The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-11-03
THE PEOPLE ON TRIAL.

these words meet the eye a large por-
ton of the people of this country will
have already cast their ballots, and
within a few hours the result of the
peoples choice will be known. 1t has
been an unprecedented campaign, and,
whatever the result, there is relief
from the tension which was becoming
too great to be borne. It is in this
stress of feeling, in the desperate
earnestness of the People, in the all
pervading anxiety in every part Of
the country that we find our hope and
promise of the best results. 1t is the
people themselves who are on trial.
Never yet have they been appealed to
on the moral side and failed to respond.
Never yet has this country or its treas
ured institutions been Put in jeopardy
without millions of willing sons spring
ing to the defense.
We believe that this is as
true today as it has ever been.
The last three months seem to
us more like that awful time of sus-
pense just before and after the firing
on Fort Sumter than anything else.
The nation is waiting. It knows the
magnitude of the issues. 1t under
stands that in this election, not the
choice of one man rather than another
as president, not the success of one
party over another is the test, but
that the direct stake is the mainte-
nance of financial credit and national
honor, while indirectly our very insti-
buttons hang in the balance. The yelled
threats Of the Chicago platform and
the openly uttered menaces of those
who dictated it tell us that the assault
is upon our system of government it
self. Therefore, we say that it is the
people that are on trial
Are there a majority of us who are
willing to venture upon unknown seas
with such a heady and uninstructed
pilot as Mr.. Bryan? Have we wearied
of the great problem that was set us
by the founders of the republic? Are
the intelligence, honesty and con-
science of this people at fault? We cam
not and do not believe it. Our con-
ffdence in the success today Of right
ideas, by such a majority as viii set
tie the issues raised forever is based
far less upon political Investigations,
upon the attendance at meetings or
the work Of committees or the can
wasting of votes, than it is upon our
estimate of the people Of this coun-
try as a people. It is unina ginable to
US that they whose blood and brain
we share, with whom we count it so
great a glory to hold common citizen
ship, upon whose fidelity to high stand
ards our faith for the future of the
United States, of free government in
the world and of present human prog
ress is pinned, should fall short in a
trial like this
Men everywhere are going to the bal
lot box today with this deep convic-
ton; in the spirit in which they go to
worship God. They will put into their
ballots today the religious fervor that
follows the performance of duty. If
they all do that, if the American peo-
pie are true to the best in themselves.
we have a right to look upon the good
work as already accomplished, and to
feel that we know already what shout
ing thousands will proclaim before an
other morning. Let every man cast
his vote today with a full realization
Of the mighty issues that hang upon
it; issues greater and graver than any
this generation has ever seen; larger
and more momentous, we believe
than have ever been put to the trial
of suffrage in this country; and answer
to his country first and to the world
how the American people meet the
crucial test OF their fitness to be free