San Francisco Call, Volume 80, Number 57, 27 July 1896 — BRYANIZING Of TIE POPULISTS, [ARTICLE]

BRYANIZING Of TIE POPULISTS,

The Chaotic Conditions That Led to the Nebraskan's Nomination.

WEAVER'S CLOSE CALL.

Elected Chairman of the Platform Committee by Only One Vote. RESULTS THAT BEEM STRANGE. Two R?asons Why the Middle-of-the-Roadsters F i cd to Control tbe Convention

ST. LOUIS, Mo., July 26.— 1 resume my review of the conditions which made the inevitable and gave color to the proceedings, and I shall close with a succinct statement of the actual political situation. I premise that my twenty hours of close contact and hand-to-band encounters with forty-rive of the best men in the Populist party who constituted the committee on platform and resolutions — men who are thoroughly schooled in the economics and philosophy of the Populist system, and coming to the work in hand thoroughly equipped by intellectual trainins and made practical by political and official experience— gave me a complete mastery oi the purposes and methods both of the straight Populists and our Bryan ized associates. It is also important that I state a tact with regard to tbe choice of chairman of the committee, for it is generally known that General Weaver was elected by but one majority, and two belated members arrived just as tbe vote was declared who would have voted for Judge Jerome C. Kerby of Texas, Populist candidate for Governor of that State, and he would have been chosen by one vote instead of General Weaver, who said to me in a tone of defiance just before the vote was taken : "I shall be elected by a two-thirds vote, for I represent two-thirds of tbe convention." That wai no doubt the belief of all Bryamzed Populists. • Probably General Weaver never went through a more exciting event in his life than while the vote was counted. His face was purple with excitement. But from the moment the vofe was announced the word was passed rapidly to all the leading Bryan Populists not on our committee, and they at once moderated their attitude toward the straisrht Populists. When the convention reversed the order and decided to elect the Vice-Presidential candidate first, and then proceeded in spite of all obstacles raised by tbe Bryanites to elect Tom Watson, the actual strength of the straight Populist? asserted itself. In the face of these results it may seem strange to some people that tha straight Populists did m t thereafter rule the convention and even go so far as to nominate Colonel Norton or some other man as they did Watson, but a look at the facts beneath this space will make this seeming inconsistency perfectly clear. There are two reasons: First, the straight Populists never intended to refuse alliance with the other reform forces which stood for free silver and more money, and they were agreed that Bryan stood for perhaps a full third of these forces, and was in fact at heart at Populist; second, they recognized the fact that the country was in the first stage of a great Bryan fever, and half the people of the whole country were gone daft in favor of Bryan, and that it would be necessary to keep the convention here perhaps ten days, in order to change public sentiment and make it safe to ignore the claim and pretensions of the Bryanites.

It was known to all that the poverty of the delegates would force two-thirds of them to return on Saturday; hence, a nomination became necessary and Bryan had to be tbe man. It may help to make the proceedings of this most extraordinary convention a little more comprehensible if I call attention to the fact that four States were organized and consolidated with the ablest leadership to force the issue of nominating Bryan on the vast unorganized majority, who had no plans laid, no candidates agreed upon, no concert of action of any kind, except to secure a genuine and unimpaired declaration of tbe party's faith in the platform. Those four States were lowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado.

Weaver in lowa, Allen in Nebraska, Llewellyn m Kansas and Tom Patterson in Colorado led the fight in their several States. They soon succeeded in dividing the delegations in several of the States west of Ohio. It was a comparatively easy matter for these four States, with tbeir large delegations under the inspiration and direction of the State leaders, to invade the defenseless delegations of all the other States and win over a part of them, and thus create dissensions and distrust, with all the attendant weakness and distraction of a divided delegation.

I must abruptly close. Tbe heat has been so prostrating that writing was out of the question till late in the afternoon, and it is now half-past 6, with the thermometer at 98 deg. and no preparation yet made for our journey, and we are to start in two hours. We are all well except Dore of Fresno, who is worn out and half sick to-day with work on the National executive committee; but he will be able to go. I will resume the analysis of the situation to-morrow.

Joseph Agbury Johksos.