The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1912-07-01
QUESTION NOW Is HOW MANY YEARS
BEFORE CONVENTION Is F|N|2,'S|i11

others are on the ragged edge" and
say that they cannot hold out much l
longer. Because of this they we're in
sisting that the leaders do something
Today to end the deadlock.
A determined effort to swing Muir.
ply into line for Wilson was made by
Senator O'Gorman, and several others
on the New York delegation. They
told Murphy that there was little
doubt that the swing was toward the
New Jersey governor and that New
York should get on the band wagon. /
Murphy, it was understood, told the !
Wilson men that New York could not
vote for Wilson. He is reported to-
have said that the Bryan endorsement
would kill Wilson" so far as New
York was concerned. His personal
preference was declared to be Under
wood, although he told members of
the delegation that New York would
remain in the Clark column for the
present.
Nothing could be more marked than
the temper of the delegates today as
contrasted with that of week ago.
Then the spirit was one of conviviality,
and even in the most excitement and
extreme cases it never got beyond the,
stage of good natured rivalry. Nor
was the bitterness so apparent as at
Chicago. Conditions were so peaceful
that some of the old-timers declared
hof !,
Crack Becomes chasm.
Rivalries have developed into hat
reds, and what at first appeared to
be mere surface crack had today de-.
veloped into continually widening
chasm between rival factions, the real
depth of which cannot be sounded.
Many old-timers say the gap can
never be bridged.
All >~e factions charge Bryan with
the break-the Nebras1an,s friends
exulting in it, and his opponents bit
terly, even profaneiy, aasailing him.
That the commoner from the first
fall of the gavel has been the biggest
individual force in the convention, has
been apparent. In the opinion of many
delegates, Bryan is cold bloodedly aud
deliberately wrecking party to sat
isfy his vanity and egotism. Another
faction-and a larger one, judging by
the roll calls-holds to the belief that
he is subjecting democracy to course
of treatment, which, while decidedly
painful. will ultimately result in it's re-
juvenation and rehabilitation. Many
politicians are pointing out the re-
markable parallel between Roosevelt
and Bryan in their attitude toward
two old line parties.
Whether the result here will be the
same as at Chicago whether the pro-
gressive will be forced to break. and
leave the old party organization in the
hands of the conservatives-or whetn-
er Bryan will succeed in his fight to
drive the vested interests from their
place Of concealment under the cloak
of democracy was as much of a puzzle
today as when the gavel fell last
Tuesday.
Clever Fighter.
That Bryan has fought the cleverest
battle of his political career in the
present convention is admitted by
even those who ascribe no higher mo-
tive than selfishness to his dramatic
sallies. The fact that he is not be-
fore the convention as candidate has
given the Nebraskan freedom of ac-
tion that he has not heretofore pos.
sessed.
Having asasiled Charles F. Murphy
and the interests the Tammany leader
is charged with representing, Bryan
headed off a counter-attack based
from the fact that as a candidate he
had accepted Tammany's aid by his
bold sally to Governor Brewer hold
ing that the difference then and now
was between any attorney defending
a criminal after the crime, and an at
torney conspiring with the criminal to
perpetrate the crime. Such cam
paign from the Nebraskan has forced
I the fighting. But many leaders on
both sides today were objecting to
further warfare along the line, and
criticising Bryan for prompting the
spotlight to do the party laundry
work. With every indication that this
will be a democratic year, they say,
is jeopardizing his party's chances by
/ forcing so wide division between the
factions that it may be impossible to
obliterate it by nature But while
Bryan refuses to discuss publicly the
question of the political wisdom of his
actions, preferring to win or lose on
the moral issue. it is known that pri-
vately he does not subscribe to the
idea that he has jeopardized the par
ty's chances. On the contrary he is
declaring that if success attends his
efforts to purge" the party, democ-
racy will be in much better shape to
face the people in November.
1t Was Ladies' Day.
FIFTH REGIMENT ARMoRY, Bal