Jasper County Democrat, Volume 13, Number 55, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 October 1910 — BRYAN TAKES UP BATTLE OF KERN [ARTICLE]

BRYAN TAKES UP BATTLE OF KERN

Great Commoner Enters State * Urging Election of Entire Ticket of Indiana Democrats. ■ ■ t REPLIES TO COL. ROOSEVELT I . Ridicules Tariff Commission and Warns Against. New Nationalism in State-Wide Speeches. (By Guernsey Van Ripen.) Indianapolis-— Declaring that John W. Kern had fought years ago, and still stands for the same principles of reform that Senator Beveridge has just discovered, William Jennings Bryan came into Indiana and started a tour us the state at Auburn in support of Mr. Kern and the Democratic state ticket. ' ' r /lr. Bryan indorsed Mr. Kern for the United States Senate to succeed Albert J. Beveridge without equivocation, took a few shots at the “new nationalism” of Theodore Roosevelt and ridiculed the tariff commission idea as a subterfuge and an open ad-, mission that the Republican party is incompetent to handle the tariff question intelligently through its majority In Congress. This, he said, is the very reason why a Democratic Congress should be elected—a Congress that will revise the tariff with the information that is already at hand. Col. Roosevelt’s tariff predicament i was referred to caustically. “When Roosevelt comes to Indiana and tells the people that unless they elect Beveridge, who voted against the . Payne-Aldrich bill, they will be doing J themselves great wrong, and goes in- ; to Massachusetts and tells the people that unless they elect Lodge, who fought for the Payne-Aldrich bill, the country will be ruined, then he stands on a kind of platform that is certainly a study to me and a kind that I nev- : er heard of before,” said Col. Bryan. “And then I am puzzled over that mat- ; ter of ‘Sunny Jim’ Sherman. Here ' was a man who was endorsed for Vice-President by Roosevelt, but who 13 unfit to be chairman of the New York Republican convention. This ! confuses me. I have been in politics for a long time, but I can not under- , stand it at all and when I am in a fight, I say what I mean at the time, i I don’t go hundreds of miles away to speak my mind. t Merely Follows Kern. “Mr. Beveridge does not stand for any Important reform that Mr. Kern has not stood for longer and fought harder for than Mr. Beveridge so I can’t understand why any Democrat ’ should be expected to vote for a Republican member of the legislature.” Col. Bryan had no sympathy for the tariff commission idea. “To admit that a tariff commission is necessary to remedy tariff injustice Is to admit that Republican tariffs have been full of injustice,” he said. “We Democrats agree as to the last. We think, however, we have sufficient brains in the party to make an equitable tariff adjustment without such a questionable delegation of power as is contained in the tariff commission proposition.” Referring to Roosevelt’s opposition to publicity in the matter of campaign funds during the Taft campaign, and his recent declaration in favor of the same thing, Col. Bryan said: “He certainly is on both sides of the question now. He has a foot on either side of the fence, but we are glad to see him progressive along this line, even if he is a little slow in talking about purifying politics. That’s the way to go about it. Well, John •W. Kern was fighting for just that kind of a thing before Senator Beveridge or any other leader of his party had consented to consider the demand as possessing any importance at Ossawatomie.” Scores New Nationalism. Mr. Bryan then scored the “new nationalism,” in which it was proposed to handle everything from Washington. He pointed out that the people of -the middle West were now enjoying a 2Cent rail rate, secured by legislation of the several states. He asked how long would it take to get a 2-cent rate from Congress’ with Such men as Chauncey Depew in th 6 Senate, chafging Senator Depew with receiving a I salary of |50,000 a year from the New York Central. ’ t ' “I don’t know how much of this ‘new nationalism’ Beveridge indorses,” 'said Mr. Bryan, “but if he is as enthusiastic over Teddy as Teddy is over him, there is little likelihood of the new doctrine suffering at Mr., Beveridge’s handM.” • Col. Bryan spoke of Roosevelt’s present denunciations of the interfei* ence of corporations in politics. He fllaitl: ■’ “Our Kansas City platform denounced the same interference in 1900 and if you will take our declaration and Roosevelt's at Ossawatomie ten years later and shake them in a big bag you would have difficulty In discovering which was which. “John Kern was fighting against this corporate influence a decade before Mr. Roosevelt entered the arena.” Should Join Democrats. "Mr. Roosevelt,” he continued, “says he is going to drive the crooks

out of his party* I think Mr. Beveridge will secretly admit that some of' them have managed to get into the Senate. Why doesn’t he join with Democracy in speaking out for a direct; vote for senators? That will certain-1 ,ly be a step in aid of Mr. Roosevelt’s' efforts to drive the crooks out of politics.” I Col. Bryan's audiences were large and enthusiastic at every stop on his six-day trip. He has thousands of friends and admirers in Indiana and they turned out to hear him. Col. Bryan’s strong indorsement of Mr. Kern for. the United States Senate met with the hearty approval of his audiences and his faith in the success of the entire Democratic ticket was reflected in the faces of his hearers.