The times., 1898-11-08
GENERAL POLITICAL GOSSIP.


members OF Mr.. McKiniey's official fam
iy-Secretary Hay. Secretary AIger. Sec
retary Long and Secretary wilson-wfII
not vote today, and so far as heard from
not one of them is paired with an accom-
modating Democrat. Col Hay has a good
excuse. He is a resident of the District
of Columbia, and therefore not entitled
to vote, but the other gentlemen named
still maintain a voting residence in their
respective States. If there should be the
same percentage of absentees among Re-
publicans throughout the country as IN
the Presidents Cabinet the election re-
turns this evening will not furnish much
comfort to the Republican managers.
President Mckinley. however. has set a
good example to his followers by going
out to his home at Canton to cast lis
ballot. Whatever the result today may
be it cannot be charged against the Pre-
sident that he did not give his own ad-
ministration vote Of confidence.
Before his departure for Ohio last eve
ming Mr.. Mckinley held long confer
ence with Col. Babcock, the chairman OK
the Republican Congressional Committee
1t is understood that Col. Babcock gave
the President very rosy forecast OF the
outlook He assured him,
it is said, that there was absolutely no
doubt of the Republicans having safe
ma jority in the next House" ALI OF hi5
latest reports confirmed this opini n
1t can be said, however. that Mr.. Nc
Kinley does not share Col. BabcJck's Sc
rene confidence. lie has confided TO closs
friends during the past week that he had
very grave misgivings' regarding The
congressional outlook He has not liked
the looks of things. and IL the Republi-
cans should elect a majority of the next
House of Representatives the President
will be very agreeably surprised.
A close perusaI of the bulletins from
the various headquarters yesterday male
il perfectly apparent to the most IN
biased mind that the Democrats and Re
publicans were both bound to win in t.
dav's contest On the evidence furnished
no impartial jury could possibly arrive at
anv other conclusion. II is Just as el ar
as mud
Old campaigners, however. have learned
10 discount partisan estimates They pay
very little attention TO them What they
trv TO ascertain is. what is the political
drift? When they can satisfy themselves
on that important point they make up
their minds which way the cat Is Soihs
10 lump. When the tide sets in in a Ger
- sa Ily- i'm Die
TO check it. A falling off in the Repuoh-
can vote in Vermont or Maine, FOR in
stance. is a sure indication OF a similar
slump in the Republican vote in othef
States throughout the country Local
conditions here and there may make an
exception TO the rule, but the exceptions
only prove the rule.
There are over fifteen hundred election
precincts in the Greater New York terri
tory. When the returns from the first
five or ten precincts are received, how
ever. it is possible for an expert to figure
out the probable vote Of the entire 1,So9
precincts, and he will not be very far out
OF the way. 1t is a curious fact that the
of gains or losses. as the case
may be, in the first few districts reported
Will De AOG=--CNA N--~ S--@---
The elections in Vermont and Maine in
showed unmistakably 10 the
political prophets that the drift was
against the Republican party this year
The Republican vote in these two States
fell off about 80 per cent from the vote
OF two years ago, while the Democratic
vote only showed a decrease of about L
per cent This was most significant The
same ratio. if maintained throughout the
will give the Democrats an over
whelming victory. With scarcely single
exception the early elections in Vermont
and Maine have foreshadowed what the
popular verdict would be in the following
November. notable exception was in
1880. when Garfield was running against
Hancock. The early elections showed a
decided slump against the Republicans
that year in Indiana, Ohio. Maine and
Vermont. The Republicans rallied, and
by the extensive use of soap under the
direction of Steve Dorsey. saved the day,
but it is conceded now that il Gen Han
cock had not been placed in a false posi-
tiop by an innocent remark of his that
the tariff was local issue. that he would
have been elected in spite of Mr.. Dorsey
and his soap" 1t is not known how
much soap Senator Hanna is using this
year. but upon the surface of things the
Democrats certainly have good reason to
look forward TO decisive victory at the
polls today.
The most significant feature of the
New York situation yesterday aside from
the apparent attempt of the Republicans
to create a belief that Roosevelt was a
sure winner by going into the betting ring
and forcing the odds up on the Rough
Rider, was Col. Roosevelt's flying trip
through the southern tier of counties of
the State. He left New York Sunday
night and made run of over four hun
dred miles through the southern tier out
to Chautauqua County. This journey was
not down on his schedule, and II would
not have been undertaken if Col. Roose-
velt's managers had been absolutely con-
fident of his election.
1t has been perfectly apparent for some
time past that the Republican leaders
were seriously contemplating 4 general
attack on the civil service law with the
object of amending it to conform to the
old-time spoils system. There have been
many incidents cropping out to confirm
this impression but none quite SO frank
and open probably as was disclosed at
Hagerstown on Saturday night Col
Pearre. the Republican candidate for
Congress In the Sixth Maryland District.
was making speech to large crowd of
Republicans Senator-elect McComas who
Is recognized as one of the closest friends
of the President in the Republican party