Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1898-01-26
BRYAN osrsA rLAvso.
tChicago Times-Herald.l

tCnlcago Ifmes-Herald-l
The New York Journal prints a
signed editorial, three columns long,
over the name Of its chief editorial
writer, Arthur McEwen, entitled "a
Bryan Democrats View of Mr..
Bryan" Among other pungent
things Mr.. McEwen says:
''As a Bryan Democrat have to
confess that l grow weary of Mr..
Bryan And this is important, be-
cause l find myself In a constantly
increasing company. With these
other Bryan Democrats l am coming
to believe that he is not large enough
to-be the leader of the cause which is
known by his name.
He 10 showing narrowness, or
Irrational obstinacy, either Of which
should be detrimental to his ambi-
ton and must be hurtful to the I'm
mediate prospects of the movement
he represents. The persistence with
which he clings to l6 to ]. as II that
were not only the solitary tenet In
the democratic creed, but the axis of
the revolving cosmos. betrays either
Mr.. BryaD's incapacity to compre-
bend Organism or a dogged disposi-
ton that refuses to ackno wledge
what Is presented to his eyes and
those Of every other intelligent man
In the country, whether for or
against the Chicago platform of the
new Democracy.
"a mining camp that should rebel
against a cheating faro bank and
then content itself with changing the
color of the chips, while leaving the
box and cards In possession of the
dealer to go on with the game would
have fiattering likeness to Mr..
Bryan.
What reason is there In sense,
what reason in sane politics, why
Mr.. Bryan should stand ON Is to 1,
and, speaking as the head of the
Democratic party. say: He that is
not for me in this is against me"?
|. "The Democratic platform of 1896
demands 16 to 1. But there is moth
ing divine about platforms that they
should be the same yesterday, today
and forever. Democratic platforms
have altered ere now. One of them
pronounced the war to be a failure.
Gettysburg was the answer to that,
and the next platform took cogni-
zance of the answer. at
"Mr. Bryan may, II he chooses,
stick like an oyster to the rock of 16
to ], but the stream OF the new De
mocracy will not be stationary for
his sake, nor for any mans. Bryan.
ism is a bigger thing than Bryan.
And Organism will continue to grow
whatever Mr.. Bryan may do"
These utterances are highly signi.
place they represent the editorial
views of the only influential news
paper i'm the east which advocated
the election OF William j. Bryan and
indorsed the Chicago platform upon
which he stood. That the New
York Journal had seeded from the
Bryan cause has been known eveI
since the reputation of the 16 to-
fallacy at the polls; but that journal
never before has made an open stand
against the peripatetic statements
from Nebraska.
Mr.. Hearst's NewYork paper claims
to be and aims to be soundly Demo
cratic. 1t Was the recognized organ
of the Tammany forces in the recent
mayoralty campaign, and may fairly
be regarded at present as the officia
mOuthpiece Of Croker and his repre-
sentative, Van Wyck. This deser
tiOn Of the 16 to l plank therefOr'
means it's abandonment by the domi
nant wing of the Democratic forces
in New York. 1t means the repudia
tion OF Mr.. Bryan as a Democrati
leader. 1t means that the Demo
cratic politicians of the east-th
shrewdest, the craftiest, the mos
far-seeing men of their party-hav
decided that the presidential battl
of 1900 must be fought upon othe
issues than free coinage at 16 to
1t means that the wise men of tn
east know a corpse when they Sc
one.