The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-10-24

vote for -Towne are all large wards
and admittedly weak spots for the
Republican cause.
AS an instance of the claims made In
Duluth, two examples are noteworthy.
An alleged poll of one block Of the
city-a residence SQUARES said to
have shown a total vote of thirty-sev-
ell and net Towne gain of seventeen.
a percentage strongly reminiscent of
the postage stamp chain.e On the other
side, as extreme a caseofsi cited where
there are a dozen votes sinr a single
house. Two years ago iaH were for
Towne; this year he viii not get one.
Admitting the truth or Both results, 1t
is obvious that such polls prov little
In a general way 1t is, no, great risk
to predict that the vote of the district
will be- for McKinleys whatever the
reslt as to Towne and Morris. The
Towne personal elementais eliminated
markedly so in st. Louis county, is
protective If Morris is elected, the
Mckinley majority should not fall
much below 1.500 to 1000 A fiat pre-
dfction of 200 for the Republican NOM
inee is justified by an average of condi-
tions and claims. Regarding
THE STATE TICKET,
the condition is the district is almost
one Of indifference. The relative i'm
portance of it is dwarfed by the bitter
ness of the congressional fight, but
except in spots, there is apparently no
marked Republican disaffection. In
Mile Lacs county, where a substantial
Morris majority is confidently expected
by the Republicans, Clough is ad-
mitted to be weak. On the contrary,
in st. Louis county, which casts a big
percentage of the total vote, Clough, on
the face of the last returns, was strong.
and that in spite of the fact that now
as then, in some vague way, the gem
eral idea was that Clough was unpopu-
lar. Two years ago he ran well ahead
of Nelson there. Clough's chances and
those of the rest of the state ticket de-
pend largely on the size of the ma
Jority for Mckinley. The fight being
made for the national nominee, coupled
with the fact that there is no wide
sprea disaffection, will tend to carry
the state ticket through on the basis of
the figures given for Mckinley, but the
prediction cannot be made with the
same confidence ss.4-a
Coercion talk is very popular with
the Duluth silver men, and some ap-
parently legitimate cases of it are cited,
but in the main it is talk. The lumber
men, in general, seem to have made no
effort to coerce their men, and among
the railroads, it is doubtful if cases
could be found. AS already said, there
are undoubtedly men who are wear
ing Mckinley buttons who are for
Towne, Bryan and Lind. The number
OF such cases defies accurate estimate.
and even the returns will show little.
An estimate made by Republican
put this vote at 10 per cent. 1t is un-
doubtedly that large, and Towne's cleo
ton depends on it's being in excess of
that figure.
This matter of alleged coercion and
its retroactive effect has a direct bear
ing on the vote of Lake county and
the way 1T has been placed in the table
given. The estimate for Morris there
will not seem so conservative as in
other cases 1t is largely the vote of
Two Harbors and of those directly or
indirectly connected with the Iron
Range road, nominally Republicans.
The relations between the road and it's
men seem to preclude the idea of CO.
efclon, and any reactionary tendency
from such an attempt. With apparent
reason good faith is credited to the
voters there as a matter Of simple JUS
tice to Them
With many who are doubtful. but at
the same time hopeful. of the result.
there is tendency to expect changes
BETWEEN now and election. They are
hardly to be looked for 1t is probable
that the visit of Bryan marked the high
tide Of the silver sentiment for the cam
palgn. Not that it has fallen off ma
terlally since, but that it has made no
apparent gains. The Republicans, in
good faith, believe that, Towne hurt
himself at home by his prominence in
the demonstrat tons. AS stated, the
sentiment is largely protective, and it
IS charged that Towne has been telling
his Republican friends Tin the north
end of the district that he was as good
Repblfcan as ever, essentially as to
protection. His close association with
the Bryan demonstration did not bear
out the ideae..