The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1908-07-16
WASHINGTON

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mate on the Democratic ticket
makes it certain that the battle
ground of the coming campaign
will be in the Middle West Close
friends of the Nebraska leader have
repeatedly declared i'll the last few
months that Bryan no longer look
ed to New York or the East for
sympathy or support. He and his
immediate advisers were disposed
TO write the East down permanent
ly as the "inemys Country" and
cease to waste their time and
energy in trying to make inroads
in it while there was a more prom
ising field of endeavor in Ohio, In
diana. Illinois and Wisconsin, where
the Republican party has been rad
icalized and the party ties of thou
sands of Republicans Enthusiastically
loosened.
The fact that Bryan has now
turned away from the several can
didates for the Vice Presidency pre-
sented by the Empire State and
chosen his running mate from In
diana seems to prove that the idea
of abandoning the East is to be
given practical effect this year by
the Democratic National Commit
tee, which Bryan will absolutely
dominate.
CHOICE REGARDED AS WISE.
The choice of Kern is regarded
by Democrats here as an eminently
wise one, in the light cf the sup.
posed Bryan plan of campaign. He
is a man of ability and popularity
and his name on the Democratic
ticket will arouse the State pride
and enthusiasm of the Hoosier De-
mocracy.
The State for years has been i'll
every campaign debatable ground.
Just now the Republican party in
the State is badly split up. The
failure of the Republicans to re-
nominate Fairbanks will still fur
ther weaken it, not because the
Vice President is particularly popu-
lar there, but for the reason that he
and his friends will have no imme-
dia,e stake in the campaign and
will probably sulk in their tents
instead of getting ont and hustling
for the ticket as they wolld have
done had he been on it.
In Ohio the lack of harmony and
organization in the Republican par
ty are notorious and the conditions
there are likely to get worse before
they get better. This will be es-
pecially the case if the Administra-
tion and Taft oeople carry out their
suspected purpose of backing Rep
Theodore Z. Burton for
the Senatorship against Foraker
whom many of the Taft people are
bent on eliminating from Ohio pol
itics. The Foraker following are
aware that the Taft crowd can do
this if they go at it with determi-
nation and the bare announcement
OF the fact that Taft has given his
consent to the attempt will be apt
to drive thousands of the Foraker
supporters into the Democratic par
ty. In this situation there would
be very good chance of the Dem.
ocrats capturing the State this fall,
despite the fact that an Ohio man
is the Republican candidate. The
Foraker men are desperate and will
not hesitate to bolt once they be-
come convinced that their leader is
marked for slaughter by Taft and
the Administration.
ILLINOIS DOUBTFUL. TOO.
In Illinois the condition of the
Republicans is better than in the
neighboring States, and in normal
times probably there would be small
hope of the Democrats carrying it
But the times are not normal, and
will hardly become so before No.
vember. The industrial and busi-
ness depression is still keenly felt
in Chicago, where thousands of
men are idle. The labor element
of the city is very strong and thor
oughly radical in it's political tend
encies, and for this element Mr..
Bryan will make most determined
play. He is expected to make
personal canvass of the city and
surrounding region, as he did in
1896 and, again, in 1900, and, if
there is much business and indus
trial depression there toward the
close of the campaign, the Repub-
licans cannot fail to suffer heavily.
Bryan will, no doubt, devote most
of his campaigning to the States of
the Middle West, and he may be
expected to work even more ener-
getically than he did in his two
previous campaigns.
The feeling here is that there are
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