“Nothing could be more disappointing than the failure of the Democratic National Convention to place the stamp of its frank and unequivocal disapproval upon the Klan,” was the statement made by Dr. Stephen S. Wise to a reporter on the Evening World, following the rejection of the minority resolution condemning the Klan by the Democratic Convention.
“I have never seen great gifts used to baser purposes than when Col. Bryan declared it unnecessary to name the Klan,” Dr. Wise continued. “If the name be not one of magic and mystery, to use Col. Bryan’s language rather than my own, why fear to pronounce the fateful words?
“The only comfort, such as it is, arises from the circumstances that the Klan has been named and that half or more than half of the unbound delegates to the National Convention were prepared to take the risk of notifying the organized Rooligans of the Klan that the Democratic Party was unwilling to give refuge to any foes of religious freedom in America, however fantastic their name, however banal their ritual.
“The Democratic Party might have done a very great and grave thing. It has failed and many voters throughout the land may explicably feel lukewarm about a party which could tepidly face this burning issue in American life.
“It was a sad, sad spectacle to see a once great tribune, thrice crowned with the leadership of the Democratic Party, plead in specious and sophisticate terms for tolerance teaching this intolerable menace to the ideals of America and the principles of an un-Bryanized Democratic Party.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
