The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1878-09-07
A Serious Word Of Warning.

In the heat and press of the contest in the
Congressional Districts a great political and
public interest has failed to receive its GUS
tomary and due share of attention. As the
currency question is to be settled in the
national Congress, the choice of the State
government for the ensuing year has been
overshadowed and in some sense neglected.
Of course the awakening of political inter-
est in one direction operates in all, and Re-
publicans who go to the polls to vote for Con-
gressmen will vote for the Governor and men,
bers Of the Legislature. But this subordna-
ton of the State issues has given an oppor-
tunity for trickery and combination which
our willy and uDscrupulous adversaries have
not been slow to improve, and it is against
these Vaccinations and their possible result
that we wish now to utter very serious
word of warning.
In the first place Republicans may as well
bring their minds to contemplation of the
fact that it is quite possible, If not probable,
that we shall fail to elect our Governor by
the people. Our natural majority on such
year as this is about ten thousand, and this
is the amount which we should expect if the
situation had not been disturbed by the out
break of the Greenback craze. The Green
hackers expect to cast about 40, 900 votes this
fall. Suppose they cast half that number
drawn equally from the two parties,-our
majority is wiped out. IT Connor fail to get
majority Of all the votes cast. the election
goes to the Legislature on this wise the
House of Representatives selects from the
four persons receiving the highest number of
votes, two, and reports their names to the
Senate, which body then must select one of
the two for Governor.
Thus 1t is readily seen that in order to be
sure of electing our Governor we must have
majority Of each branch of the Legislature.
The Senate is reasonably certain. but our
danger lies in the House. The Democrats
and Greenbackers, who have been keeping
up in most parts of the state pretence of
hostility toward each other, have now thrown
off the disguise and are uniting in all direc-
tions on candidates for the Legislature. The
Greenback party is at last openly assuming
its true place as feeder of the Democratic
party. Can any honest Republican Green
backer longer doubt what are the tendency
and practical effect of his new associations?
Against this formidable combination of the
forces of evil, the Republicans must arise and
assert themselves or great disaster may
arrive. 1t is time to put aside all personal
considerations in the presence of great
public exigency. Every Republican should
vote for every Republican candidate for the
Legislature. We have a candidate for Gov
ernor who, in addition to beinga Republican,
stands head and shoulders above his oppo-
nents in every attribute desirable in our
Chief Magistrate. Shame indeed would it be
to US all if such man should fail of an elec-
tion through the apathy or fault of any one
OF US. Every good and true inducement for
political action exists in this case and no
man can excuse himself for neglecting them.
The danger is great and the uprising to meet
it should be equally great.