The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-01-18
FRIDAY, JANUARY is, 1901.
a mans growth is seen in the sue
cessive changes Of his friends. For
every friend whom he loses for truth
he gains better.-Emerson.
A Consolation Prize.


The Knoxville Tribune. in further dis.
cussing the dcfunct question of South
ern Democratic Conference to consider
the question of nominating a Southern
man for the presidency, says:
IF so quickly to be done for. we'll may
TIE Times-Dispatch wonder what it was
begun for--the movement we mean. We
take Ii that this means that the Southern
Democrats are not ready yet 20 take the
risk of nominating one of their own
number for President. They will be con-
tent one time more to take n man from
the other side of the one time Mason and
Dixon line. If 1t be Bryan, the South
will come up to scratch with smile on
its face and give him its electoral votes
IT may be that a good many Southern
Democrats will object; but one or two
blasts from the bugle proclaim!iig the
imminent danger of negro domination will
bring most OF them quickly into linz. and
on election day there will be no break
in the ranks,
'Or it may be some unknown such as
Parker. But The Dispatch will
have the consolation of knowing, when it
is all over and victory again perches
upon another banner, that the defeated
will not be in a position to shake its
CORY locks at 1t and say II did 1t. II
the Democrats of the South are content
TO do the voting and let those of the
other sections of the Union ge, the bulk
OF the dividends. the Richmond contem-
porary may have n conscience that Will
not bring rebuke for neslectIng TO point
out the way
Thank you for those sweet words, and
thank YOU again for disclosing a secret
which The Times Dispatch did not care
to discuss. But the secret had already
been told by the Times Register, of sa-
lem. Va That paper, which is always
frank. stated bIuntly that Mr.. W. j.
Bryan was the choice of the great ma
jori;y of southern people; that 1t had
been decided that he was to be the nom-
nee and that 1t only confused and COM
rlicated matters to talk of running any
other man. Whether or not Mr.. Bryan
is the choice OF the great majority Of
Southern people we do not know, but he
is the choice OF many Southern people
and many Southern newspapers, and as
he has never been political favorite with
The Timcs-Dispatch, some of bis friends
naturally supposed that our suggestion
was designed to head off the Bryan move
ment This gave The Times-D Dispatch
no little amusement, for this paper never
had a sly design in its life. 1t has abso-
luteiy no sense about such things. The
suggestion was quite as artless as the po-
litcal experts declared it 10 be. We have
no political cunning.
There was. however, this much Of pur-
pose to which we have already confessed.
We wished to.s show that the talk about
nominating n Southern man had no bot
tom TO it, for the sufficient reason that
the South would never concentrate on
any Southern man, The South may be
solid for Nebraska man or a New York
man, but never for Virginia man or a
Texas man.
You are right, esteemed friend of
Knoxville, The Times-Dispatch is heaping
up comfort against the day OF defeat.