New-York tribune., 1896-08-31

1t is safe TO say that never before in any one
week. have the American people had placed be-
fore them so much to enlighten their minds as
they have had during the last week in the letter
of Mckinley, the great speeches of Speaker
Reed on Tuesday and ex-President Harrison on
Thursday and last but not least the continuing
talk of Mr. Bryan. If any citizen of decent
natural intelligence and ordinary honesty OF
purpose could without unlawful inhumanity
have been forced TO listen TO all that Bryan has
been saving during the last week, he mus; have
resolved with scorn ana Indignation TO vote
against that man, any how" The cheap and
low demagoguism displayed the dearth OF III
formation capacity, the utter Inability to
argue unless perpetual rceratiOn Of assertions
many times disprovel is argument count for
less after all than the childish rccklessneSS OF
consequences or the infamous desire to namc
the baseSt and most dangerous passions. no MAJ
ter what the cost TO the country. In order 10
grasp personal success. The revelation which the
man is making Of his intellect. which is hardly
above the grade Of backwoOdS di>puanis nj
groceries and crossroads and which leads him
to say tina. mOsl farmers ana mechanics can
argue as ably as anybody on finances. simply he
cause he does not know what argument really Is.
might cause almost anybody 10 vote against the
elevation of such man 10 the highest ANA most
responsible office. But the revelation OF his
conceptions of integrity and of PATRIOTISM OF
his motives and moral character is something
very much worse All the opposing speeches i'll
the world cannot harm Mr. Bryan aS much rs
the exhibition he is making of himself
The opposing speeches have been tremendous
in their concentrated power including The letter
of Mckinley as IN address 10 the people. II
has been like a broadsi1c from all available
great guns of modern baite-sllip each shot
enough TO sink an antagonist When ii is re-
membcred that the modern press facilities
vastly Increase the effectiveness of such appeals.
placing the longest of them in full before read
ers of every city in the United States the same
morning so that ten million readers of daily
papers alone were reached by each grea, argu-
ment TO say nothing of the thirty million copies
of weekly papers issued. ii may be realized III
some measure what the weeks work has Deem
But it is also a fact of vast Importance that
this year Il large proportion Of the most widely
circulated and influential Democratic journals
are giving in full and with gladneSS arguments
against Bryan though many OF them would
scarcely have placed before their readers any
Republican speech in an ordinary campaign.
Literally there are millions who never seriously
read in full Il Republican speech before. but
have taken to heart within the last week four
of the most powerful arguments ever issued for
the Republican cause.
This is one side of the picture. The other is
that silver Democrats. Populists. silver Rcpub-
leans and in some States PrOhibitioniSiS also,
have been accomplishing as complete fusion
as they can. Everybody knows that neither
element can control the whole of the votes it
usually commands. But there are millions OF
voters whom no argument reaches or can reach.
whose preiudces are so strong or ignorance 50
dense that it is utterly useless to reason with
them: and in some States these count for
large share Of the vote. And the many thou
sand who hold offices as Democrats and want
to retain them and the far greater number who
want office and do not care how many Infamous
doctrines their party advocates if only they can
get place. and add further the voters of the
slumS in all great cities who are easily moved
by everything looking like hatred of thrift and
prosperity or hostility to law. and it may be
appreciated that the battle is not over because
il has been grandly begun.
1t strikes almost everybody with interest that
the Democratic leaders whose voices have been
heard throughout the country at this stage in
every other Presidential campaign are almost
without exception silent. What are the Demo
Gratis doing:" men ask every day. 1t is true
that many Of the most distinguished men of that
party will meet this week at indianapolis to
make Il deliberate declaration. not for Mr..
Bryan. 1t is also true that there are very many
others who think they cannot afford 10 break
record for regularity and yet can slip our of IN"
country or off to the mountains or the seaside
and let the contest alone as far aS possible. Rut
the great force Of the Democratic party. as re-
spccts electoral votes. is in Southern States
which it has usually carried without much re-
gard 10 the speeches made II is not time for
any lover Of his country to conclude that the
struggle is over.