The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1893-06-29
POPULAR ELECTIONS.
THE STEADY GROWTH OF INTEREST
IN STATE ELECTIONS.
Lessons That May He Drawn From I'M New
York State and National Elections-The
Percentage Of Voters to the Population
Greater In the Country.

Greater In the Country.
A comparison of the election return:
ct the end of the last 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 tie suffrage has extended in
the United States. In Massachusetts.
between 1,;s and 1894. the proportion of
votes cast to the population varied from
2 to 5 per cen In several counties of
the state of New York there We're cast at
the election of 1892 almost one-third as
many votes as there were inhabitants.
1t is the habit Of many people to take
It for granted that the earlier institu-
tions of the United States were more
democratic than the present ones. and
that the tendency of these times is to
put the political power in the Lands o. a
few men and TO take it away fro,i the
multitude. No such Theory is horne ont
by the election returns. At one of the
most holly contested lections in VIRGIN
Ia. when Chief Justice a~.arshall's father
was a candidate for membership in the
house OF burgesses. or What would cor
respond to assAnblyman here. there was
only one vote cast to very 10 inhabit-
ants. a ratio smaller than that cast in
any county in this state for a great many
years. There was a property qualifca-
tlon for electors in this contest. and il
was frequently the case that IL voting
instead OF being by secret ballot. was
viva voce. There We're SO few electors
that they would all come together on
election day. and their names would be
called, every man naming his choice.
With all the talk about the large vote
of the city of New York and the power
of its malorlties 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 as
the ratio in many of the rural counties.
Brooklyn comes ley and Buffalo third.
Throughout the state it is general that
the Democratic counties cast fewer votes
to h number of their inhabitants than
the Republican counties. In New York
the number of inhabitants to each voter
Is $50. in Kings sos and in Erie 500,
while in Cortlandt and Otsego the ratio
is 3.ll to /: BIG in Yates. 3.3j in Gene
see. 1888 in Delaware, 3.35 in Allegany.
1925 IN Madison. 3.37 in Ontario, 3.2a 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, n the other is the difference
in the character of the population. 1t
be a difference in politics, for
S~choharie, n of the few rural Demo-
cratic counties, shows a ratio of 3.13, and
Greene. another Democratic county, las
u ratio OF 3.36. The percentage Of voters
Is lower in the cities than in the rural
The two counties of Science
tady and Schoharie are Democratic and
contiguous. Schoharie is a purely agri-
county, while a great part OF
population of Schenectady county is
IN Schenectady, which is a flourishing
little city. Schenectady has 5000 more
than Schoharie, but it casts
several hundred fewer votes, and there is
difference of a third in their ratios.
One reason for the high ratios in New
York, Brooklyn and Buffalo is the large
of aliens in those cities. The
count III the population, but they
10 not count in the number of voters.
According to the state census New York's
population is one-fourth alien, and the
alto in Buffalo is almost as high.
Another thing is the difference in cleo
Ion laws. In the cities a man has to go
D the polling place twice to vote-once
o register and once to cast his ballot. In
he country he has to go only once and
hat time to vote. His name may be put
n the registration list by his friends.
A comparison of these returns with the
lection returns at the time of the Revo-
utionary war and the adoption of the
constitution shows that political inter
is increasing every year, and that the
ercentage of those who participate in
is also increasing. In Massa-
toward the close of the last CEN
nry. when discussions respecting the
ederal constitution were going on and
vhen there had been an actual rebellion !
n part of the state. not over 6 per
ent of the population voted, although
be censuso of those days shows that about
hree times that percentage of men were
to vote. In New York state at
last election the census and registra-
ions lists were almost identical In many
and there were some districts
there there were more votes cast than
b census showed of residents in the dis
rict in the spring when the census was
ken.
Il may be that to the rich men and
sen engrossed in the management of
lsge business affairs politics and politi-
matters are not relatively SO impor-
mt as they were when the United States
cyan. but q comparison of the election
shows that aside from the widen
,g of the franchise the proportion of
who vote is greater in this state
yer before. New York Sun.