Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-11-07

set every captain. lieutenant and private in
every school district and country village to
work. Such an organization was never before
seen IN West Virginia, and the way the whole
republican army was set in motion bv n single
command was simply superb. It is understood
that the only thing which held back the COM
mand to go into action was the inability Of Mr..
| EIkins and the state leaders TO demonstrate to
the satisfaction OF the national committee that
| six electoral votes we're worth what il would
cost To secure their. II was difficult matter
| 10 snow that West Virginia, as small as she Is,
heid as strong n strategical position in the great
| national contest she does When once the
| true situation was forced through the skulls OF
! the powers that be there was no further delay.
and the local managers were assured that the
price would be paid
UNUSUAL DEMOCRATIC ACTIVITY.
The above will give a fair idea of what the
republicans doing and the great effort that
| Is being put forth to carry the state for Har-
| rison- On the other hand the democrats, while
| not so thoroughly organized nor so pentifully
| supplied with the sinews of war; thoroughly
awake and are leaving no stone unturned. the
| turning of which may increase the possibility
| of success Until very recently the democrats
| have felt. or at least have pretended to feel.
! that the state was safely democratic although
| they have all along admitted that hard fight
would be necessary to overcome the effects of
A
| the leaders of the party have begun to admit
that the case is doubtful and TINT nothing but
1 the greatest display Of energy will retain for
! them West Virginia in the column of southern
and democratic states. The activity of the
| publicans and a knowledge of their thorough
organization has aroused the democracy as
| nothing else could. and from one end of the
state to the other the workers have been warned
| of the danger in which the party stands. and
| the necessity that exists for earnest and well
Iii I'D tI,f
made public the democratic committee has
secured quite fair amount of funds and is
much better prepared than ii has been at any
| time during the campaign to offer battle to the
republicans.
Just how close the state is is shown by the
polls that have been taken by both parties
The republicans claim to have made a thor
ough poll Of the state and to have listed every
voter in II. and the figures given out privately
for the benefit of those republicans who can be
trusted are to the effect that they will have
plurality OF between 500 and 1000. While
the democrats do not assert that their list has
been carefully taken. they do not claim
more than $500 or 5000 plurality. When the
party polls Of nearly 10000 voters show
more difference than is exhibited in this case,
wise politicians admit that it is extremely diff
cult TO tell which way the cat will Jump on eNec-
tion day. Granting that either poll is accurate,
enough votes might be changed in a very few
days to upset all calculations.
CONTEST FOR THE LEGISLATURE.
One feature Of the contest which is receiving
more than ordinary attention in the last hours
of the campaign is the contest for the legisla-
ture. The legislature selected at this election
will be called upon to elect the United States
Senator and great deal of Mr.. Elkins anxiety
is attributable to the fact that he il the only
publican candidate for that Office. The legisla-
ture nominations were made with considerable
care on both sides and the candidates are said
| to have been dictated pretty generally by
NesErs. Elkins and Faulkner respectively
Faulkner has made splendid fight, and.
although he has been sick part of the time. he
has made fifty-six speeches in the campaign
The legislature is normally democratic. and for
years that party has had the organization of
both branches OF the body. In the last legis-
lature three or four independents held the bal
ance of power Ill the house of delegates and
one OF them was chosen president. In this
campaign both Faulkner and ElEins professed
TO be entirely satisfied with their chances.
though unbiased reports from most counties in
dictate Faulkners chances to be the better.
Another thing that acts a strong incentive
to Mr.. Elkias In his political work III West Vir-
ginia il this: 1t has come to be generally I'm
derstood that in 1855 the task of CARRYING West
Virginia in 1892 was by general consent assigned
| to him by the national committee. II he
ceeds he will be the first man to display suffi-
cient power an organizer and political
manipulation to break the solid south. To do
this would mean that nothing for which he
might ask at the hands of the republican party
in the future would be too good for him 1t
would raise him 70 the highest level politically.
and since he has an ample fortune and has
turned his attention almost wholly to politics.
that is naturally the ultima Thule of his aspi-
rations.
MARsHALs AZ THE POLLS.
The opinion of Attorney General Miller wiz
regard to the powers and privileges of United
States marshals and their deputies has created
some alarm among democrats in West Virginia
III. ). White, United States marshal for the dis
trict of West Virginia, although man of not
more than 40 pounds ayordupOis, has I'M
limited moral courage. and If the order is
issued from headquarters, or if he cOnceives it
the best thing to do politically he will not hes
itate to put his deputies at every polling place
where II can be legally done. The greatest
danger to democracy this score exists in the
southeastern counties. where there is n very
large negro vote besides a very large negro
population whose rights to vote may be called
IN question. With the election machinery en-
urely III the hands of the republicans every
voter who had a shadow of right to cast a ballot
would be allowed that privilege. and it would
deyolve upon the democrats to prove the lille
gality of these votes in case of a contest. The
democratic managers recognize that it is very
much harder to have questionable votes counted
of after the election than il Ii to prevent their
being cast originally. No one would be seri-
Ously surprised II there is trouble III the south
eastern counties on election dav. Both sides
are very determined. and il would no; require
any very great cncruachment upon what either
side contends 10 be its rights to precipitate
hostilitIcs. 1t must be remembered that this is
the section in which the Hatfield-McCo feuds
had their birth and that many of the people
carry Winchester rifles.
A GERMAN-ANERIcAS CLEVELAND UNION.
force that is going TO play an important
part in this election ard one that will greatly
help the democratic party is the thorough
organization Of large body of the German
American citizens in Characterization
Cleveland union. Fully one-half the voters Of
I that nationality in the city of Wheeling are
members of the union and each is constituted a
committee of one to look out for the interests
of the democracy among his fellow citizens.
The democrats have distributed considerable
German literature and have had number of
very able German speakers at work in the state
This seems TO be department that the repub-
lic.ns have largely overlooked and they will
find that il has been detrimental to them on
election day.
In the congressional contests both sides are
claiming everything, and as the results in three
districts III lsSs sufficiently close to cause
a republican Congress TO feel justified in seat
ing the three republican contestants it is
hard to discriminate between the claims of the