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*************  * 

!  A  TALE  OF  TWO  I 
*  CONVENTIONS  * 

*  W  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN  • 


11   I  llil 


LIBRARY 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

SANTA  BARBARA 

PRESENTED  BY 
HILTON  P.  GOSS 


A  TALE    OF 
TWO    CONVENTIONS 


(c)  Harris  4  Ewine 

Theodore  Roos 


Hiram  W.  Johnson 


CANDIDATES  FOR  PRESIDENT 
AND      VICE-PRESIDENT 


A  TALE  OF 


BEING   AN   ACCOUNT    OF    THE    REPUBLICAN    AND 

DEMOCRATIC    NATIONAL    CONVENTIONS     OF 

JUNE,    1912,    WITH    AN    OUTLINE    OF   THE 

PROGRESSIVE  NATIONAL  CONVENTION 

OF  AUGUST  IN  THE  SAME  YEAR 

BY 

WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 


WITH  SELECTIONS  OF  NOTABLE  SPEECHES,  INCLUDING  THOSE  OF 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT,   MR.   BRYAN,   ELIHU  ROOT 

AND  ALTON  B.  PARKER,   EDITED  BY 

VIRGIL  V.  McNITT 


ILLUSTRATED  FROM  CONTEMPORARY  CARTOONS 


FUNK  &  WAGNALLS   COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 

1912 


COPYRIGHT,  1912,  BY 

FUNK  &  WAGNALLS  COMPANY 

(Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America) 

Published  September,  xgia 


EDITOR'S  FOREWORD 


MR.  BRYAN  AS  A  NEWSPAPER  CORRESPONDENT 

Some  of  the  most  interesting  contributions  to 
the  daily  press  on  political  subjects  during  the 
campaign  of  1912  were  made  by  Mr.  Bryan,  who 
at  Chicago  and  Baltimore  represented  a  number  of 
important  newspapers  as  a  special  correspondent. 
His  daily  reports  were  published  in  the  following 
papers : 


The  New  York  World, 
Chicago  Tribune, 
Philadelphia  Bulletin, 
Boston  Globe, 
St.  Louis  Post-Dispatch, 
Cleveland  Leader, 
Baltimore  American, 
Baltimore  Star, 
Pittsburgh  Post, 
Pittsburgh  Sun, 
Washington  Times, 
Cincinnati  Enquirer, 
Toledo  Blade, 
Detroit  News, 
Chicago  Journal, 
Indianapolis  Star, 


Denver  Times, 

Youngstown   Telegram, 

Dayton  News, 

Memphis  Commercial- 
Appeal, 

Louisville  Herald, 

Dallas  News, 

San  Jose  Times, 

Kansas  City  Star, 

Minneapolis  Tribune, 

Richmond  News-Leader, 

Lincoln  Journal, 

Jacksonville  (111.) 
Journal, 

Jacksonville  Courier^ 

Buffalo  Times, 


vi  EDITOR'S   FOEEWOED 

Los  Angeles  Tribune,         Springfield  (111.) 
Spokane  Spokesman-  State  Register, 

Review,  Columbia  State, 

Seattle  Times,  Raleigh  News  and 

San  Francisco  Observer, 

Chronicle,  New  Haven  Union. 

Omaha  News, 

After  the  conventions,  Mr.  Bryan  was  urged  to 
collect  these  letters  and  thus  give  his  friends  an 
opportunity  to  preserve  them  in  book  form.  He 
concluded  to  follow  the  suggestion,  and  to  include 
in  the  book  important  speeches,  party  platforms, 
and  a  selection  of  contemporary  cartoons.  It  was 
my  privilege  to  work  with  Mr.  Bryan  at  Chicago 
and  Baltimore,  my  task  being  to  distribute  his 
articles  among  the  newspapers.  When  Mr.  Bryan 
concluded  to  bring  out  the  book,  he  assigned  to  me 
the  work  of  collecting  and  arranging  the  material 
as  here  presented. 

It  is  a  matter  for  regret  that  only  a  few  can 
ever  witness  a  national  convention.  Mr.  Bryan's 
friends  all  over  the  country  would  have  been  grati- 
fied, had  they  been  present  at  Chicago,  and  seen 
the  evidences  of  personal  affection  which  came 
naturally  from  men  and  women  of  every  rank  as  he 
took  his  place  unostentatiously  among  reporters  for 
the  press  at  the  Republican  convention,  or  when  he 
walked  about  the  streets,  or  rode  in  street  cars.  Of 
the  reception  accorded  him  in  the  unfamiliar  en- 


EDITOS'S  FOBEWOBD  vii 

vironment  of  a  Republican  National  Convention  a 
writer  in  the  Chicago  Journal  has  given  an  ex- 
cellent account : 

Hailed  by  his  friends  as  the  most  popular  man  at  the 
Republican  Convention  in  Chicago,  and  greeted  by  the 
delegates  themselves  as  the  next  Democratic  nominee  for 
the  Presidency,  William  J.  Bryan  moved  among  the 
crowds.  In  search  of  news  for  articles  which  he  will 
write,  Mr.  Bryan  met  and  shook  hands  with  probably 
more  delegates  than  did  any  leader  of  the  Republican 
party.  Leaders  and  delegates  alike  halted  in  a  wild 
scramble  to  shake  the  hand  of  the  Commoner  and  whis- 
per a  few  words  in  his  ear.  Scores  of  them  renewed 
old  acquaintanceship.  Many  an  anxious  delegate  took 
him  aside  for  a  friendly  word  on  the  outcome  of  the 
struggle  between  the  Taft  and  Roosevelt  camps,  but  to 
all  such  inquiries  Mr.  Bryan  had  one  answer:  He  was 
in  Chicago  seeking  information  from  those  who  make  up 
the  convention,  and  not  imparting  it  to  them. 

Mr.  Bryan  went  about  his  task  of  gathering  news  like 
any  other  reporter.  He  visited  the  principal  headquar- 
ters of  the  candidates,  and  took  in  the  headquarters  of 
various  State  delegations.  Here  and  there  in  the  lobbies 
and  rooms  he  met  big  leaders,  with  whom  he  held  whis- 
pered conversations,  asking  questions  and  making  mental 
memoranda. 

At  the  Roosevelt  headquarters  he  was  greeted  by  Sen- 
ator Dixon,  nominal  director  of  the  Roosevelt  campaign. 
William  B.  McKinley  welcomed  Mr.  Bryan  at  the  Taft 
headquarters,  and  Senator  Kenyon  made  him  feel  at 
home  in  the  Cummins  headquarters.  A  dozen  of  the 
Iowa  delegates  and  their  friends  surrounded  him  at 
the  Cummins  headquarters  and  joined  in  a  cheer  for  him, 
while  Senator  Kenyon  introduced  them.  He  and  the 
Senator  sat  on  a  lounge  in  a  corner  of  the  Cummins 
headquarters  and  conversed  in  low  tones  for  several 
minutes. 


"I'm  'covering'  the  convention,  and  I  want  you  to 
remember  me  when  you  have  any  big  news  to  give  out," 
said  Mr.  Bryan  on  parting.  "I'm  staying  at  the  Uni- 
versity Club,  and  I  want  you  to  call  me  up  any  time  of 
the  night  or  day."  It  was  just  the  kind  of  talk  with 
which  the  everyday  convention  reporter  admonishes  his 
friends  many  times  daily. 

Mr.  Bryan  called  on  Walter  Houser,  manager  of  the 
La  Follette  boom,  at  the  Grand  Pacific  Hotel,  and  later 
went  to  the  Presidential  suite  in  the  Congress  Hotel, 
where  he  sent  in  his  name  to  Theodore  Roosevelt.  He 
was  promptly  admitted  to  the  Roosevelt  rooms,  the  ex- 
President  meeting  him  at  the  door. 

The  door  was  closed  on  the  two  while  they  talked. 
Mr.  Bryan  did  not  reveal  the  subject  discust  at  the 
interview,  but  it  may  be  taken  for  granted  that  he  told 
the  Colonel  to  call  him  up  at  the  University  Club  if  he 
had  any  news  to  give  out. 

"Do  you  remember  attending  the  Republican  Conven- 
tion at  St.  Louis  in  1896,  Col.  Bryan?"  asked  a  news- 
paper man  later.  "You  wrote  your  stuff  in  the  office  of 
the  St.  Louis  Chronicle,  at  a  desk  right  next  to  mine.  The 
Democratic  Convention  was  to  be  held  in  Chicago  the 
next  week,  and  I  can  remember  very  well  how  Col. 
McMurray  walked  up  and  asked  you  who  would  be 
nominated  by  the  Democrats.  You  answered  very 
quickly:  'I  haven't  the  slightest  idea.'  And  the  next 
week  you  were  nominated  yourself." 

"Well,"  broke  in  Mr.  Bryan,  with  a  broad  smile,  "we 
must  distinguish  between  ideas  and  hopes." 

Mr.  Bryan  said  good-by  to  the  group  after  joking 
with  them  about  the  way  he  was  delayed  a  half  hour 
by  interviewers  and  photographers  after  his  arrival  in 
the  city. 

"They  just  cornered  me  and  I  couldn't  do  a  thing,"  he 
said:  "I  don't  think  it  was  right,  because  we  fellows 
ought  to  do  all  we  can  to  help  one  another." 


EDITOR'S  FOREWORD  ix. 

He  rode  in  an  elevator  to  the  ground  floor  of  the 
Congress. 

"There's  Col.  Bryan,"  said  a  Texas  delegate  to  a  com- 
panion. "He's  writing  the  convention  for  the  Chicago 
Journal.  Col.  Bryan,  I  want  to  shake  hands  with  you. 
This  is  my  neighbor  from  Texas.  We  are  Roosevelt 
delegates  here,  and  are  glad  to  see  you.  This  is  my 
wife,  too,  Col.  Bryan.  She  always  has  wanted  to  meet 
you." 

At  every  step  he  was  stopped  by  men  who  knew  him, 
mostly  men  wearing  badges  of  delegates.  They  shook  his 
hand,  inquired  about  his  health,  and  that  of  his  family, 
and  asked  his  opinion  of  the  outcome. 

"Just  on  the  quiet,"  was  the  general  plea,  but  Mr. 
Bryan  shook  his  head  and  answered  kindly,  "Wait  until 
about  next  Friday,  and  then  I'll  give  a  prognostication 
as  to  who  the  next  Republican  candidate  for  President 
will  be." 

"There's  Bill  Bryan,"  or  "There  goes  Bryan,"  were 
the  words  of  nearly  every  man  or  woman  who  passed 
Mr.  Bryan  on  his  walk  from  the  door  of  the  Congress  to 
the  door  of  the  Auditorium  across  the  street.  Arrived 
at  the  latter  hotel,  he  went  to  the  rooms  of  the  Associated 
Press  and  asked  for  old  friends,  among  them  Melville  E. 
Stone.  Mr.  Stone  was  out,  but  Mr.  Bryan  was  careful 
to  have  his  secretary  make  a  note  to  the  effect  that 
W.  J.  Bryan  had  called  and  wished  to  be  remembered 
to  him. 

He  then  sought  out  the  headquarters  of  the  California 
delegation.  The  room  was  filled  with  Roosevelt  men,  and 
a  dozen  of  them  made  a  dash  for  Mr.  Bryan  as  soon  as 
he  was  recognized. 

"Isn't  this  Col.  Bryan?"  shouted  one  of  the  delegates, 
excitedly.  "Why,  bless  me,  boy,  let  me  introduce'  you  all. 
Col.  Bryan,  we're  going  to  nominate  Roosevelt  at  this 
Republican  Convention,  and  we  hope  he  won't  have  to 
run  against  you.  I'm  not  afraid  of  a  single  other 
Democrat." 


ac  EDITOR'S  FOBEWOED 

"Very  nice  of  you  to  say  so,"  said  Mr.  Bryan.  "But 
I'm  not  a  candidate  to-day.  I'm  a  reporter.  I'd  like  to 
see  Governor  Johnson  if  I  may." 

The  secretary  said  that  Mr.  Johnson  was  in  a  very 
important  conference,  but  he  felt  that  the  Governor 
would  adjourn  the  conference  to  be  interviewed  by  such 
a  distinguished  reporter.  While  the  secretary  was  gone 
to  notify  the  Governor,  Mr.  Bryan  shook  hands  with 
Benjamin  Ide  Wheeler,  president  of  the  University  of 
California,  with  whom  he  discust  a  number  of  sub- 
jects. From  the  corridor  a  crowd  swept  into  the  head- 
quarters and  gathered  around  the  two,  and  soon  Mr. 
Bryan  was  talking  loud  enough  to  be  heard  by  a  dozen 
or  more  of  those  around  him.  He  ended  the  talk  with, 
"Well,  I've  learned  the  great  lesson  of  patience." 

Mr.  Bryan  was  thanking  the  two  graciously  when  Gov- 
ernor Johnson  arrived  from  his  conference.  He  greeted 
Mr.  Bryan  warmly,  and,  with  President  Wheeler  and 
others,  the  two  looked  over  the  hotel  balcony  out  onto 
Lake  Michigan  and  discussed  generalities.  Mr.  Bryan 
related  how  he  had  used  a  California  flag  which  Presi- 
dent Wheeler  had  sent  him  to  decorate  his  daughter's 
rooms  at  his  Lincoln,  Neb.,  home. 

Finally  he  put  his  arm  around  Governor  Johnson's 
shoulder  and  whispered  that  he  wanted  a  word  with 
him.  The  two  retired  to  chairs  in  the  corner  of  the 
rooms  and  discust  the  convention  situation  earnestly  for 
more  than  twenty  minutes.  Evidently  they  were  old 
friends. 

While  they  were  talking  the  group  of  delegates  en- 
larged. 

"What  do  you  know  about  the  Governor  being  inter- 
viewed by  Bryan?"  said  one  of  them. 

"He's  the  best  of  the  lot,"  said  another.  "I'd  rather 
see  him  run  than  the  whole  bunch/'  not  elucidating 
whether  he  included  his  idol,  Teddy,  in  the  "bunch." 

"Well,  there's  one  thing  certain,"  said  a  Colorado  man 
who  had  come  in.  "Roosevelt  can  carry  Colorado  if  he 


EDITOR'S   FOEEWOED  xi 

runs  on  a  baggage  ticket.  Next  to  him,  Bryan  is  the 
most  popular  man  in  Colorado." 

From  the  California  rooms  Mr.  Bryan  hastened  to  the 
New  York  headquarters. 

"I  want  to  see  Fred  Tanner/'  he  told  the  doortender. 
Mr.  Tanner  was  found.  He  evidently  appreciated  the 
honor  of  a  call.  They  greeted  one  another  warmly.  It 
turned  out  that  Mr.  Tanner  is  Frederick  C.}  the  son  of 
Edward  A.  Tanner,  former  president  of  the  Illinois 
College  at  Jacksonville,  111.,  who  married  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Bryan.  The  Tanners  and  the  Bryans  were  next-door 
neighbors.  Mr.  Bryan  had  read  that  the  younger  Tan- 
ner was  a  delegate  from  New  York  and  so  looked  him  up. 

"Fred,"  he  said,  "I'm  writing  some  things  about  this 
convention,  and  I  want  you  to  remember  me  if  you  get 
any  news  that  you  want  printed.  Call  me  up  at  the 
University  Club,  and  see  that  I  don't  get  scooped  on  the 
New  York  news." 

Mr.  Tanner  introduced  the  Colonel  to  a  dozen  or  more 
Taft  delegates  who  were  in  the  room. 

"Colonel,"  said  one  of  the  men,  "is  it  possible  that  we 
shall  have  the  pleasure  of  voting  for  you  in  the  fall  if 
Mr.  Taft  is  not  nominated?" 

"I'll  tell  you,"  responded  Mr.  Bryan.  "I'm  in  the 
position  of  the  man  who  was  met  in  the  street  by  a 
friend  who  asked  him  if  he  could  change  a  $10  bill. 
'No,'  replied  the  man,  'but  I  appreciate  the  compliment 
just  the  same.' " 

"If  Roosevelt  is  nominated  and  you  run  in  the  fall," 
said  another  Taft  delegate,  "I  have  heard  many  Repub- 
licans say  that  you  will  carry  New  York  State  by  a  big 
vote." 

"I  was  told  that  twice  before,"  Mr.  Bryan  answered, 
with  his  broadest  smile  and  a  pat  on  the  back. 

At  Baltimore  the  circumstances  were  different. 
Here  Mr.  Bryan  was  in  the  house  of  political 
friends  and  a  cordial  reception  was  inevitable.  Here 


xii  EDITOR'S   FOREWORD 

as  at  Chicago  Mr.  Bryan  acted  as  a  newspaper  re- 
porter. He  was  also  a  delegate,  and  not  only  that, 
but  he  became  the  most  active  and  potent  personal 
force  in  the  convention.  Many  experienced  political 
observers  have  declared  that  the  fortunes  of  the 
day  were  determined  by  him.  Friends  of  Mr.  Bryan 
would  have  been  thrilled  by  his  eloquence  in  Balti- 
more. It  was  put  forth  in  the  midst  of  his  news- 
paper activities  and  in  the  face  of  seemingly  des- 
perate odds  on  the  floor  of  the  convention.  These 
battles  day  after  day  were  often  fought  against  the 
advice  of  timid  friends.  These  friends  hung  their 
heads  in  trepidation  as  storms  of  anger  and  abuse 
raged  about  him.  It  was  a  wonderful  struggle,  and 
particularly  so  because  Mr.  Bryan  won  it  so  de- 
cisively, in  spite  of  the  utmost  efforts  of  a  hostile 
majority,  bent  upon  defeating  a  man  whose  high 
purposes  they  could  not  understand. 

The  printed  page  cannot  supply  the  color,  the 
action  or  the  din  of  the  encounter ;  it  merely  offers 
so  much  as  can  be  preserved.  While  it  may  lack 
some  of  the  gripping  qualities  of  the  actual  scenes, 
it  at  any  rate  will  afford  means  for  a  more  careful 
analysis  of  measures  and  motives  than  could  have 
been  made  at  the  time  of  the  convention  itself. 

VIRGIL  V.  McNiTT. 

AUGUST  12,  1912. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Editor's  Foreword — Mr.  Bryan  as  a  News- 
paper Correspondent    v 

Introduction   xxi 

By  Mr.  Bryan. 

PART  I. 

THE  EEPUBLICAN  NATIONAL  CONVENTION 
Chicago,  June  18-22,  1912 

I.     The  Preliminary  Skirmishing 3 

Mr.  Bryan's  first  letter,  in  morn- 
ing newspapers  of  Monday,  June 
17. 
II.     The  Opposing  Leaders — A  Study  of 

Types     10 

Mr.     Bryan's    letter    in    afternoon 
newspapers  of  Monday,  June  17. 

III.  Just  Before  the  Battle 15 

Mr.    Bryan's    letter    in    morning 
newspapers  of  Tuesday,  June  18. 

IV.  The  Roosevelt  Mass  Meeting  at  the 

Auditorium 22 

Mr.    Bryan's   letter    in    afternoon 
newspapers  of  Tuesday,  June  18. 

xiii 


xiv  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

V.     How  Elihu  Boot  Was  Chosen  Tempo- 
rary  Chairman    29 

Mr.    Bryan's    letter    in    morning 
newspapers  of  Wednesday,  June 
19. 
VI.     An    Analysis    of   the    Chairmanship 

Contest    37 

Mr.  Bryan's  letter  in  afternoon 
newspapers  of  Wednesday,  June 
19. 

VII.     The  Roosevelt-Hadley  Demonstration      44 
Mr.    Bryan's    letter    in    morning 
newspapers  of  Thursday,   June 
20. 

VIII.     The  Futility  of  the  Demonstration.       53 
Mr.    Bryan's   letter   in    afternoon 
newspapers   of   Thursday,   June 
20. 

IX.     On  the  Eve  of  the  Crisis 61 

Mr.    Bryan's    letter    in    morning 

newspapers  of  Friday,  June  21. 
X.     The  Convention  as  a  Photograph  of 

the  Nation    66 

Mr.  Bryan's  letter  in  afternoon 
newspapers  of  Friday,  June  21. 

XI.     California's  Day  72 

Mr.  Bryan's  letter  in  morning 
newspapers  of  Saturday,  June 
22. 


CONTENTS  xv 

PAGE 

XII.     The  Day  Before  the  Last 77 

Mr.  Bryan's  letter  in  afternoon 
newspapers  of  Saturday,  June 
22. 

XIII.  The  End  of  the  Convention 82 

Mr.  Bryan's  letter  in  morning 
newspapers  of  Sunday,  June  23. 
Withdrawal  of  the  Roosevelt  Dele- 
gates    85 

Speech  of  Henry  J.  Allen  and 
Statement  of  Mr.  Roosevelt 85 

XIV.  The  Republican  Platform 90 

XV.    A  Criticism  of  Mr.  Taft's  Speech  of 

Acceptance 99 

Mr.  Bryan's  article  in  morning 
newspapers  of  August  3. 


PART  II 

THE   DEMOCRATIC   NATIONAL 
CONVENTION 

Baltimore,  June  25-July  2,  1912 

I.    The  Two  Contending  Factions 109 

Mr.    Bryan's    letter    in    morning 
newspapers  of  Monday,  June  24. 
II.     The  Fight  for  a  Progressive  Chair- 
man 116 


xvi  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Mr.    Bryan's    letter   in    afternoon 
newspapers  of  Monday,  June  24. 

III.  The  Steam  Roller  at  Work 121 

Mr.    Bryan's    letter    in    morning 
newspapers  of  Tuesday,  June  25. 

IV.  Financial  Interests  at  Work 126 

V.    Alton  B.   Parker   Made   Temporary 

Chairman    127 

Mr.    Bryan's    letter    in    morning 

newspapers  of  Wednesday,  June 

26. 
Speech  of  Mr.  Bryan  Opposing  the 

Election  of  Alton  B.  Parker  . .     134 
Speech  of  Senator  Kern;  a  Plea 

for   Harmony 142 

VI.    An  Amazing  Spectacle  in  the  Con- 
vention       146 

Mr.    Bryan's   letter   in    afternoon 

newspapers  of  Wednesday,  June 

26. 

VII.     The  Tide  Turns   152 

Mr.    Bryan's    letter    in    morning 

newspapers   of   Thursday,  June 

27. 

VIII.     Bossism  Becomes  the  Issue  158 

Mr.    Bryan's   letter   in    afternoon 

newspapers  of   Thursday,   June 

27: 


CONTENTS  xvii 

PAGE 

IX.     The     Anti  -  Morgan  -  Ryan  -  Belmont 

Resolution    162 

Mr.  Bryan's  letter  in  morning 
newspapers  of  Friday,  June  28. 

X.     The  Adoption  of  the  Resolution 167 

Mr.    Bryan's    letter    in    afternoon 
newspapers  of  Friday,  June  28. 
Mr.    Bryan's    Speech    on   the    Reso- 
lution       172 

The  Candidates  Discussed 175 

XI.     Awaiting  the  Nomination   180 

Mr.  Bryan's  letter  in  morning 
newspapers  of  Saturday,  June 
29. 

XII.     The  Money  Trust's  Activities 184 

Mr.  Bryan's  letter  in  afternoon 
newspapers  of  Saturday,  June 
29. 

XIII.  How  Votes  Were  Changed 187 

Mr.  Bryan's  letter  in  morning 
newspapers  of  Monday,  July  1. 

Mr.  Bryan's  Speech  Explaining 
His  Vote  193 

XIV.  The  Close  of  the  Convention 198 

Mr.  Bryan's  letter  in  morning 
newspapers  of  Wednesday,  July  3. 

Mr.  Bryan's  Valedictory 203 

An  Interview  with  Mr.  Bryan...     206 
XV.     The  Democratic  Platform  .  208 


xviii  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

XVI.     Governor    Wilson's    Speech   of   Ac- 
ceptance         228 

Mr.   Bryan's   comments   as  pub- 
lished on  August  9 228 

XVII.    The  Influence  of  Mr.  Bryan  in  the 

Convention    236 

Some  of  the  comments  on  it  by 
leading  newspapers  238 

PART  III 

THE  PROGRESSIVE  NATIONAL 
CONVENTION 

Chicago,  August  5-7,  1912 

I.     A  Summary  of  Events  247 

II.     Mr.  Roosevelt's  Speech  in  the  Con- 
vention        250 

III.  The  Platform 279 

IV.  Comments  on  the  Progressive  Party.     296 

Mr.  Bryan's  Article  published  in 
newspapers  of  Saturday,  August 
10 


LIST  OF  CARTOONS 

PAGE 

1.  The  Education  of  Willie  Bryan 4 

(As  a  newspaper  correspondent  at  the 
Republican  Convention.) 

2.  At    the    Republican    Convention — Mr. 

Bryan  Enjoying  the  Discussion    ....       30 

3.  Mr.   Bryan's  Departure  from  the  Re- 

publican Convention 86 

4.  Atlas    Ill 

5.  Trying  to  Square  it  With  the  Peerless 

Leader   123 

6.  Convention  Studies   130 

7.  William  Jennings  Bryan  Draws  a  Car- 

toon         149 

8.  Mr.  Bryan's  Cartoon — Another  Repre- 

sentation         150 

9.  Mr.  Bryan's  Second  Cartoon 151 

10.  The  Baltimore  Transformation 155 

11.  The  Sacrifice  Hit 190 

12.  The  Candidate  We  All  Support 305 


INTRODUCTION 

TWO  EPOCH-MAKING  CONVENTIONS 

Criticism  of  men  is  only  useful  when  it  leads 
to  reforms,  and  criticism  of  conventions  is  only 
worth  uttering  or  reading  when  attention  is  called 
to  errors  that  can  be  corrected. 

The  Chicago  Convention  gave  in  an  exaggerated 
form  an  object-lesson  that  seemed  necessary  to 
awaken  the  public  to  evils  that  have  existed  for 
years.  The  two  evils  that  stood  out  prominently 
at  Chicago  were,  first,  the  organization  of  a  new 
convention  by  an  old,  outgrown  committee;  and, 
second,  the  employment,  for  the  purpose  of  over- 
riding a  majority  of  committeemen,  of  delega- 
tions representing  mythical  constituencies  in  the 
South. 

It  has  been  customary  in  all  parties  for  the  com- 
mittee which  conducts  a  campaign  to  retain  its 
authority  until  the  next  convention  is  permanently 
organized.  In  ordinary  times  the  power  thus  con- 
ferred upon  an  old  committee  is  not  misused,  but 
in  times  of  upheaval  and  change  the  power  is  sub- 
ject to  abuse.  It  was  abused  in  the  Democratic 
convention  at  Chicago  in  1896  when  an  old  com- 
mittee, friendly  to  the  administration,  undertook 


xxii  INTRODUCTION 

to  control  a  new  convention  antagonistic  to  the 
administration. 

Likewise  at  the  Republican  convention,  held  at 
Chicago  this  year,  a  considerable  number  of  the 
committeemen  had  been  repudiated  in  their  own 
States  and  acted  contrary  to  the  known  wishes  of 
their  successors  on  the  committee  and  the  delega- 
tions from  those  States.  As  the  new  committee- 
men  do  not  begin  to  serve  until  the  permanent  or- 
ganization is  perfected,  the  old  committee  is  able 
to  determine  the  character  of  the  new  conven- 
tion. 

Something  over  two  hundred  and  fifty  delegates 
were  contested  before  the  national  committee  and 
the  Taft  men  were  seated  in  nearly  every  case. 
More  than  two-thirds  of  these  contests  were  dropt 
and  only  about  seventy-five  taken  before  the  con- 
vention, but  the  seventy-five  were  enough  to  de- 
termine the  complexion  of  the  convention.  If  the 
seventy-five  Eoosevelt  delegates  were  seated  it 
would  make  it  a  Eoosevelt  convention;  if  the 
seventy-five  Taft  delegates  were  seated  it  would 
put  the  Taft  forces  in  control.  The  old  national 
committee,  holding  over  from  four  years  ago,  had 
the  right  according  to  custom  to  make  up  the  tem- 
porary roll-call  and  it  gave  the  seventy-five  Taft 
men  seats  in  the  convention.  These  Taft  delegates 
voted  on  the  contests  that  came  before  the  con- 
vention. Of  course,  each  delegate  was  prohibited 


INTRODUCTION  xriii 

from  voting  in  his  own  case,  but  the  contests  were 
decided  in  small  groups,  and  while  a  delegate  could 
not  vote  in  his  own  case,  he  could  vote  in  all  the 
other  cases,  and,  as  the  contested  delegates  under- 
stood that  they  must  stand  or  fall  together,  the 
effect  was  just  the  same  as  if  each  man  had  voted 
to  seat  himself. 

The  old  committee  was  able  to,  and  in  fact  did, 
decide  the  issue  between  the  two  contending  fac- 
tions. It  is  not  for  me  to  say  that  the  Taft  com- 
mittee ignored  justice  and  equity  in  those  deci- 
sions— that  is  a  question  which  I  am  glad  to  leave 
the  Republicans  to  decide.  Neither  is  it  for  me  to 
say  that  a  Roosevelt  committee  would  not  have 
acted  on  the  same  principle  adopted  by  the  Taft 
men  if  Mr.  Roosevelt's  faction  had  controlled  the 
committee.  I  would  not  even  say  that  a  Demo- 
cratic committee  would  have  acted  differently — I 
have  known  Democratic  committeemen  to  be  just 
as  willing  to  use  their  power  to  advance  their  own 
side  of  a  contest.  My  contention  is  that  frail 
human  beings  ought  not  to  be  subjected  to  the 
temptations  presented  at  Chicago  and  in  other  con- 
ventions. When  a  presidential  nomination  is  at 
stake  and  the  course  of  a  four  years'  administra- 
tion is  involved  in  a  decision,  a  great  many  men 
who  are  thoroughly  honest  and,  when  disinterested, 
very  just,  yield  to  the  temptation  to  put  the  end 
above  the  means  to  the  extent  of  employing  means 


xxiv  INTSODUCTION 

that  they  cannot  defend  to  secure  an  end  which 
they  regard  as  of  great  importance.  The  members 
of  the  Tilden-Hayes  electoral  commission — all  noted 
men — did  this  in  1877.  The  question  is  not 
whether  the  Taft  men  were  worse  than  Roosevelt 
men  or  what  Democrats  would  have  been  under 
similar  circumstances,  but  whether  the  system  can 
be  so  reformed  as  to  remove  such  powerful  tempta- 
tions. 

The  Baltimore  platform  suggests  the  selection  of 
national  eommitteemen  by  popular  vote ;  this  is  an 
improvement  over  the  old  method  of  selection  by 
the  national  delegates.  But  what  is  more  impor- 
tant, the  Baltimore  platform  advocates  a  revolu- 
tionary change  when  it  suggests  that  the  new  eom- 
mitteemen begin  to  serve  as  soon  as  elected.  This 
creates  a  new  committee  in  sympathy  with  the  new 
convention  and  puts  an  end  to  the  evils  that  arise 
from  the  action  of  a  hold-over  committee,  made 
up  in  part  of  eommitteemen  already  repudiated  in 
their  own  States.  If  this  rule  had  been  in  force  in 
the  Chicago  convention  the  Roosevelt  faction  would 
have  been  much  stronger  in  the  national  committee. 
This  change,  however,  could  not  have  been  made  at 
the  convention,  because  the  delegates  would  have 
considered  the  immediate  effects  of  the  change 
rather  than  the  merits  of  the  change  itself,  but 
now  that  the  matter  can  be  passed  upon  deliber- 
ately and  dispassionately  it  is  quite  certain  that  the 


INTRODUCTION  xxv 

Baltimore  proposal  will  commend  itself  to  fair- 
minded  men  of  all  parties. 

The  second  difficulty,  namely,  the  imaginary  con- 
stituency, is  one  that  is  peculiar  to  the  Republican 
situation  and  has  no  counterpart  in  a  Democratic? 
convention.  While  a  number  of  the  States  are 
generally  Republican,  still  the  Democratic  party  in 
these  States  is  a  real  force  and  there  is  no  reason 
why  the  Democrats  of  the  Eepublican  States  should 
not  enjoy  full  participation  in  the  writing  of  plat- 
forms and  in  the  making  of  nominations. 

In  the  case  of  the  Republican  party,  however,  it 
is  different.  In  a  number  of  the  southern  States 
the  Republican  party  is  a  fiction.  It  exerts  no 
approachable  influence  in  local  affairs  and  is  held 
together  by  prospect  of  federal  patronage.  Take 
the  State  of  Mississippi,  for  instance.  It  had 
twenty  delegates  in  the  Republican  convention  in 
Chicago  and  these  twenty  delegates  voted  quite  con- 
sistently to  carry  out  the  Taft  program.  There 
were  at  the  last  presidential  election  only  4,505 
votes — Republican  votes — in  Mississippi,  while  in 
my  district  in  Nebraska,  the  first  district,  there 
were  18,642  votes.  The  first  district  of  Nebraska 
had  two  delegates  in  the  Chicago  convention,  and, 
as  one  of  the  six  districts  of  Nebraska,  it  joined  in 
the  selection  of  four  at  large,  its  proportionate 
strength  being  a  little  less  than  three  delegates,  or 
less  than  one-sixth  as  many  as  Mississippi  had,  and 


xxvi  INTRODUCTION 

yet  it  cast  more  than  four  times  as  many  votes  as 
the  Republican  party  cast  in  the  State  of  Missis- 
sippi. In  other  words,  the  average  Mississippi  Re- 
publican had  twenty-four  times  as  much  influence 
in  the  Chicago  convention  as  the  average  Repub- 
lican in  the  first  district  of  Nebraska.  I  only  take 
Mississippi  as  an  illustration.  The  same  thing  is 
true  in  Louisiana,  in  South  Carolina,  in  Alabama, 
and  to  a  less  degree  in  a  number  of  other  southern 
States. 

This  disproportionate  representation  has  existed 
for  some  time  and  has  more  than  once  scandalized 
the  proceedings  of  Republican  conventions.  Now 
that  public  attention  has  been  turned  upon  the 
situation.  I  have  so  much  faith  in  the  intelligence 
and  patriotism  of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  Republi- 
can party  that  I  feel  sure  some  remedy  will  be 
found  to  the  end  that  the  Republican  conventions 
hereafter  may  represent  the  voters  of  the  Repub- 
lican party.  Republicans  can  decide  for  themselves 
whether  their  party's  interests  would  have  been 
advanced  better  by  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Taft 
or  by  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Roosevelt,  but 
when  the  interests  of  candidates  are  put  aside 
and  the  question  is  viewed  upon  its  merits  no  con- 
siderable portion  of  the  Republican  party  will  se- 
riously advocate  the  continuance  of  a  system  by 
which  a  minority'  either  in  the  organization  or  in 
the  convention  can  stifle  the  voice  of  a  majority  of 
the  party. 


INTRODUCTION  xxvii 

The  unit  rule  was  the  main  cause  of  difficulty 
at  Baltimore.  It  ought  to  be  abolished  and  all 
delegates,  except  the  four  at  large,  ought  to  be 
selected  by  districts,  as  Republican  delegates  are 
selected. 

Looking  upon  convention  proceedings  from  the 
standpoint  of  one  desiring  improvement  along 
every  line  I  feel  that  the  two  great  conventions  of 
1912,  the  Republican  national  convention  at  Chi- 
cago and  the  Democratic  national  convention  at 
Baltimore,  will  prove  epoch-making  because  of  the 
reforms  that  will  result  from  them. 

The  chief  lesson  taught  by  the  Baltimore  con- 
vention was  quite  a  different  lesson  from  that 
taught  at  Chicago.  It  shows  as  no  former  conven- 
tion has  done  the  power  of  public  opinion.  The 
pressure  brought  to  bear  upon  the  Baltimore  con- 
vention by  "the  Democrats  at  home"  is  a  signal  il- 
lustration of  the  fact  that  representative  govern- 
ment is  a  fact  in  the  United  States.  No  plan  of 
misrepresentation,  whether  intentional  or  uninten- 
tional, is  likely  to  succeed  when  it  becomes  known. 
Governments  throughout  the  world  are  becoming 
more  and  more  responsive  to  the  will  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  our  own  government  is  becoming  increas- 
ingly sensitive  to  the  wishes  of  the  voters.  The  se- 
lection of  Judge  Parker  for  temporary  chairman 
was  a  challenge  to  the  progressive  element  of  the 
party  and  the  manner  in  which  the  challenge  was 
accepted  shows  how  sound  the  party  is  at  heart. 


xxviii  INTRODUCTION 

The  anti-Morgan-Byan-Belmont  resolution  would 
have  been  voted  down  by  a  considerable  majority 
but  for  the  fact  that  the  delegates  feared  the  wrath 
that  a  negative  vote  would  have  aroused  at  home. 
And  so,  in  the  concluding  hours  of  the  convention, 
an  alliance  with  Mr.  Murphy  and  with  the  inter- 
ests which  he  represented  in  the  convention  became 
more  and  more  a  thing  to  be  feared  as  the  tele- 
grams poured  in  from  forty-eight  States. 

This  ' '  Tale  of  Two  Conventions ' '  is  given  in  the 
hope  that  the  facts  set  forth  will  be  helpful  to  the 
American  people  in  the  understanding  of  public 
questions.  Both  conventions  were  turbulent,  but 
truth  emerges  triumphant  from  every  contest. 
There  is  no  real  contradiction  between  the  two 
propositions :  first,  that  truth  is  the  cause  of  revolu- 
tions; and,  second,  that  truth  is  a  peacemaker. 
Truth  combats  error  and  does  not  retire  from  the 
contest  until  error  is  overthrown,  but  truth  is  a 
peacemaker  in  the  end,  because  nothing  can  be 
permanent  that  does  not  rest  upon  truth. 

The  casual  observer  may  be  carried  away  by 
the  exciting  incidents  of  a  convention,  but  the 
sober  citizen  will  see  in  a  national  convention  a 
great  human  agency  for  the  accomplishment  of  an 
important  end.  Our  conventions  will  cease  to  be 
interesting  only  when  nothing  remains  to  be  ac- 
complished. 

WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN. 


Part  One 

THE  REPUBLICAN  NATIONAL  CONVENTION 
CHICAGO,  JUNE  18-22,  1912 


I 

THE  PRELIMINARY  SKIRMISHING 

Mr.  Bryan's  first  letter,  published  in  morning  news- 
papers of  Monday,  June  17th. 

Chicago,  June  16. — There  is  a  liberal  education 
in  a  national  convention,  but  much  that  one  learns 
is  not  useful  to  him  afterwards.  Nowhere  else 
does  one  see  in  full  bloom  this  special  phase  of 
convention  life  that  politics  develops  in  a  free  coun- 
try. The  headquarters  of  the  various  candidates 
are  in  charge  of  skilful  politicians  enlisted  under 
the  respective  banners,  and  these  have  their  assist- 
ants and  understudies  who  are  in  training. 

The  delegates  as  they  come  in  are  badged,  tagged 
and  buttonholed.  The  prophets  are  revising  their 
lists  as  they  learn  of  additions  or  defections  and  the 
corridors  of  the  hotels  resound  with  the  cheers  of 
partisans.  These  things  are  to  be  found  in  every 
convention,  but  they  are  here  in  unusual  abun- 
dance. 

The  Republican  party  contains  a  larger  number 
of  prominent  and  experienced  politicians  than  are 
3 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  WILLIE  BRYAN. 
(As  a  Newspaper  Correspondent  at  the  Republican 

Convention.) 
Bart,  in  the  Minneapolis  "Journal." 


THE   REPUBLICAN   CONVENTION  5 

to  be  found  in  the  Democratic  party,  for  promi- 
nence usually  goes  hand  in  hand  with  official  posi- 
tions. For  the  last  half  century,  the  Republican 
party  has  been  in  almost  uninterrupted  control  of 
the  nation  and  has  been  supreme  in  a  major- 
ity of  the  States.  It  has  had  an  opportunity, 
therefore  to  lift  its  members  into  conspicuous  po- 
sitions. 

As  one  passes  through  the  increasing  throng  he 
hears  men  addressed  as  "governor,"  "senator," 
and  "secretary,"  until  he  becomes  bewildered  at 
the  array  of  officials  now  holding  offices  or  with  the 
prefix  "ex"  before  their  titles — a  prefix  which 
courtesy  drops  in  salutation. 

I  am  enjoying  my  first  day  renewing  acquaint- 
ance with  the  adherents  of  the  various  candidates 
and  with  the  numerous  representatives  of  the  press. 
I  called  upon  Representative  McKinley  *  at  the 
Taft  headquarters,  upon  Senator  Dixont  at  the 
Roosevelt  headquarters,  upon  Senator  Kenyon  at 
the  Cummins  headquarters,  and  upon  Mr.  Houser 
at  Senator  La  Follette's  headquarters.  I  am  now 
trying  to  reconcile  the  predictions  that  they 
make. 

At  the  Taft  headquarters  the  President  is  as 
good  as  renominated.  He  has  the  necessary  votes 
and  can  read  his  title  clear.  There  may  be  a  varia- 

*  Manager  of  the  Taft  forces  in  the  convention. 
f  Manager  of  the  Eoosevelt  forces. 


6  A    TALE    OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

tion  of  a  few  votes,  but  the  margin  is  sufficient  so 
that  a  few  desertions — not  anticipated,  of  course, 
but  allowed  for  out  of  an  abundance  of  caution — 
would  not  change  the  result. 

This  would  seem  to  settle  the  question  in  favor 
of  Mr.  Taft,  but  for  the  fact  that  a  different  story 
is  told  at  the  Roosevelt  headquarters.  Here  it  is  all 
over  but  the  shouting,  and  even  that  has  been 
entered  upon. 

With  the  ex-President 's  followers  the  exact  num- 
ber of  votes  is  not  so  important,  because  they  feel 
that  they  have  on  their  side  a  sentiment  that  will 
compel  additions.  They  are  banking  on  the  fact 
that  Mr.  Eoosevelt  has  a  majority  of  the  votes  from 
the  northern  States,  where  the  Republican  vote  is 
located,  and  they  are  using  this  argument  for  all  it 
is  worth.  They  will  not  admit  there  is  any  doubt 
as  to  the  final  outcome. 

After  one  has  visited  these  two  headquarters  he 
feels  that  while  the  issue  is  in  doubt  between  the 
President  and  the  ex-President,  the  choice  must  lie 
between  the  two,  but  Senator  Kenyon  and  Mr. 
Houser  have  carefully  prepared  tables  which  show 
that  neither  of  the  principal  candidates  can  be 
nominated,  and  that  in  a  long  drawn  out  contest, 
such  as  they  expect,  the  party  must  turn  to  some 
third  person,  and  each  thinks  his  candidate  the 
logical  man  for  'the  place. 

I  am  not  prepared  to  venture  a  prediction;  in 


TEE   REPUBLICAN    CONVENTION  7 

fact,  no  one  who  views  the  subject  impartially 
would  care  to  risk  a  guess.  The  predictions  that 
are  being  made  by  interested  parties  illustrate  the 
old  truth  that  man 's  opinion  of  what  is  to  be  is  half 
wish  and  half  environment. 

Senator  Kenyon  wants  it  distinctly  understood 
that  Senator  Cummins  will  not  consider  the  vice 
presidency  in  connection  with  either  President 
Taft,  ex-President  Roosevelt,  or  anybody  else. 
Those  in  charge  of  Mr.  La  Toilette's  candidacy  are 
equally  emphatic  in  denying  that  they  have  any 
intention  of  taking  sides  with  either  Mr.  Roosevelt 
or  Mr.  Taft. 

I  called  on  Mr.  Roosevelt  and  found  him  cheerful 
and  as  buoyant  as  I  have  ever  seen  him.  Opinion 
differs  as  to  the  effect  of  his  presence  here.*  His 
opponents  think  that  his  personal  participation  in 
the  convention  is  so  unusual  a  manifestation  of  in- 
terest as  to  offset  any  good  that  he  can  do.  His 
friends,  on  the  other  hand,  are  cheered  by  the  au- 
dacity of  his  course.  They  are  counting  on  his 
strengthening  any  wavering  friends,  as  well  as  upon 
his  winning  over  any  opponents  who  are  not  riveted 
to  the  Taft  candidacy. 

The  X,  or  unknown  quantity,  in  the  Republican 
situation  is  the  colored  vote  from  the  South.  It  is 
the  weakness  of  the  Taft  cause.  It  is  a  weakness 

*  An  avowed  leading  candidate  is  believed  never  before 
to  have  attended  a  presidential  convention. 


8  A    TALE    OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

not  only  because  it  does  not  represent  a  voting 
strength  proportionate  to  its  influence  in  the  con- 
vention but  a  weakness  also  because  it  cannot  be  de- 
pended upon  to  stand  tied. 

There  is  a  break  in  the  Mississippi  delegation  and 
another  in  the  Georgia  delegation.  One  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi delegates  has  returned  some  money  which 
was  given  to  him  for  traveling  expenses  for  the 
delegates,  but  there  are  Taft  supporters  who  are 
uncharitable  enough  to  charge  that  this  money 
would  not  have  been  returned  had  not  a  larger  sum 
been  received  from  "sources  unknown." 

In  fact,  it  looks  now  as  if  this  convention  might 
turn  on  the  size  of  the  "honorarium,"  as  the  maga- 
zines describe  the  complimentary  compensation 
paid  to  those  who  write  for  them. 

A  Western  senator  used  to  tell  at  "Washington  a 
story  that  does  not  seem  as  absurd  now  as  it  did 
then.  He  used  it  to  show  the  honesty  of  some  of 
the  Western  legislators.  One  of  them  arose  in  the 
State  legislature  during  a  senatorial  contest  and 
thus  addressed  the  speaker : 

"I  have  received  $1,000  from  Mr.  (we 

will  call  him  Mr.  Smith),  and  I  intended  to  vote 
for  him  for  senator,  but  since  receiving  the  money 
and  promising  him  my  support  I  have  received 
$1,500  from  Mr.  —  -  (we  will  call  him  Mr. 
Brown),  and,  being  an  honest  man,  I  desire  to  re- 
turn Mr.  Smith's  money." 


THE   REPUBLICAN    CONVENTION  9 

It  is  -unfortunate  that  the  forces  are  so  evenly 
divided  as  to  make  it  possible  for  the  scale  to  be 
turned  by  influences  which  would  deprive  the  victor 
of  the  right  to  claim  a  real  triumph  for  the  prin- 
ciples for  which  he  stands. 


II 


THE  OPPOSING  LEADERS— A  STUDY  OF 
TYPES 

Mr.   Bryan's   letter  in  afternoon  newspapers   of 
Monday,  June  17th. 

Chicago,  June  17. — One  notes  a  difference  in  the 
manner  and  bearing  of  delegates  as  they  come 
pouring  into  the  city  and  report  at  their  respective 
headquarters.  The  Taft  men,  excepting  the  South- 
ern delegates,  are  as  a  rule  of  the  conservative  type. 
They  speak  more  deliberately  and  show  less  anima- 
tion. Many  of  them  are  politicians  of  long  experi- 
ence who  have  been  accustomed  to  the  methods  of 
the  inner  circle.  They  speak  cautiously,  act  delib- 
erately, and  are  more  inclined  to  ' '  view  with  alarm ' ' 
than  to  enthuse.  They  feel  that  things  have  been 
going  along  fairly  well,  and  are  anxious  that  such 
changes  as  are  necessary  may  be  made  "slowly  and 
only  after  careful  investigation."  The  Roosevelt 
men,  on  the  contrary,  are  largely  of  the  aggressive 
type.  They  have  already  decided  matters  and  have 
no  doubts  to  settle.  They  are  not  waiting  for  in- 
vestigation and  are  not  weighing  reforms  in  apoth- 
ecary scales. 

10 


TEE   EEPUBLICAN   CONVENTION  11 

A  great  many  young  men  have  come  into  promi- 
nence as  Roosevelt  champions.  Some  of  them  ap- 
pear younger  than  they  really  are.  Gov.  Johnson, 
of  California,  is  the  most  interesting  figure  from 
the  west.  His  state,  so  long  a  victim  of  railroad 
rule  and  servitude  to  favor-seeking  corporations, 
has  leapt  at  one  bound  into  the  front  rank  of  re- 
form States.  With  the  zeal  of  a  new  convert  Cali- 
fornia points  with  pride  to  an  army  of  militant 
progressives,  and  only  awaits  the  signals  to  fight 
Standpatism  on  any  field.  Stubbs,  of  Kansas ;  Had- 
ley,  of  Missouri,  and  Aldrich,  of  Nebraska,  are  un- 
tiring workers  and  they  don't  talk  in  whispers. 

While  the  personality  of  Mr.  Roosevelt  is  a  con- 
siderable factor  in  the  contest,  it  is  evident  from 
what  one  hears  that  the  progressive  Republicans 
are  using  Mr.  Roosevelt  not  because  they  approve 
of  all  that  he  stands  for,  but  because  they  regard 
him  as  the  best  means  of  overthrowing  the  Taft 
regime.  They  regard  the  President  as  the  personi- 
fication of  reactionary  sentiment  in  the  nation  and 
would  support  almost  any  one  in  preference  to  him. 
Some  of  them  admit  that  the  anti-third  term  argu- 
ment is  a  handicap,  but  feel  that  it  is  not  a  suffi- 
cient objection  to  deter  them  from  casting  in  their 
lot  with  the  ex-President.  I  cannot  agree  with 
them  in  putting  this  objection  aside  so  lightly.  It 
has  not  yet  been  considered  by  the  public. 

President  Taft  is  not  in  a  position  to  urge  the 


12  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

strongest  objections  to  a  third  term,  and  the  sharp 
line  drawn  between  the  administration  and  its  op- 
ponents precludes  a  fair  discussion  of  the  third- 
term  issue.  If  Mr.  Eoosevelt  should  be  pitted 
against  a  progressive  Democrat  there  would  be  bet- 
ter opportunity  to  give  weight  to  the  objections 
which  are  honestly  and  earnestly  advanced. 

The  unfortunate  phase  of  the  controversy  is  that 
discussion  of  an  issue  so  fundamental  would  turn 
attention  from  the  economic  questions  upon  which 
the  people  seem  ready  to  act.  That  this  would  be 
the  result  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  nomination  is  certain. 

Had  he  espoused  the  cause  of  any  other  progres- 
sive and  given  to  it  the  time  and  energy  that  he 
has  devoted  to  his  own  candidacy  he  could  have 
controlled  the  convention  and  made  himself  master 
of  the  organization  of  his  party.  The  bitterness 
aroused  by  his  candidacy  would  have  been  avoided 
and  his  party  would  have  been  committed  to  the 
reforms  for  which  the  progressives  stand.  The 
Democratic  party  then  would  have  had  a  rival  that 
would  have  spurred  it  on  to  even  greater  activity 
in  support  of  remedial  measures. 

But  there  is  time  enough  to  philosophize  on  what 
might  have  been.  The  question  just  now  is,  how 
many  Taft  delegates  can  the  Roosevelt  leaders, 
aided  by  the  ex-President  himself,  draw  from  the 
President's  fold? 

The  desertions  'claimed  at  the  Roosevelt  head- 


THE   REPUBLICAN   CONVENTION  13 

quarters  are  discredited  by  Mr.  McKinley.  It  is 
conceded  that  a  Mississippi  delegate,  heretofore 
counted  for  Mr.  Taft,  has  joined  the  Roosevelt 
forces,  and  that  one  of  the  Georgia  delegates  has 
followed  his  example,  but  the  standpatters  expect 
that  the  effect  of  these  desertions  will  be  reduced 
to  a  minimum  by  a  discussion  of  considerations 
which  are  supposed  to  have  brought  about  the 
changes. 

While  the  charges  made  in  former  Republican 
conventions  against  some  of  the  colored  delegates 
have  prepared  the  public  mind  to  accept  without 
much  evidence  the  charge  that  money  is  being  used 
it  must  be  remembered  that  the  patronage  argu- 
ment has  a  powerful  influence  on  whites  as  well  as 
blacks.  The  most  powerful  weapon  in  the  Roose- 
velt armory  is  the  argument  that  Mr.  Taft  cannot 
possibly  be  elected  and  cannot  therefore  reward 
his  delegates  in  the  Southern  States.  Mr.  Roose- 
velt's friends  take  it  for  granted  that  he  can  win, 
and  their  confidence  in  his  success  enables  them  to 
play  upon  the  ambitions  of  delegates,  especially  in 
the  Democratic  states  where  the  Republicans  can- 
not hope  for  local  offices. 

While  a  goodly  sum  in  the  hand  is  worth  two 
offices  in  the  bush,  both  inducements  must  be  taken 
into  calculation  in  a  contest  like  that  now  being 
waged  for  supremacy  in  the  party. 

The  fight  over  the  temporary  chairmanship  seems 


14  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

likely  to  give  the  first  reliable  indication  of  the 
line-up  and  it  may  be  left  to  the  followers  of  La 
Follette  and  Cummins  to  decide  the  question,  pro- 
vided they  are  willing  to  take  the  responsibility, 
but  they  may  prefer  to  withhold  their  votes  rather 
than  be  counted  with  either  side. 

Neutrality  is  their  strong  card  and  they  would 
find  it  difficult  to  support  the  candidate  of  either 
side  without  subjecting  themselves  to  misrepresen- 
tation. 

The  Roosevelt  meeting  to-night  will  give  oppor- 
tunity for  an  outburst  of  enthusiasm,  and  as  the 
ex-President  is  going  to  speak  it  is  safe  to  predict 
that  he  will  studiously  refrain  from  praising  the 
Republican  national  committee.  In  fact,  he  may 
brush  up  on  the  criminal  law  and  make  some  addi- 
tions to  the  list  of  adjectives  which  he  has  already 
employed  in  describing  the  various  forms  of  lar- 
ceny which  he  has  charged  against  his  opponent. 

The  war  goes  merrily  on,  and  I  feel  even  more 
than  a  journalistic  interest  in  watching  it. 


Ill 

JUST  BEFORE  THE  BATTLE 

Mr.  Bryan's  letter  in  morning  newspapers  of  Tues- 
day, June  18th. 

Chicago,  June  17. — It  is  "just  before  the  battle, 
mother."  The  writer  is  able  to  survey  the  scene 
more  calmly  than  those  who  "may  be  numbered 
with  the  slain. ' '  The  feeling,  as  one  meets  with  it 
in  the  corridors  of  hotels,  is  not  as  bitter  as  some 
of  the  expressions  of  some  of  the  delegates  would 
indicate.  The  lines  are  closely  drawn  and  each 
side  is  putting  forth  its  best  efforts,  but  there  is, 
withal,  a  good  deal  of  cheerfulness,  and  I  am  try- 
ing to  cultivate  it  wherever  I  can. 

I  am  urging  both  sides  not  to  take  the  matter  too 
seriously,  assuring  them  that  we  can  correct  at  Bal- 
timore any  mistakes  they  may  be  unfortunate 
enough  to  make — four  years  from  now,  if  not  now. 
I  find  that  none  of  them  is  disposed  to  question  a 
Democratic  victory  four  years  ahead,  and  many  of 
them  are  willing  to  admit  confidentially  that  the 
Eepublican  party  is  in  such  a  muddle  that  the 
Democrats  now  have  the  chance  of  a  lifetime. 
15 


16  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

The  day  closed  with  the  Roosevelt  meeting  at  the 
Auditorium,  Senator  Borah  presiding.  Both  the 
Chairman  and  the  ex-President  were  greeted  with 
great  enthusiasm,  the  applause  lasting  some  min- 
utes when  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  upon  the  platform. 
The  Arabs  are  said  to  have  seven  hundred  words 
which  mean  ' '  camel ' ' ;  Mr.  Roosevelt  has  nearly  as 
many  synonyms  for  theft,  and  he  used  them  all  to- 
night. His  denunciation  of  the  National  Commit- 
tee was  scathing,  and  he  included  the  President  and 
Senator  Root  in  his  denunciation. 

The  most  spontaneous  approval  of  the  evening 
greeted  his  statement  that  the  action  of  the  conven- 
tion would  not  be  binding  upon  any  Republican  in 
the  convention,  or  outside  of  it,  if  it  depended  upon 
the  votes  of  the  seventy-six  delegates  whose  seats 
are  to  be  contested  before  the  Credentials  Com- 
mittee. He  demands  that  the  contested  delegates 
shall  stand  aside — that  is,  both  contested  and  con- 
testing delegates — and  leave  the  thousand  uncon- 
tested  delegates  to  decide  the  contest.  This 
will  evidently  be  the  line  of  battle  in  the  conven- 
tion. 

The  latter  part  of  the  speech  was  an  eloquent  in- 
dorsement of  progressive  ideas  and  sounded  so 
much  like  Senator  La  Follette's  speeches  during 
the  last  eight  years  and  like  Democratic  speeches 
during  the  last  sixteen  years  that  one  could  hardly 
believe  it  was  being  applauded  by  a  Republican 


THE   EEPUBLICAN    CONVENTION  17 

audience.  Only  one  thing  was  lacking  to  complete 
it;  namely,  a  quotation  from  the  ninth  verse  of  the 
twentieth  chapter  of  Matthew.* 

The  fight  opens  to-morrow  with  the  election  of 
Temporary  Chairman,  and  an  expectant  audience 
will  fill  the  Coliseum  before  noon,  the  opening  hour. 
Senator  Boot  is  the  choice  of  the  Taft  forces,  while 
Senator  Borah  will  receive  the  Roosevelt  vote.  If 
any  one  attempts  to  give  in  advance  of  the  roll  call 
the  actual  number  of  votes  to  be  cast  for  each  he 
will  be  walking  "by  faith  rather  than  by  sight." 
It  is  likely  that  the  La  Follette  and  Cummins  dele- 
gates will  withhold  their  votes  rather  than  cast 
them  for  either  candidate. 

As  both  Cummins  and  La  Follette  must  receive 
votes  from  both  sides  in  order  to  win  the  Presi- 
dential prize  their  friends  are  disposed  to  avoid 
an  alliance  actual,  or  even  seeming,  with  either 
group.  As  Taft  and  Roosevelt  have  nearly  equal 
strength  and  together  control  more  than  nine- 
tenths  of  the  convention,  the  other  candidates  can 
afford  to  let  them  fight  out  their  differences  and 
await  the  result. 

As  soon  as  the  temporary  organization  is  com- 
pleted the  Committee  on  Credentials  will  be  an- 
nounced, and  the  struggle  which  was  begun  before 
the  National  Committee  will  be  renewed.  The 

•See  Mr.  Bryan's  letter,  dated  June  18,  for  this  quota- 
tion. 


18  A    TALE   OF    TWO   CONVENTIONS 

Roosevelt  forces  will  have  a  larger  representation 
on  the  Credentials  Committee  than  they  had  on  the 
National  Committee,  and  about  eighty  contests  will 
be  submitted  to  this  committee.  The  remaining 
contests  will  be  abandoned,  and  the  Taft  delegates 
will  be,  permitted  to  occupy  seats  without  further 
controversy.  This  is  regarded  by  the  President's 
followers  as  a  vindication  of  the  fairness  of  the 
committee,  but  the  ex-President's  friends  reply 
that  these  delegates  were  seated  by  a  unanimous 
vote  in  the  committee  and  that  acquiescence  on 
the  part  of  the  Roosevelt  members  of  the  National 
Committee  is  proof  of  their  desire  to  see  justice 
done. 

The  eighty  contests,  however,  are  sufficient  in 
number  to  decide  the  Presidential  nomination;  so 
that  interest  in  the  results  of  committee  delibera- 
tions is  acute.  The  California  contest,  while  it  in- 
volves only  two  delegates,  has  aroused  more  heat 
than  some  of  the  others  of  greater  numerical  impor- 
tance. I  have  taken  pains  to  consult  the  leaders  of 
both  parties  in  order  to  present  the  issue  accurately. 

The  Taft  side  relies  upon  the  wording  of  the  call 
of  the  National  Committee,  which  is  in  conformity 
with  the  rules  which  have  governed  Republican 
National  Conventions  for  thirty  years.  According 
to  this  call  the  several  States  are  permitted  to  in- 
troduce certain  variations  in  the  rules  to  conform 
to  State  law,  but  this  permission  concludes  with 


THE   REPUBLICAN    CONVENTION  19 

the  words  "but,  provided,  further,  that  in  no  State 
shall  an  election  be  so  held  to  prevent  the  dele- 
gates from  any  Congressional  district  and  their  al- 
ternates being  selected  by  the  Republican  electors 
of  that  district." 

This  provision,  taken  in  connection  with  the  cus- 
tom that  has  prevailed  and  the  practice  of  other 
States,  would  give  the  Taft  side  a  prima  facie  case, 
and  they  would  also  have  the  moral  support  of 
those  who  oppose  the  unit  rule  as  unfair.  It  was 
the  injustice  made  possible  under  the  unit  rule  that 
led  the  Republican  party  to  adopt,  in  1880,  the  sys- 
tem of  electing  all  the  delegates  by  districts,  except 
the  four  from  the  State  at  large. 

As  this  same  question  is  likely  to  come  before 
the  Baltimore  Convention  an  illustration  of  what 
is  possible  under  the  unit  rule  may  not  be  out  of 
place.  Let  us  use  the  present  contest  as  an  illustra- 
tion. There  are  something  over  a  thousand  dele- 
gates in  the  Republican  Convention.  Let  us,  for 
convenience,  fix  the  number  at  a  thousand.  Sup- 
pose, further,  that  Mr.  Taft  carried  a  majority  of 
the  districts  in  States  electing  500  delegates,  and 
that  Mr.  Roosevelt  carried  a  majority  of  the  dis- 
tricts electing  a  remainder  of  500  delegates.  If, 
where  Mr.  Taft  had  a  majority,  his  friends  invoked 
the  unit  rule  and  gave  him  the  entire  500  votes, 
while  Mr.  Roosevelt's  friends  did  not  resort  to  this 
rule,  Mr.  Taft  would  have  500  votes  plus  nearly 


20  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

250,  while  Mr.  Roosevelt  would  have  only  a  few 
more  than  250. 

In  the  case  supposed  the  use  of  the  unit  rule 
would  give  the  one  who  employed  it  an  unfair  ad- 
vantage over  the  one  who  did  not  employ  it.  The 
unit  rule,  to  be  fair,  ought  to  be  used  in  all  the 
States,  and  even  then  injustice  is  possible  under  it. 
In  the  California  case,  however,  the  Roosevelt  men 
are  not  compelled  to  rely  entirely  on  the  general 
arguments  advanced  in  behalf  of  the  unit  rule. 
They  insist,  first,  that  the  primary  law  of  Califor- 
nia substitutes  a  system  of  election  by  the  State  at 
large  for  the  district  system  when  certain  for- 
malities were  complied  with,  and  they  contend  that 
the  formalities  were  complied  with  in  this  case. 
The  law  supersedes  the  language  employed  in  the 
committee's  call.  In  the  second  place,  they  declare 
that  the  Taft  delegates,  who  now  claim  election  in 
the  district,  were  candidates  before  the  State  at 
large  and  became  so  with  the  indorsement  of  Presi- 
dent Taft,  thus  being  stopped  from  questioning  the 
validity  of  the  election  of  their  opponents. 

In  addition  to  these  contentions  the  Roosevelt 
men  argue  that  there  is  no  possible  way  of  deter- 
mining the  exact  vote  in  the  Fourth  District,  the 
district  in  controversy,  because  fourteen  precincts 
are  partly  in  that  district  and  partly  in  the  Fifth 
District.  The  vote  between  Roosevelt  and  Taft  in 
the  Fourth  District  was  so  close  that  the  votes  of 


TEE   REPUBLICAN   CONVENTION  21 

these  fourteen  precincts  would  change  the  result, 
but  no  one  is  able  to  say  how  many  of  those  living 
on  the  Fourth  District  side  of  the  line  running 
through  the  fourteen  precincts  voted  for  Taft  and 
how  many  for  Koosevelt. 


THE  EOOSEVELT  MASS  MEETING  AT  THE 
AUDITORIUM 

Mr.  Bryan's   letter  in  afternoon  newspapers   of 
Tuesday,  June  18th. 

Chicago,  June  18. — As  this  letter  must  necessa- 
rily be  put  upon  the  wires  before  the  convention 
convenes  at  noon  I  shall  devote  it  to  the  most  in- 
teresting and  only  significant  event  of  yesterday, 
namely,  the  Koosevelt  mass  meeting  at  the  Audi- 
torium in  the  evening. 

The  hall  was  filled  with  ticket  holders,  and  a 
large  crowd  outside  mourned  their  lack  of  influ- 
ence with  those  who  were  distributing  the  pass- 
ports to  the  meeting.  It  was  a  boomers'  meeting, 
and  none  of  the  accessories  usual  on  such  occasions 
was  omitted.  Flags  were  distributed  to  the  audi- 
ence, patriotic  hymns  were  sung,  and  a  glee  club 
assured  the  audience  that  they  wanted  "Teddy." 

Senator  Borah  presided  and  opened  the  meeting 
with  a  well-delivered  arraignment  of  the  National 
Committee  and  of  standpat  Republicanism  in  gen- 
eral. His  splendid  voice  rang  out  through  the 
large  hall,  and  what  he  said  pleased  the  audience. 

22 


THE   REPUBLICAN    CONVENTION  23 

He  is  another  representative  of  the  younger  genera- 
tion and  has  fairly  won  the  distinction  that  has 
been  accorded  him  of  representing  the  progressives 
in  the  fight  over  the  temporary  chairmanship. 

He  will  be  remembered  as  the  chairman  of  the 
committee  which  succeeded  in  forcing  through  the 
Senate  the  amendment  providing  for  the  popular 
election  of  Senators,  an  amendment  which  the  Sen- 
ate had  six  times  refused  to  consider  during  the 
past  twenty  years.  He  is  a  conspicuous  member  of 
the  group  of  young  men  referred  to  yesterday, 
which  includes,  besides  those  heretofore  mentioned, 
Gov.  Bass,  of  New  Hampshire ;  Senator  Dixon,  ex- 
Secretary  Garfield,  Gifford  Pinchot,  Judge  Lind- 
sey,  ex-Senator  Beveridge,  the  junior  Washburn  of 
Minnesota,  and  men  like  Hale  and  Hill  of  Massa- 
chusetts. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  know  just  how  many 
of  these  progressive  Republicans  are  attending  their 
first  National  Convention.  Only  one  of  the  Cali- 
fornia delegates  has  attended  a  convention  before 
and  only  one  of  the  New  Jersey  delegates. 

Mr.  Roosevelt's  speech  might  be  described  as  a 
characteristic  speech,  in  that  he  expressed  himself 
in  emphatic  language  and  accompanied  his  words 
with  gestures  equally  emphatic.  His  manner  indi- 
cated that  he  was  enjoying  the  fight,  and  the  more 
vehement  his  denunciation  the  more  vigorous  the 
applause. 


24  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

He  condemned  the  members  of  the  National  Com- 
mittee jointly  and  severally,  individually  and  in 
groups.  He  described  them  by  naming  character- 
istics, discussed  them  biographically,  and  singled 
them  out  by  name.  He  analyzed  them  in  their 
representative  character  and  in  their  lack  of  char- 
acter. The  words  " theft,"  "crime,"  "stolen," 
"shame,"  "treason"  and  other  severities  of  the 
kind  were  interwoven  with  the  names  of  Senators, 
ex-Senators,  bosses,  ex-bosses  leaders,  ex-leaders 
and  ' '  sure-thing ' '  men. 

The  response  most  frequently  made  by  the  audi- 
ence when  he  asked  their  opinion  of  the  action  of 
the  National  Committee  was  the  word  "rotten." 
His  main  charge  against  the  committee  was  that  it 
had,  as  the  representative  of  the  special  interests, 
deliberately  defrauded  the  rank  and  file  of  the 
party  of  the  fruits  of  victory  in  nearly  forty  dis- 
tricts. He  divided  the  committee  of  fifty  into  three 
groups.  From  fifteen  to  twenty  were  included  hi  a 
group  to  which  he  ascribed  varying  degrees  of  hon- 
esty. 

Fourteen  of  the  remainder  he  put  into  the  dis- 
carded class — men  repudiated  by  their  States  at  the 
recent  primaries  or  conventions.  About  fifteen 
were  grouped  in  the  third  class  as  representatives 
of  States  that  could  not  be  expected  to  give  Repub- 
lican majorities  in  the  coming  election.  He  men- 
tioned by  name  and  held  up  to  contempt  and  scorn 


THE   REPUBLICAN   CONVENTION  25 

Mr.  Barnes  of  New  York,  Mr.  Crane  of  Massachu- 
setts, Mr.  Penrose  of  Pennsylvania,  Mr.  Murphy  of 
New  Jersey,  Mr.  Stevenson  of  Colorado  and  Mr. 
Guggenheim  of  the  same  State.  He  also  referred 
by  words  of  description  to  Mr.  Calhoun  of  Cali- 
fornia and  Mr.  Lorimer  of  Chicago. 

He  compared  political  crimes,  such  as  he  charged 
against  his  opponents,  with  the  crimes  for  which 
men  are  imprisoned,  to  the  advantage  of  the  latter, 
and  declared  that  some  of  the  governors  among  the 
reactionaries  have  refused  pardons  to  criminals 
whose  deeds  were  infinitely  less  wicked  than  the 
political  misdemeanors  of  the  governors  themselves. 

After  arraigning  the  whole  crowd  of  reaction- 
aries as  members  of  a  conspiracy  formed  for  wreck- 
ing the  party,  a  conspiracy  which  the  members 
were  bent  on  carrying  out  without  conscience  or 
scruple,  he  announced  his  plan  of  campaign  for  the 
control  of  the  convention.  He  demanded  that  the 
seventy-six  delegates,  whose  seats  are  to  be  con- 
tested before  the  Credentials  Committee,  stand 
aside  and  allow  their  cases  to  be  decided  by  the 
1,000  uncontested  delegates.  He  declared  that  it 
would  be  a  fraud  upon  the  party  to  allow  them  to 
take  part  in  the  convention,  and  that  their  partici- 
pation would  so  vitiate  any  action  of  the  conven- 
tion which  depended  upon  their  votes  that  it  would 
not  be  binding  upon  any  Republican  inside  the 
Convention  or  outside. 


26  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

This  statement  called  forth  the  most  spontaneous 
demonstration  of  the  evening.  It  was  apparently 
the  statement  for  which  they  were  waiting.  It  is 
evident  that  the  Roosevelt  leaders  will  object  to 
contested  delegates  voting  in  the  temporary  chair- 
manship fight.  What  this  may  lead  to  no  one  can 
gay,  but  only  one  construction  can  be  placed  upon 
Mr.  Eoosevelt's  language,  namely,  that  the  progres- 
sives will  not  regard  themselves  as  under  any  obli- 
gation to  support  the  ticket  if  seventy-six  contested 
delegates  are  seated  and,  as  a  result  of  their  par- 
ticipation in  the  convention,  Mr.  Taft  is  nominated. 
The  prospect  is  bright  for  a  lively  convention. 

After  disposing  of  the  President,  Senator  Root 
and  the  National  Committee,  Mr.  Roosevelt  pro- 
ceeded to  make  a  plea  for  progressive  Republican- 
ism. He  did  not  refer  to  any  issue,  but  dealt  with 
the  broad  distinction  between  the  people  and  those 
who  exploit  them.  He  quoted  Lincoln  and  inter- 
preted his  definition  and  distinction  in  the  lan- 
guage of  to-day.  He  described  his  opponents  in 
the  present  contest  as  men  of  restricted  vision  and 
contracted  sympathy;  men  who  lack  intensity  of 
conviction  and  care  only  for  the  pleasure  of  the 
day;  men  who  distrust  the  people,  who  are  filled 
with  an  angry  terror  whenever  there  is  an  appeal 
to  popular  conscience  and  popular  intelligence. 
They  live  on  a  low  plane,  and  in  an  atmosphere  in 
which  impostors  flourish. 


TEE   REPUBLICAN   CONVENTION  27 

His  own  associates,  on  the  other  hand,  are  men 
of  faith  and  vision ;  men  in  whom  love  of  righteous- 
ness burns  like  a  naming  fire ;  men  who  spurn  lives 
of  selfishness,  of  slothful  indulgence,  etc. 

It  is  a  strong  contrast  that  he  draws.  He  car- 
ried me  back  to  the  day  when  I  first  learned  of  this 
world-wide,  never-ending  contest  between  the  bene- 
ficiaries of  privilege  and  the  unorganized  masses, 
and  I  can  appreciate  the  amazement  which  he  must 
feel  that  so  many  honest  and  well-meaning  people 
seem  blind  or  indifferent  to  what  is  going  on. 

I  passed  through  the  same  period  of  amazement 
when  I  first  began  to  run  for  President.  My  only 
regret  is  that  we  have  not  had  the  benefit  of  his 
powerful  assistance  during  the  campaigns  in  which 
we  have  protested  against  the  domination  of  poli- 
tics by  predatory  corporations.  He  probably  feels 
more  strongly  stirred  to  action  to-day  because  he 
was  so  long  unconscious  of  the  forces  at  work 
thwarting  the  popular  will.  The  fact,  too,  that  he 
has  won  prestige  and  position  for  himself  and 
friends  through  the  support  of  the  very  influences 
which  he  now  so  righteously  denounces  must  still 
further  increase  the  sense  of  responsibility  which 
he  feels  this  time. 

He  errs,  however,  and  a  very  natural  error  it  is, 
in  assuming  that  the  defeat  of  the  progressive  Re- 
publicans in  this  convention  would  be  fatal  to  the 
country.  He  forgets  that  the  Democrats  stand 


28  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

ready  to  rescue  the  nation,  even  if  the  progressive 
Republicans  fail,  and  then  there  are  future  cam- 
paigns if  the  reactionaries  win  this  one. 

He  ought  to  find  encouragement  in  my  experi- 
ence. I  have  seen  several  campaigns  end  in  a  most 
provoking  way,  and  yet  I  have  lived  to  see  a  Re- 
publican  ex-president  cheered  by  a  Eepublican  au- 
dience for  denouncing  men  who,  only  a  few  years 
ago,  were  thought  to  be  the  custodians  of  the  na- 
tion's honor. 

This  contest  is  an  important  one,  and  veteran 
reformers  rejoice  at  the  advanced  ground  taken  by 
progressive  Republicans,  but  this  country  is  not 
going  to  ruin.  A  convention  may  delay  reforms 
for  a  short  time,  but  it  cannot  stay  the  onward 
march  of  the  people.  Democracy  is  militant  the 
world  around,  and  nowhere  more  so  than  in  our 
own  beloved  land. 


HOW,    ELIHU    ROOT    WAS    CHOSEN    TEM- 
PORARY CHAIRMAN 

Mr.  Bryan's  letter  in  morning  newspapers  of  Wed- 
nesday, June  19th. 

Chicago,  June  18. — I  am  enjoying  my  position 
among  the  newspaper  boys,  but  being  a  little  new 
at  this  kind  of  work  I  have  to  confess  to  the  com- 
mission of  two  blunders  so  far.  First,  I  overesti- 
mated the  acquaintance  of  the  reading  public  here 
with  the  Bible.  In  my  letter  of  this  morning  I 
referred  to  the  ninth  verse  of  the  twentieth  chapter 
of  Matthew,  supposing  the  Republicans  attending 
the  convention  were  as  familiar  with  the  text  as  are 
the  Democrats,  but  I  find  they  laid  the  reference 
away  until  they  had  time  to  look  it  up.  Possibly 
it  will  make  a  deeper  impression  upon  them  when 
they  find  the  verse  referred  to  is  as  follows:  "And 
when  they  came  that  were  hired  about  the  eleventh 
hour,  they  received  every  man  a  penny." 

If  the  reader  could  have  noted  the  similarity  be- 
tween Mr.  Roosevelt's  presentation  of  the  issues 
between  plutocracy  and  democracy  and  the  speeches 
which  have  been  made  for  nearly  two  decades  by 
29 


30  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

progressive  Democrats  and  the  speeches  which  have 
been  made  more  recently  by  Senator  La  Follette 
and  other  pioneers  among  the  progressive  Repub- 
licans, he  would  have  seen  the  aptness  of  the  Bible 
quotation. 
My  second  mistake  was  in  not  associating  with 


AT  THE  EEPUBLICAN  CONVENTION — MR.  BRYAN  ENJOYING 

THE  DISCUSSION. 

(McCutcJieon  in  "Collier's  Weekly" — Reproduced  "by  Per- 
mission.) 

me  a  sporting  editor,  who  could  give  me  the  tech- 
nical phrases  of  the  prize  ring;  my  vocabulary  is 
hardly  adequate  for  a  description  of  the  first  round 
of  the  great  contest  which  is  being  fought  out  at 
the  Coliseum. 

A  little  after  the  appointed  hour  of  noon  Victor 
Rosewater,  of  Nebraska,  acting  chairman  of  the 
Republican  National  Committee,  called  the  conven- 
tion to  order  and  directed  the  secretary  to  read  the 


TEE   REPUBLICAN   CONVENTION  31 

call.  As  soon  as  the  reading  was  completed,  and 
before  Mr.  Rosewater  could  announce  the  commit- 
tee's choice  for  temporary  chairman,  Gov.  Hadley, 
of  Missouri,  obtained  recognition  and  moved  to 
substitute  the  names  of  about  eighty  Eoosevelt 
contesting  delegates  for  the  Taft  delegates  whose 
names  had  been  put  upon  the  temporary  roll-call 
by  the  committee. 

This  move  on  the  part  of  the  Progressives  was 
evidently  anticipated,  for  former  Congressman 
Watson,  of  Indiana,  was  on  his  feet  in  an  instant 
with  a  point  of  order.  Chairman  Eosewater  said 
he  would  hold  the  point  of  order  well  taken,  but 
would  give  both  sides  an  opportunity  to  present 
the  matter  to  the  convention. 

Mr.  Hadley  made  the  principal  argument,  citing 
three  precedents — the  convention  of  1864,  when  the 
temporary  roll-call  was  amended;  1880,  when  the 
temporary  roll-call  was  again  amended;  and  1884, 
when  the  convention  adopted  the  policy  of  consid- 
ering the  committee's  recommendation  for  tempor- 
ary chairman  as  merely  suggestive  and  not  con- 
clusive upon  the  convention. 

Mr.  Watson  replied  there  was  no  national  com- 
mittee in  1864  to  prepare  the  temporary  roll-call, 
that  in  1880  the  temporary  chairman  had  already 
been  elected  before  the  motion  to  amend  the  tem- 
porary roll  was  entertained,  and  that  in  1884  the 
amendment  of  the  recommendation  made  by  the 


32 

committee  as  to  temporary  chairman  was  not  a 
precedent  for  the  case  now  before  this  convention, 
because  in  the  selection  of  a  chairman  the  matter 
was  submitted  to  the  delegates  on  the  temporary 
roll,  while  in  the  present  case  there  is  no  body  au- 
thorized to  vote  on  the  temporary  chairmanship 
until  the  temporary  roll-call  has  been  made  up. 

A  number  of  speeches  were  made  on  both  sides, 
most  of  them  discussing  the  merits  of  the  case 
rather  than  the  precedents,  and  some  of  them  re- 
vealing the  tension  under  which  the  leaders  are 
acting.  The  question  was  settled  by  the  refusal  of 
Chairman  Rosewater  to  entertain  an  appeal,  which 
left  the  Taft  forces  in  control  of  enough  votes  to 
secure  for  them  the  temporary  chairmanship. 

The  fight,  however,  was  interesting  enough  to 
make  the  spectators  feel  that  they  were  getting 
their  money 's  worth.  A  national  convention  is  well 
worth  attending,  especially  when  one  can  look  on 
without  being  so  deeply  concerned  in  the  result  as 
to  make  him  blind  to  the  amusing  side  of  the  pic- 
ture. 

A  convention  is  made  up  of  partisans,  who  are 
there  to  help  each  his  side,  and  onlookers  who  ap- 
plaud things  cleverly  done,  as  the  occupants  of  the 
grand  stand  cheer  a  baseball  player  when  he  makes 
a  good  hit.  Then  there  is  the  witty  man,  who  says 
something  that  catches  the  audience.  They  were 
all  in  evidence  to-day. 


TEE   REPUBLICAN    CONVENTION  33 

The  partisans  were  giving  enthusiastic  support  to 
their  representatives,  and  cheering  the  points 
made.  Groans  were  not  infrequent,  the  most  spon- 
taneous and  widespread  greeting  Mr.  Root's  open- 
ing sentence  when  he  thanked  the  convention  for 
the  confidence  expressed  in  him.  This  interrup- 
tion lasted  some  time  and  plainly  embarrassed  the 
speaker. 

Another  timely  suggestion  from  the  audience 
started  a  cheer  when  Congressman  Payne  was  ar- 
guing "for  an  orderly  method  of  procedure," 
meaning  that  the  work  of  the  steam  roller  should 
not  be  interfered  with.  Some  one  called  out, ' '  Tell 
us  about  the  Payne- Aldrich  bill."  The  suggestion 
wakened  the  echoes  in  memory's  hall  and  those 
well  informed  recalled  a  number  of  prominent  Re- 
publicans who  were  dragged  into  involuntary  re- 
tirement by  that  same  Payne- Aldrich  bill,  and  they 
also  remembered  that  it  has  made  Mr.  Taft  round- 
shouldered  to  carry  his  part  of  the  burden  which 
that  bill  imposed  upon  the  country. 

Senator  Bradley,  of  Kentucky,  also  was  hectored 
by  the  audience.  He  had  not  proceeded  far  with 
his  argument  when  some  one  in  the  audience  re- 
ferred to  his  vote  in  the  Lorimer  case.  He  prob- 
ably was  the  most  extreme  representative  of  the  re- 
actionary type  who  appeared  before  the  convention, 
and  he  did  not  shrink  from  defending  Lorimer. 
He  seemed  ready  for  a  fight  on  any  phase  of  the 


34  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

contest  between  the  progressives  and  the  reaction- 
aries. Mr.  Heney,  of  California,  was  the  most 
militant  of  the  progressive  speakers,  and  he,  like 
Senator  Bradley,  spent  a  part  of  his  time  pausing 
for  order  to  be  restored. 

It  is  interesting  to  compare  the  reasons  given  by 
the  various  speakers  with  the  reasons  which  actu- 
ally controlled  them.  Upon  the  surface  of  the  dis- 
cussion it  would  seem  the  progressives  were  bent 
on  securing  a  fair  hearing  on  the  contested  cases 
before  either  side  was  allowed  to  profit  by  the 
presence  of  the  delegates.  The  reactionaries,  on  the 
other  hand,  seemed  specially  concerned  in  averting 
chaos.  They  could  see  nothing  but  confusion 
if  any  departure  was  made  from  the  regular 
procedure.  This  was  the  issue  presented  in  the 
speeches. 

A  great  deal  of  time  could  have  been  saved  if 
each  side  had  explained,  as  each  side  could  have 
explained  in  a  word,  that  the  eighty  contested  dele- 
gates held  the  balance  of  power  and  might  decide 
all  the  important  questions  to  come  before  the  con- 
vention. It  is  not  certain  that  the  opposite  side 
would  not  have  exchanged  arguments  had  the  po- 
sitions been  changed. 

All  of  which  goes  to  show  that  a  national  con- 
vention is  not  the  best  place  in  the  world  to  decide 
questions  of  abstract  justice.  The  temptation  to 
gain  an  unfair  advantage  is  so  great  that  it  is  not 


THE   REPUBLICAN   CONVENTION  35 

always  resisted.  The  most  effective  restraint  is  the 
fear  that  palpable  injustice  may  react  upon  the 
successful  party  at  the  polls,  and  this  fear  is  re- 
duced to  a  minimum  when  the  fight  reaches  a  point 
where  neither  side  expects  the  other  to  win  at  the 
polls  and  is  not  sure  about  its  own  success. 

The  fight  over  the  chairmanship  revealed  a  little 
piece  of  strategy  which  came  as  a  surprise  to  most 
of  the  audience.  Mr.  Root  had  for  some  weeks 
been  known  to  be  the  choice  of  the  Taft  forces  for 
temporary  chairman,  but  it  was  generally  under- 
stood that  Senator  Borah  would  be  the  Roosevelt 
candidate.  Some  time  in  the  night,  however,  ar- 
rangements were  made  with  the  Roosevelt  leaders 
for  the  presentation  of  the  name  of  Gov.  McGovern, 
of  Wisconsin,  by  a  minority  of  the  Wisconsin  dele- 
gation. This  was  done  over  the  protest  of  Mr.  La 
Follette  and  his  representatives.  As  late  as  11 
o  'clock  in  the  morning  the  Wisconsin  delegation,  by 
a  vote  of  14  to  11,  decided  not  to  present  a  candi- 
date for  temporary  chairman. 

The  governor's  name  was  presented,  however, 
by  Delegate  Cochems,  and  Wisconsin's  executive 
received  thirteen  of  the  Wisconsin  vote  (just  one 
half)  and  nine  of  the  North  Dakota  La  Follette 
delegates,  besides  the  Roosevelt  strength.  Mr. 
Houser,  Senator  La  Follette 's  spokesman,  stated 
the  facts  in  order  that  the  senator  might  not  be  ac- 
cused of  tying  up  with  either  side.  Mr.  Houser 


36  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

and  several  other  members  of  the  Wisconsin  dele- 
gates voted  for  Mr.  Lander,  of  North  Dakota. 

Senator  Root  received  558  votes,  eighteen  more 
than  half  the  convention,  but  as  a  number  of  Mr. 
Root's  votes  came  from  men  who  are  instructed 
for  Mr.  Roosevelt,  the  presidential  situation  is  still 
in  doubt. 

I  would  want  to  make  three  guesses  if  I  were 
compelled  to  guess  at  all.  First,  that  Mr.  Taft 
may  be  nominated  as  the  result  of  the  putting  of 
the  names  of  the  Taft  contestants  on  the  temporary 
roll.  This  gives  the  Taft  men  control  of  the  com- 
mittee on  credentials,  and  the  Taft  contestants  can 
be  seated  if  they  are  allowed  to  vote  for  them- 
selves. Second,  Mr.  Roosevelt  may  be  nominated 
if  he  can  get  some  of  his  contestants  seated,  or  can 
make  inroads  upon  the  southern  delegates.  Third, 
Mr.  La  Follette  and  Mr.  Cummins  may  hold  the 
balance  of  power  and  compel  the  nomination  of  a 
third  candidate,  name  unknown.  Thus  endeth  the 
first  day  of  the  convention. 


VI 


AN  ANALYSIS  OF  THE  CHAIRMANSHIP 
CONTEST 

Mr.   Bryan's  letter  in   afternoon  newspapers   of 
Wednesday,  June  19th. 

Chicago,  June  19. — The  first  day's  round  of  the 
wrestling  match  in  which  the  Republican  leaders 
are  engaging  resulted  in  a  dogfall.  Mr.  Root  re- 
ceived 558  votes  for  temporary  chairman — only 
eighteen  more  than  half  of  the  convention — which 
indicates  that  the  vote  between  Mr.  Taft  and  Mr. 
Roosevelt  will  be  so  close  that  no  one  can  count 
with  any  certainty  on  the  result. 

On  the  face  of  the  returns  it  would  look  like  a 
victory  for  Taft.  It  is  a  great  advantage  to  him  to 
have  a  supporter  in  the  chair,  especially  as  able  a 
man  as  Mr.  Root.  He  is  probably  the  most  skilful 
corporation  lawyer  in  the  country.  One  of  his 
prominent  clients  has  been  quoted  as  saying  that 
former  attorneys  employed  by  him  told  him  what 
he  could  not  do,  but  that  Root  told  him  how  he 
could  do  things.  The  New  York  senator  will  be 
37 


38  A    TALE    OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

in  a  position  where  he  can  do  things,  and  from  now 
on  the  Roosevelt  forces  can  expect  no  parliamen- 
tary advantage.  It  will  keep  them  busy  to  avoid 
the  traps  and  pitfalls  that  will  be  set  for  them.  In 
fact,  it  would  not  be  surprising  if  our  old  friend, 
Res  Adjudicata,  appeared  on  the  scene  every  now 
and  then  when  least  expected. 

But  while  Mr.  Taft  has  won  the  temporary  chair- 
manship, his  victory  belongs  to  that  class  of  vic- 
tories of  which  it  can  be  said  that  a  few  more  such 
would  destroy  the  victor.  In  order  to  win  the  cov- 
eted prize  Mr.  Root  had  to  secure  seven  of  Mr. 
Roosevelt 's  instructed  delegates  in  Maryland,  three 
in  Oregon  and  four  in  Pennsylvania.  These  men 
are  under  instructions  given  at  primaries  and  will 
have  to  vote  for  Roosevelt  on  roll-call.  These 
twenty-two  reduce  the  Taft  strength  below  the  540 
necessary  for  his  nomination,  and  there  are  a  num- 
ber of  other  Roosevelt  delegates  pledged,  but  not 
instructed,  who  voted  for  Mr.  Root.  It  will  be 
seen,  therefore,  that  Mr.  Taft  is  still  some  distance 
from  the  nomination,  even  if  all  of  his  contested 
delegates  are  seated.  It  is  barely  possible,  though 
not  probable,  that  some  of  Mr.  Taft's  uninstructed 
delegates  may  revolt  against  the  seating  of  some  of 
the  contested  delegates,  and  then  allowance  must 
be  made  for  inroads  on  the  susceptible  portion  of 
Mr.  Taft's  following. 

Mr.  Taft's  managers,  however,  are  presenting  a 


THE   REPUBLICAN    CONVENTION  39 

bold  front  and  are  claiming  100  Roosevelt  delegates 
on  the  second  ballot.  The  ex-President  doubtless 
feels  some  chagrin  at  the  result  of  the  fight  on  the 
temporary  chairmanship,  but  Senator  Dixon  uses 
the  vote  cast  for  Mr.  Root  as  proof  that  Mr.  Taft 
is  whipped.  This  does  not,  however,  mean  that  Mr. 
Roosevelt  will  be  nominated.  It  is  easier  to  pre- 
vent Mr.  Taft 's  nomination  than  to  secure  his  own. 
Senator  La  Pollette's  thirty-six  votes  and  Senator 
Cummins 's  ten  votes  will  contribute  to  the  defeat 
of  Mr.  Taft,  but  they  will  not  be  of  much  service 
to  Mr.  Roosevelt;  at  least  they  have,  not  been 
counted  in  the  Roosevelt  column.  The  alliance 
formed  yesterday  between  the  Roosevelt  following 
and  a  minority  of  the  Wisconsin  delegation  may 
indicate  a  willingness  of  some  of  the  La  Follette 
men  to  switch  to  Roosevelt  if  La  Follette  retires 
from  the  race. 

Nine  of  the  ten  North  Dakota  delegates  joined 
the  Roosevelt  delegates  in  supporting  McG-overn, 
and  the  ten  Cummins  men  from  Iowa  also  voted 
for  McGovern.  While  this  does  not  commit  them 
to  Roosevelt  it  indicates  a  willingness  to  side  with 
the  followers  of  the  ex-President  rather  than  with 
the  followers  of  the  President  when  they  are  com- 
pelled to  choose. 

The  pot  has  been  boiling  furiously  since  the  first 
session  adjourned,  and  one  hears  all  sorts  of  ru- 
mors. While  it  is  not  safe  to  venture  a  prediction, 


40  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

still  it  is  only  reflecting  what  one  hears  in  the 
corridors  to  say  that  there  is  more  talk  of  a  dark 
horse  than  heretofore.  The  two  principal  contes- 
tants have  measured  strength  and  neither  feels  as 
sure  as  he  did  before  the  roll-call. 

The  office-seeker  is  not  idle,  and  the  paramount 
question  with  him  is  not  who  would  make  an  ideal 
candidate,  or  an  ideal  president,  but 'who  can  win. 
Mr.  Taft  and  Mr.  Roosevelt  will  find  some  consola- 
tion in  killing  each  other  off,  and  both  may  prefer 
to  support  a  third  man  rather  than  risk  the  sup- 
port of  one  by  the  other. 

Cummins  and  Borah  are  the  persons  talked  of 
most  as  compromise  candidates.  It  ought  to  be 
easy  for  the  Roosevelt  men  to  support  Borah,  and 
the  Taft  men  would  probably  find  it  easier  to  sup- 
port Cummins  than  any  other  progressive. 

The  reader  may  think  the  above  review  of  the 
situation  somewhat  indefinite — if  so,  he  is  in  the  at- 
titude of  mind  that  best  befits  one  who  has  sur- 
veyed the  field  as  it  appears  to-day.  It  is  any 
man's  race  at  this  time. 

The  convention  yesterday  was  full  of  interesting 
incidents,  and  no  one  has  complained  that  the  per- 
formance was  not  up  to  the  promises  made  in  ad- 
vance. Even  a  Democrat  must  admit  that  the  dele- 
gates are  a  fine  looking  body  of  men ;  they  are  the 
pick  of  the  Republican  party  of  the  nation.  There 
are  a  number  of  prominent  Republicans  who  did 


TEE  REPUBLICAN   CONVENTION  41 

not  secure  commissions  as  delegates,  but  most  of 
them  are  here  in  an  advisory  capacity.  It  is  inter- 
esting to  note  how  the  sifting  process  eliminates 
the  relatively  inferior  and  brings  before  the  foot- 
lights the  men  who  are  intellectually  prepared  for 
the  contest. 

Gov.  Hadley,  of  Missouri,  led  the  fight  against 
the  temporary  roll  of  delegates,  and  he  made  a 
splendid  impression.  His  argument  was  clear  and 
well  presented.  His  manner  was  pleasing  and  he 
held  the  attention  of  the  audience. 

Watson,  of  Indiana,  justified  the  confidence  re- 
posed in  him  by  the  Taft  leaders.  His  speech  was 
well  put  together,  and  his  argumentative  manner 
was  suited  to  the  work  he  had  in  hand.  Job 
Hedges,  of  New  York,  acquitted  himself  most  cred- 
itably. His  special  task  was  to  inform  the  audi- 
ence of  Mr.  Eoosevelt's  high  opinion  of  Mr.  Root, 
and  he  performed  it  with  dramatic  art. 

Then  there  were  speakers  who  did  not  catch  the 
spirit  of  the  occasion;  at  least  r.ot  in  time  to  save 
themselves  from  the  hasty  judgment  which  a  con- 
vention audience  stands  ready  to  pronounce.  This 
judgment  is  not  always  accurate,  but  it  is  not  usu- 
ally subject  to  reversal.  When  a  convention  crowd 
turns  against  a  speaker  the  sooner  he  brings  his  re- 
marks to  a  close  the  better.  A  great  deal  depends 
on  getting  off  on  the  right  foot.  An  explanation 
or  an  apology  is  sometimes  fatal.  The  tone  of  voice 


42  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

or  an  awkward  gesture  may  call  down  the  derision 
of  the  audience,  and  then  it  is  all  over. 

One  of  the  most  humorous  incidents  in  conven- 
tion history  occurred  at  Chicago  sixteen  years  ago. 
A  Louisiana  delegate  paused  in  the  course  of  his 
speech  to  take  a  swallow  of  water.  Some  inter- 
ruption prevented  his  resumption  at  once,  and  he 
picked  up  the  glass  a  second  and  a  third  time. 
Then  some  one  in  the  audience  suggested  that  he 
take  another  drink,  and  from  that  time  on  he  was 
on  the  water  wagon.  Pages  brought  him  buckets 
of  water,  and  the  audience  was  convulsed  for  a 
quarter  of  an  hour.  One  man  in  yesterday's  con- 
vention began  in  a  manner  that  aroused  the  relig- 
ious fervor  of  one  delegate  to  the  extent  of  calling 
forth  an  amen,  while  another  speaker  put  his  arms 
in  a  position  that  made  some  of  the  delegates  dis- 
cuss aviation. 

The  people  who  gather  at  a  convention,  however, 
are  good  humored,  and  while  they  are  sometimes 
unmanageable,  they  are  not  malicious.  The  only 
way  one  can  get  even  is  to  enjoy  the  turn  of  for- 
tune that  brings  others,  for  the  time  being,  into  the 
position  of  making  fun  for  the  audience. 

A  convention  is  a  splendid  place  to  study  human 
nature;  man  in  a  crowd  is  quite  a  different  crea- 
ture from  man  acting  alone.  Enthusiasm  is  con- 
tagious, although  in  this  convention  the  friends  of 
the  two  leading  candidates  have  thus  far  been  able 


THE   BEPUBLICAN   CONVENTION  43 

to  restrain  themselves  from  joining  in  each  others' 
demonstrations,  except  when  a  wave  of  laughter 
sweeps  the  hall.  We  are  having  a  great  time. 


VII 


THE    ROOSEVELT-HADLEY    DEMONSTRA- 
TION 

Mr.   Bryan's   letter  in   morning   newspapers   of 
Thursday,  June  20th. 

Chicago,  June  19. — Wednesday's  session  of  the 
convention  surpassed  Tuesday's  in  interest,  and  I 
shall  deal  with  the  most  spectacular  feature  of  it 
first,  viz.,  the  demonstration.  We  had  nothing 
Tuesday  that  rose  to  the  dignity  of  a  demonstra- 
tion, at  least  nothing  that  compared  with  the  out- 
burst of  yesterday,  and  it  may  be  worth  while  to 
devote  a  few  sentences  to  this  peculiar  and  fas- 
cinating phase  of  convention  activities.  A  demon- 
stration is  a  hard  thing  to  manufacture,  but  an 
easy  thing  to  enlarge.  There  must  be  spontaneity 
about  it  to  make  it  a  genuine  success,  but  given  the 
element  of  unpreparedness  as  a  basis  any  amount 
of  prepared  material  can  be  profitably  used. 

The  day's  session  was  interrupted  for  about 
forty-five  minutes,  more  or  less,  and  during  that 
time  the  usual  number  of  eccentric  persons  and 
unique  features  appeared  for  the  entertainment  of 

44 


TEE   BEPUBLICAN   CONVENTION  45 

the  convention's  guests.  Powder  is  a  harmless 
thing  so  long  as  its  serenity  is  not  disturbed  by 
some  obtrusive  spark,  but  when  the  spark  comes 
into  contact  with  the  powder  the  powder,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  self-respect,  must  resent  the  insult  and  re- 
sent it  instantly.  There  was  powder  in  abundance, 
and  the  spark,  much  to  its  own  surprise,  got  too 
near  the  powder,  and  then  all  was  off  for  a  while. 

Ex-Congressman  Watson,  of  Indiana,  was  pre- 
senting the  Taf t  cause  and  was  doing  it  acceptably 
to  his  side  of  the  house.  In  fact,  he  was  making  a 
plausible  argument.  To  clinch  it  he  said  that  even 
Gov.  Hadley  had  expressed  a  willingness  to  refer 
the  contests  to  the  credentials  committee  under  cer- 
tain conditions  and  with  certain  qualifications. 

This  statement  at  once  raised  in  the  minds  of 
those  who  listened  a  question  as  to  what  the  con- 
ditions and  qualifications  were.  The  interest  at 
once  became  intense,  for  any  surrender  or  com- 
promise on  Gov.  Hadley 's  part  would  have  been  a 
victory  for  Mr.  Taft's  followers,  while  any  mis- 
representation on  the  part  of  Mr.  Watson  would 
demand  immediate  contradiction. 

Gov.  Hadley  was  quick  to  size  up  the  situation, 
and  when  Mr.  Watson  turned  to  him  for  some  sign 
of  confirmation  he  arose  and  stepped  to  the  speak- 
ers' stand.  The  audience  rose  at  once  in  anticipa- 
tion of  a  conflict  in  statement  and  the  suppressed 
feeling  burst  forth.  It  was  a  Roosevelt  demonstra- 


46  A    TALE    OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

tion  and  was  the  most  significant  expression  that 
the  audience  has  thus  far  given  of  sympathy  with 
the  ex-President,  or  at  least  opposition  to  the  Presi- 
dent. 

After  there  had  been  enough  cheering  to  get  the 
Roosevelt  delegates  well  warmed  up  the  delegations 
began  to  move  about  the  hall.  Some  of  the  stand- 
ards were  carried  in  a  parade  through  the  aisles, 
with  delegates  young  and  old  marching  with  lock 
step.  The  audience  was  on  its  feet,  a  considerable 
portion  joining  in  the  shouting  as  best  it  could. 
The  Roosevelt  leaders  were  all  in  evidence.  Gov. 
Stubbs,  occupying  a  position  to  one  side  of  the 
delegate  space,  stood  upon  a  chair  and  waved  his 
handkerchief  with  an  enthusiasm  that  a  younger 
man  could  hardly  have  exhibited. 

While  the  tumult  was  at  its  height  attention  was 
attracted  to  a  woman  in  white,  who  stood  in  the 
front  row  of  the  gallery  and  waved  a  picture  of 
Mr.  Roosevelt.  She  was  soon  the  center  of  attrac- 
tion, and  the  more  enthusiastic  of  the  Roosevelt 
delegates  flocked  to  that  side  of  the  hall.  Soon  a 
California  bear,  a  golden  figure  that  indicates  the 
California  section  of  the  hall,  was  seen  swaying 
back  and  forth  near  the  lady  with  the  picture. 
After  a  few  minutes  of  gesticulation  she  was  es- 
corted down  from  the  gallery  and  up  to  the  speak- 
ers' stand,  where. she  led  the  applause  for  a  while. 
Finally  the  shouting  and  the  tumult  ceased  and  the 


THE   KEPUBLICAN    CONVENTION  47 

audience,  exhausted  by  its  efforts,  subsided  and 
quiet  was  restored.  It  is  only  fair  to  the  Taft 
delegates  to  say  that  they  preserved  a  proper  de- 
corum during  the  entire  performance,  their  faces 
wearing  an  expression  suited  to  the  occasion. 

While  the  demonstration  lasted  there  was  a  good 
deal  of  discussion  as  to  the  meaning  of  it,  and  peo- 
ple asked  each  other,  "Is  this  a  Roosevelt  stam- 
pede?" "Is  this  a  boom  for  Hadley,  as  a  com- 
promise candidate?"  etc.  And  what  did  it  mean? 
The  result  of  the  vote  which  followed  showed  that 
there  was  no  break  in  the  Taft  battle  line — on  the 
contrary,  he  went  out  of  the  convention  stronger 
than  on  Tuesday.  It  helped  Hadley.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  Gov.  Hadley  has  made  friends  every 
time  he  has  appeared.  His  personality  pleases  and 
his  manner  is  conciliating.  It  is  only  fair  to  add 
him  to  the  list  of  compromise  candidates  now  under 
consideration,  although  the  second  victory  for  Mr. 
Taft  naturally  decreases  the  talk  of  a  compromise. 

The  demonstration  was  not  so  important  an  hour 
after  it  was  over  as  it  seemed  when  at  its  height. 
It  illustrates  how  much  noise  can  be  turned  loose 
in  a  convention  without  materially  affecting  the 
result.  Stampedes  are  about  as  much  exaggerated 
in  effect  as  what  is  known  as  personal  popularity  is 
in  quantity.  Nothing  is  more  likely  to  be  overesti- 
mated in  politics  than  that  peculiar  quality  known 
as  personal  popularity. 


48  A    TALE    OF   TWO    CONVENTIONS 

While  every  one  who  lives  as  he  should  can 
count  upon  personal  friends  who  will  be  attached 
to  him  regardless  of  his  political  views,  still  the 
substantial  strength  of  a  public  man  is  due  to  the 
things  he  stands  for.  In  politics  men  are  meas- 
ured by  the  service  they  can  render — a  fact  which 
can  be  verified  by  even  a  casual  reading  of  his- 
tory. 

Popular  idols  fall  when  they  turn  from  a  prin- 
ciple or  policy  to  which  their  friends  are  wedded. 
And-,  so,  people  magnify  the  influence  exerted  upon 
a  convention  by  a  demonstration.  Many  stampedes 
are  attempted,  but  few  succeed,  and  those  that  do 
succeed  owe  their  success  to  some  material  fact 
upon  which  the  demonstration  merely  turns  the 
light. 

The  delegates  who  attend  a  national  convention 
are  generally  there  for  a  purpose,  and  they  are  not 
easily  swerved  from  it.  A  convention  feels  about 
demonstrations,  such  as  occurred  yesterday,  some- 
what like  the  big  man  felt  who  had  a  small  wife 
who  was  in  the  habit  of  whipping  him.  When 
asked  why  he  permitted  it,  he  replied  that  it 
seemed  to  please  her  and  did  not  hurt  him. 

But  a  word  in  regard  to  the  merits  of  the  discus- 
sion. As  on  Tuesday  the  speeches  were  able  and 
gave  an  opportunity  for  the  audience  to  take  the 
measure  of  a  number  of  men.  Allen,  of  Kansas, 
made  a  favorable  impression,  as  did  Morrison,  of 


THE   SEPUBLICAN    CONVENTION  49 

Arizona ;  Hemenway,  of  Indiana ;  Devine,  of  Colo- 
rado, and  Littleton,  of  Texas.  Gov.  Deneen,  of 
Illinois,  received  an  ovation  when  he  appeared 
with  his  amendment  to  Gov.  Hadley's  motion. 
And,  speaking  of  favorable  impressions,  John  M. 
Harlan,  Jr.,  won  the  audience  with  his  voice.  If 
there  is  anything  that  a  convention  loves  it  is  a 
voice  that  can  be  heard.  Harlan  is  richly  endowed 
in  this  respect,  so  richly  that  a  megaphone  dimin- 
ishes rather  than  increases  the  effectiveness  of  his 
voice. 

Probably  no  man  has  made  more  capital  out  of 
his  appearance  than  George  L.  Record,  of  New 
Jersey,  did.  He  approached  the  subject  in  a  judi- 
cial way,  and  presented  his  argument  with  such  an 
appearance  of  fairness  that  he  captivated  the  audi- 
ence, or  would  have  done  so  if  it  had  been  open  to 
captivation. 

But  convention  audiences  are  not  like  juries, 
made  up  of  those  who  are  unprejudiced,  nor  like 
popular  audiences,  made  up  of  people  who  act  only 
for  themselves  and  therefore  are  free  to  follow 
their  inclinations. 

And  this  brings  me  to  the  point  in  the  case. 
Those  unfamiliar  with  conventions  doubtless  won- 
dered why  the  arguments  advanced  made  no  change 
in  the  vote.  That  is  easily  explained.  The  dele- 
gates are  sent  there  largely  under  instructions,  ex- 
pressed or  implied,  and  they  are  there  to  do  any- 


50  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

thing  within  reason — and  reason's  limitations  are 
somewhat  elastic — to  accomplish  their  purpose. 
Every  delegate  knew  what  the  speakers  seemed  to 
overlook — namely:  that  the  seating  of  the  seventy- 
odd  contesting  delegates  would  in  all  probability 
decide  the  convention's  actions.  The  Taft  men  had 
charge  of  the  national  committee.  By  seating  the 
Taft  delegates  they  were  able  to  give  Mr.  Taft's 
friends  a  majority  on  the  temporary  roll-call.  This 
majority  could  organize  the  convention  and  give 
Mr.  Taft's  friends  the  temporary  chairman. 

As  the  credentials  committee  is  made  up  from 
the  delegates  appearing  on  the  temporary  roll-call, 
this  would  give  the  Tafi;  men  a  majority  of  the  cre- 
dentials committee,  and  secure  them  a  majority 
report.  The  delegates  on  the  temporary  roll-call 
would  then  approve  the  report  and  seat  the  Taft 
contestants.  Everything,  therefore,  depended  on 
not  allowing  any  break  in  the  program. 

The  Roosevelt  men,  on  the  other  hand,  knew  that 
if  they  could  seat  their  own  contesting  delegates 
before  proceeding  with  the  election  of  temporary 
chairman  or  even  compel  Mr.  Taft's  contesting 
delegates  to  refrain  from  voting  they  could  secure 
the  temporary  organization,  a  majority  of  the  cre- 
dentials committee,  a  favorable  report  from  the 
committee,  and  the  approval  of  the  report  by  the 
convention. 

The  arguments  made  by  the  Taft  men  had  in 


THE   BEPUBLICAN    CONVENTION  51 

view  the  securing  of  a  Taft  convention;  the  argu- 
ments made  by  the  Roosevelt  men  had  in  view  the 
securing  of  a  Roosevelt  convention,  and  each  side 
knew  what  the  other  side  was  after. 

If  the  Roosevelt  men  had  had  control  of  the  na- 
tional committee  there  is  no  doubt  that  they  would 
have  seated  their  men,  and  it  is  quite  probable  that 
they  would  not  have  been  looking  for  precedents  to 
sustain  the  position  which  they  are  taking. 

But,  the  reader  will  ask,  is  there  no  standard  of 
right  and  wrong  that  a  convention  is  bound  to  re- 
spect? Is  all  this  talk  about  justice,  honesty,  and 
a  square  deal  buncombe?  No.  People  want  to  be 
honest,  but  they  are  apt  to  be  unconsciously  biased. 
It  is  fear  of  this  unconscious  bias  that  leads  us  to 
enact  laws  forbidding  a  judge  to  try  his  own  case 
or  a  juror  to  serve  in  a  case  in  which  he  has  any 
interest.  We  recognize  that  no  man  is  good  enough 
to  decide  an  important  disputed  matter  in  which 
he  has  a  substantial  personal  interest.  And  it  is  no 
reflection  on  the  high  character  of  our  citizens. 

Neither  is  it  a  reflection  upon  the  bench  of  our 
country  to  say  that  our  judges  are  apt  to  be  in- 
fluenced by  political  bias  in  deciding  political  ques- 
tions. It  is  not  strange,  therefore,  that  the  dele- 
gates in  this  Republican  convention  should  have 
divided  upon  this  vital  question  according  to  their 
choice  for  president. 

I  lay  no  claim  to  freedom  from  bias,  but  I  be- 


52  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

lieve  that  the  position  taken  by  the  Roosevelt  men 
makes  a  nearer  approach  to  justice  than  the  posi- 
tion taken  by  the  Taft  men.  First,  because  the 
delegates  to  the  convention  have  been  chosen  since 
the  national  committee  was  chosen.  The  national 
committee  was  selected  four  years  ago,  while  the 
delegates  are  fresh  from  the  people;  the  delegates, 
therefore,  are  more  likely  to  represent  the  voters 
than  the  old  committee.  In  the  second  place,  the 
delegates  are  more  numerous,  and  it  would  be  more 
difficult  to  lead  the  same  proportion  of  them  to  do 
an  act  of  injustice;  and,  third,  the  delegates  go 
back  to  their  people,  like  a  discharged  jury,  and 
are  therefore  more  amenable  to  public  sentiment. 

But  whatever  change  is  made  in  the  rules  must 
usually  be  made  for  conventions  in  advance;  im- 
partiality cannot  be  expected  where  great  feeling 
exists.  The  prayer,  "Lead  us  not  into  tempta- 
tion," is  full  of  meaning. 


VIII 
THE  FUTILITY  OF  THE  DEMONSTRATION 

Mr.   Bryan's   letter  in  afternoon   newspapers   of 
Thursday,  June  20th. 

Chicago,  June  20. — "Button,  button,  who  has 
the  button  ? ' '  The  question  is  suggested  by  the  un- 
certainty that  prevails  here.  There  are  three  un- 
certainties to  be  considered  in  this  report.  First, 
what  did  the  demonstration  mean?  Why  did  the 
convention  leap  to  its  feet  in  an  instant,  shout  itself 
hoarse,  work  itself  into  weariness,  and  then  subside 
exhausted?  In  describing  the  convention  as  hav- 
ing held  a  demonstration,  reference  is  made,  of 
course,  only  to  those  who  participated,  and  not  all 
participated.  The  Taft  delegates  looked  upon  it 
with  ill-disguised  disfavor.  It  was  interesting  to 
note  the  difference  in  the  expression  upon  their 
faces  and  the  smiling  countenances  of  the  Roose- 
velt men. 

A  few  of  the  Taft  men  manifested  an  interest  in 
the  beginning,  when  some  took  advantage  of  the 
enthusiasm  to  work  up  a  Hadley  boom.  Some  of 
the  New  York  delegation  wickedly  harbored  the 

53 


54  A    TALE   OF   TWO    CONVENTIONS 

thought  that  they  could  excite  rivalry  between  the 
governor  of  Missouri*  and  the  ex-president.  They 
seemed  to  think  that  a  little  jealousy  would  not  be 
out  of  harmony  with  "the  orderly  proceedings" 
which  they  so  staunchly  contend  for.  Gov.  Had- 
ley  started  it,  or  rather  Watson  started  it,  by  call- 
ing Hadley  to  the  front.  It  was  the  psychological 
moment.  What  happened  could  not  have  been  ar- 
ranged for  by  any  national  committee,  and  the  tu- 
mult could  not  have  been  smoothed  out  by  a  steam 
roller  until  the  pent-up  feeling  had  a  chance  to  es- 
cape. 

When  in  a  controversy  one  man  makes  a  positive 
statement,  and  the  other  replies  that  the  gentleman 
has  told  what  he  knows  to  be  untrue,  the  bystand- 
ers generally  prick  up  their  ears  in  expectation. 
So  it  was  at  the  convention.  Mr.  Watson,  of  In- 
diana, in  the  course  of  a  persuasive  speech,  sought 
to  add  weight  to  his  appeal  by  saying  that  Gov. 
Hadley  had  expressed  himself  as  willing  to  leave 
the  whole  matter  to  the  credentials  committee,  with 
certain  qualifications  and  conditions.  As  Gov. 
Hadley  had  made  the  motion  to  remove  the  con- 
tested Taft  delegates  from  the  temporary  roll,  this 
was  virtually  a  charge  that  the  governor  had 
agreed  to  a  compromise. 

The  Roosevelt  men  were  not  in  a  compromising 
mood,  and  they  at  once  questioned  the  correctness 

*  Hadley. 


THE   REPUBLICAN   CONVENTION  55 

of  Mr.  "Watson's  statement.  Mr.  "Watson  turned 
to  Gov.  Hadley  for  confirmation,  and  Gov.  Hadley, 
who  immediately  rose  to  reply,  came  forward  in  a 
way  that  announced  in  advance  a  contradiction  of 
Mr.  "Watson's  statement.  At  least  that  was  what 
the  audience  saw  in  his  manner,  and  the  demon- 
stration began.  It  lasted  about  forty-five  minutes, 
during  which  time  old  and  young,  men  and  women, 
participated  to  the  limit  of  their  strength. 

It  is  interesting  to  watch  a  crowd  when  people 
are  swept  along  by  a  wave  of  enthusiasm.  There 
are  certain  things  to  be  expected  in  a  convention 
demonstration.  People  stand  on  chairs  when  they 
cannot  find  anything  higher ;  they  wave  their  hand- 
kerchiefs and  shout.  They  march  around  the  hall 
in  procession,  carrying  flags  and  banners.  Any- 
thing that  will  add  to  the  noise  is  likely  to  be  called 
into  use. 

When  the  delegates  begin  to  carry  standards 
heroes  begin  to  develop.  The  first  man  to  grab  the 
standard  becomes  the  leader,  and  he  tells  his  grand- 
children how  he  took  it  away  from  a  man  bigger 
than  himself.  Then  there  is  the  fellow  who  will 
not  let  the  delegation  have  the  standard.  The  Illi- 
nois standard  was  guarded  against  all  comers  by 
a  man  whose  friends  will  doubtless  present  his 
name  for  a  Carnegie  medal. 

Some  of  the  women  will  be  tired  and  worn  to-day 
as  the  result  of  their  part  in  the  great  spectacle. 


56 


One  lady  occupied  the  center  of  the  stage  for  ten 
or  fifteen  minutes,  first  in  the  gallery,  where  she 
appeared  dressed  in  white,  vigorously  waving  a 
picture  of  Mr.  Roosevelt  and  shouting  words  of 
praise.  It  was  not  long  before  some  of  the  dele- 
gates made  their  way  to  the  gallery  and  escorted 
her  to  the  speakers '  stand,  where  she  led  the  cheer- 
ing. Then  a  procession  was  formed,  which  she 
conducted  through  the  aisles.  At  last  she  found 
her  way  back  to  the  place  whence  she  started,  and 
was  about  to  renew  her  efforts  when  the  police  in- 
terfered. 

It  was  interesting  to  note  that  one  of  the  con- 
spicuous sections  of  the  gallery  reserved  for  a 
striking  array  of  women  supporters  of  President 
Taft  attracted  attention  at  this  time.  The  ladies 
had  been  quite  demonstrative  when  the  Taft  speak- 
ers made  a  hit,  but  they  refrained  from  applause 
when  the  audience  was  in  eruption  over  the  Wat- 
son-Hadley  incident.  They  cheered  vigorously, 
however,  when  the  police  quelled  the  lady  in 
white. 

Now  that  the  demonstration  is  over — and  what 
would  a  convention  be  without  a  demonstration? — 
the  convention  can  proceed  with  its  work.  The 
Roosevelt  enthusiasm  has  had  its  vent,  Gov.  Had- 
ley  has  had  his  ovation,  and  the  Taft  delegates 
have  had  their  chance  to  laugh  over  the  futility  of 
the  attempt  at  a  stampede.  All  are  happy  and 


THE   REPUBLICAN    CONVENTION  57 

the  spectators  have  seen  the  sight  that,  more  than 
anything  else,  makes  a  convention  worth  attending 
to  the  average  spectator. 

But  what  of  the  issue  that  has  brought  forth  so 
much  discussion?  What  of  the  "larceny  of  dele- 
gates, ' '  the  ' '  theft  of  States, ' '  and  ' '  the  outrageous 
injustice"  on  the  one  side,  and  the  demand  for 
"fair  play,"  "even-handed  equity"  and  a  "square 
deal ' '  on  the  other  ?  Must ' '  right  be  forever  on  the 
scaffold  and  wrong  forever  on  the  throne?".  You 
would  think  so  to  see  the  machine  at  work  in  spite 
of  all  that  is  said  in  protest.  It  is  all  an  interest- 
ing study,  especially  to  one  who  can  watch  it  with- 
out feeling  that  any  of  his  near  relatives  are  in 
jeopardy. 

One  amusing  thing  about  it  all  is  the  lack  of 
frankness  in  the  speeches.  Each  side  gives  reasons 
that  do  not  influence  the  men  who  give  them.  Mr. 
Taft  has  control  of  the  national  committee,  and  the 
national  committee  seated  the  Taft  delegates.  Did 
not  the  national  committee  act  in  the  same  way 
four  years  ago  when  the  friends  of  Mr.  Fairbanks, 
Mr.  Cannon  and  Mr.  Hughes  were  complaining  of 
the  Roosevelt  steam  roller?  And  does  any  one 
doubt  that  the  committee  would  have  put  on  the 
Eoosevelt  delegates  and  kept  them  there  if  Mr. 
Roosevelt's  friends  had  had  control?  If  the  Roose- 
velt men  were  in  control  of  the  committee  and 
needed  the  contested  delegates  to  make  up  a  ma- 


58  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

jority  would  they  not  have  felt  that  the  end  justi- 
fied the  means,  especially  if  that  was  the  only  way 
that  "the  bosses  could  be  dethroned"  and  the  rank 
and  file  of  the  Republican  party  put  in  a  position 
to  dictate  the  nomination  ?  I  would  not  attempt  to 
answer  the  question,  but  the  old  story  that  we  learn 
in  the  blue-backed  speller  about  the  ownership  of 
the  ox  that  was  bored  comes  quite  naturally  to 
one's  mind  on  such  an  occasion. 

One  cannot  be  but  impressed  with  the  intention 
of  the  delegates  in  both  of  these  contending  groups. 
There  are  not  many  men  in  the  convention  who  are 
actually  bent  on  ruining  the  country.  The  men  on 
both  sides  think  they  are  serving  their  party  and 
their  country  both.  It  is  a  matter  of  bias;  they 
look  at  questions  from  a  different  standpoint.  The 
Taft  men  think  the,  progressives  are  dangerously 
radical  and  the  Roosevelt  men  think  the  stand-pat- 
ters are  dangerously  conservative. 

Both  of  these  forces  are  needed  in  every  country. 
If  it  were  not  for  the  conservatives  the  radicals 
would  go  too  fast;  if  it  were  not  for  the  radicals 
the  conservatives  would  not  go  at  all.  Progress 
lies  between  the  two  extremes,  and  good  will  come 
out  of  this  convention,  no  matter  how  it  ter- 
minates. 

National  conventions  are  great  educational  in- 
stitutions, whether  those  who  get  them  up  intend 
it  or  not.  I  began"  attending  national  conventions 


THE   REPUBLICAN    CONVENTION  59 

when  I  was  sixteen  years  old.  I  have  attended  six 
Democratic  national  conventions  and  am  on  my 
way  to  the  seventh.  I  have  in  fact  attended  every 
Democratic  national  convention  except  the  conven- 
tion of  1880,  since  1876  (omitting,  of  course,  the 
conventions  of  1900  and  1908,  when  I  was  a  candi- 
date). This  is  my  second  Republican  convention, 
the  first  being  the  convention  of  1896,  when  a  part 
of  the  Republican  convention  walked  out  as  a  pro- 
test against  the  platform. 

There  is  not  likely  to  be  any  serious  controversy 
over  the  platform  this  year,  at  least  one  hears  no 
talk  of  platforms  among  the  delegates.  The  ele- 
ment that  controls  the  convention  will  control  the 
platform.  If  the  Taft  men  control  the  convention 
they  will  try  to  make  a  platform  that  will  please 
as  many  progressives  as  possible;  if,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  progressives  get  control  of  the  conven- 
tion they  will  be  interested  in  writing  a  platform 
which  will  hold  as  many  conservatives  as  pos- 
sible. 

When  the  emphasis  is  placed  upon  the  candidate, 
as  here,  the  platform  is  likely  to  be  used  to  aid  the 
candidates,  as  far  as  it  can  be  done  without  the 
absolute  surrender  of  principle.  And  who  is  the 
candidate  to-day?  Echo  answers:  Who? 

The  Taft  men  feel  more  confident  than  they  did 
yesterday  morning,  and  yet  there  is  persistent  talk 
of  a  compromise  ticket.  Hughes  and  Hadleyform 


fiO  A    TALE    OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

one  combination;  it  is  alliterative  and  it  would 
surely  be  all-comprehending.  Justice  Hughes 
ought  to  suit  the  reactionaries,  and  Gov.  Hadley  is 
popular  with  the  progressives,  but  can  they  get  to- 
gether on  such  a  ticket,  or  on  any  ticket  ? 


IX 


ON  THE  EVE  OF  THE  CRISIS  IN  THE  CON- 
VENTION 

Mr.  Bryan's  letter  in  the  morning  newspapers  of 
Friday,  June  21st. 

Chicago,  June  20. — Dickens,  in  his  Mudfog  pa- 
pers, has  a  correspondent  sending  a  bulletin  to  his 
paper  to  announce  that  nothing  had  happened  since 
his  last  bulletin,  dispatched  fifteen  minutes  earlier. 
This  letter  will  be  somewhat  of  the  same  character. 

The  third  session  of  the  convention  was  called  to 
order  at  11  o'clock  to-day,  and  an  immediate  recess 
was  taken  until  4.  At  4  the  convention  was  called 
to  order  and  adjourned  until  11  Friday.  This  left 
Thursday  without  convention  incidents — a  lull  be- 
tween the  demonstration  of  the  day  before  and  the 
storm  which  seems  brewing  for  to-morrow. 

The  credentials  committee  is  engaged  in  consid- 
ering the  contests,  and  from  the  progress  that  is 
being  made  it  seems  likely  that  it  will  take  a  good 
while  to  get  through.  The  first  meeting  of  the  com- 
mittee was  marked  by  outbursts  of  passion  which 
threatened  the  disruption  of  the  party.  In  fact, 

61 


62  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

the  Eoosevelt  portion  of  the  committee  withdrew 
twice,  declaring  that  they  would  organize  a  sep- 
arate convention. 

The  majority  of  the  members  are  Taft  men  and 
they  started  in  to  make  short  work  of  the  contests. 
They  proposed  to  allow  five  minutes  each  to  dis- 
trict contestants  and  ten  minutes  where  the  con- 
testant was  a  delegate  at  large,  the  cases  to  be 
submitted  without  argument.  This  was  so  objec- 
tionable to  the  minority  that  the  Eoosevelt  members 
refused  to  go  any  further.  After  consultation  with 
the  Roosevelt  leaders  the  minority  returned  to  the 
committee  room,  but  were  soon  rebellious  and  quit 
a  second  time. 

Various  rumors  were  afloat  in  the  morning  as  to 
what  the  Roosevelt  men  intended  to  do.  Various 
estimates  were  placed  upon  the  number  of  those 
who  were  willing  to  burn  the  bridges  behind  them 
and  embark  upon  a  new  party  movement,  or  per- 
haps it  should  not  be  called  a  new  party,  for  the 
proposed  bolt  is  intended  as  a  means  of  obtaining 
control  of  the  Republican  party. 

These  conflicting  statements  continued  until  late 
in  the  afternoon,  when  the  ex-president  gave  out  a 
statement  that  set  all  doubts  at  rest.  He  declared 
that  he  is  willing  to  accept  a  nomination  either  as 
the  candidate  of  the  "honestly  elected  majority," 
meaning  a  convention  made  up  of  the  Roosevelt 
delegates  now  on  the  temporary  roll-call  with  the 


TEE  REPUBLICAN   CONVENTION  63 

i 

Koosevelt  contestants  substituted  for  the  Taft  dele- 
gates whose  title  is  contested,  or,  to  cover  all  pos- 
sible contingencies,  he  is  willing  to  accept  a  nomi- 
nation from  any  part  of  the  progressive  element 
that  is  willing  to  bolt. 

To  use  his  own  language,  he  says,  "if  some 
among  them  fear  to  take  such  a  stand,  and  the  re- 
mainder choose  to  inaugurate  a  movement  to  nomi- 
nate me  for  the  presidency  as  a  progressive  on  a 
progressive  platform,  and  if  in  such  an  event  the 
general  feeling  among  the  progressives  favors  my 
being  nominated,  I  shall  accept."  He  adds:  "In 
either  case  I  shall  make  an  appeal  to  every  honest 
citizen  in  the  nation;  and  I  shall  fight  the  cam- 
paign through,  win  or  lose,  even  if  I  do  not  get  a 
single  electoral  vote." 

This  statement  breathes  the  spirit  of  a  fighter 
and  arouses  the  enthusiasm  of  the  more  radical  of 
the  followers  of  Mr.  Roosevelt.  The  only  loophole 
in  the  statement  is  the  phrase,  "and  if,  in  such 
event,  the  general  feeling  among  progressives  fa- 
vors my  being  nominated."  That  would  indicate 
an  intention  to  take  a  little  time  after  the  conven- 
tion to  ascertain  the  "general  feeling."  And  the 
"general  feeling  among  progressives"  may  depend 
largely  upon  the  action  of  the  regular  convention 
after  the  bolters  leave. 

Mr.  Eoosevelt  generously  releases  such  progres- 
sives as  do  not  choose  to  follow  him.  His  state- 


64  A    TALE    OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

merit  recalls  a  dramatic  act  in  the  career  of  Pizarro 
when  his  followers  mutinied  after  a  series  of  re- 
verses. The  Spanish  conqueror  made  a  speech  to 
them,  recounting  the  hardships  through  which  they 
had  passed,  and  pointed  out  the  dangers  which 
were  before  them.  Then,  drawing  a  line  on  the 
sand  with  his  sword,  he  invited  those  to  follow  him 
who  were  not  afraid  to  die. 

The  story  need  not  be  carried  farther.  The  crisis 
of  the  convention  is  at  hand.  The  stand-patters  re- 
gard his  statement  as  a  bluff  and  many  of  them 
would  be  glad  to  see  him  carry  out  the  course  he  has 
outlined.  They  want  him  to  bolt.  They  have  con- 
fidence in  their  ability  to  drive  him  into  retirement. 
They  have  certainly  given  him  every  provocation; 
there  has  not  been  a  suggestion  of  compromise 
since  the  fight  began.  They  have  carried  out  their 
program  to  the  letter,  and  the  steam  roller,  as  their 
machine  is  called,  moves  on  with  regularity  and 
precision.  They  even  have  chains  on  the  wheels 
to  prevent  skidding. 

It  is  no  pleasant  situation  in  which  the  ex-presi- 
dent finds  himself,  nor  is  it  an  ordinary  situation. 
Twice  chief  executive  of  the  nation,  the  second 
time  elected  by  the  largest  majority  that  a  presi- 
dent ever  received;  the  recipient  of  honors  in  for- 
eign lands  and  supreme  dictator  in  his  own  party, 
he  now  finds  the  man  whom  he  nominated  and 
elected  pitted  against  him  in  the  most  bitter  con- 


THE   REPUBLICAN    CONVENTION  65 

test  that  our  country  has  ever  seen,  and  he  sees 
that  opponent  operating  with  the  skill  of  a  past 
master  the  very  machinery  which  the  tutor  con- 
structed and  taught  him  to  use.  And  then  the  ex- 
president  after  failing — as  he  seems  to  have  failed 
— to  control  the  convention  announces  his  willing- 
ness to  bolt  and  lead  a  forlorn  hope,  the  only  prob- 
able effect  of  which  will  be  the  defeat  of  both  and 
the  election  of  a  Democratic  president!  Surely 
the  ways  of  Providence  are  mysterious ! 

There  is  still  a  way  of  escape,  however,  for  the 
present  and  past  occupants  of  the  White  House. 
They  can  withdraw  and  allow  a  third  man  to  be 
chosen.  This  would  seem  to  be  the  thing  most 
likely  at  present.  Mr.  Roosevelt  has  apparently 
lost  out,  but  he  has  the  power  to  make  the  victory 
of  his  opponent  a  barren  one.  Mr.  Taft  has  re- 
ceived a  "vindication,"  the  value  of  which  will 
depend  upon  the  opinion  people  have  of  the  char- 
acter of  his  supporters  and  of  the  methods  em- 
ployed by  them.  Does  Mr.  Taft  want  to  convert 
his  convention  vindication  into  a  defeat  at  the 
polls?  Or  will  he  content  himself  with  the  consol- 
ing thought  that  by  retiring  he  sacrifices  his  own 
ambition  to  his  party's  welfare.  I  do  not  like  to 
conclude  this  report  with  a  series  of  questions,  but 
question  marks  loom  large  in  Chicago  at  this  time. 


X 


THE  CONVENTION  AS  A  PHOTOGRAPH  OF 
THE  NATION 

Mr.   Bryan's  letter  in   afternoon  newspapers  of 
Friday,  June  21st. 

Chicago,  June  21. — While  we  are  waiting  for  the 
situation  to  clear  up  let  us  consider  a  phase  of  this 
convention  which  should  not  escape  notice,  namely, 
the  evidence  that  it  gives  of  the  capacity  of  the 
American  people  for  self-government. 

Individuals  differ  in  the  amount  of  self-restraint 
they  exercise,  and  self-restraint  is  quite  an  accurate 
measure  of  capacity  for  self-government.  The  in- 
dividual who  permits  his  body  to  have  free  rein 
soon  destroys  himself.  The  mind  must  subjugate 
the  body  and  keep  it  under  control  before  a  human 
being  is  worthy  to  be  called  a  man.  But  mental 
control  is  not  sufficient.  The  mind  may  control  the 
body,  but  the  mind  itself  may  run  wild.  Without 
a  moral  balance  wheel  a  brilliant  mind  may  use 
both  itself  and  the  body  for  great  harm. 

Solomon  tells  us  "that  he  that  ruleth  his  own 
spirit  is  greater'  than  he  that  taketh  a  city." 
66 


TEE   REPUBLICAN   CONVENTION  67 

Where  there  is  the  highest  average  of  intellectual 
and  moral  power,  with  the  moral  in  control,  there 
is  the  highest  average  of  citizenship.  Our  nation 
is  making  progress  because  it  has  a  high  average 
of  citizenship — a  larger  percentage  of  its  people 
than  in  any  other  country  have  the  intelligence  to 
estimate  the  problems  with  which  they  have  to  deal 
and  the  moral  strength  to  grapple  with  those  prob- 
lems. 

This  convention  is,  in  a  way,  a  photograph  of  the 
nation.  All  the  great  forces  that  exert  a  potential 
influence  in  our  country  are  here  in  person  or  by 
proxy.  Democracy  has  its  champions,  aristocracy 
has  its  representatives,  and  plutocracy  its  agents. 
The  poor  are  not  without  spokesmen ;  neither  is  ac- 
cumulated wealth  without  its  advocates. 

The  convention  hall  is  like  an  arena  in  which  a 
gladiatorial  contest  is  being  waged.  Strong  men 
and  fair  women  look  down  from  the  galleries  while 
the  participants  in  the  great  conflict  battle  over 
policies  and  principles.  It  is  remarkable  that  so 
much  intensity  of  speech,  so  much  tenacity  of  pur- 
pose, so  much  depth  of  conviction  can  be  brought 
together  on  opposite  sides  with  so  little  display  of 
anger  and  such  an  absence  of  rudeness. 

The  convention  is  nearly  equally  divided,  the 
Roosevelt  men  believing  that  Mr.  Taft  represents 
organized  greed,  legislative  pillage  and  political 
corruption  carried  to  the  seventh  power,  and  some 


68  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

have  expressed  themselves  on  the  subject  in  no  un- 
certain terms.  The  Taft  men,  on  the  other  hand, 
think  that  the  Roosevelt  crowd  is  largely  made  up 
of  self-seeking  politicians  who  are  willing  to  resort 
to  demagogic  appeals  to  secure  their  ends,  men 
who  stir  up  the  passions  of  the  multitudes  against 
law,  order  and  property.  This  opinion  has  also 
been  expressed  quite  freely  for  some  months. 

Now  the  most  distinguished  leaders  of  these  two 
elements  in  the  Eepublican  party  are  brought  face 
to  face  in  one  room  and  are  permitted  to  speak 
their  feelings  freely  to  each  other.  States  are  di- 
vided by  narrow  aisles  and  these  antagonists  see 
each  other  at  close  range. 

Mr.  Barnes,  who  is  not  able  to  produce  a  certifi- 
cate of  character  from  Mr.  Roosevelt  less  than  a 
year  old,  rubs  against  Mr.  Flinn,  whom  President 
Taft  cannot  regard  with  any  degree  of  allowance, 
and  yet  there  is  no  physical  combat.  The  Massa- 
chusetts delegation  is  divided  half  and  half;  eight- 
een "demagogues"  and  a  group  of  eighteen  more, 
made  of  "bosses,"  "corrupt  politicians"  and  "rep- 
resentatives of  predatory  wealth,"  and  yet  there 
has  not  been  a  fight.  Several  of  the  delegations 
are  divided,  some  in  the  middle  and  some  on  the 
edges,  but  the  best  of  decorum  prevails. 

Even  Senator  Bradley,  of  Kentucky,  and  Mr. 
Heney,  of  California,  can  appear  upon  the  same 
platform  without  disturbing  the  peace.  They  have 


THE   REPUBLICAN    CONVENTION  69 

their  differences  and  they  are  fighting  them  out,  but 
they  are  doing  it  in  a  most  creditable  way.  I  am 
not  now  passing  on  the  merits  of  the  decisions  ren- 
dered. Neither  am  I  endorsing  the  parliamentary 
methods  employed,  but  I  congratulate  the  Republi- 
can party  on  the  splendid  proof  it  has  given  of  the 
ability  of  a  large  number  of  people,  intensely  in 
earnest,  to  discuss  their  differences  calmly,  and 
settle  the  questions  involved  without  recourse  to 
violence.  It  not  only  indicates  self-restraint,  but 
faith  in  the  incorruptibility  of  the  people,  the 
court  of  last  resort  in  a  republic. 

This  report  must  be  put  on  the  wires  before  the 
convention  opens  at  11  a.  m.,  and  it  is  impossible 
at  this  time  to  forecast  the  action  that  the  conven- 
tion will  take.  Mr.  Roosevelt's  statement  has  not 
changed  the  attitude  of  the  Taft  forces  in  the  least. 
The  credentials  committee  is  entirely  in  the  hands 
of  the  administration  and  the  Taft  delegates  are 
being  seated  as  rapidly  as  the  cases  can  be  dis- 
posed of.  The  contest  over  the  length  of  time  to  be 
given  to  each  case  was  really  "much  ado  about 
nothing,"  because  the  action  of  the  committee  is 
sure  to  be  the  same,  whether  much  time  or  little 
is  given  in  each  case.  The  facts  are  thoroughly 
understood  by  both  sides  and  the  hearings  are 
merely  a  matter  of  form. 

Unless  something  unexpected  happens  the  Taft 
delegates  will  be  seated,  and  it  looks  now  as  if  the 


70  A    TALE    OF   TWO    CONVENTIONS 

regular  convention  would  renominate  the  Presi- 
dent. 

Some  of  his  delegates,  it  is  said,  would  pre- 
fer a  compromise  candidate,  but  the  amiable  gentle- 
man in  the  White  House  is  showing  that  he  can 
"sit  tight"  when  necessary.  His  fighting  blood  is 
aroused,  and  if  anybody  says  "enough"  the  word 
is  not  likely  to  come  from  any  one  living  east  of 
the  Alleghanies.  At  present  Mr.  Taft  has  the  best 
of  the  situation  and  it  looks  as  if  he  had  made  up 
his  mind  to  run  the  ex-president  out  of  the  Repub- 
lican party,  or  make  him  swallow  his  words. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  is  apparently  facing  the  crisis  in 
his  political  career.  Bolting  is  easy  where  one  is 
not  a  candidate,  but  it  is  a  more  difficult  thing 
where  followers  are  necessary.  If  Mr.  Roosevelt 
could  take  his  delegates  with  him  he  could  organize 
a  convention  that  would  represent  a  majority  of 
the  Republican  vote  of  the  country,  but  he  cannot 
do  so. 

A  considerable  number  of  his  delegates  will  not 
bolt  and  his  convention,  therefore,  would  not  carry 
with  it  the  moral  force  that  goes  with  the  majority. 
He  cannot  tell,  until  the  split  comes,  exactly  how 
many  will  walk  out,  for  some  are  unwilling  to  de- 
cide the  question  until  the  time  arrives  for  action. 
If  the  President's  followers  bolt  and  nominate  him 
he  cannot  tell  whether  to  accept  or  not  until  after 
the  regular  convention  acts,  and  even  then  he 


THE   REPUBLICAN    CONTENTION  71 

would  likely  be  influenced  by  the  action  of  the 
Democratic  national  convention. 

He  may  be  put  in  the  attitude,  therefore,  of  re- 
fusing to  lead  a  bolt  after  he  has  encouraged  it. 
If  the  Democrats  are  guilty  of  the  criminal  folly  of 
nominating  a  reactionary,  they  will  supply  Mr. 
Roosevelt  with  the  one  thing  needful  in  case  he 
becomes  an  independent  candidate,  namely,  an  is- 
sue, and  with  two  reactionaries  running  for  presi- 
dent he  might  win  and  thus  entrench  himself  in 
power.  This  convention,  therefore,  may  exert  a 
powerful  influence  on  the  Baltimore  convention. 


XI 

CALIFORNIA'S  DAY 

Mr.    Bryan's    letter    in   morning    newspapers    of 
Saturday,  June  22d. 

Chicago,  June  21. — Friday  was  California's  day. 
That  State  occupied  the  center  of  the  stage  and 
came  nearer  breaking  through  the  Taft  line  than 
any  other  State  has  done.  Gov.  Hadley  had  charge 
of  the  case  for  California,  but  he  yielded  to  Mr. 
Heney  to  open  and  to  Gov.  Johnson  to  close. 

Mr.  Heney 's  speech  was  a  strong,  clear,  argu- 
mentative appeal  and  he  raised  the  Eoosevelt  fol- 
lowers to  their  feet  when,  after  describing  the  Pres- 
ident's participation  in  the  selection  of  the  dele- 
gates in  accordance  with  the  letter  of  the  primary 
law,  he  charged  him  with  treason  to  popular  gov- 
ernment when  he  attempted  to  repudiate  the  law 
for  the  sake  of  two  delegates. 

Gov.  Johnson,  however,  was  the  hero  of  the  day. 
His  speech  was,  all  things  considered,  the  gem  of 
the  convention  so  far.  He  is  a  young  man,  pre- 
possessing in  appearance,  full  of  earnestness,  and 
his  speech  has  the  ring  of  sincerity.  He  made  a 

72 


THE   REPUBLICAN    CONVENTION  73 

plea  for  the  progressive  cause  that  surpassed  in  ef- 
fectiveness anything  heretofore  presented  to  the 
delegates.  His  prophecy  of  victory  for  progres- 
siveness  this  fall  thrilled  his  hearers.  He  dealt 
with  all  phases  of  the  subject,  condensing  what  he 
had  to  say  on  each  point  into  a  sentence. 

He  told  how  the  predatory  interests  had  con- 
trolled his  State  for  a  generation;  how  at  last  the 
tide  of  reform  had  swept  them  out  of  office  and 
given  the  progressives  control;  how  the  progres- 
sives, instead  of  using  the  party  machinery  to  se- 
cure a  delegation  to  the  national  convention,  passed 
a  primary  law  that  vested  control  in  the  voters; 
how  the  reactionaries,  to  escape  from  the  influence 
of  the  State  organization  then  in  the  hands  of  the 
progressives,  unitedly  supported  the  primary  law; 
how  both  sides  selected  a  list  of  delegates  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  law;  how  President  Taft  him- 
self gave  to  his  list  of  delegates  the  written  ap- 
proval required  by  law;  how  all  these  steps  had 
been  taken  without  objection  and  without  protest; 
and  then  how  these  two  delegates,  after  having 
been  defeated  by  77,000  in  the  State,  sought  to  re- 
pudiate their  own  act  and  the  action  of  the  Presi- 
dent and  claim  election  in  a  district  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  it  was  impossible  to  ascertain  the  exact 
number  of  votes  cast  in  their  district  because  four- 
teen precincts  were  partly  in  one  district  and 
partly  in  another. 


74  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS' 

He  convinced  the  audience  that  he  had  justice  on 
his  side,  but  the  audience  was  not  in  position  to 
follow  its  convictions.  A  number  of  delegates  told 
me  that  they  had  to  vote  for  the  two  Taft  delegates 
in  order  to  save  the  Taft  forces  from  the  mortifica- 
tion of  defeat,  but  that  the  contest  ought  never  to 
have  been  made. 

Gov.  Johnson  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the 
Taft  majority  whittled  down  to  thirteen,  and  the 
administration  will  find  thirteen  an  unlucky  num- 
ber out  in  California  this  fall. 

It  is  surprising  that  men  as  intelligent  as  the 
leaders  of  the  Taft  forces  would  make  the  tactical 
mistake  that  they  have  in  this  case.  In  some  of 
the  contests  they  have  made  such  a  strong  showing 
that  even  the  Roosevelt  members  of  the  committee 
have  voted  with  them,  but  one  case  like  the  Cali- 
fornia case  imparts  its  weakness  to  all  the  others. 

If  it  had  been  purely  a  question  of  principle 
there  would  have  been  standing  ground  on  both 
sides  of  the  issue.  Gov.  Johnson  emphasized  the 
right  of  a  State  to  regulate  its  own  affairs  and  in- 
sisted that  the  State  law  should  take  precedence 
over  a  rule  of  the  national  convention. 

Mr.  Watson,  of  Indiana,  representing  the  Taft 
forces,  laid  great  stress  on  the  rules  adopted  by  the 
national  convention,  recognizing  the  congressional 
district  as  the  unit. ,  There  is  strength  in  both  argu- 
ments. 


THE   REPUBLICAN   CONVENTION  75 

If  I  were  deciding  the  case  I  would  say  that  the 
State  law  ought  to  be  respected  but  that  the  State 
made  a  mistake  in  substituting  a  statewide  delega- 
tion for  the  district  system. 

The  California  case  really  established  a  unit  rule 
by  law,  whereas  the  Republican  party  has  come 
near  to  the  people  in  giving  each  district  a  chance 
to  name  and  instruct  its  delegates.  It  is  no  argu- 
ment against  the  primary  system  to  say  that  a  pri- 
mary law  ought  to  recognize  the  district  system 
rather  than  a  State  wide  system  in  the  selection  of 
delegates. 

While  the  Taft  men  were  strong  in  asserting  op- 
position to  the  unit  rule  they  were  weak  in  at- 
tempting to  overthrow  the  primary  law  after  they 
had  acquiesced  in  it  and  secured  the  President's 
approval  of  it,  and  they  were  weak  also  because  of 
their  inability  to  show  with  exactness  the  number 
of  votes  cast  in  the  district  which  they  claimed  to 
have  carried  by  an  extremely  small  majority. 

The  convention  was  in  a  good  humor.  The  roll- 
call  was  demanded  only  in  the  case  of  a  few  States, 
and  the  delegates  who  were  being  defeated  seemed 
to  enjoy  themselves  about  as  much  as  those  who 
were  winning.  Sometimes  all  the  delegates  would 
join  in  shouting  "aye"  on  a  viva  voce  vote,  and 
then  all  would  join  in  shouting  "no"  when  the 
negative  was  put.  It  was  impossible  for  Chairman 
Root  to  tell  on  which  side  the  majority  was,  but  he 


76  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

knew  what  it  would  be  on  roll-call  and  so  declared 
"the  ayes  have  it,"  and  then  the  audience  would 
break  out  into  laughter. 

The  machine  has  worked  beautifully  all  day;  it 
has  not  slipped  a  cog.  "When  it  was  running  at  full 
speed  "Toot,"  "Toot,"  would  occasionally  come 
from  the  audience.  Sometimes  sounds  arose  that 
resembled  escaping  steam,  but  I  am  satisfied  that 
no  steam  escaped ;  it  was  all  being  used,  and  at  high 
pressure,  too. 

The  platform  is  said  to  be  ready,  but  there  is 
little  discussion  of  the  platform.  The  fight  has 
centered  in  men  rather  than  in  measures.  Rumors 
have  it  that  the  Taft  men,  having  won  out  on 
everything  else,  are  inclined  to  make  some  conces- 
sions to  progressives  in  the  wording  of  the  plat- 
form. 

From  present  indications  Mr.  Taft  will  be  nomi- 
nated on  the  first  ballot,  or  upon  the  second  if  not 
upon  the  first.  The  President  discountenances 
compromise  and  seems  prepared  to  stake  his  all 
upon  the  result.  It  is  probable,  therefore,  that  the 
platform  will  be  to  his  liking  and  that  he  will 
have  the  privilege  of  trying  the  realities  of  an  elec- 
tion. Nearly  half  of  the  convention  will  feel  like 
concluding  his  nomination  as  a  judge  concludes  the 
death  sentence  of  a  prisoner: 

"And  may  the  Lord  have  mercy  on  your  soul." 


XII 

THE  DAY  BEFORE  THE  LAST 

Mr.  Bryan's   letter  in  afternoon  newspapers   of 
Saturday,  June  22d. 

Chicago,  111.,  June  22. — This  convention  seems 
likely  to  make  up  in  quantity  what  it  lacks  as  a 
producer  of  harmony.  Here  it  is  Saturday,  and 
the  committee  on  credentials  is  still  at  work  trying 
to  determine  who  are  rightfully  entitled  to  sit  in  a 
convention  that  assembled  last  Tuesday.  Those 
who  were  honored  by  a  place  on  the  temporary  roll- 
call  are  still  there,  and  those  who  failed  to  secure 
recognition  at  the  hands  of  the  national  commit- 
tee are  still  in  outer  darkness,  but  the  machine 
moves  on. 

The  Taft  forces  lack  a  little  more  than  fifty  of  the 
number  of  the  "Light  Brigade,"  but  they  seem  as 
little  dismayed  as  the  heroic  band  of  which  we  read 
in  our  school  days:  "Cannon  to  the  right  of  them, 
cannon  to  the  left  of  them,  cannon  in  front  of 
them,  volleyed  and  thundered.  Stormed  at  with 
shot  and  shell,  boldly  they  rode  and  well,  into  the 
jaws  of  death,  into  the  mouth  of  hell" — but  I  shall 
77 


78  A    TALE    OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

stop  here,  as  I  do  not  care  to  express  an  opinion 
as  to  the  character  of  the  combatants. 

It  looks,  however,  at  this  time  as  if  the  550  were 
going  to  make  their  escape  from  the  jaws  of  death, 
so  far  as  the  convention  is  concerned,  but  we  shall 
not  know  until  the  election  what  fate  awaits  Mr. 
Taft's  brigade. 

If  we  can  judge  by  what  happened  yesterday 
there  has  been  an  inexcusable  waste  of  time.  The 
deliberations  of  the  committee  on  credentials  have 
not  resulted  in  throwing  any  new  light  on  the  sub- 
ject. The  reports  have  been  stereotyped,  and  the 
convention  has  dealt  with  them  without  much  ref- 
erence to  the  merits  of  the  case.  I  spoke  of  a  waste 
of  time,  but  the  time  was  not  really  wasted.  The 
audience  had  a  chance  to  enjoy  itself,  several  new 
men  appeared  in  the  moving  picture  that  crossed 
the  stage,  and  the  convention  entered  upon  an  era 
of  good  feeling. 

Man  has  been  described  as  the  animal  that  laughs, 
and  but  few  of  the  delegates,  if  any,  have  failed  to 
manifest  this  trait.  Men  who  glared  at  each  other 
a  few  days  ago  now  chat  together  and  joke  over  the 
situation.  Man  is  a  queer  creature,  and  nowhere 
more  queer  than  in  a  convention.  He  is  like  pow- 
der— more  dangerous  when  confined  than  when 
free. 

When  the  credentials  committee  attempted  to 
rush  the  contests  through,  giving  but  a  few  min- 


TEE   REPUBLICAN   CONVENTION  79 

utes  to  each,  there  were  angry  protests  and  threats 
of  a  bolt.  Finally  the  committee  conceded  time,  as 
much  time  as  the  minority  wanted,  and  as  a  result 
an  explosion  was  averted.  Men  had  a  chance  to 
testify  to  the  " outrage"  that  had  been  perpetrated 
on  them,  speakers  had  an  opportunity  to  shout 
their  anathema  at  the  committee  and  to  warn  those 
responsible  of  the  wrath  to  come.  Some  had  a 
chance  to  demand  a  roll-call,  and  a  few  availed 
themselves  of  the  privilege  of  saying,  "Mr.  Chair- 
man, Mr.  Chairman,  I  demand  to  poll  the  delega- 
tion, ' '  and  then  the  engine  gave  two  toots,  the  con- 
ductor waved  his  lantern,  and  the  well-oiled 
machine  lunged  forward. 

There  is  nothing  like  debate  to  smooth  out  the 
troubles  of  a  convention.  The  man  who  invented 
gag  law  did  not  understand  the  pacifying  influence 
of  sound  as  it  passes  out  of  the  throat.  Some  sci- 
entist has  announced  the  startling  theory  that  an- 
ger is  a  poison  that  is  relieved  by  swearing.  I  am 
not  willing  to  accept  the  theory  without  more  proof 
than  has  yet  been  presented,  but  I  am  firmly  con- 
vinced, by  long  attendance  at  conventions,  that 
there  are  few  sorrows  of  a  political  nature  that  free 
discussion  cannot  heal.  Even  where  satisfaction 
is  not  guaranteed  a  long  contest,  like  a  spirited 
campaign,  makes  the  contestants  willing  to  accept 
almost  anything  if  they  can  only  get  through. 

It  looks  now  as  if  the  Taft  forces  were  in  a  po- 


80  A    TALE    OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

sition  to  dictate  the  terms  of  surrender,  and  there 
seems  little  likelihood  of  the  President's  withdraw- 
ing in  favor  of  a  compromise  candidate.  I  am 
prepared  to  offer  a  certain  amount  of  consolation 
to  whichever  candidate  is  defeated,  but  my  cau- 
tious and  conservative  nature  makes  me  hesitate  to 
pronounce  a  eulogy  until  the  corpse  is  identified. 

Looking  back  upon  the  struggle  from  the  stand- 
point of  an  outsider  I  have  been  able  to  watch  the 
contest  with  impartiality.  Having  felt  the  force  of 
the  united  influence  of  the  two  principals,  I  have 
been  able  to  bear  with  greater  fortitude  the  falling 
out  that  has  converted  two  bosom  friends  into  bit- 
ter enemies.  Not  being  attached  to  them  as  closely 
as  they  have  been  to  each  other,  I  do  not  feel  as 
keenly  as  they  do  what  each  calls  ingratitude  in 
the  other.  I  have  weighed  their  public  acts,  or 
tried  to,  with  fairness,  anxious  to  give  each  one 
credit  for  any  good  that  he  has  accomplished.  I 
have  tried  to  be  charitable  to  their  faults,  recogniz- 
ing that  we  all  have  shortcomings  and  need  to  have 
charity  extended  to  us. 

"Nothing  succeeds  like  success";  the  change  of 
a  vote  may  convert  a  defeat  into  a  victory,  and  then 
those  fawn  and  flatter  who  would  have  turned 
away  in  the  hour  of  darkness. 

If  Mr.  Taft  wins  in  this  convention  there  will  be 
plenty  to  bring  him  bouquets,  and  he  will  not  no- 
tice it  if  none  of  them  bears  my  card.  Mr.  Roose- 


THE   EEPUBLICAN    CONVENTION  81 

velt  will,  in  that  case,  be  the  one  who  will  be  in 
need  of  kind  words,  and  I  shall  take  pleasure  in 
calling  attention  to  some  of  the  substantial  benefits 
he  has  conferred  upon  the  country.  He  has  yet  the 
possibility  of  leadership  in  a  new  party,  if  the 
Democratic  party  should  disappoint  the  hopes  of 
the  progressives  of  the  country  and  surrender  it- 
self to  the  service  of  Wall  Street. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  boiler  blows  up,  or  the 
machine  breaks  down,  and  Mr.  Taft  is  defeated, 
there  are  compliments  which  I  can  pay  him,  and 
pay  him  with  pleasure.  In  that  case  it  would  be 
much  easier  for  me  to  get  to  him,  and  he  would 
appreciate  it  more,  than  it  would  be  to  get  within 
speaking  distance  of  the  ex-president  surrounded 
by  a  "We  want  Teddy"  crowd.  My  last  article 
on  this  convention  will  deal,  therefore,  with  the 
platform  adopted  and  with  the  virtues  of  the  de- 
ceased. 


XIII 
THE  END  OF  THE  CONVENTION 

Mr.  Bryan's  letter  in  morning  newspapers  of  Sun- 
day, June  23d. 

On  the  Train  from  Chicago  to  Baltimore,  June 
22. — The  break  has  come,  and  the  progressives 
were  happy  in  their  selection  of  the  time.  They 
waited  until  the  credentials  committee  had  made 
its  last  report,  until  the  committee-made  majority 
had  voted  itself  the  convention,  until  it  was  dem- 
onstrated that  no  amount  of  fact  or  argument 
availed  to  reverse  the  decisions  based  upon  the 
exigencies  of  the  case  rather  than  upon  the  merits 
of  the  contest,  and  then  Delegate  Allen,  of  Kansas, 
read  Mr.  Roosevelt's  statement  and  enforced  its 
pungent  paragraphs  with  pointed  remarks  of  his 
own. 

As  Mr.  Roosevelt's  statement  is  published  on  a 
later  page  I  need  make  no  reference  to  it  here.  It 
will  prove  a  historic  document.  Never  before  in 
American  politics  has  a  convention  witnessed  such 
a  scene — a  man,  one  of  the  most  forceful  figures  of 
his  time,  twice  a  president,  once  by  the  accident  of 

82 


THE   REPUBLICAN    CONVENTION  83 

death  and  once  by  the  largest  majority  ever  given 
to  a  president,  contending  against  an  administra- 
tion that  he  created  for  the  honor  of  a  Republican 
nomination. 

In  spite  of  patronage,  in  spite  of  the  powerful 
organization  of  a  dominant  party  and  in  spite  of 
great  commercial  influences,  he  actually  secures  an 
undisputed  majority  of  the  Republican  vote.  Con- 
trary to  all  precedents  he  goes  to  the  convention 
city  and  conducts  his  own  fight.  He  finds  himself 
hedged  about  by  forces  with  which  he  cannot  cope. 
If  he  may  be  likened  to  a  caged  lion  confined  in  a 
cage  constructed  of  regularity,  formality  and  or- 
derly procedure,  it  must  be  admitted  that  he  was 
unable,  with  all  his  Samson-like  strength,  to  bend 
a  single  bar. 

But  here  the  simile  ends.  Man  is  more  than  an 
animal.  He  laughs  at  the  limitations  of  the  flesh. 
He  can  appeal  to  a  power  greater  than  the  poli- 
tician, and  Mr.  Roosevelt  has  made  his  appeal.  He 
brings  against  the  convention  such  an  indictment 
as  no  party  has  ever  had  to  meet  before.  He  ap- 
peals from  leaders  inebriated  by  prolonged  power, 
to  the  voters  who  can  dispassionately  weigh  poli- 
cies and  measure  methods  from  Philip  drunk  to 
Philip  sober. 

The  platform  is  such  a  platform  as  might  be  ex- 
pected for  Mr.  Taft.  It  points  with  pride  to  what 
he  has  done  and  views  with  alarm  all  that  Mr. 


84  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

Roosevelt  stands  for  and  threatens  to  do.  The 
curious  may  read  it,  but  it  will  play  a  very  small 
part  in  the  campaign.  In  the  Republican  mind 
Mr.  Taft  has  come  to  stand  for  stand-patism  and 
Mr.  Roosevelt  for  progressivism,  and  the  voters 
will  not  make  any  nice  calculations  in  deciding  be- 
tween them. 

The  Republican  party  is  passing  through  the 
same  convulsions  which  the  Democratic  party 
passed  through  sixteen  years  ago,  when  progressive 
Democracy  was  born.  In  the  case  of  our  party, 
the  mother  lived.  At  present  both  a  physician  and 
a  surgeon  are  in  attendance,  and  it  will  be  some 
months  before  the  fate  of  the  patient  will  be  known. 

I  was  compelled  to  leave  just  before  former 
Vice-President  Fairbanks  concluded  reading  the 
platform,  but,  from  what  had  taken  place,  the  re- 
nomination  of  the  President  seemed  a  foregone  con- 
clusion. 

As  was  to  be  expected,  the  Chicago  convention 
will  exert  a  marked  influence  upon  the  Democratic 
convention  about  to  begin  at  Baltimore.  The  fact 
that  more  than  half  of  the  Republican  party  has 
been  shown  to  be  militant  in  its  progressiveness 
would  seem  to  make  it  even  more  imperatively 
necessary  than  before  that  the  Democratic  conven- 
tion should,  in  its  platform  and  with  its  nomina- 
tions, respond  to  the  demands  of  the  progressives 
of  the  nation  and  thus  make  a  third  party  unneces- 


THE   REPUBLICAN    CONVENTION  85 

sary.  This  is  the  way  it  looks  from  a  distance.  I 
can  make  a  better  forecast  after  reaching  Balti- 
more. 

THE  WITHDRAWAL  OF  THE  ROOSEVELT 
DELEGATES 

It  was  Henry  J.  Allen,  of  Kansas,  who  in  a  speech 
announced  the  intention  of  the  Eoosevelt  delegates  to 
take  no  further  active  part  in  the  convention.  He  said 
the  first  thing  he  desired  permission  for  was  to  read  a 
statement  which  had  just  been  placed  in  his  hands  from 
Theodore  Roosevelt.  Mr.  Allen  then  read  the  following 
statement : 

"  'A  clear  majority  of  the  delegates  honestly  elected  to 
this  convention  were  chosen  by  the  people  to  nominate 
me.  Under  the  direction,  and  with  the  encouragement 
of  Mr.  Taft,  the  majority  of  the  national  committee,  by 
the  so-called  "steam-roller"  methods,  and  with  scandalous 
disregard  of  every  principle  of  elementary  honesty  and 
decency,  stole  eighty  or  ninety  delegates,  putting  on  the 
temporary  roll-call  a  sufficient  number  of  fraudulent 
delegates  to  defeat  the  legally  expressed  will  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  to  substitute  a  dishonest  for  an  honest  majority. 

"  'The  convention  has  now  declined  to  purge  the  roll 
of  the  fraudulent  delegates  placed  thereon  by  the  defunct 
national  committee,  and  the  majority  which  thus  in- 
dorsed fraud  was  made  a  majority  only  because  it  in- 
cluded the  fraudulent  delegates  themselves,  who  all  sat 
as  judges  on  one  another's  cases.  If  these  fraudulent 
votes  had  not  thus  been  cast  and  counted  the  convention 
would  have  been  purged  of  their  presence.  This  action 
makes  the  convention  in  no  proper  sense  any  longer  a 
Republican  convention  representing  the  real  Republican 
party.  Therefore  I  hope  the  men  elected  as  Roosevelt 
delegates  will  now  decline  to  vote  on  any  matter  before 
the  convention.  I  do  not  release  any  delegate  from  his 


MR.  BEYAN'S  DEPARTURE  FROM  THE  EEPUBLICAN  CONVEN- 
TION TO  Go  TO  BALTIMORE. 


(McCutcheon  in 


'Collier's  Weekly." 
Permission.) 


Eeproduced  by 


The  standing  figure  is  Former  Vice-President  Fairbanks, 
who  is  reading  the  platform.  The  Chicago  ' '  Tribune, ' '  in 
describing  the  scene,  says  that  when  Mr.  Fairbanks  had  got 
about  half  through  Mr.  Bryan  got  up  from  his  seat  in  the 
press  stand  and  started  for  the  door.  Instantly  the  galleries 
began  to  cheer  him.  The  applause  was  so  insistent  that  Mr. 
Fairbanks  finally  was  compelled  to  stop.  Even  Chairman 
Root's  gavel  could  not  stop  the  din,  and  it  continued  until 
the  Democratic  leader  had  passed  out  of  sight  through  one 
of  the  exits. 


86 


THE   EEPUBLICAN    CONVENTION  87 

honorable  obligation  to  vote  for  me  if  he  votes  at  all,  but 
under  the  actual  conditions  I  hope  that  he  will  not  vote 
at  all. 

"  'The  convention  as  now  composed  has  no  claim  to  rep- 
resent the  voters  of  the  Republican  party.  It  represents 
nothing  but  successful  fraud  in  overriding  the  will  of  the 
rank  and  file  of  the  party.  Any  man  nominated  by  the 
convention  as  now  constituted  would  be  merely  the  bene- 
ficiary of  this  successful  fraud;  it  would  be  deeply  dis- 
creditable to  any  man  to  accept  the  convention's  nomi- 
nation under  these  circumstances;  and  any  man  thus 
accepting  it  would  have  no  claim  to  the  support  of  any 
Republican  on  party  grounds,  and  would  have  forfeited 
the  right  to  ask  the  support  of  any  honest  man  of  any 
party  on  moral  grounds. 

"  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT.'  " 

Mr.  Allen  then  proceeded  to  say: 

"We  have  reached  a  point  where  a  majority  of  the 
Roosevelt  delegates  feel  that  they  can  no  longer  share 
in  the  responsibility  for  the  acts  of  this  convention.  We 
have  contended  with  you  until  we  have  exhausted  every 
parliamentary  privilege  in  an  effort  to  have  placed  upon 
the  roll  the  names  of  men  legally  elected. 

"When  by  using  the  votes  of  the  delegates  whose  rights 
to  sit  in  this  convention  are  challenged,  you  took  a  posi- 
tion which  places  the  power  of  a  political  committee 
above  the  authority  of  77,000  majority,  elected  in  a  legal 
primary  in  California,  we  decided  that  your  steam  roller 
had  exceeded  the  speed  limit.  Since  then  we  have  asked 
for  no  roll-call.  You  have  now  completed  the  seating  of 
all  contested  delegates,  using  the  votes  of  the  contested 
delegates  to  accomplish  your  purpose.  *  *  * 

"We  will  not  put  ourselves  in  a  position  to  be  bound 
by  any  act  in  which  you  say  to  the  majority  who  rejected 
Mr.  Taft  in  New  Jersey,  to  the  majority  who  rejected 
him  in  Wisconsin,  to  the  majority  who  rejected  him  in 
Minnesota,  to  the  majority  who  rejected  him  in  Maine, 


88  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

to  the  majority  who  rejected  him  in  Maryland,  to  the 
majority  in  South  Dakota,  to  the  majority  in  North  Da- 
kota, which  gave  him  only  1,500  votes  out  of  59,000;  to 
the  majorities  which  rejected  him  in  Nebraska,  in  Ore- 
gon, Minnesota,  Kansas,  Oklahoma,  West  Virginia  and 
North  Carolina,  that  all  these  majorities  added  together 
went  down  under  the  mere  rulings  of  a  political  com- 
mittee. 

"We  will  not  join  you  in  saying  to  the  home  State  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  that  the  150,000  majority  with  which 
you  defeated  Mr.  Taft  and  his  managers  in  Illinois  was 
overruled  by  those  very  managers  with  the  consent  of 
those  who  have  arrogated  powers  never  intended  to  be 
theirs. 

"When  Theodore  Roosevelt  left  the  White  House  four 
years  ago  he  left  you  an  overwhelming  majority  in  both 
branches  of  Congress;  he  left  you  an  overwhelming  ma- 
jority in  all  the  great  Republican  States;  he  left  you  a 
record  upon  which  you  could  elect  Mr.  Taft ;  he  left  you 
a  progressive  program  to  carry  forward.  That  program 
was  buried  beneath  an  avalanche  of  words  at  Winona, 
and  eighteen  Republican  governors  were  buried  beneath 
an  avalanche  of  votes  which  rebuked  recreancy  to  party 
pledges. 

"We  will  not  participate  with  you  in  completing  the 
scuttling  of  the  ship.  We  will  not  say  to  the  young  men 
of  the  nation,  who,  reading  political  history  with  their 
patriotism,  and  longing  to  catch  step  with  the  party 
of  their  fathers,  that  we  have  nothing  better  to  offer  them 
at  this  hour  than  this  new  declaration  of  human  rights — 
that  a  discarded  political  committee,  as  its  last  act,  holds 
greater  power  than  a  majority  of  over  2,000,000  voters. 

"We  do  not  bolt.  We  merely  insist  that  you,  not  we, 
are  making  the  record.  And  we  refuse  to  be  bound  by  it. 
We  have  pleaded  with  you  for  ten  days.  We  have  fought 
with  you  five  days  for  a  'square  deal.'  We  fight  no 
more.  We  plead  no'  longer.  We  shall  sit  in  protest  and 
the  people  who  sent  us  here  shall  judge  us. 


THE   BEPUBLICAN    CONVENTION  89 

"You  accuse  us  of  being  radical.  Gentlemen,  let  me 
tell  you  that  no  radical  in  the  ranks  of  radicalism  ever 
did  so  radical  a  thing  as  to  come  to  a  national  convention 
of  the  great  Republican  party  and  secure  through  fraud 
the  nomination  of  a  man  that  they  know  could  not  be 
elected." 


XIV 
THE  EEPUBLICAN  PLATFORM 

The  Republican  party,  assembled  by  its  repre- 
sentatives in  national  convention,  declares  its  un- 
changing faith  in  government  of  the  people,  by  the 
people,  for  the  people.  "We  renew  our  allegiance 
to  the  principles  of  the  Republican  party  and  our 
devotion  to  the  cause  of  Republican  institutions 
established  by  the  fathers. 

It  is  appropriate  that  we  should  now  recall  with 
a  sense  of  veneration  and  gratitude  the  name  of 
our  first  great  leader  who  was  nominated  in  this 
city,  and  whose  lofty  principles  and  superb  devo- 
tion to  his  country  are  an  inspiration  to  the  party 
he  honored — Abraham  Lincoln.  In  the  present 
state  of  public  affairs  we  should  be  inspired  by  his 
broad  statesmanship  and  by  his  tolerant  spirit  to- 
ward men. 

*     #     * 

The  Republican  party  is  opposed  to  special  privi- 
lege and  to  monopoly.  It  placed  upon  the  statute 
book  the  interstate  commerce  act  of  1887,  and  the 
important  amendments  thereto,  and  the  antitrust 
act  of  1890,  and  it  has  consistently  and  successfully 

90 


THE   REPUBLICAN    CONVENTION  91 

enforced  the  provisions  of  these  laws.  It  will  take 
no  backward  step  to  permit  the  reestablishment  in 
any  degree  of  conditions  which  were  intolerable. 

Experience  makes  it  plain  that  the  business  of 
the  country  may  be  carried  on  without  fear  or 
without  disturbance,  and  at  the  same  time  without 
resort  to  practices  which  are  abhorrent  to  the  com- 
mon sense  of  justice. 

The  Republican  party  favors  the  enactment  of 
legislation  supplementary  to  the  existing  antitrust 
act  which  will  define  as  criminal  oifenses  those  spe- 
cific acts  that  uniformly  mark  attempts  to  restrain 
and  to  monopolize  trade  to  the  end  that  those  who 
honestly  intend  to  obey  the  law  may  have  a  guide 
for  their  action,  and  that  those  who  aim  to  violate 
the  law  may  the  more  surely  be  punished. 

The  same  certainty  should  be  given  to  the  law 
prohibiting  combinations  and  monopolies  that  char- 
acterizes other  provisions  of  commercial  law,  in 
order  that  no  part  of  the  field  of  business  oppor- 
tunity may  be  restricted  by  monopoly  or  combina- 
tion, that  business  success  honorably  achieved  may 
not  be  converted  into  crime,  and  that  the  right  of 
every  man  to  acquire  commodities,  and  particularly 
the  necessaries  of  life,  in  an  open  market  unin- 
fluenced by  the  manipulation  of  trust  or  combina- 
tion may  be  preserved. 

*         * 

We  reaffirm  our  belief  in  a  protective  tariff.    The 


92  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

Republican  tariff  policy  has  been  of  the  greatest 
benefit  to  the  country,  developing  our  resources,  di- 
versifying our  industries,  and  protecting  our  work- 
men against  competition  with  cheaper  labor  abroad, 
thus  establishing  for  our  wage  earners  the  Ameri- 
can standard  of  living. 

The  protective  tariff  is  so  woven  into  the  fabric 
of  our  industrial  and  agricultural  life  that  to  sub- 
stitute for  it  a  tariff  for  revenue  only  would  de- 
stroy many  industries  and  throw  millions  of  our 
people  out  of  employment.  The  products  of  the 
farm  and  of  the  mine  should  receive  the  same 
measure  of  protection  as  other  products  of  Ameri- 
can labor. 

We  hold  that  the  import  duties  should  be  high 
enough  while  yielding  a  sufficient  revenue  to  pro- 
tect adequately  American  industries  and  wages. 
Some  of  the  existing  import  duties  are  too  high, 
and  should  be  reduced.  Readjustment  should  be 
made  from  time  to  time  to  conform  to  changed  con- 
ditions and  to  reduce  excessive  rates,  but  without 
injury  to  any  American  industry. 

To  accomplish  this  correct  information  is  indis- 
pensable. This  information  can  best  be  obtained  by 
an  expert  commission,  as  the  large  volume  of  use- 
ful facts  contained  in  the  recent  reports  of  the  tariff 
board  has  demonstrated. 

The  pronounced  -  feature  of  modern  industrial 
life  is  its  enormous  diversification.  To  apply  tariff 


THE   REPUBLICAN    CONVENTION  93 

rates  justly  to  these  changing  conditions  requires 
closer  study  and  more  scientific  methods  than  ever 
before.  The  Republican  party  has  shown  by  its 
creation  of  a  tariff  board  its  recognition  of  this  sit- 
uation and  its  determination  to  be  equal  to  it. 

We  condemn  the  Democratic  party  for  its  failure 
to  either  provide  funds  for  the  continuance  of  this 
board  or  to  make  some  other  provision  for  secur- 
ing the  information  requisite  for  intelligent  tariff 
legislation.  We  protest  against  the  Democratic 
method  of  legislating  on  these  important  subjects 
without  careful  investigation. 

We  condemn  the  Democratic  tariff  bills  passed 
by  the  house  of  representatives  of  the  Sixty-second 
congress  as  sectional,  as  injurious  to  the  pub- 
lic credit,  and  as  destructive  of  business  enter- 
prise. 

The  steadily  increasing  cost  of  living  has  be- 
come a  matter  not  only  of  national  but  of  world- 
wide concern.  The  fact  that  it  is  not  due  to  the 
protective  tariff  system  is  evidenced  by  the  exist- 
ence of  similar  conditions  in  countries  which  have 
a  tariff  policy  different  from  our  own,  as  well  as  by 
the  fact  that  the  cost  of  living  has  increased  while 
rates  of  duty  have  remained  stationary  or  been 
reduced. 

The  Republican  party  will  support  a  prompt 
scientific  inquiry  into  the  causes  which  are  opera- 
tive, both  in  the  United  States  and  elsewhere,  to 


94  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

increase  the  cost  of  living.  When  the  exact  facts 
are  known  it  will  take  the  necessary  steps  to  re- 
move any  abuses  that  may  be  found  to  exist,  in 
order  that  the  cost  of  the  food,  clothing,  and  shelter 
of  the  people  may  in  no  way  be  unduly  or  arti- 
ficially increased. 

*        * 

It  is  of  great  importance  to  the  social  and  econ- 
omic welfare  of  this  country  that  its  farmers  have 
facilities  for  borrowing  easily  and  cheaply  the 
money  they  need  to  increase  the  productivity  of 
their  land. 

It  is  as  important  that  financial  machinery  be 
provided  to  supply  the  demand  of  farmers  for 
credit  as  it  is  that  the  banking  and  currency  sys- 
tems be  reformed  in  the  interest  of  general  busi- 
ness. 

Therefore,  we  recommend  and  urge  an  authorita- 
tive investigation  of  agricultural  credit  societies 
and  corporations  in  other  countries,  and  the  pass- 
age of  state  and  federal  laws  for  the  establishment 
and  capable  supervision  of  organizations  having 
for  their  purpose  the  loaning  of  funds  to  farmers. 


We  favor  such  additional  legislation  as  may  be 
necessary  more  effectively  to  prohibit  corporations 
from  contributing  funds,  directly  or  indirectly,  to 
campaigns  for  the  nomination  or  election  of  the 


TEE  REPUBLICAN   CONVENTION  95 

president,  the  vice  president,  senators,  and  repre- 
sentatives in  congress. 

We  heartily  approve  the  recent  act  of  congress 
requiring  the  fullest  publicity  in  regard  to  all  cam- 
paign contributions,  whether  made  in  connection 
with  primaries,  conventions,  or  elections. 

"We  rejoice  in  the  success  of  the  distinctive  Re- 
publican policy  of  the  conservation  of  our  national 
resources  for  their  use  by  the  people  without  waste 
and  without  monopoly.  We  pledge  ourselves  to 
a  continuance  of  such  a  policy. 

We  favor  such  fair  and  reasonable  rules  and  reg- 
ulations as  will  not  discourage  or  interfere  with 
actual  bona  fide  homeseekers,  prospectors,  and 
miners  in  the  acquisition  of  public  lands  under  ex- 
isting laws. 

In  the  interest  of  the  general  public,  and  par- 
ticularly of  the  agricultural  or  rural  communities, 
we  favor  legislation  looking  to  the  establishment, 
under  proper  regulations,  of  a  parcels  post,  the 
postal  rates  to  be  graduated  under  a  zone  similar 
in  proportion  to  the  length  of  carriage. 

We  approve  the  action  taken  by  the  president 
and  the  congress  to  secure  with  Russia,  as  with 
other  countries,  a  treaty  that  will  recognize  the  ab- 
solute right  of  expatriation  and  that  will  prevent 
all  discrimination  of  whatever  kind  between  Ameri- 
can citizens,  whether  native  born  or  alien  and  re- 
gardless of  race,  religion,  or  previous  political  al- 


96  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

legiance.  The  right  of  asylum  is  a  precious 
possession  of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  and 
it  is  to  be  neither  surrendered  nor  restricted. 


The  Mississippi  river  is  the  nation's  drainage 
ditch.  Its  flood  waters  gathered  from  thirty-one 
states  and  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  constitute  an 
overpowering  force  which  breaks  the  levees  and 
pours  its  torrents  over  many  million  acres  of  the 
richest  land  in  the  union,  stopping  mails,  imped- 
ing commerce,  and  causing  great  loss  of  life  and 
property. 

These  floods  are  national  in  scope  and  the  dis- 
asters they  produce  seriously  affect  the  general  wel- 
fare. The  state  unaided  cannot  cope  with  this 
giant  problem,  hence  we  believe  the  federal  govern- 
ment should  assume  a  fair  proportion  of  the  bur- 
den of  its  control  so  as  to  prevent  the  disasters 
from  recurring  floods. 

"We  favor  the  continuance  of  the  policy  of  the 
government  with  regard  to  the  reclamation  of  arid 
lands;  and  for  the  encouragement  of  the  speedy 
settlement  and  improvement  of  such  lands  we  favor 
an  amendment  to  the  law  that  will  reasonably 
extend  the  time  within  which  the  cost  of  any  re- 
clamation project  may  be  repaid  by  the  land  own- 
ers under  it. 

We  pledge  the  Republican  party  to  the  enact- 


THE   REPUBLICAN    CONVENTION  97 

ment  of  appropriate  laws  to  give  relief  from  the 
constantly  growing  evil  of  induced  or  undesirable 
immigration  which  is  inimical  to  the  progress  and 
welfare  of  the  people  of  the  United  States. 

We  favor  the  speedy  enactment  of  laws  to  pro- 
vide that  seamen  shall  not  be  compelled  to  endure 
involuntary  servitude,  and  that  life  and  property 
at  sea  shall  be  safeguarded  by  the  ample  equip- 
ment of  vessels  with  life  saving  appliances  and  with 
full  complements  of  skilled,  able  bodied  seamen  to 
operate  them. 

The  approaching  completion  of  the  Panama 
canal,  the  establishment  of  a  bureau  of  mines,  the 
institution  of  postal  savings  banks,  the  increased 
provision  made  in  1912  for  the  aged  and  infirm 
soldiers  and  sailors  of  the  republic  and  for  their 
widows,  and  the  vigorous  administration  of  the 
laws  relating  to  pure  food  and  drugs  all  mark  the 
successful  progress  of  Republican  administration, 
and  are  additional  evidence  of  its  effectiveness. 


We  challenge  successful  criticism  of  the  sixteen 
years  of  Republican  administration  under  Presi- 
dents McKinley,  Roosevelt,  and  Taft.  We  heartily 
reaffirm  the  indorsement  of  President  McKinley 
contained  in  the  platform  of  1900  and  of  1904,  and 
that  of  President  Roosevelt  contained  in  the  plat- 
form of  1904  and  1908. 


98  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

We  invite  the  intelligent  judgment  of  the  Ameri- 
can people  upon  the  administration  of  William  H. 
Taft.  The  country  has  prospered  and  been  at 
peace  under  his  presidency.  During  the  years 
in  which  he  had  the  cooperation  of  a  Republican 
congress  an  unexampled  amount  of  constructive 
legislation  was  framed  and  passed  in  the  interest 
of  the  people,  and  in  obedience  to  their  wish.  That 
legislation  is  a  record  on  which  any  administration 
might  appeal  with  confidence  to  the  favorable  judg- 
ment of  history. 

We  appeal  to  the  American  electorate  upon  the 
record  of  the  Republican  party  and  upon  this  de- 
claration of  its  principles  and  purposes.  We  are 
confident  that  under  the  leadership  of  the  candi- 
dates here  to  be  nominated  our  appeal  will  not 
be  in  vain;  that  the  Republican  party  will  meet 
every  just  expectation  of  the  people  whose  servant 
it  is ;  that  under  its  administration  and  its  laws  our 
nation  will  continue  to  advance;  that  peace  and 
prosperity  will  abide  with  the  people,  and  that 
new  glory  will  be  added  to  the  great  republic. 


XV 


A  CRITICISM  OF  ME.  TAFT'S  SPEECH  OF 
ACCEPTANCE 

(Mr.  Bryan's  Article  in  Morning  Newspapers  of 
August  3.) 

President  Taft's  speech  of  acceptance  will  for 
several  reasons  stand  out  in  Presidential  history  as 
a  very  remarkable  public  utterance.  To  begin 
with,  he  accepts  Senator  Root's  guarantee  of  regu- 
larity without  a  smile,  and  even  adds  his  indorse- 
ment of  the  proceedings  which  resulted  in  his  nomi- 
nation. This  occasion  he  says  is  appropriate  for  the 
expression  of  profound  gratitude  at  the  victory  for 
the  right  which  was  won  at  Chicago. 

By  that  victory  the  Republican  party  was  saved 
for  future  usefulness.  What  an  astounding  indif- 
ference to  the  intelligence  of  the  public!  How 
completely  has  his  conscience  been  seared  not  to  be 
sensitive  in  regard  to  the  methods  employed  at 
Chicago.  Both  he  and  Senator  Root  know  that  he 
was  not  the  choice  of  a  majority  of  the  Republican 
voters ;  they  know  that  the  President 's  Administra- 
tion was  repudiated  by  those  who  elected  him. 

99 


100  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

They  know  that  a  holdover  committee  deliberately 
and  contemptuously  disregarded  the  voters  of  the 
party  and  changed  the  character  of  the  conven- 
tion by  the  seating  of  Taft  delegates. 

Holdover  committeemen  who  had  been  repudi- 
ated in  their  States  knowingly,  even  exultingly, 
thwarted  the  expressed  will  of  the  Republican  vot- 
ers of  their  respective  States  in  order  to  give  an 
apparent  indorsement  to  the  Administration,  and 
President  Taft  is  willing  to  accept  this  shadow  as 
if  it  were  substantial. 

The  President  knows  that  the  Republican  com- 
mitteemen from  a  number  of  Southern  States  repre- 
sent mythical  constituencies,  and  he  accepts  with 
expressions  of  gratitude  a  nomination  that  was 
only  possible  because  Southern  Republicans  had 
many  times  as  much  influence  in  the  convention  in 
proportion  to  their  number  as  Northern  Republi- 
cans had.  And  he  accepts  the  nomination  without 
any  suggestions  as  to  improvement  in  method.  He 
neither  indorses  the  Baltimore  plan  of  having  com- 
mitteemen begin  to  serve  as  soon  as  elected,  thus 
having  a  new  committee  organize  a  convention,  nor 
does  he  outline  any  plan  for  protecting  the  Repub- 
lican party  from  the  scandal  brought  upon  its 
conventions  by  its  patronage-controlled  delegates 
from  the  Southern  States. 

The  next  thing  in  the  President's  speech  that  at- 
tracts attention  is  the  marked  contrast  between  his 


THE    BEPUBLICAN    CONVENTION  101 

point  of  view  to-day  and  his  point  of  view  four 
years  ago.  In  1908  he  was  condemning  the  male- 
factors of  great  wealth  and  crying  out  against 
dishonest  methods  in  business.  He  held  himself 
out  as  a  reformer,  and  appealed  to  the  progressive 
sentiment  of  the  country. 

Now  he  is  horrified  at  the  demagogue,  the  muck- 
raker  and  the  political  disturber.  He  says  that  in 
the  work  of  rousing  the  people  to  the  danger  that 
threatened  our  civilization,  from  the  abuses  of 
concentrated  wealth  and  the  power  it  was  likely 
to  exercise,  the  public  imagination  was  wrought 
upon  and  a  reign  of  sensational  journalism  and 
unjust  and  unprincipled  muckraking  has  followed 
in  which  much  injustice  has  been  done  to  honest 
men. 

Demagogues  have  seized  the  opportunity  to  fur- 
ther inflame  the  public  mind,  and  have  sought  to 
turn  the  peculiar  conditions  to  their  advantage. 
He  contends  that  it  is  far  better  to  await  the 
diminution  of  this  evil  by  natural  causes  than  to 
attempt  what  would  soon  take  on  the  aspect  of 
confiscation  or  to  abolish  the  principle  or  institu- 
tion of  private  property  and  to  change  to  socialism. 

What  a  difference  in  the  tone  of  the  two 
speeches !  Four  years  ago  he  was  alarmed  for  fear 
the  country  was  going  to  suffer  at  the  hands  of  the 
predatory  interests ;  now  every  exploiter  is  pleasing 
and  only  the  reformer  is  vile.  His  speech  of  four 


102  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

years  ago  must  have  been  delivered  during  a  mental 
aberration.  Surgeons  tell  us  that  a  man's  eccen- 
tricities are  sometimes  due  to  a  pressure  on  the 
brain  at  some  point.  It  is  possible  that  Doctors 
Root,  Penrose  and  Barnes  have  restored  his  mind 
to  normal  action  by  removing  the  Roosevelt  pres- 
sure. 

Mr.  Taft  is  so  solicitous  about  the  people  who 
have  failed  to  devote  as  much  time  as  is  necessary 
to  political  duties  that  he  is  afraid  to  burden  them 
with  responsibilities  three  times  greater  than  the 
people  have  been  willing  to  assume.  He  is  afraid 
that  to  concede  the  reforms  demanded  will  result 
in  new  duties  that  will  tire  them  (the  people)  into 
such  an  indifference  as  still  further  to  demand 
control  of  public  affairs  by  a  mere  minority.  To 
find  an  argument  as  absurd  as  the  above  one  must 
go  back  several  centuries  and  consult  the  reasons 
that  kings  gave  for  not  admitting  the  people  to 
participation  in  government,  and  then,  to  add  in- 
sult to  injury,  he  has  the  audacity  to  present  the 
aristocratic  argument  that  it  is  bread,  not  votes, 
that  the  people  need;  work,  not  constitutional 
amendments ;  money  to  pay  house  rent,  not  referen- 
dums;  clothing,  not  recalls;  employment,  not 
initiatives. 

Modern  literature  presents  no  parallel  to  this  ig- 
norance of  or  indifference  to  the  growth  of  popular 
government.  In  referring  to  reforms  that  come 


TEE   REPUBLICAN   CONVENTION  103 

under  his  Administration  he  confines  himself  to  a 
few,  and  these  are  not  the  most  important. 

Why  does  he  ignore  the  popular  election  of 
United  States  Senators?  It  is  the  greatest  reform 
in  methods  of  government  that  has  come  since  the 
adoption  of  our  Constitution.  Why  does  he  over- 
look it  ?  Is  it  because  it  came  without  his  aid  ? 

Why  does  he  fail  to  mention  the  income  tax 
amendment  to  the  Constitution?  He  urged  it  in  a 
message,  but  he  did  it  in  order  to  defeat  a  statutory 
income  tax,  and  he  has  never  said  a  word  since  then 
to  encourage  its  ratification  by  the  States. 

He  even  appointed  Gov.  Hughes  to  the  Supreme 
Court  bench  after  the  latter  had  sent  a  message  to 
the  New  York  Legislature  opposing  the  ratification 
of  the  income  tax  amendment. 

Why  is  he  silent  on  the  publicity  law  passed  in 
the  interest  of  pure  politics?  Was  it  because  the 
publicity  before  the  election  provided  for  in  the 
law  which  he  was  compelled  to  sign  rebuked  his 
utterances  of  1908,  when  he  insisted  that  contribu- 
tions should  not  be  made  public  until  after 
election  ? 

Here  are  three  great  reforms  that  have  come 
during  his  administration,  and  yet  he  cannot  claim 
credit  for  any  of  them,  although,  but  for  his  reason 
for  recommending  it,  he  might  claim  some  credit 
for  the  income  tax  amendment.  He  defends  the 
Payne- Aldrich  bill;  says  it  has  vindicated  itself. 


104  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

He  praises  the  Supreme  Court  decision  writing  the 
word  "unreasonable"  into  the  anti-trust  law — a  de- 
cision which  made  every  trust  magnate  rejoice. 
He  eulogizes  the  dissolution,  falsely  so-called,  of  the 
Oil  and  Tobacco  Trusts — a  dissolution  that  leaves 
the  trusts  undisturbed  and  has  already  increased 
the  value  of  their  stocks — and  he  advocates  Federal 
incorporation  of  big  business,  the  one  thing  that 
the  trusts  still  need  to  complete  their  control  of  the 
industries  of  the  country. 

"What  a  program  at  a  time  like  this  when  three- 
fourths  of  the  voters  of  the  country  are  up  in  arms 
against  the  plunderbund !  Not  content  with  an  in- 
dorsement of  everything  reactionary  that  Wall 
Street  has  had  the  courage  to  suggest  he  threatens 
panic  if  anything  is  done  to  disturb  those  who 
fatten  on  Governmental  favoritism  and  legislative 
privilege. 

He  even  appeals  to  Democrats  to  join  him  in  an 
earnest  effort  to  avert  the  political  and  economic 
revolution  and  business  paralysis  which  Republican 
defeat  will  bring  about. 

The  President's  defense  of  his  refusal  to  inter- 
vene in  Mexico  is  the  best  thing  in  his  speech,  but 
his  reference  to  China  gives  weight  to  the  rumor 
that  recognition  of  the  Republic  of  China  is  be- 
ing withheld  as  a  means  of  forcing  upon  China  the 
acceptance  of  an  -American  loan.  He  says  on  this 
subject: 


THE   SEPUBLICAN   CONVENTION  105 

' ( We  have  lent  our  good  offices  in  the  negotiation 
of  a  loan  essential  to  the  continuance  of  the  Re- 
public and  which  China  will  accept."  If  this  is 
an  admission  that  his  Administration  is  attempting 
to  compel  China  to  borrow  from  our  financiers  as  a 
condition  precedent  of  the  recognition  of  the  Re- 
public he  confesses  to  an  inexcusable  degradation 
of  the  Department  of  State. 

Democrats  will  resent  the  President's  action  in 
associating  them  with  the  progressive  Republicans. 
In  replying  to  the  former  Republicans,  as  he  calls 
them  in  one  place,  and  to  those  who  have  left  the 
Republican  party,  as  he  calls  them  in  another 
place  in  his  speech,  he  replies  to  Democrats  also  and 
accuses  both  groups  of  going  in  a  direction  they  do 
not  definitely  know;  toward  an  end  they  cannot 
definitely  describe,  with  but  one  chief  and  clear  ob- 
ject— and  that  is  acquiring  power  for  their  parties 
by  popular  support  through  a  promise  of  a  change 
for  the  better. 

This  is  a  very  unfair  statement  of  the  Dem- 
ocratic position  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the 
Democratic  platform  is  the  only  one  that  is  specific 
in  pointing  out  abuses  and  in  proposing  remedies, 
and  in  view  of  the  further  fact  that  the  Democratic 
party  has  shown  its  fidelity  to  the  people  by  its 
willingness  to  suffer  defeat  in  its  advocacy  of  the 
reforms  which  are  now  being  accepted  by  the  en- 
tire country. 


106  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

The  President  pays  himself  a  high  compliment 
when  he  offers  himself  to  the  voters  as  the  only 
exponent  of  constitutional  government.  He,  as 
well  as  the  Koosevelt  party,  aver  that  the  Dem- 
ocratic party  is  not  to  be  trusted  to. preserve  the 
Constitution,  and  he  declares  that  this  is  to  him  the 
supreme  issue. 

The  Eepublican  party,  he  declares,  is  the  nucleus 
of  that  public  opinion  which  favors  consistent 
progress  and  development  along  safe  and  sane  lines 
and  under  the  Constitution,  as  we  have  had  it  for 
more  than  one  hundred  years,  &c. 

Here,  then,  is  the  paramount  issue:  Shall  the 
Constitution  be  preserved  by  President  Taft  with 
such  aid  as  he  can  secure  from  Root,  Penrose, 
Barnes,  Lorimer,  and  the  other  self-appointed 
custodians  of  constitutional  government?  Shall 
our  organic  law  be  given  over  into  the  hands  of 
those  who  favor  the  election  of  Senators  by  the 
people,  the  income  tax  amendment,  a  single  term 
for  the  President,  and  other  changes  of  this  char- 
acter which  have  for  their  object  the  divorcing  of 
government  from  the  favor-seeking,  privilege-hunt- 
ing classes? 

If  this  is  to  be  the  supreme  issue,  the  Democrats 
are  ready  to  call  the  battle  on. 


Part  Two 

THE  DEMOCRATIC  NATIONAL  CONVENTION 

BALTIMORE,  JUNE  25~JuLY  2,  1912 


THE  TWO  CONTENDING  FACTIONS 

Mr.  Bryan's  letter  in  morning  newspapers  of  Mon- 
day, June  24th. 

Baltimore,  June  23. — The  convention  opens  here 
with  a  situation  somewhat  like  that  in  Chicago — 
like  it  in  the  fact  that  there  are  two  elements  in 
the  party,  each  represented  by  its  leaders.  The 
progressive  is  here  in  force,  but  the  reactionary  is 
here  also. 

There  has  been  no  test  vote  in  the  national  com- 
mittee since  the  vote  in  the  Guffey  case.  At  that 
time  the  national  committee  stood  thirty  for  Guffey 
and  eighteen  for  Palmer.  The  reactionaries  claim 
that  fairly  represents  the  lineup  between  the  two 
elements.  Since  the  Guffey  case  was  decided  sev- 
eral changes  have  been  made  in  the  national  com- 
mittee. Guffey  himself  has  gone  out  and  Congress- 
man Palmer  has  taken  his  place.  Mr.  Johnson 
of  Texas  has  gone  out  and  Caleb  Sells  has  taken 
his  place. 

There  are  other  changes,  but  the  new  members 
do  not  begin  to  act  until  the  permanent  organiza- 
109 


110  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

tion  is  completed,  and  it  is  not  certain  that  a  reac- 
tionary committeeman  would  give  expression  to  the 
changed  sentiment  in  his  state. 

The  subcommittee  decided  by  a  vote  of  eight  to 
eight  to  recommend  Alton  B.  Parker  for  tempor- 
ary chairman.  The  eight  against  Judge  Parker 
were  divided  as  follows:  Three  for  James,  three 
for  Henry,  one  for  Kern,  and  one  for  O 'Gorman. 
This  gave  Parker  a  plurality,  but  not  a  majority. 
The  recommendation  will  be  taken  up  to-morrow 
by  the  full  committee,  and  the  committee's  recom- 
mendation will  be  approved  or  disapproved.  The 
action  of  the  full  committee  will  then  come  before 
the  convention  for  acceptance  or  rejection. 

The  Clark  men  supported  James  and  the  Wilson 
men  for  the  most  part  supported  Henry.  If  the 
eight  could  have  agreed  upon  a  progressive  it  would 
have  been  a  tie  vote,  but  the  friends  of  the  different 
candidates  were  anxious,  of  course,  to  secure  what- 
ever advantage  they  could  for  their  candidate,  and 
hence  the  muddle.  An  effort  is  being  made  by 
the  progressives  to  secure  an  agreement  upon  some 
candidate.  I  am  not  prepared  to  predict  what  the 
full  committee  will  do,  but  I  think  a  poll  should  be 
taken. 

In  fighting  for  a  principle  it  ought  not  to  make 
any  difference  whether  many  or  few  rally  around 
the  standard.  It  is  better  to  make  a  fight  for  the 
right  and  lose  than  to  concede  a  thing  that  is 


ATLAS. 
(C.  S.  Macauley  in  the  New  York  "World.") 

Ill 


112  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

wrong.  A  beginning  has  to  be  made  some  time,  and 
the  sooner  it  is  made  the  better. 

Then,  too,  no  one  can  tell  until  the  vote  is 
counted  what  the  result  will  be.  There  are  many 
who  will  promise  to  vote  one  way  in  order  to  pre- 
vent a  vote,  who  will  vote  the  opposite  way  if  they 
have  to  vote.  It  is  in  recognition  of  this  that  our 
constitutions  require  a  roll-call  and  every  one  ac- 
quainted with  parliamentary  practice  knows  that 
motions  often  carry  by  a  viva  voce  vote  that  are 
lost  on  roll-call. 

If  a  majority  of  the  national  committee  votes  in 
favor  of  Judge  Parker,  the  opposition  will  be  car- 
ried to  the  floor  of  the  convention  and  the  delegates 
will  have  a  chance  to  go  on  record  and  that  record 
will  mean  a  great  deal  both  to  the  delegates  and  to 
the  party. 

The  objection  to  Judge  Parker  is  not  personal. 
No  one,  so  far  as  I  know,  has  any  ill-feeling  against 
him.  The  objection  made  to  him  is  based  upon 
the  fact  that  he  stands  as  the  most  conspicuous  rep- 
resentative of  the  reactionary  element  of  the  party. 
He  was  the  man  chosen  by  the  so-called  conserva- 
tive element  of  the  party  to  lead  the  fight  in  1904, 
when  the  party  receded  from  the  advanced  position 
it  had  taken  in  1896  and  1900. 

The  "Wall  street  influence  dominated  our  organi- 
zation that  year  and  put  its  brand  upon  our  cam- 
paign. Belmont  and  Ryan  were  the  financial  spon- 


THE   DEMOCRATIC    CONVENTION  113 

sors  of  the  party.  When  the  compaign  was  over 
and  the  vote  counted  it  was  found  Judge  Parker 
had  polled  about  a  million  and  a  quarter  less  votes 
than  the  party  polled  in  1896  and  1900,  and  I  may 
add,  a  million  and  a  quarter  votes  less  than  the 
party  polled  four  years  afterward. 

It  is  only  fair  to  Judge  Parker  to  say  that  his 
failure  to  poll  the  party  vote  was  not  due  to  lack  of 
personal  popularity,  but  to  the  influences  that  dom- 
inated his  campaign.  It  would  be  impossible  to 
separate  him  at  this  time  from  the  influences  that 
gave  character  to  his  campaign  then.  He  is  the 
choice  now  of  the  men  who  then  spoke  for  him.  He 
is  urged  upon  the  committee  by  Mr.  Murphy  and 
he  is  supported  by  those  who  are  responsive  to  the 
influence  which  speak  through  Mr.  Murphy.  His 
selection  as  temporary  chairman  would  be  an  an- 
nouncement to  the  public  that  the  convention  is  a 
reactionary  convention.  It  might  make  all  the  pro- 
fessions it  liked;  it  might  talk  as  it  would  about 
progressiveness,  but  what  it  said  would  not  atone 
for  what  it  did.  Actions  often  speak  louder  than 
words. 

This  convention  is  progressive ;  at  least  it  is  sup- 
posed to  be.  The  two  leading  candidates  are  pro- 
gressive. The  chief  contention  of  the  friends  of 
either  has  been  that  he  has  more  progressiveness 
than  the  other.  It  has  been  a  race  to  see  which 
could  progress  the  more  rapidly,  but  .neither  candi- 


114  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

date  could  have  any  substantial  following  on  any 
other  platform. 

These  two  candidates  together  have  instructed 
delegates  to  the  extent  of  nearly  two-thirds  of  the 
convention.  To  put  up  the  chief  of  reactionaries  to 
open  a  progressive  convention  with  a  stand-pat  key- 
note is  an  insult  that  is  not  likely  to  go  unre- 
buked  unless  we  are  mistaken  in  the  character  of 
the  members  of  this  convention,  and  if  we  are  mis- 
taken, the  sooner  we  find  it  out  the  better. 

If  our  convention  had  been  held  before  the  Chi- 
cago convention  it  would  have  been  necessary  to 
adopt  a  progressive  platform  and  nominate  a  pro- 
gressive ticket  in  response  to  an  overwhelming  sen- 
timent in  the  party.  But  now  that  the  Republican 
party  has  acted,  it  has  become  a  matter  of  expedi- 
ency as  well  as  a  matter  of  principle  to  leave  no 
doubt  in  the  public  mind  as  to  our  party's  attitude 
on  the  great  issues  that  now  divide  the  country. 

Circumstances  have  brought  victory  to  our  very 
doors ;  it  would  be  madness  to  invite  repudiation  at 
the  polls  by  compromise  with  predatory  interests. 
I  cannot  believe  that  such  a  result  is  possible. 
What  a  pity  that  harmony  should  be  disturbed  at 
the  very  beginning  of  this  convention  by  an  impu- 
dent attempt  upon  the  part  of  the  special  interests 
to  get  control  of  the  convention  and  represent  the 
party !  What  a  pity  that  the  lesson  recently  taught 
at  Chicago  should  have  had  so  little  effect  on  those 


THE   DEMOCRATIC    CONVENTION  115 

who  are  seeking  to  paralyze  the  party's  efforts  as  a 
reform  party! 

When  the  Republican  party  adjourned  yesterday 
it  had  by  its  actions  changed  the  first  and  second 
lines  of  "Auld  Lang  Syne"  to  read: 

Let  old  acquaintance  be  forgot 
And  never  brought  to  mind. 

It  looks  as  if  the  same  influences  that  dominated 
the  Chicago  convention  are  attempting  to  open  this 
convention  with  the  familiar  lines:  "Hail!  Hail! 
The  gang's  all  here." 


II 


Mr.  Bryan's  article  in  afternoon  papers  of  Monday, 
June  24th. 

Baltimore,  June  24. — The  morning's  develop- 
ments have  been  few.  The  delegates  are  arriving 
and  opening  headquarters.  The  most  prominent 
arrival  this  morning  was  Governor  Burke,  of  North 
Dakota.  He  has  the  support  of  his  state  for  the 
presidency,  and  at  once  aligned  himself  with  the 
progressive  fight  against  Judge  Parker  for  tempor- 
ary chairman. 

He  brought  his  answer  to  my  telegram  and  de- 
livered it  in  person.  Governor  Burke  has  been 
elected  for  a  third  term  in  his  state,  and  his  popu- 
larity is  due  to  his  strength  as  an  executive  and  to 
the  satisfaction  which  his  administrations  have 
given.  He  is  one  of  the  strong  men  in  our  party, 
and  is  not  only  favorably  considered  for  the  office 
of  president,  but  will  doubtless  have  a  still  larger 
support  for  the  vice  presidency,  if  geographical 
conditions  do  not  weigh  against  him. 

116 


THE   DEMOCRATIC    CONVENTION  117 

The  national  committee  is  in  session,  having 
under  consideration  the  question  of  temporary 
chairman.  The  progressives  are  still  engaged  in 
an  endeavor  to  get  together  on  some  candidate  with 
some  prospect  of  success.  The  Wall  street  influence 
is  on  hand,  stiffening  the  back  of  Judge  Parker's 
supporters,  but  the  tide  seems  to  be  turning  more 
strongly  against  Parker  as  the  delegates  arrive. 

I  do  not  like  to  discuss  my  part  in  the  conven- 
tion, and  yet  I  am  compelled  to  do  so  or  deny  this 
information  to  those  who  read  these  reports.  I  will 
therefore  say  that  I  am  not  attending  the  meeting 
of  the  full  committee,  preferring  to  leave  them  to 
agree  upon  a  progressive  without  suggestion  from 
me,  if  they  can  do  so. 

If  they  fail  to  do  so  and  Judge  Parker  is  recom- 
mended by  the  full  committee,  I  shall  from  the  floor 
of  the  convention  oppose  his  selection  and  propose 
the  name  of  some  progressive  as  a  substitute  for  his. 
I  do  not  know  who  that  progressive  will  be  and  I 
shall  not  decide  until  the  last  moment,  my  sole  de- 
sire being  to  bring  about  harmonious  cooperation 
between  the  friends  of  the  progressive  candidate 
and  any  one  upon  whom  they  can  agree  will  have 
my  hearty  support. 

If  they  cannot  agree  I  will  then  take  the  respon- 
sibility of  finding  a  progressive  to  present  as  a 
candidate — the  best  one  whose  consent  is  obtain- 
able. If  I  fail  in  my  effort  to  find  a  candidate,  I 


118  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

shall  myself  be  a  candidate,  in  order  that  those  who 
are  attending  the  convention  may  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  vote  for  a  temporary  chairman  whose 
speech  will  indorse  the  party's  progressive  record, 
and  urge  an  advance  along  progressive  lines. 

The  discussion  of  candidates  is  for  the  time  being 
suspended.  Until  we  find  out  what  kind  of  a  con- 
vention this  is  no  forecast  can  be  made.  If  it  is 
shown  to  be  a  reactionary  convention  the  interest 
in  the  presidential  nomination  will  probably  de- 
cline, for  it  will  not  make  much  difference  who 
carries  the  standard  if  the  party  centers  into  com- 
petition with  the  Taft  party  for  the  support  of 
predatory  interests. 

(Report  of  an  Interview  with  Mr.  Bryan  on  Sun- 
day Night,  June  23,  as  Printed  in  "The  Chicago 
Tribune"  of  June  24.} 

Mr.  Bryan,  in  an  interview  given  nearly  100  news- 
paper men,  made  it  clear  that  he  regarded  the  fight  for 
the  temporary  chairmanship  one  where  progressivism 
and  conservatism  were  the  issues. 

He  would  not  throw  any  light  on  what  plans  he  had 
made  to  oppose  the  selection  of  A.  B.  Parker,  \frhom  he 
charged  with  being  a  reactionary.  He  flatly  asserted 
that  to  begin  a  progressive  convention  with  a  reaction- 
ary speech  would  be  an  offense  to  the  Democratic  party. 

Mr.  Bryan  was  asked  if  he  had  any  particular  candi- 
date for  temporary  chairman  of  the  convention  in  place 
of  Mr.  Parker. 

"I  do  not  care  to  discuss  the  matter,"  he  said,  "except 


THE   DEMOCRATIC    CONVENTION  119 

to  say  that  any  progressive  will  be  satisfactory  to  me. 
In  the  first  place,  I  urged  the  committee  to  consult  with 
the  two  leading  candidates  and  allow  them  to  determine 
upon  a  satisfactory  temporary  chairman." 

"Do  you  regard  Wilson  and  Clark  as  the  two  leading 
candidates'?" 

"Do  you  know  of  anybody  else?"  he  answered. 

"Yes,  I  meant  Wilson  and  Clark  and  if  they  had 
agreed  upon  a  temporary  chairman  there  would  have 
been  no  objection  whatsoever. 

"I  want  to  emphasize  one  fact  right  here,"  Mr.  Bryan 
continued,  "and  that  is,  that  I  am  the  original  harmony 
man  in  this  whole  crowd.  I  did  not  ask  anything  for 
myself ;  I  did  not  ask  anything  for  any  particular  candi- 
date. I  do  not  know  of  any  better  way  of  beginning  the 
convention  harmoniously  than  to  have  the  two  leading 
candidates  agree  upon  a  temporary  chairman. 

"If  there  is  any  lack  of  harmony  I  do  not  see  why 
there  should  be  any  excitement  about  the  matter.  Eight 
members  of  the  committee  have  seen  fit  to  ignore  the 
opinions  of  the  other  eight  and  to  make  the  recommenda- 
tion. 

"It  takes  the  full  committee  to  decide  whether  to  ap- 
prove or  disapprove  the  recommendation  of  the  subcom- 
mittee and  it  is  for  the  convention  to  decide  whether  it 
will  accept  or  reject  the  recommendation.  It  is  not  an 
unprecedented  thing  for  a  committee's  recommendation 
to  be  rejected.  It  was  rejected  in  the  Chicago  conven- 
tion in  1896." 

"Would  not  such  an  action  here  precipitate  a  fight 
which  would  be  detrimental  to  the  party?" 

"It  precipitated  a  fight  then,"  he  answered.  "And  let 
me  add  that  our  party  is  better  for  the  fight.  It  saved 
the  party  from  disgrace.  When  I  say  'disgrace/  I  mean 
that  to  begin  a  progressive  convention  with  a  reaction- 
ary speech  would  be  an  offense  to  the  party  of  the  na- 
tion." 

"How  are  you  going  to  conduct  a  fight  for  a  pro- 


120  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

gressive  unless  you  have  some  particular  candidate  in 
view  ?" 

"It  has  been  stated  that  you  cannot  have  a  contest  be- 
tween two  men  until  you  have  the  men,  but  I  had  no 
disposition  to  select  the  man  at  all.  I  simply  urged  the 
committee  to  ascertain,  if  possible,  the  man  upon  whom 
the  two  leading  candidates  could  agree." 

"Will  there  be  any  split  in  the  Democratic  party?" 

"I  have  no  knowledge  on  that  subject." 

"Well,  can  you  imagine  a  progressive  program  being 
repudiated  here  as  in  Chicago?" 

"No,"  he  replied,  "for  I  cannot  imagine  so  large  a 
Wall  street  element  in  our  party  as  they  had  in  Chicago." 

"They  say  you  are  going  to  bolt  if  you  are  defeated 
in  this  matter,  as  Roosevelt  did  in  Chicago." 

"I  am  not  responsible  for  what  they  are  saying.  My 
friends  are  not  saying  that. 

"I  think  the  outcome  of  the  Chicago  convention,"  con- 
tinued Mr.  Bryan,  "makes  it  even  more  imperative  that 
we  should  in  this  convention  write  a  progressive  plat- 
form and  nominate  a  progressive  ticket." 

"Mr.  Hall  of  your  State  said  you  would  not  bolt. 
Could  there  be  any  circumstances  under  which  you 
would  feel  justified  in  doing  so?" 

"My  dear  sir,"  answered  Mr.  Bryan,  "I  have  always 
avoided  hypothetical  questions  since  1896.  At  that  time 
an  opponent  put  a  hypothetical  question  to  an  expert  on 
insanity,  describing  me  as  he  saw  me,  and  then  asked 
whether  such  a  man  was  insane,  and  the  expert  answered 
that  he  undoubtedly  was." 

"There  were  four  names  considered  by  the  committee 
for  the  temporary  chairmanship.  Would  any  of  the 
others  be  acceptable  to  you?" 

"Yes,  any  progressive  would  be  perfectly  acceptable," 
answered  Mr.  Bryan. 


Ill 

THE  STEAM  ROLLER  AT  WORK 

Mr.  Bryan's  letter  in  morning  newspapers  of  Tues- 
day, June  25th. 

Baltimore,  June  24. — Baltimore  is  to  be  a  little 
Chicago.  We  have  the  same  steam  roller  here,  only 
of  a  smaller  pattern,  but  the  employees  are  skilled 
laborers  and  they  have  the  machine  in  perfect 
running  order.  The  "toot,  toot"  will  be  heard  as 
soon  as  the  chairman  calls  the  convention  to  order 
and  it  will  continue  until  the  convention  adjourns 
sine  die,  unless  the  delegates  rise  in  their  might  and 
throw  it  in  the  scrap  heap. 

I  have  attended  conventions  since  my  youth,  but 
I  have  never  known  a  more  brazen  attempt  upon 
the  part  of  an  insignificant  few  to  thwart  the  will 
of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  party  than  may  be  seen 
here.  It  is  not  burglary,  but  plain  open  daylight 
robbery,  where  the  leaders  do  not  even  take  the 
trouble  to  wear  masks. 

If  the  plain  every  day  citizen,  who  earns  his 
bread  in  the  sweat  of  his  brow,  could  understand 
the  influences  that  operate  at  a  convention  like 
121 


122  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

this;  if  he  could  see  the  misrepresentatives  of  the 
people  slipping  around  to  the  rooms  of  those  who 
manipulate  the  schemes  through  which  the  public 
is  plundered;  if  he  could  number  the  whispered 
conversations  that  take  place  in  dark  corners ;  if  he 
could  hear  the  specious  arguments  made  in  behalf 
of  regularity;  if  he  could  be  made  aware  of  the 
tremendous  pressure  that  is  brought  to  bear  on 
the  weak,  and  of  the  deceptions  practiced  upon 
the  unsuspecting,  he  would  realize  how  important 
it  is  that  men  should  be  selected  as  delegates  whose 
hearts  are  right,  whose  sympathies  are  with  the  peo- 
ple, and  who  have  the  moral  courage  to  stand  for 
the  silent  masses. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  four  fifths  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party  is  progressive.  Every  Democrat  who 
announced  himself  as  a  candidate  for  the  presi- 
dency claimed  to  be  a  progressive.  There  is  not 
one  single  piece  of  literature  circulated  among 
Democrats  that  represented  as  reactionary  the  can- 
didate in  whose  interest  it  was  issued.  And  yet 
all  at  once  we  find  that  quite  a  number  of  delegates 
elected  as  progressives  and  instructed  for  pro- 
gressives are  reactionary  in  their  sympathies. 

What  candidate  could  have  secured  the  instruc- 
tions of  a  single  state  west  of  New  York  or  south 
of  the  Potomac  if  he  had  announced  that  Judge 
Parker  represented  his  idea  of  Democracy  and  that 
he  would  ask  Judge  Parker  to  open  the  campaign 


Copyright,  1912,  by  John  T.  McCutchcon. 

TRYING  TO  SQUARE  IT  WITH  THE  PEERLESS  LEADER. 
(McCutcheon  in  the  Chicago  "Tribune.") 


123 


124  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

with  a  keynote  speech?  It  is  not  complimentary 
to  the  intelligence  of  a  constituency  for  a  delegate 
to  suppose  that  the  Democrats  who  have  borne  the 
burden  in  the  sixteen  year  struggle  are  unacquaint- 
ed with  Judge  Parker  and  the  kind  of  Democracy 
he  stands  for. 

They  know  how  he  was  nominated  at  St.  Louis. 
They  know  how  he  repudiated  the  party  platform 
after  the  nomination ;  they  know  the  collapse  of  his 
campaign;  they  know  how  Wall  street  at  the  last 
moment  turned  against  him  after  having  by  its 
support  of  him  driven  the  masses  from  him;  they 
know  of  the  widespread  overthrow  of  Democratic 
strongholds;  they  know  the  indignation  that  was 
felt  among  Democrats  when  they  fully  realized  the 
cause  of  their  discomfiture;  they  know  how  local 
offices  were  turned  over  to  the  Republicans  in  a 
multitude  of  districts;  they  know  what  an  effort 
it  required  to  wash  from  the  party's  banner  the 
stain  that  his  candidacy  put  upon  it,  and  they 
understand  the  significance  of  the  return  of  his 
friends  to  control  in  the  party. 

It  is  little  less  than  a  tragedy  to  shatter  the  hopes 
that  millions  of  Democrats  have  been  encouraged 
to  cherish.  The  principles  for  which  progressive 
Democracy  has  been  contending  have  grown  aston- 
ishingly within  the  last  few  years. 

Ex-President  Roosevelt  has  been  able  to  marshal 
considerably  more  than  half  of  the  Republican 


THE   DEMOCRATIC    CONVENTION  125 

voters  around  his  standard  because  he  has  scath- 
ingly denounced  the  plunderbund,  the  subsidized 
press,  the  corrupt  boss,  and  the  conscienceless  mis- 
representation of  the  voters  by  those  who  assumed 
to  speak  for  them.  He  only  waits  the  capture  of 
this  convention  by  the  same  influences  to  justify 
the  organization  of  a  third  party  and  lead  to  de- 
feat both  divisions  of  plutocracy's  army,  if  as  the 
result  of  this  convention  he  can  show  that  the 
Democratic  party  is  identical  with  the  Republican 
party  in  the  forces  in  control. 

The  national  committee,  by  the  vote  of  32  for 
Parker,  20  for  James,  and  2  for  0 'Gorman,  in- 
dorsed the  action  of  the  subcommittee,  several  of 
the  Parker  votes  coming  from  committeemen  whose 
delegations  asked  them  to  vote  against  Parker,  or 
whose  delegations  are  known  to  be  against  Parker. 

Will  the  convention  ratify  the  action  of  the  com- 
mittee and  invite  the  protest  of  the  voters  of  the 
party?  "We  shall  know  a  little  after  noon  to- 
morrow. 


IV 
FINANCIAL  INTERESTS  AT  WORK 

(Mr.   Bryan's   Article   in   Afternoon    Papers    of 
Tuesday,  June  25th.) 

Baltimore,  June  25. — The  forenoon  is  being  oc- 
cupied with  caucuses  and  canvasses.  The  lines  are 
being  drawn. 

Now  that  the  delegates  are  learning  that  Murphy 
is  but  the  heavy  hand  of  Ryan,  they  are  thinking 
of  what  their  constituents  will  say  if  this  conven- 
tion is  delivered  to  the  same  financial  interests  that 
controlled  the  Chicago  convention,  through  Root 
and  his  machine. 

It  is  a  spectacle  never  before  witnessed  in  Ameri- 
can politics.  Two  conventions  of  opposing  parties 
meeting  within  two  weeks,  and  the  same  financial 
jugglers  of  Wall  Street  attempting  to  use  the  con- 
vention like  the  wooden  figures  in  a  Punch  and 
Judy  show. 

If  they  can  succeed  in  deceiving  the  delegates 
who  have  come  here  under  the  impression  that  the 
Democratic  party  is  expected  to  make  an  honest 
fight  against  the  Republican  party,  it  will  be  the 
miracle  of  modern  times. 

126 


ALTON  B.  PARKER  MADE  TEMPORARY 
CHAIRMAN 

Mr.  Bryan's  letter  in  morning  newspapers  of  Wed- 
nesday, June  26th. 

Baltimore,  June  25. — When  the  subcommittee 
acted  on  the  temporary  chairmanship,  we  were  all 
anxious  to  know  how  the  full  committee  would 
stand  on  the  question,  and  when  the  full  commit- 
tee presented  Judge  Parker  we  awaited  the  action 
of  the  convention. 

Our  curiosity  is  now  satisfied.  We  know  what 
kind  of  a  convention  we  have  and  henceforth  we 
can  watch  its  developments  with  the  assurance  that 
nothing  will  be  done  that  has  not  the  0.  K.  of  Tam- 
many 's  boss,  and  that  he  will  not  give  his  approval 
to  anything  until  it  has  been  submitted  to  Thomas 
Fortune  Ryan  for  his  consent. 

Unless  these  delegates  hear  from  home  and  are 
frightened  out  of  the  plans  which  they  now  have 
in  mind  the  platform  will  be  disappointing  and 
its  nominee  will  be  a  reactionary  or  a  conservative 
who  is  satisfactory  to  the  reactionaries. 
127 


128  A    TALE    OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

There  could  be  no  mistake  about  the  vote  this 
afternoon.  While  the  majority  for  Judge  Parker 
was  not  as  large  as  the  polls  brought  in  to  me  in 
the  forenoon  indicated  it  would  be,  it  was  large 
enough  for  all  practical  purposes — the  vote  for 
Judge  Parker  was  579  to  510  for  me.  It  is  safe 
to  say  that  I  did  not  have  the  vote  of  a  single  re- 
actionary, and,  unless  I  have  some  better  evidence 
than  has  been  expressed,  I  shall  not  believe  that  I 
lost  the  vote  of  a  single  progressive. 

Of  course  there  were  progressives  whose  votes 
were  cast  for  Judge  Parker  under  the  unit  rule, 
and  these  should  not  be  classed  with  the  reaction- 
aries, but  I  do  not  know  of  any  ground  upon 
which  a  progressive  could  have  voted  against  me, 
unless  it  were  a  personal  ground,  and  it  would  be 
an  unfair  reflection  upon  the  patriotism  of  any 
man  to  say  that  he  would  allow  hostility  to  an  in- 
dividual to  influence  his  vote  on  a  question  where 
a  principle  was  involved. 

Possibly  account  should  be  taken  of  another  in- 
fluence, viz. :  the  interest  or  the  supposed  interest 
of  candidates.  Mr.  Underwood  asked  the  Alabama 
delegation  to  vote  for  Parker.  I  do  not  know  whe- 
ther similar  requests  were  sent  to  Mississippi,  Geor- 
gia and  Florida  or  not,  but  Mississippi  and  Geor- 
gia voted  solidly  for  Parker,  and  he  also  received 
all  but  one  of  Florida's  vote. 

Mr.  Harmon's  Ohio  vote  was  east  solidly  for 


THE   DEMOCRATIC    CONVENTION  129 

Parker,  presumably  in  his  interest,  if  not  at  his  re- 
quest. Twelve  of  the  fourteen  votes  of  Connecticut 
went  to  Parker,  and  it  is  fair  to  assume  that  this 
was  agreeable  to  Gov.  Baldwin.  North  Dakota's 
ten  votes  were  cast  for  me,  with  the  approval  of 
Gov.  Burke,  who  announced  in  advance  his  oppo- 
sition to  Parker. 

Gov.  Wilson  came  out  strong  against  Parker  and 
so  far  as  I  know  I  received  all  the  votes  of  the  Wil- 
son delegates.  There  may  have  been  exceptions, 
but  if  so  they  have  not  been  brought  to  my  atten- 
tion. 

The  Clark  vote  was  divided.  A  number  of  the 
western  states  instructed  for  Clark  cast  their  votes 
for  me.  Washington,  Idaho,  Wyoming,  Kansas, 
half  of  Colorado,  and  half  of  Iowa  were  some  of  the 
Clark  delegations  that  voted  against  Parker.  In 
the  Oklahoma  delegation  the  Wilson  half  voted  for 
me  and  the  Clark  half  for  Parker.  Missouri  gave 
the  largest  share  of  her  votes  to  Parker. 

It  was  understood  that  Mr.  Clark  himself  was 
not  taking  sides,  but  his  managers  worked  man- 
fully for  Parker.  Mr.  Bell  of  California,  one  of 
the  leaders  in  the  Clark  campaign,  took  the  floor 
in  favor  of  Judge  Parker.  Senator  Stone  and  ex- 
Senator  Du  Bois  were  among  the  most  enthusiastic 
of  the  Parker  supporters. 

Kentucky,  a  Clark  state,  went  so  far  as  to  in- 
struct its  committeemen  to  vote  for  Parker  as 


Bryan  with  His  Fan. 


Hon.  Brad.  Swivett. 


Boss  Murphy 
of  New  York. 


Ollie  James  of  Kentucky 
Too  busy  talking  to  eat. 


CONVENTION  STUDIES. 

'(Rollins  Kirby  in  "Collier's  Weekly."    Eeproduced  by 
.  Permission.) 


130 


THE   DEMOCBATIC   CONVENTION  131 

against  James,  who  was  first  put  forward  as  Mr. 
Clark's  choice,  and  who  received  twenty  votes  in 
the  full  committee. 

As  Mr.  Clark  expressed  his  willingness  to  allow 
each  of  his  supporters  to  follow  his  own  judgment 
in  this  contest,  it  is  evident  that  there  are  quite  a 
number  of  men  instructed  for  Clark  who  have  no 
sympathy  with  progressive  ideas — men  who  if  they 
are  ever  released  from  the  support  of  Mr.  Clark 
may  be  expected  to  take  up  with  a  reactionary. 
This  is  an  element  that  must  be  taken  into  account 
in  making  calculations  upon  the  ticket  that  is  to  be 
nominated.  The  lineup  to-day  is  therefore  import- 
ant. It  is  also  important  in  that  it  enables  the 
folks  at  home  to  know  what  their  representatives 
are  doing  at  Baltimore. 

A  word  as  to  the  fight  over  temporary  chairman. 
I  several  weeks  ago  advised  the  committee  to  insure 
harmony  by  selecting  a  chairman  acceptable  to 
Clark  and  Wilson,  they  together  having  more  than 
half  of  the  convention,  if  not  two-thirds.  As  both 
have  been  running  as  progressives  and  the  chief 
effort  on  the  part  of  the  friends  of  each  being  to 
prove  him  a  better  progressive  than  the  other,  I 
thought  there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  securing  an 
agreement  in  regard  to  a  chairman,  and  this  agree- 
ment would  have  insured  the  chairman's  accept- 
ance without  a  contest. 

The  committee,  however,  brought  out  Parker  and 


132  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

pitted  him  against  Congressman  Henry,  the  choice 
of  Mr.  Wilson,  and  Congressman  James,  the  choice 
of  Mr.  Clark.  "When  the  matter  went  before  the 
full  committee  the  Wilson  men,  on  Gov.  Wilson's 
advice,  threw  their  strength  to  James,  but  James 
could  not  hold  all  of  the  Clark  men.  I  tried  to  per- 
suade Mr.  James  to  allow  the  use  of  his  name  in  the 
convention  contest  against  Parker,  but  as  Mr. 
Clark's  managers  were  supporting  Judge  Parker, 
even  to  the  extent  of  having  Kentucky's  national 
committeeman  vote  for  Parker — the  Kentucky  dele- 
gation was  also  largely  for  Parker — Mr.  James  did 
not  feel  at  liberty  to  enter  the  contest.  I  then 
asked  Senator  0 'Gorman  to  allow  the  use  of  his 
name,  but  he  felt  it  his  duty  to  decline. 

I  then  presented  the  matter  to  Senator  Kern, 
who  was  loath  to  undertake  the  contest,  owing  to 
conditions  in  his  state.  However,  he  agreed  last 
evening  to  take  the  matter  under  consideration.  I 
did  not  see  him  any  more  until  after  the  chairman- 
ship fight  was  over,  but  I  heard  late  last  night  that 
he  had  devised  a  scheme  in  the  interest  of  harmony 
which  I  was  glad  to  approve. 

I  think  the  reader,  when  he  has  fully  digested 
this  scheme,  will  admit  that  it  is  about  as  good  an 
illustration  as  has  been  seen  in  many  a  day  of  the 
manner  in  which  tact  and  patriotism  can  be  com- 
bined. After  I  had  put  Senator  Kern  in  nomina- 
tion against  Parker,  he  took  the  platform  and  made 


THE   DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION  133 

a  most  forcible  and  eloquent  plea  for  harmony  in 
the  convention. 

He  called  attention  to  the  great  issues  involved 
and  to  the  importance  of  presenting  a  united  front. 
He  then  presented  a  list  of  names,  including  Sena- 
tors 0 'Gorman,  Culberson,  Shively  and  Lea,  ex- 
Gov.  Campbell  of  Ohio,  ex-Gov.  Folk  of  Missouri 
and  Eepresentative  Clayton  of  Alabama.  He  called 
upon  Parker,  who  sat  just  in  front  of  him,  to  join 
him  in  withdrawing  in  favor  of  any  one  of  these 
men  in  order  that  the  convention  might  open  with- 
out discord. 

It  was  a  dramatic  moment.  Such  an  opportunity 
seldom  comes  to  a  man.  If  Parker  had  accepted  it, 
it  would  have  made  him  the  hero  of  the  convention. 
There  was  a  stir  in  his  neighborhood  in  a  moment. 
The  bosses  flocked  around  him,  and  the  convention 
looked  on  in  breathless  anxiety,  but  he  did  not 
withdraw.  The  opportunity  passed  unimproved. 

Senator  Kern  then  appealed  to  Mr.  Murphy  to 
induce  Judge  Parker  to  withdraw,  but  Mr.  Murphy 
was  not  in  a  compromising  mood.  This  was  the 
only  thing  that  Senator  Kern  did,  the  good  faith 
of  which  could  be  questioned.  I  am  afraid  that  he 
had  no  great  expectation  of  melting  the  stony  heart 
of  the  Tammany  boss. 

At  any  rate,  nothing  came  of  the  generous  offer 
made  by  Mr.  Kern,  except  that  it  shifted  to  the 
shoulders  of  Judge  Parker  and  his  supporters  en- 


134  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

tire  responsibility  for  any  discord  that  might  grow 
out  of  the  contest. 

Judge  Parker  was  escorted  to  the  platform  after 
his  nomination  had  been  made  unanimous  and 
began  to  deliver  his  address,  but  it  had  such  a  mov- 
ing effect  upon  the  audience  that  the  reading  was 
suspended  and  the  convention  adjourned  until  8 
o'clock  this  evening. 

Various  explanations  might  be  given  of  the  ac- 
tions of  the  crowd.  Probably  the  most  reasonable 
is  that  it  was  half  past  3  and  many  were  hungry. 
There  is  another  explanation,  however,  that  is 
worth  expressing  for  consideration. 

People  will  not  remain  in  a  large  hall  unless 
they  know  what  is  being  said,  and  Judge  Parker's 
speech  was  written  in  the  language  of  Wall  street. 
Only  200  or  300  of  the  delegates  could  understand 
it,  and  the  committee  was  so  busy  oiling  the  ma- 
chine that  it  had  neglected  to  provide  an  interpre- 
ter to  translate  the  speech  into  the  every  day  lan- 
guage of  Democrats. 

SPEECH  OF  MR.  BRYAN  OPPOSING  THE 
ELECTION  OF  ALTON  B.  PARKER  AS 
TEMPORARY  CHAIRMAN. 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention:  I 
rise  to  place  in  nomination  for  the  office  of  temporary 
chairman  of  this  convention  Hon.  John  W.  Kern  of  In- 
diana. In  thus  dissenting  from  the  judgment  of  our  na- 


TEE   DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION  135 

tional  committee,  as  expressed  in  its  recommendation,  I 
recognize  that  the  burden  of  proof  is  upon  me  to  over- 
throw the  presumption  that  the  committee  is  representing 
the  wishes  of  this  convention  and  of  the  party  of  the 
nation. 

I  call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that  our  rules  declare 
that  the  recommendation  of  the  committee  is  not  final. 
The  very  fact  that  this  convention  has  the  right  to  accept 
or  reject  that  recommendation  is  conclusive  proof  that 
the  presumption  in  favor  of  this  convention  is  a  higher 
presumption  than  that  in  favor  of  the  wisdom  of  the 
committee. 

If  any  of  you  ask  me  for  my  credentials ;  if  any  of  you 
inquire  why  I,  a  mere  delegate  to  this  convention  from 
one  of  the  smaller  States,  should  presume  to  present  a 
name,  and  ask  you  to  accept  it  in  place  of  the  name  it 
presented,  I  beg  to  tell  you,  if  it  needs  be  told,  that  in 
three  campaigns  I  have  been  the  champion  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party's  principles,  and  that  in  three  campaigns  I 
have  received  the  votes  of  six  millions  and  a  half  of 
Democrats.  If  that  is  not  proof  that  I  have  the  confi- 
dence of  the  party  of  this  nation  I  shall  not  attempt  to 
furnish  proof. 

I  remind  you,  also,  that  confidence  reposed  in  a  human 
being  carries  with  it  certain  responsibilities,  and  I  would 
not  be  worthy  of  the  confidence  and  the  affection  that 
have  been  showered  upon  me  by  the  Democrats  of  this 
nation  if  I  were  not  willing  to  risk  humiliation  in  their 
defense. 

I  recognize  that  a  man  can  not  carry  on  a  political 
warfare  in  defense  of  the  mass  of  the  people  for  sixteen 
years  without  making  enemies;  I  knew  full  well  that 
there  has  been  no  day  since  the  day  I  was  nominated  in 
Chicago  when  these  enemies  have  not  been  industrious  in 
their  efforts  to  attack  me  from  every  standpoint. 

The  fact  that  I  have  lived  is  proof  that  I  have  not  de- 
serted the  people.  If  for  a  moment  I  had  forgotten  them 
they  would  not  have  remembered  me. 


136  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

I  take  for  my  text  the  quotation  that  someone  has  been 
kind  enough  to  place  upon  the  walls  for  my  use,  "He 
never  sold  the  truth  to  serve  the  hour."  That  is  the  lan- 
guage of  the  hero  of  New  Orleans,  and  I  would  not  de- 
serve the  report  I  have  received  if  I  were  willing  to  sell 
the  truth  to  serve  the  present  hour. 

We  are  told  by  those  who  support  the  committee's  rec- 
ommendation that  it  is  disturbing  harmony  to  oppose 
their  conclusions.  Let  me  free  myself  from  any  criticism 
that  any  one  may  have  made  heretofore  or  may  attempt 
hereafter.  Is  there  any  delegate  in  this  body  of  more 
than  ten  hundred  who  tried  earlier  than  I  to  secure  har- 
mony in  this  convention? 

I  began  several  weeks  ago.  I  announced  to  the  sub- 
committee that  I  would  not  be  a  candidate  for  temporary 
chairman. 

I  might  have  asked,  without  presumption,  that  at  the 
end  of  sixteen  years  of  battle  when  I  find  the  things  I 
have  fought  for  not  only  triumphant  in  my  own  party 
but  even  in  the  Republican  party — under  these  conditions 
I  might  have  asked,  I  repeat,  the  modest  honor  of  stand- 
ing before  this  convention  and  voicing  the  rejoicing  of 
my  party.  But  I  was  more  interested  in  harmony  than  1 
was  in  speaking  to  the  convention.  Not  only  that,  but  I 
advised  this  committee  to  consult  the  two  leading  candi- 
dates, the  men  who  together  have  nearly  two-thirds  of 
this  convention  instructed  for  them — I  asked  the  com- 
mittee to  consult  these  two  men  and  get  their  approval 
of  a  man  for  chairman  that  there  might  be  no  contest 
in  this  convention. 

What  suggestion  could  I  have  then  made  more  in  the 
interest  of  harmony  than  to  ask  this  committee  to  allow 
two-thirds  of  this  convention  a  voice  in  the  selection  of 
its  temporary  chairman? 

In  the  discussion  before  the  subcommittee,  the  friends 
of  Mr.  Clark  and  Mr.  Wilson  were  not  able  to  agree; 
one  supported  Mr.  James  and  the  other  supported  Mr. 
Henry,  but  in  the  full  committee  last  night  the  friends 


THE   DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION  137 

of  Mr.  Wilson  joined  with  the  friends  of  Mr.  Clark  in 
the  support  of  Mr.  James,  Mr.  Clark's  choice,  and  yet 
the  committee  turned  down  the  joint  request  thus  made. 

I  submit  to  you  that  the  plan  that  I  presented — the 
plan  that  I  followed — was  a  plan  for  securing  harmony; 
and  that  the  plan  which  the  committee  followed  was  not 
designed  to  secure  harmony. 

Let  me  for  a  moment  present  the  qualifications  of  one 
fitted  for  this  position.  This  is  no  ordinary  occasion. 
This  is  an  epoch-making  convention.  We  have  had  such 
a  struggle  as  was  never  seen  in  politics  before.  I  have 
been  in  the  center  of  this  fight  and  I  know  something 
of  the  courage  that  it  has  brought  forth,  and  some- 
thing of  the  sacrifice  that  has  been  required. 

I  know  men  working  upon  the  railroad  for  small  wages 
with  but  little  laid  up  for  their  declining  years  who  have 
disobeyed  the  railroad  managers  and  helped  us  in  this 
progressive  fight  at  the  risk  of  having  their  bread  and 
butter  taken  from  them. 

I  know  men  engaged  in  business  and  carrying  loans 
at  banks  who  have  been  threatened  with  bankruptcy  if 
they  did  not  sell  their  citizenship,  and  yet  I  have  seen 
these  men  defy  those  who  threatened  them  and  walk  up 
and  vote  on  the  side  of  the  struggling  masses  against 
predatory  wealth. 

I  have  seen  lawyers  risking  their  future,  by  alienating 
men  of  large  business,  in  order  to  be  the  champions  of 
the  poor.  I  have  seen  men  who  had  never  made  a  speech 
before  go  out  and  devote  weeks  of  time  to  public  speak- 
ing because  their  hearts  were  stirred. 

It  is  only  fair  that  now,  when  the  hour  of  triumph 
has  come,  the  song  of  victory  should  be  sung  by  one 
whose  heart  has  been  in  the  fight.  John  W.  Kern  has 
been  faithful  every  day  in  these  sixteen  years.  It  has 
cost  him  time,  it  has  cost  him  money,  and  it  has  cost  him 
the  wear  of  body  and  of  mind.  He  has  been  giving 
freely  of  all  that  he  had.  Four  years  ago,  when  the 
foundation  was  laid  for  the  present  victory,  it  was  John 


138  A    TALE    OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

W.  Kern  who  stood  with  me  and  helped  to  bring  into  the 
campaign  the  idea  of  publicity  before  the  election  that 
has  now  swept  the  country  until  even  the  Republican 
party  was  compelled  by  public  opinion  to  give  it  unani- 
mous indorsement  only  a  few  weeks  ago. 

It  was  John  W.  Kern  who  stood  with  me  on  that  Den- 
ver platform  that  demanded  the  election  of  senators  by 
direct  vote  of  the  people,  when  a  Republican  National 
convention  had  turned  it  down  by  a  vote  of  seven  to 
one,  and  now  he  is  in  the  United  States  Senate,  where 
he  is  measuring  up  to  the  high  expectations  of  a  great 
party. 

He  helped  in  the  fight  for  the  amendment  authorizing 
an  income  tax,  and  he  has  lived  to  see  a  president  who 
was  opposed  to  us  take  that  plank  out  of  our  platform 
and  put  it  through  the  Senate  and  House  and  to  see 
thirty-four  states  of  the  union  ratify  it.  And  now  he  is 
leading  the  fight  in  the  United  States  Senate  to  purge 
that  body  of  Senator  Lorimer,  who  typifies  the  suprem- 
acy of  corruption  in  politics. 

What  better  man  could  we  have  to  open  a  convention  ? 

What  better  man  could  we  have  to  represent  the  spirit 
of  progressive  democracy? 

Contrast  the  candidate  presented  by  the  committee 
with  the  candidate  whom  I  present,  and  it  can  be  done 
without  impeaching  his  character  or  his  good  intent. 
Not  every  one  of  high  character  and  good  intent  is  a  fit 
man  to  sound  the  keynote  of  a  progressive  campaign. 

There  are  seven  millions  of  Republicans  in  this  coun- 
try, or  were  at  the  last  election,  and  I  have  never  doubted 
that  a  large  majority  of  them  were  men  of  high  charac- 
ter and  good  intent,  but  we  would  not  invite  one  of 
them  to  be  temporary  chairman  of  our  convention.  We 
have  a  great  many  Democrats  who  vote  the  ticket  after 
it  is  nominated,  who  are  not  in  full  sympathy  with  the 
purposes  of  the  party. 

They  emphasize  the -fact  that  Judge  Parker  supported 
me  in  1908,  but,  I  assume  that  no  friend  of  Judge  Parker 


THE   DEMOCEATIC    CONVENTION  139 

will  contend  that  he  was  entirely  satisfied  with  either  the 
candidate  or  the  plans  and  purposes  of  our  party  at 
that  time. 

I  not  only  voted  the  ticket  in  1904,  but  I  made  speeches 
for  the  candidate  when  I  was  not  at  all  satisfied  with 
either  the  candidate  or  the  influences  that  nominated  him 
and  directed  the  campaign,  but  the  reactionaries  did  not 
ask  me  to  act  as  temporary  chairman  of  the  St.  Louis 
convention,  altho  I  had  then  been  twice  a  candidate  for 
president. 

This  is  not  a  time  when  personal  ambitions  or  personal 
compliments  should  be  considered.  We  are  writing  his- 
tory to-day,  and  this  convention  is  to  announce  to  the 
country  whether  it  will  take  up  the  challenge  thrown 
down  at  Chicago  by  a  convention  controlled  by  preda- 
tory wealth,  or  put  ourselves  under  the  same  control  and 
give  the  people  no  party  to  represent  them. 

We  need  not  deceive  ourselves  with  the  thought  that 
that  which  is  done  in  a  national  convention  is  done  in 
secret. 

If  every  member  of  this  convention  entered  into  an 
agreement  of  secrecy  we  would  still  act  under  the  eyes 
of  these  representatives  of  the  press,  who  know  not  only 
what  we  do,  but  why  we  do  it. 

The  delegates  of  this  convention  must  not  presume 
upon  the  ignorance  of  those  who  did  not  come,  either 
because  they  had  not  influence  enough  to  be  elected  dele- 
gates or  money  enough  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  trip, 
but  who  have  as  much  interest  in  the  party's  welfare  as 
we  who  speak  for  them  to-day. 

These  people  will  know  that  the  influences  that  domi- 
nated the  convention  at  Chicago  and  made  its  conclu- 
sions a  farce  are  here  and  more  brazenly  at  work  than 
they  were  at  Chicago. 

I  appeal  to  you;  let  the  commencement  of  this  con- 
vention be  such  that  the  Democrats  of  this  country  may 
raise  their  heads  among  their  fellows  and  say:  The 
Democratic  party  is  true  to  the  people.  You  can  not 


140  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

frighten  it  with  your  Ryans,  nor  buy  it  with  your  Bel- 
monts. 

If  the  candidate  proposed  by  the  committee  were  an 
unknown  man  we  would  judge  him  by  the  forces  that 
are  back  of  him,  and  not  by  you,  gentlemen,  who  may 
try  to  convince  yourselves  that  you  owe  it  to  the  com- 
mittee to  sustain  its  action  even  tho  you  believe  it  made 
a  mistake. 

But  that  is  not  the  question.  We  know  who  the  can- 
didate is,  as  well  as  the  men  behind  him.  We  know 
that  he  is  the  man  who  was  selected  as  the  party  can- 
didate eight  years  ago  when  the  Democratic  party,  beaten 
in  two  campaigns,  decided  that  it  was  worth  while  to 
try  to  win  a  campaign  under  the  leadership  of  those 
who  had  defeated  us  in  the  campaigns  before. 

The  Democrats  of  the  country  have  not  forgotten  that 
that  convention  was  influenced  by  the  promise  of  large 
campaign  funds  from  Wall  street,  and  they  have  not 
forgotten  the  fact  that  after  corporation  management 
had  alienated  the  rank  and  file  of  the  party,  Wall  street 
threw  the  party  down  and  elected  the  Republican  candi- 
date. 

They  have  not  forgotten  that  when  the  vote  was 
counted  we  had  a  million  and  a  quarter  less  votes  than 
we  had  in  the  two  campaigns  before,  and  a  million  and 
a  quarter  less  than  we  had  four  years  afterward.  They 
have  not  forgotten  that  it  is  the  same  man,  backed  by 
the  same  influence,  who  is  to  be  forced  on  this  conven- 
tion to  open  a  progressive  campaign  with  a  paralyzing 
speech  that  will  dishearten  the  fighting  force  of  the 
party. 

You  ask  me  how  I  know,  without  reading  it,  that  that 
speech  would  not  be  satisfactory.  A  speech  is  not  so 
many  words;  it  is  the  man  and  not  the  words  that  make 
a  speech. 

We  have  been  passing  through  a  great  educational 
age;  around  the  world  the  Democratic  movement  has 
been  sweeping  all  obstacles  before  it.  In  Russia  eman- 


THE   DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION  141 

cipated  serfs  have  secured  the  right  to  a  voice  in  their 
government.  In  Persia  the  people  have  secured  a  con- 
stitution. In  Turkey  the  man  who  was  in  danger  every 
hour  of  being  cast  into  prison  without  an  indictment,  or 
beheaded  without  a  charge  against  him,  now  has  some 
influence  in  the  molding  of  the  laws.  China,  the  sleeping 
giant  of  the  Orient,  has  risen  from  a  slumber  of  two 
thousand  years  and  to-day  is  a  republic  waiting  for 
recognition.  And  in  Great  Britain  the  people  have  as- 
serted their  independence  of  the  House  of  Lords. 

And  while  the  outside  world  has  been  marching  at 
double-quick  in  the  direction  of  more  complete  freedom 
our  nation  has  kept  step;  on  no  other  part  of  God's 
footstool  has  popular  government  grown  more  rapidly 
than  here.  In  every  state  the  fight  has  been  waged.  The 
man  whom  I  present  has  been  the  leader  of  the  pro- 
gressive cause  in  his  state,  and  once  joint  leader  in  the 
nation. 

I  challenge  you  to  find  in  sixteen  years  where  the  can- 
didate presented  by  the  committee  has,  before  a  nomina- 
tion was  made,  gone  out  and  rendered  effective  service 
in  behalf  of  any  man  who  was  championing  the  people's 
cause  against  plutocracy. 

Judge  Parker  has  not  been  with  us;  he  is  not  the  one 
to  speak  to-day. 

The  Democratic  party  has  led  this  fight  until  it  has 
stimulated  a  host  of  Republicans  to  action.  I  will  not 
say  they  have  acted  as  they  have  because  we  acted  first; 
I  will  say  that  at  a  later  hour  than  we,  they  caught  the 
spirit  of  the  time  and  are  now  willing  to  trust  the  people 
with  the  control  of  their  own  government. 

We  have  been  travelling  in  the  wilderness;  we  now 
come  in  sight  of  the  promised  land.  During  all  the 
weary  hours  of  darkness  progressive  democracy  has  been 
the  people's  pillar  of  fire  by  night ;  I  pray  you,  delegates, 
now  that  the  dawn  has  come,  do  not  rob  it  of  its  well- 
earned  right  to  be  the  people's  pillar  of  cloud  by  day. 


142  A    TALE    OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

SPEECH  OF  SENATOR  KERN  ON  THE  TEM- 
PORARY CHAIRMANSHIP— A  PLEA  FOR 
HARMONY.  * 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention — I 
desire  a  hearing  in  order  that  I  may  state  my  reason  for 
not  desiring  to  enter  the  contest  for  Temporary  Chair- 
man of  this  convention.  I  believe  that  by  forty  years 
of  service  to  my  party  I  have  earned  the  right  to  such  a 
hearing  at  the  hands  of  a  Democratic  convention.  I  hail 
from  the  State  of  Indiana,  which  will  shortly  present  to 
this  convention  for  its  consideration  the  name  of  one  of 
the  best,  truest,  and  most  gallant  Democrats  on  this  earth, 
in  the  person  of  the  Hon.  Thomas  R.  Marshall,  the  Gov- 
ernor of  that  State. 

I  desire  to  take  no  part  in  this  convention  that  will  in 
any  wise  militate  against  him  or  against  his  interests, 
which  all  true  Indiana  Democrats  this  day  loyally  sup- 
port. I  have  been  for  many  years  a  personal  friend  of 
the  gentleman  who  has  been  named  by  the  National  Com- 
mittee. Many  years  ago,  when  Judge  Parker  and  I  were 
much  younger  than  we  are  now,  we  met  in  a  hotel  in  Eu- 
rope and  became  warm  personal  friends.  That  was  long 
before  his  elevation  to  the  Chief  Justiceship  of  the  Court 
of  Appeals  of  his  State.  Since  that  time  I  have  enjoyed 
his  friendship.  He  has  had  mine.  I  have  accepted  the 
hospitality  of  his  home,  and  in  1904,  when  he  was  a 
candidate  for  the  Presidential  nomination,  moved  largely 
by  that  personal  friendship,  I  enlisted  under  his  standard 
for  the  nomination  long  before  the  convention,  and  went 
through  that  great  battle  in  St.  Louis  in  his  behalf.  In 
that  campaign,  in  response  to  a  request  of  Judge  Parker 
personally  made  to  me,  I,  on  account  of  my  friendship 
for  him,  took  the  standard  of  a  losing  cause  as  candi- 

*  After  Mr.  Bryan  had  placed  Senator  Kern  in  nomination 
for  the  temporary  chairmanship,  Mr.  Kern  secured  recog- 
nition and  made  the  speech  here  printed. 


TEE   DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION  143 

date  for  Governor  of  Indiana,  and  carried  it  on  to  defeat, 
but  I  hope  not  an  inglorious  defeat.  In  1908  Judge 
Parker  canvassed  in  my  State  for  the  national  ticket,  on 
which  I  was  a  candidate  for  Vice-President.  Last  year, 
when  I  was  a  candidate  for  the  Senate,  in  the  midst  of 
a  heated  contest,  Judge  Parker  traveled  from  New  York 
to  Indianapolis  to  make  a  speech  in  my  behalf. 

We  have  been  during  all  these  years,  and  are  now, 
personal  friends.  The  greatest  desire  of  my  heart  is  the 
hope  of  a  Democratic  victory.  I  attended  a  national 
convention  in  Baltimore  in  1872,  before  I  had  cast  a 
vote,  and  my  young  heart  was  filled  with  no  more  enthu- 
siasm for  success  that  year  than  my  old  heart  is  now. 
I  believe  Judge  Parker  is  as  earnestly  in  favor,  as  earn- 
estly desirous  of  Democratic  success  this  year  as  I  am. 

There  are  only  a  little  over  a  thousand  delegates  in  this 
convention;  there  are  seven  million  Democrats  between 
the  oceans.  There  are  millions  of  Democrats  scattered 
from  one  end  of  this  Republic  to  the  other  who  this  hour 
are  all  looking  with  aching  hearts  upon  the  signs  of  dis- 
cord that  prevail  here  when  there  ought  to  be  forerunners 
of  victory  in  the  shouts  of  this  convention.  Is  there  a 
man  here  who  does  not  earnestly  desire  harmony  to  the 
end  that  there  may  be  victory  ? 

I  am  going  to  appeal  now  and  here  for  that  kind  of 
harmony  which  alone  will  bring  victory.  I  am  going  to 
appeal  here  and  now  for  that  kind  of  harmony  which 
will  change  the  sadness  that  this  hour  exists  in  millions 
of  Democratic  homes  into  shouts  of  joy  and  gladness. 

My  friend  Judge  Parker  sits  before  me  in  this  conven- 
tion, he  representing  the  National  Committee,  I  repre- 
senting, not  another  faction,  thank  God,  but  representing 
perhaps  another  section,  and  we  two  men  have  it  in 
our  power  to  send  these  words  of  gladness  flashing 
throughout  the  Republic.  If  my  friend  will  join  with  me 
now  and  here  in  the  selection  of  a  man  satisfactory  to  us 
both ;  if  he  will  stand  in  this  presence  with  me  and  agree 
that*  that  distinguished  New  Yorker  who  has  brought 


144  A    TALE   OF   TWO    CONVENTIONS 

more  honor  to  the  Empire  State  in  the  United  States 
Senate  than  it  has  had  since  the  days  of  Frederick  Ker- 
nan — James  A.  O'Gorman — this  discord  will  cease  in  a 
moment  and  the  great  Democratic  party  will  present  a 
united  front.  Or  if  he  will  agree  that  that  splendid  rep- 
resentative from  the  State  of  Texas  in  that  same  body, 
Charles  A.  Culberson,  shall  preside,  or  if  he  will  agree 
upon  that  splendid  parliamentarian,  Henry  D.  Clayton 
of  Alabama,  or  if  he  will  agree  upon  that  young  Ten- 
nessean,  whose  name  is  known  in  every  home  where  chiv- 
alry abides — Luke  Lea — this  matter  can  be  settled  in  a 
moment.  Or  if  he  will  agree  on  the  blue-eyed  statesman 
from  Ohio,  Governor  James  E.  Campbell;  or  if  he  will 
agree  on  the  reform  Governor  of  Missouri,  ex-Governor 
Folk;  or  if  he  will  agree  on  my  own  colleague,  the  stal- 
wart Democrat  from  Indiana,  Hon.  Benjamin  F.  Shively, 
all  this  discord  will  cease. 

Will  someone  for  Judge  Parker,  will  Judge  Parker 
himself,  meet  me  on  this  ground  and  aid  in  the  solution 
of  this  problem,  a  solution  of  which  means  victory  to 
the  party  and  relief  to  the  taxpayers  of  the  country? 

My  fellow-Democrats,  you  will  not  promote  harmony, 
you  will  not  point  the  way  to  victory,  by  jeering  or  derid- 
ing the  name  of  the  man  who  led  your  fortunes  in  1908. 
You  may  put  him  to  the  wheel,  you  may  humiliate  him 
here,  but  in  so  doing  you  will  bring  pain  to  the  hearts  of 
six  million  men  in  America  who  would  gladly  die  for 
him.  You  may  kill  him,  but  you  do  not  commit  homicide 
when  you  kill  him;  you  commit  suicide. 

My  friends,  I  have  submitted  a  proposition  to  Judge 
Parker;  I  submit  it  to  the  man,  the  leader  of  the  New 
York  Democracy,  who  holds  that  Democracy  in  the  hol- 
low of  his  hand.  What  response  have  I?  [A  pause.] 
If  there  is  to  be  no  response,  then  let  the  responsibility 
rest  where  it  belongs.  If  Alton  B.  Parker  will  come 
here  now  and  join  me  in  this  request  for  harmony,  his 
will  be  the  most  honored  of  all  the  names  amongst  Amer- 
ican Democrats. 


THE   DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION  145 

If  there  is  to  be  no  response,  if  the  responsibility  is  to 
rest  there,  if  this  is  to  be  a  contest  between  the  people 
and  the  powers,  if  it  is  to  be  a  contest  such  as  has  been 
described,  a  contest  which  I  pray  God  may  be  averted, 
then  the  cause  to  which  I  belong  is  so  great  a  cause  that 
I  am  not  fit  to  be  its  leader.  If  my  proposition  for  har- 
mony is  to  be  ignored,  and  this  deplorable  battle  is  to 
go  on,  there  is  only  one  man  fit  to  lead  the  hosts  of 
progress,  and  that  is  the  man  who  has  been  at  the  fore- 
front for  sixteen  years,  the  great  American  tribune, 
William  Jennings  Bryan.  If  you  will  have  nothing  else, 
if  that  must  be  the  issue,  then  the  leader  must  be  worthy 
of  the  cause,  and  that  leader  must  be  William  Jennings 
Bryan. 


VI 


AN   AMAZING    SPECTACLE    IN    THE    CON- 
VENTION 

Mr.  Bryan's  letter  in  afternoon  newspapers  of 
Wednesday,  June  26th. 

Baltimore,  June  26. — The  smoke  of  battle  has 
cleared  away,  and  the  country  is  now  able  to  look 
upon  the  amazing  spectacle  of  a  national  conven- 
tion controlled  by  a  national  committee,  that  com- 
mittee controlled  by  a  subcommittee  of  16,  the  sub- 
committee controlled  by  a  group  of  eight  men,  these 
men  controlled  by  Boss  Murphy  and  Boss  Murphy 
controlled  by  Thomas  Fortune  Ryan.  Probably 
never  before  in  the  history  of  the  country  have  we 
seen  two  men  attending  a  national  convention  and 
pulling  the  strings  in  the  open  view  of  the  public. 
Mr.  Ryan,  Mr.  Belmont  and  Mr.  Morgan  have 
municipal  work  in  New  York  and  Brooklyn  that 
will  involve  the  letting  of  contracts  amounting  to 
more  than  $250,000,000.  This  group  of  financiers 
also  have  large  financial  interests  in  many  of  the 
great  cities,  and  wherever  they  work  they  need  a 
political  boss. 

146 


THE    DEMOCRATIC    CONVENTION  147 

Some  of  their  bosses  work  under  the  name  of 
Democrats  and  some  bear  the  Republican  label,  but 
they  all  work  for  their  masters.  These  big  finan- 
ciers have  been  using  the  organization  of  the  two 
leading  parties  to  do  their  service.  They  were  ex- 
posed last  week  at  Chicago,  and  because  of  the  ex- 
posure Mr.  Taft's  election  was  made  impossible 
unless  they  could  control  the  Democratic  party 
and  prevent  the  nomination  of  a  progressive 
around  whom  both  Democrats  and  progressive  Ee- 
publicans  could  rally.  I  did  not  believe  until  I 
reached  Baltimore  that  it  was  possible  for  them  to 
control  this  convention,  but  I  find  that  the  dele- 
gates who  know  what  the  interests  want  and, 
knowing  it,  are  willing  to  help  the  interests,  are 
more  numerous  than  I  had  supposed. 

Many  of  them  came  masquerading  as  progres- 
sives and  as  supporters  of  progressive  candidates. 
Besides  these,  who  know  what  they  want  and  know 
how  to  get  it,  there  are  those  who  can  be  deceived 
with  the  argument  that  harmony  is  more  important 
than  principle — an  argument  always  used  when  the 
gang  gets  control  of  the  organization,  but  never 
heard  when  the  gang  loses  control.  Then  there  are 
some  who  regard  everything  from  the  standpoint  of 
its  influence  upon  the  candidate  whom  they  favor. 
Adding  these  groups  together,  they  constitute  a 
majority  of  this  Convention,  and  they  have  put  the 
party  in  a  false  light  before  the  country.  The 


148  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

Democratic  party  is  progressive.  Three-fourths, 
if  not  nine-tenths  of  the  rank  and  file  have  no  sym- 
pathy whatever  with  the  effort  to  use  the  party  or- 
ganization in  the  interests  of  a  few  exploiters,  but 
the  masses  are  temporarily  helpless  when  they  are 
misrepresented  by  those  whom  they  have  elected 
delegates.  The  action  of  the  Convention  yesterday 
will  open  the  eyes  of  the  voters  at  home,  and  pres- 
sure from  home  may  be  brought  to  bear  upon  the 
Convention  to  shake  it  loose  from  its  alliance  with 
the  plunderbund. 

If  I  were  a  cartoonist,  I  would  represent  Eyan  as 
the  dominant  power  in  the  Convention,  having  in 
his  hand  a  cat-o  '-nine-tails,  the  nine  tails  represent- 
ing Murphy,  Taggart,  Sullivan  &  Co.,  the  dominat- 
ing members  of  the  national  committee,  and  I 
would  represent  the  Democratic  party  as  receiving 
the  lashes  upon  its  back.  After  the  people  had  had 
a  chance  to  study  the  cartoon  for  a  while  I  would 
draw  another  representing  the  party  in  rebellion 
against  Ryan,  snatching  the  cat-o '-nine-tails  from 
his  hand  and  driving  him  from  power. 

That  is  the  situation  as  I  see  it.  The  first  thing 
for  the  Democratic  party  to  do  is  to  get  rid  of  those 
members  of  the  national  committee  who  hold  the 
people  in  contempt  and  to  whom  the  will  of  the 
Money  Trust  is  law.  A  campaign  at  such  a  time  as 
this  will  be  a  faree  if  such  men  direct  it.  If  the 
Democratic  party  has  not  virtue  enough  to  re- 


A  CARTOON  DRAWN  FROM  MR.  BRYAN'S  SUGGESTION. 

(Johnson  in  the  Baltimore  "American.") 
"If  I  were  a  cartoonist  I  would  represent  Eyan  as  the 
dominant  power  in  the  convention,  having  in  his  hand  a  cat- 
o'-nine  tails,  the  nine  tails  representing  Murphy,  Taggart, 
Sullivan   &   Co.,   the   dominating  members   of   the   National 
Committee,  and  I  would  represent  the  Democratic  party  as 
receiving    the    lashes    upon    its    back." — William   Jennings 
Bryan  in  his  newspaper  letter  of  June  26. 
149 


150 


A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 


pudiate  this  band  of  buccaneers,  now  that  it  has 
been  exposed,  it  cannot  hope  to  appeal  to  the  con- 
fidence of  the  people.  Any  candidate  for  president 
who  enters  into  collusion  with  them  will  find  them  a 
millstone  about  his  neck. 

I  do  not  believe  that  they  can  succeed  in  nomi- 


ANOTHEK  CAKTOON  DRAWN  FROM  THE  SUGGESTION  MADE  BY 

MR.  BRYAN. 
(From  the  Washington  "Times.") 

nating  anybody  whom  they  favor,  but  the  nomina- 
tion will  be  a  mere  formality  if  they  do  succeed. 
This  is  no  time  for  protestations  of  party  loyalty  or 
for  the  paying  of  empty  compliments.  The  Ameri- 
can people  are  demanding  relief  from  the  despotic 


THE   DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION 


151 


power  of  organized  greed.  Unless  the  Demo- 
cratic party  is  ready  to  give  them  this  relief,  the 
Convention  might  as  well  adjourn  and  let  the  dele- 
gates go  home  by  trains  that  arrive  near  the  middle 


CARTOON  DRAWN  FROM  MR.  BRYAN'S  SUGGESTION  FOR  A 

SECOND  ONE. 

(From  the  Washington  "Times.") 

' '  After  the  people  had  had  a  chance  to  study  that  cartoon 
for  awhile  (the  reference  is  to  the  cartoon  shown  on  the 
preceding  page),  I  would  draw  another  representing  the 
party  in  rebellion  against  Ryan,  snatching  the  cat-o'-nine- 
tails from  his  hand  and  driving  him  from  power." — 
William  Jennings  Bryan. 

of  the  night — late  enough  to  avoid  the  reception 
committees  that  will  be  ready  for  some  of  them  if 
they  reach  home  in  the  daytime. 


VII 

THE  TIDE  TURNS 

Mr.  Bryan's  letter  in  morning  newspapers  of 
Thursday,  June  27th. 

Baltimore,  Md.,  June  26. — To-day  has  been  a 
day  of  triumph  for  the  progressives.  The  men 
who  voted  for  Judge  Parker  for  chairman  have 
been  trying  to  square  themselves.  They  have  been 
hearing  from  home.  The  telegraph  companies  have 
been  reaping  a  rich  harvest.*  No  one  has  sug- 
gested that  Judge  Parker  was  put  up  by  the  tele- 
graph companies  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  their 
revenues  through  the  protests  his  nomination  would 
invite,  but  the  money  has  poured  in  here  just  the 
same. 

The  effect  of  these  telegrams  already  is  being 
seen.  The  resolutions  eommittee  wanted  a  pro- 
gressive for  chairman.  I  declined  the  position — 
although  I  appreciated  the  compliment  involved 

*  These  telegrams  were  so  numerous  that  an  effort  was 
made  to  ascertain  just  how  many  there  were.  About  110,000 
messages  are  known  to  have  been  received  by  delegates.  Some 
were  signed  by  many  persons.  Mr.  Bryan  himself  received 
1,128  telegrams  from  31,331  persons  in  forty-six  States. 

152 


THE   DEMOCRATIC    CONVENTION  153 

in  the  offer — because  I  did  not  want  to  be  ham- 
pered by  any  feeling  of  obligation  to  the  committee 
in  case  I  desired  to  present  a  minority  report. 
And  then,  too,  I  felt  that  those  who  owned  the 
ship  ought  to  select  the  officers  to  command  it. 

The  committee  on  permanent  organization  se- 
lected Congressman  James,  of  Kentucky,  for  per- 
manent chairman.  This,  however,  was  not  a  vol- 
untary offering.  A  portion  of  the  committee — less 
than  half — attempted  to  rush  the  matter  through 
last  night  and  make  the  temporary  organization 
permanent,  but  former  Gov.  Campbell,  of  Texas, 
got  in  just  in  time  to  demand  an  adjournment 
until  morning  in  order  to  give  all  the  members  a 
chance  to  be  present. 

When  the  full  committee  assembled  the  progres- 
sives were  out  in  such  force  that  the  effort  to  con- 
tinue Parker  was  abandoned  and  the  honor  was 
given  to  Mr.  James.  They  then  attempted  to  elect 
Temporary  Secretary  Woodson  permanent  secre- 
tary, but  this  was  objected  to  by  the  progressives, 
and  Mr.  Grattan,  of  North  Carolina,  was  substi- 
tuted for  him.  Thus  the  progressives  had  a  series 
of  victories. 

Before  passing  from  the  subject  of  officers  I  may 
add  that  my  refusal  of  the  permanent  chairman- 
ship was  based  partly  on  the  fact  that  I  did  not 
regard  it  as  a  compliment  to  have  the  position  ten- 
dered me  by  those  who  had  defeated  me  for  tern- 


154  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

porary  chairman,  and  partly  because  I  did  not  feel 
disposed  to  accept  any  responsibility  for  the  con- 
duct of  the  convention  until  it  had  done  something 
to  purge  itself  of  its  reactionary  character. 

As  soon  as  the  resolutions  committee  was  or- 
ganized I  introduced  a  resolution  declaring  it  to 
be  the  sense  of  the  committee  that  the  candidates 
for  president  should  be  nominated  before  the  plat- 
form was  adopted,  giving  as  my  reasons  that  this 
convention  was  of  unusual  importance  and  that 
our  hope  of  victory  depended  upon  our  measuring 
up  to  the  requirements  of  the  occasion;  that  the 
platform  would  not  amount  to  much  unless  our 
candidate  stood  squarely  upon  it  and  was  able  to 
defend  it;  that  a  joint  debate  between  our  plat- 
form and  our  candidate  would  be  fatal  to  the  pros- 
pects of  our  party,  and  that  by  changing  the  order 
we  would  be  able  so  to  shape  our  platform  utter- 
ances as  to  give  force  to  his  candidacy. 

To  the  argument  that  it  was  unprecedented  I 
replied  that  extraordinary  conditions  required  ex- 
traordinary remedies.  To  the  suggestion  that  any 
candidate  who  might  be  nominated  would  be  willing 
to  stand  upon  a  platform  prepared  by  the  conven- 
tion I  replied  that  our  candidate  eight  years  ago 
amended  !our  platform  by  telegraph,  and  that 
method  of  amending  a  platform  did  not  take  well 
with  the  public.  There  was  considerable  discus- 
sion, but  the  sentiment  soon  turned  so  strongly  to 


THE  BALTIMORE  TRANSFORMATION. 
(Bart  in  the  Minneapolis  "Journal.") 


155 


156  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

the  proposition  that  it  was  adopted  on  roll-call  by 
a  vote  of  41  to  11. 

Senator  Vardaman,  who  was  one  of  the  active 
supporters  of  the  resolution,  moved  that  a  commit- 
tee of  three  be  appointed  to  notify  the  committee 
on  rules.  The  committee  on  rules,  after  a  short 
discussion,  indorsed  the  proposition  by  a  vote  of 
22  to  16,  and  if  it  is  indorsed  by  the  convention — 
the  convention  has  not  taken  action  at  this  hour — 
the  nominations  will  proceed  while  the  platform  is 
being  prepared,  and  we  shall  have  the  benefit  of 
the  suggestions  of  our  nominee  before  putting  the 
finishing  touches  on  the  platform. 

The  air  is  full  of  rumors  in  regard  to  combina- 
tions in  behalf  of  different  candidates.  One  thing 
is  certain — that  Gov.  Harmon  is  no  longer  a  pos- 
sibility. With  only  nine  instructed  votes  outside 
of  his  own  State  and  nineteen  delegates  from  his 
own  State  opposing  the  unit  rule,  he  cannot  be  con- 
sidered a  factor.  The  vote  yesterday  afternoon 
shows  that  he  cannot  secure  one-third  of  the  con- 
vention under  any  circumstances. 

Mr.  Underwood  might  do  a  little  better  than  Gov. 
Harmon,  but  the  triumph  of  the  reactionaries  yes- 
terday has  so  aroused  the  country  that  the  conven- 
tion is  much  less  likely  to  nominate  either  of  these 
men  than  it  would  have  been  had  the  machine 
been  willing  to  allow  the  convention  to  begin  har- 
moniously. 


THE   DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION  157 

However,  neither  Gov.  Harmon  nor  Mr.  Under- 
wood had  any  chance  of  nomination  before,  and 
they  probably  thought  they  had  nothing  to  lose  by 
making  the  fight  that  they  did  for  Judge  Parker. 

Gov.  Baldwin 's  vote  is  purely  complimentary  and 
will  not  stay  with  him  more  than  a  ballot  or  two. 

Gov.  Burke 's  vote  is  complimentary  also  and  will 
go  to  Gov.  Wilson  as  soon  as  the  former's  name  is 
withdrawn. 

Gov.  Foss'  name  is  not  to  be  presented  except  in 
case  of  a  deadlock.  Massachusetts'  strength,  there- 
fore, will  be  thrown  to  Clark  on  the  first  ballot. 
I  do  not  feel  free  to  discuss  the  situation  as  it  re- 
lates to  Clark  and  Wilson  because  I  have  not  ex- 
pressed a  preference  between  them. 


VIII 

BOSSISM  BECOMES  AN  ISSUE 

Mr.  Bryan's  letter  in  afternoon  newspapers  of 
Thursday,  June  27th. 

Baltimore,  June  27. — Down  with  the  bosses! 
That  is  the  supreme  duty  of  this  convention.  A 
nomination  secured  by  the  aid  of  these  notorious 
agents  of  the  predatory  interests  would  not  be 
worth  having  unless  it  was  accepted  for  the  pur- 
pose of  preventing  the  Democratic  party  from  de- 
feating Mr.  Taft.  The  object  of  the  Ryan-Murphy- 
Sullivan-Taggart  crowd  is  not  to  nominate  a  Demo- 
crat who  can  win,  but  to  carry  out  the  schemes  of 
the  exploiters  who  work  along  non-partisan  lines 
and  control  all  parties  for  their  own  advantage. 
The  only  way  in  which  they  can  succeed  is  to  pit 
big  business  with  its  trained  corps  of  attorneys  and 
its  disciplined  crowd  of  bosses  against  an  unorgan- 
ized multitude.  It  is  the  fight  of  the  wolf  against 
the  lamb,  but  such  a  fight  can  only  be  successful 
when  the  people  are  uninformed.  There  is  a 
mighty,  latent  power  in  the  masses  which  needs 

158 


THE   DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION  159 

only  to  be  brought  into  action  to  thwart  the  wicked 
schemes  of  the  privileged  few. 

The  masses  are  now  awake.  It  is  doubtful 
whether  we  have  ever  had  in  this  country  a  better 
illustration  of  the  moral  power  of  the  people  than 
we  have  had  since  Tuesday.  In  the  Chicago  con- 
vention of  last  week  the  delegates  were  outspoken 
in  their  support  of  Taft  or  in  their  opposition  to 
him.  They  were  elected  on  that  platform.  There 
were  but  few  changes  announced  after  the  delega- 
tions reached  Chicago,  and  those  who  changed 
were  objects  of  suspicion.  When  a  man  deserted 
his  side  at  Chicago  the  question  was,  "What  was 
the  price?"  For  a  while  it  looked  as  if  market 
quotations  might  play  a  part  if  in  the  lineup  there 
was  a  difference  of  but  a  few  votes.  Here  it  is  dif- 
ferent. Three-fourths  of  the  delegates  to  this  con- 
vention came  as  progressives;  yes,  more  than 
three-fourths.  There  were  probably  not  150  dele- 
gates in  the  convention  who  would  state  in  writing 
that  they  were  not  in  harmony  with  the  progres- 
sive movement. 

But  since  reaching  here  it  has  become  apparent 
that  many  of  these  men  deliberately  deceived  their 
constituents.  Some  protested  that  they  were  sus- 
taining the  committee  in  its  recommendations  out 
of  a  desire  to  promote  harmony,  although  the  com- 
mittee itself  was  doing  everything  possible  to  pre- 
vent harmony;  others  explained  their  votes  by  say- 


160  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

ing  that  the  interests  of  their  candidates  demanded 
it,  but  the  telegraph  wires  have  been  busy,  and 
some  of  the  messages  are  interesting  reading.  It 
is  noticeable,  however,  that  all  the  explaining  is 
being  done  by  the  followers  of  Ryan  and  Murphy. 
The  progressives  are  being  urged  to  stand  firm  and 
make  no  concessions  to  the  political  pirates  who 
are  trying  to  capture  the  good  ship  Democracy. 
Some  of  the  delegates  who  wandered  from  the  fold 
and  supported  the  reactionaries  are  reading  tele- 
grams that  make  their  ears  burn.  One  telegram 
from  the  West  signed  by  a  large  number  of  citi- 
zens inquired  the  name  of  a  delegate  who  voted  for 
Parker  for  temporary  chairman  and  suggested  that 
he  prepare  himself  for  a  lynching  on  his  arrival 
home.  So  the  war  goes  merrily  on,  with  the  party's 
hope  dependent  on  the  convention's  ability  to  put 
itself  before  the  country  as  a  true  representative 
of  Democracy. 

There  is  one  way  in  which  the  foul  blot  can  be 
removed,  namely,  by  a  resolution  adopted  by  the 
convention  denouncing  any  alliance  between  the 
money  magnates  of  the  country  and  the  party  lead- 
ers and  authorizing  the  nominee  of  the  party  to 
remove  from  the  national  committee  any  member 
who  has  the  brand  of  Wall  Street  upon  him.  If  the 
convention  will  pass  such  a  resolution  and  then  de- 
mand of  each  candidate  before  voting  for  him  that 
he  will  put  this  resolution  in  force  and  reorganize 


THE   DEMOCRATIC    CONVENTION  161 

the  national  committee  on  a  basis  of  honesty  and 
Democracy,  we  can  win  this  fight.  The  country  is 
waiting  for  a  party  that  dares  to  defend  popular 
government  and  the  right  of  each  citizen  to  equal 
treatment  before  the  law.  Mr.  Taft  can  be  de- 
feated by  2,000,000  votes  if  this  convention  will  do 
its  duty.  If  it  fails  to  do  its  duty  it  will  not  only 
disappoint  millions  of  Democrats,  but  it  will  lose 
such  an  opportunity  as  seldom  comes  to  a  party. 


IX 


THE  ANTI-MORGAN-EYAN-BELMONT  RESO- 
LUTION 

Mr.  Bryan's  letter  in  morning  newspapers  of  Fri- 
day, June  28th. 

Baltimore,  Md.,  June  27. — The  day  has  not  been 
a  dull  one,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  there  was 
little  business  to  do.  The  afternoon  session  was 
devoted  to  the  argument  of  the  South  Dakota  case. 
The  argument  was  so  complicated  that  men  voted 
more  according  to  their  opinions  of  its  effect  than 
upon  the  merits  of  the  case. 

The  Wilson  delegates  had  a  plurality  at  the  pri- 
maries; this  was  not  denied,  but  the  Clark  dele- 
gates claimed  the  right  to  represent  the  State  on 
the  ground  that  there  were  two  Clark  tickets  and 
that  the  combined  vote  for  these  tickets  exceeded 
the  vote  for  the  Wilson  ticket. 

The  trouble  was  that  one  of  the  Clark  tickets 
was  headed  "Bryan,  Wilson,  Clark,"  and  it  was 
impossible,  therefore,  to  determine  how  many  of 
the  votes  cast  were  really  cast  for  Clark  and  how 

162 


TEE   DEMOCRATIC    CONVENTION  163 

many  were  influenced  by  the  fact  that  Wilson's 
name  was  combined  with  Clark's.  At  least  this 
was  the  argument  of  the  Wilson  men  to  the  claim 
presented  by  the  Clark  men.  When  the  roll  was 
called  the  Wilson  delegation  had  a  considerable 
majority  in  its  favor. 

During  the  progress  of  the  debate  there  were 
demonstrations  first  for  Clark  and  then  for  Wilson. 
At  the  evening  session  I  introduced  the  following 
resolution : 

"Resolved,  That  in  this  crisis  in  our  party's 
career  and  in  our  country's  history  this  conven- 
tion sends  greeting  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States  and  assures  them  that  the  party  of  Jefferson 
and  of  Jackson  is  still  the  champion  of  popular 
government  and  equality  before  the  law.  As  proof 
of  our  fidelity  to  the  people  we  hereby  declare  our- 
selves opposed  to  the  nomination  of  any  candidate 
for  president  who  is  the  representative  of  or  under 
any  obligation  to  J.  Pierpont  Morgan,  Thomas  F. 
Ryan,  August  Belmont,  or  any  other  member 
of  the  privilege-hunting  and  favor-seeking 
class. ' ' 

As  introduced,  the  resolution  contained  another 
paragraph,  or  rather  a  second  resolution,  as  fol- 
lows: 

"Be  it  further  Resolved,  that  we  demand  the 
withdrawal  from  this  convention  of  any  delegate  or 


164  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

delegates  constituting  or  representing  the  above- 
named  interests. ' '  * 

The  second  resolution  was  attacked  more  fiercely 
than  the  first  on  the  ground  that  each  State  had  a 
right  to  send  as  its  delegates  whom  it  pleased  and 
that  to  demand  the  withdrawal  of  a  delegate  would 
be  an  infringement  upon  the  right  of  the  State. 
Seeing  that  this  second  resolution  would  be  made 
an  excuse  by  those  who  did  not  want  to  vote  for 
the  first  resolution  I  withdrew  it  before  the  vote 
was  taken.  Then,  too,  the  objection  was  urged  by 
some  with  perfect  sincerity,  and  I  did  not  care  to 
put  them  in  a  position  where  their  reason  for  vot- 
ing "no"  would  become  a  matter  of  discussion. 

In  a  short  speech  supporting  the  first  or  main 
resolution  I  called  attention  to  the  extraordinary 
situation  and  the  menace  of  these  influences  to  our 
party's  success,  insisting  that  we  must  convince 
the  country  that  our  candidate  was  free  from  alli- 
ance with  the  predatory  interests. 

To  the  suggestion  that  such  a  resolution  dis- 
turbed the  harmony  of  the  party  and  endangered 
our  candidate  I  replied  with  a  Bible  quotation,  "If 
thy  right  hand  offend  thee,  cut  it  off,"  and  con- 

*  Just  as  the  manuscript  of  this  work  was  going  to  the 
printer  the  editor  ascertained  that  the  introduction  of  this 
resolution  was  first  suggested  to  Mr.  Bryan  by  his  brother, 
Charles  W.  Bryan,  who  has  been  associated  with  him  for 
several  years  both  in  politics  and  in  the  publication  of  ' '  The 
Commoner. ' ' 


THE   DEMOCBATIC    CONVENTION  165 

tended  that  the  same  principle  that  would  lead  one 
to  cut  off  his  hand  to  save  his  body  should  lead  us 
to  free  the  Democratic  party  from  the  influences 
of  these  men  and  those  associated  with  them  in 
schemes  of  exploitation. 

I  first  asked  unanimous  consent  for  the  immedi- 
ate consideration  of  the  resolution.  When  objec- 
tion was  made  I  moved  to  suspend  the  rules  and 
proceed  to  the  consideration  of  the  motion. 

The  motion  to  suspend  the  rules  requires  a  two- 
thirds  vote  for  its  adoption,  and  I  was  afraid  that 
I  could  not  secure  a  two-thirds  vote,  but  as  a  ma- 
jority vote  would  answer  the  same  purpose — that 
is,  it  would  become  the  sense  of  the  convention — I 
thought  it  would  make  no  difference  whether  it  re- 
ceived two-thirds  or  not,  and  even  if  it  failed  to 
receive  a  majority  it  gave  a  chance  to  put  the  dele- 
gates on  record  on  the  proposition. 

The  adoption  of  the  resolution  by  a  vote  of  889 
to  196  eliminates  all  the  reactionaries  and  narrows 
the  contest  down  to  those  about  whose  progressive- 
ness  there  can  be  no  doubt. 

If  the  convention  puts  up  a  progressive  platform 
and  our  candidate  secures  such  a  reorganization  of 
the  national  committee  as  to  make  that  organiza- 
tion worthy  of  the  confidence  of  the  country  we  can 
enter  upon  a  winning  campaign. 

The  nominations  are  now  being  made  to  a 
crowded  house  and  the  names  of  those  presented 


166  A    TALE    OF   TWO    CONVENTIONS 

are  being  cheered  by  their  partisans.  It  is  impos- 
sible to  make  any  forecast  as  to  the  result.  It  seems 
unlikely  that  a  nomination  can  be  made  on  the 
first  ballot,  and  as  no  one  can  tell  how  long  in- 
structed delegates  will  regard  their  instructions  as 
binding  or  what  they  will  do  when  they  are  free  to 
vote  as  they  please,  a  guess  upon  the  situation  is 
hazardous. 

One  thing  is  certain — the  convention  is  more 
entertaining  than  was  expected.  The  feeling  is  not 
as  tense  as  it  was  at  Chicago  and  the  delegates  and 
visitors  seem  to  be  enjoying  themselves.  I  cannot 
say  so  much  for  the  dominant  element  in  the  na- 
tional committee. 


X 

THE  ADOPTION  OF  THE  RESOLUTION 

Mr.  Bryan's  letter  in  afternoon  newspapers  of  Fri- 
day, June  2Sth. 

Baltimore,  June  28. — It  was  a  surgical  opera- 
tion, and  it  was  possibly  a  mistake  not  to  have  ad- 
ministered chloroform,  but  I  did  not  expect  quite 
so  much  tumult.  Strange  what  a  consternation 
can  be  brought  into  a  political  convention  by  the 
introduction  of  a  moral  issue.  If  I  had  offered  a 
resolution  declaring  that  all  Republicans  are  ras- 
cals and  all  Democrats  angels,  and  pledging  the 
Democratic  party  to  give  the  people  a  perfect  gov- 
ernment, Boss  Murphy  would  have  seconded  the 
motion.  Ryan  and  Belmont  would  have  shouted 
themselves  hoarse  and  Flood  would  have  declared 
that  I  was  as  good  as  a  Virginia  Democrat.  But 
when  I  called  the  country's  attention  to  the  fact 
that  we  had  in  the  convention  two  men  who  are 
politically  sexless,  who  have  no  god  but  money, 
and  who  do  not  hesitate  to  use  political  power  for 
their  own  enrichment,  I  at  once  became  "a  dis- 
167 


168  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

turber  of  peace"  and  an  "enemy  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party." 

If  my  conduct  was  so  reprehensible,  if  my  reso- 
lution was  so  offensive,  if  I  was  injuring  the 
chances  of  the  Democratic  party  by  introducing  it, 
why  did  Virginia  cast  231/2  votes  for  it  and  only 
a  half  vote  against  it?  If  ex-Governor  McCorkle 
represented  West  Virginia  in  the  speech  that  he 
made,  why  did  he  not  get  more  than  three  votes 
against  it  in  his  delegation?  If  I  was  jeopardiz- 
ing the  interests  of  our  party  why  did  Florida  give 
three-fourths  of  her  votes  to  the  resolution  ?  "Why 
did  poor  Alabama  have  to  get  out  of  the  trap  by 
changing  her  vote  ?  She  came  first  on  the  roll,  and, 
supposing  by  the  speeches  made  that  the  resolu- 
tion was  going  to  be  opposed,  she  started  out  boldly 
against  it — and  after  that  it  snowed.  Why  did  not 
the  New  York  men  who  hissed  and  hooted  at  the 
resolution  have  the  courage  to  vote  against  it? 
Shakespeare  explains  it — "It  is  conscience  that 
makes  cowards  of  us  all." 

Belmont  and  Ryan  have  been  plowing  with  our 
heifer ;  they  have  been  employing  the  methods  usu- 
ally resorted  to  by  the  predatory  interests,  and  the 
men  whom  they  were  leading  astray  were  protest- 
ing that  they  were  just  as  progressive  as  anybody. 
They  were  insisting  that  their  objection  to  Mr. 
Bryan  was  a  personal  objection.  They  were  "tired 
of  him,  opposed  to  his  dictation,"  etc.  If  things 


THE   DEMOCRATIC    CONVENTION  169 

had  run  along  smoothly  these  men  would  have 
helped  to  nominate  a,  gold-plated  servant  of  Wall 
Street  and  then  gone  home  to  help  elect  Taft. 
But  things  did  not  run  along  smoothly,  and  hence  a 
scene  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  describe. 

Looking  down  from  the  stage  I  saw  a  confusion 
that  I  never  witnessed  before  in  a  convention. 
The  delegate  section  was  like  a  great,  boiling 
spring.  Men  were  shaking  their  fists  at  each  other, 
some  shouting  anathemas  at  any  one  who  would 
dare  to  uncover  them,  and  others  clamoring  to  be 
counted  in  favor  of  the  resolution.  There  is  noth- 
ing more  timid  than  a  politician,  except  two  poli- 
ticians. The  ratio  of  moral  courage  in  the  plain, 
everyday  voter  as  compared  with  the  courage  of 
the  average  delegate  to  a  national  convention  is 
about  16  to  1.  If  a  national  convention  could  as- 
semble and  do  its  work  and  then  take  a  recess  for 
a  month  and  allow  the  final  action  to  be  taken  after 
the  delegates  had  returned  from  a  visit  home,  our 
conventions  would  come  much  nearer  representing 
the  people.  I  would  not  advise  that,  however,  in 
the  present  case,  for  fear  some  of  the  delegates 
might  not  be  able  to  get  back. 

But  the  convention  has  done  one  thing,  if  noth- 
ing else.  It  has  committed  a  great  party  more 
openly  to  opposition  to  the  Plunderbund  than  any 
great  party  was  ever  committed  before  by  a  na- 
tional convention. 


170  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

Political  life  has  both  its  trials  and  its  rewards. 
The  greatest  trial,  aside  from  absence  from  home 
and  physical  strain,  is  the  alienation  of  friends — 
not  personal,  but  political.  Every  new  issue  brings 
a  new  alignment,  and  men  who  have  associated 
with  others  politically  find  that  they  must  separate. 
Such  separations,  however,  ought  not  to  affect  per- 
sonal relations.  Men  should  recognize  in  each 
other  the  right  to  follow  conscience  and  judgment. 
The  more  unpleasant  separations  are  those  that 
do  not  follow  a  difference  of  conviction  upon  some 
new  issue,  but  are  due  to  a  changed  environment. 

There  are  several  illustrations  of  it  in  this  con- 
vention. Take  the  case  of  Bell,  of  California,  for 
instance.  He  was  my  enthusiastic  political  sup- 
porter from  1896  until  after  1908 — just  when  the 
change  took  place  I  do  not  know.  I  had  such  con- 
fidence in  him  that  I  secured  his  appointment  as 
temporary  chairman  of  the  last  Democratic  na- 
tional convention.  Now  I  find  him  so  influenced 
by  another  environment  that  he  prefers  a  keynote 
from  Judge  Parker,  rather  than  the  kind  of  a 
speech  I  am  in  the  habit  of  making.  Has  my 
brand  of  Democracy  changed,  or  has  his?  Then 
there  is  Urey  "Woodson.  I  became  acquainted  with 
him  17  years  ago,  and  for  many  years  I  had  no 
more  loyal  supporter.  He  is  now  secretary  of  the 
national  committee,  or  was  until  day  before  yes- 
terday, because  I  permitted  him  to  be.  There 


THE   DEMOCRATIC    CONVENTION  171 

were  protests  against  his  reappointment  four  years 
ago,  and  I  had  some  misgivings  myself,  but  I  gave 
him  the  benefit  of  the  doubt.  I  soon  learned  of  my 
mistake,  but  did  not  think  the  position  important 
enough  to  justify  a  change  during  the  campaign. 
The  gulf  has  widened  between  our  political  views 
until  now  my  kind  of  Democracy  is  quite  repulsive 
to  him.  Taggart  and  Sullivan  do  not  owe  me  any- 
thing, unless  it  be  a  grudge.  I  tried  to  unseat  Mr. 
Sullivan's  delegation  eight  years  ago  at  St.  Louis 
and  objected  to  his  reelection  as  national  commit- 
teeman  four  years  ago.  I  was  not  surprised,  there- 
fore, to  find  him  lined  up  with  Wall  Street.  Tag- 
gart is  an  organization  Democrat.  It  would  be 
hard  to  get  him  to  bolt  a  ticket.  His  loyalty  to 
the  party  was  probably  never  more  severely  tested 
than  when  I  was  nominated  four  years  ago.  It 
would  not  be  necessary  to  recall  the  fact  that  he 
was  not  reelected  chairman  of  the  committee  four 
years  ago.  The  difference  in  viewpoint  would  ac- 
count for  his  opposition,  without  recourse  to  any 
special  grievance. 

There  are  others,  but  the  above  illustrate  what  I 
mean  when  I  say  that  politics  has  its  sad  side,  but 
there  are  compensations,  and  no  one  knows  this 
better  than  the  writer.  The  loyalty  of  friends  who 
fight  iny  battles  for  me  without  suggestion  from 
me  and  without  hope  or  thought  of  reward;  these 
are  like  the  morning  sun ;  they  dispel  the  darkness. 


172  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

And  what  a  joy  it  is  to  meet  these  congenial  spirits, 
assembled  here  from  every  part  of  this  country! 
One  never  appreciates  that  man  is  made  in  the 
image  of  his  Creator  until  he  comes  into  contact 
with  a  heaven-born  soul — a  man  who  is  not  afraid 
to  die.  An  ancient  proverb  says  that  "no  one 
need  be  a  slave  who  has  learned  how  to  die."  The 
trouble  with  so  many  men  is  that  they  do  not  be- 
lieve in  a  resurrection.  They  do  not  seem  to  know 
that  Truth  cannot  die;  that  no  grave  can  confine 
it.  I  saw  a  lot  of  brave  men  at  Chicago,  fighting 
for  the  people.  We  have  a  lot  of  brave  men  here 
fighting  on  the  same  side.  May  their  tribe  in- 
crease !  * 

MR.    BRYAN'S    SPEECH    ON    THE    RESO- 
LUTION. 

Mr.  Chairman :  I  have  here  a  resolution  which  should, 
in  my  judgment,  be  acted  upon  before  a  candidate  for 
president  is  nominated,  and  I  ask  unanimous  consent  for 
its  immediate  consideration. 

"Resolved,  That  in  this  crisis  in  our  party's 
career  and  in  our  country's  history  this  conven- 
tion sends  greetings  to  the  people  and  assures 
them  that  the  party  of  Jefferson  and  Jackson 
is  still  the  champion  of  popular  government 

*  The  above  letter  has  by  some  been  thought  to  be  the 
best  of  those  written  by  Mr.  Bryan  at  Chicago  and  Balti- 
more. The  closing  paragraph,  written  under  the  stress  of 
stirring  events,  reveals  Mr.  Bryan's  faith  and  philosophy  in 
his  individual  as  in  his  political  life. 


THE   DEMOCRATIC    CONVENTION  173 

and  equality  before  the  law.  As  proof  of  our 
fidelity  to  the  people  we  hereby  declare  our- 
selves opposed  to  the  nomination  of  any  candi- 
date for  President  who  is  a  representative  of,  or 
under  any  obligation  to  J.  Pierpont  Morgan, 
Thomas  F.  Ryan,  August  Belmont,  or  any 
other  member  of  the  privilege-hunting  and 
favor-seeking  class. 

"Be  it  further  resolved,  That  we  demand  the 
withdrawal  from  this  convention  of  any  dele- 
gate or  delegates  constituting  or  representing 
the  above-named  interests." 

This  is  an  extraordinary  resolution,  but  extraordinary 
conditions  require  extraordinary  remedies.  We  are  now 
engaged  in  the  conduct  of  a  convention  that  will  place 
before  this  country  the  Democratic  nominee,  and  I  as- 
sume that  every  delegate  in  this  convention  is  here  be- 
cause he  wants  that  nominee  elected. 

It  is  that  we  may  advance  the  cause  of  our  candidate 
that  I  present  this  resolution.  There  are  questions  of 
which  a  court  takes  judicial  notice,  and  there  are  sub- 
jects upon  which  we  can  assume  that  the  American  peo- 
ple are  informed.  There  is  not  a  delegate  in  this  con- 
vention who  does  not  know  that  an  effort  is  being  made 
right  now  to  sell  the  Democratic  party  into  bondage  to 
the  predatory  interests  of  this  country.  It  is  the  most 
brazen,  the  most  insolent,  the  most  impudent  attempt 
that  has  been  made  in  the  history  of  American  politics 
to  dominate  a  convention,  stifle  the  honest  sentiment  of  a 
party  and  make  the  nominee  the  bond-slave  of  the  men 
who  exploit  the  country. 

I  need  not  tell  you  that  J.  Pierpont  Morgan,  Thomas 
F.  Ryan  and  August  Belmont  are  three  of  the  men  who 
are  connected  with  the  great  money  trust  now  under  in- 
vestigation, and  are  despotic  in  their  rule  of  the  business 
of  the  country  and  merciless  in  their  command  of  their 
slaves. 

Some  one  has  said  that  we  have  no  right  to  demand 


174  A    TALE    OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

the  withdrawal  of  delegates  who  come  here  from  a  sov- 
ereign State. 

I  reply  that  if  these  men  are  willing  to  insult  six  and 
a  half  million  of  Democrats  by  coming  here  we  ought 
to  be  willing  to  speak  out  against  them  and  let  them 
know  we  resent  the  insult. 

I,  for  one,  am  not  willing  that  Thomas  F.  Ryan  and 
August  Belmont  shall  come  here  with  their  paid  attor- 
neys and  seek  secret  counsel  with  the  managers  of  our 
party.  No  sense  of  politeness  or  courtesy  to  such  men 
will  keep  me  from  protecting  my  party  from  the  dis- 
grace that  they  bring  upon  it. 

I  can  not  speak  for  you.  You  have  your  own  respon- 
sibility, but  if  this  is  to  be  a  convention  run  by  these 
men;  if  our  nominee  is  to  be  their  representative  and 
tool,  I  pray  you  to  give  us,  who  represent  constituencies 
that  do  not  want  this,  a  chance  to  go  on  record  with  our 
protest  against  it.  If  any  of  you  are  willing  to  nomi- 
nate a  candidate  who  represents  these  men  or  who  is 
under  obligation  to  these  men,  do  it  and  take  the  respon- 
sibility. I  refuse  to  take  that  responsibility. 

Some  have  said  that  we  have  no  right  to  demand  the 
withdrawal  of  delegates  from  this  convention.  I  will 
make  you  a  proposition.  One  of  these  men  sits  with 
New  York  and  the  other  with  Virginia.  If  the  State  of 
New  York  will  take  a  poll  of  its  delegates  and  a  ma- 
jority of  them — not  Mr.  Murphy,  but  a  majority  of  the 
delegates — I  repeat,  if  New  York  will  on  roll-call  where 
her  delegates  can  have  their  names  recorded  and  printed, 
ask  for  the  withdrawal  of  the  name  of  Mr.  Belmont ;  and 
if  Virginia  will  on  roll-call  ask  the  withdrawal  of  the 
name  of  Mr.  Ryan,  I  will  then  withdraw  the  latter  part 
of  the  resolution,  which  demands  the  withdrawal  of  these 
men  from  the  convention.  I  will  withdraw  the  last  part 
at  the  request  of  the  States  in  which  these  gentlemen 
sit,  but  I  will  not  withdraw  the  first  part  that  demands 
that  our  candidate- shall  be  free  from  alliance  with  them. 

It  is  not  necessary  for  the  gentleman  from  Virginia 


TEE   DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION  175 

to  deliver  a  eulogy  upon  his  State.  My  father  was  born 
in  Virginia  and  no  one  has  greater  reverence  for  that 
great  commonwealth  than  I.  I  know,  too,  the  sentiment 
of  the  people  of  Virginia.  They  have  not  only  sup- 
ported me  in  three  campaigns,  but  in  the  last  campaign 
they  refused  to  allow  their  leading  men  to  go  to  the  con- 
vention except  under  instructions  to  vote  for  my  nomi- 
nation. Neither  is  it  necessary  for  me  to  defend  my 
reputation  as  a  Democrat.  My  reputation  would  not  be 
worth  defending  if  it  were  necessary  to  defend  it  against 
a  charge  made  against  me  by  any  friend  of  Thomas  F. 
Ryan. 

The  resolution  is  not  only  sober  and  serious,  but  it  is 
necessary.  Ws  plant  ourselves  upon  the  Bible  doctrine, 
"If  thy  right  hand  offend  thee,  cut  it  off."  The  party 
needs  to  cut  off  those  corrupting  influences  to  save  it- 
self.* 

THE  CANDIDATES  DISCUSSED 

(A  Statement  to  the  Press  on  Sunday  Evening, 
June  30,  by  Mr.  Bryan,  and  Given  Here  as  It 
Appeared  in  The  Chicago  "Tribune.") 

"I  see  no  reason  why  we  should  not  conclude  the 
convention  with  the  nomination  of  both  a  President  and 

*  Before  the  vote  was  taken  Mr.  Bryan  withdrew  the  latter 
part  of  his  resolution  in  order  that  honest  friends  might 
not  be  embarrassed  by  the  argument  that  the  demand  for 
withdrawal  of  the  offending  delegates  invaded  the  rights  of 
the  State,  and  in  order  that  the  second  part  of  the  resolu- 
tion might  not  be  used  as  an  excuse  by  those  who  desired  to 
vote  against  the  main  resolution. 

When  the  latter  part  was  withdrawn,  the  first  resolution, 
pledging  the  party  not  to  nominate  a  candidate  who  was  a 
representative  of,  or  under  obligation  to,  Morgan,  Eyan, 
Belmont,  or  any  other  member  of  the  privilege-hunting  and 
favor-seeking  class,  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  889  to  196. 


176  A    TALE    OF   TWO    CONVENTIONS 

a  Vice-president.  The  friends  of  the  various  candidates 
have  fought  out  their  differences,  and  in  their  loyalty 
to  the  men  of  their  choice  have  consumed  more  time 
than  is  usually  devoted  to  balloting.  There  is  every 
reason  why  the  progressives  should  get  together  and 
select  a  ticket." 

Mr.  Bryan  said  he  took  it  for  granted  there  was  no 
chance  for  the  nomination  of  either  Harmon  of  Ohio,  or 
Underwood  of  Alabama,  whom  he  designated  as  the 
choice  of  a  reactionary  element  in  the  party. 

He  suggested  that  if  the  convention  could  not  agree 
upon  either  Gov.  Wilson  of  New  Jersey  or  Speaker 
Clark  of  Missouri,  an  available  man  to  head  the  ticket 
might  be  found  in  a  list  which  he  furnished,  comprising 
the  names  of  Senator  Kern  of  Indiana,  Senator  Elect 
Ollie  James  of  Kentucky,  Senator  O'Gorman  of  New 
York,  Senator  Culberson  of  Texas,  and  Senator  Rayner 
of  Maryland.  Continuing,  Mr.  Bryan  said: 

"The  antagonisms  which  have  been  aroused  during  the 
preliminary  campaign — antagonisms  which  ought  not  to 
have  been  aroused — should  not  prevent  the  coming  to- 
gether of  delegates  upon  some  common  ground. 

"New  York  is  not  necessary  to  a  nomination,  and 
under  the  circumstances  should  not  be  permitted  to  dic- 
tate the  nomination.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  the  vote 
of  New  York  would  vitiate  the  nomination  if  the  candi- 
date had  enough  votes  to  nominate  him  without  New 
York,  for  in  that  case  the  party  would  not  be  under 
obligation  to  Mr.  Murphy  for  his  nomination ;  but  if  Mr. 
Murphy  furnishes  the  votes  necessary  to  carry  the  can- 
didate across  the  line,  the  candidate  who  accepts  the 
nomination  under  those  circumstances  puts  himself  under 
obligations  to  Mr.  Murphy  and  to  the  influences  which 
speak  through  and  control  him. 

"I  contend  that  a  candidate  so  obligated  would  not  ap- 
peal to  the  confidence  of  the  public  and  would  not,  if 
successful  at  the  election,  be  free  to  serve  the  public  with 
singleness  of  purpose. 


THE   DEMOCBATIC   CONVENTION  177 

"There  is  not  an  aspirant  for  the  nomination  who 
would  have  dared  to  go  out  before  the  people  of  any 
State  and  say:  'I  have  the  promise  of  Charles  F.  Mur- 
phy that  he  will  deliver  to  me  ninety  votes  which,  under 
the  unit  rule,  are  in  his  control  as  soon  as  I  have  enough 
more  to  give  me  the  necessary  two-thirds.' 

"I  believe,  therefore,  that  all  progressives  are  justified 
in  refusing  support  to  any  candidate  who  desires  the 
New  York  support  and  justified  in  withdrawing  support 
if,  after  giving  it,  New  York  should  seek  to  add  enough 
votes  to  give  the  candidate  the  nomination. 

"We  have  any  number  of  available  men  from  whom 
to  make  the  selection;  a  number  of  them  are  participat- 
ing in  this  convention,  and  some  are  candidates  be- 
fore it. 

"If  either  Mr.  Clark  or  Mr.  Wilson  will  announce  his 
'willingness  to  rely  entirely  upon  the  progressive  vote 
and  his  determination  not  to  accept  the  nomination,  if 
given  under  conditions  which  would  obligate  him  to  Mr. 
Murphy,  there  is  no  reason  why  the  convention  should 
not  agree  on  one  of  these. 

"If  the  feeling  that  has  been  aroused  between  the  two 
leading  candidates  is  such  that  the  progressive  forces 
cannot  agree  upon  either,  it  ought  to  be  easy  to  agree 
upon  some  third  person  who,  not  having  been  a  candi- 
date, is  not  handicapped  by  animosities  engendered  or 
by  an  adverse  verdict  at  the  Democratic  conventions  and 
primaries. 

"I  will  not  discuss  the  relative  merits  of  the  candi- 
dates now  before  the  convention  who  can  be  counted  as 
progressive,  and  I  take  it  for  granted  that  there  is  now 
no  possibility  of  the  nomination  of  the  two  candidates, 
Gov.  Harmon  and  Mr.  Underwood,  who  were  the  choice 
of  the  reactionaries. 

"I  do  not  mean  to  be  understood  as  saying  that  all 
who  favor  them  are  reactionaries,  but  where  the  two 
candidates  had  strength  outside  of  their  own  localities 


178  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

the  support  is  to  be  explained,  as  a  rule,  by  the  reac- 
tionary tendencies  of  the  supporters. 

"We  have  several  persons  taking  part  in  this  conven- 
tion, who  have  not  been  placed  in  nomination,  who  are 
entirely  worthy  of  consideration. 

"Senator  Kern  of  Indiana  already  has  received  the 
support  of  nearly  six  millions  and  a  half  of  Democrats 
for  the  vice  presidency,  and  since  that  time  he  not  only 
has  been  elected  to  the  United  States  senate,  but  has  dis- 
tinguished himself  among  his  associates  by  the  prominent 
part  he  has  taken.  He  is  the  leader  in  the  fight  against 
Senator  Lorimer. 

"If  there  can  be  no  agreement  upon  one  of  those  now 
being  balloted  for  it  ought  to  be  easy  to  compromise  on 
a  man  like  Senator  Kern. 

"Congressman  James,  our  permanent  chairman,  is  a 
national  character,  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  house  of 
representatives,  and  a  progressive  who  has  been  in  the 
forefront  of  the  fight  since  1896. 

"Senator  O'Gorman,  New  York's  member  of  the  com- 
mittee on  resolutions,  is  a  progressive  who  has  given  to 
his  state  a  distinction  of  which  it  has  been  sadly  in 
need — he  has  combined  a  high  order  of  intelligence  and 
courage  with  a  sympathetic  devotion  to  the  rights  and 
interests  of  the  common  people. 

"In  addition  to  those  we  have  Senator  Culberson  of 
Texas,  a  man  whose  public  record  would  commend  him 
to  the  progressives  of  all  parties ;  and  I  would  add  Sena- 
tor Raynor  of  Maryland,  after  hearing  his  strong  plea 
before  the  resolution  in  favor  of  a  progressive  platform. 
These  are  only  a  few  of  the  names  that  might  be  sug- 
gested. Surely,  with  such  a  wealth  of  presidential  tim- 
ber we  should  have  no  difficulty  in  nominating  a  winning 
ticket. 

"Just  a  word  in  regard  to  the  vice-presidency.  This 
office  should  not  be  regarded  lightly  nor  should  the  selec- 
tion be  made  carelessly.  No  man  is  fit  to  be  the  vice- 


THE    DEMOCRATIC    CONVENTION  179 

presidential  nominee  who  is  not  equally  worthy  to  be 
the  nominee  for  president. 

"The  vice-president  should  be  selected  from  those 
available  for  the  presidency,  and  he  should  be  in  har- 
mony with  the  presidential  candidate  on  all  public  ques- 
tions on  the  fundamental  principles  which  determine  the 
bias  and  tendencies  of  men. 

"In  submitting  these  views  I  recognize  that  I  speak 
merely  as  an  individual,  but  I  am  not  less  interested 
than  the  candidates  themselves  in  the  nomination  of  a 
winning  ticket  and  in  the  prosecution  of  a  successful 
campaign,  and  we  shall  disappoint  those  who  sent  us 
here  if  we  fail  to  measure  up  to  the  occasion." 


XI 

AWAITING   THE   NOMINATION 

Mr.  Bryan's  letter  in  morning  newspapers  of  Sat- 
urday, June  29th. 

Baltimore,  June  28. — I  am  writing  this  report 
before  a  nomination  is  made  and  cannot,  there- 
fore, discuss  the  candidate.  The  ballots  have  not 
resulted  in  as  many  changes  as  were  expected. 
Eumors  have  been  rife  as  to  what  this  delegation 
or  that  delegation  was  going  to  do. 

Most  attention,  of  course,  is  given  to  New  York, 
because  of  its  large  vote,  controlled  under  the  unit 
rule  by  Murphy.  It  was  reported  that  New  York 
would  vote  on  the  first  ballot  for  Harmon,  and  on 
the  following  ballots  for  different  candidates,  but 
so  far  Harmon  has  been  the  only  one  to  receive  the 
vote.  This  in  itself  would  ruin  Harmon's  chances 
if  he  were  otherwise  available.  The  old  doctrine 
that  a  man  is  known  by  the  company  he  keeps  ap- 
plies in  politics  as  well  as  elsewhere. 

Murphy  is  in  absolute  control  of  the  delegation, 
he  is  the  keeper  of  New  York's  conscience — God 
180 


TEE   DEMOCRATIC    CONVENTION  181 

save  the  mark!  Now  the  line  has  been  drawn  be- 
tween the  sheep  and  the  goats,  and  New  York,  in 
spite  of  its  effort  to  disguise  itself,  is  among  the 
goats. 

When  I  offered  to  withdraw  the  second  resolu- 
tion— the  one  demanding  that  Belmont  and  Ryan 
leave  the  convention — New  York  not  only  refused 
to  make  the  request,  but  demanded  a  vote  on  that 
resolution.  I  saw  that  Murphy  and  his  cohorts 
were  looking  for  an  excuse  to  vote  against  the  reso- 
lution and  it  was  partly  to  deprive  them  of  any 
excuse  that  I  withdrew  the  resolution,  even  with- 
out their  request. 

In  connection  with  this  matter  I  may  add  that 
the  "sovereign  State"  argument  is  sometimes  over- 
done. At  Denver  four  years  ago  Col.  Guffey,  of 
Pennsylvania,  marched  down  the  aisle  and  inquired 
whether  the  convention  would  disregard  the  action 
of  a  sovereign  State  and  throw  him  out,  and  the 
convention  said  "Yes!"  with  an  emphasis  that 
shook  the  rafters. 

He  went  back  to  Pennsylvania  and  in  stentorian 
tones  repeated  the  question.  This  time  about  400,- 
000  Pennsylvania  Democrats  trampled  on  him  and 
stamped  around  until  they  nearly  caved  in  the 
mines.  I  have  not  had  a  chance  to  consult  Col. 
Guffey,  but  I  am  satisfied  if  he  had  been  a  delegate 
he  would  have  been  opposed  to  interfering  with 
any  "sovereign  State"  provided  it  would  let  Wall 


182  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

Street  use  it  to  work  its  representatives  into  the 
convention. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  some  of  Mr.  Lori- 
mer's  friends  became  touchy  on  the  "sovereign 
State"  idea,  but  the  Senate  is  going  to  send  him 
back  home  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  his  credentials 
are  regular. 

If  a  national  convention  has  no  right  to  purge 
itself  of  such  men  as  Ryan  and  Belmont,  it  had 
better  change  its  rules  and  secure  the  right.  How- 
ever, the  chastisement  which  it  gave  to  these  two 
notorious  representatives  of  the  interests  will  prob- 
ably protect  future  conventions  from  a  repetition 
of  what  has  occurred  here. 

In  calculating  on  the  nominee,  New  York  should 
be  counted  as  a  liability  rather  than  as  an  asset. 
No  Democrat  can  afford  to  accept  a  nomination  if 
New  York's  vote  is  necessary  to  give  him  two- 
thirds. 

There  is  no  disguising  the  seriousness  of  the 
situation  which  confronts  the  Democratic  party.  It 
is  on  trial  before  the  country.  It  took  a  long  step 
in  advance  last  night  when  it  had  the  courage  to 
mention  by  name  three  of  the  most  prominent  fin- 
anciers of  the  country  and  pledge  the  nation  that 
its  nominee  will  be  free  from  entangling  alliances 
with  them.  This  resolution  is  only  the  beginning. 
It  fixes  the  standard,  but  the  candidate  must 
measure  up  to  it.  The  New  York  delegation  is  so 


THE   DEMOCRATIC    CONVENTION  183 

closely  connected  with  the  predatory  interests,  con- 
taining, as  it  does,  trust  agents,  attorneys  and  offi- 
cials, that  it  would  cost  a  candidate  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  votes  to  owe  his  nomination  to  the 
delegation. 


XII 

THE    MONEY   TEUST'S   ACTIVITIES 

Mr.  Bryan's  letter  in  afternoon  newspapers  of  Sat- 
urday, June  29th. 

Baltimore,  June  29. — We  are  approaching  the 
climax  of  this  convention.  The  question  that  the 
convention  has  to  decide  is  whether  or  not  it  will 
live  up  to  the  declaration  made  in  the  anti-Morgan- 
Eyan-Belmont  resolution.  The  convention  is  now 
pledged  by  that  resolution  against  the  nomination 
of  any  man  who  is  a  representative  of,  or  under 
obligation  to,  Morgan,  Eyan,  Belmont  or  any  other 
person  representing  the  favor-seeking  and  priv- 
ilege-hunting class. 

This  is  a  solemn  pledge  made  to  the  country.  If 
it  is  broken  it  will  be  broken  in  the  eyes  of  the 
public.  Before  that  pledge  was  made  it  might 
have  been  possible  to  explain  that  the  candidate 
was  reasonably  progressive,  because  we  had  no 
definition  of  progressiveness  to  apply  to  a  candi- 
date, but  now  we  have,  and  if  the  candidate  does 
not  measure  up  to  it  the  eyes  of  the  public  will  be 
fixed  upon  the  space  between  the  candidate's  head 

184 


TEE   DEMOCRATIC    CONVENTION  185 

and  the  mark  that  we  have  drawn  on  the  wall. 
How  can  we  tell  whether  a  proposed  candidate 
is  the  representative  of,  or  obligated  to,  Morgan, 
Ryan  and  Belmont,  and  the  interests  which  they 
represent?  There  is  just  one  way,  namely,  to  in- 
quire whether  he  is  willing  to  accept  the  nomina- 
tion at  their  hands. 

It  is  a  principle  of  law  that  an  election  is  vitiated 
by  corrupt  votes  whenever  the  candidate  could  not 
have  been  elected  without  these  votes,  and  so  a 
nomination  is  vitiated  when  it  depends  upon  votes 
which  are  not  acceptable  under  the  rules  and  upon 
the  conditions  laid  down  by  this  convention  in  the 
anti-Morgan-Eyan-Belmont  resolution.  Mr.  Lori- 
mer  is  about  to  be  expelled  from  the  United  States 
Senate  because  he  accepted  a  senatorship  which 
depended  upon  corrupt  votes,  and  the  public  uni- 
versally approved  the  Senate's  proposed  action. 
Would  the  Democratic  party  approve  a  nomina- 
tion made  by  influences  as  corrupt  as  those  that 
secured  the  Lorimer  election? 

It  is  now  a  matter  of  public  knowledge  that  the 
money  trust,  after  controlling  the  Chicago  con- 
vention and  dictating  the  Chicago  nominee,  moved 
its  show  to  this  city,  set  up  its  tent  and  organized 
a  two-ring  circus,  with  all  its  accessories,  from 
ringmasters  down  to  the  red  lemonade  man.  This 
circus  had  its  acrobats,  several  of  them  expert  at 
somersaulting  and  contortion;  it  has  held  sessions 


186  A    TALE    OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

in  the  daytime  and  at  night.  Mr.  Murphy  is  gen- 
eral director  and  resident  agent  of  the  concern. 
He  controls  the  New  York  delegation  under  the 
unit  rule  as  completely  as  his  hand  controls  his 
fingers.  A  candidate  who  would  accept  his  sup- 
port would  be  an  ingrate  not  to  repay  the  obliga- 
tion in  the  only  coin  which  is  legal  tender  in  the 
office  of  the  plunderbund,  namely,  government 
favors. 

Will  the  Democratic  party  be  democratic?  The 
question  is  even  more  fundamental ;  will  it  be  hon- 
est? Will  it  keep  the  promise  it  has  made  to  six 
million  and  a  half  of  Democrats  and  to  millions  of 
Republicans?  More  than  10,000,000  voters  are 
watching  the  bulletins  that  come  from  this  conven- 
tion. Will  this  convention  give  these  patriotic 
citizens  a  leader  who  will  lead? 


XIII 

HOW  VOTES  WERE  CHANGED 

Mr.  Bryan's  letter  in  morning  newspapers  of  Mon- 
day, July  1st. 

Baltimore,  June  30. — If  I  may  be  permitted 
to  speak  of  my  own  part  I  shall  devote  a  few  sen- 
tences to  the  explanation  which  I  gave  of  the 
change  of  twelve  of  the  Nebraska  delegates  from 
Clark  to  Wilson.  I  was  not  in  the  hall  Friday 
night  when  New  York  cast  its  ninety  votes  for 
Clark,  but  went  in  later  during  the  demonstration. 

After  having  a  night  to  reflect  over  the  matter 
I  decided  upon  a  course  of  action  in  case  an  at- 
tempt was  made  to  use  the  New  York  vote  to  elect 
Mr.  Clark.  In  acting  one  must  always  consider 
the  conditions  to  be  met,  for  conditions  are  usually 
the  measure  of  exertion. 

At  the  Chicago  convention  I  saw  how  unfairly  a 
holdover  political  machine  had  made  up  the  tem- 
porary roll  of  the  convention  and  then  used  the 
votes  of  those  put  upon  the  roll  to  seat  each  other, 
thus  giving  to  the  committee  control  of  the  new 
convention. 

187 


188  A    TALE    OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

I  was  in  a  good  position  to  watch  the  roller  as 
it  moved  noisily  along,  overcoming  every  obstruc- 
tion, and  when  its  work  was  completed  thwarting 
the  will  of  a  large  majority  of  the  Eepublican 
party.  To  add  aggravation  to  the  wrong  the  com- 
mittee was  made  up  of  representatives  from  the 
southern  States  where  there  is  practically  no  Re- 
publican vote. 

These  committeemen,  representing  a  paper  or- 
ganization and  held  to  the  Republican  party  largely 
by  the  power  of  patronage,  were  used  to  outvote 
the  representatives  from  States  that  cast  a  large 
Republican  vote.  And  to  add  further  cause  for 
indignation  this  unfairly  proportioned  committee 
seated  delegates  upon  the  same  congressional  pro- 
portion as  in  the  north. 

About  the  time  this  outrage  on  popular  govern- 
men  had  had  time  to  soak  in  I  came  to  Baltimore 
and  here  I  found  the  Democratic  national  commit- 
tee acting  upon  the  same  plan,  using  holdover  com- 
mitteemen to  misrepresent  the  delegations,  and 
intending  to  open  a  progressive  convention  with  a 
reactionary  keynote. 

I  soon  learned  that  the  same  influences  which  at 
Chicago  defied  popular  sentiment  in  the  Republi- 
can party  were  here  in  force.  I  found  that,  having 
defeated  the  progressive  program  at  Chicago,  they 
were  bent  upon  defeating  it  here.  Here  cunning 
was  substituted  for  boldness,  and  the  progressive 


TEE   DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION  189 

brand  was  being  used  to  mask  the  real  character 
of  the  work  outlined. 

I  have  already  described  the  first  contest  in 
which  I  was  defeated  for  temporary  chairman,  a 
position  which  I  did  not  desire,  and  for  which  I 
was  a  candidate  only  because  I  felt  that  some  one 
ought  to  represent  the  progressive  cause.  I  have 
also  chronicled  the  second  contest,  which  resulted 
in  the  passage  of  the  Morgan-Eyan-Belmont  resolu- 
tion. 

It  was  the  passage  of  that  resolution  and  the 
pledge  that  it  gave  the  public  that  made  it  impera- 
tive, according  to  my  judgment,  that  I  refuse  to 
enter  into  partnership  with  Mr.  Murphy  in  nomi- 
nating a  Democratic  candidate. 

I  felt  sure  from  telegrams  received  and  news  re- 
ports read  that  the  people  were  aroused  as  they 
had  seldom  been  before  to  the  importance  of  pre- 
senting a  candidate  upon  whose  nomination  there 
could  be  no  suspicion  of  connection  with  the  inter- 
ests which  we  had  denounced. 

It  distrest  me  to  have  to  do  anything  that 
might  result  in  injury  to  the  political  fortunes  of 
Mr.  Clark.  I  have  known  him  for  eighteen  years, 
rejoiced  in  his  selection  as  minority  leader,  and 
a  year  and  a  half  ago  regarded  him  as  more  likely 
than  any  one  else  to  fit  into  the  conditions  in  so 
far  as  I  could  then  estimate  them. 

If  he  had  made  good  use  of  the  opportunity  he 


tfu-:  ^:^^wijttfl!|%«j 

£*     ^ 


THE  SACRIFICE  HIT. 

The  Pitcher  who  has  been  hit  by  Mr.  Bryan's  ball  is 
Charles  F.  Murphy,  of  Tammany  Hall. 

(Bart  in  the  Minneapolis  "Journal.") 


190 


THE   DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION  191 

had  he  would  have  been  nominated  by  acclamation, 
but  instead  of  leading  the  progressive  element  of 
the  party — the  element  with  which  he  had  always 
been  identified — he  became  imprest  with  the  idea 
that  his  special  duty  was  to  harmonize  the  two 
elements  of  the  party  and  prevent  any  break  in 
the  ranks. 

The  leader  and  the  harmonizer  are  two  entirely 
different  persons,  and  Mr.  Clark  chose  to  be  the 
latter.  There  are  times  when  the  harmonizer  is 
the  most  available  candidate,  but  the  situation  is 
different  just  now. 

The  country  is  alive  with  progressive  ideas  and 
progressivism  has  not  been  defeated  at  Chicago. 
Two  or  three  million  Republicans  are  following  the 
proceedings  of  this  convention  and  waiting  to  see 
whether  they  can  use  the  Democratic  party  for  the 
rebuking  of  stand-pat  Republicanism  or  be  forced 
to  organize  a  new  party. 

Mr.  Clark's  first  mistake  was  in  attempting  to 
overlook  the  radical  difference  which  exists  in  the 
Democratic  party  between  the  progressives  and  the 
reactionaries.  His  second  was  in  selecting  man- 
agers who  sought  to  advance  his  cause  by  manipula- 
tion rather  than  by  that  candid  appeal  which  befits 
the  present  hour. 

After  permitting  a  considerable  number  of  reac- 
tionaries to  come  into  the  convention  under  instruc- 
tions, these  managers  endeavored  to  win  votes  by 


192  A    TALE   OF   TWO    CONVENTIONS 

tying  up  with  the  reactionary  element  of  the  con- 
vention. 

While  Mr.  Clark  himself  remained  neutral  in  the 
fight  between  Judge  Parker  and  myself  for  tem- 
porary chairman,  his  managers  were  working  like 
beavers  for  Judge  Parker.  They  were  not  even 
willing  for  me  to  take  Mr.  James,  their  own  candi- 
date, for  temporary  chairmanship  before  the  sub- 
committee, and  pit  him  against  Parker. 

Mr.  Clark  aroused  much  hostile  criticism  when 
he  refused  to  take  sides,  and  this  criticism  became 
more  emphatic  when  New  York's  vote  was  wel- 
comed with  a  great  demonstration. 

There  is  too  much  at  stake  to  risk  defeat,  as  we 
would  risk  defeat  if  we  had  to  spend  the  campaign 
in  explaining  how  a  candidate  could  owe  his  nomi- 
nation to  predatory  interests  without  danger  to  his 
administration. 

Mr.  Clark's  friends  spurn  the  thought  of  his 
being  influenced  by  such  support,  but  they  forget 
that  the  mass  of  the  people  cannot  know  Mr.  Clark 
personally,  as  his  intimate  friends  do. 

I  know  him  well  enough  to  have  confidence  in  his 
high  purpose  and  in  his  good  intent,  as  I  have  in 
the  purpose  and  intent  of  other  candidates.  I  be- 
lieve that  he  would  try  to  carry  out  the  people's 
will,  but  few,  if  indeed  any,  can  entirely  fortify 
themselves  against  the  unscrupulous  influence  ex- 
erted by  favors  received.  We  do  not  allow  judges 


THE   DEMOCRATIC    CONVENTION  193 

to  accept  favors  from  litigants  and  the  President 
continually  acts  as  an  arbiter  between  the  organ- 
ized and  the  unorganized  masses. 

But  even  if  we  could  feel  certain  that  the  secur- 
ing of  a  presidential  nomination  by  the  aid  of 
those  directly  connected  with  the  exploiting  class 
would  have  no  influence  whatever  upon  Mr.  Clark 's 
official  conduct,  we  could  not  possibly  hope  to  im- 
part this  confidence  to  millions  of  voters  who,  not 
enjoying  the  personal  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Clark, 
would  have  to  rely  upon  newspaper  reports,  and  it 
must  be  remembered  that  in  the  contested  States 
the  Republicans  have  five  to  one,  if  not  ten  to  one, 
the  advantage  of  us. 

I  announced  that  we  would  withhold  our  vote 
from  Mr.  Clark  so  long  as  New  York  supported 
him,  and  that  we  would  apply  the  same  rule  to 
other  candidates;  that  is,  that  we  would  not  enter 
into  partnership  with  Wall  Street. 

ME.  BRYAN'S  SPEECH  EXPLAINING 
HIS   VOTE* 

Nebraska  is  a  progressive  state.  Only  twice  has  she 
given  her  vote  for  a  Democratic  candidate  for  President 
— in  1896  and  1908 — and  on  both  occasions  her  vote  was 
cast  for  a  progressive  ticket  running  upon  a  progres- 
sive platform.  Between  these  two  elections,  in  the  elec- 

When  Nebraska  was  called  on  the  fourteenth  ballot  a 
poll  was  demanded,  and  Mr.  Bryan  in  changing  his  vote 
made  this  speech.  It  marked  the  turning  point  in  the  con- 
vention. 


194  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

tion  of  1904,  she  gave  a  Republican  plurality  of  85,000 
against  a  Democratic  reactionary.  In  the  recent  primary 
the  total  vote  cast  for  Clark  and  Wilson  was  over  34,000 
and  the  vote  cast  for  Harmon  something  over  12,000, 
showing  that  the  party  is  now  nearly  three-fourths  pro- 
gressive. 

The  Republican  party  of  Nebraska  is  progressive  in 
about  the  same  proportion,  and  the  situation  in  Nebraska 
is  not  materially  different  from  the  situation  throughout 
the  country  west  of  the  Alleghanies.  In  the  recent  Re- 
publican primaries,  fully  two-thirds  of  the  Republican 
vote  was  cast  for  candidates  representing  progressive 
policies. 

In  this  convention  the  progressive  sentiment  is  over- 
whelming. Every  candidate  has  proclaimed  himself 
a  progressive — no  candidate  would  have  any  considerable 
following  in  this  convention  if  he  admitted  himself  out 
of  harmony  with  progressive  ideas.  By  your  resolution, 
adopted  night  before  last,  you,  by  a  vote  of  more  than 
four  to  one,  pledged  the  country  that  you  would  nomi- 
nate for  the  presidency  no  man  who  represented,  or  was 
obligated  to  Morgan,  Ryan,  Belmont,  or  any  other  mem- 
ber of  the  privilege-seeking,  favor-hunting  class.  This 
pledge,  if  kept,  will  have  more  influence  on  the  result 
of  the  election  than  the  platform  or  the  name  of  the 
candidate.  How  can  that  pledge  be  made  effective? 
There  is  but  one  way,  namely,  to  nominate  a  candidate 
who  is  under  no  obligation  to  those  whom  these  influ- 
ences directly  or  indirectly  control.  The  vote  of  the 
State  of  New  York  in  this  convention,  as  cast  under  the 
unit  rule,  does  not  represent  the  intelligence,  the  virtue, 
the  democracy  or  the  patriotism  of  the  ninety  men  who 
are  here.  It  represents  the  will  of  one  man — Charles  F. 
Murphy — and  he  represents  the  influences  that  domi- 
nated the  Republican  convention  at  Chicago  and  are 
trying  to,  dominate  .this  convention.  If  we  nominate  a 
candidate  under  conditions  that  enable  these  influences 
to  say  to  our  candidate,  "Remember,  now,  thy  creator," 


THE   DEMOCBATIC   CONVENTION  195 

we  can  not  hope  to  appeal  to  the  confidence  of  the  pro- 
gressive Democrats  and  Republicans  of  the  nation. 

Nebraska,  or  that  portion  of  the  delegation  for  which 
I  am  authorized  to  speak,  is  not  willing  to  participate 
in  the  nomination  of  any  man  who  is  willing  to  violate 
the  resolution  adopted  by  this  convention  and  accept  the 
high  honor  of  the  presidential  nomination  at  the  hands 
of  Mr.  Murphy.  When  we  were  instructed  for  Mr. 
Clark,  the  Democratic  voters  who  instructed  us  did  so 
with  the  distinct  understanding  that  Mr.  Clark  stood  for 
progressive  democracy.  Mr.  Clark's  representatives  ap- 
pealed for  support  on  no  other  ground.  They  contended 
that  Mr.  Clark  was  more  progressive  than  Mr.  Wilson, 
and  indignantly  denied  that  there  was  any  cooperation 
between  Mr.  Clark  and  the  reactionary  element  of  the 
party.  Upon  no  other  condition  could  Mr.  Clark  have 
received  a  plurality  of  the  Democratic  vote  of  Nebraska. 

The  delegates  for  whom  I  speak  stand  ready  to  carry 
out  the  instructions  given,  in  the  spirit  in  which  they 
were  given  and  upon  the  conditions  under  which  they 
were  given;  but  these  delegates  will  not  participate  in 
the  nomination  of  any  man  whose  nomination  depends 
upon  the  vote  of  the  New  York  delegation.  Speaking  for 
myself  and  those  who  join  me,  we,  therefore,  withhold 
our  vote  from  Mr.  Clark  as  long  as  New  York's  vote  is 
recorded  for  him,  and  I  hereby  notify  the  chairman  and 
this  convention  that  I  desire  recognition  to  withdraw 
these  votes  from  any  candidates  to  whom  New  York's 
votes  are  thrown.  The  position  that  we  take  in  regard 
to  Mr.  Clark  we  will  take  in  regard  to  any  other  candi- 
date whose  name  is  now  or  may  be  before  the  conven- 
tion. We  shall  not  be  parties  to  the  nomination  of  any 
man,  no  matter  who  he  may  be  or  from  what  section  of 
the  country  he  comes,  who  will  not,  when  elected,  be 
absolutely  free  to  carry  out  the  anti-Morgan-Ryan-Bel- 
mont  resolution  and  make  his  administration  reflect  the 
wishes  and  hopes  of  those  who  believe  in  a  government 
of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people. 


196  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

If  we  nominate  a  candidate  who  is  under  no  obliga- 
tion to  these  interests,  which  speak  through  Mr.  Murphy, 
I  shall  offer  a  resolution  authorizing  and  directing  the 
presidential  candidate  to  select  a  campaign  committee  to 
manage  the  campaign,  in  order  that  he  may  not  be  com- 
pelled to  suffer  the  humiliation  or  act  under  the  embar- 
rassment that  I  have  in  having  men  participate  in  the 
management  of  his  campaign  who  have  no  sympathy 
with  the  party's  aims  and  in  whose  democracy  the  gen- 
eral public  has  no  confidence.  At  the  conclusion  of  Mr. 
Bryan's  statement  ex-Governor  McCorkle,  of  West  Vir- 
ginia, obtained  recognition,  and,  with  Mr.  Bryan's  con- 
sent, submitted  the  following  question: 

"Are  we  to  understand  from  what  you  have  said  that 
you  will  not  support  the  nominee  of  this  convention  if 
he  is  named  by  a  majority  made  up  in  part  of  the  vote 
of  New  York?"  Mr.  Bryan:  I  shall  be  pleased  to  an- 
swer the  gentleman's  question  and  before  answering,  will 
add  that  if  any  other  gentleman  in  the  convention  has  a 
question  to  ask  I  shall  remain  here  and  give  him  a  chance 
to  ask  it.  This  is  a  Democratic  convention;  we  have  a 
right  to  ask  questions  and  we  should  be  frank  with  each 
other. 

Answering  the  gentleman  from  West  Virginia,  I  would 
reply  that  nothing  that  I  have  said  this  morning  and 
nothing  that  I  have  ever  said  heretofore  justifies  the  con- 
struction which  the  gentleman  would  place  upon  my  lan- 
guage. I  distinguish  between  refusing  to  participate  in 
the  nomination  of  a  candidate  and  refusing  to  support 
a  candidate  nominated  over  my  protest.  I  distinguish 
between  these  two  propositions  just  as  the  law  distin- 
guishes between  the  act  of  a  lawyer  who  defends  a  pris- 
oner after  a  crime  has  been  committed  and  the  act  of  a 
lawyer  who  conspires  with  the  prisoner  to  commit  a 
crime.  Governor  Brewer  of  Mississippi  then  obtained 
recognition,  and,  with  Mr.  Bryan's  consent,  submitted 
the  following  queston: 

"If  Mr.  Clark,  Mr.  Underwood,  Mr.  Wilson,  Mr.  Mar- 


THE  DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION  197 

shall,  Mr.  Harmon,  Mr.  Kern,  or  Mr.  Foss  is  nominated 
by  this  convention  by  a  two-thirds  majority,  with  New 
York  voting  for  the  man  who  is  nominated,  will  you  sup- 
port the  Democratic  nominee?"  Mr.  Bryan:  I  deny  the 
right  of  any  man  to  put  a  hypothetical  question  to  me 
unless  he  is  prepared  to  include  in  that  question  every 
essential  element  that  enters  into  it  so  that  the  question 
can  be  fully  understood  and  intelligently  answered. 

Having  denied  the  right  of  the  gentleman  to  ask  the 
question  and  having  called  his  attention  to  the  fact  that 
he  is  taking  advantage  of  a  political  assembly  to  ask  a 
question  which  he  would  not  dare  to  ask  in  any  court  of 
justice  I  now  answer  him : 

I  expect  to  support  the  nominee  of  this  convention.  I 
expect  the  nominee  of  this  convention  to  be  worthy  of 
the  support  of  every  delegate.  I  have  no  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  any  man  will  be  nominated  who  would  accept 
a  nomination  at  the  hands  of  Mr.  Murphy  and  the  in- 
fluences back  of  him.  I  will  not  give  bond  to  make 
further  answer  to  the  hypothetical  question  put  by  the 
gentleman  from  Mississippi  until  we  are  in  a  position 
to  supply  the  necessary  facts  which  his  question  omits — 
facts  necessary  to  an  understanding  of  the  situation  upon 
which  we  will  be  called  to  act. 

Now,  I  am  prepared  to  announce  my  vote,  with  the 
understanding  that  I  stand  ready  to  withdraw  my  vote 
from  the  candidate  for  whom  I  now  cast  it  if  Mr.  Mur- 
phy casts  the  ninety  votes  of  New  York  for  him.  I  cast  my 
vote  for  Nebraska's  second  choice — Governor  Wilson.* 

*  On  July  30,  the  Nebraska  Democratic  State  Convention 
endorsed  Mr.  Bryan's  course  at  Baltimore  by  a  vote  of 
636  to  246. 


XIV 
THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  CONVENTION 

Mr.    Bryan's    letter   in    morning    newspapers    of 
Wednesday,  July  3d. 

Baltimore,  July  2. — Although  the  nomination  for 
vice-president  has  not  yet  been  made,  enough  has 
been  done  to  enable  the  public  to  judge  the  far- 
reaching  effect  of  this  remarkable  convention. 

Mr.  Wilson's  nomination  is  evidently  very  ac- 
ceptable to  the  country.  His  campaign  was  a  na- 
tional one  from  the  start.  In  fact,  he  was  the  only 
candidate  who  ran  everywhere.  This  had  both  its 
advantages  and  its  disadvantages.  It  was  an  ad- 
vantage in  that  it  gave  him  a  chance  to  secure  a 
larger  number  of  delegates,  but  it  was  a  disadvan- 
tage in  that  it  naturally  arrayed  against  him  the 
friends  of  the  other  candidates.  He  entered  the 
convention,  however,  with  more  than  200  votes  less 
than  half. 

His  greatest  asset  was  the  fact  that  he  came  out 

strongly  against  Parker  for  temporary  chairman. 

This  was  the  first  line  drawn  in  the  convention, 

and  it  was  probably  fortunate  for  "Wilson  that  his 

198 


THE  DEMOCBATIC   CONVENTION  199 

side  was  defeated.  If  I  had  been  selected  for  tem- 
porary chairman  it  would  have  been  looked  upon 
as  a  thing  to  be  expected,  and  a  victory  at  that 
time  would  not  have  made  any  great  impression  on 
the  country.  But  my  defeat  startled  the  Demo- 
crats throughout  the  land  and  made  them  aware 
of  the  strength  of  the  reactionaries. 

Hearing  from  home  has  been  one  of  the  promi- 
nent features  of  this  convention.  Probably  no 
other  convention  ever  brought  forth  such  a  flood 
of  telegrams,  and  these  telegrams  had  a  great  deal 
to  do  with  the  final  action  of  the  convention.  Wil- 
son's name  was  in  nearly  all  of  them. 

The  weak  point  in  "Wilson's  campaign  for  the 
nomination  was  the  fact  that  some  of  his  former 
utterances  were  used  against  him  by  his  opponents, 
but  these  arguments  will  not  avail  when  addressed 
to  the  progressive  Republicans.  I  think  Wilson 
will  poll  more  of  the  progressive  Republican  vote 
than  any  other  man  we  could  have  named. 

The  platform  is  progressive,  the  most  progres- 
sive platform  that  any  great  party  has  offered  to 
the  public.  With  a  vice-president  in  harmony 
with  the  platform  and  the  presidential  candidate, 
we  ought  to  make  a  great  fight  and  a  successful 
fight.  Our  party  has  given  the  progressives  of  the 
nation  a  rallying  and  a  battle  line.  Never  before 
has  the  issue  been  so  clearly  drawn  between  the 
people  on  the  one  side  and  the  predatory  interests 


200  A    TALE    OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

on  the  other.  The  resolution  naming  the  leaders 
of  the  financial  world  who  have  stood  behind  the 
great  favor-seeking  combination  was  a  stroke  of 
policy  as  well  as  a  triumph  of  principle. 

The  one  sad  feature  is  the  failure  of  the  defeated 
candidates  to  realize  their  ambitions.  This  fail- 
ure, of  course,  did  not  bring  any  great  disappoint- 
ment to  the  candidates  who  had  a  small  following ; 
their  only  hope  was  in  the  turning  up  of  something 
unexpected.  In  the  case  of  Mr.  Clark,  however, 
there  was  reasonable  ground  for  hope,  and  there- 
fore great  disappointment. 

There  is  no  boasting  of  victory  among  those  of 
his  opponents  who  knew  him  personally.  He  is 
universally  beloved  and  his  defeat  was  not  a  re- 
flection upon  his  official  record  or  upon  his  general 
merits. 

The  action  of  the  Republican  convention  made 
it  necessary  that  the  party  should  be  even  more 
distinctly  and  outspokenly  progressive  than  it  need 
to  have  been  if  Mr.  Roosevelt  had  been  nominated 
— although  it  could  not  have  retreated  from  its 
advanced  position  in  any  case. 

This  convention,  too,  laid  unexpected  emphasis 
upon  progressive  ideas — a  sort  of  reaction  from  its 
first  mistake  in  having  the  keynote  sounded  by  a 
reactionary.  The  resolution  against  Morgan,  Ryan 
and  Belmont  raised  the  expectations  of  the  country 
and  nothing  would  have  satisfied  the  party  but  a 


THE  DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION  201 

clear-cut  declaration  in  favor  of  all  needed  reme- 
dial legislation  and  a  candidate  who  would  be  ac- 
cepted as  a  fulfilment  of  the  pledge  given. 

Mr.  Clark's  managers  did  not  seem  to  catch  the 
spirit  of  the  occasion,  and  were  guilty  of  one  mis- 
take after  another,  until  their  candidate  was  put 
in  a  position  where  the  convention  felt  that  he  did 
not  fit  into  the  requirements  of  the  occasion  as 
nearly  as  Gov.  Wilson. 

It  is  too  early  for  me  to  measure  the  influence 
of  my  own  part  in  the  convention,  as  in  every 
great  contest  there  has  been  a  realignment,  and  I 
find  some  friends  alienated  and  some  opponents 
converted  into  friends.  What  a  pity  that  one  can- 
not have  the  same  set  of  friends  and  enemies 
through  life.  It  is  so  hard  to  part  with  those  who 
go  from  you,  and  it  takes  time  to  get  acquainted 
with  those  who  come  to  you. 

When  I  left  Nebraska  I  expected  to  play  a  minor 
part  in  the  convention.  I  had  urged  the  commit- 
tee to  consult  Mr.  Wilson  and  Mr.  Clark  in  regard 
to  the  chairman,  and  supposed  the  convention 
would  be  opened  without  friction. 

Knowing  the  managers  for  the  various  candi- 
dates would  be  in  charge  of  the  program,  I  thought 
it  might  not  be  necessary  for  me  to  appear  upon  the 
floor  until  after  the  candidate  was  nominated. 
But  my  plans  were  overturned  and  I  was  forced 
into  a  fight  at  the  very  outset,  in  an  effort  to  pre- 


202  A    TALE   OF   TWO    CONVENTIONS 

vent  the  opening  of  the  convention  on  a  reactionary 
key. 

The  presence  of  a  great  collection  of  representa- 
tives of  special  interests  suggested  the  anti-Mor- 
gan-Ryan-Belmont  resolution,  and  then  the  de- 
mand for  a  poll  in  my  delegation  compelled  me  to 
make  an  explanation  of  my  vote  earlier  than  I  had 
expected.  There  was  no  program,  each  act  on  my 
part  being  the  result  of  an  unexpected  exigency. 
I  did  the  best  I  could,  following  the  line  of  duty 
as  I  saw  it,  and  cannot  shrink  from  the  conse- 
quences. While  I  have  received  a  great  deal  of 
commendation  through  telegrams,  I  have  received 
some  criticism,  but  I  expect  the  criticism  to  soften 
when  the  facts  are  fully  understood. 

One  encouraging  thing  is  the  denunciation  I 
have  received  at  the  hands  of  Mr.  Hearst.  His  at- 
tacks are  so  much  like  the  attacks  which  he  made 
upon  me  in  1908,  when  he  lent  his  assistance  to  Mr. 
Taft,  that  I  feel  that  he  raises  a  presumption  in 
my  favor,  for  the  platform  in  1908  laid  the  foun- 
dation for  the  victory  which  has  been  won  in  this 
convention  and  which  I  believe  will  be  completed 
at  the  polls  in  November. 


THE  DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION  203 


ME.  BRYAN'S  "VALEDICTORY"  * 

Mr.  Chairman  and  members  of  the  convention:  You 
have  been  so  generous  with  me  in  the  allowance  of  time 
that  I  had  not  expected  to  trespass  upon  your  patience 
again,  but  the  compliment  that  has  been  paid  me  by  the 
gentleman  from  the  District  of  Columbia  justifies,  I 
hope,  a  word  in  the  form  of  a  valedictory. 

For  sixteen  years  I  have  been  a  fighting  man.  Per- 
forming what  I  regarded  as  a  public  duty  I  have  not 

*  The  Pittsburgh  "Press,"  describing  this  incident  of  the 
convention,  said: 

"The  voluntary  passing  of  Bryan  was  the  one  great  dra- 
matic incident  of  the  night.  The  convention  had  stopt  in 
the  middle  of  the  roll-call  to  spend  a  couple  of  hours  dis- 
posing of  the  platform,  and  the  usual  resolutions.  It  was 
long  past  midnight  when  it  resumed  its  labors.  The  roll 
was  proceeding  slowly.  The  vast  auditorium  was  still  jammed 
with  people.  The  galleries  had  been  listening  in  amusement 
to  the  efforts  of  orators  to  pay  eloquent  tributes  to  the  men 
they  were  placing  in  nomination  for  the  vice-presidency. 
The  heat  and  the  lateness  of  the  hour  had  had  their  effect, 
and  50  per  cent,  of  the  crowd  was  lazily  lolling  back  in 
chairs,  hoping  for  something  to  enliven  the  monotony. 

"The  reading  clerk  finally  reached  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia, which  was  next  to  the  last  on  the  list.  He  had  to  call 
twice.  Finally  the  figure  of  a  fat  man  climbed  on  a  chair 
wet  with  perspiration.  His  collar  was  a  -rag  and  his  general 
appearance  one  of  complete  physical  exhaustion.  There  had 
been  a  general  laugh  from  the  gallery  when  this  representa- 
tive of  the  District,  in  a  voice  that  penetrated  to  every  part 
of  the  big  armory,  rose  to  nominate  Mr.  Bryan  for  vice- 
president.  The  pause  which  ensued  seemed  to  last  ten 
minutes.  It  actually  lasted  ten  seconds,  and  then  came  the 
wildest,  most  hysterical  outburst  of  cheering  that  had  marked 
the  convention.  From  the  delegates  themselves,  from  the 
galleries,  and  from  the  dim  recesses  of  the  great  dust-filled 
building  there  went  up  a  roar  that  seemed  like  the  whistle 
of  a  thousand  locomotives  merged  into  one. 

"Down  in  the  very  front  in  the  seat  set  apart  for  him 


204  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

feared  to  speak  out  on  every  public  question  before  the 
people  of  the  nation  for  settlement,  and  I  have  not  hesi- 
tated to  arouse  the  hostility  of  individuals  where  I  felt  it 
my  duty  to  do  so  in  behalf  of  my  country. 

I  have  never  advocated  a  man  except  with  gladness 
and  I  have  never  opposed  a  man  except  in  sadness.  If 
I  have  any  enemies  in  this  country,  those  who  are  my 
enemies  have  a  monopoly  of  hatred.  There  is  not  one 
single  human  being  for  whom  I  feel  ill-will.  Nor  is  there 
one  American  citizen  in  my  own  party  or  in  any  other 
whom  I  would  oppose  for  anything  unless  I  believed 
that  in  not  opposing  him  I  was  surrendering  the  inter- 
ests of  my  country,  which  I  hold  above  any  person. 

I  recognize  that  a  man  who  fights  must  carry  scars 
and  I  decided  long  before  this  campaign  commenced  that 
I  had  been  in  so  many  battles  and  had  alienated  so  many 
persons  that  my  party  ought  to  have  the  leadership  of 

by  the  Nebraska  delegation  was  sitting  Bryan.  Motionless 
he  remained,  his  palm-leaf  fan  clenched  in  his  hand;  his 
hair  disheveled;  his  face  ashen  white.  But  as  the  cheering 
continued  and  increased  in  volume  a  red  blush  mantled  the 
Commoner's  face  and  head.  'Bryan!  We  want  Bryan!' 
echoed  and  re-echoed  from  one  section  of  the  hall  to  the 
other  and  reverberated  back  from  the  ceilings  until  it  was 
deafening.  At  last  Bryan  climbed  on  his  chair.  'Platform! 
Platform ! '  the  refrain  went  up,  and  in  obedience  to  the  cry, 
Bryan  slowly  mounted  to  the  same  spot  where,  a  few  days 
ago,  he  had  denounced  to  their  faces  Murphy,  .Eyan  and 
Belmont. 

"Bryan  did  not  speak  long,  but  every  word  he  uttered 
will  ever  be  remembered  by  those  who  heard  it.  He  spoke, 
in  a  voice  that  at  times  trembled  with  emotion,  of  regret 
that  the  personal  enmities  he  had  engendered  during  the  six- 
teen years  he  had  been  leading  democracy,  made  it  necessary 
for  him  to  relinquish  the  leadership  into  their  hands. 

"The  presentation  of  Mr.  Bryan's  name  was  made  by  a 
District  of  Columbia  delegate  whose  identity  Mr.  Bryan  has 
not  yet  learned.  Thus  brought  before  the  convention  dur- 
ing its  closing  hours,  Mr.  Bryan  delivered,  extemporaneously, 
his  speech  which  he  called  Ms  valedictory." 


THE   DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION  205 

someone  who  had  not  thus  offended  and  who  might,  there- 
fore, lead  with  greater  hope  of  victory. 

To-night  I  come  with  joy  to  surrender  into  the  hands 
of  the  one  chosen  by  this  convention  a  standard  which 
I  have  carried  in  three  campaigns,  and  I  challenge  my 
enemies  to  say  that  it  has  ever  been  lowered  in  the  face 
of  the  foe.  The  same  belief  that  led  me  to  prefer  an- 
other for  the  presidency  rather  than  to  be  a  candidate 
myself,  leads  me  to  prefer  another  for  the  vice  presi- 
dency. 

It  is  not  because  the  vice  presidency  is  lower  in  im- 
portance than  the  presidency  that  I  decline.  There  is 
no  office  in  this  nation  so  low  that  I  would  not  accept 
it  if  I  could  serve  my  country  by  so  doing.  But  I  be- 
lieve that  I  can  render  more  service  when  I  have  not  the 
embarrassment  of  a  nomination  and  the  suspicion  of  a 
selfish  interest — more  service  than  I  could  as  a  candi- 
date, but-your  candidate  will  not  be  more  active  in  this 
campaign  that  I  shall  be.  My  services  are  at  the  com- 
mand of  the  party.  I  feel  relieved  that  the  burden  of 
leadership  is  transferred  to  other  shoulders. 

All  I  ask  is  that,  having  given  us  a  platform,  the 
most  progressive  that  any  party  has  ever  adopted  in  this 
nation,  and,  having  given  us  a  candidate,  who,  I  believe, 
will  appeal  not  only  to  the  Democratic  vote  but  to  some 
three  or  four  million  of  Republicans  who  have  been 
alienated  by  the  policies  of  their  party,  there  is  but  one 
thing  left,  and  that  is  to  give  us  a  vice  president  who 
is  also  progressive,  so  that  there  will  be  no  joint  debate 
between  our  candidates. 

In  conclusion,  I  second  the  nomination,  not  of  one 
man,  but  of  two :  Governor  Burke,  of  North  Dakota,  and 
Senator  Chamberlain,  of  Oregon. 


206  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

AN   INTERVIEW  WITH   MR.    BRYAN 

Following  the  nomination  of  Governor  Wilson  for 
the  presidency,  Mr.  Bryan  gave  out  the  follow- 
ing statement  to  the  newspapers,  which  was  pub- 
lished Wednesday  morning,  July  3d: 

"I  feel  sure  that  the  action  of  the  convention  thus 
far  will  appeal  to  the  country.  I  had  no  choice  among 
the  progressive  candidates,  but  from  the  first  included 
Governor  Wilson  in  every  list  I  had  occasion  to  make. 
His  action  in  coming  out  strongly  against  Mr.  Parker 
for  temporary  chairman  was  the  turning  point  in  his 
campaign.  The  country  is  progressive;  nearly  all  of 
the  Democratic  party  and  more  than  half  of  the  Repub- 
lican party  are  progressives. 

"The  paramount  question  before  this  convention  was 
whether  we  would  take  sides  with  the  reactionaries,  thus 
encouraging  the  organization  of  a  third  party  and  giv- 
ing to  this  third  party  the  hope  of  defeating  the  reac- 
tionaries divided.  This  on  the  one  side  and  the  nomina- 
tion of  a  ticket  that  would  so  appeal  to  the  people  as 
to  make  a  third  party  impossible  were  the  issues. 

"I  am  satisfied  that  with  Mr.  Wilson  running  for 
the  presidency  on  such  a  platform  (and  I  know  what 
this  is)  there  will  be  very  few  progressive  Republicans 
who  will  not  feel  justified  in  supporting  the  Democratic 
ticket.  If  I  were  to  make  an  estimate,  I  should  say  that 
not  less  than  2,000,000  majority  of  the  popular  vote  and 
enough  of  the  electoral  college  to  constitute  an  over- 
whelming majority  will  be  found  in  the  Democratic  col- 
umn in  November. 

"The  action  of  the  convention  in  adopting  the  anti- 
Morgan-Ryan-Belmont  resolution  has  demonstrated  that 
the  Democratic  party  is  not  only  progressive,  but  bold 
enough  to  throw  down  the  gauntlet  to  the  predatory  in- 
terests. 


THE   DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION  207 

"It  is  fortunate  that  Mr.  Wilson's  nomination  was 
made  without  the  aid  of  Mr.  Murphy.  It  is  no  reflec- 
tion on  the  many  good  Democrats  in  the  delegation  to 
say  this.  From  every  standpoint  the  outlook  is  hopeful. 

"When  the  Republican  convention  adjourned  it  be- 
came even  more  evident  that  circumstances  required 
some  emphatic  action  on  the  part  of  our  convention  to 
insure  a  progressive  vote  under  our  banner. 

"The  incidents  of  the  convention  have  in  a  strange 
way  emphasized  the  progressivism  of  our  party  far 
more  than  I  thought,  and  the  convention  has  decided 
with  rare  unanimity  that  Governor  Wilson  fits  into  the 
conditions  which  the  Republican  convention  has  helped 
in  creating. 

"Knowing  the  contents  of  the  platform,  for  I  helped 
in  framing  it,  and  feeling  sure  that  the  nominee  for 
vice-president  will  strengthen  the  ticket,  it  is  needless  to 
say  that  I  am  gratified  to  see  our  party  raising  the 
banner  of  progressive  Democracy  and  calling  to  the 
progressive  portions  of  the  nation  to  join  in  restoring 
the  government  to  the  hands  of  the  people,  that  it  may 
in  truth  be  a 'government  of  the  people,  for  the  people, 
and  by  the  people.'  It  has  been  a  long  convention,  but 
the  results  are  well  worth  the  time." 


XV 
THE  DEMOCRATIC  PLATFOEM 

We,  the  representatives  of  the  Democratic  party 
of  the  United  States,  in  national  convention  as- 
sembled, reaffirm  our  devotion  to  the  principles  of 
Democratic  government  formulated  by  Thomas 
Jefferson  and  enforced  by  a  long  and  illustrious 
line  of  Democratic  presidents. 

We  declare  it  to  be  a  fundamental  principle  of 
the  Democratic  party  that  the  federal  government, 
under  the  constitution,  has  no  right  or  power  to 
impose  or  collect  tariff  duties,  except  for  the  pur- 
pose of  revenue,  and  we  demand  that  the  collec- 
tion of  such  taxes  shall  be  limited  to  the  necessi- 
ties of  government,  honestly  and  economically 
administered. 

The  high  Republican  tariff  is  the  principal  cause 
of  the  unequal  distribution  of  wealth,  it  is  a  sys- 
tem of  taxation  which  makes  the  rich  richer  and 
the  poor  poorer;  under  its  operations  the  Ameri- 
can farmer  and  laboring  man  are  the  chief  suffer- 
ers; it  raises  the  cost  of  the  necessaries  of  life  to 
them,  but  does  not  protect  their  product  or  wages. 

The   farmer  sells  largely  in   free  markets  and 
buys  almost  entirely  in  the  protected  markets. 
208 


THE   DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION  209 

In  the  most  highly  protected  industries,  such  as 
cotton  and  wool,  steel  and  iron,  the  wages  of  the 
laborers  are  the  lowest  paid  in  any  of  our  indus- 
tries. 

We  denounce  the  Republican  pretense  on  that 
subject  and  assert  that  American  wages  are  estab- 
lished by  competitive  conditions  and  not  by  the 
tariff. 

We  favor  the  immediate  downward  revision  of 
the  existing  high  and,  in  many  cases,  prohibitive 
tariff  duties,  insisting  that  material  reductions  be 
speedily  made  upon  the  necessaries  of  life.  Articles 
entering  into  competition  with  trust  controlled 
products  and  articles  of  American  manufacture 
which  are  sold  abroad  more  cheaply  than  at  home 
should  be  put  upon  the  free  list. 

We  recognize  that  our  system  of  tariff  taxation 
is  intimately  connected  with  the  business  of  the 
country  and  we  favor  the  ultimate  attainment  of 
the  principles  we  advocate  by  legislation  that  will 
not  injure  or  destroy  legitimate  industry. 

We  denounce  the  action  of  President  Taft  in 
vetoing  the  bills  to  reduce  the  tariff  in  the  cotton, 
woolen,  metals,  the  chemicals  schedules  and  the 
farmers'  free  list  bill,  all  of  which  were  designed 
to  give  immediate  relief  to  the  masses  from  the  ex- 
actions of  the  trusts. 

The  Republican  party,  while  promising  tariff 
revision,  has  shown  by  its  tariff  legislation  that 


210  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

such  revision  is  not  to  be  in  the  people's  interest 
and  having  been  faithless  to  its  pledges  of  1908 
it  should  no  longer  enjoy  the  confidence  of  the  na- 
tion. We  appeal  to  the  American  people  to  sup- 
port us  in  our  demand  for  a  tariff  for  revenue 
only. 

The  high  cost  of  living  is  a  serious  problem  in 
every  American  home.  The  Republican  party,  in 
its  platform,  attempts  to  escape  from  responsibility 
for  present  conditions  by  denying  that  they  are 
due  to  a  protective  tariff.  "We  take  issue  with 
them  on  this  subject  and  charge  that  excessive 
prices  result  in  a  large  measure  from  the  high 
tariff  laws  enacted  and  maintained  by  the  Repub- 
lican party  and  from  trusts  and  commercial  con- 
spiracies fostered  and  encouraged  by  such  laws, 
and  we  assert  that  no  substantial  relief  can  be  se- 
cured for  the  people  until  import  duties  on  the 
necessaries  of  life  are  materially  reduced  and  these 
criminal  conspiracies  broken  up. 

A  private  monopoly  is  indefensible  and  intoler- 
able. We  therefore  favor  the  vigorous  enforce- 
ment of  the  criminal  as  well  as  the  civil  law  against 
trust  and  trust  officials,  and  demand  the  enactment 
of  such  additional  legislation  as  may  be  necessary 
to  make  it  impossible  for  a  private  monopoly  to 
exist  in  the  United  States. 

We  favor  the  .declaration  by  law  of  the  condi- 
tions upon  which  corporations  shall  be  permitted 


TEE   DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION  211 

to  engage  in  interstate  trade,  including,  among 
others,  the  prevention  of  holding  companies,  of 
interlocking  directors,  of  stock  watering,  of  dis- 
crimination in  price,  and  the  control  by  any  one 
corporation  of  so  large  a  proportion  of  any  in- 
dustry as  to  make  it  a  menace  to  competitive  con- 
ditions. 

We  condemn  the  action  of  the  Republican  ad- 
ministration in  compromising  with  the  Standard 
Oil  Company  and  the  Tobacco  Trust  and  its  fail- 
ure to  invoke  the  criminal  provisions  of  the  anti- 
trust law  against  the  officers  of  those  corporations 
after  the  court  had  declared  that  from  the  undis- 
puted facts  in  the  record  they  had  violated  the 
criminal  provisions  of  the  law. 

We  regret  that  the  Sherman  antitrust  law  has 
received  a  judicial  construction  depriving  it  of 
much  of  its  efficacy  and  we  favor  the  enactment  of 
legislation  which  will  restore  the  statute  the 
strength  of  which  it  has  been  deprived  by  such 
interpretation. 

We  believe  in  the  preservation  and  maintenance 
in  their  full  strength  and  integrity  of  the  three 
coordinate  branches  of  the  federal  government — 
the  executive,  the  legislative  and  the  judicial — 
each  keeping  within  its  own  bounds  and  not  en- 
croaching upon  the  just  powers  of  either  of  the 
others. 

Believing  that  the  most  efficient  results  under 


212  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

our  system  of  government  are  to  be  attained  by  the 
full  exercise  by  the  States  of  their  reserved  sov- 
reign  powers,  we  denounce  as  usurpation  the  efforts 
of  our  opponents  to  deprive  the  States  of  any  of 
the  rights  reserved  to  them,  and  to  enlarge  and 
magnify  by  indirection  the  powers  of  the  federal 
government. 

We  insist  upon  the  full  exercise  of  all  the  powers 
of  the  government,  both  State  and  national,  to  pro- 
tect the  people  from  injustice  at  the  hands  of 
those  who  seek  to  make  the  government  a  private 
asset  in  business.  There  is  no  twilight  zone  be- 
tween the  nation  and  the  State  in  which  exploiting 
interests  can  take  refuge  from  both.  It  is  as  neces- 
sary that  the  federal  government  shall  exercise  the 
powers  reserved  to  it,  but  we  insist  that  federal 
remedies  for  the  regulation  of  interstate  commerce 
and  for  the  prevention  of  private  monopoly  shall 
be  added  to  and  not  substituted  for  State  remedies. 

We  congratulate  the  country  upon  the  triumph 
of  two  important  reforms  demanded  in  the  last 
national  platform — namely :  the  amendment  of  the 
federal  constitution  authorizing  an  income  tax  and 
the  amendment  providing  for  the  popular  election 
of  senators,  and  we  call  upon  the  people  of  all  the 
States  to  rally  to  the  support  of  the  pending  prop- 
ositions and  secure  their  ratification. 

We  note  with  gratification  the  unanimous  senti- 
ment in  favor  of  publicity  before  the  election  of 


THE   DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION  213 

campaign  contributions — a  measure  demanded  in 
our  national  platform  of  1908  and  at  that  time  op- 
posed by  the  Republican  party — and  we  commend 
the  Democratic  house  of  representatives  for  ex- 
tending the  doctrine  of  publicity  to  recommenda- 
tions, verbal  and  written,  upon  which  presidential 
appointments  are  made,  to  the  ownership  and  con- 
trol of  newspapers,  and  to  the  expenditures  made 
by  and  in  behalf  of  those  who  aspire  to  presiden- 
tial nominations,  and  we  point  for  additional  justi- 
fication for  this  legislation  to  the  enormous  expen- 
ditures of  money  in  behalf  of  the  President  and  his 
predecessor  in  the  recent  presidential  contest  for 
the  Republican  nomination  for  President. 

The  movement  toward  more  popular  government 
should  be  promoted  through  legislation  in  each 
State  which  will  permit  the  expression  of  the  pref- 
erence of  the  electors  for  national  candidates  at 
presidential  primaries. 

We  direct  that  the  national  committee  incorpo- 
rate in  the  call  for  the  next  nominating  convention 
a  requirement  that  all  expressions  of  preference 
for  presidential  candidates  shall  be  given  and  the 
selection  of  delegates  and  alternates  made  through 
a  primary  election  conducted  by  the  party  organi- 
zation in  each  State  where  such  expression  and 
election  are  not  provided  for  by  State  law. 

Committeemen  who  are  hereafter  to  constitute 
the  membership  of  the  Democratic  national  com- 


214  A    TALE   OF   TWO    CONVENTIONS 

mittee  and  whose  election  is  not  provided  for  by 
law,  shall  be  chosen  in  each  State  at  such  primary 
elections  and  the  service  and  authority  of  com- 
mitteemen,  however  chosen,  shall  begin  immedi- 
ately upon  the  receipt  of  their  credentials. 

"We  pledge  the  Democratic  party  to  the  enact- 
ment of  a  law  prohibiting  any  corporation  from 
contributing  to  a  campaign  fund  and  any  indi- 
vidual from  contributing  any  amount  above  a  rea- 
sonable maximum. 

We  favor  a  single  presidential  term  and  to  that 
end  urge  the  adoption  of  an  amendment  to  the 
constitution  making  the  President  of  the  United 
States  ineligible  for  reelection,  and  we  pledge  the 
candidate  of  this  convention  to  this  principle. 

At  this  time,  when  the  Eepublican  party,  after 
a  generation  of  unlimited  power  in  its  control  of 
the  federal  government,  is  rent  into  factions,  it  is 
opportune  to  point  to  the  record  of  accomplish- 
ments of  the  Democratic  house  of  representatives 
in  the  sixty-second  congress.  We  indorse  its  ac- 
tion and  we  challenge  comparison  of  its  record  with 
that  of  any  congress  which  has  been  controlled  by 
our  opponents. 

We  call  the  attention  of  the  patriotic  citizens  of 
our  country  to  its  record  of  efficiency,  economy 
and  constructive  legislation: 

It  has,  among  other  achievements,  revised  the 
rules  of  the  house  of  representatives  so  as  to  give 


THE  DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION  215 

to  the  representatives  of  the  American  people  free- 
dom of  speech  and  of  action  in  advocating,  propos- 
ing and  perfecting  remedial  legislation. 

It  has  passed  bills  for  the  relief  of  the  people 
and  the  development  of  our  country;  it  has  en- 
deavored to  revise  the  tariff  taxes  downward  in  the 
interest  of  the  consuming  masses  and  thus  to  re- 
duce the  high  cost  of  living. 

It  has  proposed  an  amendment  to  the  federal 
constitution  providing  for  the  election  of  United 
States  senators  by  the  direct  vote  of  the  people. 

It  has  secured  the  admission  of  Arizona  and  New 
Mexico  as  two  sovereign  States. 

It  has  required  the  publicity  of  campaign  ex- 
penses both  before  and  after  election  and  fixed  a 
limit  upon  the  election  expenses  of  United  States 
senators  and  representatives. 

It  has  also  passed  a  bill  to  prevent  the  abuse  of 
the  writ  of  injunction. 

It  has  passed  a  law  establishing  an  eight-hour 
day  for  workmen  on  all  national  public  work. 

It  has  passed  a  resolution  which  forced  the  Presi- 
dent to  take  immediate  steps  to  abrogate  the  Rus- 
sian treaty.  And  it  has  passed  the  great  supply 
bills  which  lessen  waste  and  extravagance  and 
which  reduce  the  annual  expenses  of  the  govern- 
ment by  many  millions  of  dollars. 

"We  approve  the  measure  reported  by  the  Dem- 
ocratic leaders  in  the  house  of  representatives  for 


216 

the  creation  of  a  council  of  national  defense  which 
will  determine  a  definite  naval  program  with  a 
view  to  increased  efficiency  and  economy.  The 
party  that  proclaimed  and  has  always  enforced  the 
Monroe  doctrine  and  was  sponsor  for  the  new  navy, 
will  continue  faithfully  to  observe  the  constitu- 
tional requirements  to  provide  and  maintain  an 
adequate  and  well-proportioned  navy  sufficient  to 
defend  American  policies,  protect  our  citizens,  and 
uphold  the  honor  and  dignity  of  the  nation. 

We  denounce  the  profligate  waste  of  the  money 
wrung  from  the  people  by  oppressive  taxation 
through  the  lavish  appropriations  of  recent  Repub- 
lican congresses,  which  have  kept  taxes  high,  and 
reduced  the  purchasing  power  of  the  people's  toil. 
We  demand  a  return  to  that  simplicity  and  econ- 
omy which  befits  a  Democratic  government,  and  a 
reduction  in  the  number  of  useless  offices,  the  sal- 
aries of  which  drain  the  substance  of  the  people. 

We  favor  the  efficient  supervision  and  rate  regu- 
lation of  railroads,  express  companies,  telegraph 
and  telephone  lines  engaged  in  interstate  com- 
merce. To  this  end  we  recommend  the  valuation 
of  railroads,  express  companies,  and  telegraph  and 
telephone  lines  by  the  interstate  commerce  com- 
mission, such  valuation  to  take  into  consideration 
the  physical  value  of  the  property,  the  original 
cost,  the  cost  of  reproduction,  and  any  element  of 
value  that  will  render  the  valuation  fair  and  just. 


THE   DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION  217 

We  favor  such  legislation  as  will  effectually  pro- 
hibit the  railroads,  express,  telegraph,  and  tele- 
phone companies  from  engaging  in.  business  which 
brings  them  into  competition  with  their  shippers; 
also  legislation  preventing  the  overissue  of  stocks 
and  bonds  by  interstate  railroads,  express  com- 
panies, telegraph  and  telephone  lines  and  legisla- 
tion which  will  assure  such  reduction  in  transpor- 
tation rates  as  conditions  will  permit,  care  being 
taken  to  avoid  reduction  that  would  compel  a  re- 
duction of  wages,  prevent  adequate  service,  or  do 
injustice  to  legitimate  investments. 

We  oppose  the  so-called  Aldrich  monetary  bill 
or  the  establishment  of  a  central  bank,  and  we  be- 
lieve the  people  of  this  country  will  be  largely 
freed  from  panics  and  consequent  unemployment 
and  business  depression  by  such  a  systematic  re- 
vision of  our  banking  laws  as  will  render  tempo- 
rary relief  in  localities  where  such  relief  is  needed, 
with  protection  from  control  or  domination  by 
what  is  known  as  the  "money  trust." 

Banks  exist  for  the  accommodation  of  the  public 
and  not  for  the  control  of  business.  All  legisla- 
tion on  the  subject  of  banking  and  currency  should 
have  for  its  purpose  the  securing  of  these  accom- 
modations on  terms  of  absolute  security  to  the 
public  and  of  complete  protection  from  the  misuse 
of  the  power  that  wealth  gives  to  those  who  pos- 
sess it. 


218  A    TALE    OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

We  condemn  the  present  methods  of  depositing 
government  funds  in  a  few  favored  banks,  largely 
situated  in  or  controlled  by  Wall  Street,  in  return 
for  political  favors,  and  we  pledge  our  party  to 
provide  by  law  for  their  deposit  by  competitive 
bidding  by  the  banking  institutions  of  the  coun- 
try, national  and  State,  without  discrimination  as 
to  locality,  upon  approved  securities  and  subject 
to  call  by  the  government. 

Of  equal  importance  with  the  question  of  cur- 
rency reform  is  the  question  of  rural  credits  or 
agricultural  finance.  Therefore  we  recommend 
that  an  investigation  of  agricultural  credit  soci- 
eties in  foreign  countries  be  made,  so  that  it  may 
be  ascertained  whether  a  system  of  rural  credits 
may  be  devised  suitable  to  conditions  in  the  United 
States;  and  we  also  favor  legislation  permitting 
national  banks  to  loan  a  reasonable  proportion  of 
their  funds  on  real  estate  security. 

We  recognize  the  value  of  vocational  education 
and  urge  federal  appropriations  for  such  training 
and  extension  teaching  in  agriculture  in  coopera- 
tion with  the  several  States. 

We  renew  the  declaration  in  our  last  platform 
relating  to  the  conservation  of  our  natural  re- 
sources and  the  development  of  our  waterways. 
The  present  devastation  of  the  lower  Mississippi 
Valley  accentuates  the  movement  for  the  regulation 
of  river  flow  by  additional  bank  and  levee  protec- 


THE   DEMOCRATIC    CONVENTION  219 

tion  below,  and  the  diversion,  storage  and  control 
of  the  flood  waters  above  and  their  utilization  for 
beneficial  purposes  in  the  reclamation  of  arid  and 
swamp  lands  and  the  development  of  water-power, 
instead  of  permitting  the  floods  to  continue,  as 
heretofore,  agents  of  destruction 

We  hold  that  the  control  of  the  Mississippi  Eiver 
is  a  national  problem.  The  preservation  of  the 
depth  of  its  water  for  the  purpose  of  navigation, 
the  building  of  levees  to  maintain  the  integrity  of 
its  channel  and  the  prevention  of  the  overflow  of 
the  land  and  its  consequent  destruction,  resulting 
in  interruption  of  interstate  commerce,  the  disor- 
ganization of  mail  service,  and  the  enormous  loss 
of  life  and  property  impose  an  obligation  which 
alone  can  be  discharged  by  the  general  govern- 
ment. 

"We  favor  the  cooperation  of  the  United  States 
and  the  respective  States  in  plans  for  the  compre- 
hensive treatment  of  all  waterways  with  a  view 
of  coordinating  plans  for  channel  improvement 
with  plans  for  drainage  of  swamp  and  overflowed 
lands,  and  to  this  end  we  favor  the  appropriation 
by  the  federal  government  of  sufficient  funds  to 
make  surveys  of  such  lands,  to  develop  plans  for 
draining  such  lands,  and  to  supervise  the  work  of 
construction. 

"We  favor  the  adoption  of  a  liberal  and  compre- 
hensive plan  for  the  development  and  improve- 


220  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

ment  of  our  inland  waterways  with  economy  and 
efficiency,  so  as  to  permit  their  navigation  by  ves- 
sels of  standard  draft. 

We  favor  national  aid  to  State  and  local  au- 
thorities in  the  construction  and  maintenance  of 
post-roads. 

"We  repeat  our  declarations  of  the  platform  of 
1908  as  follows : 

"The  courts  of  justice  are  the  bulwark  of  our 
liberties  and  we  yield  to  none  in  our  purpose  to 
maintain  their  dignity.  Our  party  has  given  to 
the  bench  a  long  line  of  distinguished  justices,  who 
have  added  to  the  respect  and  confidence  in  which 
this  department  must  be  jealously  maintained.  We 
resent  the  attempt  of  the  Republican  party  to 
raise  a  false  issue  respecting  the  judiciary.  It  is 
an  unjust  reflection  upon  a  great  body  of  our  citi- 
zens to  assume  that  they  lack  respect  for  the 
courts. 

"It  is  the  function  of  the  court  to  interpret  the 
laws  which  the  people  enact,  and  if  the  laws  ap- 
pear to  work  economic,  social,  or  political  injustice 
it  is  our  duty  to  change  them.  The  only  basis 
upon  which  the  integrity  of  our  courts  can  stand 
is  'that  of  unswerving  justice  and  protection  of 
life,  personal  liberty,  and  property.  If  judicial 
processes  may  be  abused,  we  should  guard  them 
against  abuse. 

"Experience  has  proved  the  necessity  of  a  modi- 


THE   DEMOCSATIC   CONVENTION  221 

fication  of  the  present  law  relating  to  injunc- 
tion and  we  reiterate  the  pledges  of  our  plat- 
forms of  1896  and  1904  in  favor  of  a  measure 
which  passed  the  United  States  Senate  in  1896, 
relating  to  contempt  in  federal  courts  and 
providing  for  trial  by  jury  in  cases  of  indirect 
contempt. 

' '  Questions  of  judicial  practice  have  arisen,  espe- 
cially in  connection  with  industrial  disputes.  "We 
believe  that  the  parties  to  all  judicial  proceedings 
should  be  treated  with  rigid  impartiality  and  that 
injunctions  should  not  be  issued  in  any  case  in 
which  an  injunction  would  not  issue  if  no  indus- 
trial dispute  were  involved. 

"The  expanding  organization  of  industry  makes 
it  essential  that  there  should  be  no  abridgment  of 
the  right  of  the  wage  earners  and  producers  to  or- 
ganize for  the  protection  of  wages  and  the  im- 
provement of  labor  conditions,  to  the  end  that  such 
labor  organizations  and  their  members  should  not 
be  regarded  as  illegal  combinations  in  restraint  of 
trade. 

"We  pledge  the  Democratic  party  to  the  enact- 
ment of  a  law  creating  a  department  of  labor 
represented  separately  in  the  President's  cabinet, 
in  which  department  shall  be  included  the  subject 
of  mines  and  mining." 

We  pledge  the  Democratic  party,  so  far  as  the 
federal  jurisdiction  extends,  to  an  employees'  com- 


222  A    TALE    OF   TWO    CONVENTIONS 

pensation  law  providing  adequate  indemnity  for 
injury  to  body  or  loss  of  life. 

We  believe  in  encouraging  the  development  of  a 
modern  system  of  agriculture  and  a  systematic 
effort  to  improve  the  conditions  of  trade  in  farm 
products  so  as  to  benefit  both  the  consumers  and 
producers.  And  as  an  efficient  means  to  this  end 
we  favor  the  enactment  by  congress  of  legislation 
that  will  suppress  the  pernicious  practice  of  gam- 
bling in  agricultural  products  by  organized  ex- 
changes or  others. 

We  believe  in  the  conservation  and  the  develop- 
ment for  the  use  of  all  the  people,  of  the  natural 
resources  of  the  country.  Our  forests,  our  sources 
of  water-supply,  our  arable  and  our  mineral  lands, 
our  navigable  streams,  and  all  other  material  re- 
sources with  which  our  country  has  been  so  lav- 
ishly endowed,  constitute  the  foundation  of  our 
national  wealth.  Such  additional  legislation  as 
may  be  necessary  to  prevent  their  being  wasted  or 
absorbed  by  special  or  privileged  interests  should 
be  enacted  and  the  policy  of  their  conservation 
should  be  rigidly  adhered  to. 

The  public  domain  should  be  administered  and 
disposed  of  with  due  regard  to  the  general  wel- 
fare. Reservations  should  be  limited  to  the  pur- 
poses which  they  purport  to  serve  and  not  extended 
to  include  land-  wholly  unsuited  therefor.  The 
unnecessary  withdrawal  from  sale  and  settlement 


THE  DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION  223 

of  enormous  •  tracts  of  public  land,  upon  which 
tree  growth  never  existed  and  cannot  be  promoted, 
tends  only  to  retard  development,  create  discon- 
tent, and  bring  reproach  upon  the  policy  of  con- 
servation. 

The  public  land  laws  should  be  administered  in 
a  spirit  of  the  broadest  liberality,  towards  the  set- 
tler exhibiting  a  bona  fide  purpose  to  comply  there- 
with, to  the  end  that  the  invitation  of  this  govern- 
ment to  the  landless  should  be  as  attractive  as 
possible,  and  the  plain  provisions  of  the  forest  re- 
serve act  permitting  homestead  entries  to  be  made 
within  the  national  forests  should  not  be  nullified 
by  administrative  regulations  which  amount  to  a 
withdrawal  of  great  areas  of  the  same  from  settle- 
ment. 

We  favor  legislation  so  extending  or  readjusting 
the  payments  of  water  users  on  the  irrigation 
projects  in  the  arid  region  as  to  make  the  burden 
of  such  payments  as  reasonable  as  will  be  con- 
sistent with  justice  and  sound  policy. 

Immediate  action  should  be  taken  by  congress 
to  make  available  the  vast  and  valuable  coal  de- 
posits of  Alaska  under  conditions  that  will  be  a 
perfect  guaranty  against  their  falling  into  the 
hands  of  monopolizing  corporations,  associations, 
or  interests. 

We  believe  in  fostering  by  constitutional  regula- 
tion of  commerce  the  growth  of  a  merchant  marine 


224  A    TALE    OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

which  shall  develop  and  strengthen  the  commercial 
ties  which  bind  us  to  our  sister  republics  of  the 
south,  but  without  imposing  additional  burdens 
upon  the  people  and  without  bounties  or  subsidies 
from  the  public  treasury.  We  urge  upon  congress 
the  speedy  enactment  of  laws  for  the  greater  se- 
curity of  life  and  property  at  sea  and  we  favor 
the  repeal  of  all  laws  and  the  abrogation  of  so 
much  of  our  treaties  with  other  nations  as  provide 
for  the  arrest  and  imprisonment  of  seamen  charged 
with  desertion  or  with  violation  of  their  contract 
of  service.  Such  laws  and  treaties  are  un-Ameri- 
can and  violate  the  spirit  if  not  the  letter  of  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States. 

We  favor  the  exemption  from  tolls  of  American 
ships  engaged  in  coastwise  trade  passing  through 
the  Panama  Canal. 

We  also  favor  legislation  forbidding  the  use  of 
the  Panama  Canal  by  ships  owned  or  controlled 
by  railroad  carriers  engaged  in  transportation 
competitive  with  the  canal. 

We  reaffirm  our  previous  declarations  advocat- 
ing the  union  and  strengthening  of  the  various 
governmental  agencies  relating  to  pure  foods, 
quarantine,  vital  statistics,  and  human  health. 
Thus  united  and  administered  without  partiality 
to,  or  discrimination  against,  any  school  of  medi- 
cine or  system  of  healing,  they  would  constitute 
a  single  health  service,  not  subordinated  to  any 


THE   DEMOCBATIC   CONVENTION  225 

commercial  or  financial  interests,  but  devoted  ex- 
clusively to  the  conservation  of  human  life  and 
efficiency.  Moreover,  this  health  service  should 
cooperate  with  the  health  agencies  of  our  various 
States  and  cities  without  interference  with  their 
prerogatives  or  with  the  freedom  of  individuals  to 
employ  such  medical  or  hygienic  aid  as  they  may 

see  fit. 

*        * 

We  reaffirm  the  position  thrice  announced  by 
the  Democracy  in  national  convention  assembled 
against  a  policy  of  imperialism  and  colonial  ex- 
ploitation in  the  Philippines  or  elsewhere.  We 
condemn  the  experiment  in  imperialism  as  an  in- 
excusable blunder  which  has  involved  us  in  enor- 
mous expense,  brought  us  weakness  instead  of 
strength,  and  laid  our  nation  open  to  the  charge 
of  abandonment  of  the  fundamental  doctrine  of 
self-government.  We  favor  an  immediate  declara- 
tion of  the  nation's  purpose  to  recognize  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  Philippine  Islands  as  soon  as  a 
stable  government  can  be  established,  such  indepen- 
dence to  be  guaranteed  by  us  until  the  neutraliza- 
tion of  the  islands  can  be  secured  by  treaty  with 
other  powers.  In  recognizing  the  independence  of 
the  Philippines  our  government  should  retain  such 
land  as  may  be  necessary  for  coaling  stations  and 
naval  bases. 

We  welcome  Arizona  and  New  Mexico  to  the 


226  A    TALE    OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

sisterhood  of  States  and  heartily  congratulate  them 
upon  their  auspicious  beginning  of  great  and  glori- 
ous careers. 

*        * 

We  commend  the  patriotism  of  the  Democratic 
members  of  the  senate  and  house  of  representatives 
which  compelled  the  termination  of  the  Russian 
treaty  of  1832,  and  we  pledge  ourselves  anew  to 
preserve  the  sacred  rights  of  American  citizenship 
at  home  and  abroad.  No  treaty  should  receive  the 
sanction  of  our  government  which  does  not  recog- 
nize the  equality  of  all  our  citizens,  irrespective 
of  race  or  creed,  and  which  does  not  expressly 
guarantee  the  fundamental  right  of  expatriation. 

The  constitutional  rights  of  American  citizens 
should  protect  them  on  our  borders  and  go  with 
them  throughout  the  world,  and  every  American 
citizen  residing  or  having  property  in  any  foreign 
country  is  entitled  to  and  must  be  given  the  full 
protection  of  the  United  States  government,  both 
for  himself  and  his  property. 

We  favor  the  establishment  of  a  parcels-post  or 
postal  express  and  also  the  extension  of  the  rural 
delivery  system  as  rapidly  as  practicable. 

We  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  Democratic 
party's  demand  for  a  return  to  the  rule  of  the 
people  expressed  in  the  national  platform  four 
years  ago  has  now  become  the  accepted  doctrine  of 
a  large  majority  of  the  electors.  We  again  remind 


THE   DEMOCRATIC    CONVENTION  227 

the  country  that  only  by  a  larger  exercise  of  the 
reserved  power  of  the  people  can  they  protect 
themselves  from  the  misuse  of  delegated  power  and 
the  usurpation  of  governmental  instrumentality  by 
special  interest.  For  this  reason  the  national  con- 
vention insisted  on  the  overthrow  of  Cannonism 
and  the  inauguration  of  a  system  by  which  United 
State  senators  could  be  elected  by  direct  vote. 
The  Democratic  party  offers  itself  to  the  country  as 
an  agency  through  which  the  complete  overthrow 
and  extirpation  of  corruption,  fraud  and  machine 
rule  in  American  politics  can  be  effected. 

Our  platform  is  one  of  principles  which  we  be- 
lieve to  be  essential  to  our  national  welfare.  Our 
pledges  are  made  to  be  kept  when  in  office  as  well 
as  relied  upon  during  the  campaign,  and  we  invite 
the  cooperation  of  all  citizens,  regardless  of  party, 
who  believe  in  maintaining  unimpaired  the  insti- 
tutions and  traditions  of  our  country. 


XVI 

GOVERNOR  WILSON'S  SPEECH  OF  ACCEP- 
TANCE 

Mr.  Bryan's  comments  as  published  on  August  9th. 

Governor  "Wilson's  speech  accepting  the  Demo- 
cratic nomination  is  original  in  its  method  of  deal- 
ing with  the  issues  of  the  campaign.  Instead  of 
taking  up  the  platform  plank  by  plank,  he  takes 
the  central  idea  of  the  Denver  platform — an  idea 
repeated  and  emphasized  in  the  Baltimore  plat- 
form— and  elaborates  it,  using  the  various  ques- 
tions under  consideration  to  illustrate  the  applica- 
tion of  the  principle.  Taking  the  doctrine  that  a 
government  is  an  organization  formed  for  the  peo- 
ple themselves  and  to  be  perfected  by  them  as  an 
instrument  for  the  accomplishment  of  such  co- 
operative work  as  is  necessary,  he  shows  how  all 
the  evils  complained  of  at  the  present  time  grow 
out  of  the  appropriation  by  a  few  of  the  instru- 
mentalities of  government.  His  speech  gives  strik- 
ing evidence  of  the  force  of  cumulative  testimony 
and  also  illustrates  the  power  of  intelligent  analy- 
sis. In  taking  his  position  so  strongly  he  pre- 
228 


TEE   DEMOCRATIC    CONVENTION  229 

empts  the  ground  that  Mr.  Boosevelt's  new  party 
seeks  to  occupy. 

In  the  course  of  his  argument  he  indorses  the 
Democratic  demand  for  the  popular  election  of 
senators,  presidential  primaries,  and  "Publicity 
as  to  everything  that  concerns  government,  from 
the  sources  of  campaign  funds  to  the  intimate  de- 
bate of  the  highest  affairs  of  the  State."  Instead 
of  using  epithets  and  employing  denunciation 
against  those  who  have  abused  existing  systems  he 
seeks  reform  along  rational  lines  and  would  cure 
those  defects  in  governmental  forms  which  have 
been  discovered  by  experience. 

The  election  of  senators  by  the  pople  will  bring 
that  body  within  the  reach  of  the  voters  and  con- 
vert it  from  a  bulwark  of  predatory  wealth,  in 
which  seats  have  been  secured  by  corrupt  means 
and  by  the  aid  of  favor-seeking  corporations,  into 
a  popular  body  responsive  to  the  people's  will. 
This  reform  has  been  described  in  a  former  Demo- 
cratic platform  as  "the  gateway  to  other  reforms" 
and  it  would  be  difficult  to  overestimate  the  bene- 
ficial effects  of  this  constitutional  change. 

The  presidential  primaries  which  the  Baltimore 
platform  indorses,  and  which  Governor  Wilson 
defends,  will  correct  another  long-standing  and 
grievous  abuse,  namely,  the  selection  of  presidential 
candidates  in  conventions  where  trading  and  swap- 
ping can  defeat  the  wishes  of  the  people.  Ingrati- 


230  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

tude  has  been  described  as  a  greater  sin  than  re- 
venge, because  the  former  is  the  repayment  of  good 
with  ill  while  the  latter  is  the  repayment  of  ill 
with  ill.  We  must,  therefore,  consider  at  all  times 
the  effect  of  the  obligations  incurred  when  so  great 
an  honor  as  the  presidency  is  bestowed  upon  a  pub- 
lic man,  however  well  meaning,  by  those  who  may 
be  in  control  of  the  convention.  It  is  impossible 
for  a  man  so  nominated  and  so  obligated  to  give 
to  the  public  the  sort  of  service  that  the  public  has 
a  right  to  demand.  When  the  presidential  pri- 
mary is  adopted  in  all  of  the  States,  as  it  is  quite 
sure  to  be  within  the  next  four  years,  the  people 
will  be  in  position  to  confer  the  office  of  chief 
executive  upon  the  man  of  their  choice  and  the 
nominee,  being  obligated  to  the  people  and  to  the 
people  alone,  will  rise  to  the  requirements  of  his 
high  position. 

Governor  Wilson  properly  estimates  the  value 
of  publicity  as  shown  by  his  sweeping  indorse- 
ment of  the  party's  position  on  that  subject.  The 
demand  for  publicity  is  now  so  universal  that  one 
finds  it  hard  to  understand  how  secrecy  could 
have  been  tolerated  so  long;  how  an  intelligent 
people  could  have  been  so  slow  to  recognize  that 
elections  and  all  official  service  are  public  affairs. 

These  three  reforms,  the  popular  election  of 
senators,  the  presidential  primaries,  and  publicity 
will,  in  themselves,  revolutionize  American  poli- 


THE   DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION  231 

tics  and  put  the  people  in  control  of  the  federal 
government. 

Governor  Wilson  devotes  considerable  time  to 
the  tariff  question.  After  announcing  that  "There 
should  be  an  immediate  revision"  and  that  "it 
should  be  downward,  unhesitatingly  and  steadily 
downward,"  he  proceeds  to  point  out  the  lines 
along  which  reduction  should  proceed.  He  says 
that  it  should  begin  with  the  schedules  which  have 
been  most  obviously  used  to  kill  competition  and 
to  raise  prices  in  the  United  States,  arbitrarily 
with  regard  to  the  prices  pertaining  elsewhere  in 
the  markets  of  the  world,  and  that ' '  before  it  is  fin- 
ished or  intermitted  it  should  extend  to  every  item 
in  every  schedule  which  affords  any  opportunity 
for  monopoly,  for  special  advantage  to  limited 
groups  of  beneficiaries  or  for  subsidized  control  of 
any  kind  in  the  markets  of  the  country — until  spe- 
cial favor  of  every  source  shall  have  been  abso- 
lutely withdrawn  and  every  part  of  our  laws  of 
taxation  shall  have  been  transformed  from  a  sys- 
tem of  governmental  patronage  into  a  system  of 
just  and  reasonable  charges  which  shall  fall  where 
they  will  create  the  least  burden."  When  we  shall 
have  done  this,  he  continues,  we  can  fix  questions 
of  revenue  and  business  adjustment  in  a  new  spirit 
and  with  clear  minds. 

This  is  a  very  strong  statement  of  the  Demo- 
cratic position  and  will  commend  itself  to  those 


232  A    TALE    OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

who  seek  the  overthrow  of  the  doctrine  that  pro- 
tection should  be  given  for  protection's  sake  and 
the  establishment  of  the  doctrine  that  tariff  laws 
should  be  framed  for  the  purpose  of  raising  rev- 
enues and  for  that  purpose  only.  He  recognizes, 
and  in  his  speech  declares,  that  there  has  been 
no  more  demoralizing  influence  in  our  politics  than 
the  idea  that  "the  government  is  the  grand  dis- 
penser of  favors,  the  maker  and  unmaker  of  for- 
tunes," and  he  tersely  presents  the  axiomatic  truth 
that  favors  are  never  conceived  in  the  general  in- 
terest, but  always  for  the  benefit  of  the  few. 

While  planting  himself  firmly  upon  the  prin- 
ciple that  tariff  laws  should  be  framed  for  the  pur- 
pose of  collecting  revenue,  be  so  framed  as  to 
collect  revenue  with  the  least  hardship  and  be 
carried  no  further  than  the  necessity  of  the  gov- 
ernment requires,  he  approves  of  the  platform 
declaration  that  reductions  should  be  made  gradu- 
ally rather  than  at  one  stroke. 

Governor  Wilson  deals  at  some  length  with  the 
trust  question  also.  He  states  the  conclusions 
which  can  now  be  drawn  from  experience  and  as- 
serts an  economic  truth,  namely,  that  while  up  to  a 
certain  point  combinations  effect  economies  in  ad- 
ministration and  increase  efficiency  by  simplify- 
ing and  perfecting  organization,  still  that  this  is 
true  only  within  limits.  It  is  fortunate  for  the 
discussion  of  the  subject  that  he  points  out  that 


THE   DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION  233 

combination  and  concentration  are  not  economi- 
cally beneficial  when  carried  too  far.  The  trust 
magnates  assume  that  a  billion-dollar  corporation 
can  produce  more  economically  than  a  fifty-million- 
dollar  corporation,  merely  because  a  fifty-million- 
dollar  corporation  may  be  able  to  produce  more 
economically  than  a  fifty-thousand-dollar  corpora- 
tion. The  socialist  makes  the  same  mistake.  Both 
overlook  the  fact  that  there  is  a  leak  at  each  step 
in  the  descent  of  authority  from  the  official  head  of 
the  concern  down  to  the  hand  of  the  workman  and 
that,  in  time,  the  total  leakage  overcomes  what- 
ever economic  advantage  there  would  otherwise  be 
in  consolidation. 

He  states  the  Democratic  position  without  equiv- 
ocation or  evasion  when  he  declares  that  he  can 
arrest  and  prevent  monopoly,  and  that  competi- 
tion can,  in  a  large  measure,  be  revived  by  chang- 
ing the  laws  and  forbidding  the  practises  that  killed 
it.  The  real  issue  presented  by  the  trust  question  is 
whether  we  shall  attempt  to  restore  competition  as 
an  effective  force  or  accept  the  position  advanced 
by  socialists  and  trust  magnates,  namely,  that  all 
competition  is  hurtful  and  that  monopoly  must  be 
accepted  as  an  economic  necessity.  He  takes  the 
Democratic  position  that  monopolies  are  the  result 
of  unwise  laws  rather  than  a  natural  development 
and  that  the  cure  is  to  be  found  in  the  withdrawal 
of  the  support  which  legislation  or  lack  of  govern- 
mental administrative  efficiency  has  conferred. 


234  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

In  discussing  the  labor  question  Governor  Wil- 
son has  happily  protested  against  the  distinctions 
that  have  been  drawn  between  the  laboring  classes 
and  classes  described  in  other  ways.  He  insists 
that  laws  that  safeguard  the  lives  of  laboring  men, 
that  improve  the  physical  and  moral  conditions 
under  which  they  live  and  make  their  hours  ra- 
tional and  tolerable,  together  with  the  laws  that 
give  them  freedom  to  act  in  their  own  interest  and 
protect  them  where  they  cannot  protect  themselves 
— that  such  laws  cannot  be  properly  regarded  as 
class  legislation  or  as  anything  but  measures  taken 
in  the  interest  of  the  whole  people. 

Without  attempting  to  outline  a  plan  of  cur- 
rency reform  he  declares  that  no  mere  banker's 
plan  will  meet  the  requirements,  no  matter  how 
honestly  conceived;  that  it  must  be  a  merchants' 
and  farmers'  plan  as  well.  This  states  in  another 
form  the  doctrine  of  the  Baltimore  platform, 
namely,  that  banks  exist  not  for  the  control  of 
commerce,  but  for  the  accommodation  of  the  pub- 
lic, and  that  legislation  on  this  subject  should  have 
for  its  object  the  securing  of  these  accommodations 
with  protection  to  the  public  from  the  abuse  of  the 
power  which  wealth  brings  to  those  who  possess  it. 

Governor  Wilson 's  treatment  of  the  Philippine 
question  will  be  gratifying  to  those  who  have  in 
four  campaigns  indorsed  the  Democratic  protest 
against  imperialism.  He  declares  that  we  are  not 


THE  DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION  235 

the  owners  of  the  Philippine  Islands;  that  we  are 
not  even  their  partners,  but  that  we  hold  them  in 
trust  for  the  people  who  live  in  them. 

While  the  speech  of  acceptance  is  not  long,  it 
covers  a  very  wide  field.  The  Democratic  candi- 
date is  in  hearty  sympathy  with  the  conservation 
of  the  nation's  resources,  with  the  development 
of  water  transportation,  with  the  completion  of 
the  canal,  with  the  revival  of  the  merchant  marine, 
and  with  the  extension  of  postal  facilities.  He 
recognizes  the  importance  of  health  as  a  national 
asset  and  of  vocational  training  for  the  people. 
His  work  as  an  educator  naturally  predisposes  him 
to  large  views  on  all  subjects  connected  with  the 
separation  of  the  young  for  the  highest  usefulness. 
He  is  a  champion  of  economy  in  government;  in 
a  word,  he  believes  that  the  government  should  not 
only  be  conducted  by  the  people  but,  as  would  nat- 
urally follow,  should  be  conducted  in  the  interest 
of  all  the  people.  Without  assuming  to  formulate 
a  detailed  plan  for  dealing  with  every  condition 
which  may  arise,  he  lifts  into  a  position  of  su- 
preme importance  the  dominating  thought  of  the 
Baltimore  platform  and  appeals  to  the  country  for 
its  cooperation  in  making  popular  government  a 
reality  throughout  the  land. 


XVII 

THE  INFLUENCE  OF  ME.  BRYAN  IN  THE 
CONVENTION 

From  an  article  by  Joseph  L.  Bristow,  United 
States  Senator  from  Kansas,  published  in  the 
New  York  "World"  and  St.  Louis  "Post-Dis- 
patch. 

The  nomination  of  Woodrow  Wilson  by  the 
Democratic  convention  is  the  greatest  triumph  that 
has  come  to  William  J.  Bryan  in  his  career,  far 
greater  than  his  first  nomination,  which  was  the 
result  of  his  speech  to  the  Chicago  convention. 
Then  the  delegates  were  in  condition  to  be  moved 
by  the  spectacular  demonstration  of  his  oratorical 
powers.  His  fight  for  a  progressive  platform  at  St. 
Louis  up  to  this  time  probably  showed  his  greatest 
strength  as  a  tenacious  fighter.  His  nomination 
for  the  third  time  was  not  opposed  seriously,  be- 
cause it  was  not  believed  that  the  Democratic  party 
had  a  chance  for  success. 

But  with  flattering  prospects  this  year  that  the 
nominee  would  be  elected  the  enemies  of  Mr.  Bry- 
an 's  theories  of  government  have  made  every  effort 
to  guard  against  control  of  the  convention,  so  that 
236 


THE   DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION  237 

no  one  in  accord  with  his  views  and  purposes  could 
be  nominated.  Indeed,  it  appeared  that  they  had 
paved  an  easy  way  for  the  nomination  of  Speaker 
Clark,  but  they  had  not  reckoned  with  the  power 
of  Bryan's  personality  as  a  delegate  in  the  con- 
vention. 

For  a  week  I  watched  closely  his  masterful  hand. 
Beaten  on  the  first  day  for  temporary  chairman 
by  a  decisive  vote,  it  clearly  appeared  that  he  did 
not  control  a  majority  of  the  delegates  to  the  con- 
vention. His  enemies,  the  reactionaries  in  the 
Democratic  party,  were  elated,  but  Bryan  was  calm 
in  defeat  and  confident  of  ultimate  success.  He 
relied  on  that  irresistible  influence  in  American 
politics,  which  he  termed  the  ' '  folks  at  home, ' '  but 
which  I  shall  style  public  opinion. 

No  convention  or  legislative  body  in  this  country 
can  stand  a  great  while  against  concentrated  pub- 
lic opinion.  And  while  the  reactionary  Democrats 
gnashed  their  teeth  furiously  at  Bryan,  sent  forth 
their  prize  orators  to  denounce  him,  and  vented 
their  hatred  and  anger,  insulting  remarks  and 
jeers,  yet  he,  in  the  midst  of  all  the  rancorous  tur- 
moil, cool  and  self-possessed,  continued  with  a 
masterful  hand  to  wield  his  tremendous  power  over 
the  convention.  He  relied  with  supreme  confi- 
dence on  the  force  of  public  opinion  to  bring  the 
convention  to  his  feet,  and  he  succeeded,  in  my 
judgment,  beyond  his  expectations. 


238  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

I 

Governor  Wilson  is  under  obligations  to  many 
friends  who  have  worked  for  his  nomination  with 
an  ardor  that  should  be  exceedingly  gratifying  to 
him,  yet  there  is  one  man  whose  support  and  domi- 
nating force  gave  him  the  nomination,  and  to-day, 
towering  above  other  party  leaders  in  American 
politics,  stands  the  gigantic  figure  of  William  J. 
Bryan. 

FROM  AN  EDITORIAL  ARTICLE  IN  THE  NEW  YORK 
'  'WORLD." 

Mr.  Bryan  was  the  hero  of  the  Baltimore  con- 
vention. There  can  be  no  doubt  of  that. 

He  might  have  done  more,  he  might  have  done 
less  and  he  might  have  done  some  things  differ- 
ently, but  he  is  the  man  who  made  the  fight ;  he  is 
the  man  who  shaped  the  issues ;  he  is  the  man  who 
controlled  events. 

Whether  in  all  things  wisely,  whether  in  all 
things  unselfishly,  whether  in  all  things  loyally 
devoted  to  Governor  Wilson,  it  was  his  courage,  his 
clearness  of  vision,  his  knowledge  of  the  forces 
with  which  he  had  to  contend  and  his  splendid 
mental  and  physical  endurance  that  gained  the 
day. 

We  pay  this  tribute  to  Mr.  Bryan  because  it  is 
deserved,  and  we  find  the  more  pleasure  in  it  be- 
cause for  many  years  past  there  have  been  occa- 
sions almost  without  number  on  which  we  were 


THE   DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION  239 

compelled  to  disagree  with    him    and    to    oppose 
him. 

EDITORIAL  ARTICLE  IN  " COLLIER'S  WEEKLY.'* 

The  service  done  by  Mr.  Bryan  to  his  party  and 
the  country  will  not  be  forgotten.  Nobody  has  in 
recent  years  illustrated  more  wonderfully  the  truth 
that  the  United  States  is  a  country  in  which  men 
often  grow  surprisingly  after  they  have  reached 
middle  life. 

Mr.  Bryan  at  Baltimore  had  all  the  honesty, 
courage,  and  sympathy  which  have  made  him  leader 
of  the  Democratic  liberal  masses,  and  he  had  a  ma- 
turity, a  strength,  a  distinguished  economy  of  ef- 
fort, a  logic,  a  control,  which  marked  him  as  a 
more  formidable  and  a  more  complete  figure  than 
he  has  been  before  in  any  of  his  campaigns.  We 
liked  the  "boy  orator"  of  1896.  We  admire  and 
trust  the  fighting  statesman  of  1912. 

EDITORIAL   ARTICLE   IN    THE    WASHINGTON    " TIMES/' 

Mr.  Bryan  is  being  credited  with  having  caused 
all  the  turmoil  that  has  existed,  and  still  is  existing 
at  the  Baltimore  convention.  It  is  being  said  that 
were  it  not  for  Bryan  the  convention  would  easily 
have  finished  its  work  by  Thursday  or  Friday,  and 
the  Democratic  party  would  have  entered  the  cam- 
paign united  and  in  perfect  harmony. 


240  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

All  of  this  is  true.  Had  it  not  been  for  Mr. 
Bryan  the  Democratic  party  would  now  be  con- 
tent, but  corrupt;  harmonious  but  hypocritical; 
united,  but  with  the  unity  of  a  boss-driven  party 
rather  than  the  unity  of  a  free  people  acting  in 
promotion  of  the  common  good. 

When  Mr.  Bryan  appeared  on  the  scene  every- 
thing was  harmonious.  The  bosses  had  agreed. 
There  was  nothing  left  for  the  delegates  to  do  ex- 
cept to  serve  as  a  rubber  stamp,  a  phonograph. 
The  same  old  program  had  been  arranged.  Irrec- 
oncilable forces  were  to  be  placated,  apparently. 
A  platform  that  should  be  written  by  the  radicals 
and  promising  almost  anything  the  people  wanted 
was  to  be  adopted. 

The  progressives  were  to  be  kept  in  line  by  the 
platform  promises;  the  reactionaries  were  to  be 
kept  in  line  by  the  secret  knowledge  that  the  nom- 
inees were  perfectly  "safe  and  sane,"  and  could 
be  relied  upon  not  to  compel  the  party  to  live  up 
to  the  platform ;  Mr.  Bryan  and  his  ilk  were  to  fur- 
nish the  oratory  and  beat  the  bushes ;  Mr.  Belmont, 
Ryan,  and  their  ilk  were  to  furnish  the  money, 
and  ultimately  dominate  the  adminstration.  The 
people  were  eventually  to  hold  the  sack,  as  they 
have  always  done. 

Into  this  very  satisfactory  harmony  program  to 
the  bosses  and  of  the  bosses,  Mr.  Bryan  threw  a 
bomb.  The  pieces  are  still  in  the  air.  All  that  Mr. 


THE   DEMOCBATIC    CONVENTION  241 

Bryan  demanded  was  that  cardinal  virtue  of  sin- 
cerity. He  demanded  that  if  the  Democratic  party 
was  to  make  an  appeal  to  the  people  upon  the 
ground  that  it  was  progressive  and  stood  for  popu- 
lar government,  that  it  be  a  progressive  convention 
from  start  to  finish.  He  demanded  that  it  be  kept 
free  from  any  obligations  to  the  reactionary  ele- 
ment or  to  the  forces  of  Special  Privilege  or  to  the 
bosses.  He  demanded  that  a  progressive  sound  the 
keynote,  a  progressive  write  the  platform,  and 
what  was  of  the  greatest  consequence,  a  progres- 
sive be  nominated  who  would  hold  the  party  to  its 
promises,  in  event  it  won  at  the  polls. 

FROM    AN    ARTICLE    IN    "THE    NATIONAL    MONTHLY/' 

BY    NORMAN    E.    MACK,    CHAIRMAN    OP    THE 

DEMOCRATIC    NATIONAL    COMMITTEE. 

Bryan's  greatest  strength  in  the  convention 
came  from  the  assumption  that  he  was  looking  for 
nothing  for  himself.  For  four  months  prior  to  the 
convention,  he  had  had  under  consideration  the 
suggestion  that  he  become  temporary  chairman  of 
the  convention.  He  had  the  assurance  of  the 
chairman  of  the  national  committee  that  the  mem- 
bers of  the  committee  on  arrangements  would  sup- 
port him  for  the  post  if  he  would  indicate  a 
willingness  to  serve;  in  fact,  there  would  have 
been  no  opposition  to  Mr.  Bryan  for  temporary 
chairman,  either  in  the  national  committee  or  the 


242  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

convention  itself,  if  he  had  desired  the  place  and 
made  known  his  desire  prior  to  the  meeting  of  the 
arrangement  committee  in  Baltimore  who  decided 
the  temporary  chairmanship  in  favor  of  Judge 
Parker.  But  Mr.  Bryan  stated  long  before  that 
meeting  his  disinclination  to  serve.  About  a 
month  before  the  convention  he  sent  a  letter  to  the 
chairman  of  the  national  committee,  of  which  the 
following  is  a  copy: 

"Hon.  Norman  E.  Mack,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. : 

"My  Dear  Mack — I  wrote  you  the  other  day  suggesting 
that  the  committee  should  ask  the  two  leading  candi- 
dates— I  suppose  they  will  be  Clark  and  Wilson — to 
agree  upon  the  temporary  chairman.  I  believe  it  would 
be  conducive  to  harmony  if  we  could  get  a  man  who 
would  be  agreeable  to  both  of  these  candidates.  I 
neglected  to  add  that  I  do  not  desire  the  position  myself. 
I  think  that  under  the  circumstances  it  is  better  for  me 
not  to  take  a  prominent  part  in  the  organization  of  the 
convention.  I  suppose  I  will  be  a  member  of  the  com- 
mittee on  resolutions  from  this  state.  I  have  not  con- 
ferred with  the  members  of  the  delegation,  but  I  take  it 
for  granted  from  the  personnel  that  the  members  of  the 
delegation  will  favor  me  for  that  position. 
''Very  truly  yours, 

"W.  J.  BRYAN." 

Nothing  could  be  more  conclusive  of  Mr. 
Bryan's  desire  for  self-elimination  in  the  bestowal 
of  convention  and  party  honors  at  Baltimore. 
Although  differing  with  him  as  to  the  selection  of 
the  temporary  chairman,  and  the  substance  of 
some  of  his  speeches  in  the  convention,  we  believe 


THE   DEMOCBATIC   CONVENTION  243 

it  untrue  and  unfair  to  put  a  personal  ambition  at 
the  base  of  his  fight  for  a  progressive  chairman  to 
sound  the  convention  keynote,  a  progressive  can- 
didate and  a  progressive  platform.  That  he  was 
not  plotting  for  his  own  nomination  is  clearly  evi- 
dent. His  friends  knew  that.  If  there  are  some 
who  do  not  believe  it  to  be  true,  the  foregoing  let- 
ter ought  to  be  a  convincing  argument. 


Part  Three 

THE  PROGRESSIVE  NATIONAL  CONVENTION 
CHICAGO,  AUGUST  5-7,  1912 

(Nora. — It  was  the  original  intention  of  Mr.  Bryan  to  treat  in  this  work 
only  the  regular  Republican  and  Democratic  conventions.  Subsequently  he 
decided  to  include  in  the  volume  the  speech  of  Ex-President  Roosevelt  before 
the  Progressive  convention  and  the  Progressive  party  platform,  with  his  com- 
ments on  both,  as  published  in  leading  daily  newspapers  immediately  following 
the  close  of  the  convention. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  here,  as  to  Mr.  Bryan's  letters  from  the  Republican 
convention  at  Chicago,  that,  hi  asking  for  a  ticket  for  the  press  gallery,  Mr, 
Bryan  promised  the  Chairman  of  the  National  Committee  that  he  would  not 
say  anything  worse  about  Mr.  Taft  and  Mr.  Roosevelt  than  they  had  said  about 
each  other;  but  that  understanding  would  leave  him  sufficient  to  say. 

Mr.  Bryan  felt  that  he  was  in  a  position  to  report  the  Republican  con- 
vention with  fairness  and  completeness.  He  knew  both  Mr.  Taft  and  Mr. 
Roosevelt  well  enough  to  know  what  they  had  said  about  each  other,  and  he 
was  willing  to  give  it  the  widest  publicity.  Mr.  Bryan  occupied  seat  Number 
13  in  the  press  gallery  at  the  Republican  convention,  and  it  was  not  an  un- 
lucky seat  either.) 


245 


A  SUMMARY  OF  EVENTS  AT  THE  CON- 
VENTION 

In  obedience  to  the  call  of  the  provisional  na- 
tional committee,  the  first  national  convention  of 
the  Progressive  party  assembled  in  Chicago  on 
Monday,  August  5,  1912.  Albert  J.  Beveridge, 
former  United  States  Senator  from  Indiana,  was 
made  temporary  chairman  without  opposition,  and 
O.  K.  Davis  was  made  secretary.  The  temporary 
organization  was  afterward  made  permanent.  Mr. 
Beveridge 's  keynote  speech  was  the  only  feature  of 
the  first  day's  session. 

On  Tuesday,  the  second  day,  ex-President  Roose- 
velt appeared  before  the  convention  by  invitation 
and  delivered  a  speech  which  was  called  his  "con- 
fession of  faith."  This  speech  and  the  platform 
later  adopted  agreed  almost  identically  on  all  im- 
portant points.  Mr.  Roosevelt's  appearance  was 
the  signal  for  an  enthusiastic  demonstration  which 
lasted  55  minutes. 

In  concluding  his  speech  Mr.  Roosevelt  departed 
from  the  original  text  to  explain  his  attitude  to- 
ward the  colored  race,  with  particular  reference  to 
247 


248  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

the  reasons  given  for  refusing  seats  as  delegates  to 
colored  men  from  the  South.  He  said  the  southern 
negro  politician  had  brought  about  the  split  in  the 
Republican  party,  and  that  the  best  interests  of  the 
colored  race  could  be  served  by  keeping  this  type 
of  politician  out  of  the  councils  of  the  new  party. 

The  report  of  the  committee  on  credentials,  sub- 
sequently adopted,  barred  out  colored  delegates 
from  southern  states. 

On  "Wednesday  permanent  organization  was  ef- 
fected, committees'  reports  were  adopted  and  the 
platform  accepted  without  opposition. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  was  placed  in  nomination  for  the 
presidency  by  Comptroller  William  A.  Prendergast 
of  New  York  City,  and  seconding  speeches  were 
made  by  a  number  of  persons,  including  Miss  Jane 
Addams,  the  Chicago  social  worker.  The  nomina- 
tion by  acclamation \was  made  unanimous. 

Grov.  Hiram  Johnson  of  California  was  placed 
in  nomination  for  the  vice-presidency  by  John  M. 
Parker  of  New  Orleans.  Judge  Ben  Lindsey  of 
Denver  seconded  the  nomination  and  moved  that 
it  be  made  by  acclamation.  After  other  seconding 
speeches  had  been  made,  Judge  Lindsey 's  motion 
was  put  and  carried  unanimously. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  and  Mr.  Johnson  were  then  sum- 
moned before  the  convention  and  notified  of  their 
respective  nominations.  Amid  enthusiasm  both  ac- 
cepted in  brief  but  vigorous  speeches. 


THE   PROGRESSIVE   CONVENTION  249 

The  convention,  which  had  been  made  unusual 
by  the  singing  of  hymns  and  patriotic  songs,  ad- 
journed at  7:24  on  Wednesday  evening  with  the 
singing  of  the  doxology,  and  a  benediction. 


II 

ME.  ROOSEVELT'S  SPEECH  IN  THE  CON- 
VENTION 

To  you,  men  and  women  who  have  come  here  to  this 
great  city  of  this  great  State  formally  to  launch  a  new 
party,  a  party  of  the  people  of  the  whole  Union,  the 
National  Progressive  Party,  I  extend  my  hearty  greet- 
ing. You  are  taking  a  bold  and  a  greatly  needed  step 
for  the  service  of  our  beloved  country.  The  old  parties 
are  husks,  with  no  real  soul  within  either,  divided  on  ar- 
tificial lines,  boss-ridden  and  privilege-controlled,  each 
a  jumble  of  incongruous  elements,  and  neither  daring  to 
speak  out  wisely  and  fearlessly  what  should  be  said  on 
the  vital  issues  of  the  day.  This  new  movement  is  a 
movement  of  truth,  sincerity,  and  wisdom,  a  movement 
which  proposes  to  put  at  the  service  of  all  our  people 
the  collective  power  of  the  people,  through  their  govern- 
mental agencies,  alike  in  the  nation  and  in  the  several 
States.  We  propose  boldly  to  face  the  real  and  great 
questions  of  the  day,  and  not  skilfully  to  evade  them  as 
do  the  old  parties.  We  propose  to  raise  aloft  a  stand- 
ard to  which  all  honest  men  can  repair,  and  under  which 
all  can  fight,  no  matter  what  their  past  political  differ- 
ences, if  they  are  content  to  face  the  future  and  no  longer 
to  dwell  among  the  dead  issues  of  the  past.  We  propose 
to  put  forth  a  platform  which  will  not  be  a  platform  of 
the  ordinary  and  insincere  kind,  but  shall  be  a  contract 
with  the  people;  and,  if  the  people  accept  this  contract 
by  putting  us  in  power,  we  shall-  hold  ourselves  under 
honorable  obligation  to  fulfil  every  promise  it  contains 
as  loyally  as  if  it  were  actually  enforceable  under  the 
penalties  of  the  law. 

.  250 


TEE   PROGRESSIVE   CONVENTION  251 

The  prime  need  to-day  is  to  face  the  fact  that  we  are 
now  in  the  midst  of  a  great  economic  evolution.  There 
is  urgent  necessity  of  applying  both  common  sense  and 
the  highest  ethical  standard  to  this  movement  for  bet- 
ter economic  conditions  among  the  mass  of  our  people 
if  we  are  to  make  it  one  of  healthy  evolution  and  not 
one  of  revolution.  It  is,  from  the  standpoint  of  our 
country,  wicked  as  well  as  foolish  longer  to  refuse  to 
face  the  real  issues  of  the  day.  Only  by  so  facing  them 
can  we  go  forward;  and  to  do  this  we  must  break  up 
the  old  party  organizations  and  obliterate  the  old  cleav- 
age lines  on  the  dead  issues  inherited  from  fifty  years 
ago.  Our  fight  is  a  fundamental  fight  against  both  of 
the  old  corrupt  party  machines,  for  both  are  under  the 
dominion  of  the  plunder  league  of  the  professional  poli- 
ticians who  are  controlled  and  sustained  by  the  great 
beneficiaries  of  privilege  and  reaction.  How  close  is  the 
alliance  between  the  two  machines  is  shown  by  the  atti- 
tude of  that  portion  of  those  northeastern  newspapers, 
including  the  majority  of  the  great  dailies  in  all  the 
northeastern  cities — Boston,  Buffalo,  Springfield,  Hart- 
ford, Philadelphia,  and,  above  all,  New  York — which  are 
controlled  by  or  representative  of  the  interests  which,  in 
popular  phrase,  are  conveniently  grouped  together  as 
the  Wall  Street  interests. 

The  large  majority  of  these  papers  supported  Judge 
Parker  for  the  presidency  in  1904;  almost  unanimously 
they  supported  Mr.  Taft  for  the  Republican  nomination 
this  year;  the  large  majority  are  now  supporting  Pro- 
fessor Wilson  for  the  election.  Some  of  them  still  pre- 
fer Mr.  Taft  to  Mr.  Wilson,  but  all  make  either  Mr. 
Taft  or  Mr.  Wilson  their  first  choice;  and  one  of  the 
ludicrous  features  of  the  campaign  is  that  those  papers 
supporting  Professor  Wilson  sow  the  most  jealous  par- 
tizanship  for  Mr.  Taft  whenever  they  think  his  inter- 
ests are  jeopardized  by  the  Progressive  movement — that, 
for  instance,  any  electors  will  obey  the  will  of  the  ma- 
jority of  the  Republican  voters  at  the  primaries,  and  vote 


252  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

for  me  instead  of  obeying  the  will  of  the  Messrs.  Barnes- 
Penrose-Guggenheim  combination  by  voting  with  it  for 
Mr.  Taft. 

No  better  proof  can  be  given  than  this  of  the  fact 
that  the  fundamental  concern  of  the  privileged  interests 
is  to  beat  the  new  party.  Some  of  them  would  rather 
beat  it  with  Mr.  Wilson;  others  would  rather  beat  it 
with  Mr.  Taft;  but  the  difference  between  Mr.  Wilson 
and  Mr.  Taft  they  consider  as  trivial,  as  a  mere  matter 
of  personal  preference.  Their  real  fight  is  for  either 
as  against  the  Progressives.  They  represent  the  allied 
Reactionaries  of  the  country,  and  they  are  against  the  new 
party  because  to  their  unerring  vision  it  is  evident  that 
the  real  danger  to  privilege  comes  from  the  new  party, 
and  from  the  new  party  alone.  The  men  who  presided 
over  the  Baltimore  and  the  Chicago  conventions,  and  the 
great  bosses  who  controlled  the  two  conventions,  Mr.  Root 
and  Mr.  Parker,  Mr.  Barnes  and  Mr.  Murphy,  Mr.  Pen- 
rose  and  Mr.  Taggart,  Mr.  Guggenheim  and  Mr.  Sulli- 
van, differ  from  one  another  of  course  on  certain  points. 
But  these  are  the  differences  which  one  corporation  law- 
yer has  with  another  corporation  lawyer  when  acting  for 
different  corporations.  They  come  together  at  once  as 
against  a  common  enemy  when  the  dominion  of  both  is 
threatened  by  the  supremacy  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  now  aroused  to  the  need  of  a  national  align- 
ment on  the  vital  economic  issues  of  this  generation. 

Neither  the  Republican  nor  the  Democratic  platform 
contains  the  slightest  promise  of  approaching  the  great 
problems  of  to-day  either  with  understanding  or  good 
faith;  and  yet  never  was  there  greater  need  in  this  na- 
tion than  now  of  understanding,  and  of  action  taken  in 
good  faith,  on  the  part  of  the  men  and  the  organiza- 
tions shaping  our  governmental  policy.  Moreover,  our 
needs  are  such  that  there  should  be  coherent  action  among 
those  responsible  for  the  conduct  of  State  affairs;  be- 
cause our  aim  should  be  the  same  in  both  State  and  na- 
tion ;  that  is,  to  use  the  Government  as  an  efficient  agency 


THE    PEOGEESSIVE    CONVENTION  253 

for  the  practical  betterment  of  social  and  economic  con- 
ditions throughout  this  land.  There  are  other  impor- 
tant things  to  be  done,  but  this  is  the  most  important 
thing.  It  is  preposterous  to  leave  such  a  movement  in 
the  hands  of  men  who  have  broken  their  promises  as  have 
the  present  heads  of  the  Republican  organizations  (not 
of  the  Republican  voters,  for  they  in  no  shape  represent 
the  rank  and  file  of  Republican  voters).  These  men  by 
their  deeds  give  the  lie  to  their  words.  There  is  no 
health  in  them,  and  they  cannot  be  trusted. 

But  the  Democratic  party  is  just  as  little  to  be  trusted. 
The  Underwood-Fitzgerald  combination  in  the  House  of 
Representatives  has  shown  that  it  cannot  safely  be 
trusted  to  maintain  the  interests  of  this  country  abroad 
or  to  represent  the  interests  of  the  plain  people  at  home. 
The  control  of  the  various  state  bosses  in  the  state  or- 
ganizations has  been  strengthened  by  the  action  at  Balti- 
more; and  scant  indeed  would  be  the  use  of  exchanging 
the  whips  of  Messrs.  Barnes,  Penrose,  and  Guggenheim 
for  the  scorpions  of  Messrs.  Murphy,  Taggart,  and  Sulli- 
van. Finally,  the  Democratic  platform  not  only  shows 
an  utter  failure  to  understand  either  present  conditions 
or  the  means  of  making  these  conditions  better,  but  also 
a  reckless  willingness  to  try  to  attract  various  sections 
of  the  electorate  by  making  mutually  incompatible  prom- 
ises which  there  is  not  the  slightest  intention  of  redeem- 
ing, and  which,  if  redeemed,  would  result  in  sheer  ruin. 
Far-seeing  patriots  should  turn  scornfully  from  men 
who  seek  power  on  a  platform  which  with  exquisite 
nicety  combines  silly  inability  to  understand  the  national 
needs  and  dishonest  insincerity  in  promising  conflicting 
and  impossible  remedies. 

It  seems  to  me,  therefore,  that  the  time  is  ripe,  and 
overripe,  for  a  genuine  Progressive  movement,  nation- 
wide and  justice-loving,  sprung  from  and  responsible  to 
the  people  themselves,  and  sundered  by  a  great  gulf  from 
both  of  the  old  party  organizations,  while  representing 
all  that  is  best  in  the  hopes,  beliefs,  and  aspirations  of 


254  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

the  plain  people  who  make  up  the  immense  majority  of 
the  rank  and  file  of  both  the  old  parties. 

The  first  essential  in  the  Progressive  program  is  the 
right  of  the  people  to  rule.  But  a  few  months  ago  our 
opponents  were  assuring  us  with  insincere  clamor  that 
it  was  absurd  for  us  to  talk  about  desiring  that  the  peo- 
ple should  rule,  because,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  people 
actually  do  rule.  Since  that  time  the  actions  of  the  Chi- 
cago convention,  and  to  an  only  less  degree  of  the  Bal- 
timore convention,  have  shown  in  striking  fashion  how 
little  the  people  do  rule  under  our  present  conditions. 
We  should  provide  by  national  law  for  Presidential  pri- 
maries. We  should  provide  for  the  election  of  United 
States  Senators  by  popular  vote.  We  should  provide 
for  a  short  ballot;  nothing  makes  it  harder  for  the  peo- 
ple to  control  their  public  servants  than  to  force  them 
to  vote  for  so  many  officials  that  they  cannot  really  keep 
track  of  any  one  of  them,  so  that  each  becomes  indis- 
tinguishable in  the  crowd  around  him.  There  must  be 
stringent  and  efficient  corrupt  practises  acts,  applying 
to  the  primaries  as  well  as  the  elections ;  and  there  should 
be  publicity  of  campaign  contributions  during  the  cam- 
paign. We  should  provide  throughout  this  Union  for 
giving  the  people  in  every  State  the  real  right  to  rule 
themselves,  and  really  and  not  nominally  to  control  their 
public  servants  and  their  agencies  for  doing  the  public 
business;  an  incident  of  this  being  giving  the  people 
the  right  themselves  to  do  this  public  business  if  they 
find  it  impossible  to  get  what  they  desire  through  the 
existing  agencies. 

I  do  not  attempt  to  dogmatize  as  to  the  machinery  by 
which  this  end  should  be  achieved.  In  each  community 
it  must  be  shaped  so  as  to  correspond  not  merely  with 
the  needs  but  with  the  customs  and  ways  of  thought  of 
that  community,  and  no  community  has  a  right  to  dic- 
tate to  any  other  in  this  matter.  But  wherever  repre- 
sentative government  has  in  actual  fact  become  non- 
representative,  there  the  people  should  secure  to  them- 


THE   PROGRESSIVE   CONVENTION  255 

selves  the  initiative,  the  referendum,  and  the  recall,  do- 
ing it  in  such  fashion  as  to  make  it  evident  that  they  do 
not  intend  to  use  these  instrumentalities  wantonly  or 
frequently,  but  to  hold  them  ready  for  use  in  order  to 
correct  the  misdeeds  or  failures  of  the  public  servants 
when  it  has  become  evident  that  these  misdeeds  and 
failures  cannot  be  corrected  in  ordinary  and  normal 
fashion.  The  administrative  officer  should  be  given  full 
power,  for  otherwise  he  cannot  do  well  the  people's  work ; 
and  the  people  should  be  given  full  power  over  him. 

I  do  not  mean  that  we  shall  abandon  representative 
government;  on  the  contrary,  I  mean  that  we  shall  de- 
vice methods  by  which  our  Government  shall  become 
really  representative.  To  use  such  measures  as  the  ini- 
tiative, referendum,  and  recall  indiscriminately  and  pro- 
miscuously on  all  kinds  of  occasions  would  undoubtedly 
cause  disaster;  but  events  have  shown  that  at  present 
our  institutions  are  not  representative — at  any  rate  in 
many  States,  and  sometimes  in  the  nation — and  that  we 
cannot  wisely  afford  to  let  this  condition  of  things  re- 
main longer  uncorrected.  We  have  permitted  the  grow- 
ing up  of  a  breed  of  politicians  who,  sometimes  for  im- 
proper political  purposes,  sometimes  as  a  means  of  serv- 
ing the  great  special  interests  of  privilege  which  stand 
behind  them,  twist  so-called  representative  institutions 
into'  a  means  of  thwarting  instead  of  expressing  the  de- 
liberate and  well-thought-out  judgment  of  the  people  as 
a  whole.  This  cannot  be  permitted.  *  *  * 

In  the  contest  which  culminated  six  weeks  ago  in  this 
city  I  speedily  found  that  my  chance  was  at  a  minimum 
in  any  State  where  I  could  not  get  an  expression  of  the 
people  themselves  in  the  primaries.  I  found  that  if  I 
could  appeal  to  the  rank  and  file  of  the  Republican  vot- 
ers, I  could  generally  win,  whereas,  if  I  had  to  appeal  to 
the  political  caste — which  includes  the  most  noisy  de- 
fenders of  the  old  system — I  generally  lost.  Moreover, 
I  found,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  not  as  a  matter  of  theory, 
that  these  politicians  habitually  and  unhesitatingly  resort 


256  A    TALE    OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

to  every  species  of  mean  swindling  and  cheating  in  order 
to  carry  their  point.  It  is  because  of  the  general  recog- 
nition of  this  fact  that  the  words  politics  and  politicians 
have  grown  to  have  a  sinister  meaning  throughout  this 
country.  The  bosses  and  their  agents  in  the  National 
Republican  convention  at  Chicago  treated  political  theft 
as  a  legitimate  political  weapon.  *  *  * 

The  American  people,  and  not  the  courts,  are  to  de- 
termine their  own  fundamental  policies.  The  people 
should  have  power  to  deal  with  the  effect  of  the  acts  of 
all  their  governmental  agencies.  This  must  be  extended 
to  include  the  effects  of  judicial  acts  as  well  as  the  acts 
of  the  executive  and  legislative  representatives  of  the 
people.  Where  the  judge  merely  does  justice  as  between 
man  and  man,  not  dealing  with  constitutional  questions, 
then  the  interest  of  the  public  is  only  to  see  that  he  is  a 
wise  and  upright  judge.  Means  should  be  devised  for 
making  it  easier  than  at  present  to  get  rid  of  an  incom- 
petent judge;  means  should  be  devised  by  the  bar  and 
the  bench  acting  in  conjunction  with  the  various  legisla- 
tive bodies  to  make  justice  far  more  expeditious  and 
more  certain  than  at  present.  The  stick-in-the  bark  legal- 
ism,  the  legalism  that  subordinates  equity  to  technicali- 
ties, should  be  recognized  as  a  potent  enemy  of  justice. 
But  this  is  not  the  matter  of  most  concern  at  the  .mo- 
ment. Our  prime  concern  is  that  in  dealing  with  the 
fundamental  law  of  the  land,  in  assuming  finally  to  in- 
terpret it,  and  therefore  finally  to  make  it,  the  acts  of  the 
courts  should  be  subject  to  and  not  above  the  final  con- 
trol of  the  people  as  a  whole.  I  deny  that  the  American 
people  have  surrendered  to  any  set  of  men,  no  matter 
what  their  position  or  their  character,  the  final  right  to 
determine  those  fundamental  questions  upon  which  free 
self-government  ultimately  depends.  The  people  them- 
selves must  be  the  ultimate  makers  of  their  own  consti- 
tution, and  where  their  agents  differ  in  their  interpreta- 
tions of  the  Constitution  the  people  themselves  should 
be  given  the  chance,  after  full  and  deliberate  judgment, 


TEE   PBOGBESSIFE    CONVENTION  257 

authoritatively  to  settle  what  interpretation  it  is  that 
their  representatives  shall  therefore  adopt  as  bind- 
ing. *  *  * 

We  in  America  have  peculiar  need  thus  to  make  the 
acts  of  the  courts  subject  to  the  people,  because,  owing 
to  causes  which  I  need  not  now  discuss,  the  courts  have 
here  grown  to  occupy  a  position  unknown  in  any  other 
country,  a  position  of  superiority  over  both  the  legisla- 
ture and  the  executive.  Just  at  this  time,  when  we  have 
begun  in  this  country  to  move  toward  social  and  indus- 
trial betterment  and  true  industrial  democracy,  this  atti- 
tude on  the  part  of  the  courts  is  of  grave  portent,  be- 
cause privilege  has  intrenched  itself  in  many  courts,  just 
as  it  formerly  intrenched  itself  in  many  legislative  bodies 
and  in  many  executive  offices.  *  *  * 

I  am  well  aware  that  every  upholder  of  privilege, 
every  hired  agent  or  beneficiary  of  the  special  interests, 
including  many  well-meaning  parlor  reformers,  will  de- 
nounce all  this  as  "Socialism"  or  "anarchy" — the  same 
terms  they  used  in  the  past  in  denouncing  the  move- 
ments to  control  the  railways  and  to  control  public  utili- 
ties. As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  propositions  I  make 
constitute  neither  anarchy  nor  Socialism,  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, a  corrective  to  Socialism  and  an  antidote  to  an- 
archy. *  *  * 

In  the  last  twenty  years  an  increasing  percentage  of 
our  people  have  come  to  depend  on  industry  for  their 
livelihood,  so  that  to-day  the  wage-workers  in  industry 
rank  in  importance  side  by  side  with  the  tillers  of  the 
soil.  As  a  people  we  cannot  afford  to  let  any  group  of 
citizens  or  any  individual  citizen  live  or  labor  under  con- 
ditions which  are  injurious  to  the  common  welfare.  In- 
dustry, therefore,  must  submit  to  such  public  regula- 
tion as  will  make  it  a  means  of  life  and  health,  not  of 
death  or  inefficiency.  We  must  protect  the  crushable 
elements  at  the  base  of  our  present  industrial  structure. 

The  first  charge  on  the  industrial  statesmanship  of  the 
day  is  to  prevent  human  waste.  The  dead  weight  of 


258  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

orphanage  and  depleted  craftsmanship,  of  crippled 
workers  and  workers  suffering  from  trade  diseases,  of 
casual  labor,  of  insecure  old  age,  and  of  household  de- 
pletion due  to  industrial  conditions  are,  like  our  depleted 
soils,  our  gashed  mountain-sides  and  flooded  river  bot- 
toms, so  many  strains  upon  the  National  structure,  drain- 
ing the  reserve  strength  of  all  industries  and  showing 
beyond  all  peradventure  the  public  element  and  public 
concern  in  industrial  healtk. 

Ultimately  we  desire  to  use  the  Government  to  aid,  as 
far  as  can  safely  be  done,  in  helping  the  industrial  tool- 
users  to  become  in  part  tool-owners,  just  as  our  farmers 
now  are.  Ultimately  the  Government  may  have  to  join 
more  efficiently  than  at  present  in  strengthening  the 
hands  of  the  workingmen  who  already  stand  at  a  high 
level,  industrially  and  socially,  and  who  are  able  by 
joint  action  to  serve  themselves.  But  the  most  pressing 
and  immediate  need  is  to  deal  with  the  cases  of  those 
who  are  on  the  level,  and  who  are  not  only  in  need 
themselves,  but,  because  of  their  need,  tend  to  jeopardize 
the  welfare  of  those  who  are  better  off.  We  hold  that 
under  no  industrial  order,  in  no  commonwealth,  in  no 
trade,  and  in  no  establishment  should  industry  be  car- 
ried on  under  conditions  inimical  to  the  social  welfare. 
The  abnormal,  ruthless,  spendthrift  industry  of  estab- 
lishment tends  to  drag  down  all  to  the  level  of  the  least 
considerate.  *  *  * 

To  the  first  end,  we  hold  that  the  constituted  authori- 
ties should  be  empowered  to  require  all  employers  to  file 
with  them  for  public  purposes  such  wage  scales  and 
other  data  as  the  public  element  in  industry  demands. 
The  movement  for  honest  weights  and  measures  has  its 
counterpart  in  industry.  All  tallies,  scales  and  check 
systems  should  be  open  to  public  inspection  and  inspec- 
tion of  committees  of  the  workers  concerned.  All  deaths, 
injuries,  and  diseases  due  to  industrial  operation  should 
be  reported  to  public  authorities. 

To  the  second  end,  we  hold  that  minimum  wage  com- 


THE   PBOGBESSIVE   CONVENTION  259 

missions  should  be  established  in  the  nation  and  in  each 
State  to  inquire  into  wages  paid  in  various  industries 
and  to  determine  the  standard  which  the  public  ought  to 
sanction  as  a  minimum;  and  we  believe  that,  as  a  pres- 
ent instalment  of  what  we  hope  for  in  the  future,  there 
should  be  at  once  established  in  the  nation  and  its  several 
States  minimum  standards  for  the  wages  of  women,  tak- 
ing the  present  Massachusetts  law  as  a  basis  from  which 
to  start  and  on  which  to  improve.  We  pledge  the  Fed- 
eral government  to  an  investigation  of  industries  along 
the  lines  pursued  by  the  Bureau  of  Mines  with  the  view 
to  establishing  standards  of  sanitation  and  safety;  we 
call  for  the  standardization  of  mine  and  factory  inspec- 
tion by  inter-State  agreement  or  the  establishment  of  a 
Federal  standard.  We  stand  for  the  passage  of  legis- 
lation in  the  nation  and  in  all  States  providing  stand- 
ards of  compensation  for  industrial  accidents  and  death, 
and  for  diseases  clearly  due  to  the  nature  of  conditions 
of  industry,  and  we  stand  for  the  adoption  by  law  of  a 
fair  standard  of  compensation  for  casualties  resulting 
fatally  which  shall  clearly  fix  the  minimum  compensation 
in  all  cases. 

In  the  third  place,  certain  industrial  conditions  fall 
clearly  below  the  levels  which  the  public  to-day  sanction. 

We  stand  for  a  living  wage.  Wages  are  subnormal  if 
they  fail  to  provide  a  living  for  those  who  devote  their 
time  and  energy  to  industrial  occupations.  The  monetary 
equivalent  of  a  living  wage  varies  according  to  local  con- 
ditions, but  must  include  enough  to  secure  the  elements 
of  a  normal  standard  of  living — a  standard  high  enough 
to  make  morality  possible,  to  provide  for  education  and 
recreation,  to  care  for  immature  members  of  the  family, 
to  maintain  the  family  during  periods  of  sickness,  and  to 
permit  of  reasonable  saving  for  old  age. 

Hours  are  excessive  if  they  fail  to  afford  the  worker 
sufficient  time  to  recuperate  and  return  to  his  work  thor- 
oughly refreshed.  We  hold  that  the  night  labor  of 
women  and  children  is  abnormal  and  should  be  pro- 


260  A    TALE   OF   TWO    CONVENTIONS 

hibited;  we  hold  that  the  employment  of  women  over 
forty-eight  hours  per  week  is  abnormal  and  should  be 
prohibited.  We  hold  that  the  seven-day  working  week 
is  abnormal,  and  we  hold  that  one  day  of  rest  in  seven 
should  be  provided  by  law.  We  hold  that  the  continu- 
ous industries,  operating  twenty-four  hours  out  of  twen- 
ty-four, are  abnormal,  and  where,  because  of  public 
necessity  or  for  technical  reasons  (such  as  molten 
metal),  the  twenty-four  hours  must  be  divided  into  two 
shifts  of  twelve  hours  or  three  shifts  of  eight,  they 
should  by  law  be  divided  into  three  of  eight. 

Safety  conditions  are  abnormal  when,  through  un- 
guarded machinery,  poisons,  electrical  voltage,  or  other- 
wise, the  workers  are  subjected  to  unnecessary  hazards 
of  life  and  limb;  and  all  such  occupations  should  come 
under  governmental  regulation  and  control. 

Home  life  is  abnormal  when  tenement  manufacture  is 
carried  on  in  the  household.  It  is  a  serious  menace  to 
health,  education,  and  childhood,  and  should  therefore  be 
entirely  prohibited.  Temporary  construction  camps  are 
abnormal  homes  and  should  be  subjected  to  governmental 
sanitary  regulation. 

The  premature  employment  of  children  is  abnormal 
and  should  be  prohibited;  so  also  the  employment  of 
women  in  manufacturing,  commerce,  or  other  trades 
where  work  compels  standing  constantly;  and  also  any 
employment  of  women  in  such  trades  for  a  period  of  at 
least  eight  weeks  at  time  of  childbirth.  *  *  * 

Workingwomen  have  the  same  need  to  combine  for 
protection  that  workingmen  have;  the  ballot  is  as  neces- 
sary for  one  class  as  for  the  other ;  we  do  not  believe  that 
with  the  two  sexes  there  is  identity  of  function;  but  we 
do  believe  that  there  should  be  equality  of  right;  and 
therefore  we  favor  woman  suffrage.  In  those  conserva- 
tive States  where  there  is  genuine  doubt  how  the  women 
stand  on  this  matter  I  suggest  that  it  be  referred  to  a 
vote  of  the  women,  so  that  they  may  themselves  make 
the  decision.  Surely  if  women  could  vote,  they  would 


TEE   PBOGBESSIVE    CONVENTION  261 

strengthen  the  hands  of  those  who  are  endeavoring  to 
deal  in  efficient  fashion  with  evils  such  as  the  white  slave 
traffic;  evils  which  can  in  part  be  dealt  with  nationally, 
but  which  in  large  part  can  be  reached  only  by  deter- 
mined local  action;  such  as  insisting  on  the  widespread 
publication  of  the  names  of-  the  owners,  the  landlords,  of 
houses  used  for  immoral  purposes.  *  *  * 

There  is  no  body  of  our  people  whose  interests  are 
more  inextricably  interwoven  with  the  interests  of  all 
the  people  than  is  the  case  with  the  farmers.  The  Coun- 
try Life  Commission  should  be  revived  with  greatly  in- 
creased powers;  its  abandonment  was  a  severe  blow  to 
the  interests  of  our  people.  The  welfare  of  the  farmer 
is  a  basic  need  of  this  nation.  It  is  the  men  from  the 
farm  who  in  the  past  have  taken  the  lead  in  every  great 
movement  within  this  nation,  whether  in  time  of  war  or 
in  time  of  peace.  It  is  well  to  have  our  cities  prosper, 
but  it  is  not  well  if  they  prosper  at  the  expense  of  the 
country.  I  am  glad  to  say  that  in  many  sections  of  our 
country  there  has  been  an  extraordinary  revival  of  recent 
years  in  intelligent  interest  in  and  work  for  those  who 
live  in  the  open  country.  In  this  movement  the  lead  must 
be  taken  by  the  farmers  themselves ;  but  our  people  as  a 
whole,  through  their  governmental  agencies,  should  back 
the  farmers.  Everything  possible  should  be  done  to  bet- 
ter the  economic  condition  of  the  farmer,  and  also  to  in- 
crease the  social  value  of  the  life  of  the  farmer,  the 
farmer's  wife,  and  their  children.  The  burdens  of  labor 
and  loneliness  bear  heavily  on  the  women  in  the  country; 
their  welfare  should  be  the  especial  concern  of  all  of  us. 
Everything  possible  should  be  done  to  make  life  in  the 
country  profitable,  so  as  to  be  attractive  from  the  eco- 
nomic standpoint,  and  also  to  give  an  outlet  among  farm- 
ing people  for  those  forms  of  activity  which  now  tend  to 
make  life  in  the  cities  especially  desirable  for  ambitious 
men  and  women.  There  should  be  just  the  same  chance 
to  live  as  full,  as  well-rounded,  and  as  highly  useful  lives 
in  the  country  as  in  the  city. 


262  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

The  Government  must  co-operate  with  the  farmer  to 
make  the  farm  more  productive.  There  must  be  no  skin- 
ning of  the  soil.  The  farm  should  be  left  to  the  farmer's 
son  in  better,  and  not  worse,  condition  because  of  its  cul- 
tivation. Moreover,  every  invention  and  improvement, 
every  discovery  and  economy,  should  be  at  the  service  of 
the  farmer  in  the  work  of  production;  and,  in  addition, 
he  should  be  helped  to  co-operate  in  business  fashion  with 
his  fellows,  so  that  the  money  paid  by  the  consumer  for 
the  product  of  the  soil  shall  to  as  large  a  degree  as  pos- 
sible go  into  the  pockets  of  the  man  who  raised  that 
product  from  the  soil.  *  *  * 

The  present  conditions  of  business  cannot  be  accepted 
as  satisfactory.  There  are  too  many  who  do  not  prosper 
enough,  and  of  the  few  who  prosper  greatly  there  are 
certainly  some  whose  prosperity  does  not  mean  well  for 
the  country.  Rational  Progressives,  no  matter  how  rad- 
ical, are  well  aware  that  nothing  the  Government  can  do 
will  make  some  men  prosper,  and  we  heartily  approve 
the  prosperity,  no  matter  how  great,  of  any  man,  if  it 
comes  as  an  incident  to  rendering  service  to  the  commu- 
nity; but  we  wish  to  shape  conditions  so  that  a  greater 
number  of  the  small  men  who  are  decent,  industrious  and 
energetic  shall  be  able  to  succeed,  and  so  that  the  big 
man  who  is  dishonest  shall  not  be  allowed  to  succeed 
at  all. 

Our  aim  is  to  control  business,  not  to  strangle  it — and, 
above  all,  not  to  continue  a  policy  of  make-believe  stran- 
gle toward  big  concerns  that  do  evil,  and  constant  menace 
toward  both  big  and  little  concerns  that  do  well.  Our 
aim  is  to  promote  prosperity,  and  then  see  to  its  proper 
division.  We  do  not  believe  that  any  good  comes  to  any 
one  by  a  policy  which  means  destruction  of  prosperity; 
for  in  such  cases  it  is  not  possible  to  divide  it  because 
of  the  very  obvious  fact  that  there  is  nothing  to  divide. 
We  wish  to  control  big  business  so  as  to  secure  among 
other  things  good  wages  for  the  wage-workers  and  rea- 
sonable prices  for  the  consumers.  Wherever  in  any  busi- 


THE    PROGBESSIVE   CONVENTION  263 

ness  the  prosperity  of  the  business  man  is  obtained  by 
lowering  the  wages  of  his  workmen  and  charging  an  ex- 
cessive price  to  the  consumers  we  wish  to  interfere  and 
stop  such  practises.  We  will  not  submit  to  that  kind  of 
prosperity  any  more  than  we  will  submit  to  prosperity 
obtained  by  swindling  investors  or  getting  unfair  advan- 
tages over  business  rivals.  But  it  is  obvious  that  unless 
the  business  is  prosperous  the  wage-workers  employed 
therein  will  be  badly  paid  and  the  consumers  badly 
served.  Therefore  not  merely  as  a  matter  of  justice  to 
the  business  man,  but  from  the  standpoint  of  the  self- 
interest  of  the  wage-worker  and  the  consumer  we  desire 
that  business  shall  prosper;  but  it  should  be  so  super- 
vised as  to  make  prosperity  also  take  the  shape  of  good 
wages  to  the  wage-worker  and  reasonable  prices  to  the 
consumer,  while  investors  and  business  rivals  are  insured 
just  treatment,  and  the  farmer,  the  man  who  tills  the 
soil,  is  protected  as  sedulously  as  the  wage-worker  him- 
self. *  *  * 

Again  and  again  while  I  was  President,  from  1902  to 
1908,  I  pointed  out  that  under  the  Anti-Trust  Law  alone 
it  was  neither  possible  to  put  a  stop  to  business  abuses 
nor  possible  to  secure  the  highest  efficiency  in  the  ser- 
vice rendered  by  business  to  the  general  public.  The 
Anti-Trust  Law  must  be  kept  on  our  statute-books,  and, 
as  hereafter  shown,  must  be  rendered  more  effective  in 
the  cases  where  it  is  applied.  But  to  treat  the  Anti- 
Trust  Law  as  an  adequate,  or  as  by  itself  a  wise,  measure 
of  relief  and  betterment  is  a  sign  not  of  progress,  but  of 
toryism  and  reaction.  It  has  been  of  benefit  so  far  as  it 
has  implied  the  recognition  of  a  real  and  great  evil,  and 
the  at  least  sporadic  application  of  the  principle  that 
all  men  alike  must  obey  the  law.  But  as  a  sole  remedy, 
universally  applicable,  it  has  in  actual  practise  com- 
pletely broken  down;  as  now  applied  it  works  more  mis- 
chief than  benefit.  It  represents  the  waste  of  effort — 
always  damaging  to  a  community — which  arises  from  the 
attempt  to  meet  new  conditions  by  the  application  of 


264  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

outworn  remedies  instead  of  fearlessly  and  in  common- 
sense  fashion  facing  the  new  conditions  and  devising  the 
new  remedies  which  alone  can  work  effectively  for  good. 
The  Anti-Trust  Law,  if  interpreted  as  the  Baltimore 
platform  demands  it  shall  be  interpreted,  would  apply  to 
every  agency  by  which  not  merely  industrial  but  agri- 
cultural business  is  carried  on  in  this  country ;  under  such 
an  interpretation  it  ought  in  theory  to  be  applied  univer- 
sally, in  which  case  practically  all  industries  would  stop ; 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  utterly  out  of  the  question  to 
enforce  it  universally;  and,  when  enforced  sporadically, 
it  causes  continual  unrest,  puts  the  country  at  a  disad- 
vantage with  its  trade  competitors  in  international  com- 
merce, hopelessly  puzzles  honest  business  men  and  honest 
farmers  as  to  what  their  rights  are,  and  yet,  as  has  just 
been  shown  in  the  cases  of  the  Standard  Oil  and  the  To- 
bacco Trust,  it  is  no  real  check  on  the  great  trusts  at 
which  it  was  in  theory  aimed,  and  indeed  operates  to 
their  benefit.  Moreover,  if  we  are  to  compete  with  other 
nations  in  the  markets  of  the  world  as  well  as  to  de- 
velop our  own  material  civilization  at  home,  we  must 
utilize  those  forms  of  industrial  organization  that  are  in- 
dispensable to  the  highest  industrial  productivity  and 
efficiency.  *  *  * 

The  Democratic  platform  offers  nothing  in  the  way  of 
remedy  for  present  industrial  conditions  except,  first,  the 
enforcement  of  the  Anti-Trust  Law  in  a  fashion  which, 
if  words  mean  anything,  means  bringing  business  to  a 
standstill;  and,  second,  the  insistence  upon  an  archaic 
construction  of  the  States'  rights  doctrine  in  thus  dealing 
with  interstate  commerce — an  insistence  which,  in  the 
first  place,  is  the  most  flagrant  possible  violation  of  the 
Constitution  to  which  the  members  of  the  Baltimore  con- 
vention assert  their  devotion,  and  which,  in  the  next 
place,  nullifies  and  makes  an  empty  pretense  of  their 
first  statement.  The  proposals  of  the  platform  are  so 
conflicting  and  so  absurd  that  it  is  hard  to  imagine  how 
any  attempt  could  be  made  in  good  faith  to  carry  them 


THE   PROGRESSIVE   CONVENTION          265 

out;  but,  if  such  attempt  were  sincerely  made,  it  could 
only  produce  industrial  chaos.  Were  such  an  attempt 
made,  every  man  who  acts  honestly  would  have  some- 
thing to  fear,  and  yet  no  great  adroit  criminal  able  to 
command  the  advice  of  the  best  corporation  lawyers 
would  have  much  to  fear. 

What  is  needed  is  action  directly  the  reverse  of  that 
thus  confusedly  indicated.  We  Progressives  stand  for 
the  rights  of  the  people.  When  these  rights  can  best  be 
secured  by  insistence  upon  States'  rights,  then  we  are 
for  States'  rights;  when  they  can  best  be  secured  by  in- 
sistence upon  national  rights,  then  we  are  for  national 
rights.  Interstate  commerce  can  be  effectively  controlled 
only  by  the  nation.  The  States  cannot  control  it  under 
the  Constitution,  and  to  amend  the  Constitution  by  giv- 
ing them  control  of  it  would  amount  to  a  dissolution  of 
the  Government.  The  worst  of  the  big  trusts  have  al- 
ways endeavored  to  keep  alive  the  feeling  in  favor  of 
having  the  States  themselves,  and  not  the  nation,  attempt 
to  do  this  work,  because  they  know  that  in  the  long  run 
such  effort  would  be  ineffective.  There  is  no  surer  way 
to  prevent  all  successful  effort  to  deal  with  the  trusts 
than  to  insist  that  they  be  dealt  with  by  the  States  rather 
than  by  the  nation,  or  to  create  a  conflict  between  the 
States  and  the  nation  on  the  subject.  The  well-meaning 
ignorant  man  who  advances  such  a  proposition  does  as 
much  damage  as  if  he  were  hired  by  the  trusts  them- 
selves, for  he  is  playing  the  game  of  every  big  crooked 
corporation  in  the  country.  The  only  effective  way  in 
which  to  regulate  the  trusts  is  through  the  exercise  of 
the  collective  power  of  our  people  as  a  whole  through 
the  governmental  agencies  established  by  the  Constitu- 
tion for  this  very  purpose.  *  *  * 

It  is  utterly  hopeless  to  attempt  to  control  the  trusts 
merely  by  the  Anti-Trust  Law,  or  by  any  law  the  same 
in  principle,  no  matter  what  the  modifications  may  be  in 
detail.  In  the  first  place,  these  great  corporations  can- 
not possibly  be  controlled  merely  by  a  succession  of 


266  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

lawsuits.  The  administrative  branch  of  the  Government 
must  exercise  such  control.  The  preposterous  failure  of 
the  Commerce  Court  has  shown  that  only  damage  comes 
from  the  effort  to  substitute  judicial  for  administrative 
control  of  great  corporations.  In  the  next  place,  a 
loosely  drawn  law  which  promises  to  do  everything  would 
reduce  business  to  complete  ruin  if  it  were  not  also  so 
drawn  as  to  accomplish  almost  nothing.  *  *  * 

What  is  needed  is  the  application  to  all  industrial 
concerns  and  all  co-operating  interests  engaged  in  inter- 
state commerce  in  which  there  is  either  monopoly  or 
control  of  the  market  of  the  principles  on  which  we 
have  gone  in  regulating  transportation  concerns  engaged 
in  such  commerce.  The  Anti-Trust  Law  should  be  kept 
on  the  statute-books  and  strengthened  so  as  to  make  it 
genuinely  and  thoroughly  effective  against  every  big  con- 
cern tending  to  monopoly  or  guilty  of  anti-social  prac- 
tises. At  the  same  time,  a  national  industrial  commission 
should  be  created  which  should  have  complete  power  to 
regulate  and  control  all  the  great  industrial  concerns  en- 
gaged in  interstate  business — which  practically  means  all 
of  them  in  this  country.  This  commission  should  exercise 
over  these  industrial  concerns  like  powers  to  those  exer- 
cised over  the  railways  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission, and  over  the  national  banks  by  the  Comptroller 
of  the  Currency,  and  additional  powers  if  found  neces- 
sary. The  establishment  of  such  a  commission  would 
enable  us  to  punish  the  individual  rather  than  merely  the 
corporation,  just  as  we  now  do  with  banks,  where  the 
aim  of  the  Government  is,  not  to  close  the  bank,  but  to 
bring  to  justice  personally  any  bank  official  who  has 
gone  wrong.  This  commission  should  deal  with  all  the 
abuses  of  the  trusts — all  the  abuses  such  as  those  devel- 
oped by  the  Government  suit  against  the  Standard  Oil 
and  Tobacco  Trusts — as  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission now  deals  with  rebates.  It  should  have  complete 
power  to  make  the'  capitalization  absolutely  honest  and 
put  a  stop  to  all  stock  watering.  Such  supervision  over 


TEE   PROGRESSIVE   CONVENTION  267 

the  issuance  of  corporate  securities  would  put  a  stop  to 
exploitation  of  the  people  by  dishonest  capitalists  desir- 
ing to  declare  dividends  on  watered  securities,  and  would 
open  this  kind  of  industrial  property  to  ownership  by 
the  people  at  large.  It  should  have  free  access  to  the 
books  of  each  corporation  and  power  to  find  out  exactly 
how  it  treats  its  employees,  its  rivals,  and  the  general 
public.  *  *  * 

Any  corporation  not  coming  under  the  commission 
should  be  exposed  to  prosecution  under  the  Anti-Trust 
Law,  and  any  corporation  violating  the  orders  of  the 
commission  should  also  at  once  become  exposed  to  such 
prosecution;  and  when  such  a  prosecution  is  successful, 
it  should  be  the  duty  of  the  commission  to  see  that  the 
decree  of  the  court  is  put  into  effect  completely  and  in 
good  faith,  so  that  the  combination  is  absolutely  broken 
up,  and  is  not  allowed  to  come  together  again,  nor  the 
constituent  parts  thereof  permitted  to  do  business  save 
under  the  conditions  laid  down  by  the  commission.  This 
last  provision  would  prevent  the  repetition  of  such  gross 
scandals  as  those  attendant  upon  the  present  Adminis- 
tration's prosecutions  of  the  Standard  Oil  and  the  To- 
bacco Trusts.  The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
in  condemning  these  two  trusts  to  dissolution  used  lan- 
guage of  unsparing  severity  concerning  their  actions. 
But  the  decree  was  carried  out  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
turn  into  a  farce  this  bitter  condemnation  of  the  crim- 
inals by  the  highest  court  in  the  country.  Not  one  par- 
ticle of  benefit  to  the  community  at  large  was  gained; 
on  the  contrary,  the  prices  went  up  to  consumers,  inde- 
pendent competitors  were  placed  in  greater  jeopardy 
than  ever  before,  and  the  possessions  of  the  wrong-doers 
greatly  appreciated  in  value.  There  never  was  a  more 
flagrant  travesty  of  justice,  never  an  instance  in  which 
wealthy  wrong-doers  benefited  more  conspicuously  by  a 
law  which  was  supposed  to  be  aimed  at  them,  and  which 
undoubtedly  would  have  brought  about  severe  punish- 
ment of  less  wealthy  wrong-doers. 


268  rA    TALE    OF   TWO    CONVENTIONS 

The  Progressive  proposal  is  definite.  It  is  practicable. 
We  promise  nothing  that  we  cannot  carry  out.  We 
promise  nothing  which  will  jeopardize  honest  business. 
We  promise  adequate  control  of  all  big  business  and  the 
stern  suppression  of  the  evils  connected  with  big  busi- 
ness, and  this  promise  we  can  absolutely  keep.  Our  pro- 
posal is  to  help  honest  business  activity,  however  exten- 
sive, and  to  see  that  it  is  rewarded  with  fair  returns,  so 
that  there  may  be  no  oppression  either  of  business  men 
or  of  the  common  people.  We  propose  to  make  it  worth 
while  for  our  business  men  to  develop  the  most  efficient 
business  agencies  for  use  in  international  trade;  for  it 
is  to  the  interest  of  our  whole  people  that  we  should  do 
well  in  international  business.  But  we  propose  to  make 
those  business  agencies  do  complete  justice  to  our  own 
people.  *  *  * 

I  believe  in  a  protective  tariff,  but  I  believe  in  it  as  a 
principle,  approached  from  the  standpoint  of  the  in- 
terests of  the  whole  people,  and  not  as  a  bundle  of  pref- 
erences to  be  given  to  favored  individuals.  In  my  opin- 
ion, the  American  people  favor  the  principle  of  a  pro- 
tective tariff,  but  they  desire  such  a  tariff  to  be  estab- 
lished primarily  in  the  interests  of  the  wage-worker  and 
the  consumer.  The  chief  opposition  to  our  tariff  at  the 
present  moment  comes  from  the  general  conviction  that 
certain  interests  have  been  improperly  favored  by  over- 
protection.  I  agree  with  this  view.  The  commercial  and 
industrial  experience  of  this  country  has  demonstrated 
the  wisdom  of  the  protective  policy,  but  it  has  also  dem- 
onstrated that  in  the  application  of  that  policy  certain 
clearly  recognized  abuses  have  developed.  It  is  not 
merely  the  tariff  that  should  be  revised,  but  the  method 
of  tariff-making  and  of  tariff  administration.  Wherever 
nowadays  an  industry  is  to  be  protected  it  should  be  on 
the  theory  that  such  protection  will  serve  to  keep  up  the 
wages  and  the  standard  of  living  of  the  wage-worker  in 
that  industry  with  full  regard  for  the  interest  of  the  con- 
sumer. To  accomplish  this  the  tariff  to  be  levied  should 


TEE   PEOGEESSIVE   CONVENTION  269 

as  nearly  as  is  scientifically  possible  approximate  the 
differential  between  the  cost  of  production  at  home  and 
abroad.  This  differential  is  chiefly,  if  not  wholly,  in  labor 
cost.  No  duty  should  be  permitted  to  stand  as  regards 
any  industry  unless  the  workers  receive  their  full  share 
of  the  benefits  of  that  duty.  In  other  words,  there  is  no 
warrant  for  protection  unless  a  legitimate  share  of  the 
benefits  get  into  the  pay  envelope  of  the  wage-worker. 

The  practise  of  undertaking  a  general  revision  of  all 
the  schedules  at  one  time  and  of  securing  information  as 
to  conditions  in  the  different  industries  and  as  to  rates  of 
duty  desired  chiefly  from  those  engaged  in  the  industries, 
who  themselves  benefit  directly  from  the  rates  they  pro- 
pose, has  been  demonstrated  to  be  not  only  iniquitous  but 
futile.  It  has  afforded  opportunity  for  practically  all 
of  the  abuses  which  have  crept  into  our  tariff-making 
and  our  tariff  administration.  The  day  of  the  log-rolling 
tariff  must  end.  The  progressive  thought  of  the  country 
has  recognized  this  fact  for  several  years,  and  the  time 
has  come  when  all  genuine  Progressives  should  insist 
upon  a  thorough  and  radical  change  in  the  method  of 
tariff-making. 

The  first  step  should  be  the  creation  -of  a  permanent 
commission  of  non-partizan  experts  whose  business  shall 
be  to  study  scientifically  all  phases  of  tariff-making  and 
of  tariff  effects.  This  commission  should  be  large 
enough  to  cover  all  the  different  and  widely  varying 
branches  of  American  industry.  It  should  have  ample 
powers  to  enable  it  to  secure  exact  and  reliable  infor- 
mation. It  should  have  authority  to  examine  closely  all 
correlated  subjects,  such  as  the  effect  of  any  given  duty 
on  the  consumers  of  the  article  on  which  the  duty  is 
levied ;  that  is,  it  should  directly  consider  the  question  as 
to  what  any  duty  costs  the  people  in  the  price  of  living. 
It  should  examine  into  the  wages  and  conditions  of  labor 
and  life  of  the  workmen  in  any  industry,  so  as  to  insure 
our  refusing  protection  to  any  industry  unless  the  show- 
ing as  regards  the  share  labor  receives  therefrom  is  satis- 


270  A    TALE    OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

factory.  This  commission  would  be  wholly  different  from 
the  present  unsatisfactory  Tariff  Board,  which  was 
created  under  a  provision  of  law  which  failed  to  give  it 
the  powers  indispensable  if  it  was  to  do  the  work  it 
should  do.  *  *  * 

As  a  further  means  of  disrupting  the  old  crooked, 
log-rolling  method  of  tariff-making,  all  future  revisions 
of  the  tariff  should  be  made  schedule  by  schedule  as 
changing  conditions  may  require.  Thus  a  great  obstacle 
will  be  thrown  in  the  way  of  the  trading  of  votes  which 
has  marked  so  scandalously  the  enactment  of  every  tariff 
bill  of  recent  years.  The  tariff  commission  should  render 
reports  at  the  call  of  Congress  or  of  either  branch  of 
Congress  and  to  the  President.  Under  the  Constitution, 
Congress  is  the  tariff-making  power.  It  should  not  be 
the  purpose  in  creating  a  tariff  commission  to  take  any- 
thing away  from  this  power  of  Congress,  but  rather  to 
afford  a  wise  means  of  giving  to  Congress  the  widest  and 
most  scientific  assurance  possible,  and  of  furnishing  it 
and  the  public  with  the  fullest  disinterested  information. 
Only  by  this  means  can  the  tariff  be  taken  out  of  politics. 
The  creation  of  such  a  permanent  tariff  commission,  and 
the  adoption  of  the  policy  of  schedule  by  schedule  revi- 
sion, will  do  more  to  accomplish  this  highly  desired  object 
than  any  other  means  yet  devised. 

The  cost  of  living  in  this  country  has  risen  during  the 
last  few  years  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  increase  in 
the  rate  of  most  salaries  and  wages;  the  same  situation 
confronts  alike  the  majority  of  wage-workers,  small 
business  men,  small  professional  men,  the  clerks,  the  doc- 
tors, clergymen.  Now,  grave  tho  the  problem  is,  there 
is  one  way  to  make  it  graver,  and  that  is  to  deal  with 
it  insincerely,  to  advance  false  remedies,  to  promise  the 
impossible.  Our  opponents,  Republicans  and  Democrats 
alike,  propose  to  deal  with  it  in  this  way.  The  Republi- 
cans in  their  platform  promise  an  inquiry  into  the  facts. 
Most  certainly  there  should  be  such  inquiry.  But  the 
way  the  present  Administration  has  failed  to  keep  its 


271 

promises  in  the  past,  and  the  rank  dishonesty  of  action 
on  the  part  of  the  Penrose-Barnes-Guggenheim  National 
Convention,  makes  their  every  promise  worthless. 

The  Democratic  platform  affects  to  find  the  entire 
cause  of  the  high  cost  of  living  in  the  tariff,  and  prom- 
ises to  remedy  it  by  free  trade,  especially  free  trade  in 
the  necessaries  of  life.  In  the  first  place,  this  attitude 
ignores  the  patent  fact  that  the  problem  is  world-wide, 
that  everywhere,  in  England  and  France,  as  in  Germany 
and  Japan,  it  appears  with  greater  or  less  severity;  that 
in  England,  for  instance,  it  has  become  a  very  severe 
problem,  although  neither  the  tariff  nor,  save  to  a  small 
degree,  the  trusts  can  there  have  any  possible  effect  upon 
the  situation.  In  the  second  place,  the  Democratic  plat- 
form, if  it  is  sincere,  must  mean  that  all  duties  will  be 
taken  off  the  products  of  the  fanner.  Yet  most  certainly 
we  cannot  afford  to  have  the  farmer  struck  down.  The 
welfare  of  the  tiller  of  the  soil  is  as  important  as  the 
welfare  of  the  wage-worker  himself,  and  we  must  sedu- 
lously guard  both.  The  farmer,  the  producer  of  the  nec- 
essaries of  life,  can  himself  live  only  if  he  raises  these 
necessities  for  a  profit.  On  the  other  hand,  the  consumer 
who  must  have  that  farmer's  product  in  order  to  live 
must  be  allowed  to  purchase  it  at  the  lowest  cost  that 
can  give  the  farmer  his  profit,  and  everything  possible 
must  be  done  to  eliminate  any  middleman  whose  function 
does  not  tend  to  increase  the  cheapness  of  distribution  of 
the  product;  and,  moreover,  everything  must  be  done  to 
stop  all  speculating,  all  gambling  with  the  bread-basket 
which  has  even  the  slightest  deleterious  effect  upon  the 
producer  and  consumer.  There  must  be  legislation  which 
will  bring  about  a  closer  business  relationship  between 
the  farmer  and  the  consumer. 

The  effect  of  the  tariff  on  the  cost  of  living  is  slight; 
any  householder  can  satisfy  himself  of  this  fact  by  con- 
sidering the  increase  in  price  of  articles,  like  milk  and 
eggs,  where  the  influence  of  both  the  tariff  and  the  trusts 
is  negligible.  No  conditions  have  been  shown  which  war- 


272  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

rant  us  in  believing  that  the  abolition  of  the  protective 
tariff  as  a  whole  would  bring  any  substantial  benefit  to 
the  consumer,  while  it  would  certainly  cause  unheard  of 
immediate  disaster  to  all  wage-workers,  all  business  men, 
and  all  farmers,  and  in  all  probability  would  perma- 
nently lower  the  standard  of  living  here.  In  order  to 
show  the  utter  futility  of  the  belief  that  the  abolition  of 
the  tariff  and  the  establishment  of  free  trade  would  rem- 
edy the  condition  complained  of,  all  that  is  necessary  is 
to  look  at  the  course  of  industrial  events  in  England  and 
in  Germany  during  the  last  thirty  years,  the  former 
under  free  trade,  the  latter  under  a  protective  system. 
During  these  thirty  years  it  is  a  matter  of  common 
knowledge  that  Germany  has  forged  ahead  relatively 
to  England,  and  this  not  only  as  regards  the  employers, 
but  as  regards  the  wage-earners — in  short,  as  regards  all 
members  of  the  industrial  classes.  Doubtless  many  causes 
have  combined  to  produce  this  result;  it  is  not  to  be 
ascribed  to  the  tariff  alone,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is 
evident  that  it  could  not  have  come  about  if  a  protective , 
tariff  were  even  a  chief  cause  among  many  other  causes 
of  the  high  cost  of  living. 

It  is  also  asserted  that  the  trusts  are  responsible  for 
the  high  cost  of  living.  I  have  no  question  that,  as  regards 
certain  trusts,  this  is  true.  I  also  have  no  question  that 
it  will  continue  to  be  true  just  as  long  as  the  country  con- 
fines itself  to  acting  as  the  Baltimore  platform  demands 
that  we  act.  This  demand  is,  in  effect,  for  the  States 
and  National  Government  to  make  the  futile  attempt  to 
exercise  forty-nine  sovereign  and  conflicting  authorities 
in  the  effort  jointly  to  suppress  the  trusts,  while  at  the 
same  time  the  National  Government  refuses  to  exercise 
proper  control  over  them.  There  will  be  no  diminution 
in  the  cost  of  trust-made  articles  so  long  as  our  Govern- 
ment attempts  the  impossible  task  of  restoring  the  flint- 
lock conditions  of  business  sixty  years  ago  by  trusting 
only  to  a  succession  of  lawsuits  under  the  Anti-Trust 
Law — a  method  which  it  has  been  definitely  shown 


THE   PROGRESSIVE   CONVENTION  273 

usually  results  to  the  benefit  of  any  big  business  con- 
cern which  really  ought  to  be  dissolved,  but  which  cause 
disturbance  and  distress  to  multitudes  of  smaller  con- 
cerns. *  *  * 

By  such  action  we  shall  certainly  be  able  to  remove  the 
element  of  contributory  causation  on  the  part  of  the 
trusts  and  the  tariff  toward  the  high  cost  of  living.  There 
will  remain  many  other  elements.  Wrong  taxation,  in- 
cluding failure  to  tax  swollen  inheritances  and  unused 
land  and  other  natural  resources  held  for  speculative 
purposes,  is  one  of  these  elements.  The  modern  ten- 
dency to  leave  the  country  for  the  town  is  another  ele- 
ment; and  exhaustion  of  the  soil  and  poor  methods  of 
raising  and  marketing  the  products  of  the  soil  make  up 
another  element,  as  I  have  already  shown.  Another  ele- 
ment is  that  of  waste  and  extravagance,  individual  and 
national.  No  laws  which  the  wit  of  man  can  devise  will 
avail  to  make  the  community  prosperous  if  the  average 
individual  lives  in  such  fashion  that  his  expenditure 
always  exceeds  his  income.  *  *  * 

We  believe  that  there  exists  an  imperative  need  for 
prompt  legislation  for  the  improvement  of  our  national 
currency  system.  The  experience  of  repeated  financial 
crises  in  the  last  forty  years  has  proved  that  the  present 
method  of  issuing,  through  private  agencies,  notes  se- 
cured by  Government  bonds  is  both  harmful  and  unscien- 
tific. This  method  was  adopted  as  a  means  of  financing 
the  Government  during  the  Civil  War  through  furnish- 
ing a  domestic  market  for  Government  bonds.  It  was 
largely  successful  in  fulfilling  that  purpose ;  but  that  need 
is  long  past,  and  the  system  has  outlived  this  feature  of 
its  usefulness.  The  issue  of  currency  is  fundamentally 
a  governmental  function.  The  system  to  be  adopted 
should  have  as  its  basic  principles  soundness  and  elas- 
ticity. The  currency  should  flow  forth  readily  at  the 
demand  of  commercial  activity,  and  retire  as  promptly 
when  the  demand  diminishes.  It  should  be  automati- 
cally sufficient  for  all  of  the  legitimate  needs  of  business 


274  A    TALE    OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

in  any  section  of  the  country.  Only  by  such  means  can 
the  country  be  freed  from  the  danger  of  recurring 
panics.  The  control  should  be  lodged  with  the  Govern- 
ment, and  should  be  safeguarded  against  manipulation 
by  Wall  Street  or  the  large  interests.  It  should  be  made 
impossible  to  use  the  machinery  or  perquisites  of  the  cur- 
rency system  for  any  speculative  purposes.  The  country 
must  be  safeguarded  against  the  overexpansion  or  unjust 
contraction  of  either  credit  or  circulating  medium. 

There  can  be  no  greater  issue  than  that  of  Conserva- 
tion in  this  country.  Just  as  we  must  conserve  our  men, 
women,  and  children,  so  we  must  conserve  the  resources 
of  the  land  on  which  they  live.  We  must  conserve  the 
soil  so  that  our  children  shall  have  a  land  that  is  more 
and  not  less  fertile  than  that  our  fathers  dwelt  in.  We 
must  conserve  the  forests,  not  by  disuse  but  by  use, 
making  them  more  valuable  at  the  same  time  that  we  use 
them.  We  must  conserve  the  mines.  Moreover,  we  must 
insure  so  far  as  possible  the  use  of  certain  types  of  great 
natural  resources  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  as  a  whole. 
The  public  should  not  alienate  its  fee  in  the  water  power 
which  will  be  of  incalculable  consequence  as  a  source  of 
power  in  the  immediate  future.  The  nation  and  the 
States  within  their  several  spheres  should  by  immediate 
legislation  keep  the  fee  of  the  water  power,  leasing  its 
use  only  for  a  reasonable  length  of  time  on  terms  that 
will  secure  the  interests  of  the  people.  Just  as  the  nation 
has  gone  into  the  work  of  irrigation  in  the  West,  so  it 
should  go  into  the  work  of  helping  reclaim  the  swamp 
lands  of  the  South.  We  should  undertake  the  complete 
development  and  control  of  the  Mississippi  as  a  national 
work,  just  as  we  have  undertaken  the  work  of  building 
the  Panama  Canal.  We  can  use  the  plant,  and  we  can 
use  the  human  experience,  left  free  by  the  completion  of 
the  Panama  Canal,  in  so  developing  the  Mississippi  as  to 
make  it  a  mighty  highroad  of  commerce,  and  a  source 
of  fructification  arid  not  of  death  to  the  rich  and  fertile 
lands  lying  along  its  lower  length. 


TEE   PEOGEESSIVE   CONVENTION  275 

In  the  West,  the  forests,  the  grazing  lands,  the  reserves 
of  every  kind,  should  be  so  handled  as  to  be  in  the  in- 
terests of  the  actual  settler,  the  actual  home-maker.  He 
should  be  encouraged  to  use  them  at  once,  but  in  such  a 
way  as  to  preserve  and  not  exhaust  them.  ' 

In  international  affairs  this  country  should  behave 
toward  other  nations  exactly  as  an  honorable  private 
citizen  behaves  toward  other  private  citizens.  We  should 
do  no  wrong  to  any  nation,  weak  or  strong,  and  we 
should  submit  to  no  wrong.  Above  all,  we  should  never 
in  any  treaty  make  any  promise  which  we  do  not  intend 
in  good  faith  to  fulfil.  I  believe  it  essential  that  our 
small  army  should  be  kept  at  a  high  pitch  of  perfection, 
and  in  no  way  can  it  be  so  damaged  as  by  permitting  it 
to  become  the  plaything  of  men  in  Congress  who  wish  to 
gratify  either  spite  or  favoritism,  or  to  secure  to  local- 
ities advantages  to  which  those  localities  are  not  entitled. 
The  navy  should  be  steadily  built  up ;  and  the  process  of 
upbuilding  must  not  be  stopped  until — and  not  before — 
it  proves  possible  to  secure  by  international  agreement 
a  general  reduction  of  armaments.  The  Panama  Canal 
must  be  fortified.  It  would  have  been  criminal  to  build 
it  if  we  were  not  prepared  to  fortify  it  and  to  keep  our 
navy  at  such  a  pitch  of  strength  as  to  render  it  unsafe 
for  any  foreign  power  to  attack  us  and  get  control  of  it. 
We  have  a  perfect  right  to  permit  our  coastwise  traffic 
(with  which  there  can  be  no  competition  by  the  mer- 
chant marine  of  any  foreign  nation — so  that  there  is  no 
discrimination  against  any  foreign  marine)  to  pass 
through  that  Canal  on  any  terms  we  choose,  and  I  per- 
sonally think  that  no  toll  should  be  charged  on  such 
traffic.  *  *  * 

The  question  that  has  arisen  over  the  right  of  this 
nation  to  charge  tolls  on  the  Canal  vividly  illustrates  the 
folly  and  iniquity  of  making  treaties  which  cannot  and 
ought  not  to  be  kept.  As  a  people  there  is  no  lesson 
we  more  need  to  learn  than  the  lesson  not  in  an  outburst 
of  emotionalism  to  make  a  treaty  that  ought  not  to  be, 


276  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

and  could  not  be,  kept ;  and  the  further  lesson  that,  when 
we  do  make  a  treaty,  we  must  soberly  live  up  to  it  as 
long  as  changed  conditions  do  not  warrant  the  serious 
step  of  denouncing  it.  If  we  had  been  so  unwise  as  to 
adopt  the  general  arbitration  treaties  a  few  months  ago, 
we  would  now  be  bound  to  arbitrate  the  question  of  our 
right  to  free  our  own  coastwise  traffic  from  Canal  tolls; 
and  at  any  future  time  we  might  have  found  ourselves 
obliged  to  arbitrate  the  question  whether,  in  the  event  of 
war,  we  could  keep  the  Canal  open  to  our  own  war  ves- 
sels and  closed  to  those  of  our  foes.  There  could  be  no 
better  illustration  of  the  extreme  unwisdom  of  entering 
into  international  agreements  without  paying  heed  to  the 
question  of  keeping  them.  On  the  other  hand,  we  delib- 
erately, and  with  our  eyes  open,  and  after  ample  consid- 
eration and  discussion,  agreed  to  treat  all  merchant  ships 
on  the  same  basis;  it  was  partly  because  of  this  agree- 
ment that  there  was  no  question  raised  by  foreign  nations 
as  to  our  digging  and  fortifying  the  Canal;  and,  having 
given  our  word,  we  must  keep  it.  When  the  American 
people  make  a  promise,  that  promise  must  and  will  be 
kept.  *  *  * 

By  actual  experience  in  office  I  have  found  that,  as  a 
rule,  I  could  secure  the  triumph  of  the  causes  in  which  I 
most  believed,  not  from  the  politicians  and  the  men  who 
claim  an  exceptional  right  to  speak  in  business  and  gov- 
ernment, but  by  going  over  their  heads  and  appealing 
directly  to  the  people  themselves.  I  am  not  under  the 
slightest  delusion  as  to  any  power  that  during  my  politi- 
cal career  I  have  at  any  time  possessed.  Whatever  of 
power  I  at  any  time  had,  I  obtained  from  the  people. 
I  could  exercise  it  only  so  long  as,  and  to  the  extent 
that  the  people  not  merely  believed  in  me,  but  heartily 
backed  me  up.  Whatever  I  did  as  President  I  was  able 
to  do  only  because  I  had  the  backing  of  the  people. 
When  on  any  point  I  did  not  have  that  backing,  when 
on  any  point  I  differed  from  the  people,  it  mattered  not 
whether  I  was  right  or  whether  I  was  wrong,  my  power 


TEE    PROGRESSIVE    CONVENTION  277 

vanished.  I  tried  my  best  to  lead  the  people,  to  advise 
them,  to  tell  them  what  I  thought  was  right ;  if  necessary, 
I  never  hesitated  to  tell  them  what  I  thought  they  ought 
to  hear,  even  though  I  thought  it  would  be  unpleasant 
for  them  to  hear  it;  but  I  recognized  that  my  task  was 
to  try  to  lead  them  and  not  to  drive  them,  to  take  them 
into  my  confidence,  to  try  to  show  them  that  I  was  right, 
and  then  loyally  and  in  good  faith  to  accept  their  deci- 
sion. I  will  do  anything  for  the  people  except  what  my 
conscience  tells  me  is  wrong,  and  that  I  can  do  for  HO 
man  and  no  set  of  men;  I  hold  that  a  man  cannot  serve 
the  people  well  unless  he  serves  his  conscience ;  but  I  hold 
also  that  where  his  conscience  bids  him  refuse  to  do  what 
the  people  desire,  he  should  not  try  to  continue  in  office 
against  their  will.  Our  Government  system  should  be 
so  shaped  that  the  public  servant,  when  he  cannot  con- 
scientiously carry  out  the  wishes  of  the  people,  shall  at 
their  desire  leave  his  office  and  not  misrepresent  them  in 
office ;  and  I  hold  that  the  public  servant  can  by  so  doing, 
better  than  in  any  other  way,  serve  both  them  and  his 
conscience. 

Surely  there  never  was  a  fight  better  worth  making 
than  the  one  in  which  we  are  engaged.  It  little  matters 
what  befalls  any  one  of  us  who  for  the  time  being  stand 
in  the  forefront  of  the  battle.  I  hope  we  shall  win,  and 
I  believe  that  if  we  can  wake  the  people  to  what  the 
fight  really  means  we  shall  win.  But,  win  or  lose,  we 
shall  not  falter.  Whatever  fate  may  at  the  moment  over- 
take any  of  us,  the  movement  itself  will  not  stop.  Our 
cause  is  based  on  the  eternal  principles  of  righteousness; 
and  even  though  we  who  now  lead  may  for  the  time  fail, 
in  the  end  the  cause  itself  shall  triumph.  Six  weeks  ago, 
here  in  Chicago,  I  spoke  to  the  honest  representatives  of 
a  convention  which  was  not  dominated  by  honest  men;  a 
convention  wherein  sat,  alas!  a  majority  of  men  who, 
with  sneering  indifference  to  every  principle  of  right, 
so  acted  as  to  bring  to  a  shameful  end  a  party  which  had 
been  founded  over  half  a  century  ago  by  men  in  whose 


278  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

souls  burned  the  fire  of  lofty  endeavor.  Now  to  you  men, 
who,  in  your  turn,  have  come  together  to  spend  and  be 
spent  in  the  endless  crusade  against  wrong,  to  you  who 
face  the  future  resolute  and  confident,  to  you  who  strive 
in  a  spirit  of  brotherhood  for  the  betterment  of  our  na- 
tion, to  you  who  gird  yourselves  for  this  great  fight 
in  the  never-ending  warfare  for  the  good  of  humankind, 
I  say  in  closing  what  in  that  speech  I  said  in  closing: 
We  stand  at  Armageddon,  and  we  battle  for  the  Lord. 


in 

PLATFORM  OF  THE  PROGRESSIVE  PARTY 

The  conscience  of  the  people,  in  a  time  of  grave 
national  problems,  has  called  into  being  a  new 
party,  born  of  the  nation's  awakened  sense  of  jus- 
tice. 

We  of  the  Progressive  party  here  dedicate  our- 
selves to  the  fulfilment  of  the  duty  laid  upon  us 
by  our  fathers  to  maintain  that  government  of  the 
people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people  whose 
foundations  they  laid. 

We  hold  with  Thomas  Jefferson  and  Abraham 
Lincoln  that  the  people  are  the  masters  of  their 
Constitution  to  fulfil  its  purposes  and  to  safeguard 
it  from  those  who,  by  perversion  of  its  intent, 
would  convert  it  into  an  instrument  of  injustice. 
In  accordance  with  the  needs  of  each  generation 
the  people  must  use  their  sovereign  powers  to  es- 
tablish and  maintain  equal  opportunity  and  in- 
dustrial justice,  to  secure  which  this  government 
was  founded  and  without  which  no  republic  can  en- 
idure. 

This  country  belongs  to  the  people  who  inhabit 
it.  Its  resources,  its  business,  its  institutions,  and 
279 


280  A    TALE    OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

its  laws  should  be  utilized,  maintained,  or  altered 
in  whatever  manner  will  best  promote  the  general 
interest.  It  is  time  to  set  the  public  welfare  in 

the  first  place. 

*     #     * 

The  deliberate  betrayal  of  its  trust  by  the  Re- 
publican party  and  the  fatal  incapacity  of  the 
Democratic  party  to  deal  with  the  new  issues  of  the 
new  time  have  compelled  the  people  to  forge  a  new 
instrument  of  government  through  which  to  give 
effect  to  their  will  in  laws  and  institutions.  Un- 
hampered by  tradition,  uncorrupted  by  power,  un- 
dismayed by  the  magnitude  of  the  task,  the  new 
party  offers  itself  as  the  instrument  of  the  people 
to  sweep  away  old  abuses,  to  build  a  new  and 
nobler  commonwealth. 

This  declaration  is  our  covenant  with  the  people, 
and  we  hereby  bind  the  party  and  its  candidates  in 
State  and  nation  to  the  pledges  made  herein. 

The  National  Progressive  party,  committed  to 
the  principle  of  government  by  a  self-controlled 
democracy  expressing  its  will  through  representa- 
tives of  the  people,  pledges  itself  to  secure  such 
alterations  in  the  fundamental  law  of  the  several 
States  and  of  the  United  States  as  shall  insure  the 
representative  character  of  the  government. 

In  particular  the  party  declares  for  direct  pri- 
maries for  the  nomination  of  State  and  national 
officers,  for  nation-wide  preferential  primaries  for 


THE    PEOGEESS1VE   CONVENTION  281 

candidates  for  the  presidency,  for  the  direct  elec- 
tion of  United  States  Senators  by  the  people,  and 
we  urge  on  the  States  the  policy  of  the  short  ballot 
with  responsibility  to  the  people  secured  by  the 
initiative,  referendum  and  recall. 

The  Progressive  party,  believing  that  a  free  peo- 
ple should  have  the  power  from  time  to  time  to 
amend  their  fundamental  law  so  as  to  adapt  it  pro- 
gressively to  the  changing  needs  of  the  people, 
pledges  itself  to  provide  a  more  easy  and  expedi- 
tious method  of  amending  the  Federal  Constitution. 

Up  to  the  limit  of  the  Constitution  and  later  by 
amendment  of  the  Constitution  if  found  necessary, 
we  advocate  bringing  under  effective  national  ju- 
risdiction those  problems  which  have  expanded  be- 
yond reach  of  the  individual  States. 

It  is  as  grotesque  as  it  is  intolerable  that  the  sev- 
eral States  should  by  unequal  laws  in  matters  of 
common  concern  become  competing  commercial 
agencies,  barter  the  lives  of  their  children,  the 
health  of  their  women,  and  the  safety  and  well-be- 
ing of  their  working  people  for  the  profit  of  their 
financial  interests. 

The  extreme  insistence  on  State's  rights  by  the 
Democratic  party  in  the  Baltimore  platform  dem- 
onstrates anew  its  inability  to  understand  the 
world  into  which  it  has  survived  or  to  administer 
the  affairs  of  a  union  of  states  which  have  in  all 
essential  respects  become  one  people. 


282  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

The  Progressive  party,  believing  that  no  people 
can  justly  claim  to  be  a  true  democracy  which 
denies  political  rights  on  account  of  sex,  pledges 
itself  to  the  task  of  securing  equal  suffrage  to  men 
and  women  alike. 

"We  pledge  our  party  to  legislation  that  will  com- 
pel strict  limitation  of  all  campaign  contributions 
and  expenditures,  and  detailed  publicity  of  both 
before  as  well  as  after  primaries  and  elections. 

We  pledge  our  party  to  legislation  compelling 
the  registration  of  lobbyists;  publicity  of  commit- 
tee hearings  except  on  foreign  affairs  and  recording 
of  all  votes  in  committee;  and  forbidding  federal 
appointees  from  holding  office  in  State  or  national 
political  organization  or  taking  part  as  officers  or 
delegates  in  political  conventions  for  the  nomina- 
tion of  elective  State  or  national  officials. 

The  Progressive  party  demands  such  restriction 
of  the  power  of  the  courts  as  shall  leave  to  the  peo- 
ple the  ultimate  authority  to  determine  funda- 
mental questions  of  social  welfare  and  public 
policy.  To  secure  this  end  it  pledges  itself  to  pro- 
vide: 

(1)  That  when  an  act,  passed  under  the  police 
power  of  the  State,  "is  held  unconstitutional  under 
the  state  constitution  by  the  courts  the  people,  after 
an  ample  interval  for  deliberation,  shall  have  an 
opportunity  to  vote  on  the  question  whether  they 


THE   PEOGBESSIVE   CONVENTION  283 

desire  the  act  to  become  law  notwithstanding  such 
decision. 

(2)  That  every  decision  of  the  highest  appellate 
court  of  a  State  declaring  an  act  of  the  legislature 
unconstitutional  on  the  ground  of  its  violation  of 
the  federal  constitution  shall  be  subject  to  the  same 
review  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
as  is  now  accorded  to  decisions  sustaining  such  leg- 
islation. 

The  Progressive  party,  in  order  to  secure  to  the 
people  a  better  administration  of  justice  and  by 
that  means  to  bring  about  a  more  general  respect 
for  the  law  and  the  courts,  pledges  itself  to  work 
unceasingly  for  the  reform  of  legal  procedure  and 
judicial  methods. 

We  believe  that  the  issuance  of  injunctions  in 
cases  arising  out  of  labor  disputes  should  be  prohib- 
ited when  such  injunctions  would  not  apply  when 
no  labor  disputes  existed. 

We  also  believe  that  a  person  cited  for  contempt 
in  labor  disputes,  except  when  such  contempt  was 
committed  in  the  actual  presence  of  the  court  or  so 
near  thereto  as  to  interfere  with  the  proper  admin- 
istration of  justice,  should  have  a  right  to  trial  by 
jury. 

The  supreme  duty  of  the  nation  is  the  conserva- 
tion of  human  resources  through  an  enlarged  mea- 
sure of  social  and  industrial  justice.  We  pledge 


284  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

ourselves  to  work  unceasingly  in  State  and  nation 
for: 

Effective  legislation  looking  to  the  prevention  of 
industrial  accidents,  occupational  diseases,  over- 
work, involuntary  unemployment,  and  other  injuri- 
ous effects  incident  to  modern  industry. 

The  fixing  of  minimum  safety  and  health  stand- 
ards for  the  various  occupations  and  the  exercise 
of  the  public  authority  of  State  and  nation,  includ- 
ing the  federal  control  over  interstate  commerce 
and  the  taxing  power,  to  maintain  such  standards. 

The  prohibition  of  child  labor. 

Minimum  wage  standards  for  working  women,  to 
provide  for  a  ' '  living  wage ' '  in  all  industrial  occu- 
pations. 

The  general  prohibition  of  night-work  for 
women  and  the  establishment  of  an  eight  hour  day 
for  women  and  young  persons. 

One  day's  rest  in  seven  for  all  wage- workers. 

The  eight  hour  day  in  continuous  twenty-four 
hour  industries. 

The  abolition  of  the  convict  contract  labor  sys- 
tem, substituting  a  system  of  prison  production  for 
governmental  consumption  only,  and  the  applica- 
tion of  prisoners'  earnings  to  the  support  of  their 
dependent  families. 

Publicity  as  to  wages,  hours,  and  conditions  of 
labor;  full  reports  upon  industrial  accidents  and 
diseases  and  the  opening  to  public  inspection  of  all 


THE    PSOGBESSIVE    CONVENTION  285 

tallies,  weights,  measures,  and  check  systems  on 
labor  products. 

Standards  of  compensation  for  death  by  indus- 
trial accident  and  injury  and  trade  disease  which 
will  transfer  the  burden  of  lost  earnings  from  the 
families  of  working  people  to  the  industry  and 
thus  to  the  community. 

The  protection  of  home  life  against  the  hazards 
of  sickness,  irregular  employment,  and  old  age 
through  the  adoption  of  a  system  of  social  insur- 
ance adapted  to  American  use. 

The  development  of  the  creative  labor  power  of 
America  by  lifting  the  last  load  of  illiteracy  from 
American  youth  and  establishing  continuation 
schools  for  industrial  education  under  public  con- 
trol and  encouraging  agricultural  education  and 
demonstration  in  rural  schools. 

The  establishment  of  industrial  research  labora- 
tories to  put  the  methods  and  discoveries  of  science 
at  the  service  of  American  producers. 

We  favor  the  organization  of  the  workers,  men 
and  women,  as  a  means  of  protecting  their  interests 
and  of  promoting  their  progress. 

We  pledge  the  party  to  establish  a  department  of 
labor  with  a  seat  in  the  cabinet  and  with  wide  jur- 
isdiction over  matters  affecting  the  conditions  of 
labor  and  living. 

The  development  and  prosperity  of  country  life 


286  A    TALE    OF    TWO    CONVENTIONS 

are  as  important  to  the  people  who  live  in  the  cities 
as  they  are  to  the  farmers.  Increase  of  prosperity 
on  the  farm  will  favorably  affect  the  cost  of  living 
and  promote  the  interests  of  all  who  dwell  in  the 
country  and  all  who  depend  upon  its  products  for 
clothing,  shelter  and  food. 

We  pledge  our  party  to  foster  the  development 
of  agricultural  credit  and  cooperation,  the  teaching 
of  agriculture  in  schools,  agricultural  college  ex- 
tension, the  use  of  mechanical  power  on  the  farm, 
and  to  reestablish  the  country  life  commission,  thus 
directly  promoting  the  welfare  of  the  farmers  and 
bringing  the  benefits  of  better  farming,  better  busi- 
ness, and  better  living  within  their  reach. 

The  high  cost  of  living  is  due  partly  to  world- 
wide and  partly  to  local  causes;  partly  to  natural 
and  partly  to  artificial  causes.  The  measures  pro- 
posed in  this  platform  on  various  subjects,  such  as 
the  tariff,  the  trusts,  and  conservation,  will  of 
themselves  remove  the  artificial  causes.  There  will 
remain  other  elements,  such  as  the  tendency  to  leave 
the  country  for  the  city,  waste,  extravagance,  bad 
system  of  taxation,  poor  methods  of  raising  crops, 
and  bad  business  methods  in  marketing  crops.  To 
remedy  these  conditions  requires  the  fullest  infor- 
mation and,  based  on  this  information,  effective 
government  supervision  and  control  to  remove  all 
the  artificial  causes.  We  pledge  ourselves  to  such 
full  and  immediate  inquiry  and  to  immediate 


THE   PBOGEESSIVE   CONVENTION  287 

action  to  deal  with  every  need  such  inquiry  dis- 
closes. 

*        * 

We  believe  that  true  popular  government,  justice 
and  prosperity  go  hand  in  hand,  and,  so  believing, 
it  is  our  purpose  to  secure  that  large  measure  of 
general  prosperity  which  is  the  fruit  of  legitimate 
and  honest  business,  fostered  by  equal  justice  and 
by  sound  progressive  laws. 

We  demand  that  the  test  of  true  prosperity  shall 
be  the  benefits  conferred  thereby  on  all  the  citizens, 
not  confined  to  individuals  or  classes,  and  that  the 
test  of  corporate  efficiency  shall  be  tfre  ability  bet- 
ter to  serve  the  public ;  that  those  who  profit  by  the 
control  of  business  affairs  shall  justify  that  profit 
and  that  control  by  sharing  with  the  public  the 
fruits  thereof. 

We  therefore  demand  a  strong  national  regula- 
tion of  interstate  corporations.  The  corporation  is 
an  essential  part  of  modern  business.  The  concen- 
tration of  modern  business  in  some  degree  is  both 
inevitable  and  necessary  for  national  and  interna- 
tional business  efficiency.  But  the  existing  concen- 
tration of  vast  wealth  under  a  corporate  system, 
unguarded  and  uncontrolled  by  the  nation,  has 
placed  in  the  hands  of  a  few  men  enormous,  secret, 
irresponsible  power  over  the  daily  life  of  the  citi- 
zen— a  power  insufferable  in  a  free  government 
and  certain  of  abuse. 


288  A    TALE    OF   TWO    CONVENTIONS 

This  power  has  been  abused  in  monopoly  of  na- 
tional resources,  in  stock-watering,  in  unfair  com- 
petition and  unfair  privileges,  and  finally  in  sin- 
ister influences  on  the  public  agencies  of  State  and 
nation.  We  do  not  fear  commercial  power,  but  we 
insist  that  it  shall  be  exercised  openly,  under  pub- 
licity, supervision,  and  regulation  of  the  most  effi- 
cient sort,  which  will  preserve  its  good  while 
eradicating  and  preventing  its  evils. 

To  that  end  we  urge  the  establishment  of  a 
strong  federal  administrative  commission  of  high 
standing,  which  shall  maintain  permanent  active 
supervision  over  industrial  corporations  engaged 
in  interstate  commerce,  or  such  of  them  as  are  of 
public  importance,  doing  for  them  what  the  govern- 
ment now  does  for  the  national  banks  and  'what  is 
now  done  for  the  railroads  by  the  interstate  com- 
merce commission.  Such  a  commission  must  en- 
force the  complete  publicity  of  those  corporate 
transactions  which  are  of  public  interest ;  must  at- 
tack unfair  competition,  false  capitalization,  and 
special  privilege,  and  by  continuous  trained  watch- 
fulness guard  and  keep  open  equally  to  all  the 

highways  of  American  commerce. 
#        * 

We  pledge  ourselves  to  the  enactment  of  a  patent 
law  which  will  make  it  impossible  for  patents  to  be 
suppressed  or  used  against  the  public  welfare  in 
the  interests  of  injurious  monopolies. 


TEE   PROGRESSIVE    CONVENTION  289 

The  time  has  come  when  the  federal  government 
should  cooperate  with  manufacturers  and  pro- 
ducers in  extending  our  foreign  commerce.  To  this 
end  we  demand  adequate  appropriations  by  con- 
gress and  the  appointment  of  diplomatic  and  con- 
sular officers  solely  with  a  view  to  their  special 
fitness  and  worth  and  not  in  consideration  of  polit- 
ical expediency. 

It  is  imperative  to  the  welfare  of  our  people 
that  we  enlarge  and  extend  our  foreign  commerce. 
"We  are  preeminently  fitted  to  do  this  because  as  a 
people  we  have  developed  high  skill  in  the  art  of 
manufacturing.  Our  business  men  are  strong  ex- 
ecutives, strong  organizers.  In  every  way  possible 
our  federal  government  should  cooperate  in  this 
important  matter. 


The  natural  resources  of  the  nation  must  be 
promptly  developed  and  generously  used  to  supply 
the  people 's  needs,  but  we  cannot  safely  allow  them 
to  be  wasted,  exploited,  monopolized,  or  controlled 
against  the  general  good.  We  heartily  favor  the 
policy  of  conservation,  and  we  pledge  our  party  to 
protect  the  national  forests  without  hindering  their 
legitimate  use  for  the  benefit  of  all  the  people. 
Agricultural  lands  in  the  national  forests  are  and 
should  remain  open  to  the  genuine  settler.  Con- 
servation will  not  retard  legitimate  development. 


290  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

The  honest  settler  must  receive  his  patent  promptly 
without  hindrance  rules  or  delays. 

"We  believe  that  the  remaining  forests,  coal  and 
oil  lands,  water-powers,  and  other  natural  resources 
still  in  State  or  national  control  (except  agricul- 
tural lands)  are  more  likely  to  be  wisely  conserved 
and  utilized  for  the  general  welfare  if  held  in  the 
public  hands.  In  order  that  consumers  and  pro- 
ducers, managers  and  workmen,  now  and  hereafter, 
need  not  pay  toll  to  private  monopolies  of  power 
and  raw  material,  we  demand  that  such  resources 
shall  be  retained  by  the  State  or  nation  and  opened 
to  immediate  use  under  laws  which  will  encourage 
development  and  make  to  the  people  a  moderate 
return  for  benefits  conferred. 

In  particular  we  pledge  our  party  to  require 
reasonable  compensation  to  the  public  for  water- 
power  rights  hereafter  granted  by  the  public.  We 
pledge  legislation  to  lease  to  the  public  grazing 
lands  under  equitable  provisions  now  pending 
which  will  increase  the  production  of  food  for  the 
people  and  thoroughly  safeguard  the  rights  of  the 
actual  homemaker. 

Natural  resources  whose  conservation  is  neces- 
sary for  the  national  welfare  should  be  owned  or 
controlled  by  the  nation. 

We  recognize  the  vital  importance  of  good  roads, 
and  we  pledge  our  party  to  foster  their  extension 
in  every  proper  way,  and  we  favor  the  early  con- 


THE   PBOGBESSIVE   CONVENTION  291 

struction  of  national  highways.    "We  also  favor  the 
extension  of  the  rural  free  delivery  service. 

The  coal  and  other  natural  resources  of  Alaska 
should  be  opened  to  development  at  once.  They 
are  owned  by  the  people  of  the  United  States,  and 
are  safe  from  monopoly,  waste,  or  destruction  only 
while  so  owned.  We  demand  that  they  shall  neither 
be  sold  nor  given  away  except  under  the  homestead 
law,  but  while  held  in  government  ownership  shall 
be  opened  to  use  promptly  upon  liberal  terms  re- 
quiring immediate  development. 

*         * 

The  rivers  of  the  United  States  are  the  natural 
arteries  of  this  continent.  We  demand  that  they 
shall  be  opened  to  traffic  as  indispensable  parts  of 
a  great  nation  wide  system  of  transportation,  in 
which  the  Panama  canal  will  be  the  central  link, 
thus  enabling  the  whole  interior  of  the  United 
States  to  share  with  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  sea- 
boards in  the  benefit  derived  from  the  canal.  It  is 
a  national  obligation  to  develop  our  rivers,  and 
especially  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries,  with- 
out delay,  under  a  comprehensive  general  plan 
governing  each  river  system  from  its  source  to  its 
mouth,  designed  to  secure  its  highest  usefulness 
for  navigation,  irrigation,  domestic  supply,  water- 
power,  and  the  prevention  of  floods. 


292  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

The  equipment,  organization,  and  experience  ac- 
quired in  constructing  the  Panama  canal  soon  will 
be  available  for  the  lakes  to  the  gulf  deep  water- 
way and  other  portions  of  this  great  work,  and 
should  be  utilized  by  the  nation  in  cooperation  with 
the  various  States,  at  the  lowest  net  cost  to  the 
people. 

The  Panama  canal,  built  and  paid  for  by  the 
American  people,  must  be  used  primarily  for  their 
benefit.  We  demand  that  the  canal  shall  be  so  op- 
erated as  to  break  the  transportation  monopoly  now 
held  and  misused  by  the  transcontinental  railroads 
by  maintaining  sea  competition  with  them;  that 
ships  directly  or  indirectly  owned  or  controlled  by 
American  railroad  corporations  shall  not  be  per- 
mitted to  use  the  canal,  and  that  American  ships 
engaged  in  coastwise  trade  shall  pay  no  tolls. 

The  progressive  party  will  favor  legislation  hav- 
ing for  its  aim  the  development  of  friendship  and 
commerce  between  the  United  States  and  Latin 
American  nations. 

"We  believe  in  a  protective  tariff  which  shall 
equalize  conditions  of  competition  between  the 
United  States  and  foreign  countries,  both  for  the 
farmer  and  the  manufacturer,  and  which  shall 
maintain  for  labor  an  adequate  standard  of  living. 
Primarily  the  benefit  of  any  tariff  should  be  dis- 
closed in  the  pay  envelope  of  the  laborer.  We  de- 
clare that  no  industry  deserves  protection  which 


TEE    PEOGEESSIVE    CONVENTION  293 

is  unfair  to  labor  or  which  is  operating  in  violation 
of  federal  law.  We  believe  that  the  presumption 
is  always  in  favor  of  the  consuming  public. 

We  demand  tariff  revision  because  the  present 
tariff  is  unjust  to  the  people  of  the  United  States. 
Fair  dealing  toward  the  people  requires  an  imme- 
diate downward  revision  of  those  schedules  where- 
in duties  are  shown  to  be  unjust  or  excessive. 

We  pledge  ourselves  to  the  establishment  of  a 
non-partisan  scientific  tariff  commission,  reporting 
both  to  the  President  and  to  either  branch  of 
Congress,  which  shall  report,  first,  as  to  the  costs  of 
production,  efficiency  of  labor,  capitalization,  in- 
dustrial organization  and  efficiency,  and  the  general 
competitive  position  in  this  country  and  abroad  of 
industries  seeking  protection  from  Congress;  sec- 
ond, as  to  the  revenue  producing  power  of  the 
tariff  and  its  relation  to  the  resources  of  govern- 
ment ;  and,  thirdly,  as  to  the  effect  of  the  tariff  on 
prices,  operations  of  middlemen,  and  on  the  pur- 
chasing power  of  the  consumer. 


We  condemn  the  Payne-Aldrich  bill  as  unjust 
to  the  people.  The  Eepublican  organization  is  in 
the  hands  of  those  who  have  broken,  and  cannot 
again  be  trusted  to  keep,  the  promise  of  necessary 
downward  revision.  The  Democratic  party  is  com- 
mitted to  the  destruction  of  the  protective  system 


294  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

through  a  tariff  for  revenue  only — a  policy  which 
would  inevitably  produce  widespread  industrial 
and  commercial  disaster.  We  demand  the  imme- 
diate repeal  of  the  Canadian  reciprocity  act. 

We  believe  in  a  graduated  inheritance  tax  as  a 
national  means  of  equalizing  the  obligations  of 
holders  of  property  to  government,  and  we  hereby 
pledge  our  party  to  enact  such  a  federal  law  as  will 
tax  large  inheritances,  returning  to  the  States  an 
equitable  percentage  of  all  amounts  collected.  We 
favor  the  ratification  of  the  pending  amendment 
to  the  constitution  giving  the  government  power 
to  levy  an  income  tax. 


We  pledge  ourselves  to  a  wise  and  just  policy  of 
pensioning  American  soldiers  and  sailors  and  their 
widows  and  children  by  the  federal  government. 

And  we  approve  the  policy  of  the  southern  states 
in  granting  pensions  to  the  ex-confederate  soldiers 
and  sailors  and  their  widows  and  children. 

We  pledge  our  party  to  the  immediate  creation 
of  a  parcels-post,  with  rates  proportionate  to  dis- 
tance and  service. 

We  condemn  the  violations  of  the  civil  service 
law  under  the  present  administration,  including  the 
coercion  and  assessment  of  subordinate  employees 
and  the  president's  refusal  to  punish  such  violation 
after  a  finding  of  guilty  by  his  own  commission; 


THE   PBOGEESSIVE   CONVENTION  295 

his  distribution  of  patronage  among  subservient 
congressmen,  while  withholding  it  from  those  who 
refuse  support  of  administration  measures;  his 
withdrawal  of  nominations  from  the  Senate  until 
political  support  for  himself  was  secured,  and  hia 
open  use  of  the  offices  to  reward  those  who  voted 
for  his  renomination. 


On  these  principles  and  on  the  recognized  desir- 
ability of  uniting  the  progressive  forces  of  the 
nation  into  an  organization  which  shall  unequivo- 
cally represent  the  progressive  spirit  and  policy, 
we  appeal  for  the  support  of  all  American  citizens, 
without  regard  to  previous  political  affiliations. 


IV! 

COMMENTS  ON  THE  PROGRESSIVE  PARTY 

An  article  by  Mr.  Bryan,  published  in  newspapers 
of  Saturday,  August  10th. 

In  considering  the  new  party  organized  at  Chi- 
cago under  the  leadership  of  ex-President  Roosevelt, 
the  subject  naturally  divides  itself  into  three 
heads:  First,  the  reason  which  called  the  new 
party  into  existence;  second,  its  platform  of  prin- 
ciples; and  third,  its  candidates. 

Time  alone  can  tell  whether  the  new  organiza- 
tion created  for  and  led  by  Mr.  Roosevelt,  is  to 
become  a  permanent  and  influential  factor  in 
American  politics,  or  merely  a  temporary  protest 
against  the  Republican  party  and  its  present 
leadership,  and  a  means  of  forcing  that  party  to 
accept  the  leadership  of  the  progressives. 

It  may  be  assumed  at  the  start  that  to  be  per- 
manent this  must  be  more  than  a  one-man  party. 
However  influential  a  leader  may  be,  he  is  hardly 
large  enough  to  form  the  foundation  of  a  great 
party.  The  mere  fact  that  every  man  must  some 
time  die,  precludes  the  idea  of  permanence  unless 

296 


THE   PEOGKESS1VE   CONVENTION  297 

the  new  party  has  something  more  enduring  to 
build  upon  than  personality. 

Several  questions  arise,  and  the  answers  to  them 
will  enable  us  to  form  some  opinion  as  to  the 
importance  of  the  new  party. 

First,  would  a  new  party  have  been  organized 
at  this  time  if  Mr.  Roosevelt  were  not  a  candidate 
for  president?  If  not,  then  his  ambition  to  hold 
the  office  for  a  third  term  is  the  controlling  fac- 
tor, and  no  man's  ambition  is  important  enough  to 
the  public  to  lead  to  the  formation  of  a  new  party. 
When  a  real  necessity  exists  for  a  new  party,  that 
necessity  will  of  itself  bring  forth  a  new  party, 
and  its  sponsors  will  be  sufficiently  numerous  to 
insure  its  existence  and  growth,  no  matter  what 
may  happen  to  any  individual  factor  in  its  organi- 
zation. 

Second,  would  Mr.  Roosevelt  have  favored  the 
organization  of  a  new  party  had  any  one  beside 
himself  suffered  the  mortification  of  defeat  at  Chi- 
cago by  President  Taft  ?  If  he  had  stayed  out  of  the 
race  and  left  the  field  to  Senator  LaFollette  and 
Senator  Cummins,  would  the  defeat  of  either  at  the 
hands  of  the  bosses  have  furnished  him  a  sufficient 
reason  for  leaving  the  Republican  party? 

The  fact  that  he  refused  to  take  sides  between 
Senator  LaFollette  and  President  Taft  might 
justify  a  negative  answer  to  the  above  question. 
The  members  of  the  new  party  may  not  accept  this 


298  A    TALE    OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

fact  as  controlling,  but  has  the  character  of  the 
Republican  party  changed  materially  within  the 
last  eight  months? 

Third:  In  view  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  denunciation 
of  the  Republican  party  as  so  boss-ridden  as  to 
destroy  its  usefulness,  it  may  be  asked  with  pro- 
priety whether  Mr.  Roosevelt  would  have  regarded 
the  Republican  bosses  as  an  insuperable  objection 
to  the  party,  if  he  had  succeeded  in  seating  enough 
of  his  contesting  delegates  to  give  him  a  majority 
in  the  convention.  If  he  had  controlled  the  na- 
tional committee,  and  it  had  seated  enough  of  his 
southern  delegates  to  dominate  the  convention, 
would  he  not  now  regard  the  Republican  party  as 
a  people's  party,  and  the  only  organization  to  be 
trusted  ? 

We  see  how  obnoxious  those  bosses  are,  how  ab- 
solutely destructive  the  party's  usefulness  under 
Mr.  Taft's  leadership.  "Would  Mr.  Roosevelt  have 
been  able  to  neutralize  entirely  their  influence  and 
render  them  harmless  had  he  succeeded  in  securing 
the  nomination?  Mr.  Root's  selection  as  tempo- 
rary chairman  was,  of  course,  made  in  the  interest 
of  the  predatory  classes,  but  even  after  his  eleva- 
tion to  that  position  Mr.  Roosevelt  continued  his 
efforts  to  obtain  control  of  the  convention. 

If  he  had  succeeded,  would  his  success  have 
purged  the  convention  of  the  evil  influence  that  Mr. 
Root  carried  about  with  him?  And,  why,  except 


THE    PEOGEESSIVE    CONVENTION  299 

for  partisan  and  personal  reasons,  does  Mr.  Roose- 
velt put  the  Baltimore  convention,  which  routed 
the  bosses,  in  the  same  class  with  the  Chicago  con- 
vention, which  was  controlled  by  the  bosses? 

These  questions  are  asked  because  they  are  per- 
tinent. There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Republican 
party  had  done  enough  to  merit  defeat.  The  peo- 
ple have  been  very  lenient  with  it,  but  has  it  for- 
feited its  right  to  exist?  The  Republican  party 
cannot  hope  to  continue  long  upon  the  stage  if 
a  majority  of  its  members  rally  to  the  standard 
of  Mr.  Roosevelt,  but  if  a  majority  of  the  rank 
and  file  of  the  Republican  party  are  reformers, 
could  they  not  have  reorganized  and  rejuvenated 
the  Republican  party  from  within  ? 

Would  not  a  much  larger  percentage  engage  in 
the  work  of  reorganization  than  will  be  willing  to 
leave  the  party  to  cast  in  their  lot  with  a  new 
party?  Party  ties  are  strong,  and  the  desertions 
from  Mr.  Roosevelt,  both  in  the  regular  conven- 
tion and  since,  show  how  much  easier  it  is  to  lead 
a  reform  movement  within  a  party  than  without. 

The  platform  adopted  by  the  new  party  may  be 
divided  into  three  parts.  One  part  indorses  re- 
forms for  which  the  Democratic  party  has  been 
laboring  for  years,  and,  until  recently,  without 
much  support  from  those  who  now  hold  themselves 
out  as  the  only  ones  to  be  trusted  with  the  secur- 
ing of  remedial  legislation. 


300  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

The  labor  bureau,  for  instance,  with  a  seat  in  the 
cabinet,  is  a  thing  for  which  the  Democratic  party 
has  been  contending,  also  the  election  of  senators 
by  direct  vote,  and  direct  primaries. 

Our  Baltimore  platform  was  the  first  national 
platform  to  demand  presidential  primaries,  and  it 
went  beyond  the  platform  of  the  new  party  in  de- 
manding the  popular  election  of  national  com- 
mitteemen  and  a  change  in  the  system  whereby  a 
national  committeeman  will  begin  to  serve  as  soon 
as  elected,  thus  creating  a  new  committee  for  the 
preliminary  work  of  each  convention. 

A  considerable  part  of  the  labor  plank  is  taken 
from  previous  Democratic  platforms.  It  is  ungrate- 
ful in  the  new  party  to  accuse  our  party  of  "total 
incapacity, ' '  while  using  our  material. 

A  part  of  the  platform  deals  with  state  issues, 
such  planks,  for  instance,  as  those  favoring  the  in- 
itiative, the  referendum,  the  recall,  and  woman 
suffrage.  These  propositions  are  before  the  people 
in  a  number  of  States,  and  the  indorsement  of  them 
will,  of  course,  strengthen  them,  but  it  has  not  been 
customary  for  national  platforms  to  deal  with  sub- 
jects which  were  not  before  congress,  or  connected 
with  the  work  of  the  national  administration. 

A  part  of  the  new  section  of  the  platform  is  com- 
mendable. For  instance,  the  demand  for  a  consti- 
tutional amendment  making  easier  and  more  ex- 
peditious the  amending  of  the  federal  constitution. 


TSE   PROGRESSIVE   CONVENTION          301 

We  need  such  an  amendment,  and  the  people  will 
welcome  any  assistance  that  the  new  party  may  be 
able  to  give  this  movement. 

The  planks  in  regard  to  the  conservation  of 
human  resources  will  appeal  to  the  public,  espe- 
cially those  prohibiting  child  labor  and  excessive 
hours,  together  with  those  demanding  a  day  of  rest 
each  week,  a  living  minimum  wage,  legislation  for 
the  prevention  of  accidents,  for  the  abolition  of 
convict  contract  labor  and  for  publicity  in  regard 
to  labor  conditions. 

The  inheritance  tax  plank  is  also  good,  and  the 
plank  calling  for  greater  safeguards  for  the  pre- 
vention of  monopoly  of  our  national  resources. 

The  tariff  plank  is  the  same  old  sham  that  has 
been  used  for  a  generation.  The  protective  system 
is  held  up  as  a  sacred  institution  and  support  is 
given  to  the  tariff  commission  idea,  which  is  always 
brought  forward  to  delay  reduction. 

The  plank  on  the  trust  question  is  a  restatement 
of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  position  which  leads  directly 
to  socialism.  The  doctrine  that  the  trust  is  a  nat- 
ural development  and  must  be  accepted  as  per- 
manent is  the  basis  of  the  socialist  propaganda. 

The  socialist,  however,  recognizes  that  a  private 
monopoly  cannot  be  successfully  controlled,  and 
insists  that  the  government  shall  own  and  operate 
the  trusts.  The  new  party,  on  the  other  hand, 
clings  to  the  idea  that  the  trusts  can  be  left  in 


302  A    TALE    OF   TWO    CONVENTIONS 

private  hands  and  yet  be  effectively  controlled 
through  a  national  bureau. 

All  history  is  against  this  theory.  Municipalities 
are  taking  over  municipal  plants  because  city  coun- 
cils are  corrupted  by  municipal  corporations.  If 
it  is  impossible  for  a  municipal  plant  to  be  success- 
fully controlled  when  in  private  hands,  how  can  we 
hope  to  control  billion-dollar  trusts  through  a  na- 
tional bureau  when  the  trusts  will  have  so  large 
a  pecuniary  interest  in  controlling  the  adminis- 
tration that  appoints  the  members  of  the  bureau  ? 

The  position  of  the  new  party  on  the  trust  ques- 
tion is  so  absolutely  untenable  as  to  prevent  its  in- 
dorsement by  any  large  number  of  the  people. 

The  most  Rooseveltesque  plank  of  the  platform, 
however,  is  the  one  demanding  an  indefinite  exten- 
sion of  the  powers  of  the  federal  government  and 
the  abridgment  of  the  rights  of  the  States.  This 
has  for  years  been  the  dominant  note  in  Mr. 
Roosevelt's  political  creed.  The  restraints  of  the 
constitution  are  irritating  to  him. 

He  not  only  desires  to  enlarge  the  authority  of 
the  federal  government  at  the  expense  of  the  state, 
but  he  desires  to  enlarge  the  powers  of  the  national 
executive  at  the  expense  of  the  other  departments. 
Whatever  Democrats  may  think  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's 
attitude  on  other  questions,  and  however  highly 
they  may  regard  the  national  work  he  has  done, 
they  cannot  join  him  in  overturning  the  constitu- 


TEE   PROGRESSIVE   CONVENTION  303 

tional  division  of  authority  between  state  and 
nation. 

The  Democratic  party  believes  in  the  full  use  of 
federal  authority  for  the  protection  of  the  public, 
but  instead  of  substituting  federal  remedies  for 
state  remedies,  it  would  add  federal  remedies  to 
state  remedies,  and  thus  give  the  people  the  benefit 
of  both.  The  Roosevelt  plan,  however  honestly  ad- 
vanced, is  not  in  the  interest  of  popular  govern- 
ment, but  in  the  interest  of  a  more  selfish  and  sor- 
did exploitation  of  the  people. 

Every  lawyer  knows  that  the  big  corporations  fly 
to  the  federal  courts  to  escape  state  courts. 

And  now,  as  to  the  candidates: 

Governor  Johnson,  the  nominee  for  vice-presi- 
dent, is  an  excellent  man,  and  has  made  a  splendid 
record  as  a  progressive,  but  the  fact  that  Mr.  Roose- 
velt was  the  only  one  considered  in  connection  with 
the  presidential  nomination,  shows  how  completely 
the  organization  is  based  upon  him  and  his  per- 
sonality. 

Conceding  everything  that  can  be  said  in  behalf 
of  his  great  ability,  his  fighting  qualities,  and  his 
educational  work,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  he 
has  his  weaknesses,  that  he  is  human. 

If  it  is  true,  as  has  been  widely  circulated,  that 
some  progressive — Hadley  or  Cummins,  for  instance 
— could  have  been  nominated  instead  of  Mr.  Taft, 
but  for  Mr.  Roosevelt's  refusal  to  give  way,  then 


304  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

this  must  in  itself  weigh  strongly  in  the  minds  of 
many  earnest  and  honest  progressives. 

If  he  could  have  secured  the  nomination  of  some 
one  in  harmony  with  his  views  upon  a  platform 
reasonably  progressive,  and  thus  thrown  a  united 
party  behind  a  Republican  progressive  and  a  pro- 
gressive platform — if  he  could  have  done  this — 
many  Republicans  against  whose  motives  he  can 
bring  no  just  accusation  will  feel  that  he  did  not 
exhaust  all  efforts  within  the  party  before  starting 
out  to  disrupt  the  organization  to  which  he  is  in- 
debted for  all  of  his  prominence  and  influence. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  will  also  have  to  meet  the  ques- 
tion raised  as  to  his  tardiness  in  espousing  the  re- 
forms which  he  now  advocates.  Democrats,  at 
least,  will  feel  that  a  party  which,  like  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  has  been  fighting  in  behalf  of  reforms 
for  many  years  ought  to  receive  some  consideration 
from  one  who  has  violently  opposed,  as  Mr.  Roose- 
velt has,  many  radical  reforms  when  the  Demo- 
cratic party  was  making  great  sacrifices  in  their 
behalf. 

"Why,  for  instance,  should  a  Democrat  leave  the 
Democrat  party,  which  has  labored  in  behalf  of 
the  popular  election  of  senators  for  20  years,  in  be- 
half of  an  income  tax  for  18  years,  for  railroad 
regulation  for  16  years,  for  antitrust  legislation  for 
12  years,  for  publicity,  before  the  election,  as  to 
campaign  contributions  for  four  years  and  for 


THE  CANDIDATE  WE  ALL  SUPPORT. 
(J)e  Mar  in  the  Philadelphia  "Record.") 


305 


306  A    TALE   OF   TWO   CONVENTIONS 

tariff  reform  for  a  generation ;  why  should  a  Demo- 
crat leave  such  a  party  to  march  under  the  leader- 
ship of  a  commander  who  did  not  begin  advocating 
the  popular  election  of  senators  until  two  years 
ago,  the  income  tax  until  about  six  years  ago,  rail- 
road regulation  until  less  than  eight  years  ago,  has 
remained  silent  during  all  these  years  as  to  tariff 
extortion  and  has  in  every  campaign  since  1892 
joined  Wall  Street,  the  subsidized  press,  the  plun- 
derbund  and  the  bosses  in  defeating  the  Demo- 
cratic party? 

Assuming  that  his  conversion  is  sincere,  why  does 
he  not  bring  forth  works  meet  for  repentance  in- 
stead of  demanding  the  chief  seat  at  the  feast  ?  He 
ought  not  to  slander  the  party  that  has  furnished 
him  nearly  every  reform  that  he  has  espoused. 

A  third  objection  that  he  must  prepare  to  meet 
is  that  founded  upon  his  position  on  the  trust 
question.  He  failed  for  seven  years  and  a  half 
while  President  to  check  or  even  control  the  trusts ; 
he  has  not  only  kept  silent  for  11  years  while  the 
Steel  Trust  has  exploited  the  country,  but  he  per- 
mitted the  Steel  Trust  to  swallow  up  its  largest 
rival,  and  he  now  accepts  a  Steel  Trust  director  as 
his  chief  financial  backer  and  advocates  federal  in- 
corporation, the  very  thing  that  the  trusts  have 
clamored  for  for  a  generation. 

A  fourth,  and  the  greatest  objection,  is  his  de- 
sire for  a  third  term,  an  honor  declined  by  Wash- 


THE   PBOGEESSIVE    CONVENTION  307 

ington  and  Jefferson,  and  withheld  from  Grant.  A 
third  term  opens  the  door  to  any  number  of  terms. 
What  emergency  requires  it?  The  tendency  is  to- 
ward a  single  term,  not  toward  a  third  term. 

A  president  wields  more  power  than  any  king  or 
emperor  or  czar,  and  his  power  increases  each  year. 
Surely  the  hatred  of  the  progressive  Eepublicans 
toward  the  Democratic  party  is  as  implacable  as  it 
is  impossible  to  explain  it,  if  they  are  willing  to 
risk  the  dangers  of  an  unlimited  succession  of  presi- 
dential terms  rather  than  use  the  Democratic  party, 
with  its  progressive  platform  and  progressive 
ticket,  to  rebuke  the  Republican  party  for  failing 
to  keep  step  with  the  progressive  spirit  of  the  age. 


3X 


1113- 

BT 


THE  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

Santa  Barbara 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW. 


2 


1990 

RETDDEC131989 


3  1205  00912  3835 


!£!£iSf£  9H&.LJBRAHY  FACILITY 


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