Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1888-08-23
POLITICS iN INDIANA.
why Harrison LIS Sure to Lose His Oxs
State by q Big Majority.

AL VIC OoIALAdIAOA Oi Tie SnrOWQ pOl1LI
clans of both parties the Hoosier Stat.
is the pivot on, which the Presidential
contest will turn The Democrat.
managers were never surer of carry
Ing the State than they are to-day
They, are not at all afraid of Candidate
Harrison's personal popularity. They
have met him before on the Indiana
battlefield, when his record was short
er, and consequently less Objectionable
than now, and whipped him in a fair
fight. That was in 1876. when he ran
for Governor, and the Republicans had
Oliver P. Morton for a leader, splen-
did organization and the Federal
Treasury to draw upon-E The Repub-
.hcans have lost ground since they won
their scratch victory by the use of an
overwhelming corruption fund in 1880,
and the Democrats have steadily
gained on them. The young voters OF
the State to-day are Democrats and
tariff reformers. For the past eight
years the Democrats have had all the
accretions and the Republicans all the
losses. To form an opinion as to the
outcome of the contest this year one
should go back and analyze the vote of
1884 when both parties polled more
votes than they ever cast before.
Blaine had bigger majorities than Gar
field in sixty-four counties. He Dolled
in the State 238:511 votes as against
232. 164 for Garfield. Garfeid's ma
jority in 1880 was 6.642. Blaine, there
FIRE, should have had over Is. 900 ma
Jority over Cleveland had the Demo-
q" Atic vote stood where it was in 1880.
But what do the figures showP Why,
Shst cleveland had nearly 20, 200 more
v"tes in the State than Hancock. or a
sotal of PAS, O42, as against 225, 522 for
the Democratic candidate in 1880.
Cleveland defeated Blaine by $751;
plurality in the largest vote ever
polled in the State. These are figures
which the Republican managers can
not knock down or overcome. They
show Enthusiastically that the popular
tide is with the Democratic party, and
they can not turn it back.
DO the two parties maintain their
relative strength this year? The Dem
ocratic campaign managers say yes.
They claim that their party was never
so thoroughly united and harmonious
as now. Indiana is a tariff reform
State. Every Democratic Representa-
tive in Congress for years has went to
Washington pledged to secure re-
vision of the tariff, and has fought and
won his fight before the people of his
district on that issue over and over
again. This is not an experimental
in Ind No
Congressman who should cast his vote
against measure like the Mills bill
could hope for a renomination at the
hands of his constituents. The drift
of popular sentiment in the State is so
Enthusiastically toward tariff reform that
seven the Republicans have become i'm
pressed with it. The Hoosler Repub-
Hcans went to Chicago and made a
sturdy fight against the high tax and
free whisky platform that the party
adopted. When the conspiracy to
nominate Blaine was developed the
stoutest opponents of the movement
were these same Indiana men-not be-
cause they were 30 devoted to Harri-
son, but because, as they publicly de-
clared, Blaine's high tariff notions
would make Republican defeat in the
State foregone conclusion. The In
dianapolis Nes0s, a Republican journal
with the largest circulation in the
State, before the nominations were
made warned the Republicans over and
over again that they would be beaten
in Indiana if the party adopted high
tariff platform. Party exigencies have
compelled the Nes0S to place Harrison's
name at the head of its columns, but
1T still repudiates the party platform,
and advocates tariff revision directly
in line with the Democratic platform.
Advices received at the National head
quarter here from every part of the
State show that the people are more
logical than the newspaper, and are
accepting the Democratic platform
and the candidate who can stand upon
it. There is no organized detection
from the Democratic ranks anywhere
in the State. Here and there an over
fed manufacturer who does not want
to surrender any part of the wealth he
is accommodating at other peoples ex-
pense has declared his intention to
vote for Harrison, but these are spor-
adic' cases, and have no significance
whatever.
On, the other hand. there are Access
sions to the Democratic party from the
merchants, bankers and lawyers in the
towns, and from the overtaxed farmer
in the rural districts. A very close
canvass of the State shows that at least
2 per cent. of the Republicans who
fA, plos ~rrsu \, :e, e.
Cleveland on the tariff issue. The
Democrats who will vote for Harrison
by reason of State pride or for other
reasons do not number more than one
half of per cent. There may be
thousand or fifteen hundred such Dem
-Ocrats, but not more. The free whisky