New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-12-14
NOT REIOITTIDN.

The solemn warning Of the Rev Dr. Warren
i'm sermon for business men at ST. Paul's that
Eve are on the eve of a great catastrophe and
unless 1.-The widening chasm between rich and
poor Is in some way filled or brdged shall
'soOn be on the threshold Of revolution indi-
cafes state of feeling which the result of the
Presidential contest has produced in some minds.
Seeing that over six million votes We're cast for
Bryan some hastily infer that the great body
Of wagp-earners must have voted for him and
approved his wild appeals to revolutionary and
Anarchistic passions. But The Tribune believes
this great mistake. due 10 a want Of care in
weighing the returns.
There must first be deducted from the Bryan
vote the 23J0O0O returned for him In the twelve
Southern States he carried, where the election
was controlled by sectional and race feeling and
where no one knows what the vote cast actually
was. There must next he deducted the vote east
for him in the seven silver mining camps, which
was controlled by combination Of silver mine
owners and was in inspiration as far as pos
slble from hostility to capital. In other States
throughout the West a body Of voters which
cannot be accurately measured was drawn 10
Bryan by the silver fanatcism and not by any
rich and poor or between capital and labor cx-
cept as II was honestly believed by some that
free coinage of silver would benefit the millions
rather than the millionaires. However cgregious
this error Of belief. it doubtless contributed TO
the strength Of the silver vote but was and is
an essentially different feeling from that which
the anxious clergyman described.
Looking next to the great body Of Democratic
voters in eastern and central States about :;.4OO-
600 in number, the candid student Of facts will
find that a large proportion Of these voters
simply adhered to the party which they had
cherished and fought for all their lives Proba-
bly, most Of them had no intelligent idea of the
issues between parties and were not In any way
swayed by Bryans appeal to class prcjuditps.
They were simply Democrats. prepared TO sup
port any candidate regularly nominated by
their party. without regard 10 his platform or
his personal uierances. When ii is consld-
cred that no man OF either party really OK
pected such great independence Of partisan habit
and partisan control as was actually exhibited.
that no one imagined as many as million
Democrats could possibly be brought to vote
against the National ticket of their party. and
that the revulsion against q revolutionary plat
the secession which did occur il may he realized
that relatively very few OF the votes for Bryan
were brought to him or held by him through
the prcjudces and passions in question
No doubt Bryan did gain some votes in cities
and among waye-earners Of Socialistic tenden-
cies by his revolutionary appeals. But If it is
the fact. as The Tribune believes. that he lost
far more than he gained by that course and
drove away even Of the wage-earners more
than he won by such appeals or kept back from
revolt against Democracy. then the result ap-
pears to be. not reason for alarm and anxiety,
but good ground for great encouragement. Out
OF 9,GOO.O0O votes In the Northern and border
States which Mckinley carried It is extremely
doubtful whether as much as a tenth part. or less
than a quarter of Bryan's vote in those States,
was Influenced to any appreciable extent by
the prejudice between classes which Bryan