New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-09-12
nrENE1p ELECTLONS-

The Natural order in politics is that the
Presidential year should be followed by q
comparative lull, continuing from the inaugu-
ration of the new President, or rather from the
little squirt of excitement following the an
nounccment of the Cabinet. and the forcshad-
owings, If there be any, of The policy of the
Administration, till the regular meeting of
Congress in December. This year the rest will
be briefcr, because of the meeting i'll October,
two months earlier than usual. 1t is the order
of nature as well as of our system of politics,
that reaction should follow the large excite
ments of the Quadrennial struggle, ana COM
narrative calm succeed the tumult and passion
of partisan strife. The {" off year" is the most
natural thing in the world. 1t rests the coun-
try and the individual voter. 1t is only one
wear i'm four but we make the most of it. 1t
is not so packed full Of stupendOus possible
ties as all the other years are; the c0nsciel
tious citizen is not obliged to sit up nights
meditating on his solemn responsibilities when
ever there's an election of town cOnsta-
bles; the timid are not harasscd with a
stalking terror, lest what Mr.. Lowell calls the
"etarnal bung" may get suddenly loose, and
the existing condition of things explode nor
do earnest patriots feel bound, by their Oaths
as freemen, to rally round the flag all night
and go home with the hiccoughs in the morning
for the public good. The froth and foam Of
notifies have subsidized and all the politicians
in the country cannot make the people believe
there's a crisis.
But all the same, we have elections. They
have lust had one in Maine. They will shortly
have one in Ohio, then in Pennsylvania Iowa,
wisconsin, Massachusetts, New York, and all
around the compass. There are great inter
ests at stake, of course. There always are
great interests at stake. It's a pretty dull and
sleepy party organ that can't find great
interests at stake, if there's only dep
uty pound keeper to be elected. But
the people are tired of great interests.
Those who are in the habit of voting, go to
the polls in sort of perfunctory way and vote
the regular ticket, and the next day languidly
inquire how the election went, and great num-
bers do not go to the polls, at all and don't care
which party wins, or what becomes of the
great interests. III the Maine election on Mon
day there was a falling off of about twenty-five
per cent from the aggregate vote of last
wear. And the Democratic vote does not
differ from the Republican in tins re-
gard, notwithstanding the frantic appeal of
Mr.. Pillsbury, the Chairman of the State Com
mttee, who undertook to arouse the party by
the announcement that this was their "oppOr-
"tunity.r Everybody recognized the opportu-
nifty, but most of them understood it to be a
frst-rate opportunity to stay at home, and en-
braced it. An election, in which one-quarter
of the voters do not take sufficient interest TO
go to the polls, cannot have any very great
significance, except as 1t signifies generally that
people are fairly contented with things as
they are and not longing for a change. In
Maine, things as they are" were not, to be
sure, just as the Administration wanted them.
There was a distinct refusal in convention to