s, he became the Labor candidate for mayor of New York
City. The movement in support of George developed so much strength that
the regular parties felt compelled to put forward exceptionally strong
candidates. The Democrats nominated Abram S. Hewitt, a man of the
highest type of character, a fact which was not perhaps so influential
in getting him the nomination as that he was the son-in-law of Peter
Cooper, a philanthropist justly beloved by the working classes. The
Republicans nominated Theodore Roosevelt, who had already distinguished
himself by his energy of character and zeal for reform. Hewitt was
elected, but George received 68,110 votes out of a total of 219,679, and
stood second in the poll. His supporters contended that he had really
been elected but had been counted out, and this belief turned their
attention to the subject of ballot reform. To the agitation which
Henry George began, may be fairly ascribed the general adoption of the
Australian ballot in the United States.

The Socialist propaganda carried on in large cities and in factory towns
hardly touched the great mass of the people of the United States, who
belonged to the farm rather than to the workshop. The great agricultural
class, which had more weight at the polls than any other class of
citizens, was much interested in the redress of particular grievances
and very little in any general reform of the governmental system. It
is a class that is conservative in disposition but distrustful of
authority, impatient of what is theoretical and abstract, and bent upon
the quick practical solution of problems by the nearest and simplest
means. While the Socialists in the towns were interested in labor
questions, the farmers more than any other class were affected by the
defective system of currency supply. The national banking system had not
been devised to meet industrial needs but as a war measure to provide
a market for government bonds, deposits of which had to be made as the
basis of note issues. As holdings of government bonds were amassed in
the East, financial operations tended to confine themselves to that
part of the country, and banking facilities seemed to be in danger
of becoming a sectional monopoly, and such, indeed, was the case to a
marked extent. This situation inspired among the farmers, especially
in the agricultural West, a hatred of Wall Street and a belief in the
existence of a malign money power which provided an inexhaustible fund