The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-09-25

New York World -. 2.
In his speech at Louisville Mr.. Bryan
! eminent ownership of railroads repre-
scented merely his private opinion. To
quote his language:
Il have tried to make it clear that
expressed my own opinion and have
never sought to compel the acceptance
of my own opinion by any one else.
Reserving the right to, do my own
one else to do his thinking. If you ask
ME whether the question of govern
I@ent ownership will be an issue in the
know. If you ask me whether 1t ought
to be in the platform I reply i cannot
tell until know what the Democratic
voters think upon the subject"
All this sounds well. but could any
argument be more specious?
Whatever Mr.. Bryan may be today,
of the Democratic party. He was well
coined by Democratic politicians from
every section of the country, not as
private citizen or as the editor of the
Commoner. but as the Democratic can
didate for president in 1908. Now, a
private citizen may believe anything
he chooses and the editor Of news
thing he please. Neither of them is
responsible to a great political organ
ization. But the leader of a political
public questions for platform advocacy.
When ne speaks he is committing his
party to the extent that his leadership
has been accepted and acknowledged.
the Republican party. Does Mr.. Bryan
think that Mr.. Roosevelt could make
speech for or against tariff revision
and successfully contend that he ex-
pressed only his own opinion and had
committed his party to nothing? Ii
Mr. Bryan believes anything so pre-
ord of the Fifty-ninth Congress. The
platform on which Mr.. Roosevelt was
nominated at Chicago said Z nothing
about rate regulation.N or about meat
about lock canal at Panama. Each
of these issues Mr.. Roosevelt forced
upSn the Republican party. The party
measure repudiating him, and this
even hostile minority in Congress did
not dare do, Would Mr.. Bryan pretend
that after all Mr.. Roosevelt was merely
speaking his personal opinion on these
subjects?
A man who is president Of the United
States or a nominee for president or a
candidate for presidential nofhina-
tion cannot make speeches, which rep
resent only his private views. His
diately become public issues which may
yitaliv concern the welfare of his par
ty
If Mr.. Bryan were to say that he is
nomination and would not accept such
nomination in 1908, then he might
consistently claim that his theories
about government ownership of rail-
roads represented merely his personal
opinions. He would stand before the
couJ try simply. as the editor of the
Commoner, with the privilege of say
ing what he liked. HIS party would be
no more responsible for his utterances
than 1t Is for Colonel Waterson's edl-
torials, or for the interviews given to
the New York reporters by that other
distinguished Democratic Journalist,
the Hon. "Finkey" Corners, of Buffalo.
They are not party leaders, they do
not pretend to be party leaders, and no.
body is trying to nominate either OF
them for president.
But when a politician undertakes to
be a party leader he is responsible for
the direction in which he leads. If he
dumps his party into a bog he cannot
excuse his folly by insisting that when
he undertook to blaze a trial he was
merely expressing his own opinion OF
the best path and never sought to COM
pei anybody to follow in his footsteps.