The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1904-11-12
BRYAN'S VIEWS
ON THE ELECTION

YIN I'LL ELGOItOIS
I INCOLN, Neb. Nov. civilian j.
Bryan today. gave out an ex-
tended statement concerning yes
! terdays election which is. intended to
| serve as his comment upon the result.
! and as an answer 10 reports connect
/ ing him With d movement looking TO
| the formation Of q new party MI.
! Bryan said he would nor attempt to
! deny all the repoi.ts circulated as to
/ his future political action, but would
+ let HIS statement serve to explain his
position. He says:
! The Democratic party has met with
an Overwhelming defeat in the national
! election AS yet the returns are not
sufficiently complete 70 permit
analysis. and it is impossible to say
! whether the result is due TO an actual
increase III the number of Republican
voters. or 10 falling off in the Demo
cratic vote. This phase of the subject
will be dealt with next week when the
returns are all in. The questions for
considera ton at this time are. what
lesson does the election teach? And
what of the future? The defeat of
Judge Parker should not be considered
personal one. He did as well as he
could under the circumstances; he was
the victim of unfavorable conditions
and OF mistaken party policy.
Odds Were Against Parker.
He grew in popularity as the cam
paign proceeded and expressed him
self more and more strongly upon the
trust question. but could not overcome
the heavy odds against him. The So
called conservative Democrats charged
tire defeats of 1896 and 1900 to the
party's position on the money question
and insisted that victory could be
gained by dropping the coinage ques-
ton entirely.
THE convention accepted this
theory. and the platform made no
reference to the money question, but
Judge Parker felt that it was his duty
e announce his personal adherence to
The gold standard. His gold telegram.
as It was called. while embarrassing to
the Democrats of the west and south,
was applauded by the eastern press.
He had the cordial endorsement of Mr..
! Cleveland, who declared that the party
had returned to Safety and sanity
he had the support of the Democratic
papers which bolted in 1896, and he also
had the aid of nearly all of those who
We're prominent in the campaign of
1896 and 1900. and yet his defeat is
apparently greater than the party suf-
fered in either of those years.
Where the Fault Lies.
1T is unquestionable also that
Judge Parker's defeat was not local
but general the. returns from the
eastern states being aa disappointing
| as the returns from the west The
reorganizers are in complete control Of
the party. 5r,
They planned the campaign and
carried it on according to their own
views, and the verdict against their plan
is unanimous. Surely silver coin can
not be blamed for this defeat. for the
campaign was run on gold basis.
Neither can the defeat be charged to
emphatic condemnation of the trusts,
for the trusts were not assailed as
vigorously this year as they were four
years ago. 1t is evident that the cam
paign did not turn upon the question
of imperialism, and it is not fair to
consider the result as a personal vic
tory for the president for his admins
tration was the subject of criticism
The result was due to the fact that the
Democratic party attempted to be con-
sentative in the presence of conditions
which demanded radical remedies. 1t
sounded a partial retreat when it
should have ordered a charge all along
the line.
Republican Party's Position.
I'm 1896 the line was drawn for the
first time during the present generation
between plutocracy and Democracy.
and the party's stand on the side of
Democracy aIenated a large number
of plutocratic Democrats, who in the
nature of things can not be expected 90
return. and it drew to itself q large
number of earnest advocates of re-
form, whose attachment to these re-
forms is much stronger than attach
ment to any party name. The Repub-
lican party occupies the conservative
position That is, it defends those who.
having secured unfair advantage
through class legislation. insist that
they shall not be disturbed, no matter
how oppressive their eXactions may
become.
THE Democratic party can not hope
to compete successfully with the Re
publican party for this support. To
win the support of the plutocratic ele-
ment of the country, the party would
have to become more plutocratic than
the Republican party, and it could not
do this without losing several times
as many voters as lnal course Woulu
win The Democratic party has
nothing to gain by catering. to organ
lied and predatory wealth.
What Democracy Must Do.
1T must not. only do without such
support but it can strengthen itself by
inviting the open and emphatic opposi-
ton OF these elements. The campaign
lust closed shows that it is as mex
pedient from the standpoint of policy
as it is wrong from the standpoint of
principle to attempt. any Cancellation
of the industrial and financial despots
who are gradually getting control of all
the avenues OF wealth. The Demo-
cratic party, if it hopes to win success,
must take the side of the plain COM
mon people"
MI. Bryan says that for two years
he has pointed out the futility of any
attempt TO compromise with wrong or
to patch up a peace with the great
corporations which are now exploit
ing the country, but the sound money
Democrats were SO. alarmed by the race
issue that they listened rather reluct-
antly. be it said, to their credit, to the
promises of a success held out by those