The Daily Worker Newspaper, September 5, 1925, Page 13

-Bryan’s Place In History (Continued from page 2) the party and again became the presi- dential nominee; this time against Wm. H. Taft. For the third time he waged a campaign designed to appeal to the petty bouregoisie, and again he met defeat at the polls, Finance capital, under the leader- ship of the House of Morgan, was growing more powerful and was far from satisfied with the policy of the Taft government that was defending with all its might the interests of the industrialist group around Standard Oil. Between 1908 and 1910 the House of Morgan made a drive for control of the democratic party and in the con- gressional elections of 1910 the dem- ocratic party, for the first time since the elections of 1892, secured a ma- jority in the house of congress and increased by a substantial number its representatives of the United States . senate. Thus the party that since the civil war had held aloft the banner of the middle class capitulated to the wiles of finance capital. Thru a peri- od of nearly thirty years the influence of that party had declined in inverse ratio to the growth of the great com- binations of capital. The class fronr which it derived its support, the pet- ty bouregoisie, was being sapped of its vitality, it did not have sufficient power and cohesion to maintain an in- dependent political existence. Those elements of this class that survived became more and more dependent up- on the large industrialist and financial groups. Tiger Eats Out of Morgan’s Palm. When the 1912 convention opened at Baltimore the democratic party was the private property of the House of Morgan. Champ Clark of Missouri, was the candidate for Morgan. Tam- many Hall was represented by a full delegation determined to put thru the nomination of Clark. But this plan was frustrated by Bryan and his sup- porters who came from the middle and far west. In a terrific attack against control of the party by “the interests” he /artaigned August. Belmont and Thomas F. Ryan, both representatives of the House of Morgan and both del- egates at that convention. Bryan, thruout the long convention, opposed Clark, even after the Missour- ian had received a majority of the votes (two-thirds being required to nominate) and supported Woodrow ‘Wilson, then governor of New Jersey. Bryan was victorious and Wilson nom- inated. That same year saw a split in the republican party. Standard Oil in- sisted upon control of that party and the renomination of Taft, and the harvester, packing -house and steel trusts concentrating upon Roosevelt. The tempestuous’ Teddy headed the Bull Moose ticket, endeavoring to cap- ture the imagination of the moron middle class by having his supporters parade the Chicago Coliseum, where the “progressive” convention was held, singing “Onward Christian Sol- diers,” between gulps of strong liquor. In this three cornered fight Wood- row Wilson was elected and when he announced the personnel of his cab- inet, William Jennings Bryan headed the slate as secretary of state, as a reward for having nominated the pres- ident. Morgan Pulls the Strings, From the very day he occupied that office history’ played ‘peculiar pranks with this champion of the middle class. His first act as secretary of state in the Wilson cabinet was in the interest of the House of Morgan altho the “peerless leader” fondly imagined he was striking a death blow at imper- lalism. The Wilson administration, as its first international maneuver, an- nounced the withdrawal of the United States government from the “six pow- er group” which had been trying to impose a loan upon China under most Bryan thought he had at last seen the triumph of his anti-imperialist plank of 1900; this vile conspiracy, the six power loan, was stifled by the valiant hand of the liberal Wilson govern ment, - But then {ft came to light that the House of Morgan, representing the American syndicate, had objected in the first place to this country’s par- ticipation in the loan, but the Stand- ard Oil group in control of the Taft administration had urged them to ac- cept. Instead of analyzing. the situation and recognizing the fact that the pet- ty bourgeois leaders of the nation were being used as pawns of finance capital, the liberals ahd social-demo- crats indulged in veritable dithyram- bics, hailing Wilson and his govern- ment as the saviors of the world. Meanwhile Morgan and his asso- ciates sat back and smiled at the antics of these liberals, knowing that the first act of the Wilson govern- ment had made it possible for Morgan to challenge the rest of the world in China instead of sharing within a con- sortium of powers the resources of Bryan is the Jumping Jack. From that time to the approach of the declaration of war against Ger- many we had the inglorious spectacle of Bryan, champion of the middle class, unconsciously playing the game of the finance capitalists of Wall Street whom he so bitterly condemned when they tried to select their own candidate. Of course Wall Street had its preferences in the matter of can- didates, but since it controlled the democratic party the figurehead was of secondary consideration, It. was not until the notes he was compelled to write Germany grew more. bitter and the threat of entering the war more menacing that the petty bouregois soul of Bryan revolted and he quit the cabinet, realizing that his nominee, Wilson, was but the ser- vile lackey of the House of Morgan, but not daring to publicly state his convictions because of the war hys- teria. At the San Francisco convention of 1920 Bryan played no role, but at last MOTHER BLOOR—MASTER BUILDER. Inspiration for Our Youth. HE spirit of Ella Reeve “Mother” Bloor is undaunted. To date, this Communist agitator has covered over 3,000 miles since leaving San Francisco on June 1, yet she continues now thru New York state, talking Communism, speaking for its standard bearer, the DAILY WORKER, fighting reaction at all points. with ready smife avd grit Geter rtina- tion, covering all important cities enroute and speaking on schedule, this veteran Communist fighter of 62 years, has yet to pay a cent of rail- road fare. This hitch-hiking tour for the DAILY WORKER is unequalled by any former agitational tours. Hundreds of subscriptions come from every district visited. New Communist branches now flourish where before there was only a wish among local workers; new Junior groups have sprung into existence thanks to the energy of Mother Bloor-—Master Builder—Communist agi- tator with but few equals. - Arriving in New York on Sept. 9, Mother Bloor at 62 years of age completes a cross-country tour under circumstances that make it an achievement for the inspiration of the Communist youth in our party. If you are fortunate enough to live in nay of the following cities greet Mother Bloor, shake the hand of a comrade who adds further achieve- ments to our party to build it: _ Schenectady, N. Y., Sept. 6.and 7; New York, N. Y., Sept. 9 and 10; Newark, N. J., Sept, 11; New York, N. Y., Sept. 12; Boston, Mass., Sept. 13 and 14; Providence, R. I., Sept. 15; Hartford, Conn., Sept. 16; New Heaven, Conn., Sept. 17; Bridgeport, Conn., Sept 18; New York, Sept. 20; Philadelphia, Pa., Sept. 22, 23 and 24; Wilmington and Arden Dela- ware, 27 and 28; Baltimore, Md., Sept. 29; Washington, D. C., Sept. 30. “Mother” Bloor In Chicago with Editor of the DAILY WORKER, J, Louis Engdahl, and Circulation ‘Manager Walt Carmon. . 7 year’s convention at Madison Square Garden, New York, he aided McAdoo defeat. the aspirations of the Tam- manyite, Governor Al. Smith. He also prevented the convention denouticing by name that instrument of a dying middle class, the ku klux klan, But he could not prevent the nomination of Mr. John W. Davis, the lawyer of the House of Morgan. The middle class support of other years had been swept into the LaFollette movement in the summer of 1924, to be later terrorized into support of Coolidge and the republican party. Bryan’s political sun had set. His place in history was that of champion of the middle class, and as its vitality ebbed so his political prestige de- clined. Bryan and Religion. As the middle class of this country turned to religion and mummery after its political failures, so Bryan turned his face in the same direction. Even in the sphere of religion the class con- flict has its reflex. With the growth of imperialism religious concepts change. Since imperialism deals with people in all parts of the world and of various faiths the religion of im- periaism must. be cosmopolitan, not the provincialism of the middle class. Hence the rise of modernism in re- ligion, preaching reconciliation of ail the various beliefs. It is stubbornly resisted by the fundamentalists, the orthodox presbyterians, baptists, methodists and the lower strata of this sort of thing, the holy rollers, Nazarene’s, etc. Bryan, a political fizzle, became the foremost champion of the religion of the middle class of this country. Of all the fundamentalists, he had the audacity to assert that he not only accepted the bible as a guide to mor- ality, but that he believed it from coy- er to cover; the fish story, the snake story, the rib story and all. A follower of John Calvin, his re- ligion was that of predestination, the religion of the petty bourgeoisie. Since members of this class cannot explain their financial failures in spite ofthe fact that they practice those capitalist ' virtues of industry, thrift and perse- verance, they attribute it to the de cree of some supreme being who had foreordained that they shall fail. In this last fight of his career, Bryan stood forth as the Dersonification of ali the ignorance, the hatred and the bigotry of a petty capitalist class des- perately fighting for life and losing its struggle. His antics at the evolu- tionist trial at Dayton, where he died, not merely revealed his own shallow- ness, his astounding ignorance of everything that passes for education among intelligent people, but at the Same time revealed the low state of mentality of the obnoxious crew for which he had spoken for the past 20 years. His senseless, spread-eagle, flamboyant oratory could only receive favorable recognition among members of such a class. He was absurdly puri- tanical with all the viciousness of puritanism. In his seared heart there surely burned the fires of another in- quisition, but his followers Were not sufficiently numerous to start the thing. The Last Ironic Joke. But his god, the deity of the petty bourgeoisie, played its last Ironic joke on this embattled crusader by snatch- ing him from his followers, at a most inconvenient ‘time and in a most con- spicuous manner. Surely no one but a thoro fundamentalist can explain the caprice of a god that will remove from the scene his principal champion and permit the agents of the devil to live and gloat over their earthly trt- umph. About all that is left for the fundamentalist ministers of the gos- pel is to repeat the sombre litany of predestination and state that their god “works in mysterious ways his wonders to perform.” As for us revolutionists, who have disposed alike of gods and devils, we view the demise of Bryan as herald- ing the death of the indpendent poli-~ tical movement of the petty bour- seoisie whose champion he remained to the end, in spite of»that fact. that his most notable political achievement was that of the unconscious tool of © the House of Morgan. ~ LC EE A LO