Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1904-04-08
Sees the Handwriting.

The New York World says, that
without Mr.. Cleveland among the eli
gibles for the Democratic nomination
for President (as it now admits is the
TRUTH, new situation is created.
Why is it new, and is it really new,
except inasmuch as more candidates
appear on the political horizon as the
field OF contest cones daily more
plainly to view? There are hundreds
OF good bright men in this great land
OF ours who have statesman-like abil.
ity without egotism, who have stood
by their party so vallantly that thou
sands Of their fellow men can vouch
for their steadfast fidelity to principle,
the only thing necessary for them to
poll the party vote the length and
breadth Of the land. Nc" new situa-
ton" is created by consideration OF
any true Democrat, and there never
has been time when Cleveland stood
the ghost OF a show of election, and
probably not of nomination. He GER
tainly shows more sense than many
accredit him with possessing when
it comes to anything which flatters his
vanity, as expressed by the determine.
ton to remain out of the Presidential
race. While it might be within the
range of possibility for the moneyed
interest to manipulate the convention
so as to secure his nomination, it
would be utterly impossible to. bring
the masses of the great party who once
did him honor, to agree for a moment,
to condone his treachery of 1896 and
1900. 1t is impossible to believe that
the consensus of judgment of six and
a half million OF voters could be made
to swerve 60 radically from usage or
principle.
The rank and file of the party have
very little patience with factions like
that represented by the World, Cleve-
land, Palmer and Buckner, consisting
of only 133, 14S voters in the country,
who insist that their imperious will
shall subvert the honest opinion of
over six and half millions of people
who stood by their party organization
in 1896 and rallied a second time, four
years later, to be downed by the same
arrogant little faction, who then aban-
doned even vestige of organization
aud voted with the Republicans to
defeat their own party, simply because
they could not wholly control its pol.
icy. Those who have remained stead.
fast cannot now be made to conform
to anything less than the object Of
former contention by as barbarous .
weapon as a bludgeon in the hands of
Treachery. Conventions might be led
by spell-binders, during excitement, to
sanction a vicious nomination, and by
fiorid rhetoric to accept a qualification
in creed, but cool reason OF the citizen
will prevail when he passes in review the
mighty objects that were twice lost
through fraud and corruption, when
the feathers weight held by one who
owed so much to his party might have
swayed it in support Of proven friends
as we'll as justice and right. These
voters can never forget that their
power needed but the support OF a
single man-one word spoken at the
right time-to have made it available,
and it would be but adding insult to
hold that, under any possible view, it
would not have been preferable to tri.
umph OF common foe.
This being the feeling of the hosts
who rallied under the Chicago and
Kansas City platforms. it would be
vain to expect them to support the
author of their political downfall at
the next general election, even granted
that timo might ultimately soften the
wound SO that contrite spirit would
possibly lead to reconciliation. Nor
can their place be supplied by Repub-
licans without some indication that
principles have suffered a change that
would create distrust and leave all
parties floundering in a sea OF dispon-
ency and uncertainty.
Swapping OF candidates inevitably
involves a swapping Of principles that
would leave very little confidence in
either the times or the people.
1T seems there is to be some practi.