The Robesonian. [volume] (Lumberton, N.C.) 1870-current, 1897-06-16
"The Passing of BRYAN. y
Washington Post.

we note III a few Southern
cuckoo newspapers certain out
bursts of fabby jubilation over
what the editors are pleased to
call 1.-THE passing of Bryan. /"
Some OF these editors still retain
the Federal Offices to which Mr..
cleveland appointed them four
years ago. Others are patiently
waiting for the Cleveland millen-
mum four years hence. Bryan is
their bugaboo, and his passing"
IS the vision which irfadiates their
fatuous sleep.
Has there been a passing of
Bryan?" Does Mr.. Bryan stand
lower today in the esteem and con-
hdenee, the affection of the Dem
ocrat1c masses than he did on the
day before election last Novem-
Der? Defeated candidate though
he be, has he lost the smallest
traction Of his influence over those
who followed him through the
brilliant and dramatic campaign
OF 1896? We look in vain for anv
evidence to such effect. Nowhere
III the whole political prospect do
we find the slightest indication
that his star has waned. We see
Mr.. Cleveland retire to private
life after twelve years of leader
ship, eight of which he spent as
PRESIDENT Of the United States,
and, save the little band of featb-
cred ones who roost and twitter
in the Reform Club of New York.
we detect no symptom of sorrow or
regret in the ranks of the Democ-
racy- But Bryan, the standard
bearer OF few months, the de-
feated chieftain, with no record of
domination to commend him.
with no background of successful
leadership and no atmosphere of
Official power and prominence
Bryan is in the mouths of all
Democrats; his counsel is solicited
IN every State; his views and
wishes are consulted hourly; the
whole scheme of Democratic &C
ton for the future revolves about
him. Defeat at the polls seems
to have only endeared and
strengthened him. He arouses
enthusiasm as surely and as DOW
erfully as he did eight months
ago. He is, in all genuine re-
spects, more truly the head of the
Democracy than he ever was be-
fore.
Nothing in the career of this
extraordinary young man is as
astounding as his present relation
to and influence over the party or
ganlzatlon of which, last July, he
was made the candidate and rep
resentative. When, at the Chi
cago convention, he first sprang
into prominence; when, elevated
IN an instant to dazzling attitudes
and environed with the inexplica-
BILE magic of popular enthusiasm,
he seemed almost a demigod;
even then he was a less wonderful
product of political evolution than
he IS today. The sudden fervor
OF party gathering, the mystic
rlous magnetism that transforms
men into d6votees, are not uncom-
mon things in our experience.
But the man who passes through
the Disseminating process of a
campaign, who endures the scru-
tiny and the contact of hundreds
OF thousands of his fellow citi-
zens, and who, most trying test of
all, encounters defeat eventually
the man who emerges from all
these trials with his dignity unim-
paired and his influence intact
this man is not to be dismissed
with quotation or eliminated by
an epigram.
Has there been a "passing of
Bryan?' Not yet, dear little
William J. Bryan is a larger, a
more imperious, and more force
full quantity in the Democratic
equation of the present than Mr..
Cleveland and all his personal
followers put together. We dol
not endeavor to explain it. We
simply recognize the tremendous,
overshadowing facts.
HSpeak not at all, in any wise. -
saws Car1yle s9ti11 Won hove co,,, |