Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1908-05-25
NOT PERSONALITY.
A MASSACHUSETTS DEMOCRAT IN
new YORK sun.
Shows by fhe Record That BRYAN is
the Strongest Democratic Candi-
didate Now Before the peOple.
His Hold on the Affections of the
People Justified,

The New York Sun prints the fol-
lowing letter:
"To the Editor of Sun-Sir: You
are so thoroughly committed to the
opposition of Mr. Bryan that it
would be matter of presumption to
address to you word in his favor if
one could not confidently rely on the
Suns spirit of fairness to give both
sides hearing and even Mr.. Bryan
his due.
1t has been frequently urged of late
by several papers and numerous in
dividuals that Mr.. Bryan should re-
tire from the running in favor of
Governor johnson or somebody else
who peradventure might lead a unit
ed democracy to victory. The writer
of course has no access to Mr.. Bry-
ans inner consciousness and is there
fore unable to say just what may be
the motives that are controlling him.
But whatever may be his motives or
personal feelings, there are some OBJ
vious facts which an outside observer
must consider, and which Mr. Bryan
in all human probability has also
taken note of and given due weight
in deciding on his course of action.
Mr.. Bryan, by the events of the
past twelve years, has established a
ptnt 10 wi ,,l, n
900 voters, relation which is very
real, very vital and largely personal.
When it comes to the question of re-
firing from the running in favor of
some other man, Mr.. Bryan as an
honorable man would have no con-
ceivable moral right to ignore this
relationship and the duty which is
laid upon him by virtue of this rela-
tionship. Mr.. Bryan, either by his
own volition, or by the force of cir
cumstances, has been placed in a po-
sitiOn where these millions of men
look to him for the accomplishment
of their political aspirations and
ideals. This being true, Mr.. Bryan's
personal feelings or ambitions are
quite beside the point. He has no
right to retire until he gets his dis
charge from these millions of voters
whom he has represented.
GAS one of these millions, the
nameless and obscure, l should feel
personally that Mr.. Bryan would be
a traitor to the cause he has repre-
scented if he should listen to the ad
vice which is so freely offered, and
decline in advance to accept the no.
mination. In other words, Mr.. Bry-
ans personal feelings, ambitions or
inclinations do not enter into the
question at all, but simply his duty
to the men he has represented. And
from the point of view his conduct
in 1904 may be open to criticism, but
his conduct in 1908 is not.
eff may still further trespass up
on the patience and space of the Sun
1 should like to say just word of
what Mr.. Bryan represents to these
5000, 900 and more who look to him
to fulfill their political aspirations
and ideals. 1 find very. general
misconception of what Mr.. Bryan
really stands for. Bryan democracy
is supposed to be the summation of
all political madness and wickedness
by the people who have never TAX
en- the trouble to find out just what
it is. 1t is supposed to be free silver
or government ownership of rail-
roads or something else. And it may
or may not involve or include these
things according to circumstances,
but these things it certainly is not.
The heart and soul of the Bryan
movement, the one thing that those
100000 and more do really mean
and mean most intensely and all the
time, has found it's best and complet-
est expression in the Declaration of
Independence and Lincoln's speech at
Gettysburg. However much we may
like to disguise the fact and talk
about strict construction and loose
construction being the only bases of
cleavage between political parties in
the United States, the fact remains
that the one significant question be-
fore us today, and the most vital
question in the history of the nation
is the question OF oligarchy and de-
mocracy. Can any sane, intelligent
man who knows the history of the
republican party since 1t became
welded to the tariff doubt that 1t
has moved away from the sublime