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Show H DEMOCRACY STILL AT SEA M Tho return of William Jennings H Bryan, which had been expected to re- H unite tho Democracy upon a platform H on which conservatives and radicals B could feel equally at homo, had start- H ling and disconcerting effects. Tho H reception to Mr. Bryan In Now York H was Impressive In point of magnitude H and enthusiasm, although tho crowd H that filled Madison Square Garden did H not overflow In tho uncontrollablo vol- H umo that had been looked for. But for H some unaccountablo reason tho con- H scrvatives who had taken It upon H themselves to lntroduco tho heretic of H 189G as a convert to political orthodoxy H had assumed that ho would show his M senso of tho value of their approval by H suppressing his well-known views upon H tho Government ownership of rail- H roads. It was n fatuous assumption, H for if there was one thing moro cert- H aln than another with regard to Mr. H Bryan It was that ho would never hldo H his convictions on any important sub- H jeet for a supposed political advantage H The devotees of expediency labored H with him for some time to induce him H to ignoro his remedy for railroad abus- H so. They failed. In his speech Mr. H Bryan dealt with tho tariff, tho trusts, H tho promotion of pcaco among nations, H the election of senators by the people, H and tho Independence of tho Phlllp- H pines. But ho deliberately reiterated H his often oxprcsscd bcliof that the only H way to Insure tho proper subjection of H railroads to law was to havo them H owned by tho public. Ho oven porslstcd H In his opinion that tho trunk lines H should bo owned by tho national gov- H ornment and the local Incs by the H Btatcs a scheme which strikes most H students of the subject as utterly fan- H tastlc, but which has been cherished H by Mr. Bryan as his pot contribution H to tho theory of railroad regulation. M Granting full credit to tho President H for his moral courage in advocating H rato legislation, "oven If ho had to got B his Inspiration from tho Democratic H Party," Mr. Bryan expressed tho fear H that in curing one discaso wo had In- H curred a now danger. "When you give H to a commission," ho said, "tho power H to fix railroad rates, a powor which, H when exercised, may mean a difference H of hundreds of millions of dollars In H the revenues of tho railroads, you give L. the railroads a high stnko In each M Presidential election. My fear Is that H if the history through which we have H gone in regard to municipal enter- V prises repeats itself, wo may find a H larger fund raised from tho railroads H to control the Intcrstnto Commerco H Commission than they over raised H from the manufacturers to secure pro- H tcctivo legislation." H Mr. Brynn did not profess to know H what the sentiment of the country H might be. He did not know whether H tho people, or even the majority of tho H Democratic Party, had reached tho H point nt which they wero willing to H consider tho Government ownership of H railroads. "But my theory," ho do- H clnrcd, "is that no man can call a mnss H convention to dccldo what ho himself H shall think. I havo reached tho con- H elusion that thcro will bo no permn- H ncnt relief on tho railroad question H from discrimination between Individ- H uals and- between plnccs, and form ox- H tortlonato rates until the railroads are H tho proiorty of tho government and H operated by tho Government in tho H interest of the people." H Horo tho specter of centralization H intruded, and Mr. Bryan undertook to H oxorclso It by his schemo of States H ownership of local Hues, whoso prac- H tlcablllty ho defended by tho example H of the German States and other small H countries of Europe. B The reception of tho Bryan program . was not althogothor encouraging. Tho M conservative organs of tho East, espe- dally in Now York, denounced it as M oven moro dangerous nnd revolution- M ary than free silver. That in Itself might not havo meant very much, for tho same papors thought that Judge Parker had captivated the country by his gold telegram in 1901. Mr. J. J. Hill had tho supremo assurance to condom public ownershlu on the ground that "the actions brought against Federal department officials and the investigations found necessary within tho Inst fow years" had disclosed dis-closed "a stato of morals In public life that no actual railway magnate would tolerate In his employ." This on the Jicels of tho Union Pacific dividend scandel, with ofllclals of a aozen railroads rail-roads under Indictment for a variety of criminal offenses, nnd just after tho staff of tho premier railroad of America, Amer-ica, tho Pennsylvania, had been found to bo reeking with bribery to an extent that would havo damned any public administration. If thoro had been nothing moro than this to troublo him Mr. Bryan mlgh havo felt that his courso was reason ably clear. But his railroad policy v subject to attack.not from tho friends of tho corporations, but from tho un-terrified un-terrified Democrats of tho Southern Stntes, who had given him most of his electoral votes In his previous campaigns. cam-paigns. Thoro wero two reasons for Southern hostility to Government ownership. own-ership. Ono was tho old Stato Bights feeling which Mr. Bryan hnd vainly trldo to conciliate by his advlco of leaving tho local lines to tho States. Tho other was tho sensitive dread of anything that might Interfere with local control of tho negro question. With all tho trunk lines controlled by tho national Government tho Southerners South-erners feared that It would bo Impossible Impos-sible to enforce their Jim Crow car rules rules on through trains. These two considerations threatened to deprive de-prive Mr. Bryan of his most loyal and most powerful support. Under this pressure from his old friends Mr. Bryan appeared, if not daunted, at least Impelled to prudence In somo of his later speeches ho Ignored Ig-nored tho Government ownershin Idea; In others ho took pains to explain that ho had not been expressing his personal per-sonal opinions, and not attempting to formulato a platform for tho party. Ho retracted nothing, however, and at Bridgeport ho said: "I find now that some of tho eminent gentlemen who wnntcd mo to bo a candidato aro not so anxious now to have mo tako that office. "I would rather havo tho approval of my own conscience on a public question than tho approval of every other person in tho United States." Mr. Bryan had taken pains form tho beginning to emphasize his belief that tho great issue was that of tho suppression suppres-sion of trusts, nnd ho had treated tho public ownership of railroads chiefly as a means townrd that end. Ho had also taken Isuo with President Roosevelt Roose-velt on tho question of tho relation of tho tariff to tho trusts. Tho President had always insisted that tho two had no connection. Mr. Bryan said at Mad ison Squaro Garden that "while it can not bo said that absolute free trade would provont tho existence of any monopoly, It can bo said that many monopolies owo their exlstonco to tho tariff, nnd that those which do not owo their cxistenco to tho tariff enjoy from tho tariff tho powor to oxtort from tho American people.,, Ho bollovcd that It tho President had tho powor to put tho products of monopoly on tho free list most of tho manufacturers would keep out of oppressive combinations. Not tho Intest of tho troubles of tho convalescent Democracy Is tho enigmatical attitude of Mr. William It. Hearst. At flrst Mr. Hearst hold aloof from tho Bryan reception. Ho finally occupied a box at Madison Spuare Gardon. hut his papers made no editorial editor-ial mention of tho occasion or of Mr. Bryans speech, and immediately thereafter there-after his wholo attention was devoted to his campaign for tho Governorship of Now York. It is enslly comprehensible comprehen-sible that If by chanco ho should win that prizo ho would have other things to think about In 190S than promoting tho ambitions of Mr. Bryan. Collier's Weekly. n |