The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1913-03-20
Few Defeated Three Times.

0SA~~V~A
This recalls another story that gen.
tleman told me while on the train
from Washington. He had entertain
ed Mr.. Bryan in his home and had in
vited small company to meet him at
dinner, among them a New York con-
gresham. It was in 1908. when Bryan
was for third time the candidate for
president. The congressman asked him
point blank if he expected to be elect
ed. Bryan replied by telling Of very
aged neighbor Of his whom we will
call Uncle Jake and who was lying
at the point Of death. Dropping in to
pay his respects, Mr.. Bryan expressed
the hope that the sufferer would pull
through. and Uncle Jake responded:
well, one thought comforts me. Very
few men die when past eighty seven
(his own age)." The candidate contin-
ued that very few men had been de-
feated for president of the United
States the third time.
There is only one change in the gen.
ial secretary observed by his old
friends. and that is in his headgear.
Those who were with him in the great
fights of the past can think of him
only in connection with a soft hat.
The hat might be white or black, but
it would be soft and worn at the Bry-
an angle. Now. however, they say
that on state occasions he wears high
hat. This. Of course. is only rumor
and may be libelous one at that At
the Inauguration it was not so. as
multtudinous photographs show. But
the whispers are so persistent that
they almost compel belief. At any
rate, a Washington paper remarked
that President Wilson once wanted to
knock Bryan into a cooked hat, but
had ended by knocking him into high
hat
A Great Secretary of State.
One thing is observable in Washing
ton-that there is change of feeling
toward Bryan. Many who have been
most bitter against him before are
modifying their views Not few of
those who have been unfriendly to him
in the past are predicting that he will
make a great secretary Of state. My
own view is that he will make one of
the greatest in the history of the ma
ton. but | would distrust my own
view since | may be personally biased
in his favor. Certain it is that in his
first move after taking Office he won a
diplomatic victory. That was in con-
nection with the indemnity bill in
Cuba. 1t was the vigorous protest Of
Secretary Bryan that caused the Gu
ban president to veto the bill.
He comes into the Office with two
delicate situations confronting him.
that in Mexico and that with Great
Britain over the Panama canal tolls.
The recognition Of the Chinese repub-
lie is also pending, and the Balkan war
situation may develop diplomatic cri-
sis that will affect this country.
There have been great men in the
Office of secretary Of state-Jefferson,
John Marshall. Madison. Monroe ]. @.
Adams, Clay, Webster, Calhoun. Van
Buren,, Buchanan, Seward. Blaine and
Hay stand among the first rank of our
statesmen. and most of the others are
celebrated in history. Now is added
the name Of William J. Bryan. thrice
candidate of his party for president
and known as an orator around the
world. Will his conduct of our foreign
relations add new luster to his name
and to the great Office he fills? Predic-
lions are idle, but all true Americans.
regardless Of party. hope that he will,
and with some of us this feeling is
backed by the reminder Of the trinity
of love and faith