e and reiterated invective.
He had no hope of defeating the bill, but he confidently believed that
he was putting his adversary, the Governor, in a hole. It had been
noised about the lobbies by the friends of the measure earlier in the
session that the Governor was all right and could be counted on.
Stringer reasoned that Lyons was committed to the bill; that, if he
signed it, his opponents might prevent his election as Senator on the
plea that he had catered to corporate interests; that if he vetoed it,
he would lose the support of powerful friends who might seek to revenge
themselves by uniting on his opponent. Stringer recognized that he was
playing a desperate game, but it was his only chance. One thing was
evident already: As a result of the exposure in the Senate, considerable
public hostility to the bill was manifesting itself. Petitions for its
defeat were in circulation, and several Senators who had been supposed
to be friendly to its passage veered round in deference to the views of
their constituents. Its defeat had almost become a party measure. A
majority of the Democrats in the Senate were claimed to be against it.
Nevertheless there was no delay on the part of those in charge in
pushing it to final action. They had counted noses, and their margin of
support had been so liberal they could afford to lose a few deserters.
After a fierce debate the bill was passed to be engrossed by a majority
of eleven. The Democrats in the Senate were just evenly divided on the
ballot.

What would the Governor do? This was the question on everyone's lips.
Would he sign or veto the bill? Public opinion as represented by the
newspapers was prompt to point out his duty. The verdict of a leading
party organ was that, in view of all the circumstances, Governor Lyons
could scarcely do otherwise than refuse to give his official sanction to
a measure which threatened to increase the burdens of the plain people.
The words "in view of all the circumstances" appeared to be an euphemism
for "in view of his ambition to become United States Senator." Several
journals declared unequivocally that it would become the duty of the
party to withdraw its support from Governor Lyons in case he allowed
this undemocratic measure to become law. On the other hand, certain
party organs questioned the justice of the outcry against the bill,
arguing that the merits of the case had been carefully examined in the
Legislature and that there was no occasio