Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-10-30
CONNECTICUT Is DEMOCRATIC.

CONNECTICUT Is DEMOCRATIC.
But Bribery and Coercion May
Give Its Vote to Harrison.
HARTFORD, Conn.,, October 18.-An
Indiana politician coming into this State
just now would see system OF cam
paign new to him, and would wonder
how the Nutmeg population expected to
settle the great question of the coming
election with so little noise, 80 little
savagery and 80 little rabid personal
abuse. There is no personal equanimity
on all sides. The machinery of Con-
necticut election is an unparalleled od-
dity. The safeguards placed around the
ballot-box are all the purest reformer
could wish. The interminable red tape
that must be gone through with before a
voter is declared "made" defes coloniza-
ton and kindred devices. But in its
good lstraight-laced Puritan way Con-
necticut has developed an iron.clad ma
chine which three generations have
vainly tried to dismember and which
nothing short of divine wrath can ever
break. The State and its officers are at
the mercy of small towns, where the
Republicans, who never change, who
don't care to read the Mills bill, and who
think the war is still in progress, live
and vote. This rotten borough system
has been described again and again. In
the history of the State there are re-
corded no more dismal nor ridiculous
failures than the efforts to do away with
this constitutional gerrymander.
The Prohibitionists, except 5000 votes
in the State, and the most conservative
outside estimates allow them from 1000
to 5000. They are especially bitter
against Morgan &. Bulkley, the Repub-
lican candidate for Governor, whom they
consider friend and ally of the saloon.
Yet by voting the Prohibition State
ticket they are certain to render a ma
iority impossible, and send the question
into the Legislature for decision, which
would only mean Bulkley's certain elec.
ton. A most prominent Prohibitionist,
and one who once held high rank in the
Republican party, said to-day:
This is quandary that confronts US,
and know many men like myself who
are inclined to vote for the Democratic
Luzon B. Norris"
Mr.. Buckley is President of the Etna
Insurance Company, and his barrel is
deep beyond sounding. State issues in
Connecticut will have but small bearing
on the vote for the National ticket, and
all the leading Democrats accessible here
are confident that though the fight is
mighty close, Cleveland's plurality will
not fall below 1000. They are not max.
ing wild guesses, either, but calculate
the result coolly and upon a matter-of-
fact basis. The Prohibition organization
throughout the State is by far the most
thorough that party has ever had, and
so far IS the National ticket is concerned
will, if stubbornlv maintained, result in
a solid vote of 5000. ....-
In 1884 1855 voters in the State went
for Ben Butler, drawing, of course,
largely from Democratic sources. The
restoration of these, and in great part of
the Irish-American vote which was lured
asserted upon the most reliable author
ity. OF more than half of the Independ-
ent 4Mugwump element in the State,
gives hope of Democratic success.
Chairman w. II. Barnum, who yester-
terday passed through the city, expressed
himself in private conversation as conf
dent that the State was safe for Cleve-
land. A. E. Burr, of the Times, one of
the oldest Democrats in Connecticut, said
to-day:
"Outside of the downright bribery and
the coercion of workmen by Republican
employers, I believe the Republican,
have no hope of arresting defeat here. 1t
is Democratic State. That they are
better equipped than we with the sinews
of war, there can be no doubt, but the
actual results to be accomplished there
with are not to be accomplished at this
stage. AS for coercion, the pay envelope
is not widely used in this State, at least
not in large manufacturing localities.
The work is done in other ways, and if
the employees of all small factories were
assured that there would be no 'spotter'
at the polls to watch them vote, it would
alter the complexion of the returns very
largely.
'sStill, 1 do not think the effects of
coercion can be reckoned as much
greater than in 1884, when all attempts
were made to spread the belief that if
Cleveland was elected the shops would
be shut down. The tariff scare has, in
my opinion, spent its force in this State.
The workmen know that the Mills bill
does not mean free trade, and the most
beneficial Democratic campaign docu-
ment in vogue here is the full text of the
BILL"
The political meetings which for q
week had ceased on account of rain are
all in progress here tonight, and the
clubs are marching about in decorous
sort of way. There is peculiar quietude
about all the campaigning, but the inn.
mense audiences at all speechmakings
show the intense interest that underlies
it all. The chief complaint of Democrats
is that the committees in charge of the
campaign have not sent hither enough
apostles who know the peoples needs
IN. Y. World.
Lost and Found.