Jasper County Democrat, Volume 9, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 June 1906 — THE DRIFT TO BRYAN. [ARTICLE]

THE DRIFT TO BRYAN.

. (South Bend Times (Dem.)] Whence then arises this unanimity of support for Mr. Bryan as the Democratic standard-bearer iu 1908? In the first place, there is an absence of rivals for the position; an unprecedented lack of prominent leaders in the Democratic party; a remarkable dearth of “favorite sons” in the various States. * * * Again, Mr. Bryan has been a growing man. His contact with the people of this country during his lecture tours and in the study of governmental problems have given him broader views on public questions, and bis travels abroad have still further broadened his mind and enlarged his understanding, so that in" mental equipment for the highest office in the gift of the nation be is today without a peer in his party. Still further, the moral awakening of the people and the impulse to civic righteousness which has been given by recent disclosures of corporate iniquity logically direct public attention to the man who was among the first to point oat the evils inherent in large corporations. In season and out of season, amid good report and evil report, Mr. Bryan warned against the dangers of trusts. * * * It is natural that his party associates turn to him in this crisis. Still further, there are indications that outside of the Democratic party people are considering Bryan as the proper and logical successor of Roosevelt. It is, of course, unsafe to prophesy two years ahead on a political cam paign, but stranger things have happened than that the Democratic slide to Bryan in 1906 should become, in 1908, a national avalanche that will overwhelm the greed, corruption and vices that so long have made the people a prey.