The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-04-10
POPULAR ELECTIONS.
THE STEADY GROWTH OF INTEREST
IN STATE ELECTIONS.
Lessons That May Bo Drawn From Il New
York state and National Election Tho
Percentage of voters to the Population
Greater In the Country.

York state and National Election Tho
Percentage of Voters TO the Population
Greater In the Country.
a comparison Of the election returns
at the eud Of the last century. aboit tho
time Of the adoption Of the consti q 5on
Of the United States, with the r, adrns
for the last presidential election, bows
how widely the suffrage has exten ed in
the United States. In Massach, .etts,
between ms and 1904. the propol On Of
votes cast to the population varied from
? TOD per cent In several count "a Of
the state Of New York there were 20 at
the election Of 1899 almost one-th' d as
many votes as thCre were inhabit 9.
II is the habit Of many people Z, IKE
it for granted that the earlier L. tu-
tions Of the United States were more
democratic than the present ones and
that the tendency Of these times TO
put the political power in the hand u
few men and TO take it away from the
multitude. No such theory is born ont
by the election returns. At one the
most hotly contested elections in VI gin
Ia, when Chief Justice Marshall's .ther
was candidate for membership in the
house of burgesses. or what would cor
respond to assemblymaD here, there was
only one vote cast TO every 10 inhabit-
ants, ratio smaller than that cast in
any county in this state for great many
years There was property qualitica-
ton for electors in this contest. and It
was frequently the case that the voting,
instead Of being by secret ballot, was
viva voce. There were 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 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 as
the ratio in many Of the rural counties.
Brooklyn comes next 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 to each voter
is $50, in Kings 5.95 and in Erie BOO,
while in Cortlandt and Otsego the ratio
is 3l1 TO /; 3. 10 in Yates, 3.3j in Gene
see. 1888 in Delaware, 1856 in Allegany,
326 in Madison, 3.37 in Ontario, g. 22 in
st. Lawrence. This shows 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 tho
election laws in the cities and H. the
counties, and the other is the differ ace
in the character Of the population. 1t
cannot be difference in politics, f3r
Schoharie, one OF the few rural i, no
cratic counties, shows "A ratio Of 3.1S, nd
Greene another Democratic county, is
a ratio of 1886. The percentage Of W rs
is lower in the cities than in the r, rl
districts. The two counties of Scho &C.
tady and Schoharie are Democratic "a
contiguous. Schoharie is purely al
cultural county, while great part 4
the population of Schenectady count Is
in Schenectady, which is IA flourish rg
little city. Schenectady has G,000 T. re
population than Schoharie, but it c, SIS
several hundred fewer votes, and thol is
a difference of third in their ratios
One reason for the high ratios in \ Nv
York, Brooklyn and Buffalo is the Ia 90
number of aliens in those cities. no
aliens count in the population, but { ey
do not count in the number of voti ~.
According to the state census New Yoi IS
population is one-fourth alien, and he
ratio in Buffalo is almost as high
Another thing is the difference in elbo-
ton laws. In the cities man has to 20
to the polling place twice 10 vote-oi CO
to register and once to cast his ballot Ia
the country he has TO go only once o III
that time TO vote. His name may be I 1T
on the registration list by his friends.
A comparison Of these returns with 10
election returns at the time of the Re o.
lutionary war and the adoption of me
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
tury, when discussions respecting the
federal constitution were going on and
when there had been an actual rebellion
in one part of the state, not over . per
cent of the population voted, although
, the census Of those days shows that about
three times that percentage of men were
entitled TO vote In New York state at
the last election the census and registra-
tions lists were almost identical in many
| districts, and there were some districts
where there were more votes cast than
the census showed of residents in the dis
trict in the spring when the census was
taken.
Ii may be that TO the rich men and
men engrossed in the management OF
large business affairs politics and politi.
cal matters are not relatively so impor-
tant as they were when the United States
began, but comparison of the election
returns shows that aside from the widen
ing OF the franchise the proportion of
those who vote is greater in this state
than ever before. York Sun.
| Oiling Shears
II your shears squeak or bind while
] you are using them, run your finger