The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-10-26
IN HIS STRONGHOLD
TOWNE is APT TO BE TREATED TO
A FEW UNPLEASANT SUR
PRISES.
STEARNS COUNTY DEMOCRATIC
BUT THE SOUND MONEY DE-
MOCRACY SHOW UNEXPECTED
STRENGTH
SILVER VOTE IS ovEREsTIMATED.
Later Developments but Confirm
the Globes Recent Estimate for
the Sixth District.

Special to the Globe. 1eaS
ST. CLOUD, Mimi, Oct. PA view
of the condition of affairs in the Sixth
district from st. Cloud affords few rea-
| sons for material changes in any esti-
mate that might be formed at Duluth
l-At first glance it is apparent that
Stearns county is the silver stronghold
of the district, and that Democrats are
very plentiful in the neighborhood All
this is, however, to be expected, as
Stearns county has always been in very
much the same attitude toward the Re
publican ticket that 1t is now In 1892
the county cast 7,20S votes, and only
1888 of them were for Towne, a ma
jority for the Democratic and PopuIist
nominees of 3.342. The combined op-
position vote was 5,275. All this is ap-
parent, and at first glance one would
be tempted to say that the figures ap-
proximate the majority that Towne
might expect this year from his late
enemies.
Democrats do even better than this
for Towne; they claim that he will not
only get almost all of this vote, but
he will receive in addition large sup
port from silver Republicans who have
followed him into the Democratic camp.
1t is true that at st. Cloud there are a
good many silver Republicans, and
each one of them is doing an amount of
talking and making an amount of noise
that does great credit to his zeal, if
nothing else. But, on the other hand,
ST. Cloud if it be- the silver strong
hold of the district is also the center
Of ho cfr OFT Of ho Mo
cratic party-not. nearly. so noisy or as
sertive as the silver Republican faction,
but quite as much in earnest, and, ac-
cording to the claim of the Morris men,
quite as numerous.
AS a matter of fact. it seems prob
able that the silver Republican
strength of the district Is overestimated
and that the National Democratic party
is stronger than popularity believed In
Duluth it can be seen without diff
Guilty that the number of Democrats
who will vote for Morris is large,
though, there, hardly up to the number
of silver Republicans who will vote for
Towne. At St. Cloud it is confidently
claimed that the reverse is true, and
that the Democratic desertions will
more than outnumber the gains Towne
can count on from the party that he
read himself out of.
Even the Democrats, in effect, admit
this fact. The National Democratic
sentiment is so marked that the most
enthusiastic of Towne's supporters take
material account Of it. Three thousand
is about the extreme majority for the
nominee claimed by the Democrats of
Stearns county, and more conservative
men in the party do not hesitate to
cut the figures down to $500. Even
this estimate is probably large, just as
the total conceded by the Republicans
is, to all appearances, too II small
Townes majority in the county should
run above 1900 but there is no appar-
ent reason why it should go much
above 2,00O The influence of such men
as D. T. Calhoun and Judge Bruener,
who are working for Morris this year,
cannot but be considered, not only in
Stearns county but those in it's immedi-
ate vicinity, and the influence Of the
Hall and Buckner meetings must also
be taken into account. II any change
is to be made In the vote of the strong
est Democratic county in the district,
after viewing it at st. Cloud, as con-
trasted with the view expressed at Du-
luth, it Is not in Towne's favor No
great change is required, but if the es-
innate of probable results by counties
had been made at st. Cloud and not
at Duluth, Towne's majority in Stearns
county would probably have been put
at 1000 instead Of 2,2O0.
The group Of countriess centering
about st. Cloud is OF especial interest in
It's relation to the situation in the dis
trict, since in these counties, according
to the statement Of Mr.. Hudson, the
Democrats expect to do their most ef-
fective work. The five counties are:
Stearns, Todd, Morrison, Benton and
Wright. Two. years ago they cast a
total vote of 0,204 and gave a combin-
ed Democratic -Populist majority Of
2,726. The Republican vote was S739
and the vote for Baldwin and Halvorsen
II, ,465. It is this group Of counties which
Mr.. Hudson, who is now managing the
Towne campaign, and who two. years
ago had the ill-starred destinies of Maj.
Baldwin in hand, claims will be car
ried for the fusion nominee by $500.
The figures do credit to Mr.. Hudson's
enthusiasm, leaving his Judgment en-
tirely out of the question. To make
his prediction good Mr. Hudson must
count on a number of things which his
opponents are not at all likely to con-
cede. In It's effect Mr.. Hudsons claim
Is that Towne will receive every vote
cast two years ago for his opponents
in the five counties, that the detection
of the silver Republicans will equal
nearly ten per cent of the vote of the
entire group and approximate 20 per
cent of the regular republican vote,
and that no Democratic votes will be
cast for Morris. It is difficult to see
any other basis upon which Mr. Hud-
son can base his claim, for, allowing
Towne all the votes cast for Baldwin
and Halvorsen in the five counties, he Is
LIZA votes shy of the total claimed for
him by his campaign manager.
None of the propositions advanced
VIII stand analysis. 1t is not claimed
even BY thes most. enthusiastic of the
Iowne men of st. Cloud that Towne
viii receive the full strength of the
combined parties. Numerous reasons
Ill tend to pull down TGwne5 vote in
the group and especia. Iy. in Stearns
county. AS to the silver Republican
vote, there can be small question that
II is put too high, in spite of the fact
that to make Mr.. Hudson's prediction
good 1t must be greatly increased for.
as already stated, he allows for no
loss of Democratic votes, and the gen
al opinion is that not only will thera
5e a Democratic loss, but that it will
more t.idn COunterbaldace the gains
Mr.. Tow ne can count on from his late
party.
On the basis of the majority allowed
scr Towne in Stearnsscounty, Mr. Hud-
sons es'imate forythc group seems
more than eversexaggerdted If Towne
gets 2,6D0 in Stearns county, or, say
=