Evening star., 1898-11-03
EXPECT CLEAN SWEEP
Michigan Republicans Claim Entire
Congressional Delegation.
PlNGREE'S ECCENTRIC CANVASS
Striking Right and Left at His Own
Party Leaders.
ECCENTRIC CANVASS
WILL BE ELECTED, HOW EN Err

Special Correspondence of The Evening star
| GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. November l. 1898
1t is probable the delegation in the next
Congress from Michigan will he soihiy
| republican. The delegation In the Fifty
fourth Congress was all republican In lis
| political faith.s In the present Congress. IN
| spite of the landslide characteristics Of The
| election which gave Mckinley plurality
| of G0,00O two years ago the fusionists pull
ed two of their candidates out of the wreck
! A. NJ. Todd in the third district ana Frrdi-
| nand BrBcker In the eighth, and the other
| ten districts elected republicans by ma
| Jorities that ranged from iia; in the second
| to II 1872 in the twelfth. In the third dis
| trict two years ago the republican caDdl-
| date talked silver clear up to and beyond
| the St Louis convention, and then tried
| to change horses, and he missed II by the
| 405 majority which Todd received In the
eighth district w. S. Linton was a candI-
| date for reelection and the total collapse
| of the A. =. A movement left him strand
ed Bruckers $ majority being S54.
| In the campaign two years ago the silver
forces were united and harmonious. The
| fusion was new thing and all the ele
ments pulled together, and, in addition to
this, the times We're hard and the condi-
tions favorable to the silver propaganda
| especially among the farmers. This year
| the silver forces are not united. The mid
dle-of-the-road populists have made con-
| gresslonal nominations IN nearly every dis
trlct and are eXerting themselves to the
| utmost to make a good showing cleo
| ton day, because they dislike the fusion
| idea more thoroughly than they do the re-
| publicans, and will do their best TO end it
for all time to come.
| Silver Sentiment Subsidies.
There has also been great subsistence
1 in the silver sentiment all
| and nowhere is this more marked than in
! the rural districts and among the working
men in the cities. The fusionists this fall
have not had the financial resources to put
up vigorous campaign in behalf of the
Chicago platform and silver. They have
not had the money to bring speakers into
the state and the local talent has been
scarce and mostly mediocre, worse.
There has been no grand distribution of lit
| erature to convert the unbelievers or to
hold the wavering In some districts not
| single campaign meeting has been held and
! not speech of any kind has been made.
In the third, eighth and tenth districts
there has been something like concentra-
ton of effort, as the campaign managers
have thought the possibilities for winning
were fair, but in these districts the repub-
licans have also concentrated to counteract
anything that the fusionists may have done.
| In the third district the fusionists still pro-
| feSS to have hopes. and have had John p.
| st. John and Prof Mills of Chicago on the
stump, talking for free silver, but the pros
poets as the election draws near are more
and more dubious.
| In the eighth the fusion:sts are making
| claims, but this year the republicans are
| united, the A. P. A. issue is dead and the
| fusionists are sadly divided among them
| selves, with many of the democrats off on
a tangent, well as the populists flock
| ing by themselves.
! In the tenth district dissatisfaction in the
republican ranks over the post office ap-
| potntments have given the fusionists en-
couragement, but the nominee was, until
two years ago, a StalWart republican, and
though many republicans may stay at home
on election day. not many will vote for him.
In the twelfth, or upper peninsular dis
trict, the republicans had a row in their
convention, and both S. NJ Stephenson, who
represented the district four terms, and C.
D, Sheldon, the present representative,
claimed the nomination. The supreme
court refused to umpire the quarrel and re-
ferred the question to the election commits
sioners in the respective counties to deter
mine which of the candidates should have
the benefit of regularity and place under
the party vignette, and which should be
set up the Independent candidate in a
separate column. Sheldon has been given
the benefit of regularity in thirteen of tne
fifteen counties in the district, and rs he
had 17133 majority two years ago. a
ma jority 1000 greater than the total vote
of his opponent, his reelection is certain
In the Detroit District.
In the first, or Detroit district the demo-
Gratis are by the ears, usual The oandi-
date is James II. Pound, and he is running
on free silver-non-expansion platform,
and on the stump he is not discussing the
financial question at all and is an eXpan-
sionist with the best of them. The Pingree
schism among the republicans might orii-
nariiy hurt Coriiss, but with the financial
question ct issue and the local quarres of
the democracy, John B. Corlss will be re-
elected. His majority two years ago was
4,I30, which affords considerable margin
for apathy and cutting
The greatest danger the republicans have
to apprehend in the election is the apathy
and light vote; but they have been very
bus1ly engaged the past two weeks in stir
ring up the voters and getting them in
terested, and they have been fairly sue
cessful. They have had the great Ameri-
can eagle in constant commission and have
been dwelling upon the Importance of every
voter turning out on election day to vote
for the republican candidates and to sus-
tain the adminstra ton. This has been
strong card and one they could play with
entire safety, even in the Stanchest of the
silver communities, and they have been
playing 1t for all there has bean in sight
In the war issues the fusionIsts totally
without leadership in this state, without
any concert of action declared policy
are sadly handca pped, and vet the war
| issues are the only things the people want
to hear about. The war horror business
was worked for a time, but this is no long
er mentioned. III the matter of apathy the
fusionists have been having more TO con-
tend with han the republicans. and have
not had the means to counteract it, They
will feel the light vote more severely than
the republicans.
In the state election the republicans will
win, but what Pirgrees plurality VIII be is
beyond even guessing. He will he cut by
many stalwart republicans IN favor of
Whiting; many will vote the ticke: simply
with the head scratched off. The sound
money democrats who voted the straight
republican ticket two years ago will not
vote for Pngree, but will either cast their
ballots for Whiting will ,eave the state
ticket blank. From these various sources
Pingree will loose. but he will receive q
large democratic vote, and the middle-of-
the-road populists will help Him by draw
ing from the fusion strength.
Pingree Hitting Right md Left
Had Pingree taken to the woods the day
after his nomination. lad he confined
himself to canned speeches, as he did two
years ago, his majority in this election
would have been out of sight. But he has
been smashing away ut Senator's Burrows
and Mcmillan, and at the Supreme Court