The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1908-03-27
STRONG MOVE FOR JOHNSON
Chance for Victory by the Demo
crats Opposed to Bryan.

There is a systematic and determined
effort afoot among leading democrats
in Washington and elsewhere TO pre-
vent the nomination Of William J.
Bryan for the presidency and secure
that of Governor John A. Johnson OF
49, 4sota. This movement Is based
al The ~sincecere belief that Mr..
RrS 4 could not win the election II
be were nominated. and that Governor
JohnSDa could.
AS Il as surface indications go.
the plA-q Of the party leaders is to &C
cede t. he known wishes OF Mr. Bryan
ana il ,ruct the delegates from the va
rious states In his favor Care will
be taken, however, to seen that not
enough delegations ale SO instructed
as to give Mr.. Bryan the nomination
| on the first ballot, while there will be
a 2cit understanding with many OF
| the oeie. ,ates-enough to carry out the
| plans I, the leaderS-ttat the instruc-
| tons sLill not be held to be binding
| after the first ballot. 1t will be borne
in mind that this scheme would be
easier OF execution in a democratic
tina IN a republican convention, for
the democrats require two-thirds to
nominate while with the republicans a
majority is sufficient If 1t can be
clearly demonstrated that Mr.. Bryan
| cannot wa on the first ballot, the plan
will go through, for the fact that Mr..
| RYAN does not control the convention
the point of nomination will be pri-
! facie evidence that the Johnson
: ON will have been SO successfully
: .ndled as to make the nomination OF
! " other candidate impossible.
! These plans are known to a few
! members of congress-, but have no
| been explained in his detail 10 al
In the house a very disCree. canvas
has been going on for a long time Il
it is said that while nine-tenths Of tie
] democratic members are ~ostensibly for
| Bryan, a few, first and last and all
the time" tHo-third3 of them already
are alive to the disadvantages
of his candidacy and are giving sec ct
encouragement to the Conspirators,
il they may be so called without Of
Tense.
The best indication of the mental
| attitude of the statesmen and Others
| responsible for the new movement
nay be noted from a conversation
which tool place resently between two
well-known members of congress, the
first speaker one Of The leaders in the
johnson campaign. Said he:
There is one Question which has
been on my mind for a long time, and
/ wan to ask it of you. Do you be-
lieve that Mr.. Bryan is wholly sincere
il his belief that he can be elected IL
be is given the nomination."
To tell you the truth, / don't be-
lieve he really Is. | think hat he has
made up his mind that no one else
shall receive the the nomination IL
{ lie can help il. His support of Parker
Tas not deep and sincere. He made
several speeches during the campaign
but they did Parker no good and they
we're not calculated TO do Parker any
! good" II
How do you feel yourself in re-
! garding Bryan as the candidate In
1907" was tie ext question.
well, o Know Just what the sit
uation is in my district My people
want Bryan and ii won't do for me
to say that | don't I do, If he a be
elected, but I don't think he can be.
He hag been before the people twice.
and enough of them are tired of him
SO that he could make only an indif-
ferent campaign We need a new man.
fresh from the people. The more I
hear OF John he better like him,
and / think TIC ountry feels a good
deal the same w."
This brief conversation eDltcmiZes
the view of hundreds Of his friends
here in Washington. while OF course
the stronger views OF his enemies neei
not be repeated -ashington Core
sIondeEce Boston T-anscript.
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, r. W. w. IT, AkN~-~ E-w~Na