The age-herald., 1899-08-27

Washington, D. C., August 26.-Nowhere in the United States does there seem to be any definite agreement as to what will be the one great rallying cry of the demo- cracy in the campaign of 1900, which is so soon to open. Is free silver to occupy the background in order to give way D antitrust, anti-militarism and anti-im- perialism blanks? This is a question that is being asked from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the Canadian line to the Gulf but up to the present time no one has been found who has been able to fur nish the solution to this great political problem. But this is not the only question that is troubling the political leaders in every state.
 wise to renominate William J. Bryan or to select some one of the many bright men who stand. ready to lead the party to what they hope will be a great victory. To de- eide this question is as difficult task as it is to determine upon the nature of the platform to be presented to the people. It was only a few weeks ago that the active work of the campaign opened in Chicago. but already a careful canvass of the coun- try is being made by the direction of the members of the national committee. and when this is completed the leaders of the
 
 how matters stand and will be able to judge with a certain degree of accuracy whether or not their hopes of victory are justified by the existing circumstances.
 In this study of the situation I shall avoid the controversial and shall simply describe the conditions as they exist to- day. leaving the reader to figure out from the statistics given the relative chance of either party or of any candidate.
 That Mir Bryan at present has control of the democratic party there can be no doubt. The recent action of the national commit tee settled this question but that he fs neither certain of renomination nor posi- tive of victory is equally evident from his willingness to let the platform makers do their work unaided by him provided they will agree to keep free silver well to the front While MT Bryan controls the ma chinery of ths party, however. there is sui ficient opposition to him to justify him in regarding his position as somewhat uur3 certain.
 For instance, there Is Senator John IT. Morgan of Alabama, himself presidential possibility of no mean importance. There never was more ardent advocate of the free coinage of silver in congress and yet he is unqualified in his opposition to MT. Bryan. "What we need" he says, lis not an extremist We require man who can say, When my party is able in congress to pass a free coinage bill I will not veto it, but will permit it to become law man who will make such a promise and. who is capable of living up to it will be elected but a man who is known to be a radical on the silver question will certainly suffer defeat To succeed in 1900 1t is only neces- sary to find a man of honor and common sense who will agree to be guided by his party. After he has been placed in the white house it will be a comparatively easy matter to elect our free silver men to congress If this is done we shall see a united democracy that will sweep the north, east. south and west"
 Senator Stephen M. White of California is another silverite who does not look with confidence upon MT. Bryan's nomination. At the same time he is an anti-expansion- ist in the broadest sense and he looks upon the present course of the government as most disastrous innovation. For years Senator White has been power in politi- cal affairs in the far west and 1t is we'll known fact that his support of a candidate is not to be despised.
 Ex-Governor Horace Boise of Iowa is another presidential possibility but no one who knows him will suspect for mo- ment that his present opinions are based upon selfish foundation. In 1896 he came out for Bryan and if at the present time he does not believe that he is the strongest possible candidate that does not imply that he has weakened in his support of the f- question will be the chief plank in the will be given to anti-imperialism. He Is slaughter in the Philippines and he be-