New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-11-02
HOU 1T ,ST<fND,S.

II is not the first but the last week OF
campaign that counts This year the last week
of the great struggle opens with JOY and conf
dence fol Republicans. Over the electric wires
from every part of the country there is coming
the news that the tide of popular approval is
rising. Men who have been tried in many
contests and not found wanting. men who have
known the temper of the people in different
States for ten or twenty or thirty years better
than anybody else, send their. personal aSSur-
ances that Republican victory is certain; that
tie weeks of doubt and debate are over, the
tide has set definitely in favor of Harrison and
Reid. and is running so strongly that nothing
can stop it.
Why are these men trusted when Democrats
are Us confident ever? Because III eight
successive Presidential elections the Rcpub-
lican leadership has been found absolutely cor
rect every time in its information and judG-
mont Even in 1854. when Democratic fraud
manufactured 4 bare plurality for Cleveland III
New York. the Republicans who believed III a
small plurality for their candidate knew Just
how the people were going to vote. But Ill
every election for more than thirty years the
Democratic leaders have displayed the same
absurd and boundless confidence have listened
to the samc ghost stories and chased the same
rainbowS and predicted the same overwhelm-
ing victories in all sorts OF states. and nobody
has reason to suppose that they are more cor
rectly informed or judge more soundly than
they did four years ago, or twelve years ago,
or in any other great contest in which they
have shouted victory for months, and then
vrpt over defeat after the votes had been
counted When Democratic leaders are conf
dent it means nothing. But if Republican
chiefs feel that there is eroundswell they
are not apt to be mistaken.
The strong set Of the tide comes just at the
right point TO be real and irresistible. IL comes
when the months of argument and reading have
prepared millions Of voters to decide. Demo
Gratis are in the habit Of reporting great out
break of enthusiasm for their ticket before
the argument begins. That is not when
the millions actually declare their decision.
Throughout this country there are literally
millions of voters who conScientiOusly consider
the argument and the facts in every Prcsi-
dental campaign, and try 10 learn what Is
right. They have leaninss toward one party
or the other, but mean TO decide a their con
sciences may dictate when the facts are known
and the reasons have been weighed. These
are the men who settle the matter. Until com
parativey late in contest the trend Of their
opinion may not be clearly felt. But when
experienced men can discover which way the
bulk Of the thinking and reading voters arc
going they do not doubt the result.
Republicans feel that the argument and the
facts have been in their favor throughout this
campaign But the cumulative power Of such
a mass Of information as has been submitted
to the people this year and of such arguments
| as have been presented. tells toward the end
when the millions reach their final decision.
| Fraudulent and fictitious issues drop out of
| sight. The people know that the fair men OF
| both parties want more honest elections than
| many of the States now provide, but they also
know that the howl about "the Force bilP' is
nothing but a fraud. The vital question this
| year is whether an American British in
| dustrial policy shall prevail; whether work
| ingmen want British rather than American
wages whether business men want a change
instead of the marvellous prosperity which they
| now enjoy. 1t is not strange that the decision
| of thinking and reading men on such an issue,
| when it is once made up, should be clear and
| emphatic That the millions know how to an
swer the question this year Republican leaders
| now feel assured.