Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1899-04-05


Turned Against Them by Desperate Po-
liticaI Tactics In the Closing Days of the
City Campaign-The Vote in Yesterdays
Election.
Ordinarily postmortem examination
of election returns is about as salts
factory as a business invoice some
times is. But we know what we
know, and facts are facts. 1t was a
republican victory in a republican
city. The responsibility is not hard
to place. neither will be the proper
source of explanation later. Not
outstanding the normal complexion
of the city of Rock Island, politically,
Mayor Medill and all others connected
with the present administration had
made such an eminently satisfactory
record, commenting itself as it has
to all people of appreciative natures,
that as the time approached for the
consideration of municipal candidates
and issues, the rock. ribbed republic
cans who put politics in the van were
at loss of a reasonable issue with
which to go before the people. This
class of politicians realized that the
natural tendency of the public is to
be grateful and that the mayor
and his associates in Office had
rightly merited an unbiased COM
mendation of the people. The
eagerness of these politicians seized
the accident at the reservoir a
an opportunity to shamefullv misrer-
resent the facts and to gloat over what
was assumed was a misfortune to a
courageous, public spirited admins
tration of public interests. Finding
a rallying cry such as this, frowned
upon by Intelligent people, although
it may have appealed to class easily
prejudiced through jumping at con-
illusions, the last resort was under
taken no longer ago than last Thurs
day, when the party lash was applied.
The corner" engineered this part of
il, and to the corner" and to no other
instrumentality of republican manip-
ulation in Rock Island is due the
credit-if so it may be dignitied-o
the outcome. To carry out this de-
sign the influence of the machinery
of both the state and nationol govern
ments was called into play. While
Billy Baker and Jim McGarvey were
sent home from Springfield to carry
the day as far as possible for the Tan
ner aspirations for the seat of Shelby
NJ. Cullom in the United States senate,
Congressman Prince had the word
sent from administration sources in
Chicago that no election could be so in
significant as not to reflect public SEN
timent in approval or disapproval of
the national administration, not
purely on the we'll defined issue of
party affirmation but upon the con-
duct of the war. Preposterous as the
proposition was in any application
conceivable, it had the desired effect
in large degree.
Largest Vote In City's History.
The election brought out the larg-
est vote in the city's history, demon
strating a number of things, first, the
general interest felt in the election,
second, the work done by the workers
and third, and the most gratifying
feature of all, that the city is growing
at rapid rate. The total vote yes
terday was 1. 447, as against 1881 in
the municipal election of two years
ago, when, too, interest was run
ming high, and 1898 in the
state election last fall, and 4,19S
in the last presidential election.
President Mckinley carried the city
by 932. While the republican state
ticket of last fall had in the neighbor-
hood of 500 majority, the republican
county candidates in the same election,
the last preceding one held in the city.
averaged 700 majority. So that con-
sidering the whipping process on the
other side, the democrats on an enor-
nous vote cut the standard majority
against them down very perceptibly,
as the appended tabulation of the re-
turns will show:
FIRST WARD.