild. Bissell and
the other democratic leaders in the
Empire state did not so much as honor |
the Chicago nominee with Il perfunctory
call. 1t was the same in Ohio, not Il
prominent democratic leader in that !
state having been identified with any of
the Bryan meetings there.
What democrats of character and in |
tluence is Mr.. Bryan in company with? |
Are they Senator Morgan Of Alabama, |
EIoke Smith of Georgia, German of |
Maryland and Blackburn of Kentucky? |
These are supporting the Chicago ticket |
On the ground of its "regularity." while
heartily detesting the populistic princl-
pies Of Mr.. Bryan. On the other hand,
nearly every democrat of any distinc-
ton in the United States is in open OPP
position to the popocratic candidate and
will exert every effort for his defeat on
the ground that he is not n democrat
md that the principles he represents
ire essentially undemocratic.
Judged by his company, Mr.. William
]. Bryan appears to very little ad-