The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1896-10-06

d1a Stanas" has been the summary
,rathod of Diminishing all statements
in regard to the political situation in
fbese great portions of our country.
Ten days ago L concluded to SO through
these States to see for myself whether
they were as solidly for the gold stand
ard as had been claimed in the gold
papers. / therefore accompanied MI,
BRYAN from Baltimore to Bath, ana
busted myself only to ascertain the
4rue situation. At almost every town
or eity the universal COMMENT was
ssSrhis is the largest assemblage ever
saan in orr Mace" It is equally true
+hat the enthusiasm witnessed was
heyond anything before known IA ene
history of the places visited. rms was
as notable in Philadelphia, BrooklyH'
Portland and Boston as OF Dover, A1g nii'
Rat and Manchester. The crowd aV
every place was to be measured only
by the density of the populatlon' II
there was any difference In uhe aP
plause or appreciation between tue
FARMERS of New Jersey and the factory
operatives in the manufacturing cen
tras of Massachusetts,, it was not APP
parent in the cheers that rent the al a.,
=. in the upturned faces, glowing with
gladness and approval Two OF the
Smaller audiences that impressed me
~ooSt we're those at Dover, Del, and
Tvnn Mass. There were greater
nroTyds and more enthusiastic ones, to
he sure. but these had an individuality
of class that best illustrates the feel
ING among farmers and skilled work
men. AT Dover the farmers made up
the bulk of the audience, and they
were as prosperous, perhaps, as any
farmers in the country. At Lynn they
were nearly all skilled workmen.
expected the farmers at Dover to APP
plaud when Mr.. Bryan said that unless
the farmers prosper no other class
can. but they did not eyince one-half
so much approval as the shoemakers OF
LYNN when he made the same point
to them, At the latter place the plank
in the Chicago platform against gov
eminent by injunction is in high favor,
the workingmen having recently felt
the weight of it in contest with em-
ployers.
CHARACTER OF THE AUDIENCES.
Nowhere ala there seem to be high
er type of the wage-earers than at
LYNN. One of them said ito Mr.. Bryan,
as he was leaving: ''I have always been
a Republican. but I and many other
Republicans will vote for you. We
know that you stand for us and our
children" Usually at outdoor speak
ings the people kept on their hats, but
two thousand or more men at Lynn
stood with uncovered heads as II TO
do greater honor to the man who
stands for the rights of labor. The
residents of cities are usually more
demonstrative than those who live IN
the country. Political speakers of long
experience say that country audiences
listen better, but city audiences ap-
plaud louder. This truth was seen in
the contrast between the Dover and
LYNN meetings. Sitting on the plat
form at Dover and looking into the
faces of the farmers, you could see
a spirit of faith and determination to
put BRYAN in the White House that
was made more impressive by the sup
pressed feeling of those tillers of the
soil. They had felt the evils of a gold
standard too deeply to be other Than
grave and serious. The wage-earners
of Lynn have felt it, too, but they have
not so long known the gold standard
was the juggernaut crushing out life
and hope They are learning, and
learning rapidly, what the Delaware
and New Jersey farmers have had
burned SO to speak, into their lives.
Many of them have learned their les
son well, but others are still in their
a b c's. If one could accurately tell
how fast they viii learn he could tell
whether Massachusetts, will vote for
Bryan. They are learning, and they
are changing. What is true of the
r fnx
mers is true of the men who toll
throughout the East, as well as the
West and South.
The three meetings that are most
historic were those at Philadelphia
Boston and Bath. In the City OF
Brotherly Love, the hotbed of Repub'
licanism, the greatest gathering that
ever greeted any man welcomed Bryan
MANY of them were Republicans, most
of whom have never voted Democratic
ticket. One railroad employe wrote
him: 81 am Lincoln Republican. Do
not believe that the railroad men who
are forced to join Mckinley clubs will
vote for him. More than three-fourths
are for you, and some will vote for you
who care nothing about the money
question because you are for arbitra-
ton, against government by injunc-
ton, and against trusts" The Boston
meeting was revelation to the Boston
EXTENT OF THE INTEREST.
people. They had been hugging to
their bosoms the delusion that there
were not enough silver men in Boston
to take into consideration. When
they looked on the immense gathering
on the Common, crowd that punctu-
ated every point with applause, they
realized that the silver sentiment, SO
long smothered, had at last found ut
terance, and its enthusiasm was all
the more rampant and joyful because
it had long been pent up. 1t may be
truly said that a large majority OF
those residents of Boston who have
fixed incomes are against free coinage
but even among them there are stu
dents who have come out for the white
metal after studying the question.
heard remarkably clever woman say
s~s- he oh 4hn1Jpnhf