The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-11-24
CUTTING 1T DOWN,

CUTTING 1T DOWN.
1t appears, from statements made in
another column by a gentleman active
ly prominent in politics, which are con-
firmed by reports from all parts of the
state, that the actual majority for Nc
Kinley, if all the ballots cast had been
counted according to the intent of
those who voted, would be less than
10000 and might fall to $4,000 or below.
This reduction would be accomplished
by taking into account the vast number
of tickets on which the voter placed a
mark opposite the names of both the
Palmer and Buckner and the Bryan
and Sewall electors. This came from
the printing Of the word Democrat
after EACH and was, thus far, a JUS
tihcation Of the protest against the use
by two different organizations of the
same designation. 1t would not have
seemed possible in advance that be-
tween $4,000 and 10000 voters in Min
nesota, where the people are intelligent,
the issues were thoroughly and pas
sionately discussed and the workings
of the Australian ballot system have
been familiar to the people for years,
should have thrown away their votes
for president by this obvious blunder.
1t tends to give some color of truth to
the report that instructions were dis
seminated secretly in some quarters
through Republican agencies to ill-in-
formed voters that by voting for all the
electors they might choose Bryan for
president and Palmer for vice pres
ident.
1t is upon the enormous size of this
discarded vote that the suggestion of
a recount of the ballots III the interest
of the candidates on the state fusion
ticket, or rather of Mr.. Lind, who alone
could profit by it, is proposed. 1t is
stated positively that in some cases
these defective votes were thrown out
altogether, instead Of being counted
as to all the other persons voted for
except those where the error was COM
mitted. Since they were all the votes
Of Democrats, it Is reasonable to con-
clude that very large majority of
them were for Lind. If the practice Of
throwing them out wholly had been
general, of course a recount would
change the result on the governorship
But it was not. and it is difficult to
see how the probabilities will shape
up events to overcome the majority of
Mr.. Clough. 1t might be cut down con-
siderably, say to the extent of thou
sand votes; but mistakes or frauds
large enough to wipe it out altogether
are hardly to be expected. The figures
already at hand, however, do show that
Mr.. Mckinley was not entitled to prob
ably more than $4,000 majority in Min
nesota, and that the Palmer and Buck
ner ticket received more than the 1
per cent Of the total vote which would
entitle National Democrats to a place
on the state ballot hereafter All Of
these defective ballots, no matter how
the blunder occurred, were intended to
be cast against Mckinley. How they
were divided between Palmer men and
Bryan men there is no way to de-
termine; but it is practically certain,
that there were enough Palmer voters
among those who marked both lists to
raise the total vote to more than $500.
The facts show that no campaign can
be so thorough as to inform the avap
age voter on all the issues, and that
the ballot ought to be made as simple
and certain as possible, so that there
may never be such unintentional dis
reimbursement on large scale as this
has been.