The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-06-16

the nomination of William !. Bryan the pins were practically set to nominate Consressman Joe eibley of Pennsyi- vanfa. for Vice President. Sibley was then a Democrat, was an ardent tariff reformer, and was very solid among the farmers of the United States. The late Congressman Hatch of Mis- souri, who had for years champicned | the cause of agriculture, and was the author of the bill in Congress creating the department of agriculture. had his coat on at Chicago for Sibley,i and was certain of his nomination. It was | agreeable to Bryan also, and most peo- pie before the eruption came thought sibley would put on the ticket. But the delegates from the far West raked 1 up vote cast by Sibley in the interest of the Pacific railroads. This was done in an unguarded moment, and 1t was | to please fellow congressman from Pennsylvania, but 1t cook ed Joe Sib-
 lays goose as a vice presidential can- didate. He was pulled off.
 A few years later Sfbiey ficpped and lican as there is in the land. He claimed that the currency issue caused him to change his politics.
 When Sibley was sidetracked there was strong talk of making John R. Mc- Lean of Ohio the running mate of Bryan. Those who heard Allen ". Thurman of Ohio break loose at the
 bare suggestion of Mclean will never forget 1t.
 "If you dare nominate Mclean" said Thurman Ca son of the "old Roman") in a group of leaders in the conven-
 ton. 'T will mount that platform and
 lay some facts before the delegates which will make you regret you ever talked about nominating that traitor &1 t,a T~x Aa-
 It is well remembered that Mclean who had started back home after cut.
 ting no figure for first place wired that under no circumstances would he &C., cept the nomination for the vice presi- dency.
 The delegates were restless. most of
 them wanted to get home. and some
 one suggested that Sewall of Maine
 would make good running mate for
 Bryan. He was slapped on the ticket
 In the hurry of the adjournment hour, and nine out of every ten Democrats
 in the land had never heard of him. He
 was about as much good to the ticket as the fifth wheel would be to a wagon as 1t turned out.
 Four years ago the Democrats at St. Louis nominated Ex-Senator Davis of West Virginia for second place. and just why they never exactly knew.
 Roosevelt Was @Poclketed."
 Eight years ago at Philadelphia Theodore Roosevelt swore by the gods that "o1d Tom Pfatt" could not force the vice-presidentiaI nomination upon him. so as to prevent him from running again for Governor of New York. Mark Hanna. 1t Is we'll known. had set the pins to nominate Cornelius N Bliss of New York on the ticket with Mo- kinley Bliss was a man of large wealth and he could command heavy contributions to the party fund from the big miIlionaires of the country. But Senator Quay hated Hanna be- cause be had voted against seating him in the Senate on an appointment at the hands of the Governor of Pennsylvania while the legislature. still in session, had failed to elect by reason of the fact that John Wanamaker and his fol- lowers had blocked Quay,s scheme for reelection. Platt and Quay combined, and even the powerful Mark Hanna was crushed when he tried to pick out a beloved Mckinley.
 Roosevelt against his own vehement protest had the finest piece of luck of his life in being forced on the ticket by the wicked. relentless Tom Piatt who wanted to get rid of Teddy" as Governor of New York.
 But for McKinley's horrible assas- blu6tlUu IL A1 WlNnin the DOuuQ4 OI reason to state that Theodore Roose- welt would never have reached the highest office within the gift of the American people. Never would he have had the opportunity to take almost absolute command of the Republican party and virtually whip into submis- sion Aldrich. Platt, Foraker. Cannon. Dalzen and all the others who stood out against railroad rate legislation, and who right now curse the day that the Roosevelt Taft combination is so strong that tariff reduction is coming in spite of the rawlings of the ruling spirits in the American Protective Tariff League
 And yet with all their seeming power at this very moment neither Roosevelt nor Taft, nor that remarkable political prodigy, Frank H. Hitchcock nor any of them know just who of the great bunch of fairly prominent ana decidedly mediocre aggregation of vice-presl- -dential candidates will be selected to keep step with the portly Taft in the coming contest
 Really, having whipped out the "al- lies" 1t would seem that Roosevelt and Taft are so happy that they do not seem to care who gets second place.
 Bryan, being on top in his party the chances also are that the Denver convention may also pick up a "Mr. Nobody" to run on the ticket with him.
 In olden times the big men of the two leading parties were only two glad to be nominated for vics-president if they could not head the ticket In these days it is a noteworthy fact that as soon as statesman or politician imagines he has reached the important stage he thinks it great thing to turn his nose up at the vice. presidency.
 Take the case of Governor Hughes of New York for instance. He has within few days announced that he would decline the vice-presidential nomination if 1t were tendered him at Chicago. Politicians around this town have been heard to say that he prob ably declines because he is quite cer- tain that he will not be selected, and he realizes that his presidential boom