The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-06-25
needs to-day is a prolific generation Of
men who will labor as hard to purify and
regenerate the state as their fathers
fought to save it.
The Iowa Democrats.

Bryan must have read the Iowa demo-
cratic platform with mingled" feelings,
or, perhaps it would be more correct to
say, "mangled" feelings. If his confidence
in himself as the perpetual presidential
candidate of the democracy had been
shaken before, as 1t has seemed to be,
the faithlessness Of the Iowa democrats
to the national democratic platforms upon
which he stood in 1896 and 1900 must be
real grief to him. Their rejection Of
the leading vagaries Of those platforms,
notably the silver plank folly, Indicates
such a decline Of the populistic tendencies
Of his party that, at the proposed jubi-
liant democratic Fourth-of-July celebra-
ton at Bryen's new mansion near Lincoln,
there may be some trouble for the silver
tongued statesman to jolly up the faithful.
For this Iowa detection rather accent
yates the democratic conviction mani
tested in some other democratic conven-
tions within the past year, and indicating
a decline of confidence in Bryan, either as
presidential candidate or mentor of THE
party.
OF course, the deliverance on tariff is
conspicuous, but there is mo free trade
phrasing in the language and the plank
conveys the idea that a tariff for revenue,
without the Wattersonian ''only.' is
wanted as foil against the trusts. In
teresting is the financial plank. It seems
rather odd for Iowa democrats to be
found condemning the republican party
"for it's financial policies which; would
foist upon the country an unstable cur
rency based upon uncertain private Sc
curities," when the democratic party was
on record as voting several times in cor.
gress against the resumption of specie
payments, back in the seventies, and COM
mitted itself wholly, during the last ten
years, to an irredeemable currency based
upon nothing and f1uctuating with every
change in the silver bullion market. The
platform also condemns the Aldrich bill,
which did not pass the senate last win
ter and certainly did not ernbody a prop
osition to admit "waterede bonds and. Sc
curit1es Of corporations and trusts" as Sc
curity for government deposits with the
national banks, as intimated. Indeed the
Iowa platform makers show a dense ig-
norance Of the NATURE of the Aldrich bill,
or, perhaps it would be better to say.
a Wilful Misrepresentation of that meas
ure. 1t Is, however, to the credit of the
republican party that its triumphant in
sistence upon the maintenance Of the ma
tional credit and the issue Of sound cur
rency has influenced so powerfully the
err1ng democrats that they declare: 1--WE
Insist that the integrity Of the money
OF the nation be guarded with jealous care
and demand that it shall be sufficient in
volume to meet the needs Of business in
terests Of the country
An effort Is made to revive "anti-im-
perialism" by demanding that the gov
eminent shall proceed immediately to take
steps to give the Filipinos and Porto
Ricanos "their inalienable right OF self
government" The Porto Ricanos a headv
have 1T to liberal extent, and the Fill
p1nos are getting there by degrees. When
they are ready for 1t they will have all
they want of it. The democratic candi
GATE for governor In Iowa is a pupil of
Bryan. but he isn't SO hypnotized by the
silver tongued gentleman that he will not
go into the campaign standing on a plat
FORM which practically repudiates BRYAN
and most of his specialties.