The age-herald., 1900-10-18
BRYAN'S INFLUENCE.

BRYANS INFLUENCE.
 From the Memphis Commercal-Appeal.
 Whether William Jennings Bryan will be
 our next President or not is a question for ] the ides of November to settle. Wise | Democratic computators present figures
 demonstrating the certainty of his election
 and the impossibilty of his defeat On the
 other hand, wise Republican computators
 present figures showing the certainty of | McKinley's election and the impossibility | of his defeat. These wise men base their | conclusions on reports sent in by other
 wise men stationed all over the country | What these segregated wise men know
 may be great deal when aggregated. Of
 one thing we may feel comfortably cer- ] tain, and that is that one side or the other must be mistaken. Both can not be cor l rect; and one must be correct. Hence 1t Is
 fair to assume that the political knowledge 1 possessed by these wise ones Is like
 Rabelais' religion: "A great perhaps" | Ordinary patriotism and faith in the cher | ished institutions of the country will cause
 the average citizen to feel that in spite of l the predictions of the wise ones and In l spite of the magnificent pleadings of the | spellbinders, the next President will be the
 choice of tn people as represented in the
 electoral college. The people have a way of emphasizing their preferences when they go | to the ballot box.
 There is a good deal of speculation as to | what Bryan will do should he be elected
 to the Presidency. Roosevelt, with the persstency of Jonah at the walls of Nine | veh, continues to ask Mir Bryan whether
 he will pay the obligations of the govern
 ment in silver or in gold and Wall street
 is holding its hand to its ear, funnel-fash-
 toned, strainig to hear Bryan's reply. Com
 mon sense would seem to teach that the
 exigences of the occasion must rule | Bryan is no more a prophet than any one | else, and he can not read the future in | the stars. StateSmanship means the po- l tency to seize questions and conditions and
 dispose of them as they arise. Patriotism
 means doing the best that can be done un- | der the circumstances. It is conceivable
 that government obligations will be paid
 in silver, or in greenbacks worth 40 cents
 on the dollar. A big war would compel
 this. A war with England France or | Russia, or with all three, would soon leave
 the national treasury bereft of both silver | and gold. Uncle Sam would then have to
 do what he has done before in years of
 calamity He would be compelled to utter 1 his l. O. Us and hawk them about for l whatever they would bring. Such an even- 1 tuality is not probable, neither is it im-
 possible. All this for the future
 l
 l Bryans influence has been benefeent in | that he has caused the masses to think for l themselves, to form their own conclusions
 and to take an interest in politics. He has l preached down to the level of the plain people in language they could understand. | Other leaders were wont to exploit their er- I udition by soaring above the heads of the people, or by attempting to raise the masses l to the level of great questions. Bryan brings | great questions down to the familiar level l of the people, expounds and explains them, and so simplifies them that they can be | generally understood. Before the free silver | propaganda was inaugurated the masses
 were but poorly instructed, and they .at- 1 tended political campaigns only to see the | crowds. The evils of the tariff or abstruse l constitutional questions were the leading
 questions exploited in the south, but the | masses never grasped these questions firmly l or understood them; and, to make the dose | palatable it had to be seasoned with lib- | eral amount of abuse of the Republicans. | In the north, where the benefits of the tariff
 are enjoyed, the beauties of the tariff were | the themes of the orators; and, to hold their I crowds, these spellbinders had to wave the
 bloody shirt. Bryan has elevated political
 discussion and purified it.
 l From a sociological point of view Bryan's 1 influence has been vast and greatly good. | Others, combining. have brought about civil | wars, but he has impressed his personality l upon the masses and moved them, single l and alone, as no one else has done. His con 1 tinued war the misuse of aggregated wealth has given pause to the rapacity of many corporations, and his pleas for the common people have aroused the masses to higher conception of the dignity of labor.
 Robespierre and Marat were revolutionists;
 Bryan, while following these at some dis
 tance back, is an evolutionist.
 The Mexican who is sat tisfied with a milk goat and a sack of meal, and who dreams his life away in front of his adobe hut, makes no progress. The dissatisfied are the l advance-guard of progress. They lead the way. They may bruise their hands cruelty, or destroy themselves, by beating against environments, but they never retreat. The
 masses who create all wealth and who il slip from them into the hands of a few in the wealth centers need to be aroused and to be made dissatisfied with their lot, and Bryan is doing this. He talks about the great inequality in the distribution of wealth. the hovel of the laborer who pro-
 duces everything. the palace of the multi
 millionaire who produces nothing, who merely manipulates and takes from others, and he is causing people to think, and thinking people will soon be a progressive people. Thought precedes action. For the betterment of society, MT. Bryan Is doing a great work. His influence has been good in the past and We may assume that it will be good in the future.