The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-07-08
DEMOCRACY'S LAST STAND.



Independence.
KANSAS CITY, July 8-"l guess we've got
about all the spread eagleism we want, said a
delegate from Wisconsin in the convention.
"Now let's find ont II we know whore we
are al"
1t was at the moment just after two men
had struggled t& the platform and deposited
a dirty yellow bust on the dry goods box pedes-
tai with an American flag thrown over II, which
stood at the right of the chairman's stand.
About half the people In the convention hall
and those at the rear Of the platform did not
know what 1t all meant The general suppo-
sition was. Of course. that 1t had something to
do with the reading Of the Declaration Of In
dependence, which was Town on the programme
AZ the star event of the day. Yet il was such
q measly bust, so cheap and altogether sug-
gestive of s~tatuary junk from n pawnshop.
| that it hardly seemed possible that II could be
seriously intended as a part Of the stage setting
for the grand tableau, Except that it was
| yellower and more strongly suggested a case
Of jaundice done in wax, 1t looked like one Of
those cheap busts that you see in barber shops
and barrooins, and which are covered with red
and blue Rahze In hot weather to keep them from
being fyblown. About half the people present
| lbu " u u u VI Ilblllt WV w biN
| were not quite sure and cried: Turn it around.
turn 1t around. let's have a look at It,"
SO one OF the men who had brought it In
slowly turned II, first this way and then that,
making It nod and bow like a Chinese man
DARN toy.
Then we all recognized the Colonel. That
old familiar gum-elastic smile could not be
mistaken, that smile which has been the night
.-.uu - IL H.. 60 fNnr ,,ara
And the audience whooped Itself wild and
bowed down TO the great 10 to l idol.
That was the stage setting for the great cul-
minatins act of the conventions opening day,
There was but one thing needed to make the
picture complete. There should have been
another dry-goods box pedestal at the speakers
left hand with a bust of the gifted Sulzer resting
upon II 10 concordance that OF the political
Colonel on the other side. 1t was enough 10
make those who were giants In the party in the
old days when a Democratic convention meant
something better than a general roundup OF
all the cranks on the continent turn over in
their graves.
And then came the reading OF the Declaration
Of Independence. This is the modern Democ-
racy's last stand. 1t has tried everything and
lost everything. 1t has run the gamut Of all
the Quackery. demagoguery and iustian and
is now at the end of the string. With the last
plank Of the Chicago platform of 1905 water
logged and sunk. the fantastic. bewhiskered
crew has now climbed on the Declaration OF
Independence as a life raft and Is drifting the
Lord knows where.
The band struck up the Star Spans!ed Ban
@'Star Spangled Banner be hanged" said an
old-line Democrat from Washington, ID. C., who
stood among the sppCtAtDrS nj the rear OF the
platform, they had better make II Chopin's
Funeral March or the Dead March in Saul They
whiskers on the brow Of that beeswax bust
there and walt for the resurrection. It's the
funeral Of the Democratic party. All there Is
10 look forward TO is the interment. and that will
take place next fall And | don't think there
will be any friends of the family left TO pass
around and view the remains,
81 am in favor OF the Declaration OF lndepend-
ence. Who in the Lords nam isn't? l am in
favor Of the Ten COMMANDMENTS, and l believe
in the law Of gravitation. But what on earth
is the sense OF making a political platform out
thing left that the Democratic party can do IN
convention assembled. OF course. at first blush
you'd think there was not. put don't know
Meantime the reading of the Declaration of
Independence was on. Al the end OF every
resonant sentence the crowd Cheered as though
1t was all the work Of their own on
It was not certain whether the committee
would turn tail on 10 to ! or not. Or course.
there was no running away from that plank.
II was fastened TO the party like a tin can to a
dogs tall and would come clamoring- after II
no matter how fast the party ran. The only
question was whether the delegates were to
stuff cotton in the party ears and pretend they
didn't know i was there. II they did that.
all there was left was to. whoop II up for the
Declar alton OF Independence and drown out
the tin-can noise. Every sentiment Of the
illustrious Jefferson brought down the house.
1t was adopted on the spot. The
Democratic party, which had stood for human
slavery and seen that buried had stood for
secession and seen that buried. had stood for
"The war is a failure" and seen that buried:
had stood for greenbackery, nat money. fifty
cent dollars. and the abolition Of the supreme
Court OF the United States; and seen them all
ground. 1t was on. a platform from which II
could not be hOoted and jeered or dubbed to
the ground.
These United Colonies" Numbered ,Secre-
tary Charles A. Walsh of the National Com
mittee, the reader. ARE and Of right ought to
Then the crowd went Wild, The delegation
banners waved and tossed wildly about, dele
gates and spectators rose TO their feet and
cheered themselves hoarse. The plaster OF Paris
Colonel on the pedestal seemed to nut on the
grim expression OF n patriot who had boldly
stated his principles and defed the tyrant. II was
a cold day for George the Third. no matter how
ehaky some of tie delegates had been on the
ticklish question: Of Disqualification. All
felt now that ther were on soft ground. They
let loose their joy with a whoor, When the
reader wound un with the sentcr"e,, WIN a
firm reliance on the protection OF Divine Prov
idence, we mutually pledge to each other our
lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.
was as though the wax figure on the pedestal
had come to lie and Tas there alylng presence