The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1900-07-04
Democrats Are Working
In Harmony.
PREPARING FOR THE FRAY.
Contest to Determine IL the Re.
publia. Shall Live.


4
Oooeuslea nsigns WitAin Its Ranks,
ana Dasasters aaa Scandals Crowd
uDsn u - Hs,na werking Like .
Dsusn 60 Stem the Adverse Tide.
a uaPA Kneck For Joe Cannon-Mr.
Dsyan's RsuninG Mate-Bynum Gets
Aneehes Jeb - Covernor Mount
sAasiAs Tsyier.
Especial washington Letter.l
Democrats are getting together ev-
eeywhere. have positive and peculiar
evidence Of that In the circulation Of
1Aese letters. When began them two
years and a half ago. discovered that
. plain. unfrilled Democrat such as I
nm could not express blunt. unequiv.
oeal opinion upon any phase Of current
politics without offending some Demo-
cratic teuderfoot somewhere, but L
kept on expressing Democratic opin-
isns without hedging or double dealing
os mental reservation until the present
writing and shall continue to do 60 az
loag - I write or speak at all. For the
0nst year the letters have been growing
IN circulation until now they are read
~ more people than read any metro
politan daily In the land. which goes to
show that Democrats are getting to-
Gether and gIrding up their loins for q
contest tho most important In the his
tory Of the American republic. for Il il
Z contest to determine whether the re-
public shall live.
Dsnocratic Prospects bright.
But while Democratic prospects are
improving daily Republican affairs are
daily getting into worse condition.
At present the situation I'm which they
md themselves may be aptly described
as confusion worse confounded" Dis
asters and scandals are crowding upon
the u. o. Il. so rapidly that 1t requires
. lightning calculator to keep tab on
the changes which II finds itself COM
pelled to make. For instance, only
few moons ago my brilliant and amia.
BILE friend Postmaster General Smith
Of Philadelphia was q prime favorite
for the vice presiL cntial nomination.
Now, presto change, he is In a fix to
exclaim with the poet:
n 20 soon I'm done for.
What the deuce was 1cSun for
because the Philadelphia Republicans
are passing resolutions asking him to
resign his cabinet portfolio by reason
OF the Cuban scandals. When any
thing gets too bad for the Republican
ballot box suffers. rcpeaters and heel
ers, II must be awful-awful-a awful
awfully awful. VIII General Smith
resign? Not much. No Republican
was ever known to let loose of the pub
He teat except under pressure and pres
sure OF the hardest and most irl.esisti-
bic sort at that. Take General Russell
A. Alger of Michigan. late secretary of
war. as an example. He was notori-
ously unfit for the position. His army
record was disgrace. His app. mt
mcnt was an insult and humiliation to
every brave old soldier In the lard. He
was generally considered incompetent.
His department reeked with scandal
and was odoriferous with rottcnness.
During the Spanish war his worthless
favorites were showed to the front and
o0icers with splendid records and of
approved capacity crowded to the rear.
Nothing but the incapacity of the
Spaniards saved us from great disas-
ter. Soldiers wanted Alger to resign.
NJ h1 nf tl.A n
wanted him to resign. hut he cared
about as much FOR the peltings of pub
lie opinion as duck would care for a
gentle April shower falling on his
back. So he held on with the tcnacity
Of Swapping turtle until Mckinley in
self defense forced him out.
Cauaht Ira nad Company.
IL Is the same with all the rest. Ev-
cry honest man In the land proud Of
his country and jealous Of It's honor
believes that LymanJ. Gage, secretary
OF the treasury. ought To be impea chcd
by reason OF his dealings with Hep
burn and his New York bank. bur Ly.
man viii never resign until Mckinley
forces him to 60 In order To save him.
self.
The Philadelphia Republicans are
merely squandcring their energies in
passing resolutions asking Postmaster
General Smith to resign. Like the Bos-
ton transccndcntalists. they are seek
Ing the unattannblc. They are sndg-
Cling up TO the impossible.
Individually do not believe that
General Smith has either committed
any crime or winked at u In others.
He IL most agreeable gentleman, n
brilliant orator. Like Old Dog Tray,
he has been caught I'm bad company.
Any Republican company is bad from
political standpoint. but General
Smith got into even worse company
than usual. even for Republican. and
he VIII have To grin and bear the un-
happy consequences.
L., a. q