Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1880-09-18
CAN THIS COCK r WI

CAN THIS COCK cRow W.
In 1855 the Republican majority In
Maine was 27,974.
In 1880 the Republican majority was
27,7o4.
In 1854 the Republican majority was
1882.
In 1858 the Republican majority was
2s,0Ss.
In 1872 the Republican majority was
S2,S35
In ls76-the election corresponding
to the one Of last Monday-the Republi-
can majority was 1850.
Now, suppose that in lsSO-last Mon
days election-the Republicans, instead
OF getting $4,000 or $4,000 majority, the
highest and lowest they have had in
twenty-four years, they should get moth
ing, or even get a thousand majority,
can the Republican cock croTY
But it was claimed by all the Republi'
can organs and orators, without a single
exception, that the result OF the election
last Monday must be accepted as an IN
iallible indication OF the drift OF popular
sentiment, and that the indication would
be in the shape OF a Republican MAORI
ty of from 5000 TO $1,000, the latter fig
ares being altogether more probable
than the former.
Now the fact as to the result is one OF
three things:
/. Mr.. PLAIsrED, the Democratic
Greenback candidate, was elected, or,
2. Mr.. DAVIS, the Republican, has a
majority OF less than a 600, or,
8. The election is so close that neither
candidate will have a majority vote.
Can the Republican cock crow?
Do the Republicans stick, or do they
go back on their declaration that Maine
shows the drift.
If they are right about it showing the
dri.t, it is the worst showing TO which
a party has ever invited public atten.
ton.
There is one stslwart Republican
paper, we are glad to find, which is hon
est enough to say last what it said first;
to speak out in meetin'; and to speak
in language that cannot be misunder-
stood. We invite the attention OF crow
ing Republicans to the following COM
ments OF the st. Louis Globe, the lead
ing Radical Republican organ OF that
city and State:
"The result OF the Maine election is
now known with sufficient accuracy to
enable us to draw u conclusions, and
it would be very foolish to attempt to
disguise the meaning or diminish the
importance Of so serious a defeat. 1t is
really the greatest disaster which has
happened to the Republican party in
twenty years, and it can not be disposed
of by affecting to disregard it, or by any
Of those cheap consultations with which
party manager are wont TO console
themselves on such occasions. We are
at a loss to understand what the New
York Tribune means, for instance, by
calling it 'adrawn BATTLE or by claiming
that Maine is a State which has had no
share in the recent revival in prosperi-
ty. Ii this is the case, why was it not
made known before the election, and
why was the issue distinctly made on
the very point that the country's pros
perity was the Republican party's plat
form2 Maine was selected or accepted
as a battle-ground, and the five million
Republican voters OF this country were
told that the election was a test OF the
feeling OF the whole country, and that
the chief reliance OF the Republican
party was the general prosperity which
its management had done SO much to
bring about. After this to turn around
and declare that the election is not a test,
that the result means nothing, that there
is no connection between the politics OF
Maine and the prosperity OF the coun-
try, is to insult the intelligence OF every
one who reads such comment"