New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-09-30
CAMPAIGN COMMENT.
TRIBUNE READERS DISCUSS
THE POLITICAL ISSUES.
WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN AS SEEN
BY A GOLD DEMOCRAT A
FARCICAL CANDIDATE
To the Editor Of The Tribune.

! Coubt'
ful IL in any other-has candidate been named fol-
the highest elective Office who so distinctly OF
an opera bouffe character William Jennings
Bryan. He rides. valiant knight. his pictur.
esque Rosinante with sword In air. striking out ir
all directions at spectres and men of straw. In
truth, ne embodies I'm his elastic opportunist creed
crazy quilt Of more fimsy vagaries and issues
than Don Quixote thought of or Cervantes
could conjure up. He Is habitually rash and not
reasonable; he is no true alternative 10 any other
Presidential choice open 10 us and he should
not be thought OF seriously by for the
place he is IN such epileptic frenzy secure.
distinguished professor in Yale College said OF
Samuel }. Tilden twenty-five years ago. when he
was planning with great industry and acuteness
20 be the Democratic Presidential standard bearer
that he ought not TO receive support, since he
showed such an uncommon anxiety be Presi-
dent" What wonder, would this professor think
Of this present candidate, IL he applied to him
such test. For five years now he has been the
most restless. running about, vocal and volubIe
person IN the country; conjuring up chimeras-
pessulist peddlng a grotesQue panacea-and leav-
ing nothing undone in locomotion and verbal vio-
lenoe to capture the coveted occupancy Of the
White House
The people OF this country however, are not con-
fined 10 Bryan and "Bryanites' to change any
thing in the present political situation that they
see a way to make better. If some of US believe
that what has been done with Porto Rico and the
Philippines can be revised bettered, we can
make the Congress that will have full power TO
FIX their status without inviting q crank 10 take
Lincoln's seat. Senators Hoar and Hale Con-
gressmen LttleAeld, Mccall and Crumpacker have
given the reasonable side of protest their voice TO
cite a few Republicans while Senator Morgan and
a considerable number Of Southern and Northern
Bryan supporters unqualified "imperialists"
IN ADDITION 10 this mxedness. the of events
which cannot be called back has made the dis
cussion Of some steps that might once have been
practical now futile and academic The question
that is just now termed imperialism" therefore,
IS partly SPILLED milk" and no picking I'D Of II
de novo at this juncture is possible It lies then
what there is Of it-across party lines Even
Mr.. Olney-who argued in March last that We
should cease TO be a hermit nation and should
have Asiatic ambitions and against our solemn
agreement. should steal Cuba too-carres two
banners.
out Of all this confusion, though one thing is
clear. There is party that wishes the Philip
pines TO govern us-that is TO be cut up into ter
g1tories first and States afterward and what IN
der acknowledged anomalous situation this
country shall eventually with them-how we
shall carry on the transition period 10 some per-
manent result-Congress alone must say If wa
want TO vote, therefore, this question at all We
only DO it effectively by voting for the Con-
gresham who holds opinions. and not for a
Presidential candidate who. in matters domestic
and known is forever wrong and obstinatey op-
posed TO all the teachings and monitons of his
tory and human experience.
This Presidential candidate was first brought to
National notice through his lurfd creation of
maudlin, meaningless metaphor He shouted four
years ago TO a convention that he had made
hysterical that You shall not press down this
crown Of thorns on the brow OF labor and cruelty
mankind a cross OF gold" This Of course
was ineffable fustian; but So also is its author
It was as much saying IF you only make the
thorns and cross Of silver or Of verbal brass and
bolster up a foreign stocked trust IT will be
all right" It was like saying 10 one trying to
feed hungry nan: You shall not give him quail
toast and pate de foe gras but YOU must give
him vastly diluted SKINNED milk End unlimited
wind"
But II Will said that in Mr. Bryan's recent elab
crate letter Of acceptance Zone Of his letters Of ac
ceptance) he mas pleaded well for putting the man
above the dollar But of what avail IS this IL you
take the value out Of the dollar and then produce
such conditions that the man who wants the dol
lar most cannot even get near the Organized skim
milk counterfeit Of it? It will be urged that he also
spoke well Of liberty, the Declaration of indie
penoence and the consent of the governed-expect-
sng, though. 10 be elected by the help of States
where the Declaration Of Independence IS thought
10 be a bundle Of impractical fancies and the con-
sent OF the governed is ruthlessly tramped upon
He has truly recited admit several columns of
uncontradicted theorems, TO which he might have
ADDED the Ten Commandments and certain mathe-
matical axioms and then. as a conclusion to all he
Rttached-as If it rightfuIIy foowed-his eroteso,a
creed. In this magnificent irrelevance he reminds
you OF Oliver Wendell Holiness Katydd Of which
the witty doctor wrote:
Thou 40 s; ssyyest s an undisputed thing
In trumping up eloquent porticos Of generaliza-
non through which he leads his hearers along to
absurd non sequiturs, he mas no competitor
his advocates are ready 10 answer But YOU will
admit ne is sincere and that he has exemplary ner
sonal morals" Let admit It, and add to this that
ne Is good neghbor and might well teach a
SUNDAY schooL Goodness is every way commend
aple' opt It Will not make a chronometer or sail q
snip. Certainly II Will sail the Ship of State
sincerity, one must remember, is largely a Mega
I'VE virtue. The insane man who thought ne was
Julius Caesar, and his comrade in the adjacent
ward OF the asylum who believed he was NanoIeon
Bonaparte were both thoroughly sincere They
Were, in fact more sure Of these fantasies than
they were of realityof the fact even that they
were inmates Of an asylum Sincerity therefore on
behalf Of dangerous falsities, is an overwhelming
disqualification. II 1t half belief only there
might come reform, while the complete delusion
has no cure.
a striking traIt-in fact, the dominant note-of
al his discourse is his steady appeal to the worst
prejudces Of men, II they have any grievance. or
some insane Jealousy, he espes II and fans the
spark into fame. No audience he ever addressed
had any idea, until he began 10 speak of them Of
me oogies they suffer from and the wrongs tbroupb
which capital and the Government are eCnetao+t-
crushing them. He never intimates 10 his heaTer.s
tells them that society and the State are in q npn
spfaey with Satan 70 steal away their rights One
Us held checkbook with an unlimited balance
nS4b11s, - government which will be good for
t uiess ne Is elected TO pay Il of with 46
cent collars. A sentence like this from one who
the business of the Government to supnort the eo
pc II Is the business OF the people 10 support the
20 a1 . Sassaao i a. Yolcng tale of secure
HIS dense ignorance OF the simplest economies.
IN DelIeI mat any cheap money will do and that
have applied, in extreme emergency Tbe opi ~
prevention 10 homcidal mob violence and public
41s9rae i; ms rank Populism. which he can by The
RISSbaDie power to appoint United States