The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-10-27
ON ELECTION NIGHT.
How to Judge Results In Indiana from
FIRST Returns.

Washington Special in Boston Transcript
Next to Illinois, the vote of Indiana cleo
ton night will be interesting II bryan
lc SEES Illinois his only possible salvation IS
in Indiana, assuming that he cannot carry
New York, Massachusetts and ONO rms
State differs radically from Illinois. 1t has
70 CITY as against the country to take into
account; the population Is much less gwen
to independent voting, and the Gon ,r,a
there will be one straight, steady pull. the
extraordinary thing about Indiana politics
is the slight variation in result which com
is about the same size as Massachusetts
and has the same number of electcral votes.
In 1888 General Harrison, a citizen OF the
total of about $4,000 AS between Harrison
and Cleveland. wherever there We're PSI
Ge a were Fat tor is What may be called
close. Four years later. when the country
went Democratic with rush. Indiana
came haltingly into the procession with
I 125 plurality. OF every seventy-hve men
thrty-eight had voted for Clevelend and
close There was less than 10000 votes diff
ference in the result in Indiana between
1888 and 1892 while in Illinois there was g
smaller State, a difference of $4,000 in the
same period This lack of the mercurial
eNnnfed for IN by one %as as Follows
Every man in Indiana votes just as
his father did; no man ever leaves one
party to go to the other; the ratio of births
and deaths continues about the same among
Republicans and Democrats, and whatever
people moving in and moving out of the
State. We cannot control that. Some
years more Republicans. go out and more
cratic, victory until the balance is again
turned"
Indiana and ninety-two counties. The cit
les. of which Indianapolis, with its 100000 in
1880 is the largest c,, as a rule maintain
the rest of the State. Perhaps this year the
cities. including indianapolis. will squirt
more favorably towards the Republican. by
comparison. than the country districts but
the state as whole IS about as even as a
dish of corn mush. If a block of Indiana
returns show that either man is preceptibly
leading the other, it is pretty safe to put
that man down as a winner. The State
instances recited, that it is a practical tie
If | learn at 10 o'clock on the evening of
Nov. 3 that one hundred precincts i'm In
diana. coming in at haphazard. have given
Mckinley 11000 and Bryan 9.O00 it may be
reasoned that since 10000 is about one-thir-
might come out at 330, 900 and 270, 900. or with
q Republican majority of $4,000. From this
figure slight reduction should perhaps be
made, in the belief that the places nearest
the telegraph would be most favorable to
an intelligent cause like that of sound
money. but for such an element of veering
not over 10 to % per cent. need be allowed
in Indiana 1t is not of CONSEQUENCE to
slightly under 500 600 Votes. and it may 1 be
expected to run fairly close
There is no ground for Republican appre-
L
Il great railroad State. and is gridroncd by
the immense continental lines connecting
Chicago and st. Louis with the northeast
and Southeast. There are thousands of
Germans in the State of former Democratic
affiliations; the natural gas has brought in
a large factory population who have been
at rest pretty largely for the last four
years and the name Democratic" does
not sound good to them. Besides. having
come in from outside States they naturally
bring with them more or less independence
in voting. Closely allied to this spirit of
party regularity is the disgust which the
o'd-liner fe0Is for the Populist fusion and
the humliating terms which it imposes
upon Democrats. Indiana is said to be the
greatest pension State in the country. but
perhaps this reputa tion has been earned bv
reason of Holmans Willingness to brush
aside his otherwise perpetual economy
whenever pension bill was under consid-
Grafton. Indiana may be close on account of
the traditions of regularity which prevail.
but of those forces which operate TO change
men from one political party to another.
nearly all working for the sound-monev
cause. and it would he verv surprising III
Mr.. BRYAN came within POI 900 votes of car
rying the State From that figure his MI
nority NAV fall as low 100 600 according
| 70 the height of the tide which rises in the
West against Reputation.