The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1907-12-08

| MN literally: State banks might suf-
Ter II this financial stringency con
tlnues. and they are therefore interest
ed IN restoring confidence Moreover,
there is no reason why they should not
De protected by a similar system under
winch the state would guarantee de-
posItors in state banks and collect the
| expenses from the banks so guaran-
teed.
IN the last twelve years there have
! been more national banks that failed
than state banks. The regulation Of
| state banks and Of savings banks is
/ vastly more strict than that Of the ma
! tlonal banks. True, this depends large
~ on the state. For example the state
! banking law Of New York is badly
| drawn and more badly enforced. The
banking law of Michigan is well drawn
and well enforced. In New York the
| failures Of national banks have ex-
| ceeded those Of state banks by about
! per cent. In Michigan there have been
no failures of state banks during the
last ten years. Mr.. Bryan's plan would
banks, give them assurance of the
safety of their deposits and thereby en-
| courage them to take their money out
of the places in which it is now being
boarded and put it into circulation.
| Democrats In Conference.
J There is an old story about the tend
ency of Democrats to quarrel. The
story is told most often by people who
want to intensity personal antago-
nisms among members of the Demo
cratic party. For example, the Hon.
! Thomas Taggart invited, very properly
and very courteously, a number of
members of the Democratic national
| committee to be his guests at his
home in French Lick, Ind Nothing
| could have been done more tactfully
! by the chairman of the Democratic ma
| tional committee than that. Instantly
| the SO called great newspapers of the
| United States declared that it was an
official meeting of the national com
mittee. Then they insisted that it was
/ called to pick out some candidate fo~
| the Democratic nomination for the
| presidency.
1t so happens that know something
| about the gathering at French Lick.
Mr.. Taggart, who is one of the most
| hospitable and popular men in the
! United States, simply invited all the
members of the national committee
| and a few of his personal friends to
be his guests. Of course politics was
| talked. When men whose interests lie
largely in politics gather together they
naturally talk politics But it was not
a meeting of the national committee: it
was not controlled by the friends
of this candidate or the other candi-
| date. 1t was simply pleasant social
gathering of men having practically
| the same interests at heart, and out
of it much good can come.
l noticed among the bitterly antago-
nistic men, to the candidacy of Mr.
Bryan-as SO reported by the newspa-
pers-D. ]. Campau of Detroit and
| Norman e. Mack of Buffalo. No two
| men in the national committee have
been more close to him than these two.
and the fact that certain newspapers
| display them as participating in an
| unfriendly conference leads me to
question the accuracy of their reports
There is some discussion as to wheth-
er Chairman Taggart called this meet
ing with the hope Of electing himself
chairman of the national committee
after the next convention. Newspaper
toll Of YET &c,
present national committee cannot elect
the chairman of the next national
committee. If Mr. Chanler of New
York should be nominated for the presi-
dency, nobody would question his right
to select the chairman of the commit
tee who should conduct his campaign
Whoever may be nominated will select
the chairman. Nobody knows this bet
ter than Mr.. Taggart. and Tom Tag
CART, though suffering from the attacks
of certain newspapers, has been and
will be loyal soldier in the cause of
radical Democracy.
Concerning Platforms.
The New York Sun, which is .agitated
apparently about Mr. Bryan's position
concerning second term for the presi-
dency, says that ''the presumption has
always been that Mr.. Bryan inspired
and authorized, If he did not actually
write, the platform on which he made
his second campaign for president in
1900" In all essentials the Sun is
right. The platform was inspired by
Mr.. Bryan, but not written by him. II
was written by Colonel Charles II.
Jones. formerly associated with the
Pulitzer newspapers. Drafts Of it We're
sent to several men interested in the
pending campaign, including Mr.. Bryan
himself. Comparatively few changes
were made in it until the meeting Of
the committee on resolutions. There
it was changed slightly.
Sometimes l wonder whether the
fight that always comes on.over the
platform is worth while. In. 1900 the
committee ON resolutions sat for more