The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1892-03-26
CAN WIN ANYWAY


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New York II Not Indispensable to Demo.
cratic success.
Politics is = practical matter. There
are se~ntimentalists who like to beat
the air and come back empty.handsd,
but the average citizen does not care
TO follow an ideal too expensive to have
any chance OF getting through the bal
lot box. He does not expect where
there are six OF seven million beoble
to 30 induced to work together, that
each man have the platform shaped
quite to his liking can all have their
favorites for candidates. Character
and qualifications being conceded 10 all
within the nominating radius, availa-
biiity rightfully comes in for a large
place Here, too, there is honest di-
versity Of opinion. Personal bias and
old impressions have their influence.
For instance, many democrats have
become SO in the habit of looking to
New York for their presidential candi-
date that they are not able to disabuse
their minds Of the impression that its
thirty-six votes can be had only for one
OF its ~tavorite sons. Yet, as they look
over the record, they note that for
thirty years every man put on
the presidential ticket has been
from New York. Mcclellan and
Hancock were really no excep-
tions. The popular soldier did
no carry that state in 1864. Seymour
did in 1868, but was not elected -Four
years later Greeley was woefully
slaughtered Tilden swept it by a
round majority in 1876 by virtue of his
broad craftsmanship and the magnif.
cent fight he had made against Tweed
n Tammany. In 1880 Hancock was
rejected, and Cleveland was saved by
a scratch in 1884 He failed at the sec
n trial. 1t has not been questioned
That b democrats presented in each,
case were chosen with reference to
their strength in New York, yet they
saved the state but three out of v
times In two cases only, those of
Seymour and Tilden, can there be any
plausible claim that there was gain
even in that state by reason of the loca-
tion of the candidate. This view is
strengthened by the fact that in the
merely state elections in the same
period the democrats have been sue.
cesstul about two-thirds OF the time.
The argument, then, from the records,
that it is needful to 90 to New York for
the head of the ticket to save that
state is palpably lame. With apparent
harmony and unRnimity in that state
for its man, the election results are not
indicative that advantage was gained
by listening to the ''shrieks of local..
ty." Nor is it a fair diagnosis of the
situation to insist that the democrats
cannot elect a president without New
York. The zeal for a favorite in
that state induces a leading demo-
cratic paper in Wisconsin to insist
THAT it would be party suicide to
leave it. That is simply absurd.
To support this theory it allots
20 the republicans all the northern
states except New York, Connecticut,
New Jersey and Indiana, with sixty
seven votes, which it classes as doubt
full, and comedies also ten of the four
teen votes of Michigan to the republic.
ans. They then have two hundred and
fourteen votes, and either New York
or Indiana would give them more than
the requisite two hundred and twenty
three. That is an attempt to manipu-
late figures to subserve special ends.
New Jersey and Connecticut are as
certain for the democrats as West vir-
ginia and perhaps one or two other
southern states Indiana may be fairly
claimed and Michigan is certain to give
the democrats at least six OF its four
teen votes. Then with the south they
have n hundred and n~inety-six votes.
without New York. If the candidate
is not from New York, it is evident
that he will be from Indiana, Illinois
or Iowa, with the vice president prob
ably from Massachusetts,. In that
event the twenty-four votes of Illinois,
thirteen of Iowa and fifteen of Massa-
chusetts could be drawn upon unless
the campaign broke down by absurd
laundering. Any two of them would
be enough, or Illinois and Montana or
Rhode Island alone. Nor is there
reason to suppose that New York
would be lost because its home man
was not taken. 1t is not judicious to
press the locality feature very strong
E.-St Paul Globe.