The Portland daily press., 1879-09-23
The Argus and the Election


The A1yus made a labored effort to cheer
up its disconsolate readers yesterday, by an
attempt to show that the Republican victory
in this State was substantially a Republican
defeat. To do this it finds it necessary to
entirely ignore the result of last years cleo
ton and to make its comparisons with the
votes previous to the year 1878. Now we sub
NIT that the only fair test of the result this
year is the result last. The questions before
the people were substantially the same both
In those years questions regarding the cur
rency did not enter into the contest to any
considerable extent But in 1878 that sub
ject was brought prominently into the cam
paign by the Gre nback party, and the fight
became one between honest and dishonest
money. A large part of the Democratic par
ty directly aided and abetted the Greenback-
ers, and the rest did so indirectly. The re-
suit was victory for dishonest money, the
Republicans who represented the honest
money side in the contest, being defeated by
a majority of Il, 600 and losing the control OF
the House of Representatives. This year
the issue was precisely the same and the
honest money party reduced majority of
$4,000 against them to less than /, 900, re-
covered the control of the House Of Repre-
sentatives, retained control of the SEN
ate, and viii elect their candidate for Gov
ernor. the argus will doubtless admit that
it was the position of the Republican party
on the currency question that occasoned its
defeat in 1878. If that question had been
kept out of the contest, undoubtedly it
would have secured its usual majority Its
position this year on that question was the
same, and the result showed that it had
made large number of converts. With the
same ratio of gain next year, its victory will
be overwhelming.
1t is a significant fact that before election
all the Argls's predictions were made on the
basis of last years vote. 1t was not until
it became necessary to explain away defeat
that the Aygus resorted to the vote Of years
when the questions before the people we're
entirely different ''It is foregone conclu-
sion' it said in one issue, ''that the defeat
of the Radicals will be more overwhelming
than last year" 1t never undertook TO claim
before election that if Davis's election was
secured only by Republican control of the
Senate and House it would be "a substantiaI
Republican defeat. On the contrary it said !:
''The election Of Republican House of
Representatives would carry everything else
J,,,t 20 ! hot
the Republicans carried Cumberland this
year it would not be a Republican victory
because the Republicans carried it in 1876
and 1877. Cumberland is more certain to
go against the Republicans than York." was
It's antc-election prophecy. There was
hardly day for a month before election. on
which the argus did not admit in substance
that if the Republicans reduced the majority
against them and succeeded in controlling
the Legislature it would be substantial
Ring triumph. Search the files of the
A?guS through and you cannot find one SOL
itary intimation even that the results of the
election in 1879 were to be judged by any
thing but the results of the election in 1878.
sary to hunt up little consolation for its
discounted allies, it suddenly conceived
great fondness for comparing the vote with
that of 1876 and 1877. In 1876 the people OF
Maine by about $4,000 majority notified the
country in September that they were opposed
TO SamuelJ. Tlden for President of the
United States. In 1878, deceived by misrep-
resentations of demagogues, they notified
the country by nearly the same majority that
they were opposed to the financial policy Of
the Republican party. In 1879 a large part
of this majority told the country that they
had been deceived and that they now had
full faith in that policy. Yet the Argus
pretends to assert that the Republican party
has made no progress because there are still
more men in Maine who differ with it on the
currency question than there were in 1876
who differed with it in regard to the fitness
of Samuel j. Tilden for the Presidency.