The Savannah morning news., 1904-08-21
Great Gampaigners
Of Other Days.
Neither Presidential Candidate Will Personally Specially of the
Stump This Year.
BY OSBORN SPENCER.

that would have been so valuable to
him.
Bryan relaxed even more, perhaps,
in the brief between station periods
when campaigning, than did the man
who twice defeated him. 1t was
Bryan's custom between speeches and
stations to loosen his collar and cloth
ing and lie back most comfortably
Like Mckinley he could generally
fall asleep readily; when he couldn't,
he strove to think of nothing at all
as long as he could. Sometimes he
even took off his shoes. Like Nc
Kinley, though, he was often obliged
to give up the time he should have
been resting to the many old and new
friends who liked to crowd into his
car and travel one stage of the days
journey with him.
Mrs. Bryan a Good Campaigner.
Mrs. Bryan, it will be remembered,
Travelled a good deal with her husband
in his campaigning days, and was his
constant companion on his long record
breaking trip. Her place in the history
OF American campaigning is unique,
for no other candidate ever was ac-
companied by his wife on an extended
stumping tour.
Undoubtedly McKinley's campaign
ing tour of 1894, though not undertake
en- primarily for himself, had a great
deal to do with his nomination and
election two years later, since it made
him better known to more voters all
over the United States than was any
other Republican leader. Chauncey
M. Depew found that out in the course
of a speaking tour undertaken subse-
quently. AS he has said, when he
mentioned the name of Thomas Brack-
EFT Reed or Elihu Root or Joseph G.
Cannon or almost any other big man in
the party, there would always be some
applause, but when he spoke McKin-
ley's name the audience would break
out into a mighty roar. Somebody in
every audience would know Reed, Can
non, Root and all the others, but ev-
erybody in every audience seemed to
know Mckinley; his name was, in fact,
almost a household word. Its associa-
ton with his tariff measure was partly
responsible for that condition, but his
great stumping tour increased his pop
ularity immensely.
BIaine's Stamping Tour.
No Presidential candidate save Nc
Kinley and Bryan ever approached
their stunping record, but in 1854
Blaine began his tour that year in
Rochester. 1t was planned that this
der that it could be sent out complete
by wire. 1t was to be delivered at II
o'clock in the morning, and Mr.. Blaine
was to embark on a west bound train
Immediately after finishing the speech.
It was expected that it would furnish
the keynote" of the campaign, in a
way, at least until something better
should be forthcoming. Naturally the
editor of the local Republican after
4 &c .aJ-iy1 TIM r,
good report, especially as the Associat-
ed Press had arranged to send his re-
port out over the wire.
For this reason the manager of the
paper asked the city editor to look
after the report personally. Shortly
before II o'clock the latter left his
office and fastened to the open space
then in front of the County Court
House to make the report with his
own hand. When he arrived, how
ever, he found that an unexpected
change had been made in the pro-
gTlmme; the speech had been de-
livered half an hour earlier than had
been intended, and at that very mo-
ment Mr.. Blaine was stepping into a
carriage en- route for the railroad sta
ton. Naturally, the newspaper man
was much surprised and chagrined.
The unexpected change in programme
had left him without report or the
speech, and that might cost him his
job, to say nothing of the political
catastrophe that might ensue We're the
first keynote" of the campaign not to
be sent out promptly by wire. To make
matters worse, the manager of the pa
per, who had just hidden good-by to
Mr.. Blaine stepped up and inquired
anxiously about the report.
Assuring him that there would he
no difficulty about that, the city edi-
tor, with sinking heart, buttonholed
a young lawyer friend who stood near
by. Fortunately for the city editors
job and the publicity of the campaign
keynote" the lawyer had made a few
stenographic notes for his own bene-
fit. Such parts of the speech as he had
not committed to paper the lawyer was
able to remember with fair accuracy,
and after half an hour of lively work
the two had fixed" up a half column
of copy" that not only held his job
for the city editor, but called out plen-