The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1900-03-17
Mr.. Bryan's Chances.
From the washington ID. c.) Post Administrai

From the Washington ID. C.) Post Administration
Assuming that Hon. William J. Bryan
will be the Democratic nominee this year,
and there seems little doubt of it at the pres
ent moment, let us cast his horoscope, so far
as that may be possible in the lights before
us. The campaign is close at hand. Within
four months both tickets and platforms will be
before the people. We all recall the circum
stances of 1896. What will be the situation,
and what the prospects, in this year of our
Lord, 1900?
Four years ago Mr.. Bryan stood for what
many regarded as a propaganda of anarchy.
The silver plank in the Chicago platform,
which was, unfortunately for the Democrats,
made the most conspicuous and threatening
feature of the conflict, enabled the orators
and organs of the capitalistic combinations of
the country TO proclaim that Bryan's sue
cess meant dishonest money, "the degra-
dation of the dollar and the robbery OF
the horny handed son of toll What dread
full pictures were drawn of the consequences
of Democratic success, it is now impossible to
adequately describe. The wreck of enterprise
and industry, the ruin of the poor man, the
exterminatiou of agriculture, and the dawn Of
hell-born carnival-these were only few OF
the grewsome prospects dangled before the
eyes of the ignorant and timid voier. News
papers Banted about tie fifty cent dollar,
stump speakers brayed and howled over the
infamy of paying the laborer only half bis
wages. Pensioners, persons depending upon
limited annuities, all the swarms of the
salared, were told that they tottered on the
brink of penury. Never was there so simple
and so sharply defined an issue, and never
was the opportunity for blatant and insensate
outcry so inviting. We all remember how it
ended
But what a difference nowi The Republi-
cans themselves have deliberately removed
the bugaboo of free silver from their property
room. The enaction of the law fixing the
gold standard as part of our national policy
makes silver coinage impossible for at least
six years to come. No manufacturer or
capitalist or great merchant or employer need
be frightened into heavy contribution to the
Republican campaign fund Were Bryan to
| be chosen President next November, and were
Democratic House to be elected simultane-
ously, the peril of free silver, like that of free
trade, would be no nearer or more real than
it is at this moment. There would still be a
majority in the Senate capable of preventing
either calamity, and no power at the disposal
| of the Executive to overcome the obstacle.
| Those two grisly nightmares no longer throng
the atmosphere No one outside of nurseries
and asylums can now be frightened by these
buckram spooks.
On the other hand, what strength has the
Republican party gained to offset this loss oi
weakness by the Democracy? Very little. we
fear. The splendid and successful conduG ol
the war with Spain has been sadly clouded by
the scandals of mismanagement and favor
itsm, which attended that glorious consum-
nation. The course of the administration
with reference to Cuba and the Philippine;
has lost the party many stout and potent
friends. The strange policy recently adopted
toward Porto Rico has outraged practically
the entire country. The Hay Pauncefott
treaty has stil further impaired Mr.. McKin
ley's prestige, and the rumored purpose of the
President to compel its ratification will, If i
should be realized, not only discredit the gov
ernment, but bring contempt and odium upor
the party. In a word, the situation, as j
seems to us, is far more favorable to Mr.
Bryan and far less so TO Mr.. Mckinley than i
was four years ago.
What will happen within the next si'
months, il is not for us TO propbesy. We dea
with the facts as they are al this moment. Ii
our opinion, the Republican party has los
ground to an alarming extent within the pas
three months. Its best friends and ablest ex
ponents have not been able to explain the be
trayal of our national integrity involved in tn
Hay -Pauncefote treaty, or to defend the ba
faith and cruelty involved in our treatment Q
Porto Rico. We say nothing of the stupic
mismanagement in Cuba and the Philippines
the ugly and appalling suspicious current wit
reference to both them and Porto Rico
Having no certainty, we speak no word. Blu
we assert, without fear or contradiction, tina
the administration is daily losing strength oil
all these scores, and we know, for certainty
that thousands of men who, four years ago
regarded Mr.. Bryan with terror and aversion
now consider him favorably as the lesser o
two evils.