The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1908-07-21

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have long ere this read the complete
details of the great gathering, and in
/ language and form much more eX-
I pressive and complete than mine
could be.
It was a great cOnventiOn-great
I in attendance, great in environment,
great in the men who made ii up, and
what is more TO the point, great in
| its purpose and in the work which it
accomplished. 1t comprised a body
4 of men wno knew what they wanted
and who knew how to get it. There
was no beating about the bush, no
whipping the devil around the stump,
no deception or discrimination. The
delegates to the democratic conven-
ton of 1908 had their instructions
from the people who sent them there
and they proceeded Immediately to
! carry out those Instructions They
wanted to tote fair with their con-
stituents and with the country and
then cid both.
While the Denver convention sur
passed in enthusiasm any similar
gathering, probably, in the history o.
American politics, 1t lacked much of
the spectacular effect which the St
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ago. The St. Louis convention was,
! in the end. as one-Sided as this one,
but the St Louis convention contain
ed what this one did not-a militant,
aggressive minority, led by man
who is more majestic even in defeat
than in victory That minority and
/ that leader kept the majority at st.
Louis guessing until the convention
adjourned At Denver the minority
was present, but il had no leader and
its purpose was as lacking as its
leadership, so that the majority had
no opposition worthy of the name
The Denver convention has been
criticized because several of the old
time leaders were absent. Among
them are mentioned, David r. Hill,
John Sharp Williams, Senator Till
man, Senator Bailey and few others
whose faces have in the past been
familiar at Democratic national con-
ventions They point to Senator Dan
lei as about the only representative
of the older school that was present.
Well. il is true that some of the old
timers were not there, and it is to
the credit both o. themselves and of
the party that they did not force
their presence on the convention.
These men have aad their honors at
the hands of the democratic party
A vast army of young democrats Is
now growing up. Is there any reason
why tGese old beneficisTies of party
honor should want, or be permitted,
to mOnopcIize it forever? The young
men nave a right to some of those
honors and l was glad to note that
in this convention, the young men
got some of them.
If the Denver convention was
notable because of the absence of
some of the well-known convention
makers of previous years, il was
equally notable because of the pres
ence of some of the most able lead
ers OF democratic opinion which the
present generation has produced.
Some of them are new men, it is
true, and most of them are young
men, but being a new man or a young
man has long since ceased to be a
crime in politics or anything else
There were the three Oklahoma
men-Governor Haskell, Senator Gore.
and Senator Owen There were not
three men in the entire convention
who measured up to them in the at
tention which they attracted or who
excelled them in ability These men
are all young men and, what is more,
/ they are, representative young men,
They represent the new democracy
which has taken possession of the
country and they illustrate those
other important facts, viz: that demo-
cratic sentiment is now made by the
west instead of the east and that the
Z balance of power now hangs about
/ the states of the middle west rather
( than about New York state which has
! heretofore been regarded as absolute
/ " necessary to the success oe a pres
| idential candidate.
Then there were other new, but
also big men present. There was
/ Governor Noel OF Mississippi, Senator
I Frazier of Tennessee. John w. Tom
linsOn of Alabama. Governor Folk of
/ Missouri, Sullivan and Wade of Iowa,
( Bell of California, Lamb of Indiana,
and many others. any and all of
! whom measure up to the highest
standard which the party has ever
maintained That they we're new
men and that they took the places OF
/ older and better known men is to
/ the credit o. the party and of them
/ selves II shows that the party IS
progressing and that as,
New times demand new measures
I and new men,"
/ The democracy of the country means
/ to keep abreast of the times. I have
no patience with that class of people
who can see nothing good in young
men or new men Ny opinion may
I of course be prejudiced because l am
/ a young man myself but nevertheless
( l have often wondered what would
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