The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1896-11-05
MCKINLEY AND BRYAN.

We believe tina, Mr.. Mckinley Will
be elected ,o-day-no, by Gland
Slide" as it is called, or by any tu-
multuous and irresistible popular up
rising, bu, by safe ard irresistible
emphatic MAJORITY Mr.. Mckinley
has not appealed /" the passions Of the
multitude. There IS nothing in his
personality or in the cause he repre-
sent, 10 promote abnormal fcrvor He
has appealed 10 the thoughtful, the
conservative and the sober elements Of
our population, and he will receive
their sufrages decorously and solemnly
conferred.
Under other conditions, we doub,
whether Mr.. Mcklniey's victory would
have been 50 assured. There are hun
drehs Of thousands Of men voting for
him TO day who do not subscribe to
his economic theories, who regard his
tariff scheme with disiavor and alarm.
These would have voted for another
candidate who represented opposition
10 high protection, and at the same
time stood for sound money and for
law and order. The Democratic
party, under .,he banner of 1892, could
nave carried the country against the
menace of business disturbance in
volvcd in Mr.. Mckinley's candidacy.
As things are, however, we do not be-
lieve that Mr.. Bryan can win. The
conservative classes are all arrayed
against him, not SO much because Of
what he personally is as on account Of
the following he has. inspired and the
policies to which he stands committed.
Mr. Mckinley does not hold out to US
a very brilliant and alluring promise
Under existing conditions neither the
government nor the country at large
has been especially prosperous during
the past four years, and under Mckin-
ley's administration We have no reason
to expect any very marked changes for
the better. But intelligent and pa
trlotic men believe, and rightly, that
no change at all is better, safer, and
more honorable than the change pro-
posed by the Chicago PLATFORM
For these reasons we are of opinion
;har the friends Of law and property
and order will choose the lesser of the
Two evils presented to them in this re-
markable campaign. We think it
proper to say of Mr.. Bryan personally,
however, that there need be nothing Of
humiliation or distress to him in the
contemplation Of his defeat. He has
borne himself with courage and devo-
ton from the beginning to the end Of
the campaign. Ee has exhibited such
qualities of endurance, such sublimitv
of faith in himself and in his mission,
such power over men, such gifts Of
eloquence and magnetism, as may
truly be said to be without paralallel
in the history of American politics.
He takes US back eight hundred years
to the days of Peter the Hermit, who,
with his fier, appeals to passion and to
shame, to indignation and to pity, to
valor and 10 Chivalry, turned all Chris
tendon to tears and groans and set
in motion those tremendous armies
which, under Godfrey de Bouilion,
Hugh of Flanders, Bohemond and
Tancred, marched through Paynim
blood until they gazed upon the spires
and minarets ard domes of jerusalem
the Holy City. He has swayed null
,itudes as no political orator ever did
before. He has moved men aud
women to sorrow and rejoicing, to
hope and fear, TO such exaltaton as
seemed beyond the experience of hu-
manity in these days. That he was
earnest, sincere, beyond the thought of
se!fshness and sordid appetite, we
verify believe. Deluded, mistaken,
blinded he may have been, but honest,
fearless, ardent as the day. His will
be defeat without dishonor, for, as
we Judge the man, he has never for
one moment harbored base hope or
entertained an unworthy or ignoble
purpose.
We are glad he is defeated, but we
recognized and here pay tribute to
the purity, the candor, and the utter
self-abnegation of his course.-Wash-
ington Post.