The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1908-01-19

fight against Imperialism, Mr.. Bryan
demanded OF the Kansas City Convet,-
ton tho renflirnlntion OF tho Chicago
platform. In Difference to his wishes
tile party burdennd itself with dend
ISSUE, and went down In hopeless de.
| feat.
The convention did. indeed, declare
that It regarded Imperialism as the
''parainount ISSUE" but the nomination
OF Bryan belled the declaration nnd
| forced the silver issl,e to the front.
Many OF tho thoughtful and conserva-
| tive men Of the country, who wero
opposed to the military and colonial
policies of the Republican party, were
even more strongly opposed to the sill
yer tenets OF Mr. Bryan. 1nstend of a
clean cut campaign on the single issuc
OF Imperialism, which was new and OF
transcendent Importance, attention was
diverted to n threndbare discussion OF
monetary standards, so that to the
conservative men Of the country 1t
seemed a choice between free silver
and imperialism. Instead OF putting
the Republicans on the defensive by
attacking their imperinlistic policies,
Bryan forced his own party to put it
self In an apologetic attitude on tho
silver question.
Mr.. Bryan Is possessed of an elo.
quencc that would adorn the highest
craftsmanship; .,he Is honest, patriotic
and sincere, but he Is essentially an
advocate. with the people as his eli
ents, and, like the professional advo-s
cate. he stands ready to be retained
in any cause his clients ask him to un-
dertnke. He Is utterly lacking. how
ever In the most essential element OF
statesmanship--the ability to disttn-
g,lish between issues that are specious
and temporary and issues that are
real and permanent. He talks III plat
Eitudes about the regulation Of trusts
and corporations, about ultimate g0v-
eminent ownership OF railroads, about
the initiative and referendum, but he
discusses these measures without hav.
ing subjected them to searching analy.
sis, and no one has succee ded in draw
ing from him any we'll -thought-out
system or plan for putting any OF
these ideas into operation. His prin.
cpal boast at present seems to be that
he advocated most Of the Roosevelt
policies before. Roosevelt took them
up. Mr.. Bryan has talked so much In
the last twelve years and advocated
so many things In a general way that
his. charge of plagiarism against the
President probably has in 1t a measure
Of truth. but If there is anything the
country is weary Of Just now 1t Is the
Roosevelt policies.
The object OF this communication Is
to urge the cxpediency Of the Vir-
glnia Democratic State Convention
meeting early and expressing itself
openly against the nomination OF
Bryan, or at least leaving its delegates
q ,,t, V1yntf
1t Ia believed, In the present state of
public opinion, make profound I'M
preston and produce a change of SEN
timent in some OF the other States. 1t
is absurd to say that Mr.. Bryan Is the
only man in the Democratic party big
enough to fill the presidential chair.
Judson Harmon, of Ohio. or Governor
johnson, of Minnesota, would either
one be considered eminently eligible.
and as a candidate thealatter would not
only be acceptable to the Eastern wing
of the party but he would carry more
States in the West than Bryan.
He can 1t least manage his own State,
which is moro than Bryan can do. But
we are not advocating any particular
candidate. Fate may have In store for
us a dark horse, and we want to give
him chance to. come out. Prevent the
nomination Of Bryan on the first bal
lot, and he will be eliminated from
the contest. II the South is ever to
assert itself and cease to be negli-
gible quantity in national conventions.
now is the time to act, Why should
not Virginia take the lead? The first
step is to select able delegates and
send them to Denver untnstructed.
They will be listened to.
Those of us who for the sake OF the
grand old party whose record Is writ
ten in the history of the nation's pro-
sress have twice supported Mr.. Bryan
as it's nominee. demand of our party.
and we feel that we have a right to
demand. that 1t give us candidate
we can vote for without sacrificing the
convictions we hold dear and the duty
we owe to the nation. II the party
can with impunity turn a deaf ear to
voice from the South. there are thous-
ands Of independent voters in the North
and West who will never vote for
Bryan, and without whose votes no
Democrat can, be elected.
Very respectfully.
JOHN II. LATANE,
Professor OF History. Washington and
Lee University.
January Is, 1908.
OF course. the Virginia delegates to
the national convention should not be
hanlpered with Instructions. They
should be left entirely free to cast the
vote of Virginia for the most avail
able candidate. according as the situa:-
ton at Denver may develop.
BUSINESS MEN SPEAK OUT.
The Times-Dispatcl has more than
once expressed the opinion that the
business interests of the country de-
sired better railroad service rather than
lower rates, and that. soon or late,
that sentiment would be asserted. One
night last week the Merchants Assoc