The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-08-18
CORMAN AS CANDIDATE
FORMIDABLE MOVE TO MAKE
 HIM PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE.
His Regular, though drudging, Sup port of Bryan, His Supposed Fa- vorable Attitude to the Tariff and the Trusts, His Favor with the Machine Politi-
 clans, and His Strength
 in the South.
Washington Special to New York Evening

Post.
 After making due allowance for local consideration which would necessarily give undue weight in this city to the discussion of MT. German as a probable candidate for the Presidency, the fact re- mains that the sudden development of his strength is one of the most notable aspects of current politics. The reform element in the Democratic party cannot too soon know how formidable his can didacy has become. Partisan Repubi- cans cannot fail to be pleased by the prospect which such an antagonist pre- sents. The Democratic party now finds itself in | peculiar transition state; it seemingly l cannot in 1904 go back squarely to the 1 Cleveland position by nominating as It's candidate some prominent Democrat who
 conspicuously bolted Bryan in 1896 and
 in 1900. At the same time 1t desires to
 drop Bryan and Bryanism. What the politicians here say that 1t needs is "a
 transitional stage candidate," for no man
 should he nominated for the Presidency | who was not of sufficient prominence in
 1896 to identify himself with one side or l the other regarding the great Populistic movement which then overwhelmed the l Democratic party. Mir. German voted for | Bryan and Sewell, and maintained posi- 1 ton of nominal regularity, but at no time |
 movement. His speeches in the cam
 paign four years later, when he made | several in support of the ticket, were l models Of highly balanced evaslveness. Like the Kansan's traditional attitude | towards prohibition-"for the law and against Its enforcement'-he was warmly for the candidate. but against his elec- l tion. Of course, Germans nomination now would invite the hostility of Mr.
 Bryan, but in a form in which Bryan | would find it very hard to lead a revolt | The Democratic masses in the West of Populistic proclivities, would be influenced | by the great central fact that Mr. Cor
 man actually voted with them, and so
 forfeited no claim to regularity.
 Mir. Germans candidacy also fits pecu-
 iiarly into the situation which has been | developed by President Rooscyelts anti- | trust activities. MT. German has no record as trust-buster. In fact, all his l affiliations have been with the commercial | side of politics. It is said that in many
 financial circles he would be regarded as
 a safer man" at the helm than the pre-,
 sent President, whose renomination is as- | sured. That this would lead to the actual
 Identification of high finance with the
 Democratic candidate is. unlikely, but it
 is argued that 1t would greatly lessen the | usual enthusiasm of business circles for 1 the Republican ticket, and so check the 1 flow of contributions in that direction The Democrats would have gained some- | thing by stilling for one campaign some | of the heaviest of their opponents artil- | lery, even if 1t were not actually ranged | on their own side. MT. German, it will
 be recalled, was asked In recent inter- l view what the issues of the coming cam | paign should be. He did not mention the
 trusts. He thought there should be 1 some tariff revision under a Democratic
 administration, moro economy in public
 expenditures, and thorough honesty in
 administration-an obvious drive at the | postal disclosures
 MT. German has never been identified
 with the free trade wing of his party. He has watched out fo- che protective tariff beneficiaries of Maryland as diligently as
 MT. Quay has for those of Pennsylvania. | His attitude in this matter would disarm l opposition in those manufacturing circles l where the chief desire is to have things
 let alone. In other words. Mir. Gorman's
 amliatlon are with the capitalistic end
 of the party, while he has not aroused the
 hostility that attaches to most of the | straight out gold-standard men. This is partly because of the bitterness which | has existed between him and MT. aCleye- | land He Is as much anti-Cleveand as
 IS Bryan, and this, too, adds to the transI-
 tional-stage character of his candidacy. |
 amrmative strength lies with the ma
 chine politicians of the country. They
 nave long had dealings with him in va- | rlous phases of party management for 1 he is rated as the shrewdest Democratic
 organizer in the country, and Is known
 to larger body of party workers than | any otner man, with the possible excep-
 ton of Bryan German, besides, is a
 great hero in the South. It was his strat-
 egy. according to popular belief, that kill
 ed the force bill of 1891, and the South
 has always looked upon him. since that
 time. as the stoutest defender of it's
 rights to local self-government. While
 that section does not have a majority | of the delegates in a Democratic Nation
 al Convention, its influence there Is large
 In proportion, because of the part which
 1t necessarily plays in the Electoral Col | lege. Virginia delegates feel that they | should have more to say regarding a | Democratic candidate than Vermont del.
 egates, who could by no possibility give
 him an electoral vote. Some months ago l an effort was made to push the candi-
 dacy of Judge Alton B. Parker in the
 South, but 1t has failed, and Col. Liv- | ingstone of Georgia, and other Southern politicians who drift into this city, say
 that there is no real enthusiasm for Parker in their section, but that 1t is all
 for German. Parker's speeches in Geor- I
 sonance with the dignity of his judicial
 position, did not warm the Southern i heart.
 l MT. German would like the Democratic
 nomination even for the honor of going
 down in the history as a Presidential
 candidate. Unless the local atmosphere here, in what is substantially MT Cor
 mans home city, is more than usually
 misleading, his hold on the masses of
 the party is strong and growing. His nomination must be reckoned as one of
 the possibilities As Tor his election, that
 is another matter.
 Nebraska was a poor State, gebgraph- ically, from which to select a Presiden- tial candidate but Maryland would be | much worse. German would antagonize
 Mir. Bryan's strictly personal following, which, while negligible in the East. is an important factor in the group of Rocky Mountain States which might in ordinary circumstances be debatable ter., ritOry. What Is vastly more imbartant MT. Gormans name would arouse no enthusiasm on the part of those thous- ands of independent voters who sunDort- ed MT. Cleveland because thex believed in his courage and honesty. A &Sohaan would get the votes of only those per sons, North and South who voted the Democratic ticket anyway, whatever happens, and of those who are for any reason peculiarly dissatisfied with Mir. Roosevelt. But that his candidacy would