Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-07-14
OF KERN
ENDS MIR. BRYAN'S
HOPE OF VICTORY

left, John and his sister, who is 0
Mrs. Isaac Engel of Daleville, Va.
John was educated in the district
schools and he continued this educa-
ton by attending the Indiana normal
school at Kokomo, Ind, riding horse
back ten miles each way every day.
Later he taught school near Alto.
Graduate Of Michigan.
He earned money to enter Ann Ar
Dor, graduating from the law depart
ment of Michigan university in 1869.
He Immediately began practicing in
Kokomo, Ind. He was drafted when
he was 81 years old to make the race
for the legislature in the Republican
county of Howard, but was defeated.
He was chosen city attorney of Koko-
mo for six terms over Republican as
pirants. In 1884 he was elected repor-
ter of the supreme court.
Since then Indianapolis has been
his home, where he has practiced law.
He has worked in every campaign,
served the county in the legislature
and was the leader of his party in the
state senate. He was city attorney IN
der the two last administrations of
Mayor Thomas Taggart from October,
1897, to October, 1901. In 1900 he was
nominated for governor, but was de-
feated.
Local Significance.
Denver, July 11.-Raymond, writing
for the Chicago Tribune, sums UP the
situation like this:
Coupling the name of John w. Kern
of Indiana with that of William Jen-
nings Bryan of Nebraska is good
enough politics in it's way, but it does
not go far enough.
That is to say, the vice presidential
nomination here in Denver can hardly
be considered to have more than To-
cal significance. 1t is not likely to
help Mr.. Bryan ecure the presidency,
although it will contribute a doubtful
state and possibly effect the election
of a governor and II United States
senator.
Mr.. kern's nomination for second
place on the ticket with Mr.. Bryan
was achieved as a distinct result Of
an early morning conference of the
leaders, who professionally had the
sanction of Bryan himself before they
played their winning card. The con-
vention was extremely harmonious on
oSSoiiu paw, DCSdu5S liz lIluldud
man represented about all there was
left to choose from, the really strong
vice presidential candidates, who
would have added national weight to
the ticket, having deftly side stepped
the nomination.
Strength in East Lost.
John K. Kern of Indiana is not at
all a bad sort as politicians go. He is
a politician in spite of the fact that he
is a pretty good lawyer. He represents
fairly well the old line Democracy of
the Hoosier state, and he has definite
strength of his own at home. 1t can
scarcely be expected or believed that
he will add anything to the ticket in
New York OF New Jersey, to say moth
ing of Illinois or Minnesota.
At the outset the idea was to select
an eastern man who would represent
the gold Democrat element and who
would, in his own person, bring about
some chance of carrying the great piv-
otal states of New York and New Jer-
sey, without which Mr.. Bryan cannot
hope for the remotest chance of an
election next November.
Unfortunately fer the commoner,
and fortunately for the Republicans,
this original plan could not be carried
out. There were two really strong
men in the east, w. L. Douglas of
Massachusetts and Judge George Gray
of Delaware, either one of whom
would have been a political quantity
east of the Alleghanies well worth
reckoning with.
Bryan's Last Hope Gone.
Each of them removed himself from
the field by positively declining to be
treated as a candidate, and as there
was no n who had a ghost of a
chance of uniting the New York dele
gates, the nomination inevitably went
to the west, and with it, in my judg-
ment, went the last hope of William
Jennings Bryan becoming president of
the United States.
In a way the nomination of Kern
is as much of a compromise as that of
Sherman at Chicago. He REPRESENTED