In other words, the people had become so inoculated with the true gospel of Bryan, the Tribune of 1893 and 1896, that they refused to follow the change of heart and the change of conduct which came over Bryan, the Parkerite of 1904.
Will not Mr. Bryan reflect upon this and draw a lesson from it? He himself has declared that he is attempting the impossible in trying to harmonize the discordant elements of the Democratic Party.
What is the real statesmanship demanded at this time?
That those who believe in Jeffersonian ideals, whether they are now in the Republican, Democratic, Populist or Socialist parties, should come together without prejudice for party names, and should unite in the common cause of driving from power the beneficiaries of class legislation, no matter whether those beneficiaries are called Democrats or Republicans.
Let the Belmonts and Morgans get together in the same party so that we can fight them both at the same time.
As long as we cling to party differences and party names our efforts will come to naught, as they did in 1896, 1900 and 1904.
Mr. Bryan wants the reform movement to stop and wait for him, while for four years he struggles to get the better of the plutocratic element of his own party. If they were able to wrest control from him when he had so much more advantage than he has now, how can we expect him to take that control from their strong hands?
But, suppose he does succeed in defeating the Belmont-Cleveland element in the convention of 1908, does he not know that they will fulfil his prediction again and knife him as they have done twice already?
On the other hand, suppose they conquer him in 1908 as they did in 1904, will he not submit tamely to kiss the hand that smote him as he did in the last convention? Most assuredly he will.
He lost his opportunity to fly the flag of revolt when he failed to resent the Gold Telegram of 1904. That opportunity passed, never to return.