Life — July 18, 1912 — page 8: what you’re looking at

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ERHAPS there was a likelier candidate than Gov- ernor Wilson for the Democrats to nominate, but, if so, it is. for someone else to name him. We can't. To our mind, he came to seem the De- mocracy’s best bet, even though not so cer- tainly its best man. It seems a marvelous thing that the nomina- tion should finally have come to him; almost incredible even now, Four Demo- cratic conventions we had seen select candidates that seemed, and were, pre destined to defeat, until it seemed as though that was a fixed Democratic habit. Behold, at Baltimore, after struggling a week, our brethren choose the last man their opponents wished to sce selected! Tt was wonderful! Think of it: of the forces finally against Dr. Wilson; of his propensity to kill himself off in the preliminary campaign by indiscre- tions and impatiences; of the popular strength and attractiveness of Mr. Clark! Wonderful; wonderful! But it is just an example of the sort of precipitation that is liable to result when all the forces are let loose. They were all loose at Baltimore. Everyone who had anything to say and the cour- age to say it, got a chance. The Democrats owe Governor W son’s nomination first of all to Colonet George Harvey, his Columbus, who was out prospecting for candidates, and discovered him trying to insert the virus of democracy into the re- sisting mind of Moses Taylor Pyne. Colonel. Harvey gradually detached him from that employment, conferred upon him by four years of devoted diligence the publicity so necessary to a political leader, and finally produced “While there is Life there's Hope” him as a candidate for Governor of New Jersey; Next to Senator James Smith, who permitted him to be nominated for Governor of New Jersey; Next to the said Senator Smith for affording him the corpus vile for an illustration of insubordination to bosses; Next to the said Colonel Harve again for the means for an exhibition of detachment from the interest Next to the Hearst papers for ex- tensive advertisement of Mr. Hearst's dissatisfaction with him; Next to Senator Martine, for serv- ices in illustrating how great a load he can carry; Next to Mr. Joline, for disclosing his capacity to harbor a natural, hu- man impatience with Mr. Bryan; Next to the Siu, for general criti- cism, and advertisement, of his qual ties; Next, and in very important meas- ure, to Mr. Roosevelt, whose bolting specter hung like a brick house over the Baltimore Convention, threatening to fall and squash any weak nomine Next, a little, to the World for root- ing for him at the right time; xt, and considerably, to Mr. Bryan, for killing off all the other candidates, including himself, and making him the only likely refuge of the shepherdless; Next to Charles Murphy and Dan'le Cohalan, for attending the convention at Baltimore and impc the vote of New York upon Mr. C . The rest of w! was done was done y Governor Wilson himself, and his friends, including Mr. McCoombs, his manager, the result’ being superin- duced by Destiny, which, cutting into the final crisis, shapes the rough-hewn ends, and makes all things work to- gether for the furtherance of what is to be. It is important to have a competent Vice-President, and Governor Mar- VOL. LX. JULY 18, 1912 No, 1551 Published by LIFE PUBLISHING COMPANY J. A. Mivountn, Pre: A. Mitten, Sec'y and Treas, 17 West Thirty-first Street, New Vork English Ofices, Connon House, Breaus bldgs.,Luaden,1.C, shall is an excellent candidate for that office. He is a Democrat who can carry Indiana for himself, and can help carry it for Governor Wilson. He is peaceable, sensible, responsible and intelligent; not so urgent a rad- ical, perhaps, as some others, but a progressive, and plenty radical cnough. For the Democrats to offer the coun- try such a ticket is miraculous. But, after all, it is a representative ticket; and the whole Democratic party seems to be behind it. That is bec events have use ught up with the pro- gressive Democrats, and dragged the unprogressive ones after them. HE main difference between the rival platforms is that tariff re- vision downward is put to the front in the Democratic document. The dif- ference between the Democratic tariff plank and the Republican one being just the slight, but significant, differ- ence between gingery and gingerly. What cither party intends to do to the trusts we do not know, and prob- ably no one else does. Both platforms call for additional le; lation about them, and the constructive statesmen of both parties will try, no doubt, to enact the kind of legislation that will do the most good at the least cost. So as to fiscal legislation. The Democratic platform condemns the Aldrich bill, and wants something bet- ter. What we shall get is whatever the wit of Congress is able to devise, with expert assistance, when the time comes. We suppose that neither Mr. Taft nor Dr. Wilson would purposely veto a good finance bill if it were of- fered, nor sign one that he believed was bad. Either of these gentlemen ought to be a fair judge of a currency bill, though neither of them is a fiscal expert. comicbooks.com