The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-11-08


with a General Election.
New York Times.
When one reckons the amount Of printing
which has to be done in the causes of the various
polltical candidates during q presidential cleo
ton one has TO use millions as units OF calculs-
lions. Prlnters regard elections the time OF
mama In their wilderness of competition, for
the men who have plant enough to get out the
requisite number of ballots add to their annual
incomes thousands of dollars. So great is the
demand upon them, indeed, that they readily
employ any compositor who comes along, be he
culon, non-union or that peculiar genius known
to the initiated as the tramp printer" The
mail service is clogeed with hundreds Of thou
sands or pieces of mail which would never, at
other times, find their way there, and the candi-
dates discover the drafts upon their purses to be
very serious.
There are in this city $50 election districts.
For week about q score OF job printers have
been busy turning out ballots for them. The
TWO factions OF the Democracy have their favor
ties for this work, but a rule favoritism does
not stand in the way Of low contract, and 60
the printing this year is pretty well divided.
There are six parties and factions in this cleo
ZION, the County Democracy, Tammany Hall,
Republicans, Citizens, Cooganites aud Prohibi-
tionists. The regular distribution of tickets
takes place in this wise: When the printer has
completed the ballots be sends them 10 the
various headquarters. There the folding and
punching is usually done, and then the tick
ticket for each election district. In some dis
tricts, owing to the enormous registration, the
number will be added to. but the pro-
portion will be sustained. There are eieha
tickets for each election district. presidential.
State, judiciary, congressional, city and county,
constitutional amendment. alderman, and
sembly. Thus every party or faction will send
bags Of 5000 tickets to the districts. AS there
are six contestants this would represent 4S 600
ballots that will be distributed to each OF the
$50 districts. The total therefore. for the city
will be Al ,24S 900 ballots that will be sent to the
voters through the regular channels. This
great number, TO be divided among some 266, 900
voters, would suggest that each citizen might
stuff a mattress with the contributions of the
politicians, but there is often scarcely enough to
go around. The question has been asked,
What becomee of the ballotsl" as well as what
becomes Of the pinsl The answer is the same:
''Who knowsi"
But the ballots that are distributed through
the regular channels are a small part OF those
that are actually sent to voters every one
who uses his citizenship has occasion to know.
Just about this time the voter is IN the receipt
OF neatly addressed envelopes containing q crcu.
lar from every candidate in his assembly dis
trict asking for his suffrage and inclosine as we'll
two sets of ballots, that the harassed voter may
not make any mistake about his choice. This
would represent about COO, 600 more ballots from
q single faction, but mono is less enterprising
than the other, the total IL 3, 600, 900 addi-
.tional slips of paper The cost of getting these
out is borne, in the case of the Democrats, by
the factions. Tammapy is always cautious. and
holds the tickets Of each candidate until his as.
sessment for printing is received by the general
committee Then, IL his check il found to be
all right, the general committee punches his
ballots with tho rest. The County Democrats
do practically the same thing With the Repub-
leans 1t is every man for himself. Each candi-
date has his own printing done and pays for 1t
out Of his own pocket The same 10 the rule
with the Cooganites and Prohibitionists The
total amount paid for this work. as estimated by
an old wsr-horse Of political printers yester-
day, will be in the neiehborhood of 500. 600.
Therefore, printers take brief vacation after
election.
But ballots are, after all. but a part OF the
total amount of printing done. The most ex-
pensive OF the other classes is tho ''paster."
They cost 81 a thousand to print, for they must
be done very carefully. They always have
mucilage on their backs, and each one is per-
forated so that il may be easily torn from the
others. Millions OF these independent litt!s
Thugs are sent to voters at ordinary elections,
but there 10 so much of the pastims Of ''knifng"
expected in the present season that the number
of pastors will be increased by half Il 10 safe
to say there will be 30, 000, 900 Of them distrib
uted At 81 thousand this would make total
of SO, Co., Then there are circulars which set
forth the claims of the various candidates with
the Endorsements OF more or less prominent
citizens. No one knows how many of these are
distributed, for each candidate selects the
printer he finds do the work for the least
money, irrespective Of parties. Besides
| these there. are cards calling attention
| OF the voter to some things in the
| career of the ofice-seekine citizen which are
thought to be particularly praisewortby. Last
| but by no means least, come the bic posters
that appear at the polls and places Of public re-
sort, declaring that j. A. Somebody is running
for Office and desires votes. These posters are
| quite expensive because they use up so much
paper The great block letters do not require
| exceptional skill in composition, but they use
| ND q lot of ink, and the printers charge pro-
portionstely.s
1t Is q somewhat interesting fact that the
Prohibition party has its ticket com pleted long
before the other organizations. Almost q week
AGO they had handed in their entire list of can
didates for looal Offices to tho printers, while
the Democrats even yesterday had not COM
| pieted their assembly and aldermanic nomi-
anations. The result of this has been that tho
first tickets received by voters this year have
been Of, the Prohibition candidates, and SO it
/ will be safe to assume after election that tho
ballots cast for this cause will be polled
/ after mature consideration, and not heedlessly.
| n The mails have been crowded during The
| last three or four days that the clerks in both
the general postoffice and the various sub-sts-
| tons have worked almost continuously. 1t was
| calculated by General Superintendent Rich ards
| yesterday that the number Of pieces of mail
| matter was nearly double what it was at the
| last presidential election. Nor does there seem
TO De any immediate indication of a decrease in
the amount To-day and Monday the postoffices
in all parts OF the city will be filed to overflow
ing with election material of all kinds and all
eizes and the carriers will be taxed to the limit
| of human endurance The superintendent of
| delivery in the general postofice says that his
| force has been never worked so hard In his ex.
| perieuce, though the branch Offices have proper
| tionately more work to do. The increase in the
revenues OF the local mail service, of course
has been enormous by this great demand for
| dispatchine ballots and various documents, be
| cause for the most part every piece of mail re-
quires a separate postage at the rate of cent
each. Roughly estimated, the business of the
postofice has been increased by nearly 60O0
| 900 pieces of mail.