New-York tribune., 1884-11-25
Nuw vopK DAILY TRIBuNE, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 25 1884,

MI places In the State correct returns shou'" pe
easilv obtained. there were wide fluctuations III
| the reported pluraltics. On tho day following
the election. the plurality FOR Clcve'nnu wa
given IN The Times "a d2,7So ana III in'
| Tu,prSr ns 42,777. A revision OF the vote inc
next dnv rnvc Cleveland a3,233. aud we cor
rectcd our table accordingly But tanothcr revision
| on the following day. made by some kcpupn-
cnn leaders. reduced the plurality TO i3'ooi'
rh,se wcre Tho figures used In the last table
n,,n,,a nv rur Tn,nrvr. On that same day
The Times. Herald and World gave 'nc p'u'"',,
ity for Cleveland no i3.22o' IN" ,a'S'"
n rroat cry about rne TRinuNhs al,eRe"
fraudulent figures" u was ""Sot''" WV. !"
change had been made IN tho Vo'o w '"''
city m our table. without any reason NOW
comes the official count and shows th"' Oh 'n'
head of the ticket (and for obvious reasons III
preliminary election wturns are Always "'""o
ON the head of the electoral ucketJ 'ho D'''o-
cratic plurality In this city Is a3'ool' nchco
Tur TrInuNr's fraudulent" returns differed
only tbirteen votes from the official count,
while the accurate" reports OF The Times
World and Herald were 1872 votes out OF the
way for Now York County!
This comparison between the newspaper re-
turns and the official count might be carried on
throughout with advantage TO The TRIBUNE
On the day following the election the newspa-
per reports on the head of the ticket compare rs
follows with the official count:
TRmuyE..... sl7 for Blaine Is6d on, o. the me way way
Herald .7 1s6 for Cleveland. ESQ out OF me way
world 0lG for Clevc Land GsG9 OUT o M hc way WAY
Times 1897 for Cleveland $500 ont OF the way
Sgn......2 -6l for Cleveland l,sil out oi INC "''
So wide of the mark was The Times rs al
most to lead to the belief that its figures were
principally the result of very poor g'iessworh'
The Herald got ont second edition placing
Cleveland's plurality at 10000! On Ihufs-
day the Republican State Committee re-
ported the discovery of errors IN queens
Comfy which reduced by 4i9 votes
the Democratic plurality in that county. 1he
same day the Associated Press and specia'
dispatch both gave the Republican pluraiity III
Cattarausus County as 3S more than our pre-
yious rcports. These reported gains OF ooo
votes were reduced by changes i'll other COM
ties so as TO leave an increase OF o43 III
orr estimated plurality for Blaine. Inc
wide fluctuations made by tie returns oi that
day can be illustrated in the case OF
Oueens County. On that night, the second DAY
in that county, reported not by the Associated
Press, but by a reputable local news agency
was 2.523, or 972 more than the reports ie-
ceiyel by the Republican state committee
The SAN accepted that report of 2.323, wllch
bv the official canvass is shown to have oeeh
6O1 votes too great, while the State Commit
tees report WAS 81 votes too small.
And vet with that large error Ihe ~"
on that day was only G01 yOtcs out OF the way
Nh IFS total vote. while The Times was 2,OI7
the HcraH 3.127 and The World 1,l5O ont OF
the way. Commenting on its wonderful table
which gave Cleveland plurality OF 3'l23,
The Times said: "The returns on which TINS
"tota is based are very nearly complete, 'nd
"the official count will but slightly vary it,
The variation is only 2OS per cent
Ovin.. iD the frequent changes IN the reports
from various counties, rns IRiRrNR ceased
to nut much faith IN the county re-
t,rns, believing that the Associated Press
,pnatis coming iirrri from each voting pre-
rinri ~ ihr state, were more ttns'wutlhy' by
,hasp ,ptirns go November " NED rlrnt
that nainp aud iaahn hal tiriipl lhp slatei
oar eWn fepafs bf enhhiies, though MOONS
niete, eanfrnpi that belief, The sequel sheWs
that NO we're nal much further aslfN lhAh or
eontemporarias who have hean 81 lairllY boast
ing of their accuracy. The ninlallblo" iMes
wason that day, the third after the election, 300
votes astray ON Kings County, lG3 votes out OF
the way on New York, aud 30 votes wrong on
Sullolk-c0unties in which 1t did not nave I"
rely on the telegraph, either
When the first edition of The. TRIBUNE went
to press at midnight November ., the Asso-
ciated Press reported a plurality for Blaine OF
9O7, with large number of Republican
precincts to hear from. Two hours later it sent
ont another bulletin giving Cleveland pln-
raity of ~ !, with only eighteen precincts to
hear from. Allowing for those eighteen
precincts the average Democratic gain, as
now known, would make Clevcland's plurality
by the Associated Press figures on that Satur-
day morning, 1,2S0, which differs from the
official count only 233 votes. That proves to
have been nearer correct than the figures OF any
newspaper excepting The Sun. The Times was
81 votes out of the way, although it claimed
to have complete official figures, revised
and corrected, from every county in the Statc,'
which "wOuld undoubtedly stand without
material alteration" The Herdld is made even
more ridiculous by the official returns. 1t said
Nothing can change these figures. His
plurality in this State is nearly 2,OO0.' In
previous article, referring to its Cleveland
plurality of nearly 1000 it said that it could
not be materially changed "wthout the in
tervcntion of positive and garing fraud And
yet it has been changed II per cent!
Nothing more is needed to show that THE
TRIBUNE was justified in declaring its purpose
to wait for the official count. The experience
of 1880, and of previous campaigns, showed
that even greater changes than have actually