Sullivan republican. [volume] (Laporte, Pa.) 1883-1896, 1890-08-29
Not a Factor yahis Year.

| The Third Party ProblbltIonists
have gone through their annual per-
formance of nominating State
ticket and adopting platform. As
matter of course, they made pro-
hibition the denominating issue, and,
regardless of the fact that constitu-
tional prohibition was beaten in
this State little more than a year
ago by $4,000, they are still de-
manding it as the only thing that
will satisfy them. That cannot be
made live issue at this time, nor
one likely to attract any considerable
number of voters.
The record of the Third Party
Prohibition vote shows that it has
been influenced by special causes.
1t amounted to nothing in Pennsyl-
vania till 1875, when the Prohibi-
tion ticket received 1924. That
was due to feeling created by the
repeal of the local option law, and it
had wholly subsidized by the next
year, when the vote fell back to
1881. 1t struggled along in this
way, the agitation growing from
year to year, and succeeding in some
of the Western States, but there
was never much Of a showing in
Pennsylvania until 1884 when the
number of Prohibition votes reach-
ed 15,737, and about the same
figure again in 1885. This increase
did not affect the Republican ma
jorities, for they were never so
large at similar elections as in both
these years.
In 1886, although the Republican
party had pledged itself in it's plat
form to submit prohibitory Con-
stitutional amendment, the Third
Party vote amounted to 32,422. A
part of this was doubtless given
from other than prohibition motives,
as Mr.. Wolfe was the candidate that
year. This large vote-more than
double that ever given before-had
no effect upon the Republican ma.
jority, which was within a few
hundred of that of the previous year.
The Republican Legislature of
1887 not only passed joint resolu-
ton for the submission of the
promised Constitutional amendment,
tut it enacted high license law
which went into effect at once. The
Prohibition vote fell that year to
lS,47l, and the Republican majority
in the State was just about what it
had been the year before.
At the Presidential election of
1888 the Prohibition vote was 20,-
947 and the Republican majority
very nearly the same as at the imA
mediately preceding Presidential
election. Last year, with the dis
appointment of the prohbitory
amendment failure still fresh, the
Prohibition vote reached but 22.401,
and the Republican majority was
larger than before for an off year.
These figures show that not only
that special causes affect the Third
] Party vote, but that it has no in
fuence upon the Republican ma
jority. That has been steadily in
creasing, and turns up securely
whether the Prohibition vote is
$4,000 or 10000.
| There are no special causes to aid
the Third Party this year. There is
noting left of the disappointment
produced by the defeat of the pro-
hibitory amendment, and the people
of the State have decisively indi~
Gated their approval of the high
license policy of dealing with the
liquor question. IF it were possible
for the Prohibition party to increase
it's vote to any extent it would draw
quite as much, if not more, from the
Democrats as from Republicans.
There is no issue now to support
such an organization; it will not be
factor in the campaign.