would be no choice of a Vice-President by the electors; that Mr. Hobart and Mr. Sewall would be the two candidates eligible, under the Constitution, to be voted for by the Senate; and that Mr.. Sewall would probably be elected. The Populist managers also were fully aware of this fact, but they did not intend to imperil any chance Mr. Bryan might have by presenting separate electoral tickets in order to please Mr. Watson. In a few States, nevertheless, the "Middle-of-theroad" men refused to be "sold out " to the Democrats and set up independent tickets. For the most part, however, the two parties worked in harmony. Indeed, the word "Popocrat" was invented to describe the combined forces of the two parties who, on other issues beside that of silver, - notably the "government by injunction," and the income tax, were in full agreement. The following table shows how, had the coalition been successful, the electoral votes for Vice-President would have been distributed in the twenty-six States where there was a fusion:

The Populist electors in Colorado and Idaho, and some others in other States voted for Mr. Sewall for Vice-President.

At the close of the canvass the people were wrought up to the highest pitch of excitement. Never before was the display of political emblems so profuse. The city streets were decorated from end to end with huge flags and banners bearing the names of the candidates. Lithograph portraits of McKinley

or of Bryan were exhibited in the front windows of dwellings and shops. Buttons showing the familiar features were worn in the lappels of their coats by hundreds of thousands, if not by millions, of men and boys.

Almost fourteen million citizens went to the polls. The number of votes given in the table on the next page is 13,936,957,

by far the largest number ever cast at a popular election in any country. Throughout the country the polling was orderly. Although the indications of a great Republican victory had been apparent for weeks, even months, to the most casual observer, many of the supporters of Mr. Bryan entertained hopes, some of them were even confident, of success to the last. The earliest returns gave assurance of an overwhelming majority for Mr. McKinley, and the prognostication was confirmed as one State after another was heard from. The Eastern, Middle, and Central Northwestern States were carried by the Republicans, without an exception, by unprecedented majorities. The South even was not "solid" for Bryan. Only during the reconstruction period had the Republicans ever obtained any electoral votes in the States from Delaware to Texas. Now Delaware, Maryland, and West Virginia gave McKinley substantial majorities; and even Kentucky, the "dark and bloody ground" of the Democratic conflict between the Gold and the Silver forces, yielded him a narrow margin. No northern State east of the Missouri River gave Bryan a single electoral vote, and even on the Pacific slope the Republicans won California and Oregon.

On the other hand the Democrats wrested from the Republicans Kansas and Nebraska, together with the whole group of mining States, except California; and their majority in such States as Arkansas, Alabama, Missouri, and Texas, was im

mense.

In presenting the accompanying table of the popular vote, it is proper to say that it differs from any other table published. Errors more or less numerous are discoverable in all the tables published by the political almanacs and by Appleton's Annual Cyclopædia. Where the figures given in these tables differ, an attempt has been made to obtain from state authorities the final official figures. In a few cases no response has been made to requests for the true returns. cannot be claimed for the returns which follow that they are absolutely correct, but they are believed to be more nearly so

It

Bryan and Watson's vote is included in the vote for W. J. Bryan.

than any previous table.

They are made up upon the principle of giving the highest vote for any name on the electoral

The vote for

ticket, and not for the first name on the ticket. Bryan is the combined vote for Bryan and Sewall, and for Bryan and Watson. The Bryan and Watson vote is given separately, but is to be disregarded in making up the total vote.

According to the figures here presented the plurality for Mr. McKinley was 602,555, and his majority over all the candidates combined was 286,257.

The electoral vote, which is given in a separate table, reflects the closeness of the vote in California and Kentucky, in each of which States one elector voted for Bryan' and Sewall.

The electoral count took place on the 10th of February, 1897. It was conducted in accordance with the law, and was strictly without incident. The inauguration of Mr. McKinley on the 4th of March was made the occasion of a great popular demonstration by the Republicans, who flocked to Washington in large numbers to witness the ceremony.

The immediate subsidence of excitement after the result of the election was ascertained, and the good-humored acceptance of that result by all save a few grievously disappointed leaders of the defeated party, is not a new experience in American political life. We have seen it after other historic struggles. The Federalists thought that all was lost when Jefferson was elected. Jackson's triumph seemed to his opponents a victory of evil over good. The Democrats lost faith in popular government when Harrison was chosen. To the supporters of Mr. Tilden the declaration that Mr. Hayes was elected was nothing short of a great political crime. Yet after a momentary loss of temper all these good people recovered themselves and devoted their energies to the public service with zeal and with undiminished hope and confidence. So it was in 1896. In some respects the result was the greatest trial of the temper of the defeated party the country has ever known. The aims of the Democratic party were, not to use the phrase offensively, in a certain sense revolutionary. They were intended to array the weak, the poor, the debtors, the employed, against the men who were designated as plutocrats. The failure of such an attack is sometimes almost as dangerous to society as its success. The fact that, when the American people had spoken at the polls upon questions that involved the highest interests of society, the decision was quietly accepted as conclusive until a new occasion should arise for passing upon them in the orderly American way, is most creditable to them, and a happy augury for the future.