New-York tribune., 1874-08-26
WISCONSIN POLITICS.

,,,s prcopD Under CoNsIpERATION-FINANCIAL
Avn RAILROAD IssUEs-PRoBABIE COMPLEXION
OF THE NEW LEGISLATURE.
frRox THE SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBUSE.l
MILWAUKEE, Aug. 2O.-The defeat of last year
came upon the Republicans of this State IKE all
avalanche. It overwhelmed them almost peioie
they saw its approach upset all their carefuy-pre
pared plans snatched from their control the power
ful machinery of the State Administratlon-ih
measure destroyed the prestige OF many years y,
uninterrupted success, aud lett them 30 h'"oh a.
sea that even their party leaders now speah Vi 'n
future with donbt and freely admit the difficulty OF
predicting the results or stating even the ISSUES VI
the coming campaign. find it only possible there
fore at this early day to take general view OF the
rotical field in Wisconsin, note some OF Its land
marks and venture some conjectures as to the POSI-
tons likely to be occupied by the opposing parties
There Is to be no general election in this State TINS
year so that public interest will center on the choice
of Members of Congress and the selection OF Legs-
lature which will next Winter elect United States
Senator n the seat now occupied by Mr. Carpenter
Another correspondent has recently described the
situation in each of the Congressional Dlstrlcts OF
the State, and as have nothing to add to what ne
has already said on that branch of the campaign
shall conine myself chiefly to conjectures touchine
the contest for the control of the Legislature
The Legislature of Wisconsin consists of 30 Sem
ators and 100 Assemblymen. OF these the RepuDii-
cans had last year q majority of one In the Senate
and the "Reformersr (the term by which the united
opDositon is knownD majority of eight In the AS
sembly Sixteen of the Senators who were chosen
last year Will remain members of the next Legisa-
ture so that there to be chosen this Fall
II Senators and 100 Assemblymen. Nine of
the 16 Senator'S who hold over are Reform
ers and seven Republicans. OF the II Senatorial
Districts in which elections take place this
year. Ave are sure to elect Democrats or Reformers,
and four are equally to return Republicans,
leaving eight districts more or less doubt two OF
which are now represented by Democrats and six
by Republicans. Thus it will be seen that the Dem
ocratic Reformers are sure of ii members of the
next State Senate, while the Republicans are
equally sure of only H. and that the former will
need to carry only three of the close districts to
secure the control of that branch of the Legislature
while TO put into the hands of the Republicans it
will be necessary for them to carry six of them.
From what can learn of the character of these
eight close districts the chances of the Democrats
to carry the majority of them are much the best
know of no reason to predict any change in the
political complexion of the Assembly. OF course,
the majorities in many of the districts were very
small last year, but the number of these represented
by Republicans was greater than that of those rep
resented By Roformers.
A CANDIDATE FOR MEDICATION
The first consideration that suggests itself as
likely to affect the character of the next Legsla-
ture is the fact that Senator Carpenter must come
before it and ask for vndication of his course dur
ing the last six years by a reelection BY it he
must be tried and through it his political sentence
will be pronounced. If majority of its members
are Democrats or Reformers Senator Carpenters
4th of next March. Now, there are two ways in
which Mr. Carpenters political friends land they
cude the leading wire-pullers of his party may
duct the campaign. They may make him the stand
ard-bearer of the party and put him in the field
openly "a a candidate before the canvass begins.
they may keep the Senatorial question: far the
people concerned, out of the Fall campaign alto
gether quietly securing the nomination of Carpenter
men whenever it can be done, but not inviting the
antagonlsm of other men in the Republican party who
are known TO be candidates The latter policy is the
one most likely to be adopted. Mr.. Carpenter has
lost the respect and confidence of the rank and file
of his party associates in Wisconsin. Morally he is
unfit to represent them in the United States Senate
and the people have found it out. His political
reer has been almost bad as it could be. He has
openly and defantly defended the Credit Mobilier
iniquity aud the Back-Pay swindIe, both of which
have been denounced in the State platforms Of his
party; he has been a champion of initiation and has
demonstrated the inherent weakness of his charac-
ter by allowing Mr.. Conkling to use him as a cats
paw whenever that gentleman has desired to vent
his spleen upon the Press either by the persecution
of individuals OF the enactment of gag-law. For
these reasons the shrewder of MI Carpenters polit
cal friends counsel the elimination of personal issues
from the campaign. the ground that it is more i'm
portant to the Republicans of the State to carry the
4 To Mr. n fha
former is accomplished the latter may possibly fol-
low; but if the Legislature is lost, Mr. Carpenters
hopes go with it.
IMITATION UNPOPULAR.
Among the Senator's sins 1 have enumerated his
championship of imitation If every other issue
could be wiped out and Mr.. Carpenter should come
before the people of this State for their support in
consideration of his speeches and his votes In favor
of an expansion of the paper currency of the country
the majority against him would be four to one The
people of Wisconsin more in favor OF imitation
than those of Minnesota and never have been. No
expression of public sentiment had been heard in
the State previous to President Grants veto mes
.age. and the assumption that the honest farmers
here were ready to bring dishonor upon the nation
and injure our public credit, in erder that they
might pay off their debts in a cheaper currency was
entirely grautous the part of Carpenter and his
fellow Representatives who voted as he did The
Miluaukee Neacs the leading Democratic journal in
the State favored imitation but it failed to carry
more than corporsps guard Of the respectable
Democrats of the State with it, and have seen no
man Of either party, since came into the State who
has venturcd to assert that the Republicans who did
not support the veto at any time constituted
respectable minority of the party.
"How did it happen" l asked, the other day, of
Bismarck Keycs, the Great Mogul of the Madison
ID .Gy honn hot oil