The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1906-07-27
RISE AND FALL OF BRYAN

The friends Of Mr.. Bryan on this
side of the water were getting along
|swimminely with the candidacy Of
that gentlemen, and his first utter
ances we're regarded as the right
kind coming at just the right time.
Everything was propitions for pro-
noting his candidacy for president,
and to the , ptimistic he looked like
a winner in a walk. However, Mr..
Bryan had another talking spell on
the other side of the water. and
when his words ..were set before the
people IN this country there was a
revision of feeling. When silence
would have been golden, Mr.. Bryan
got to talking about free silver and
then it was all off. The Philadel-
phia Press has the following inter
esting comment concerning the rise
and fall Of this distinguished
gentleman:
The rise, decline and fan of
Bryan may be the theme OF a new
histery-all in the round Of a few
months il his ups and downs are to
be as rapid as within the last few
weeks.
Three months ago MIR. Bryan was
scarcely in the public eye. Out OF
sight out Of mind. He was travelling
on the other side OF the globe md
there was nothing to lix attention on
him. 1t would not be correct to
say that in the hazy specuiations for
1903 he was not already the most
distinct figure on the democratic
horizon, but the question had hardly
been mooted.
Suddenly a few weeks ago the
Bryan rocket shot into the air.
One after an other democratic con-
ventions took up the Bryan cry.
! Democratic legislatures Endorsed it.
Democratic leaders chimed in.
Democratic conservatives" who
had always opposed Bryan gave in
their adhesion. The bursting shower
of lights from the Bryan rocket
filled the whole democratic sky and
every other light was lost in the
brilliant explosion Mr.. Bryan was
now approaching the splendid CAPT.
tails Of western Europe, and the
press dispatches which had hardly
mentioned bis name for months
again reported his every word and
l.love. He seemed to be a new Bryan
With "A new halo, and for a short
time his aureole was undimmed.
Then almost as suddenly as the
uplift came the decline. 1t would
not be true to say that he went up
like a rocket and. came ::down like a
stick. He is still the foremost
democratic figure. But everybody
is conscious that he has lost ground.
To borrow the phrase OF the street,
his stock has gone of..at least 20 per
cent. And he is himself the cause
Of his own diminuendo. The mo-
ment he again assumed prominence
bis fatal facility Of utterance came
90. and his W pen and tongue
dissipated the new glamour.
The causes which contributed to
the restoration OF his ascendance
are easy to find. Badly teaten as he
was in 1896 and 1900, the s%'conserva.
tive" Parker was still worse beaten
in 1904. With the failure OF that
experiment. the pendulum swung
back in the other direction. Then
tine country had undoubtedly moved
a long way since 1896. On some
lines 1t had moved towards what
Bryan professed to represent. Pres
ident Roosevelt had put a new face
on radicalism. Still again the abb
sence, travel aud observation OF
Bryan seemed 10 invest him With
more experience, wisdom and
sobrieLy. Beyond all that he has a
readiness and resource which it
would he idle TO deny. There is no
other democrat that has the same
hold or that matches him in the
popular qualities, aud all these
things together served TO rehabil-
itate him and give hlm an undis-
puted supremacy in his purity.
Bat the very things which make
people conscious that he is not as
strong as he Vas a month ago Show
THAT the elements of his weakness re-
main. He could not continue silent.
He could not help repeating his Sill
vre heresy. He could not refrain
from declaring that he is mote iadi-
cal than he was in 1896. These
things not only involve a direct loss,
but they change the moral impression.
They dlSSlpate anY idea that he has
advanced with the years and leave
the feeling that he is tile an man
that he WAS when the country so
overwhelmingly rejected hin. lie
doomed large for "a little time, but 1T
is plain that he has already lost
much OF his sudden prestige.
There is a wide variance in opin-
iol, as to the change alleged 10 have