The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1908-09-11

euce III the World between SYM lpatuN
anu a"reemenC-thou@Il tentative
and opposition and antogonlsm,
thouyh resting upon questions only
of expediency. There was, of course,
a reverse side Of the shield. Mr.. Bry-
al had his srory to tell and this en-
braced very strong case. What
authorization had he to name a sue
ceSsor in case he stepped aside? {?
What power, had he, conceding the
will. to transfer his following to an
! other? Not one, but half dozen,
aspirants would take the field i'm
mediately on his withdrawal. If a
majority Of the party was for him,
what had made it so? Surely neith-
er organization nor money, nor other
effort Of his than the constant preach
ing Of democratic gospels. IF he
agreed to stand down and out, desig-
mating an heir apparent, would he
not become a dictator, an autocrat,
and what difference would there be
in his naming a successor, and at
tempting to foist him upon the party,
and Roosevelt's naming and forcing
Taft upon the republicans He did
not stand upon his rights at all; up
on his claims; upon his wishes, or
ambitions. He put the facts Of the
situation plainly, impersonally, pre-
cisely as the ey were and are, and there
was no reasonable answer to be made
by any reasonable man.
Then and there I laid down my
hand. As a good democrat, seeing
clearly, and, as the sequel has shown,
seeing truly, the drift of the winds,
[ accepted the inevitable; but I did
this in no dubious way. T make not
half friendships with any man, or
set Of men. There had never been
anything more than skin deep be-
tween myself and Mr.. Bryan. Moth
ing even skin deep remained, and,
when the interview had in New York
was concluded I went forth to fall
back upon the old line Of battle and
take up again in the order of march
where it had been interrupted in
1896.
The anti-Bryan habit is self-decep-
tive. It is a pure delusion where
not a form, often an unconscious
form, Of infidelity to both duty and
truth. Is it not the part of wisdom
and justice is it not time
that those democrats who have con-
sistently opposed him should look in
to the why's and wherefores with the
purpose Of reviewing the past, Of re-
vising the present and Of casting
some kind Of balance sheet upon the
i ledger Of their opinions and conduct {?
We need not enter upon any course
Of elimination and recrimination.
Whatever free silver was, or was
not, as an economic issue, it is no
longer here to divide lis. Those who
eontended for it, led by Mr. Bryan
right or wrong as to the fiscal pro-
position-thought they were fighting
for ' the masses against the classes,
for the people against the preroga-
tive, and against the same old Money
Devil we had all fought under the
leadership Of Mr.. Tilden and Mr..
Cleveland. That question out Of the
way, what is there now to divide us?
Nothing upon the face Of the conten-
tion except the personality of Mr..
{ Bryan. "Having been twice beaten,
he can never be elected,' says Sir
1 Oracle. "Having been twice beaten
he can never be elected" shrek the
republicans. ''Having been twice
! UCoCCll IC Celll uCN Cl Uc c1CCteu, CCllO
unthinking democrats. Yet it is this
twice-beaten candidate whom the
rank and file Of democracy cling to
and whom republican leaders and
newspapers most savagely abuse.
In my opinion it is because there is
in the people a discerning instinct
and in Mr.. Bryan a reflecting spirit
which make for mutual trustfulness.
Mr.. Bryan upon acquaintance
proved different from my preconcep-
tion Of him. I met not visionary
orator, but man of sense, in deadly
earnest, direct and candid. Coming
to know him better, seeking him in
his home. I found a man able and
sincere, devoted and devout, having
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