Daily Kennebec journal., 1900-11-03
AMERICAN ELECTIONEERING
sgt"s
An English Observers Favorable
Comment.
Our Orderly Conduct in Great Contrast With
That Of British Crowds.

heauS pfokeh' platforms stormed.
speakers howled down and meetings
turned into riots. The present campaipn
has been no exception. At Oldham, Bat
telsea and Northampton the spirit that
was behind the cabbages and rotten
eggs and dead cats that used n Gonna
flying like bewildering meteors round
the candidates head in the good old
hustings days is still alive and opera-
tive 1t has changed It's form of ex-
preston somewhat. but its essence is
still the same. And yet we still calm
ly maintain that our crowds are tba
best humored and most chivaIrous
crowds in Europe. the least rebellious
and the most responsive to an appeal
for fair play" 1t may be so. of
course The election of an English
Parliament may be more dignified and
impressive than the election of the
French or Italian Chambers or the
RelchstaS or the Austrian Reichsrath.
but there is one country where the
rlotousness which we put up with D. a
matter OF course would not be toler-
ated for moment. and where. indeed.
our whole claim to restrained and or
ueriy conduct in the management OF
our political campaigns is absolutely
disputed. That country is America
During the past four wears have
weathered more political contests in
the States than l can recall off-hand
do not believe there is singl.
Wheel Tho u-hnla Al
ery-from the primary to the district
ana onward 10 the state and national
conFenuons-that l have not seen in
motion; or a single election for mayor.
governor, congressman or President in
winch | have not taken an observers
part. The longer l watched the more
flrmly grew my conviction that in the
way OF quiet and subdued behavior the
working classes Of America have a
good deal to teach our own. The
presidential campaign Of 1896 may be
taken as a fair specimen The excite
ment of it was greater than at the bit
terest moments of the fight for home
rule, and four solid months the most
ingenious campaign managers in the
world used every conceivable artifice
to keep it up to boiling point. Not
stimulus to passion and even violence
was wanting. In point of invective the
country was magnifed Ulster: the
smallest village had ire BRYAN and
Mckinley clubs. its parades and torch
light professions. its mass meetings
and its rival wirep pullers to boom
things right along" Yet whenever I
Travelled along the Atlantic coast line
of 1000 miles inland, l found that
speakers We're listened to as courteous
ly and meetings conducted as free
from interruption as though nothing
OF greater moment was at hand than
gathering in aid Of some local char
ity. The West believed Mr.. Bryan to
be second Messiah; the East most
cmphatically did not; yet Mr.. Bryan's
reception in New York-the heart of
what he called the enemys country"
was as pleasant as any he had met with
in Denver or Kansas City. And yet Mr.
Bryan was then a young and un-
known man: there had been nothing
in his career t. win the gratitude Of
the country or establish a claim on
the forebearance of his opponents.
AS ] watched him addressing
twenty-five thousand people in Madi-
son Square Garden. and afterward an
overflow meeting of several thousands
from the balcony of his hotel. I could
not help contrasting the generous
treatment he received with the sort
Of welcome Mr. Gladstone would have
met with. in spite of his gray hairs
and indisputable services to the Coun-
try. had he ventured 10 set foot in
Belfast during the campaign of 1886
SO far as | remember Mr.. Bryan was
only once interfered with on his Fast
crn trip. Some Yale boye fore-gath
cred at a meeting in New Haven and
successfully competed even with his
resonant voice. Nothing was more re-
markable to an E.nglishman. even in
that remarkable election. than the in
stant condemnation of these froliC
some undergraduates by public opinion
everywhere, and by newspapers of
every class and every shade of polti-
cal thought The ringleaders were
sent down. and the president of the
university publicly apologized to Mr.
Bryan for the discourtesy shown him
In England-but the contrast hardly
needs labOring.
recall yet more striking instance
IN that campaign OF tnt illoutIdtIoll
and self restraint in action which al
ways underlie the American fondness
for hasty and glittering talk. A day
or two before election New York closed
up its stores and workshops and threw
its whole strength into triumphant
demonstrations of faith. One hundred and
twenty thousand men tramped for hVe
miles over Broadway cobbe stones to
testify their belief in honest money
not merely the ordinary undistil-
| guished crowds that make up an Eng
| lish parade, but the heads of every
| trade and every profession, railroad
magnates, big financial men from wall
street. the "aristocrats" of Fifth ave
nue.. lawyers. publishers. authors, the
! acknowledged representatives OF The
commerce. wealth. society. and intel
! lect of the American metropolis In
| the line / was permitted to join were
! the heads of the largest and most
famous publishing house in the coun-
try. an ex-member of President LIN
coins cabinet, the editors of a power
| ful magazine. and still more power
| full weekly. an artist not less known
than Du Maurier. an author and war
CORRESPONDENT of international fame,
! and a big game hunter, who IS 10
/ TO SOlit IN