The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-06-17
\ E YORK, June 16.- (Special.)-If
 w. J. Bryan is nominated by the

V w. J. Bryan is nominated by the
 democratic party and elected to
 presdency-and political leaders Of all
 faiths say that such a thing is by no means
 remote possibility-it will be largely due
 to that spirit of fair play that Is so
 strong in the breast of the American voter. Events have helped Bryan, even
 his defeats have made him stronger. The public say those who reckon the
 Nebra skan's chances good won't forget that he had more votes than Mckinley,
 that insurance bnd other corporation
 money was used to bring about his de- feat. and that the men who controlled the convention of 1904 which buncoed him out of the nomination was controlled by August Belmont and other corporation servants Then too, Bryan is getting much of the credit of starting the fight
 on hossism and the agitation for reforms generally, which has reached earthquake , proportions all over the land. Ray stan nard Baker, in recent article on "Popu- lar Unrest," takes this view of the sit
 uation:
 .The east has been increasingly conscious | of west winds. The storm In reality be- | gan rising years ago, but it Is only with | in a year that 1t has reached cyclone | proportions as far eastward as Wash- | ington. There have recently been quak- | ings even in the superstructure of the | capitol.
 For the present storm of political and social unrest is essentially western in l ifs origin. Broadly speaking, the east | is conservative and the west radical 1; | the east Is rich, while the west is reia- | lively poor. Finally, the east reasons where the west feels. and progress or | at least the demand for progress springs | more naturally from emotion than from | logic.
 "Bryanism. for example was right in
 it's feeling. however mistaken 1t may have been in its reasoning. Without Bryan | and the essence of the thing that he stood | for, not free silver, but what men call | democracy or liberty or freedom we could not have had Folk of Missouri or La Toilette of Wisconsin, or Tom John son of Cleveland. Without that spirit we should not have had bossism overthrown last fall In Philadelphia or Jerome elect | ed in New York. And think how impos- | sible it would have been four years ago | for a president of the United States to have written such a message as MT. | Roosevelt sent last winter to the con- gress. It would have been declared rev. olutionary; and yet today the president | undoubtedly lags behind rather than leads | the sentiment of the country Bryan is more largely responsible for Roosevelt | than many people imagine
 The man to whom most of the credit of | this upheaval Is given was in 1896 an editorial writer and political correspond l ent for the Omaha World-Herald at a sal- ary of s3O a week. He has also been a country lawyer a member of congress an author and lecturer.
 MT. Bryan went to the Chicago con- | vention in 1896 as a member of contest inc delegation from Nebraska. They had almost no claim to regularity, and it is well known that MT. Bryan himself did mt expect that his delegation would be seated. It is. equally true that they vould not have been seated if the little clioue of democratic United States sen l ators who thought they could control the | convention had dreamed that Bryan would he nominated for president. In the pre- ,iminary discussion among the party | leaders it was debated whether or not | they should abolish the two-thirds rule | or seat enough contesting free silver dele | gate to make the free silver vote two thirds of the convention. The latter