New-York tribune., 1900-07-04
THE "REpUBL1C OF OUR FATHERS


The intimation has been made that Mr.. Bryan
by proxy, Of cOurse-will signaliZe to-day ut
Kansas City with a rhetorical appeal for the
maintenance Of the Republic of Our Fathers"
That instead Of the Gross and Crown" bust
ness will be thus made the keynote Of the
Demo-Pop campaign. The date of the Conven-
ton was aptly chosen for such a purpose-the
day when the minds of Americans naturally
revert to the founders Of the Republic. 1t may
be- however, that such appeal TO patriotism
will prove no more effective than did Mr..
Bryan's appeals to distorted religious senti-
ment four years ago. Americans may no more
enjoy seeing Washington and his colleagues
dragged into the Populistic and Repudiationist
ruck than Christian men did seeing the emblems
of their Saviour's passion transformed into
political parade transparencies
1t will occur, moreover. to the judiciOus
observer that a thing is not to be maintained
unless it actually exists. If it has gone ont OF
existence it must be restored n prerequisite
to maintenance. The Bryanesque demand must
logically be, therefore, for a restoration Of the
Republic TO the state in which it was founded
by the Fathers" Well they founded it as
Union Of thirteen States and outlying territory
running west to the Mississippi River. To
restore the Republic of Our Fathers" there
fore. Mr. Bryan must lOp off from the Union its
entire frontage on the Gulf and all the States
west of the Mississippi. thus putting Nebraska
from which he halls, and Kansas City, where
his Convention is being held, out of the Union
Are we to understand that such is his desire?
The Republic Of Our Fathers" was moreover
| one tolerating and practising human slavery.
| The supreme Father Of His Country" was
| himself a Shareholder, and that Sage Of
! Monticello Of whom Mr.. Bryan poses as a rein
| carnation Does Mr. Bryan mean to re-establish
that peculiar institution" and to repeal the
! Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution?
Oh. but exclaims the adolescent orator, we
| cannot, of course, undo what has actually been
| done. Besides the Fathers themselves looked
! for a certain degree Of progress. Precisely.
Then what is the of talking about undong
| what has actually been done under the Treaty
of Paris, in Porto Rico and the Philippines?
What is the use of talking about undoing the
long established principle that n dollar shall
contain one hundred cents? And who is to set
bounds to the course of progress? 1t is a law
of matter and Of nature that progress, once
begun, ends only with decay and death. Our
National progress has begun. It began under
the direction of the Fathers themselves. with
their approval. To declare that it shall now
stop and that there shall be no more change
no more progress. no more expansion, would be
to decree that life shall give place to death
Moreover, that would be to repudiate the prn-
ciple of the Republic of Our Fathers" for that
Republic was one of progress and expansion
and must this remain if their ideal is to be
maintained. Wherefore, the whole we are
! inclined to think that the Republic of Our
I Fathers" will prove no more successful as
campaign cry than did the Dollar of Our
Fathers" years ago.