The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1902-11-21
David B. Hills B0On.
Trhe commoner.l


The editors are now constituting the
rturns. and each one il abe TO show
that his veiws have been indicated a
the polls.
For instance. the Evening Post Of
New York says that " David b. Hill
has been demolished as a presidential
candidate and that he will no longer
be an important parsonage in politics.
Other papers take an opposite view.
The Kanass City Journal says in a
special dispatch that the election makes
Hill the logical candidate of the demo
cratic party. The Commoner insists
that the late election neither helps nor
binders Mr.. Hill He had no chance
of nomination before and has none
now. Those who talk of availability,
as if the carrying of a state or the
losing of ii would decide presidential
nomination, reflect on the good sense
of the democratic voters They assume
that the democrats of the south will
vote for any man on any platform and
that their wishes need not, therefore,
be considered, and they also assume
that the democrats of the rest of the
country would favor the nomination Of
any one calling himself a democrat
who had reasonable prospect of car
rying New York. These assumptions
question the honesty of the democracy
of the south and west. The democrats
of the east do not vote the ticket unless
both the platform and the nominations
suit them they boast of their convIc-
irons and of their willingness to follow
their convictions even If they are
thereby led to vote the republican
ticket, but they take it for granted
that the democrats in the rest of the
country have no political convictions
and are indifferent as to platform and
men, provided the democratic tag is
attached by the convention calling it.
self democratic.
date, not because his state failed to go
Hill himself has not gone democratic
for several years He is credited with
the authorship of the phrase, II am
q democrat, but he borrowed it |
from Mr. Cleveland and neither one OF |
them could prove title to it before an
impartial jury. There is not single
issue upon which the party could
make fight under Mr.. Hills leader
ship. He made record in the senate
which would be a milestone about his
neck in any race before the people.
If hewere new ma he might steal
. march on the voters but he has
been before the public so long that his
words and acts are familiar to all.
his failure to support the ticket in
1896 is not his greatest fault; his
greatest fault is found in the fact
hat he is controlled by influences
which Kept him aloof from contest
between the money power and the
Common people. Hrs very silence, COM
ng after his fight in the convention,
ave most eloquent support to the re-
publican ticket. The republican party 9
s domir ated today by the same cor :
,orate interests that dominated it in s
S96, and as Mr.. Hill has undergone :
% change of heart or change OF envi- q
onment he can be silenced again by q
he influences that silenced him six n
ears ago He now talks tariff 9
evasion, but in 1894 he refused to r
airport the only tariff reform bill 4
assed since the civil war and he re- y
lsed, he said, because it contained an a
lcome tax. He talks against trusts :.
ut he cares not say word against h
le money trust-the worst trust of \,
Il. He has never yet shown real de- a
)tion to principle, cause or a
,rson and such candidate could not "
lspire enthusiasm among those with W
HON democracy is sort of religion &
10 brotherhood of man stated IN gov =
terms. The editor of The
Ommoner can, discuss MIR. Hill s
lndidacy frankly because he is not d
ndidate himself and has no choice
between men who can be trusted
stand with the masses against the
of organized wealth.