The Savannah morning news., 1900-07-08
rHE DEPENDENCE on MIR. BRYAN.

/ THE DEPENDENCE ON MIR. BRYAN.
1 The Democrats party does not depend
upon its platform, its leaders or its or
( senization for success in the presidential
campaign. It depends on Mr.. Bryan. lie
Is trusted and relied upon 10 a greater
! extent probably than any other presiden-
/ tial candidate has been in the political his
/ tory of the country. The people without
/ regard to political Affiliations, believe In
his honesty and his sincerity, and admire
his fidelity to his convictions. He is the
one man who is able to unite into an
aggressive political army all of che various
elements that are hostile to the Republi-
can party. Voters who do not agree with
his views on the silver question, but who
believe he is right in opposing the colo
NAL policy Of the Republican party, and
voters who believe in holding on to the
Philippine Islands as a permanent posses
sion, but who approve his 16 to l idea,
Will be found marching under his leader
ship in the campaign. His influence is
so great that Democrats, Populists, Sill
Yer Republicans. and even some straight
out-Republicans, are willing to put aside
their differences for the time being, and
assist him in the effort 10 drive the Re
publican party from power.
That this is true was conspIcuousiy
shown in the Kansas City Convention.
Had it not been for the dominating per-
sonality of Mr.. Bryan, the convention
would not have accepted the report of
the Platform Committee. In fact, the re-
port would have been different. More than
three-Quarters of the convention regarded
the silver declaration as a mistake. Tho
delegates who entertained this view were
from states where votes must be gained
If the Democratic party is to be victorious.
The small minority of the convention that
favored the silver declaration was COM
posed OF delegates from states which are
Overwhelmingly Democratic, or in which
the Democrats have no chance whatever
of gaining an electoral vote, or from ter
ritories which have no electoral vote. The
great majority of the convention, how
ever, yielded to what was known to be
Mr.. Bryans wish. The action of the
Platform Committee, In shaping which the
vote of the member from Hawaii, which
has no electoral vote, was permitted to
offset the vote of the member from New
York, which state will likely determine
the presidential contest, was allowed by
the convention to stand, simply because it
was the Judgment Of Mr. Bryan that it
would strengthen the party. Such reli-
ance upon any one man was never before
seen in any national political convention.
And Mr. Bryan will manage the cam
paign. Senator Jones has been reelected
chairman of the Democratic National
Committee but Mr.. Bryan will dominate
the committee as completely as he did the
convention. He will be consulted before
any important action Is taken in any di-
rection, and his advice will be accepted.
There is no doubt that he will perform
wonders during the campaign. What he
did in the campaign OF 1896, astonished
the country. He is as strong physically
now as he was then, and he is a much
ADLER man Intellectually. He has been
a hard student during the last four years,
and is well prepared to keep the country
thinking, from now until the election, by
his public utterances.