Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-30
SMALL CRUMBS OF COMFORT.
Colonel Bryan Does Some Figuring
and Dons n smile.
Chicago lnter-Ocean

Chicago lnter-Ocedn.
In the last Commoner Mr.. Bryan explains
what a narrow escape from defeat the
republicans had in the last campaign. 1t
takes ones breath away to read
about it.
There Is nobody like Mr.. Bryan for writ
ing these paradoxical political obituaries.
He can take the corpse of the deadest
campaign on record and find more virtues
in 1t than Mark Antony found in Caesar.
Leave Mr.. Bryan alone with the figures
and it's dollars to doughnuts that he will
console, II not satisfy, all the relatives
and friends.
In the present case he has done himself
proud, Passing lightly over the SORROW
full fact that Mr.. Taft's majority in the
electoral college was 1853, he says that a
change of eighty electoral votes from the
republican column to the democratic column
would have changed defeat into a demo-
cratic victory. That, of course, sounds
quite reasonable. but II is FAR from resem-
bling the Balm of Gilead or any other
balms permitted under the pure food and
drugs acts. But wait. There is more.
These eighty electoral votes, so Mr..
| Bryan continues, could have been got from
the states OF Ohio, Indiana, Missouri,
Kansas. West Virginia. Montana and Della
ware II only 5000 votes had changed from
| the republican TO the democratic ranks and
these 5000 votes had been properly dis
tributed among the seven states In aues-
ton. In other words, Mr.. Taft beat Mr..
Bryan by only $1,000 votes and the vic
tory was almost a drawn battle.
The beauty OF this sort OF consolation
is that il is not confinable to any one
campaign. II mourners want the solact
they can get 1t from almost any presiden'
tial contest in our. history. Take thu
Roosevelt-Parken election for instance
The average man would say that Judge
Parker was as far from victory as Z
presidential candidate OF a great party Il
ever likely to be-. But a little wrestling
with the figures, Commoner style. will
show that Judge Parker, I'm spite OF tn
2,54O. 4sS popular majority and the 1876 elec
toral majority against him., came so nea
defeating MI. Roosevelt that II is hard Il
imagine how the latter ever managed Il
crawl In.
Judge Parker needed to take only ninety
nine OF the electoral votes that fell to MI
Roosevelt to give him his majority I'm tn
electoral college and the presidency. Ney
York. Missouri. Ohio, Massachusetts, an
Rhode Island could have given him ex
actly 100. Since Mr.. Roosevelt's majorit
in those states was only Soo'Vie' IL follow
that a change Of one more than half thi
number. or ss2, $40. from the republicans t
the democrats would. n the votes had bee
properly distributes, have elected Judg
Parker
: In an election where the total populs
E vote was u. 7Oo.s1 Judge Parker thus faile
l OF election. according to the Bryan con
, putation. by only 80. $40 votes-a compsrs
= lively insignificent number,
And yet we have no distinct recollectio
OF Mr.. Brysn's lifting up his voice IN 10
or 1875 10 console the democrats BY tellin
them what a thin partition OF votes hs
p separated them from victory.
= And he was right in not doing so. II va
a decisive defeat, just as the defeats In Is
a and 1900 and 1905 were decisive defeate
Why juggie Figures TO make things see
Whist they are not? why not take fro
y the plain facts the warning they conv'
and profit by lit