The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1908-07-11
''Raymond," in Chicago Tri-
bune Says Democratic
Ticket Is Not Strengthened
BY the Indianian.
EASTERN MAN WOULD
HAVE BEEN BETTER.
AS 1t Is at the Present Time,
Bryan Is No Stronger in the
East Than Before Kern Was
Named.

writing for the Chicago Tribune today
sizes up Kern's ce-presidential nom-
ination thus:
Coupling the name of John w Kern
of Indiana with that of William Jen-
nings Bryan of Nebraska is good
enough politics in its way, but it does
not go far enough.
That is to say, the vice presidential
nomination here in Denver can hard
1y be considered to have more than
local significance. 1t is not likely to
help Mr.. Bryan secure the presidency
although it will contribute a doubtful
state.
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 unquestionably had the
sanction of Bryan himself before they
played their winning card. The con-
vention was extremely harmonious on
second place, because the Indiana 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 w. Kern of Indiana is not at
all bad sort as politicians go. He
is a politician in spite of the fact that
he is a pretty good lawyer. He repre-
foi n1d Epn
cy of the Hoosier state. and he has
definite strength of his own at home
It can scarcely be expected or believed
that he will add anything to the ticket
in New York or New Jersey, to say
nothing of Illinois or Minnesota.
At the outset the idea was to select
an eastern man who would represent
the gold democratic 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 for 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 worth reckon
ting 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 one that had the 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 compromise as that of
Sherman at Chicago. He represented
originally an element which was not
friendly to Bryan or which. at least.
was doubtful about the wisdom of se-
lecting the Nebraskan for a third time
to lead hopeless race for great
prize.
In 1896 when Bryan split up the de-
Imocracy, Kern went back to Indiana
from the Chicago convention in a per-
splexed frame of mind. He came of a
conservative element of the Indiana
democracy. and the socialistic crowd
which was in control at Chicago had
shocked all of his ideas of public poll
Cy.
Gradually Warmed to Bryan.
For time it seemed likely that he
would ally himself with the anti Bryan
democracy in the state. Up to the
time of the Indianapolis convention
when Palmer and Buckner were nomi-
mated as figureheads for the gold
democratic movement, Kern was unde.
niably on the fence. He climbed
down. gradually however. and during
the campaign became an active and
forcible advocate of Bryan's election.
Since that time John w. Kern has
been put forward with more or less
regularity as the standard bearer OF
the Indiana democracy.
Kern Outranked by Sherman.
It will be natural from this time on
to compare the two vice presidential
candidates put into nomination at Chi
cago and Denver. As between them
should say Sherman was of a much
higher type than Kern. Neither one
of them has national reputation as
yet, but If were called upon to picl
man for the presidency l should Sc
lect the New York candidate without
hesitation
The trouble with Kern is that hs
has never had any experience in grea