The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1893-08-03
POPULAR ELECTIONS.
THE STEADY GROWTH or INTEREST
IN STATE ELECTIONS.

York State and National ~Eiections-Tha
Percent.S. of Voters co tho Pcpuiatior
Greater I'm the Country.
A comparison of the election returns
at the end of the laat century. about the
time of the adoption of the constitution
Of the United States. with the returns
for the last presidential election, shows
how widely the suffrage has extended in
the United States. In Massachusetts,.
between l77S and l794. the proportion oil
votes cast to the population varied from
Q to 8 per cent. In several counties OF
the state of New York there were cast al
the election of 1892 almost one-third al
many votes as there were inhabitants.
It is the habit of many people to take
1t for granted that the earlier institu-
tons Of the United States were more
democratic than the present ones, and
that the tendency of these times is &c
put the political power In the hands Of o
few men and to take it away from the
multitude. No such theory Is borne out
by the election returns. At one of the
most hotly contested elections In Virgin
la, when Chief Justice Marshal1's father
was q candidate for membership In the
house of burgesses. or what would cor
respond to assemblyman here. there was
only n vote cast to every 10 inhabit-
ants, q ratio smaller than that cast in
any county in this state for q great many
years. There was a property qualifca-
ton for electors in this contest, and it
was frequently the case that the voting.
instead of being by secret ballot, was
viva voc There were 30 few electors
that they would all come together on
election day. and their names would be
called, every mar naming his choice.
With all the talk about the large vote
of the city of New York and the power
Of its majorities to settle the result in the
state, it is somewhat contradictory that
the election figures should show that
New York has the smallest ratio Of voters
TO inhabitants-less than half as large az
the ratio in many of the rural counties.
Brooklyn comes mex and Buffalo third.
Throughout the state it is general that
the Democratic counties cast fewer votes
to the number of their inhabitants than
the Republican counties. In New York
the number Of inhabitants { o each voter
is $50. in Kings sos and in Erie 500,
while in Gorilla .4dt and Otsego the ratio
is 3.11 to /: 3.16 in Yates, 1856 in Gene
see, 1888 in Delaware, 3.35 in Allegany,
3.26 in Madison, 3.37 in Ontario, 3.22 in
st. Lawrence. This shows a ratio twice
as large in New York and almost twice
as large in Brooklyn and Buffalo as in
the rural counties.
There are two main reasons to account
for this. One is the difference in the
election laws in the cities and in the
counties, and the other is the difference
in the character of the population. It
cannot be a difference In politics, for
Schoharie, one of the few rural Demo
cratic counties, shows a ratio Of 3.13, and
Greene. another Democratic county, has
q ratio of 1885. The percentage of voters
10 lower in the cities than in the rural
districts. The two counties of Science
tady and Schoharie are Democratic and
contiguous. Schoharie In a purely. agri-
cultural county, while q great part OF
the population Of Schenectady county il
in Schenectady, which Ia a fourishing
little city. Schenectady has 5000 more
population than Schoharie, but it casts
several hundred fewer votes, and there ID
q difference of athird in their ratios.
One reason for the high ratios in New
York, Brooklyn and Buffalo is the large
number of aliens in those cities. The
aliens count in the population, but they
do not count in the number of voters.
According to the state census New York's
population is one-fourth alien, and the
ratio in Buffalo is almost as high.
Another thing is the difference in cleo
ton laws. In the cities a man has to 60
to the polling place twice to v~ote-once
to register and once to cast his ballot. In
the country he has to go only once and
that time to vote. His name may be pat
ON the registration list by his friends.
A comparison of these returns with the
election returns at the time Of the Revo.
lutionary war and the adoption of the
constitution shows that political inter.
est is increasing every year, and that the
percentage of those who participate in
elections is also increasing. In Massa'
chusetts toward the close Of the last cen
fury, when discussions respecting tn
federal constitution were going On and
when there had been an actual rebellion
in one part Of the state, not over 8 pei
cent OF the population voted, although
the census of those days shows that abou'
three times that percentage of men wer,
entitled to vote. In New York state a
the last election the census and registra
tons lists were almost identical in man,
districts, and there were some district
where there were more votes cast thar
the census showed OF residents in the dis
trict in the spring when the census wa
taken.
1t may be that i the rich men an,
men e~ngrossed in the management o
large business affairs politics and politi
cal matters are not relatively so impor
tant as they were when the United State
began. but q comparison of the election
returns shows that aside from the widen
ing of the franchise the proportion o
those who vote is greater in this stat
than ever before.-New York Sun.