The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-04-20
MAY LOSE NEBRASKA.
Democrats of That State Trying to
 Cut Loose.

Democrats of That State Trying to Cut Loose.
 Lincoln Special to New York Herald. The Bryan Democrats have at last
 awakened to the fact that their hold on
 the party. machinery in Nebraska is rap! idly slipping from their grasp, and that it Is by no means sure that the Demo- cratic State Convention of Nebraska will reafarm the Kansas City platform, or eyen place aMr.i Bryan on the list of del- egates to the National Democratic Con- vention at St. Louis. For many months
 the Bryan leaders secuted the idea of
 there being, opposition to the Peerless
 passed. and the hostility is now aclxnowi. edged.
 There exists today deep seated cop- spiracy to humiliate Mir. Bryan in his
 own State. to defeat in the State conven- tion the adoption of a resolution instrpct- ing the delegates to support MT. Bryan
 in his fight for the platform at St. Lotus and to elect In some instances as dele
 gates men upon whose cordial cooper, ation MT, Bryan may not depend,' said l R. L. Metcalfe, of The Omaha World- Herald. Bryan's closest friend and Aad- wiser. in an interview today.
 | The opposition to Bryan, which was at | first confined to scattering Democrats. | has at last taken form, and a powerful organization has been formed, known as the Democratic Success League. with F.
 H. C1sgrove of Omaha, as President.
 Tho peague will have branches in every | city and town in the State, and an earn est effort will be made to capture the State Convention and to prevent a reaf- | hrmation of the Kansas City platform. | go dear to Bryan's heart.
 Bryan men are feeling panicky over the situation, too. Last week John G.
 Maher, court reporter. was discharged
 for the reason, he alleges. that he had | been expressing his opinion of Bryantsm | too freely. Other State employees and
 officials who were subject to influence
 from the direction of the '16 to l" forces
 were told of Mahers fate and warned | to keep quiet on that subject unless they | shouted for Bryan and the regulars, !" ! Judge W. s. Shoemaker of Omaha, one
 of the leading spirits in the Democratic
 Success League movement, says: "We
 are opposed to the Kansas City platform
 and to permitting Bryan to control the Democratic National Convention. | Bryan Is the greatest boss any poiiti- | cal party ever had, and he does not seem
 to realize that he has lost his following
 to a great extent. We intend to send m
 anti-sixteen to one delegation to St.
 Louis and believe it can be done" | There are numerous other leading Den1-
 ocrats in Nebraska who supported Bryan | in his former campaigns and who think the time has come for the party to lay
 aside the silver question and to face the newer issues which have arisen. Among
 these are R. E. Lee Herdman, Clerk ei l the Supreme Court who is taking Q | prominent part in the Democratic Sue | cess League movement, and who may be
 the next National Committeeman from | Nebraska.
 John A. Creighton. a great personal
 friend of Bryan. who contributed heavily | to the last two Democratic campaign
 funds and who is power in State poll.
 ties. is now against the Is to l plank
 and may be one of the delegates at large to the National Convention. Former l United States Senator Allen Is another
 prominent politician who is opposed tC
 reatfirming the Kansas City platform. 1 Another element in the State with | which Bryan has to reckon is the Hearst 1 faction Almost exclusively the Hearst
 supporters are being drawn from among
 the Bryan men, and while Bryan organs
 are doing everything possible to hide the
 Hearst movement in the State, there is
 such a movement and 1t is working great harm to the Bryan ranks. With this | wing of the party divided between these will be able to name the delegates to the
 National Convention. and to instruct that | delegation to record it's vote against free silver and the Kansas City platform. In Omaha and Douglas counties the
 conservatives are working day and night | and have organized a committee to make
 a house to house canvass of the city in the interests of conservative candi- | date.
 On the other hand. the Bryan adher-
 ents are showing marked apathy in Oma-
 ha, and some of the less enthusiastic
 loss of the delegates from that County to l the State Convention, Douglas County 1 carries almost one-thlrd as many dele | gates as the remainder of the State. | With this nucleus and the prestige of having beaten Bryan in the metropolis
 of the State the reorganizers. believe
 they can control the entire State Con l vention.