The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1905-01-13
MORAL FIGURE IN OUR POLITICS
William }. Bryan the estronKest st Force
in the Nation.

Thoughtful men in America are
coming steadily and rapidly to the
conclusion that William J. Bryan is
the strongest moral force In the poll.
tics Of the re public, says the Atlanta
News.
| There has never been cam paign
led by this great dem 1crat in which
tue moral note has not been heard,
clear and definite, above all other Is.
isu.s OF the canvssh Right, just c,
and truth, as Bryan saw them, have
been the key words Of every argument
that has pulsed the two most elo
quent and stirring presidential cam.
paigns that the American hustings
nave ever known. Every where the
moral note has been dominant.
Take fer Instance the recent contri
button VI the Outlook, perhaps the
most thoughtful utterance of Mr..
Bryan since the St. Louis convention.
and this is its general paragraph:
The democratic party IL now in a
position to con>id or the moral issue,
presented by pending problems, and
In the presentation of the moral
phases of public questions Is the
strength OF the democratic position
s1day. Every great political ques
tion has an econNmio bearing, and
ever economic question Is at ,unda-
tion moral question:. TIE line be.
tween right and wrong runs through
every problem OF government, and the
hnal decision Of tile problem is along
this line. No PR position is better
supported by history than that
'rlRhte uSness eaaltsth a nation"
and IT /, Us true OF party as It is OF
u nation. ln fact, no one ctn form an
accurate judgment upon the indlvidu.
al man or upon groups OF men who
does not accept q MS major premise
that truth rests upon justice, and Is
omnipotent. Just in 8, far as an in.
otvidual follows this doctriue he sue.
ceeos; there Is no other measure OF
success. In proportion as he departs
ftom t1ls doctrine he fails. II for u
time he seems to prosper, his pros.
parity Is only apparent, for no amount
or wealth or honor can compensate tor
the doing Of an lnj lstice aud history
deals with men, with paroles, and
with nations, according TO one incx.
orablc law-'The wages OF sin Is
DEATH"
Whare was there ever political
career more CLEARLY pitched and more
ieSolutcly maintained along high lines
than th ? 1t is like west wind
driving the Ecia.n!a e mc3e:n r.li.
tics to hear man talk like that
when oil men know that there is
m In behind the words VINO has lived
the words to the line and the letter.
Ts.ere Is not stain on Bryan's
public or private life, even in the
mirror which his enemirs ho,d I'D b..
fore him. No wond that Lyman
Abbott, In the Outlook, s,aunch in
dependent, and often staupch repub.
lichn. should ediGoriailY declare:
There IS no misundersta nding Mr..
Bryan. He does not guard his atfirm-
ations with so many qualification that
no man can guess what he really af.
hrms, nor leave so many loop-hoes
for retreat In case hi, doctrines fall
TO find adherents, nor use words in a
double sense, nor employ them to ob.
scuEe his meaning, nor put on a sem
6lance OF wisdom and morality by in
du'Eence in geGeral plattiiudes. He
Is clear, definite, positive, concrete.
The Intelligent and honest reader can
easily understand his meaning.
Whether he will be the democratic
candidate In 1903, or even the demo
cratic leader in the interim, 1t Is too
cary TO prophGsy. But it cannot b [,
dOu oted that lie is the clearest and
ablest exponent, II not OF opinions en-.
tertained, at least OF political spirit
and purpose shared by very great
number OF American C tizens, and 50
the rep esentative OF polit cal fore ,
which must be reckoned with, and
II reckoned With, must BE- under.
StOod."
1t Is not the language OF enthusl.
asm or OF partisanship, but sim pie
STATE ment OF truth which challenge the
cdndur Of all true citizens, that Bry.
ans life and Bryau's argu ments and
Bryan's record Of consistency and sim
cerity have enriched the moral tone
OF the republic
We have said years ago as we say
todly that II william J. Bryan lives
and labors for ten years longer on the
same lofty plane Ghat he follows now,
he will hold in this replblc the
position which William E Gladstone
hell in our Mother England across
the sea.
4 moral force in republic must
eventually b,c1me its mightiest force.
Found His Dead Body.
The body OF Neil S. Phelps, the
| CaDita list Of Battla Creek Mich ,,bo