The Columbus journal., 1908-07-22
THE DENVER PLATFORM.

THE DENVER PLATFORM.
The Denver platform Is not Dem
ocratic platform unless one man is to
be accepted Is the absolute sponsor for
the Democracy. It is not . party ex-
preston unless one man IL to be re.
garded Is the embodiment of all the
wisdom, al the diplomacy, al the
foresight Of the great political organi-
zat,on to which he belongs.
Nevertheless it is the platform of .
party, for the Democracy has accepted
it. has become responsible for it and
must make its fight upon it. 1t is
thoroughly characteristic of the man
who made it. As with other declsra.
tions that have borne his impress, it is
. combination of the obviously sound
and progressive and the manifestly
unsound and dangerous. 1t again be-
trays the Bryan habit of over-reach-
ing. It forces ON the party positions
that must be evacuated in the future
as Bryan positions have been evacu-
ated in the past.
As to the planks found in both the
Chicago and the Denver platforms,
each party has done we'll. A great
effort was made by Mr.. Bryan to i'm
prove on the anti-injunctiou plank of
the Republican party, but he has
accomplished nothing except to make
a little more obvious appeal to union
labor. His tribute to the courts, i'm
plying criticism Of the Republican
attitude, is q bit of humor, for no other
man has done 50 much to discredit the
courts as has Mr.. Bryan through his
insistent phrase government by in.
junction"
The effect of the Denver platform
on the campaign will be through its
inclusion of things not mentioned in
the Chicago declaration. Some of
these planks will be found advanta-
geous; others will not. By declaring
for the publicity of campaign contri.
buttons, the election of Senators by
popular vote and the laying of an in
come tax, and by denouncing Speaker
Cannon's rule of the House, Mr.. Bryan
has met a popular demand that the
Chicago convention ignored.
But he has revived the cry Of I'm.
perialism," protest that has no echo
with the public at large, in view of the
splendid advances made in the Philip
pines under the direction of Mr.. Taft.
And it is a protest, too, that is wholly
incongruous with Mr.. Bryan's ap-
proval of what has been done in
Porto Rico.
He has injected into the irritating
atmosphere of national politics the
most delicate diplomatic problem this
country has faced in many years-the
japanese question. This problem only
recently brought genuine war men.
ace to the very gates Of this country.
It was adjusted, subject to deliberate
diplomatic conclusions, by Mr.. Taft.
The subject also involves the exceed
ingly troublesome question of conflict
ing authority between the federal gov
ernment and the several states in rela-
ton to aliens. Ts throw this issue
into the hot arena of national politics
is foolhardy, if not wicked.
And it is scarcely less i'll advised to
make a new political issue out of the
old and lamentable question of states
rights. The so.called "encroachment
of the Federal government" have been
only the extensions of authority made
necessary by the expansion Of inter-
state commerce, and largely by the
failures of states to establish effective
local control.
The condemnation of the President
because a member of his cabinet has
been made q nominee for the Presi-
dency, on the ground that such pro-
cedure "tends to establish a dynasty"
is simply y Bryan puerility.
The Denver platform and the Dem
ocratic candidate for President are
inseparable. The one was made by
the other. Mr.. Bryan cannot ignore
any plank of that document. Nor
could he, as President, consistently
supplement the platform. -...
The Chicago platform meets, so far
as it goes, the views of Mr.. Taft. But
it does not mention some things that
Mr.. Taft wished to have incorporated.
1t is within the province Of Mr.. Taft,
if he is elected, to amplify his partys
policies, - President Roosevelt has