The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-11-12
THE HICKORY ELM CLUB.
The Result of the Election No Dis
appointment-Eryan i'm History.

Take your seats, gentlemen" said the
president, land L will open this session
with a few remarks on the aspects of the
political situation. As an organization the
Democratic party is about the worst
mangled machine in this universe at the
present moment. The result of the late
election was no disappointment to me, for
1 felt as did Dave Hill and other Demo-
cratic aspirants for future political honors,
that this year would be as good time as
any to unload Bryan and popocracy and get
things in shape so that decent Democrat
could look an intelligent citizen in the
face. If 1 was asked what the most i'm
portant lesson was that We learned In this
and the last campaign, 1 would unhesltat-
ingly answer, we have learned 10 beware
OF the boy orator. If the delegates To the
Chicago convention in 1896 had taken thirty
minutes time to examine that speech OF
Bryan's after 1t was In print, wherein he
said something about a cross of gold, they
would have found there was nothing in IL,
and the party would have been saved from
the humiliation and modification of
double defeat, or at least ii would have
been able to retain its own self-respect up
TO this time.
1.-THE matchless boy orator is generally
matchless in the possession of other quail
ties that are not essential TO greatness, or
to a correct understanding of political
credit by saying that they believe he was
honest and sincere in the advocacy of the
principles of the Chicago platform, but
that does him more harm than good, since
IL has been twice decided that he was
wrong on every proposition of the platform
that he discussed The apology may help
him as long the minds of some of his
simple followers continue to be muddled on
bimetallism and other preprosterous nom
sense that he talked about in the campaign
just closed, but how will IL be when the inn
partial historian comes TO fix his status
among the political leaders of this country?
Will he have place alongside of jefferson,
Lincoln, Morton, Garfield Harrison or
Cleveland? L guess not. His history will
read something like this: And about this
time there appeared above the horizon a
young man, of good physique and great
lung power who hailed from the low banks
and shallow channel of the river Platte.
He was proud of his own constitution, but
was not familiar with the spirit of any
other. though in his day constitutions were
well understood by every citizen who laid
any claim whatever to the possession of
intelligent patriotism. In his youth he had
committed to memory the forepart of a
document then known the Declaration
of Independence, and with that in his
mouth he sought an open alliance with the
armed enemies of his government by es-
pousing their cause before the American
people. and demanding that these enemies
be permitted to destroy each other in the
experiment of conflicting tribes of bar
il
young man became popular with the ignor-
ant masses by indorsing the political here
sizes of many cranks from every walk of
life. He became the idol of faction known
i'm those days as the Peoples party, and
at the head of the worst rattle-brained
aggregation of deluded mortals which the
combination afforded, that ever marched
under the banner of fanaticism since the
respectable political party, wrong on most
things. TO rally 10 his support. and, in two
memorable contests for the American presi-
dency, was beaten and utterly overthrown
by Mckinley the first. and again by Nc
Kinley the second. The record is blurred
and uncertain as TO what became of the
young man after his second defeat but as
late 1913, just one century after the
great crime of silver decentralization, there
were old men living who claimed to have
seen him many years before in the Jolo
archipelago in consultation with the Sultan
of Sulu, advising the Sultan to throw UT
his American pension and join Aguinaldc
in his struggle for liberty on the sands OF
Luzon. Such was the magnetism of his
person when standing before an audience
that he was able to draw from the pockets
OF his admiring friends, from one TO five
hundred dollars for a speech only four
inches long. And while ii is said that he
entered politics in 1896 as poor as the prophe,
Jobs Thanksgiving turkey, he came out
of il with money TO burn.
"Such, / say, will be the impression tina,
the future historian will have of the life
and character Oh Wlll1dm jennings Bryar
as he will gather the facts from the Joke
books of the last year of the nineteenth
century. But the battle Is ever and lost
The forces of Bryan have been driven like
summer cloud to break, dissolve anc
disappear before the warming rays of ar
autumnal sun. accelerated by the pulveriz
ing effects of the unoratorical common
sense of Mark Hanna. But let not the
roistering victors Of the contest just ended
imagine for single holy minute that defeat
ends all with Colonel Bryan, for the spiri
of his followers is of that peculiar nature
that when torn out by the roots in one
field. Il springs up like Canada thistle ii
another.
Sat the next meeting we will exanin,
and inquire into the feasibility OF attempt
ing the reorganiza ton of a political part,
whose real leaders have been so long en-
tombed in enforced retirement that thei
names have become strange and unfamiliar
TO the world. We viii then decide whethel
a thing dead can be resurrected, rehabili
tated, revarnished and palmed of upoI
an unsusrecting public as thing of sours
| parts, capable OF doing duty. as IL IL has
| never seen the grave" The club adjourned
w. s. II.