The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-01-29
HILL REDlvIvUS.

I
the Democrats, of Texas 70 come TO
that State and speak on current and
future politics means more than a
personal compliment, Or the satisfac-
ton of public curiosity. Texas Is, or
has been, the stronghold of Bryan.
and the twice-defeated Nebraskan still
counts his friends there in multitudes.
But Texas Democrats, like those else
where, indulge no illusions about a
leader who has twice carried them Into
a Waterloo. They will not follow him
again and they are looking for some
one of equal or greater capability
who stands chance to win and re-
store the Democracy to a power which
it has held for but eight years out of
forty. There is no use in turning
again to Cleveland and risking the
issue of third term; and of the posi-
BILE leaders that remain, David B. Hill
is the most able and distinguished,
Mr. German not excepted.
Twenty years ago Mr.. Hill was a
lawyer of Southern New York, who
had won some local prestige at
the bar, but had enjoyed no political
experience outside the boundaries
of his State, and but little within
them He was cold, calculat-
ing man who never drank
or smoked or cultivated a knowledge
of society. One would not have
thought of him as a party favorite,
but when CLEVELAND came to the front
for Governor of New York in 1882, Mr..
Hill was picked out for second place
on the ticket because OF his geograpn-
zeal location. That was the year of
the Democratic tidal wave when Cleve-
land got $4,000 ma jority..s To the sur
prise of his party Hill got 197, coo, ma
jority and by grace of that success he
began to figure as a rival of Cleveland
for Democratic State and National
leadership.
His growth in the sphere of affairs
was rapid. On Cleveland's election as
President, Hill filled his unexpired
term as Governor. In 1885 he was
nominated for the ful11 term and elect
ed by a great vote. Three years later
close of his term he became United
| States Senator.
| Mr.. Hill had been called peanut
| politician" and the phrase stuck. But
| in point of fact he was no more of a
peanut politician than was Martin Van
Buren, or Henry Clay, or Samuel J.
Tilden 1t did not take him long when
in the Senate to dispute Germans
! primacy, and before his term had hall
ended the Senate regarded him as one
/ of its three or four ablest men. He
was adroit in debate, quick in strata
Cleveland influence was against him
| however, and he could not hope to gel
| a Presidential nomination from his
| party while Cleveland was available
! for second term. So to keep his
hand in he ran for Governor again, but
he chose a Republican tidal wave year
| for the experiment, and was simply en-
| quilted. Since then he has emerged
| but once from retirement, and that was
| to go as a delegate to the Kansas City
t convention. The enthusiasm which
greeted his appearance on the platform
was intense; and David B. Hill left the
| great hall with his ambitions all re.
| vived. When Bryan scored a secon6
defeat Hills prospects cleared. Thence
| forth the contest for party leadership
was free for all, and who could do bet
/ ter in such a race than the man who
had behind him so full a record oil
Democratic service, and had run sc
many great political heats with trI
umph at the end.
Shall it be Hill in 1904? If he lives
and makes no mistakes his bid for the
Democratic nomination may easily be
the strongest He is today the leading
probability; his chances are vastly bet
| ter than Bryans or Germans or Till
mans, while Cleveland has no chance
at all. Hill stands between the ultra
conservatism of Cleveland, and the So
cialistic radicalism of Bryan. He is a
Democrat of strong convictions, and OF
the old Van Buren, and Jacksonian
school. He could rally his party and
lead it with spirit and dash. So. why
not Hill? Where is more available
man?
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