eover, the fact that he came from New York made it a wise move,
politically, to give him a place on the ticket.

[Illustration: Portrait.]
Copyright by Clinedinst, Washington.
Joseph G. Cannon.

To outside observers the convention was a harmonious one, ready and
anxious to adopt and indorse the Roosevelt policies and to accord a most
hearty support to the candidate who best represented these policies. The
platform which was drawn up was a strong political document which not
only stated the Republican policies clearly but was also a piece of
campaign literature of some note from the stand-point of literary worth.

[Illustration: Portrait.]
Photograph by C. M. Ball, Washington.
James S. Sherman, nominated for Vice-President.

Throughout the months preceding the assembling of the Democratic
convention, in Denver, there was some uncertainty as to who would
control it. Governor Folk, of Missouri, had been much in the public eye
through his war on graft and on account of his successful administration
of the gubernatorial office. Judge Gray, of Delaware, who had served his
State in the United States Senate and had acquired an enviable
reputation as a justice of the United States Circuit Court, was also a
strong candidate. Judson Harmon, of Ohio, Attorney-General under
President Cleveland, and Governor Johnson, of Minnesota, had numerous
supporters.

When the voting began in the convention the result was not long in
doubt. William Jennings Bryan was for the third time accorded the honor
of leading the Democratic party. On the first ballot Mr. Bryan received
892-1/2 votes; Judge Gray, his chief opponent, received 59-1/2. The
cheers which followed the announcement of the vote showed that two
defeats had not dampened the loyalty of the Western Democrats. Mr. Kern,
of Indiana, was nominated by acclamation for the Vice-Presidency. The
committee on the formation of the platform seemed to have some
difficulty in determining the final form of some of the planks.

Both parties in their platforms favored tariff revision. The Republican
party declared for the protective system and reciprocity and promised a
special session of Congress to treat the whole tariff question. The
Democratic party adhered to the old principle of "tariff for revenue"
and pledged itself to return to that basis as soon as practicable.
Furthermore, it pledged itself to bring about immediately such
reductions as would put trust-controlled products upo