The San Francisco call., 1899-09-01
DEMOCRACY IN OHIO.

I Ohm R. MCLEAN of Cincinnati has at last
81 attained the Democratic nomination for Gov
- ernor of Ohio and thereby attested his suprem-
acy in the party 1t remains to be what the VIC
tory will bring him. and the prospect is not promising
to his hopes. Democracy has been known before
this to profit by Republican years for the purpose OF
nominating men in its own ranks whom it wished to
slaughter, and it is likely that among the who
are best satisfied in Ohio just now are the Demo
Gratis whom Mclean has betrayed in times past and
who have long waited for chance to knife him.
During the last twenty years there has been hardly
an able Democratic leader in Ohio who has not been
made the victim OF the personal jealousy or antag-
onism of Mclean The men who remember his
treatment of Thurman and of Pendleton, and who
have any respect for the memory OF those favorlte
sons OF Ohio Democracy, hardly be expected to
support him with any fervor it, indeed they support
him at all. 1t is not improbable, indeed, that the
friends OF those men, well the friends OF Cleve
land, will mete out to Mclean in the course OF the
campaign the of treatment which he gave to other
Democrats when they the nominees of the party
The platform and the candidate present one Of
those specaces OF inconsistency with which later-day
Democracy appears enamored. The platform ap-
peas to the masses against capitalists and the nom
nee is one OF the most aggressive millonaires OF the
time, and whose millions have been most cor
rupty earned. That he will expend them freely in
the campaign is perhaps the chief cause of his nomi-
nation but the old farmers OF Populistc ten
denotes who really believe the corruptons OF the rich
running the country will not take kindly to mil
onare candidate find any satisfaction in voting
alongside the corrupt elements whom his money can
buy
Outside the nomination OF Mclean the most no
table feature of the work OF the convention is the out
spoken declarations in favor of free silver and BRYAN
in the platform The first plank declares: eve
heartily reaffrm the entire Chicago platform of 1906,
and we especially emphasize the financial plank
therein, and we continue to demand the free and un-
limited coinage OF silver and gold as equal in primary
money at the rate of 10 independent of all other
nations in the world" The second plank is equally
unequivoca and even more terse: "Honorable Will
liam J. Bryan retains our confidence and we demand
his denomination in 1000"
The rest OF the platform is made up mainly Of
plattudes concerning trusts, imperialism extrava-
gance corruption, subserviency to Great Britain and
subserviency to political bosses-al of which are Of
course in due form charged upon the Republican
party With those planks in the platform the voters
will have little to do. The real issues are to be Bry-
anism in national politics. and in State politics the per-
sonality Of John R. Mclean Ohio sometimes goes
Democratic in off years but such thing is not ke1v
to happen this time. Unless machine politics and the
corrupting influence of money have more power in
Ohio than in any other part OF the Union the con-
test is going to be walkover for the Republicans o.
something very much like it.