New-York tribune., 1896-10-06
- ,r(HT IN MARYLAND.
MPAIGN LINES AND INFLU.
ENCES.
II.

Pr,,roore Oct. a-1n any study OF political con-
IN Mryland some account must be taken
o raturA divisions. geographical we'll as
o. nhih f.r years have arrayed the coun-
W,, the Stae il four sharply isolated and dis
u.,,,s group. Probably no State of equal area
"" onulatior ontains so many well-marked
.os,ly reccsized political subdivisions as
s,ond Cut iihaf by the great estuary of
chesapeake, + opposite shores have had
LILY separate nd uneven development. In
~ .arly days othe Commonwealth the two
Us were recoaized as relatively equal in
,.r and importace. But the Eastern Shore.
r. oH from eas and direct communication
r,,, the outside world. dependent chiefly on
--,cu,ture and Z fishing industries, with
-..,,onary populapn and few or no CONNER
.,., interests. haseen itself outstripped and
.ysrshadowed byts western rival in wealth,
s,rbers and eve other element Of material
progress
The outgrown 'tion of equality was long
,,antained howev in the States politics; and
So an artificial arrangement. which usually
aovetaIed with thselflsh purposes Of the tenn
,o,ary leader Of Il Western Shore Democracy,
.,s states representation in the United States
s.rste has uniforiy been divided between the
,ro sections BY 1is simple device Mr. Cor
,.n has secured eighteen years past COL
,.oue In the delirative branch Of Congress
-hose interests ar inclnations have meyer led
.r N meddle seously with politics beyond
~ arrow limitSf the Eastern Shore. The
p.nubcan Legislare of 1898, with some mis-
.,,nes but on u whole with practical good
.,a.ment repealethe antiquated and clearly
constitutional stute which had sought to
r,.rantee the Ea.rn Shore a Senator in per-
s.,u,tv and chosen George l.. Wellington
p.nuh,ican colleae for Mr.. German from one
=, the furthest wtern counties. Such de-
,.-ure in practl had, indeed become in
.,,.h,e Ry the snsus of 1890 the Eastern
c,ore counties we shown TO have population
=, orlv 15S 246. vie the Western Shores total
"a risen To S9A4 An even greater dis
crepancy was shn on the vote for Governor
,n 1So5 when. of total of 240,205 votes cast,
INT 343S1-a littlover one-eighth-came from
the eastern side dhe Chesapeake.
MARYLANDS >LITICAL SUBDIVISIONS
The eight couns across the Bay-Caroline'
Dorchester. KentQueen Anne. somerset la'-
m, Wicomico nWorcester-constitute, then.
the first Of the mural subdivisions into "hich
the State is aprtiOned geograpnicaiy anu
politically. They,rm community sineuiarN
Isolated and pro,cial, highly conservative IN
politcal opinion. nd little subject to novel or
alien influences fluctuations IN the Faster"
Shore vote are shit and inconsequential. Inc
normal Democra plurality is about l'ooV
votes.
Southern Mar1nd lying in the clumsy
wedge-shaped pensula between the Potomac
River and the Csapeake. repeats. to some ex-
tent the conditio noted on the Eastern Shore
The old tobaccorowing and slave labor sec
ton of the Stathas never been invaded d!
railroads remotand unprogressive, 1t remains
practically whatnd where it was before the
war. 1t is a geTne bit of the old South. still
more Southern. .rhaps, than any other equa
area between t. Potomac and the Gulf It's
vote. though sail. has been strikingly con-
sistent its Rep,lican majority fuctuating In
the last three residential elections between
800 and $50.
The step fronSouthern to Central or West
ern Maryland irries a traveller forward In
Imagination ateast twenty or thirty years.
This city. the hrt of the central section, long
noted for its grained conservatism-socally,
politically and ,mmercialy-has had growth
in the last tv decades which entities it to
rank among II most substantial and prosper
Gus Of Americi capitals. Its population now
reaches nearyhalf million-an increas OF
10000 betwet 1850 and 1890 attesting the
solidity of its aterial and industrial progress
Once narrow nd provincial. it has acquired
breadth cutnton and liberality OF public
spirit and ca now easily maintain its own
with any riv; as progressive and modern
American city The counties clustered about
the city-Batnore. Carroll. Howard and Har-
ford-refect the main. the temper and opin-
ions OF the letropois. They were long the
chief seat of ne old landed aristocracy OF the
State and nd some such relation to Mary
lands social I'D political life as the Blue Grass
region has nd to Kentucky's. Their vote has
been regular Democratic, the citys has
been.
Western Nryland the strip between the
Potomac an, the Pennsylvania border. seems
to have feltthe influence OF political and So
cial life in IS great Northern neighbor more
apprecably IAN any other section Of the State
Its populapn recruited in considerable
measure OF immigration from across the Penn.
sylvania Iir has always been more less
Northern T. feeling and sentiment. the differ
ence Of terper becoming most marked in the
extreme wstern counties Washington ALE
ghany andGArrett. Western Maryland-these
three counie. with Frederick and Montgomery
added-ha >een Republican in politics pretty
steadily she the war In the last twenty year.
1t has faiei only twice TO send a Republican
Representative 70 the popular branch Of Con
gress.
BALTIMRE's ROLE IN STATE POLITICS.
Baltimor City has always been the key t.
Maryland politics. It's voice has been the de
Gliding on in all State and Federal elections
No local II National ticket beaten in this cit!
has ever carried the State. At rare interval
republican candidate has won by a marrow
margin the counties. only to find his slende
pluralit wiped out by an adverse vote in thi