MR. BRYAN ISSUES A CHALLENGE
The contests for the delegates to the National Convention were on in full
swing throughout the various states. In the early contests, particularly
in the far western states, like Utah, South Dakota, North Dakota, and
Montana, the Wilson candidacy, according to primary returns, began to take
on the appearance of a real, robust boom. As the critical days of the
Convention approached, evidences of a recession of the favourable tide to
Wilson began to manifest themselves, particularly in the states of
Massachusetts and Illinois, both of which swung to Clark, with New York in
the offing quietly favouring Champ Clark. It was clear to the campaign
managers of Wilson that from a psychological standpoint the pivotal states
were New Jersey and Ohio; New Jersey, because ex-Senator Smith had again
challenged the leadership of Wilson and had notified his friends
throughout the country that New Jersey could be relied upon to repudiate
its governor in an overwhelming fashion. Smith had made deals and
combinations with all the disgruntled elements of the state, and with
powerful financial backing from the so-called interests in New Jersey and
New York and the mighty support of the Hearst newspapers, he was pressing
the New Jersey man closely, until at times it seemed as if he might
succeed in at least splitting the delegation. The friends of the New
Jersey man, therefore, realizing the effect upon the democracy of the
country of an adverse verdict in his home state, concentrated all possible
forces at this critical point. In the meantime, and before the actual
determination of the issue in New Jersey, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania swung
into the Wilson column, and the Ohio primaries resulted in a split
delegation between Wilson and Harmon, in Harmon's home state. All eyes
were, therefore, intently watching New Jersey. A repudiation would be
disastrous, although the old-timers in the Wilson camp tried to encourage
us by saying that even though New Jersey might turn against its governor,
Grover Cleveland, under similar circumstances in 1892, despite the
opposition of his home state, had been nominated and elected President.
But, fortunately for us, New Jersey in the handsomest way stood by her
favourite son. The news of New Jersey's endorsement was flashed through
the country, and there was jubilation in every Wilson camp. The day
following the New Jersey primaries the New York _World_, the great
Democratic paper, carried a striking editorial under the caption of
"WOODROW WILSON FOR PRESIDENT." The New Jersey primaries and the Ohio
results were great feathers in the caps of the Wilson men, and with
enthusiasm and ardour they followed up this advantage.
As the days for the opening of the Baltimore Convention approached the New
Jersey Governor and his family left Princeton for Sea Girt, a delightful
place along the Atlantic seaboard, where the state of New Jersey had
provided for its governor an executive mansion, a charming cottage, a
replica of General Washington's headquarters at Morristown. With us to
these headquarters, to keep vigil as it were over the New Jersey Governor,
went a galaxy of newspaper men, representing the leading papers of the
country.
The first, and indeed the most important, situation the candidate was
called upon to handle at Sea Girt as a preliminary to the Convention was
his reply to the now famous Bryan-Parker telegrams, which played so
important a part in the deliberations and indeed in the character of the
whole Convention--It will be recalled that Mr. Bryan, who was in
attendance at the Republican Convention at Chicago as a special
correspondent, had telegraphed an identic telegram to each of the
Democratic candidates, Messrs. Clark, Underwood, Wilson, and Harmon, as
follows:
Chicago, June, 1912.
In the interest of harmony, I suggest to the sub-committee of the
Democratic National Committee the advisability of recommending as
temporary chairman some progressive acceptable to the leading
progressive candidates for the Presidential nomination. I take it for
granted that no committeeman interested in Democratic success would
desire to offend the members of a convention overwhelmingly
progressive by naming a reactionary to sound the keynote of the
campaign.
Eight members of the sub-committee, however, have, over the protest of
the remaining eight, agreed upon not only a Reactionary but upon the
one Democrat who, among those not candidates for the Presidential
nomination, is, in the eyes of the public, most conspicuously
identified with the reactionary element of the party.
I shall be pleased to join you and your friends in opposing his
selection by the full committee or by the Convention. Kindly answer
here.
W. J. BRYAN.
I was on my way from New York to Sea Girt when I read a copy of this
telegram in the evening papers. I believe that I grasped the full
significance of this move on the part of Mr. Bryan. In fact, I became so
anxious about it that I left the train before reaching my destination, in
order to say to Governor Wilson over the 'phone how important I thought
the message really was and how cautiously it should be handled. I tried to
impress upon him the importance of the answer he was called upon to make
to Mr. Bryan. He calmly informed me that he had not yet received the
telegram and that he would, of course, give me an opportunity to discuss
the matter with him before making his reply.
It was clear that Mr. Bryan, whose influence in the councils of the
Democratic party at that time was very great, was seeking by this method
to ascertain from leading Presidential candidates like Wilson, Underwood,
Clark, and Harmon, just how they felt about the efforts of the New York
delegation, led by the Tammany boss, Charlie Murphy, and the conservative
element of the Democratic party in the East, to control the Convention and
to give it the most conservative and standpat appearance by controlling
the preliminary organization and nominating Alton B. Parker as temporary
chairman. For many weeks previous to the Convention it had been rumoured
that that was the programme and that the real purpose which lay behind it
was to unhorse Bryan and to end for all time his control and that of the
radicals of the West over the affairs of the Democratic party. It was a
recrudescence of the old fight of 1896, between the conservative East and
the radical West--Bryan assuming, of course, the leadership of the
radicals of the West, and Charlie Murphy and his group acting as the
spokesmen of the conservative East.
It was clear to me that Bryan anticipated just what replies Underwood,
Clark, and Harmon would make to his inquiry. Whether he was certain of
what the New Jersey Governor would say in answer to his telegram, I never
could ascertain. Indeed, many of the New Jersey Governor's supporters were
ungenerous enough to say that behind the inquiry lay a selfish purpose;
that Mr. Bryan took this method to reestablish his leadership and to place
himself at the forefront of the liberal, progressive forces of the
Convention.
It is clear, as one looks back upon this incident, that a misstep in the
handling of this inquiry from Mr. Bryan might have been fatal to the New
Jersey man's candidacy.
When I arrived at Sea Girt to discuss the matter with Governor Wilson, I
was surprised to find that he had not even read the telegram, although a
copy of it lay upon his desk, and when he did read it and we were
discussing it he did not share my view of its great importance. In
attempting to emphasize its importance I experienced one of the most
difficult jobs I ever had in the eleven years I was associated with
Woodrow Wilson. In vain I tried to impress upon him what I believed to be
the purpose which lay behind the whole business; that his reply would
determine the question as to whether he was going to line up with the
progressive element which was strong in the West, or whether he would take
sides with those of the conservative East, many of whom were bitterly
opposed to him. He finally informed me that he was in touch with Mr.
McCombs, his campaign manager at Baltimore, and that he would not reply to
Mr. Bryan's telegram until he received some word from the former as to
what his opinion was in regard to handling this difficult matter. I left
him, after impressing upon him the necessity of early action, lest our
progressive friends both at Baltimore and throughout the country who were
awaiting word from us should be disappointed by his apparent unwillingness
to take his position with the progressives.
The newspaper correspondents at Sea Girt, realizing the importance of the
candidate's decision, industriously kept upon our trail to find out what
reply would be made to Mr. Bryan. The direct wire between Baltimore and
Sea Girt was kept busy with inquiries from our friends as to what attitude
we were taking in the matter. While my relations with McCombs at the time
were of the friendliest sort, I feared that the Eastern environment in
which he lived, and his attempt to bring Tammany into camp for the New
Jersey Governor, would necessarily play a large part in influencing his
judgment, and I was apprehensive lest Governor Wilson should be too much
inclined to accept Mr. McCombs' final judgment in the matter.
On June 21, 1912, the following telegram came from Mr. McCombs, as the
basis of a proposed reply to Mr. Bryan by the New Jersey Governor:
Baltimore, June 21, 1912.
HON. WILLIAM J. BRYAN
Lincoln, Nebraska.
I quite agree with you that the temporary chairman of the Convention
should voice the sentiments of the democracy of the nation which I am
convinced is distinctly progressive. However, before receiving your
telegram I had given the following statement for publication in the
Baltimore _Evening Sun_: My friends in Baltimore are on the people's
side in everything that affects the organization of the Convention.
They are certain not to forget their standards as they have already
shown. It is not necessary that I should remind them of these
standards from New Jersey and I have neither the right nor the desire
to direct the organization of a convention of which I am not even a
member.
(signed) MCCOMBS
I was greatly disappointed, of course, at the character of reply suggested
by McCombs and argued with the Governor at length on what I considered
would be the disastrous effects of making a reply such as the one
contained in the above telegram. Clearly, Mr. McCombs' suggested reply was
a rebuke to Mr. Bryan and a bid for the Eastern vote in the convention. Of
course, Governor Wilson was most reluctant to disregard the advice of
McCombs. He felt that he (McCombs) was "on the job" at Baltimore and more
intimately in touch with the situation than he himself could be at Sea
Girt. After a long discussion of the matter, the proposed reply prepared
by McCombs was ignored and the following telegram was prepared and sent by
Woodrow Wilson:
W. J. BRYAN, Chicago:
You are quite right. Before hearing of your message I clearly stated my
position in answer to a question from the Baltimore Evening Sun. The
Baltimore Convention is to be a convention of Progressives, of men who
are progressive in principle and by conviction. It must, if it is not
to be put in a wrong light before the country, express its convictions
in its organization and in its choice of the men who are to speak for
it. You are to be a member of the Convention and are entirely within
your rights in doing everything within your power to bring that result
about. No one will doubt where my sympathies lie and you will, I am
sure, find my friends in the Convention acting upon clear conviction
and always in the interest of the people's cause. I am happy in the
confidence that they need no suggestion from me.
(Signed) WOODROW WILSON.
This reply, more than any other single thing, changed the whole attitude
and temper of the Convention toward Woodrow Wilson. The progressive forces
in it were seeking leadership and Mr. Bryan, by his inquiry, had provided
an opportunity, of which. Mr. Wilson took full advantage.
An interesting incident occurred in connection with this affair. Being
unable to induce the Governor quickly to reply to Mr. Bryan, and realizing
that our friends at Baltimore would expect him to agree with Mr. Bryan,
and thus take his place with the progressive element in the Convention, I
was firmly convinced that he would at the end be found in agreement with
Mr. Bryan. I, therefore, took the liberty of saying to the newspaper men
in our group--those who were favourably disposed to us--that when Mr.
Wilson did reply to Mr. Bryan he would be found in harmony with the
Commoner's ideas. This unofficial tip was immediately conveyed to
Baltimore and our friends, after returning from the Convention, told me
how this piece of inspired information had put heart in our men, and that
on a bulletin board before the Baltimore _Sun_ offices there was posted
the announcement "WILSON AGREES WITH BRYAN" and before it hundreds of
Wilson men gathered, cheering the message of the New Jersey Governor.
The reply of the New Jersey Governor was prepared by him while he was
seated on the side of a little bed in one of the rooms of the Sea Girt
cottage. He looked at me intently, holding a pad and pencil in his hands,
and then wrote these significant words to Mr. Bryan: "_You are right_."
I have often wondered what effect on the Convention McCombs' proposed
reply, which contained a rebuke to Mr. Bryan, would have had. From that
time on Mr. Bryan was the devoted friend of the New Jersey Governor. Mr.
Wilson's reply had convinced the Nebraskan that the Governor was not
afraid to accept the issue and that he was in favour of supporting a
preliminary organization that was to be progressive both in principle and
by conviction.
McCombs was obsessed with the idea that the New York delegation must be
won; that everything else was negligible compared with that. Therefore he
wished Mr. Wilson in his reply to say something that would be considered
by the New York delegation as a public rebuke to Mr. Bryan. I afterward
learned that McCombs, nervous, incapable of standing the strain and
excitement of the Convention, had retired to a friend's house at Baltimore
where, after the Woodrow Wilson telegram to William Jennings Bryan, he was
found in a room, lying across a bed, crying miserably. To the inquiries of
his friends as to what was the matter with him McCombs replied, weeping,
that the Governor had spoiled everything by his telegram to Bryan; that
had the Governor followed his [McCombs'] advice, he could have been
nominated.
The direct wire between the Sea Girt cottage and the Wilson headquarters
at Baltimore was kept busy from early morning until late at night. The
telephone exchange in the cottage was so arranged that a branch telephone
was kept in the little room under the stairway, which constituted a sort
of listening post, which permitted me, in accordance with the suggestion
of the Governor himself, to listen in on conversations, not by way of
eavesdropping, but in order that we might intelligently confer after each
conversation on the various matters that might have to be decided upon
with reference to the organization of the convention. Many of the
momentous questions having to do with the conduct of the Convention were
discussed and settled over this 'phone. The most frequent users of the
'phone during these days were Colonel Bryan and Mr. McCombs, our campaign
manager. During the opening days of the Convention I made it my business
to keep in close touch with Baltimore both by conversations over the
'phone with the active managers of the Wilson boom and by carefully
reading each morning the news items appearing in the New York _Times_, New
York _World_, and the Baltimore _Sun_, this last-named paper being one of
the leading advocates of the Wilson candidacy in the country.
I was personally, and in some cases intimately, acquainted with the
special writers on these great journals and knew from previous contact
with them that they were on the "inside" of the situation at Baltimore,
and in this way much information was gleaned which proved helpful in
keeping us in touch with the many happenings at the Convention.
Having successfully passed through the Bryan-Parker crisis, we decided
upon a kind of strategy that would win to our side the various progressive
elements in the Convention. In line with this idea, we suggested to our
managers at Baltimore the advisability of putting forward the name of
Ollie M. James of Kentucky for permanent chairman of the Convention. While
he was a staunch Clark man and a devoted follower of Mr. Bryan, we knew he
could be relied upon to give us a fair deal as the presiding officer of
the Convention. There was another reason, too. Away off in Sea Girt we
gathered the impression that the sober second thought of the Convention
favoured his selection and that even though we might fail in our attempt
to nominate him for this office, our efforts at least in this regard would
give the impression to those who looked with favour upon Wilson as their
second choice. Another reason was this: We were not afraid to trust our
cause to a Clark man, and Ollie James for many years had been the idol of
convention crowds. When, upon the conclusion of the Bryan-Parker episode,
Mr. Bryan telephoned Sea Girt to discuss with the Governor the matter of
the chairmanship, he was greatly surprised and pleased to have the
Governor say, in the most hearty way that, upon canvassing the whole
situation, he felt it would be an admirable and just thing to select Ollie
James of Kentucky. Mr. Bryan said: "But, Governor Wilson, Mr. James is in
the Convention as a Clark man." "It does not matter," was the Governor's
reply. "He is our kind of a fellow, and I am sure my friends can rely upon
him to treat our cause well." From Mr. Bryan's subsequent conversations
over the telephone it clearly appeared that he was delighted at the
suggestion of his own intimate friend, and it was plain that he was being
convinced from moves of this kind by the New Jersey Governor that Woodrow
Wilson was willing to stand or fall with him in attempting to organize the
Convention along progressive lines.
Years after the Convention the senator from Kentucky, who became my
closest and dearest friend, and who distinguished himself as a member of
the Senate, and who was one of the staunchest defenders of the President
and the Administration, told me of the wisdom which he thought lay behind
the suggestion of himself for the chairmanship; that we, at Sea Girt,
rightly sensed the situation and that the suggestion of his name had done
more than anything else to convince the men in the Convention of the
genuine character of the New Jersey Governor's progressiveness. We felt
that strategic moves of this kind appealed to the progressive thought in
the Convention and went far to remove the strange impression many of the
delegates had that Wilson was a rank conservative. It was plainly
perceptible that these acts were quickly turning the progressives in the
Convention toward our candidate.
In following these suggestions, we were, in fact, acting independently of
the New Jersey Governor's advisers at Baltimore. It was plain to be seen
that the battle at Baltimore would finally simmer down to a contest
between the reactionaries and the progressives, and we decided at Sea Girt
that in every move that was to be made our purpose should be to win the
progressive support in the Convention. McCombs was at no time found in
harmony with this action, his principal activities at Baltimore being
given over to an attempt to win for the New Jersey Governor the support of
the conservatives of the East, and, particularly, New York, whose seventy-
six votes he thought the great prize of the Convention.