Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1900-07-04

party. Bryan took up the cause ol
tariff reform and fought losing fight.
When he became convinced that free
silver was right, he preached it in bis
congressional district with his party
organization and the odds of battle
against him. He ran for the United
States senate in 1894 with his party's
state convention endorsement. If he
had trimmed little on free silver, the
Cleveland gold Democrats would have
turned the scales in his favor. But he
didn't trim ; he lost. When Bryan
left the volunteer army of the United
States in '9S, his party had been op'
posing the ratification Of the peace
treaty with Spain. Bryan opposed
his party and favored the ratification
of the treaty. A desperate man would
have gloried in fighting the treaty.
Today silver sentiment is dying in the
west. Bryan would not lose an
electoral vote by abandoning silver.
He would gain thousands of franchises
in the east by such course. But be-
cause he believes that the free coinage
of silver is right, wild horses cannot
drag him from his stand.
All this is true. The author claims
to be pursuing his study from strict
ly non. partisan standpoint, and the
foregoing indicates proper apprecia-
tion of his subject; but the generally
admirable article is not without preju'
dice. The prejudice is clearly indi-
Gated in the following:
But if, on the other hand, Bryan's
presidential ambition should be graft.
fed, the country would have start
ling spectacle. 1t would be like that
of southern gentleman in swallow
tail and a choker; but one generation
removed from his periwig suddenly
shunted half century ahead and
iammed into the oak bottomed chair of
railroad president. The gentleman
of the old school would try honestly to
do his duty. But he would have such
different things to learn and such an
incapacity for learning them, that he
would cut many fantastic caper, and
in the end make mess of it as thor
oughgoing rascal would. Mr.. Bryan,
to run the presidential Office as Jack
son ran it, might make many impor-
tant and expensive personal discover.
les. He might discover that the world
has moved since Jackson's day; that
the present phase of industrial evolu.
ton is not a conspiracy against God
and man; and that an intelligent con-
science is a surer guide than an ear
trained to catch the voice of the peo-
pie.
Just how Mr.. White wants to be
understood here we are not exactly
sure. He tells US in his article that
there is no more reason why the peo-
pie should elect an orator as president
than there is that they should elect a
fiddler. We agree in this; but Mr..
Bryan is much more than an orator.
In all of his hundreds ofspeeches, each
one different from the other, it is diff
fcult to find statement that is not
filled with wisdom that will bear the
test of time. If Mr.. White assumes
that to be successful president man
must have the ability to temporize
with machine bosses and other schem-
ers, he is correct in assuming also that
Mr.. Bryan is not man who can do
this. If he assumes that president
must necessarily be controlled by
powers behind the throne, he is again
correct in assuming that Mr.. Bryan
will not do. Mr.. Bryan will never be
by any one. He has too
much brains and wisdom of his own.
If he is elected president, he will be
and when he comes to doing
what he knows to be right, he will do
it, if necessary, in the face of the op.
position of his party or the whole
American people. But no one need
fear that Mr.. Bryan is behind the
times. That he is like Jackson we
have no doubt but he is purer and
abler man than Jackson ever thought
about being, and even more competent
to handle the problems of this day than
was Jackson to handle the problems
of days gone by. 1t is quite possible
that he may prove too large for the
presidential chair; but too small
never.