Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-13

Friend and foe alike will concede
one great merit TO Mr.. Bryan's ac-
ceptance speech-that Of brevity. Mr..
Bryan is willing to run for the presi-
dency for a third time and does not
hesitate to say so. He Toes not ever
ignore the fact hat he has twice be-
fore been through campaigns which
ended in defeat" nor hide from the
public his intention to inflict a more
lengthy and formal reply to the noti-
ficatioa later.
In selecting only a few subjects for
discussion In his speech Mr.. Bryan has
shown a wise discretion, because It has
enabled him to avoid discussing a num-
Der of subjects equally pertinent and
timely in the nature of two-edged
swords, which II would be difficult for
him to handle without cutting both
ways. To Justify this discrimination
he sets up one issue as "o~vershadow-
ing" n makes his speech revolve
about what he conceives to be the lat
est paramount, SHALL the people
ruler"
The inconsistency of any democrat
prating about popular rule when the
only saving clause to democracy as a
factor in national politics rests on the
solid SOUTH" where the rule of the
people is unknown, is self-evident. Mr..
Bryan has simply taken up this slogan,
shall the people ruler" as a catch
word, just as he took up his other
paramount issues in succession, de-
handing 16 to 1 free coinage with
out waiting for the aid or consent Of
any other nation on earth" and later
denouncing Imperialism with the cry,
the constitution and the flag, now
and forever, one and i~nseparable." The
people saw through the flimsiness of
his other "overshadowing" issues and
are not likely to be fooled by the third
paramount"
Mr.. Bryan's intense partisanship-a
partisanship which led him to embrace
Parker four years ago after denouncing
him as a tool Of the money power, un-
fit for any position of honor or trust
is signally displayed in his attack upon
President Roosevelt's administration.
While charging the republicans with
responsibility for all the abuses that
have developed with the growth of
the country and the increased COM
plexity of our industrial life, he gives
no credit whatever for the reforms
that have beer accomplished and the
checks that have been put upon the
misuse of corporate power. A person
unfamiliar with the achievements of
the Roosevelt administration, listening
to Mr.. Bryan's acceptance speech,
would imagine that it HAD proved an
utter failure, when as a matter of fact
even Mr.. Bryan has been compelled
from time to time to approve and APP
pIaudl the republican record.
1t was to be expected that Mr.. Bryan
would throw bouquets at himself on
the score of campaign publicity, but
everyone knows that here, too, he has
been simply posing for effect. The
stealthy distribution of that $4,000
pot contributed by Ryan four years
ago and planted in Nebraska In flag
rant defiance of our Nebraska cam
paign publicity law m altogether
too close home to Mr.. Bryan to be
comfortable and offsets all he may say
about devotion to the principle of pub
licity.
The promise of additional addresses
on the various subjects embraced
within the Denver platform means that
we will have the whole acceptance
speech on the installment plan and will
likewise have to comment upon it on