Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1896-11-17
THE CAUSE OF THE RESULT.

Last weeks PUBLIC OPINION con-
tanned signed article headed "From
a Democratic View" 1t was received
by us too late to be answered, and as
we had accepted articles from the de-
mOcratic standpoint before election this
one was published without careful
reading. 1t contained, under the guise
of reasons for the defeat of the
free silver party, an exhaustive
resume of many of the ar
guments used by those of that persua-
sion to influence men to exercise their
right of franchise in aiding to elect the
candidate of that party. But those ar
guments failed. A majority of the peo-
pie decided that Ohio's honored son
should occupy the chief position that
the nation could confer upon any per-
son, and should be the one to lead the
people to victory and prosperity.
The first opinion presented as one
reason for the defeat of the free silver
party was the enormous amount of
money used by the campaign mana
gers. This, as are the others, is the
same employed by most of them, and
has been repeatedly rehearsed through
out the campaign. True, a large
amount of money was used, but by
both parties. While the "great cor
porations and banking institutions of
the country poured their millions into
the committee treasury" the silver
mine owners and western corporations
were placing every cent that could be
raised at the disposal of the democratic
committee. The constant cry was
poverty, and from the lips of the Neb-
raskan apostle we ourselves heard the
appeal reiterated. Almost every city
in which he spoke was compelled to
give large sum of money for the great
honor of having him address their peo-
pie. Large donations from all over the
country were showered upon him, and
we believe that could it be known the
money used by republicans would not
very greatly exceed that used by demo-
Gratis.
The next reason was that stale one of
coercion. We do not think that the
employers of the nation exercised con-
troll over thousands of voters who
would have east their votes for Bryan"
to so great an extent as he would have
our readers believe. The idea that
'such proceeding was never sur
passed in the very throes of monarchy
itself" For one to assert that s'the
stars and stripes was no protection to
the citizen in the exercise of his right
to vote according to the dictates of his
own conscience" seems to us to tend
toward a lowering of estimation of that
proud banner, the sight of which causes
the heart of every loyal American to
swell with pride, and to thank God
that his is free country, peacefully
resting under the folds of a flag, the
significance of which causes the nations
of the world to pause and do it honor.
The American citizen is intellectual
enough, American enough, to decide
for himself for which candidate he
shall vote, and we cannot believe but
that he is patriotic enough to exercise
that judgement in defiance of any at
tempt at coercion, should it have Oc-
Cured. We have Investigated several
of these so-called coercions claimed dur
ing the campaign, and fou nd them
without foundation.
Thirdly, the reason given is "the ac-
| ton of the so-called democrats who
voted for Mckinley" We attempt no
denial of the statement that "there
We're thousands of them who voted the
republican ticket because they were op-
posed to the free coinage of silver" 1t
is to the honor of these men that they
had the courage of their convictions
and stood by the principles which their
consciences declared were right. We
too voted the republican ticket for that
very reason. We too are opposed to
the free coinage of silver and believe
that in this country of freedom we have
a perfect right to vote as we please and
to endeavor to convince others that
ours is the best policy to be adopted by