The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1900-08-31
furnished by the Anarchists of Paterson,

who sent one of their number to assas-
sinate King Humbert, they will prefer
the despot, and they will be wise to do
so.
We are anti.imperialists; we are
therefore in favor of strong govern.
M t"t-strong in the city, strong in the
- o, strong in the Nation. The chief
denger of Imperialism comes from
those who would weaken the power OF
government in land where faction is
so strong and where not infrequently
the mob is rampant.
To say that the lawless and the dis
contented are generally supporters of
Mr.. Bryan is not the same as to say
that the supporters of Mr.. Bryan are
generally the lawless and the discon-
tented. The latter would be false.
The majority of those who support
Mr.. Bryan and will vote for him next
fall are self-respecting citizens who love
their country and their fellow-men.
and mean by their action to render It
the best service they can. But the for.
mer statement is true The men who
are discontinued, who think that they
have nothing to lose by revolution and
imagine that they have much to gain by
1t, who are ready to overturn our pres.
ent commercial and industrial system
| and take their chances, who are with.
out property and without the talents
and the industry to acquire property.
who desire to control the conditions OF
labor in America by means of secret
organizations neither known to the
law nor regulated by it, who both prac-
tice lynch law and glory in so doing,
who repudiate free speech and free
press in the Southern States and would
repudiate it as readily as they repudiate
free labor in Northern cities if they
could, who are impatient of law and
wish to limit if not abolish the Supreme
Court because it is hindrance to the
self.will of democracy-these men are,
with comparatively few exceptions,
Bryanites.
We repeat, emphatically, that Bryan
ties are not, with few exceptions, such
men. We do not identify the Bryanite
with the revolutionist in saying that
most revolutionists are Bryanites. But
we ask those thoughtful citizens who
honestly fear imperialistic tendencies
in this country, and who are thinking
of voting for Mr.. Bryan in order to
check those tendencies, to consider
carefully the question whether vote
for Mr.. Bryan will not strengthen
them. 1t would not be fair to say that
Mr.. Bryan has been nominated by the
revolutionists, but they have accepted
him as their candidate and they were
present in considerable force in the
nominating convention. He is the
representative of Croker in the East,
Tillman in the South, Altgeld in the
West. Doubtless he represents other
and much better men; but the classes
whom these men represent are an i'm
portant element in Mr.. Bryan's con-
stituency; and no Chief Executive in
republic is or can be independent of
his constituency. The question for the
voter is not merely does he wish Mr..
Bryan to be President. 1t is also, it is
even more, does he wish the elements
in America which are represented by
such men as Croker, Tillman, and Alt
geld to be, we will not say dominant
factors, but even important factors in
in the government OF the nation. The
danger of Imperialism would be far
greater from passing the control of the
Government into the hands of these
men than from leaving it in the hands
of Mckinley, Hay, Root, Gage, aud
Long. A Democratic reader may ask,
Why not say Hanna? Very we'll. The
danger Of imperialism from Mr.. Hanna
at his worst would be nothing compar.
able to the danger ofimperialism from
Mr.. Croker at his best. The lesson of
history is perfectly plain, that the dan
ger to democracy is always from ex-
cessive and uncontrolled individualism;
the lesson of our times seems to us
equally plain, that excessive and un-
controlled individualism in America
has as its chosen representative Mr..
William j. Bryan.