Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-25
probably take advantage Of the pres
ent discussion Of the subject to place
art upon the free list.
Mr. BRYAN AND The SOUTH.

Mr. BRYAN AND The SOU1H
Thomas T.. Watson, the populist
nominee for the presidency and one of
the tails to Mr.. Brysn's kite in 1895,
Is apparently determined to make Mr..
Bryan's use of the solid south plain,
even If the democratic candidate i'm
sists upon his refusal to discuss any of
the questions in which the south has
a keen interest. Mr.. Watson has is
sued his speech of acceptance in
pamphlet form and places this part of
it in big, black type. that he who runs
may read:
And particularly, what right has he to
expect the support Of the south? Upon one
principle alone can he hope to get 1t, and
that is upon the idea that the south is COM
PEELED to vote the democratic ticket. no
matter how offensive in principle the plat
form may be, nor how much the candidate
may insult it.
Mr.. Bryan understands the helplessnoss
of the south and exploits il to the very ut
most. From the southern states he must
draw 1855 of the 242 electoral votes that are
necessary to his success. and yet he has
1900 80 hhAAN 9NaAta nc n aht
negligible quantity. In return for her 1856
electoral votes she gets nothing-absolutely
nothing. The platform recognizes no in
terest of hers.
IL the south will follow me In this cam
paisn, revolving against the odious condi-
lions under which It is expected to serve
Mr.. Bryan. she will at once resume her old
place in the sisterhood Of sections. Being
now a democratic asset, which can be
counted on with certainty, nobody regards
her, pays any attention to her in this, or
thinks of her feelings. Let the south be-
come politically uncertain and she will
again become politically great.
Correct as Mr.. Watson's diagnosis
of conditions in the south may be. the
chances are that Mr.. Bryan will again
get the votes of those states. as little
as they like the situation. The lead-
ing papers of the south are supporting
Mr.. Bryan in a half-hearted way. They
are exhibiting none of the spirit that
wins battles, but are going into the
fight with sadness rather than with
joy and the hope of victory. The
Charleston Post says there are many
democrats who do not like Mr.. Bryan,
and they have good reason for their
antipathy," but the Post will support
Bryan from force of habit. The At
lanta Journal will support Bryan, but
regrets that some leader like Gray or
Johnson was not given the opportunity
to redeem the party from its long rec
ord of disaster" The Memphis Com
mercial Appeal regrets that the stand
ard of the party will once more be en-
trusted to the Great Defeated" The
Atlanta Constitution hopes that Bryan
will make the tariff the paramount is
sue and not "befog the campaign by
dragging in subsidiary and unimpor-
tant issues" The Augusta Chronicle
admits that it may not agree with
much of the Denver platform, but
that is no reason we should not sustain
the party The Norfolk Landmark
finds consolation in Mr.. Bryan's
INSTRUMENTATION pledge not to run
for reelection If he wins this time"
The Savannah News welcomes the
abandonment of free silver as an indi-
cation that Bryan is willing to admit
his mistakes" The Richmond Times
Dispatch finds that "the sum total of
the candidate and the platform offers
no rallying cry to the Times-Dispatch's
enthusiasm" On the anti-negro ques-
ton alone the Charleston News and
Courier decides that southern demo-
Gratis may shut their eyes to Bryan's
whims and foibles, his fanciful excur-
sions into a wilderness foreign TO a
sound and historic democracy and vote
for him. The Richmond News
Leader says there lis not a town in the
south of more than 500 people in
which there is not a respectable oppo-
sition to Mr.. Bryan and his policies"
Southern democracy frankly admits
that It assemblies under the Bryan ban
ner solely because it is the democratic
banner. The south is close to the
borderland of 1.-The enemy's country
so far as Mr.. Bryan Is concerned.
THE NEW SCHOOL OF DOCTORS.