NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE Presidential election in the United States has ended in a victory for the Republican candidate, Mr. William McKinley, and therefore for a gold standard and the interests of capital generally. The victory includes a large majority in the House of Representatives, and a small one in the Senate. The precise figures are still uncertain, the returns from many country districts and from at least three States—Texas, Kentucky, and North Carolina—being delayed by local causes; but there is no doubt that Mr. McKinley will have a majority of a hundred in the Electoral College, which in- cludes four hundred and forty-seven "electors," and a popular majority considerably exceeding a million, or say broadly, and subject to more accurate counting, of six and a half million to five million voters. It should be noted, as throwing curious light on the political geography of the United States, that the area from which Mr. Bryan's electors come is much greater than that represented by his rival's much larger contingent, and that the num- ber of States voting for silver will probably be found within two or three of those which declare for gold. It is the masses of the people, aroused by fear of "repudiation, revolution, and riot," who have defeated Mr. Bryan, the great cities in particular declaring against him in an unexpectedly decided way. The vote was unusually heavy, and the result will greatly diminish alarm as to the future coarse of democracy in America.
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