The Democratic advocate., 1908-08-07
BRYAN IN NEW YORK.
Republicans Admit that the State Be-
longs i'm the Doubtful Column.
I. Y. Evening Post.


Albany, August 2. 1T is surprising
that some of the Republican polit1-
clans in this State have thus far fail
ed to recognize the danger-signal
Haunting high and wide in the selec-
ton of Norman E. Mack of Buffalo as
chairman of the Democratic National
Committee.
1t is not so true rs 1t used to be,
but it is sufficiently true to point
timely moral, that other things being
equal New York is Democrats State.
Given a campaign in which the lines
are purely party lines, and in which
each side is fairly united within itself,
and it is a question. whether even yet
the old State would not turn in it's old
time Democratic plurality. Even
while for purposes of display and pub
! lication, the Republicans claim to be
comforted with the well-substantiat-
ed superstition that ION national is
sues, New York is Republican
State; they know, and privately they
admit, that the State belongs this
year, as of old, in the doubtful col
umn." They are proceeding on that
| theory. 1t is more than their bitter
hostility to the denomination of Gov.
Hughes that has led the chiefs of the
Republican State organization to allow
Odell to come back within ear-shOt of
the inner councils. They are afraid,
and they have good reason to be.
The situation might be tolerable if
the Democrats would only keep up
| their inceSsant factional warfare.
Hearst is relied upon by some to help
| this along, but it is debatable whether
his strength is not as much Republican
as Democratic.
! Now right here is where Norman
Mack comes in. There was a lot of
gossip at Denver about the national
craftsmanship, many names were men
toned, but Norman Mack's was not
one of them. Indeed, there seemed
good reason to believe that when the
National Committee peacock feathers
were given out, there wouldn't be any
for Norman. To Corners he was ana
thema; Murphy had no use for him.
Nobody else seemed to know, or care
much what might become of the Buff
falo editor.
All of a sudden the scene shifted.
Mack was reelected without opposi-
| tion. That meant that Corners, or
Murphy, which means the same thing,
had heard news from somewhere. But
even then nobody seemingly dreamed
of such thing as Mack for national
chairman. He could not have been
selected without tho Murphy Corners
consent. What does it portend? Is
it that after all there is going to be
something like the miracle of Demo-
cratic solidity at the polls in this State
in November?
| But, some one protests, the Cleve-
land Democrats, so called, will never
stomach Bryan. That is yet to be
seen. Even in New York city they
have ceased to frighten disobedient
little boys with tie name of Bryan.
Public Service Commissioner Osborne,
eX-Mayor of Auburn, one of the best
of the independent Democrats of this
State, publicly announces that he is
on the Bryan wagon that Mack is driv-
ing. And there are others.
The name of Lewis Stuyvesant
Chanler, the present Lieutenant-Gov
ernor,a clean and sterling young DEM
ocrat, is that most frequently men
toned hereabouts for the Democratic
nomination. No one doubts that he
would be a strong candidate. He stands
well with the farmers; he is all but
farmer himself. His public record
is clean; he has made himself a name
for independence.
New York is still a doubtful
State" The national candidates who
carry New York and Indiana go to
the White House. There are Republi-
cans of the machine type here who
profess to believe that the national
ticket will carry through anybody
we see fit to nominate for Governor.
Others less sanguine say that Taft
is so certain to carry New York that
we can afford to lose the State ticket
in order to wind up the political
career of Hughes"
There are still others who recog-
nize the fact that the following behind
| Gov Hughes is not dissimiliar to that
which supported Cleveland. These
voters do not fear names or the bog
eys of party regularity" Let the
Democratic State Convention but NOM
mate a decent man like Chanler, and
it is open to question whether the
mass of independent voters of both
parties lined up behind Gov. Hughes
would not rebuke the Republican
party's refusal to renominate him, by
voting the Democratic ticket from top
to bottom.
pITRTJCJTY.- -REF0RE AND AFTER.