The Irish standard., 1909-01-16
SOLVING THE MYSTERY,

S@SVNS S06 w o. Emu
Under this caption, William J. Bry-
ans personal organ, the Commoner,
has been publishing in it's columns
for a month or more the different
views Of many correspondents who
have been invited to contribute to a
symposium having for it's object an
inquiry into the causes that led to the
defeat Of the Democratic party in 1908.
The Commoner merely publishes the
opinions of its correspondents, without
note or comment, and neither agrees
nor disagrees with the opinions az
pressed, but gives them for what they
are worth with the names of the writ.
ers.
AS may be naturally expected, some
of the contributors widely differ as t,
the causes leading to the defeat Of
the Democratic candidate for the prasi-
dency, but the Commoner prints the
various opinions without endorsing any
Of them. Last week a fresh batch e
correspondents ventilated their views,
but the Comnoner preserves a MASTER
" reticence and extends an invitation
to others to say what they please, with
the understanding that the insertion
of their opinions does not necessarily
mean that the Commoner endorses
them. Nobody can reasonably find fault
with the attitude assumed by our es-
teemed contemporary in the matter o.
eliciting the information desired.
1t certainly is a mystery to the Dem
ocrats of the country why William :.
Bryan, one Of the purest and ablest
Americans Of the age, should go down
in defeat on such a, platform of princi-
pies as that adopted at Denver. He
possesses in an eminent degree every
qualification for the high office to
which he aspired, and yet the plain
people, whose cause he espoused, cid
not support him at the polls. The far
mers and laborers of the country, who
are in an overwhelming majority, de-.
serted him and cast their ballots for
the candidate OF the plutocracy. Why
they did so is mystery to us.
William j. Bryan himself has not vet
written a syllable in the Commoner
in explanation Iof Ibis defeat but in
a speech at Omaha on jackson Day,
he referred to the results of the cleo
ton and said: "a larger Republican
campaign fund. san army Of govern
ment employees. three fourths Of the
newspapers against US. and the coer-
GIVE powers Of concentrated wealth
were the causes Of Democratic defeat
in November" @
Probably he is right,but we are slow
to believe that "a larger campaign
fund. and the coercive powers Of COLI
centrated wealth" could defeat him #
the toilers of the land and the tillers
OF the soil cared 10 vote for him. it
takes too much money to corrupt the
majority Of the people, and we sfon.lly
hope that the most Of them are incor-
ruptible. As for the influence of news
papers, we think Il ,overrated. If the
people of the country wanted Mr.. Bry-
an for president all the power of the
press could not snatch victory from
him. The commercial, the banking
and the corporate interests exertsd
more influence against him than the
which, Republican as they
were, treated him fairly in their news
columns. Nobody cares much for the
editorial utteranc4s of daily newspa-
pers in these days.
The American voters, evidently, did
not want Mr.. Brya1, for one reason OF
another, and the farmers the laborers,
the men in moderate circumstances,
voted for Mr.. Taft instead. The ia
fluence Of President Roosevelt, too,
must be taken into consideration.
Though possessing many disagreeable
traits. he Is popular with the masses,
and his participation In the campaign
contributed largely to the defeat of
Mr.. Bryan.
In our opinion Bryan was the strong
est. candidate the Democrats could
have nominated for the presidency,
and that he was defeated goes to show
that the Republicans are giving salts
faction to the majority of the peop;e
and that they want no Democrat yet
at the head of the nation. Whether
the Democrats gain control of the fed
eral government in the near future
depends a great deal on the kind of
administration President Taft gives
during the next fous years. we 81.
lieve, however. that the masses of '',e
people need political instruction. md
that they should be educated to vote
intelligently. and to assert their ia-