Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-06-10
He is Puzzling Some of His Faith
full Followers Now.
WILL PROVE 4 PRACTICAL POLITICIAN
Observation of His Methods Dur
ing the Last Campaign.
ANXIETY FOR NEWSPAPERS
Written for The Evening Star.

William Jennings Bryan is puzzling some
of his faithful follows. One of them In
Ohio told me he didn't know why Bryan
made free silver so prominent when he
could gain so much more by forcing The
antitrust issue to the front. Another one
said that Bryan was crazy to encourage the
recognition of Altgeld when Mayor Carter
Harrison had the Illinois democrats with
him against Altgeld. Here in Washington
a Bryanite told me he thought the silver
chief was making a mistake in not keeping
to the front his ideas of anti-expansion.
| am inclined to think that Mr. Bryan is
a better politician than most of his follow
ers. This opinion was formed during the
four months of travel with him in the last
presidential campaign. 1t got to be no.
ton among both republicans and democrats
that Bryan was kind of Ingenious candt-
date who knew little of practical politics
and whose innocence was that of an agita-
who meant we'll and did harm. That
notion still fingers. Perhaps it is because
Bryan does 50 many foolish things, or
things which seem foolish. Nevertheless L
never could understand how he came to be
regarded as an innocent lamb in the sheep
fold.
Based on Calculation.
Whatever Mr.. Bryan does 1T will general
~ be found is based on calculation. This
sometimes turns out 20 be a miscalculation,
Ohio man who wondered why he did not
drop free silver entirely does not know that
with this issue gone Colorado and the other
silver states would be surely reckoned back
in the republican column And Mr.. Bryan
will need those states even more badly in
1900 than he needed them in 1895. AS for
Ex-Governor Altgeld, while the Harrison
faction is in control of the party machinery
in Illinois, Altgeldt has strong influence
with certain elements outside of Illinois
which do not care for free silver. And re-
garding expansion, my own observation has
been that while the democrats in some
tons of the country may be against it, this
is far from the universal opinion, even
among those who are ultra free silverites.
While Mr.. Bryan will doubtless continue to
talk against imperialism he won't make
that prominent issue in the parts of the
country where expansion is strong among
the democrats.
During the campaign of 1896 everybody
VINO was with him remarked his adaptable
ty to circumstances. The Wariest old cam
paigner never avoided the rocks more skill
fully than Bryan did. He took the abuse of
Tom Watson and the middle of the road
populists Ike suffering saint, and man
aged to create sympathy for himself among
many of the populists who We're of sent-
mental temperament. AT the same time he
accepted with complacency the fusion
which made certain the sacrifice of his
running mate on the democratic ticket, be-
cause Mr.. Sewall could not have been Vice
President if the fusion had succeeded.
How He Treated Tammany.
Though Tammany was against Bryan in
'96, and he knew it, ostensibiy he accepted
the pezfunctory support which it offered. 1
never heard him say a word against the or
ganzation, but he gave encouragement to
the little crowd of New York democrats
who were really for free silver and who
We're seeking to undermine Tammany.
Now. if the movement of John 6. Sheehan
TO displace Richard Croker as leader of
TIA should succeed Mr., Rryan would
be found accepting Tammanys support.
But If it fails, Sheehan is assured that the
Bryanites in the next national convention
will give him recognition for this fight. and
Will welcome him a refOrmer That Is
practical politics, but it is not ingenious
politics. Reformer Sheehan is the leader
Sheehan of former days who was the head
of Tammany when it was neither better
nor worse than it is now. And if he should
by any chance gain supremacy in the or
ganization, there would be no unhind things
said about Tammany by Mr.. Bryans sup
pOrters.
1t will always be question whether Mr..
Bryan thought he could be elected in SO.
but he will manage to convince his sup
porters that he can be elected in 1900.
They will believe it, and probably he will,
for ! never heard of a candidate who did
not have periods of illusion in which he
felt sure of being elected. That the
case with Bryan in 1896 Most of the time,
l think, he believed that political revolu-
ton was really sweeping over the country,
and that it would sweep him into the White
House OF course he had his periods Of re-
Election and common sense, when he
the improbabiity of his securing the
jority of the electoral votes, but these
periods passed in seclusion and his
misgivings did not reach the outside world.
Took Full Credit Himself.
Bryan as candidate always gave himself
full credit for everything favorable to him
self and ignored what favorable to the
other side. He believed that the great
meetings which he held We're different from
the meetings Of any other presidential cam
paign. At the same time he underest-
mated the republican meetings and the
meaning of the popular interest which was
taken in his spectacular campaign. Almost
invariably he attributed curiosity to con-
Victiun. The tributes to the extraordinary
canvass he made and the American liking
for pluck and grit which were freely
shown by his political opponents he &C
copied as proof that he had a majority of
voters behind him. When the evidences of
popularity We're the other way he argued
them out of existence
One day while travelling through the
strong republican countries of northern
New York Mr.. Bryan seriously argued
with some OF that the rural counties
were for free silver and that they would
break loose from their republican mornings.
He had received many popular dcTaonstra-
tons and had been treated with considera-
ton mingled with curiosity by The republi-
cans. Here and there individual defec-
d
publican farmer was interviewed who an
nounced that he was for Bryan If Major
Mckinley had been campa igning up there
there would have been a good many more
democratic farmers to announce themselves
for Mckinley. for potatoes and eggs and
some other things affected by the tariff had
been making republican votes. | had been
through rural New York in previous cam
paigns and could none of the evidences
of a political revolution but after listen
ing TO Mr. Bryan argue the signs Of it, it
took several minutes in the open air on rhe
rear platform to clear my mind. He was So
thoroughly convinced of it himself that ne
argued conyinCfngly.
when He Gave Up New York.
| do not thiak that Bryan gave up the
notion of carrying New York until after his
second visit to the state a few days before
election Though his Madison Square
speech of acceptance had met with a chill
ing reception, he attributed it 20 the local
atmosphere of New York city. After that
speech he went up the Hudson into the
neighborhood of Vice President Morton's