Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1896-09-04
The Vermont Election.

was not a victory of Republicans over
Democrats. twas Spontaneous uprising
of the men of Vermont who believe first of
all in national honor and national integ-
rity, and who put that belief into tangible
expression by voting the Republican state
ticket. 1t is very true that without the
aid of single Democratic vote the Repub-
licans of Vermont would have won an
overwhelming victory, but that victory was
swelled and emphasized and made notable
the country over by the action of some
thousands of Democrats to whom patriot
ism and loyalty were far above any party
ties. They realized profoundly that a
crisis had been thrust upon the country
and they met it with the one available
weapon that lay at hand. Every true man
feels, irrepressibly, profound respect for
life long Democrats who took this course
on Tuesday. 1t was not an easy thing for
them to do. 1t was not easy for any Demo
crat to ignore lifelong affiliations and
carry to the polls ticket to which, along
ordinary political lines, he was opposed
from principle. This action was not taken
in anger or through spite. 1t was taken
from conviction and from patriotic princi-
pie, just as the "War Democrats of 1SGl-
Gj supported Lincoln and the Union cause
We have differed sharply with these men
in the past. We shall differ with them again
in the future. But in all future political con-
ficts every true and thoughtful Republican
will have in his heart broad toleration,
a charitable judgment, and a sincere re-
spect for antagonists who, in the hour of
peril and threatened disaster, have proved in
this way the genuineness of their patriot
ism and of their political faith.
The result of the Vermont election set
ties one thing. The workingmen of the
East and especially the farmers of our New
England hills and valleys, have no burning
desire to see how free silver will work, and
they have no use for 53-cent dollars.
We have small patience with political
newspapers or political speakers who pat
ronize the farmers and talk OF them and to
them as though they were somehow a sepa-
rate class or race of who need special
instruction and special treatment; for as a
rule the New England farmer has his own
opinions, independently formed, and konws
his own mind as well as does the man who
keeps a store, or runs factory, or sits in
an office. But it was confidently expected
by the free silver men that their platform
would catch the Vermont farmers and Sc
duce their political principles with pros
pect of paying their debts with 53-cent dol
lars and doubling the value of their farm
products by the same means. The event
has proved-to the satisfaction of the free
silver propaganda, We trust-frst, that the
farmers are not knaves, and second, that
they are not fools. They have no wish to
pay debts or to grow rich by dishonest
means, and they can see no ultimate profit
in any scheme of debt-paying or wealth
making which promises to unsettle and
wreck the whole business fabric of the
country. We think Mr.. Bryan and his
followers will find in November that in
this respect the farmers of Vermont are
not singular, but that as a rule men of this
occupation throughout the country have
capacity enough to solve for themselves a
simple problem in primary mathematics.
On the night of the Vermont election
the New York journal, w. Il. Hearst's
free silver paper, sent dispatches to prom-
nent men of all parties asking them for
their opinion of the significance of the re-
suit. Among the replies was this from
James X. Jones, chairman of the Demo
cratic free silver) national committee:
CHICAGO, ILL., Sept /.
"The result in Vermont is not surprising No
effort made by the Democrats except locally,
while the Republicans made strenuous exertions.
l attach nc significance to the outcome. 1t is
simply another case OF the Dutch taking Hol-
laud."
This is the veriest rot. 1t comes to us
from an authentic source that at the head
quarters of the Democratic Congressional
committee in Washington it is stated that
the call for free silver literature for Yer
mont has been greater than for any other
part of the country. The free silver men
did all the work possible in Vermont, by a
diligent distribution of their literature and
by public speeches, and the one good and
sufficient reason why it produced no result
is that neither the Republicans nor the
genuine Democrats would have anything
to do with their propaganda. To raise the
cry now that 'the Dutch have taken Hol-
land' is baby talk.
Editorially the New York Journal says:
"With practically unlimited means, Mark
Hanna was able to send his lieutenants in
to state the vote of which was already
assured to his candidate, and, for its mere
moral effect, make such a campaign as
might have been made in a doubtful state"
This is also baby talk. There never was a
campaign in any state that "ran itself''
more dstinctively than did this one in
Vermont. The Republican state commit
tee did able and systematic work in organ
izing the canvass, but there was no help
from outside. There never was a cam
paign upon national issues when it was so
/ difficult to get speakers from outside the
state. The intimation that Mark Hanna