The Savannah morning news., 1903-05-31
MR.. BRYAN AND LEADERSHIP.

MR.. BRYAN AND LEADERSHIP.
There are two things in the current
number of Mr.. Bryans paper, the
Commoner, which will be the subject
of comment. Both of them are in arti-
| cles written to him--at least there does
not seem TO be any ground for doubt
! ing that they were written by him. In
one of them he says: THE editor of
the Commoner is not seeking leader
ship Neither is he concerned about his
! political position in future years" In
| the other article-an article in which
the correspondence between Mr.. Met
calfe the editor of the Omaha-World,
and Mr. Mack. the editor of the Buffalo
Times, is reviewed-he says: "Mr.
Mack is laying up a large store of dis
appointment if he thinks that there
win ever be harmony between the
men who think as Mr.. Cleveland does
and the men who believe earnestly in
the platforms of 1896 and 1900. IIcr-
mony between these elements is ahso-
lutely impossible, because their sym
pathies. their aspirations, their pur-
poses and their methods are directly
antagonistic to each other. If they are
hitched to the Democratic plow they
Will not pull together. but each will
throw its weight against the other"
It may be that Mr.. Bryan is not
seeking leadership, but it is fact
that he occupies the place of 4 leader.
If he were to cease to be an active
factor in politics the silver question
would be dropped and the two factions
of the party would be able to frame a
platform upon which about all Demo-
Gratis could stand. If it had not been
for Mr. Bryans threat to refuse TO ac-
cept the nomination at Kansas City il
the platform did not contain a de-
claration in favor of free silver at the
ratio of IL to !, it is probable that the
silver question would have been han
died very differently at that time. 1t
was asserted that the judgment of the
convention was against 16 to / Ge-
claration.
But be that as it may, there Is no
doubt that the great majority of Dem
ocrats are of the opinion that the sill
yer issue at this time is practically a
dead issue. There are no Democrats of
prominence except Mr.. Bryan, who are
insisting that it shall be given Prem
inence in the next national platform
of the party. OF course some reference
will be made to the money question in
that platform. but there would be
very few protests if the declaration in
behalf of the free coinage of silver at
the ratio of 16 to l were left out of it
altogether. Therefore, while Mr.. Bry-
an is not seeking leadership he is, in
fact, leader, a leader of such in
fluence that he is actually holding the
factions aSart.
There is no doubt of course that Mr..
Bryan. is sincere in the course he is
pursuing, and doubtless he thinks that
he is speaking for an overwhelming
ajority of the Democratic party, but
he would be surprised to see how
quickly the factions would get to-
gether if ne were to cease playing the
part of a leader. And the factions
would not harmonic on the basis of
the views of men who think as Mr..
Cleveland does. There would be mu-
tual concessions. With the silver ques-
ton out of the way there would be
plain sailing into the port of har-
mony. If Mr.. Bryan does not think so
let him announce that he is willing
that the silver question shall be put
aside until the demand for the free
coinage of silver becomes more imper-
alive than it is at present.