Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1877-06-21
Cincinnati Cor. philadelphia LINES.

In 1880. As usual in Ohio, both parties
are. ''confident." We never knew
them when they were not. The Dem
ncrats expect to win By at least twenty
thousand majority, and the Republi.
cans have set their pegs for twenty-five
thousand. Indeed, considering how
close the State was In 1876 and at the
Presidential election, the Republican
majority being less then one per cent.
| of the total vote polled, and taking into
account the wide difference Of opinion
as to the effect OF Hayes's policy smong
the sturdy old Republicans in the rural
districts-considering all this i say,
there Is abundant margin for the widest
range of opinion as to what the final
result may be. The Democrats are cir.
culating reports that the Republican
farmers in the Western Reserve are so
disgusted with Hayes and his policy
that they will remain at hume on elec.
tiOn day, looking after matters on the
farm. and allow the Republican party
to have q stunning defeat SIS d .rebuke
to Hayes" That there Is much dissat.
isfacfion in that quarter ia evident,
but that the Republicans will allow the
election to go by default on that ac-
count Is matter of grave doubt. To
be dissatisfied with Hayes is one thing
and to give Ohio to the Democrats is
quite another. Ben Wade, the old war.
horse OF the Western Reserve, Is un-
doubtedly sowing the seeds of discord
among his followers, but when they
see that the alternative is Democratic
success now, and prospectively in 1880,
they will hardly be lukewarm at the
critical moment. As an Offset to re-
ports OF Decentralization in the Reserve
the Republicans have encouragement
from the last local elections. They
made .'gains" in nearly every quarter,
and in this city elected q Republican
Mayor for the first time in three years.
Local elections, you know, are suppos-
ed to contain straws by which We may
catch the drift of the wind. Certain it
Is that these stIaws fioated in manner
to fill the. Republicans with encour.
agement. s. gt-1at7-i.i i-,.-s si; %
The forces will go into the field early
and fight hard. The Democrats hold
their Convention the 25th of July, and
the Republicans q week later. This is
q full month, sooner than they need be-
gin operations, as the election is not
until the second week 10 October. bat
the managers want;ebundant time for
discussion. They want about eleven
weeks to tell what they know. Per-
haps some of them will exhaust them
selves Mt an earlier date. The Demo-
Gratis will be very cautious about their
platform. They got their heads into a
hornets nest in 1876, by demanding
the imitation OF the currency, and they
will not do ii again. although the infia-
tion wing OF the party is large and
noisy, particularly noisy. To be sure,
that plank won some votes from soft
money Republicans, but it is question
if the loss of harfl-m0ney Democrats
was not greater than the gain. At any
rate, the Democrats were thrown upon
the defensive, and a party which fights
thus suffers under a disadvantage.
This year.they will likely .straddls'
the money question by demanding a
repeal of the resumption act, but Will
not take ground against final resump-
tion. This will satisfy great number
of people of indefinite financial notions
the class Who are In favor Of hard
money some time in the dim future,
but opposed to doing anything to bring
ii about-they will declare in favor of
the old silver dollar. They will de-
nounce the Electoral Commission and
the proceedings under 1t by which
Hayes was made President. In short,
the platform will be constructed with
view to scoop In all the votes possible,
and without much reference to "eter-
nal principles" and all that sort of
thing. The Republican platform will
be about the same old affair, But they
will likely demand, In rather plain Ian.
guage, that the lives of Republicans In
the South be respected equally with the
lives of other people. -l
Who will win? 1t Is early to say.
Still, looking over the ground calmly
and critically, it seems as though the
Republican chances were the best.
There is general satisfaction with
Hayes and his policy among business
men and the great middle classes, who
are tired of the conflicts and cOnven-
tions fer the past ten years. They
want peace. Hayes's policy seems the
road to reace by the way of reconcile
alton" and "pacificstien," which is
usually the last route tried and the on
ly one that succeeds. And that the
pcopio VI OuIos niecr tnofousu eoA
vass, with all the facts before them,
will repudiste Hayes and the Republic
can policy of pacification does not at
this writing seem probable. But it
will be q hot contest; and all will be
said against Hayes and his policy that
can be sail. The great policy which
will restrain snti-Hryes Republicans
from lukewarmness In the cause at
election day Is the knowledge that II
the Democrats carry Ohio by decided
majority this year, they will be morally
certain to elect their President three
years hence.