The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-04-15

| held office III the treasury De
partment when | lived in Wash
ington on the Avenue yesterday.
mad heard that his head was in danger
from the guillotine, and l said to him:
Are you here stillf>
| Yes" he replied, ";ind damn STILL"
| His answer tells the spirit Of silence
that broods over most Democratic officials
who want to stay in. They are so still
they are afraid to have political thought
| except in an acre lot. If they want to
stay in, they do well to be still. Even
| then the petty prosecutions and petty
| talc-tclling against them by their fellow
clerks will give them almost more annoy
| ancc than the place is worth. Otfice-hold-
| ing is not all Il dream, though the regular
pay and light work make it very entic-
| ing and alluring in these Mckinley hard
| times.
To come back to the political outlook.
| ! had IA talk last night with an Ohio Dem
ocrat who knows as much about the polit-
| ical situation as any man III the country.
| He said that in the recent election in
Ohio in fifteen towns of $4,000 inhabl-
| tants the Democratic gains completely
wiped out the Mckinley ajorities in the
| last election. If the same ratio of gain
| is applied to the entire vote Of the State,
600 in Ohio. This shows the revulsion
of feeling that is seen in McKinley's own
State. We are dead certain to beat
Hanna" he said. land send Il Democrat
| to the Senate next year"
Senator Jones, who is in correspond
ence with Democrats in every State in
the Union, says that there are many
Democrats who voted against Bryan
| last year who have told him that they
will be in line hereafter. He told me of
certain distinguished Kentuckian who
fought Bryan in 1896, who had said to
him: Il am done with the whole business.
see that we were all wrong and ought
to have stood by Bryan. l am going to
come back, and hereafter you may count
me Il silver Democrat" This gentleman
told Senator Jones that there were many
others who felt the same way, but would
not yet avOw it.
The Senate officials feel safe They
may have to go in December, but until
then. they will hold on to their jobs.
The Republican party is regarded here
as utterly discredited and defeated.
There is but one thing that can give
them Il chance of success, and that is
a foreign war And the bondholders are
afraid to let the politicians help in Il
war.
People" said an intelligent independ-
ent editor in this city, talk about the
growth OF the silver sentiment in the last
two months That's fool talk. There
has been some growth, but not much.
The sentiment was here in 1896. 1t ex
pressed itself at the polls. but money
bou&ht enough judges of elections to
change the result. There was enough
corruption of the election officers in Ken
lucky. illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri,
West Virginia and California to change
the result. The silver men do not need
o make converts. They already have an
Hverwh@lming majority of the voters.
IA.y need TO take steps to get their.vOtes
honestly counted. That is their problem"
And then he spoke the gospel truth.
Not only do all the Democrats | have met
here honestly believe that Bryan was
elected, but some Republicans will ad-
NIT on the square that it was Hanna s
money that put Mckinley in the White
House.
Senator Pritchar has done exactly what
this paper has said all along that he
would do, to-wit, recommended no one
for Judge and left it to the Attorney
General and President to select a man.
He has written a letter saying that he
will be satisfied with either Purnell or
Robinson. Some Republicans say that
Robinson is not really in the race, but was
brought in to kill off Purnell. and make
| it easier for the Southern Railway to
name Price or Boyd But, as it turns
out, all the candidates have FASTENED to
assure the Southern Railway Of fealty
and loyalty. and it is satisfied that none
other will be named. The people have
nothing whatever to do with it. Their
representatives have less. The corpora
tons let Pritchard press the button;
they do the rest. Though he has recon-
mended Purnell and Robinson, and asked
for an Eastern man, Pritchard does not
want an Eastern man. If he did, he
would press ONE Eastern man, demand
his appointment and get him. If one
should be appointed now, it will be evil
dence that the Southern Railway thinks
it dangerous to name one Of their known
utt