The daily sentinel., 1908-10-12
(By Henry Watterson. }

1906, no one rejected Mr.. Bryan for
leader more resolutely than myself.
If L could finally reach him and ac-
cept him, any good Democrat can. II
may help the yet undecided if | re-
late how l did.
In the early part of 1907 l began
discussion having for its purpose
some agreement among the Bryan
men and the anti-Bryan men touch
ing presidential nominee other than
Mr.. Bryan. During ten months this
encountered from the anti-Bryan
men either indifference or detraction.
l got no second to my motion. Emu
lating the frontier presiding officer
who said, Second your own motion,
you son of a gun" they would none
of it. So | went to Florida, leaving
them to go to thunder, or words to
that effect, and the entire winter
passed, the nomination of Mr.. Bryan
being either openly accepted or sill
entity conceded by every public man
suggested as an alternative. Finally.
in the early spring, two facts, suf-
ficiently ascertained to be conclusive,
decided me: first, that an overwhelm-
ing majority of the Democrats of the
South and West were for Mr.. Bryan,
in spite of the argument l had made
against his availability as a candi-
date; and, second, that the belated
movement to defeat his nomination
appeared under equivocal patronage
and involved the use of money which
emanated from doubtful sources. This
latter, boding party disruption, i'm
PEELED me actively to take a hand.
urging a refusal to remain silent
whilst scheme. dangerous and un-
worthy in character, percolated be-
meath the surface.
A Friendly Conference.
The result was a friendly confer
ence with Mr.. Bryan. Intelligent
people will not need to be told that
there is all the difference in the
world between sympathy and agree
ment-though tentative-and opposi-
tion and antagonism, though resting
upon questions only of eXpediency.
There was. of course. a reverse side
of the shield. Mr.. Bryan had his
story to tell, and this embraced
very strong case. What authoriza-
tion had he to name a successor in
case he stepped aside? What power
had he, conceding the will, to trans
fer his following to another? Not
one. but half dozen, aspirants would
take the field Immediately on his
withdrawal. If a majority of the
party was for him, what had made it
so? Surely neither organization nor
money, nor other effort of his than
the constant preaching of Democratic
gospels. If he agreed to stand down
and out, designating an heir-appar-
ent, would he not become a dictator,
an autocrat. and what difference
would there be in his naming a sue
cessor and attempting to foist him
upon the party, and Roosevelt's nam
Ing and forcing Taft upon the Re
publicans? He did not stand upon
his rights at all; upon his claims;
upon his wishes, or ambitions. He
put the facts of the situation plainly,
impersonally precisely as they were
and are, and there was no reasonable
answer to be made by any reasonable
man.
Then and there l laid down my
hand. AS a good Democrat, seeing
clearly, and as the sequel has shown.
seeing truly, the drift of the winds,
| accepted the inevitable; but | did
this in no dubious way. | made no
ihalf-friendships with any man or set
of men. There had never been any
thing more than skin-deep between
myself and Mr. Bryan. Nothing even
skin-deep remained, and. when the
interview had in New York was con-
cluued, went forth to make Mr.. Bry-
an liSil my llbul, DecduSe II WIS III
reality the fight of what | believe
truth against what / believe false
hood.
Mr.. Bryan upon acquaintance prov
ed different from my preconception
of him. | met not a visionary orator
but man of sense, in deadly earnest.
direct and reasonable. Coming to
Nnow him better, seeing him in his
home, l found a man able and sim
cere. devoted and devout. having a
childlike faith in the people. in God
and truth. l changed my opinion
altogether. / felt that ! had done him
signal injustice. | would as soon
trust him in the White House as
George Gray or Richard Olney; and
beneve that when he gets there
militant Democracy of the school of
Jefferson and Jackson and Tilden
will renew its youth and vigor. lead
ing the way to such changes in the
national House and Senate as will
restore them their legislative func-
tions and give the people assurance
of real and lasting reforms.
impossible Republican. Promises.
No party was ever known to re-
form itself. Republican promises to
reform Republican abuses make but
poor deathbed repentance. Taft
means either -four years more of
Theodore or a new lease for Aldrich,
Cannon & Co. Bryan means, if any
thing else, the new broom that sweep
eth clean, upon floors that are ad-
mittedly most unclean. There must
be an occasional change of parties if
we are to have decent administra-
tion. One-party government is only
a degree less Objectionable than the
one-man power.
1t is a peculiar misfortune and an
augury OF evil that the people of the
East-notably New York-get their