The Van Buren press., 1897-06-12
sIhe Passing Of Bran

FROM The Washington POsi-
We note in few Southern cuckoo
newspapers certain outbursts Of habby
jabilaiion over what the editors are
pleased to call the passing Ct Bryan %
Some Of thsss editors still retain the
Federal Offices 70 which Mr. Cleveland
appointed them four years ago. Others
are patiently waiting To- the Cleveland
millennium four years hence Bryan
Is their bzgatoo. and his passing Is
the vision which irrzaizt=s their
tztaoas slesp
Has theFs bsen a passing Of
Bryan3s Doss Mr Bryan stand lower
today in the ezteez. the confidence. the
affection q tn Democrats masses than
b Iii ou the day before election last
NgTember7 Defeated e21diiz.e though
n q. has = Iosr thz smallest frzczian
g rs InsEzzcs cTz- thgse Eh9 t1llozzd
Azu tkruzgh TIE brilliant and dramatic
Campaign Q. 1897 We I9ok = vaiz tsr
zzy ezi3@zes . such e=-ct EoEA=z=
IN tie uEelz political VFuzvsct = E=
Ezd th= slightest izdicz-i1z thai -
star hzs Tan4d- We se= Mr. Cl=F=-zzs3
retire 70 private life zttzz Twelve T=.k-s
u leadership, eight Q. Ehsca = szez1
as president % the UHl-sl State LII.
save the little b41d q f7zs1-r=.a azls.
who rOost and tEftrer = IL 2ssa--
Clzb 0f New YORK. re z=tzl7 H
symptom u soE-oE . regT=1 = IL
ranks Of the Democracy. BIZ B-Tz1.
the standard bearer 81 few lg1z1s
the defeated ehieftzin. with u record
Of domination 70 commend hin. with
no background q successful leadership
and no atmosphere Of official power ard
prominence-Bryan Is IN the mouths q
all Democrats his counsel Is solicited
in every state Ms views and wishes are
consulted hourly the whole scheme q
Democratic action for the future
reyolves about him. Defeat at the polls
seems to have only endeared and
strengthened him. He arouses en-
thusiasm as surely and as powerfully as
he did eight months ago. He Is, in al
genuine respects. more truly the head
Of the Democracy than he ever was
before.
Nothing in the career Of this e1
traordinary young man is as astounding
as his present relation to and influence
over the party organization Of which,
last July, he was made the candidate
and representative. When, at the
Chicago convention. he first sprang into
prominence; when, elevated in an
instant to dazzling attitudes and en-
yironed with the inexplicable magic Of
popular enthusiasm, he seemed almost
demigod even then he was less
wonderful product Of political evolution
than he IL today. The sudden fervor Of
a party gathering, the mysterious
magnetism that transforms men into
devotees, are not uncommon things in
our experience. But the man who
passes through the Disseminating
process of campaign. who endures the
scrutiny and the contact of hundreds Of
thousands Of his fellow citizens, and
who, most trying test Of all, encounters
defeat eyentnally-the man who
emerges from all these trials with his
dignity unimpaired and his influence
intact-this man is not to be dismissed
with a quotation or eliminated by an
epigram.
Has there been a passing Of
Bryant Not yet, dear little cuckoos.
William j Bryan is a larger, more
imperious, and more forceful quantity
in the Democratic equation Of the
present than Mr.. Cleveland and all his
personal followers put together. We
do not endeavor to explain it. We
simply recognize the tremendous
overshadowing fact.