The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-07-12
WIS II 'uuGGED, MSp
SOME PEOPLE THINK The PLAT
FORM WAS TAMPERED WITH
AT KANSAS CITY
SOME PLANKs WERE OMITTED
Belief Held by Some That the Docu-
ment Was Not Fairly Treated
While in the Com
mfttee.

ed like that of the Republicans at Phil
/ adeIphfa- George Fred Williams, of Mas.
/ sachusetts, and Mr.. TiIlman, who put
/ Inc document in the shape in which it
was reported to the convention. and Mr..
! Aetcalfe, editor OF the Omaha World
Herald, who carried the original COPY as
prepared by Mr.. Bryan, give reasonable
explanations for everything that was
omitted, and Mr.. Bryan himself now de-
/ clares his satisfaction with the document
| as it stands
1 Various explanations have already been
] made for the omission of the Income tax,
/ put there were Others in the original draft
! prepared by Mr.. Bryan whose omission
| Is quite as significant. 1t has been charg-
| ed that every utterance that tended to-
| ward socialism was stricken out by the
! committee on resolutions at the urgent
request OF members Of the national COM
! m1ttee, on the ground that ii would be
| impossible to raise campaign funds If
/ they appeared. 1t has also been alleged
that the income tax. the government own
| ership and other socialistic p1anks were
| thrown overheard in order to quiet Sen
! ator Hill and other conservative men,
| bers of the convention and avoid a fight
upon the floor. Mr. Metcalfe and Mr..
| Williams declare in most emphatic terms
| that no such reasons were advanced in
| the committee, and they do not believe
| they were even suggested
There are contradictory statements re-
gardfng the omission of the income tax
paragraph Mr.. Williams and Mr.. Met
| cafe say that 1t was stricken out because
it was included in the old Chicago plat
! form, which was reafflrmed Others say
/ that the platform as prepared by Mr..
! Bryan contained a clause which read as
follows:
I'VE hereby reaf1rm our faith In the
| justice and constitutionality of the in
come tax and condemn government by
injunction"
One story Is that when the committee
read Mr.. Bryan's draft for the first time
| the secretary, Mr.. Metcalfe, made brack-
cts with his pencil around every clause
! that was objected to by any member Of
the committee. They were passed over
for the time being, with the expectation
that the committee would return to their
discussion, but the debate upon the silver
paragraph lasted all night, and when that
was disposed Of the committee was ex-
hausted and adjourned without consid-
ering any other topic. Mr.. Tillman, Mr..
Williams and Mr.. Metcalfe were re-
quested to revise the manuscript and put
it into shape, which they did, but the
copyists, seeing the income tax paragraph
| in brackets, supposed it was to be left
out That is as good an explanation as
! the other and probably as near the truth.
Mr.. Bryan was very much put out at
! the omission Of the income tax and gov
| eminent ownership paragraphs. The
! newspaper boys at Lincoln say that the
| first and only time he showed any tenn
per or disappointment over the action of
! the convention was when he read the
! platform in the morning papers and no
! ticed that some of the points which he
| considered vital had been left out He
| sent several kilograms on the subject,
| and had a talk with Senator Jones over
| the telephone, but Jones had to refer
him to Metcalfe, who did not make his
explanation until he returned from the
convention. By that time Col Bryan'S
temper had subsidized, but everybody who
has had an opportunity to talk with him
on the subject agrees that he was very
much disappointed
The original paragraph charging a Sc
| cret alliance between the United States
and Great Britain as written by Mr. Bry-
an was very much more positive and di-
/ rect than that which appears in the plat
| form as adopted. The latter does not
make the charge direct, but says; eve
1 especially condemn the fllconcealed Re-
| publican alliance with England" The
| referendum paragraph and the govern
| ment ownership plank, which In the orig
4 mat platform were prepared by the anti
| trust league, were both direct and COM
! prehensive In favor of the ownership and
| operation of interstate railways, tele-
graphs and telephones by the federal gov
eminent. 1t also declared in favor of the
| Swiss method of requiring all laws and
! public acts of congress to be ratified by
a vote of the people before they were to
become effective. All this was left out,
! and the words, eve favor direct legis-
lation wherever practicable" were insert
ed No reference to government owner
ship whatever was made.
The foreign commerce paragraph, if 1t
had been adopted as written by Mr..
Bryan, would have given the Republicans
| fine opportunity for ridicu1e, for it de-
| clared that eve condemn the Republican
policy of seeking trade with foreign ma
lions with hands full of blood at the can
mons mouth" When that clause was
read to the committee Mr.. Williams call
ed attention to the extraordinary picture
! 1t conveyed to the mind. and touched
| Tillman's sense OF humor. He JUMP ed
/ from his chair and strobe to the middle
4 of the floor, with his hands outstretched
| and held together like a cup, shouting,
f'Whe ever heard of a nation going
around with a handful of blood to buy
/ anything Of a cannon?" Mr.. Tillman's
way of presenting the matter was so lu-
| dicrous that the entire paragraph was
stricken out, and Mr.. Williams inserted
the phrase 1--WE favor trade expansion
by every peaceful and legitimate means"
Mr.. Williams and Mr.. Metcalfe declared
that it was not considered advisable to
reiterate the inceTne-taX clause as 1t ap-
pears in the Chicago platform by itself,
| because if it was done it might be con-
| strued as depreeating the Importance of
other features Of the same platform
| which were not specifically reiterated.
/ For that reason the 16 to 1 paragraph
! was the only feature of the Chicago plat
! form so emphasized, but in making that
| explanation they overlooked the fact that
| the national bank and bank note para
graph, that which refers to government
/ by Injunction, the references to the tariff
4 and the clause favoring the election of
United States senators by direct vote of
ard the 1890 platforms.
Mr. Bryan was anxious to have the old
silver plank reaff1rmed IN its exact terms.
because it is familiar, he says, to every
member of the Democratic and Populist
/ parties. and If any change was made he
! feared that it might provoke questions AMI
| discussions, but his Intimate friends say
! that if the gold Democrats had not de-
1napded it and threatened to fight in the
/ convention. Mr.. Bryan would have Volun-
tarily modified the 16 to 1 plank. If he
| had done SO, however, after the gold
/ Democrats had made their demands, the
| T.apulists would have said that he had
| surrendered his principles; that he had
1 Welded to the clamor of the banking In
] terests of the East. and therefore 1t wa g
not possible for him to consent to any
| modification.
Any one who has seen the character of