The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1908-07-03
WASHINGTON.
Legislative and Cen
eral Topics from
the Capital.
June %. 1905.

With more than two thirds O
the votes in the Democratic
National Convention pledged t,
William Jennings Bryan, only tn,
nominee for second place and the
platform remains to be settled
and it is a safe prediction, SC
great is Mr.. Bryan's control OF
his party. that he will as surely
dictate both as did Secretary
Taft dictate the same important
features of the Republican Con
ventioD. Already there is small
army of newspaper men at Lin
coin, and some wonderful tales
are flashed over the wires from
the Nebraska metropolis each
morning, most of which will be
taken up by the sober minded
Democrats with a considerable
grain of allowance. For in
stance, one ordinarily reputable
newspaper tells its readers that
Mr.. Bryan will not have Gov
ernOr Johnson on the ticket under
any circumstances, while another
declares that former Senator
Charles Towne, has been chosen
by the Peerless Leader for his
running mate, and another as
Solemnly ayows that former Gov
ernor Douglas, of Massachusetts,
is to be the Vice Presidential
nominee. OF course all this
makes fairly interesting reading,
hut those who know Mr.. Bryan
will not imagine for moment
that he is contiding to certain
newspaper correspondents, s
differentiated from the entire
press, these most important pur
poses, nor is it likely that Mr..
Bryan has himself reached any
definite decision so far in ad
vance of the convention.
SO too, i'll the case of the plat
form. One correspondent grave
ly assures the pnblic that there
will be an anti-injunction plank
in the platform, while another
asserts with equal solemnity that
the anti-injuction plank is al
ready drawn. Still another states
that there will be no free
silver plank. and is in turn
contradicted by another scribe.
1t is true, however, that when in
New York recently Mr.. Bryan
did say positively that there
would be no free silver plank in
the platform, explaining that
this was not because of any
change in his convictions, but
because of changed conditions
which rendered unnecessary at
this time any relteration of his
well known views on this subject.
1t, is further reasonable as
sumption that the platform will
condemn the shilly-shally tinan-
cial legislation of the Republi-
cans, and the creation of ma
tional Monetary Commiss o n"
which, from its very composition,
is bound TO report to Congress Ill
favor of only such form of finan-
cial legislation as is satisfactory
to Nelson w. Aldrich, Senior
Senator from Rhode Island, and
his Wall Street friends.
Prominent Democrats W b
watched the trend of events at
ChicagO-and among them keenly
Observent though unObserved,
was National Chairman Thomas
Taggart-6eclare that never were
the conditions within the Repub.
lican fold better for Democratic
success than they are this year.
The "Old Guard" as the old
Hanna regime is termed, had
radical Rooseveltism showed down
their throats with a ramrod so to
speak, and they by no means en-
joyed the process. Speaker Can
non rushed back to Chicago to
try to save the party aud espec-
tally his friends from the .swave
of radicallsm," as he called it,
which was sweeping the Old
Guard out of places of power,
but even the Speaker and the
powerful influences that he con.
trolls were powerless to stem the
tide, and the anti injunction
plank, make SHIFT it is true,
but nevertheless a declaration iu
favor OF an anti injunction law, a
tariff revision plank which made
the old stand patter snort will
rage at other Taft Roosevelt pol
icies were jammed through tn,
Committee on Resolutions, to tn,
infinite discomfort of the old line
hard shell Republicans. Wha
will be the resulti The old fel
lows, the men that for years hav'
protected their favorite indus
tries and have extorted from then
generous campaign funds in re
turn, will sulk in their tents
Hartman and the other "Unde
sirable citizens" will lock a
their check books, and it will b