Omaha daily bee., 1908-07-17
IN VIRGINIA..

BY force of habit and by force OF
circumstances the democrats Of the
south have to support the Denver
ticket, however little 1t may be to their
liking. The Johnson boom was started
too late to be effective, but it was well
coined in many sections of the south
where Bryan and Organism have lost
their hold on the old Bourbon demo-
Gratis who believe in the democracy Of
Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson.
Virginia has been lukewarm to Bryan
for several years and the leading dem
ocrats of the state. including Senator
Daniel, Editor Joseph Bryan Of Rich
mond, Senator Martin and many other
leaders, have openly opposed his re-
nomination. Last october, when the
anti-Bryan campaign was being dis
cussed in the south, the Richmond
Times-Dispatch, the leading newspaper
of the Old Dominion, said:
We make no secret Of the fact that Mr..
Bryan is by no means our choice of candi-
dates. but II he is nominated on a sound
oIlAlONl dAlN piaNLOIHl lie llutS-DlbpdlCl
will support him, and 1t will give him a
sincere support or none.
Following that announcement the
Tfmes-Dispatch, the Charleston News
and Courier, the Louisville Courier
Journal and other prominent southern
papers plead with the northern demo
Gratis to nam a candidate other than
Bryan. The Alabama and Georgia
democrats encouraged the Bryan oppo-
sition and, at the Denver convention,
refused to join in any demonstration
until after Bryan had swept the plat
ter clean. Now they are climbing into
the bandwagon, but. with southern
f%rankness, admitting that they do not
like the driver.
Perhaps the most striking illustra-
ton of the south's attitude toward
Bryan is furnished by a dispatch sent
by John Stewart Bryan. editor of the
Richmond Times Dispatch. to his pa
per after the nomination had been
made:
Revolutions do not go backward, and
those democrats who saw in the desire for
party harmony a restoration of Jefferson
ian simplicity and a renewal of allegiance
to the principle of equity before the law
were destined to be w~oefully mistaken.
The platform, as adopted, has many sound
democratic demands, but 1t is utterly OPP
posed to democratic fundamentals in some
particulars. The injunction plank, whether
1t is justifiable by the facts or not, is a
bold and futile bid for the labor vote. The
currency plank shows the unmistakable
trait OF greenbackism. The railroad regu-
lation plank is an indication OF what
Oklahoma thinks is craftsmanship, and
not h the democratic party. historically
or as a matter OF political experience.
should advocate. The impression made by
the platform as a whole is that 1t will lose
far more than it will gain. No election
can be carried without the assistance and
OF the Independent voter. Whether
the democratic committee on resolutions
or ignored the fact, II is none
the less true that this is no year for ad-
vancing new political theories or promising
new governmental crusades.
The Virginia democrats do not like
Mr.. Bryan for a leader and they find
practically nothing but his weakness
In his platform, yet they have decided
to swallow their medicine and try to
look as pleasant as did Mr.. Bryan
when forced to swallow Parker four
years ago.