The San Francisco call., 1908-08-25
HEARST HURLS
Ills TOMAHAWk
AT THE IROQUOIS
Surprised" Says Doodle Dee
Chief, ''tO Know Club and
Party Still Exist"
Resigns as Requested, but With
Greatest of Pleasure and
Good Feeling"
''You Imply I'm Not a Democrat,
and | Admit It," Says Jour-
nalist in Answer

William Randolph Hearst, impresa-
rio of all the doodle dees, has resigned
formally from the Iroquois club of San
Francisco and the democracy of Cali
fornia, both of which Hearst says
he is surprised to learn are still in
existence.
Hearst has been surprised often in
politics. 1t has never been said be-
fore that he has resigned. His latest
surprise was occasioned by the return
OF check sent in payment of his dues
as member of the Iroquois club. The
check went back accompanied by a
letter requesting that Hearst resign
from the club and intimating that he
was no democrat-also that if he did
not resign voluntarily the Iroquois
braves would find great delight in
burning his name at the club stake
According to his own statements
Hearst has written thousands of checks
for democracy and leaders of bourbon
thought, to say nothing of other thou
sands indited to the cause of his po-
litical side show Incorporated as the in
dependence league and popularity desig-
mated doodle dees. Hearst had acquired
the check habit long ago, but never had
one returned until the Iroquois club
refused to spend his money.
TAKES MONTH TO RECOVER
The shock was great. month
elapsed before the master of the doodle
,dees recovered from it sufficiently to
acknowledge gratefully the receipt of
the money and comply with the request
for his resignation. In a letter ad-
dressed to the. Iroquois club yesterday
Hearst intimated that he had devoted
part of the month to convincing him
self that there We're still democracy
and an IroQuois club.
Responsibility for sending the check
is tersely passed to an employe and the
major portion of a long letter devoted
to inquiries about the brand of de-
mocracy now being used in California
and denunciation of Bryan. Incidental
ly Hearst expresses his surprised graft
tude for the return of his contribution.
Here is his letter:
August "a, 1908.
To the Iroquois Association,
San Francisco, CAL
Gentlemen:
1 received your letter with both pleas
ure and surprise. / was surprised to
know that Mr.. Bogart was sending 81
dues to your organization, but pleased
to learn of it, as l am exceedingly
ready to stop that. 1 was pleased and
surprised, too, to learn that the Iroquois
club was still in existence, for thought
that it had died the death and had been
peacefully buried along with the last
remnants of the defunct democratic
party of California.
But, since the Iroquois club still, in a
mo oxic aT a n fro
and the situation suggested in your let
ter seems sufficient reason for me.
NOT A DEMOCRAT
You imply that 1 am not a democrat,
and I strongly suspect that 1 am not,
according to the democratic standards
of today. l worked hard for the demo-
cratic party at one time, and contrib
uted many thousands of 81 checks and
cheerfully suffered much abuse and
much injury for the democratic party;
but 1 believed in it then, and I don't
now.
You imply, furthermore, that you are
democrats, and can not help wonder
ing what kind of democrats you think
you are. Are you 1892 democrats, or
1896 democrats, or 1900 democrats, or
1904 democrats, or 1908 democrats?
in the tariff reform that we didn't get,
and the military suppression of labor
unions that we did get? Are you Parker
democrats, supporting the trusts If
they don't? Are you Bryan democrats,
believing in free silver sometimes and
in government ownership sometimes,
and in the initiative and referendum
sometimes? And If you are Bryan dem
ocrats and believe in these things, do
you also believe in Bryan platform
that contains none of these things2
Dear friends and brothers of the Iro-
quois club, you all remember how the
democracy of free silver was taught
you and how you got intensely excited
- H. e. Il 4
for it, and then were informed that free
silver was not true democracy after all,
but that public ownership was.
Then you remember how you threw
your hats in the air over public owner
ship and worked up an almost hysteri-
cal enthusiasm for 1t, and then were in
formed that this wasn't true democracy
either, but that the initiative and refer
endum were.
Then you came nobly to the front
again and affirmed undying devotion to
the everlasting principles of the initia-
tive and referendum; but now you have
platform in which there is no free
silver, in which there is no public own
ership, in which there is no initiative or
by the old DR.. GringIe of democracy
that only that platform with the own
er's trademark pasted on the front and
the owners name blown in the bottle is
genuine democracy, and that If you
don't subscribe to that you will be read
out of the democratic party.
ais NO DEMOCRATIC PARITY
Friends and ex-brothers of the Iro-
quois club, there is no democratic
party. There is only a Bryan party.
and the followers of that party don't
know when they go to bed at night
what they will be called upon to be-
lieve when they wake up in the morn
ing.
Once there was man who had an
old carving knife which he said had
been handed down to him from his
grandfather. A friend said to him: .sIt
looks rather new. Haven't you ever
done anything to it?" And the man
said: "Oh, i've had the blade Changed
once or twice. and the handle renewed
a couple of times, but otherwise it is
just the same knife my grandfather
had"
Mr.. Bryan tells us that his variable
doctrines are the democracy of our