The times., 1899-01-08
QUO va ryan?


questions to William Jennings Bryan. 1
would write to him direct II | knew where
a letter would reach him. He ia moving
| about so much. however. that II is Impcs
sib!e to keep track of his postotiice address.
/ am therefore constrained to avai! myself
! of the courtesy of The Times | trust that
Mr.. Bryan will overlook any informally in
my request for information and make Il
| prompt reply through the medium Of the
press think that this much is due me,
! as | am one of the Democrats who sup
| ported Mr.. Bryan Loyalty in 1896 and did
| everything within my power to land him
| in the White House Probably shall sup
| port him in 1900 If he should again be the
| standard bearer OF the Democracy. but
| that is another matter. | am not a bOiter.
| don't take any stock in that sort of thing.
! but it seems to me that the humbest
worker in the ranks has Il right TO his
opinions and to give vent to them when
the spirit moves him in that direction.
, What | would like to ascertain from Mr..
Bryan first is. by whose authority h. pre-
sumes TO speak for the Democratic party
and formulate its policy? He may hold
not know of the existence of anybody who
land for his own sake | hope that he does
! which gives him the right to lay down the
law TO the members of the Democratic par
! ty and say what they shall and what they
! shall not do. But for the life of me | do
moi know OF the existence of anybody that
has the power to grant Mr. Bryan such a
commission. | hope that Mr. Bryan will
pause long enough in his wanderings to
throw some light upon this subject. II is
a mat er upon which the Democrats of the
| country have Il right to demand to be in
formel. If Mr.. Bryan is merely speaking
! for himself which I strongly suspect to be
the case. that may be of absorbing interest
to Mr.. Bryan, but it does not necessarily
concern the other six or seven millions OF
Democratic voters of the country. Far be
II from me to deny TO Mr.. Bryan the right
! TO hold and give expression to any opin-
ions that he Conceives to be right He is
a free American citizen and has never
! been convicted of any crime so he is en-
Titled TO all the rights and privileges guar
anteed to every American citizen by the
Cons titution of the United States
| What l object to most seriously is the
| apparent attempt on the part of Mr.
Bryan to foist his own views on the Demo
cratic party and make it responsible for
| them. He is undertaking. in a word. TO
| commit the Democratic party to a Ger
| tain policy year and half in advance
| OF the meeting of the Democratic national
| convention. Whether Nj Bryan's policy
! be wise is not important He has
! no authority that | know of, and no right
! TO undertake to make a platform for the
/ Democratic party for the coming Presi-
dental campaign. That is a matter that
! belongs to the next Democratic national
/ convention and | think that It can safely
/ be left to it.
! Does Mr.. Bryan think that the fact
that he was the Democratic candidate for
President in 1896 confers upon him the right
I 10 speak for that party upon all national
! questions? II so he was never more mis-
taken in his life. On November S, 1896,
Mr.. Bryan again became private citizen.
He took his place in the ranks and was
entitled TO no more consideration than
/ hundreds OF other conspicuous members
Of his party.
Mr.. Bryan may be nominated again
for President in 1900, and he may not.
/ The future is a closed book No one is
permitted TO look into H. Mr. Bryan has
no right, however, to be going around the
| country posing as the Democratic Moses
and trying to commit the party TO a GER
tain line Of policy on expansion or any
other subject Who knows what the is
sues may be next year? Who can tell
Why should Mr. Bryan try TO handicau
himself or whoever may be the Demo-
cratic standard bearer in 1900 by tying
the party up today on questions that may
not figure in the contest? Assume for the
sake of argument that the mass of the
| Democratic voters are opposed to exDan-
| sion today. Conditions may change SO
radically within the next twelve months
that they will be all the other way and
then where viii Mr.. Bryan and the party
be If committed i'll advance TO the anti
expansion side?
The successful party leaders OF the pas,
save not undertaken to lead public
opinion; they have endeavored to ascer-
tain its direction and then 20 with it
That was Mr.. Lincoln's style and it is
Mr.. McKinleys 5. Mr.. Bryan's idea seems
to be that the Democratic party must
think as he thinks. Ever since the c.ose
of the campaign Mr.. Bryan has acted as
d, if he had some divine right to guide and
direct the Democratic party. | have yet
to learn Of an instance where he has
thought it necessary or important 10 CON
suit with any one of the many Democratic
leaders Of the country-mcn. for instance
who were prominent in the councils of the
Democratic party before Mr. Bryan was
ever heard of. His policy has been to re-
tire TO a closet or some private place and
hold communion with himself. After {.
few hours or days. it does not matter
which Of deep thought. he emerges and
hands out a illumination. Here gentle
men, he says is your policy. This is
what you must live up to whether you like
il or not. If some bold person ventures
to enter a protest and suggest & doubt a.
10 the wisdom of the programme outlined
by Mr. Bryan he strikes a dramatic at
titude and-'This is the true policy.
know / am right You may not be able
to see it today, but ten years from now
the wisdom OF my plan will be yindicatcd
Must we wait ten years and live on husks
and crumbs in the meantime Just to vim
dictate Mr.. Bryan's ideas Admiuistra-
lions change in this country every fouI
years and issues change with them Ii
is all right for individuals to rave and talk
about the vudicaton that posterity will
accord them, but political parties must
live in the present. They are controlled
and dominated by the drift OF public sen
timenJ Of the day. 1t can be OF no ma
terial benefit to party to be always eter-
naily right for instance IL il keeps
ten years or one year ahead of the times.
| II spedt. IS have said, from the stand
point Of democrat who supported Mr.