The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1901-07-21
CThe Commoner.l

tine COmmOnef.D
The Ohio Democratic convention was the
! political event of last week The plat
form adopted, and reproduced en- page five
of this issue, made a strong presentation
of some of the issues but failed to reaf-
firm the Kansas City platform.
1t began with municipal and State is
sues and the handiwork of Mayor Tom L..
Johnson was evident in the terse and en-
phatic declaration of Democratic princi-
Piles so far as as they apply to local
questions The necessity for municipal
reform is an urgent one and there is
sound Democracy in the plank demanding
that the people be given an opportunity
to vote on questions involving the grant
ing or extending of a franchise.
The plank which declares that "Steam
and electric railroads and other corpora
lions possessing public franchises shall
be assessed in the same proportion to
their saleable value as are farms and
city real estate" is both logical and just,
but it is likely to offend the very people
who were to be conciliated by an evasion
of the silver question
The plank against passes is all right
but will not make votes among the So
called conservatives. The platform urges
tariff reform.
The antitrust plank would have been
stronger if it had reiterated the Kansas
City platform on the subject. The free
list and the prevention of railroad dis
examinations are good so far as they go
but they do not go far enough. Whenever
trust can export its goods to other coun-
tries it can live here without any tariff.
Something more than free trade is neces-
sary to such case. Absolute fairness in
railroad rates is desirable, but even this
will not make private monopolies impos-
sible. The Kansas City platform suggest
ed a complete remedy-the only one yet
proposed--and it is to be regretted that
the Ohio convention was so prejudiced
against the last national platform of the
party that it ignored remedy endorsed
by more than six million votes.
The plank condemning Imperialism crit
icizes the Republican policy without point
ing out a remedy. Here again the failure
to reaffrm the Kansas City platform has
weakened the Ohio Democracy
The convention endorsed the proposition
to elect senators by the people. The
labor plank is excellent but those who
wrote the platform failed, either inten-
tionally or unintentionally, to mention
government by injunction, the black list
and arbitration. A reaffrmation of the
Kansas City platform would have cover
ed these points also but having failed to
reaffirm, the convention should have been
careful to touch on all the important
questions.
The convention not only failed, but re-
fused to endorse or reaffirm the Kansas
City platform, and, from the manner in
which the gold element has rejoiced over
this feature of the convention, one would
suppose that the main object of the con-
vention was not to write q new platform,
bat. to repudiate the one upon which the
last national campaign was fought.
Gen. Finley was right in insisting upon
vote on his resolution endorsing the
Kansas City platform, but he made a
mistake in including in his resolution a
complimentary reference to Mr.. Bryan.
Mr.. Bryan is not candidate for any Of
fee, and a mention of him might have
been construed by some as an endorse
ment of him for office. The vote should
have been upon the naked proposition to
endorse the platform of last year, and
then no one could have excused his aban-
Comment of Democratic principles by
pleading his dislike for Mr.. Bryan. The
cause ought not to be made to bear the
sins of an individual. Mr.. Bryan will en-
dure without complaint any punishment
| which the Democracy of Ohio may see fl
| to administer to him, but he does no