The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-11-03
Two Exciting Campaigns.

~ HIO AND KENTUCKY pre-
4 sent this year the most inter-
~ esting political features they
have ever presented and the
result of the election in both states will
be awaited with intense curiosity
throughout the United States.
In Ohio the great element of uncer-
tainty Is the Independent candidacy of
Samuel NJ. Jones, the Golden Rule
mayor" of Toledo, o. If the fight had
been between Judge Nash, the Repub-
lcan candidate for governor and Edi-
tor Mclean, the Democratic candidate,
alone. the factional knitting common to
Ohio politics could safely have been es-
timated as about equal on both sides,
which would have made Nash's elec-
tion sure by n large majority. mas
much as the state normally is Repub-
lican by from $4,000 to $4,000. But Jones
interrupts all calculations by waging a
kind of Peter the Hermit political cru
sade in behalf of socialism and the
under dog" denouncing all politicians,
cal practices and methods. and preach
ing most beautifully the picturesque
doctrine of human brotherhood. He APP
peals strongly to the imaginations Of
the discontented of all parties and the
practical question is, From which party
will he take the most votes? The man
who can answer that can tell who will
be the next governor of Ohio and what
his majority will be. No two opinions
as to the distribution of Jones strength
agree.
In Kentucky the fight is between the
Goebel and the anti-Goebel wings Of
the Democracy, with the Republican
candidate holding his own in the hope
that by means OF the division of the
opposition he will receive a plurality.
On a fair count this would seem to be
a reasonable expectation. The Democ-
racy of Kentucky is disrupted as never
before; the most passionate protests
against Goebel and Goebelism are be-
ing uttered daily in all parts of the
commonwealth by men of the highest
standing as lifelong Democrats, who
charge against the regular Democratic
nominee not only the grossest political
perfdy but also personal crimes, among
them murder; and organizations of
leading citizens are being perfected
throughout the state for the avowed
purpose of applying mob justice to
election officers caught in the act OF
juggling with the ballots. But the en-
tire election machinery is in Goebers
hands. He has had the naming prac-
tically of every election officer in Ken
tucky; under the election law which
bears his name a million doors are open
to fraud, and his reputation for nerve
leaves little room for doubt that mona
of these doors will be neglected by him
If necessary to gain his purpose. 1t is
| simply a question of how far the oppo-
sition to him is prepared to go in order
to circumvent his cunning and force a
fair count
The chances appear to us to favor a
Democratic victory in Kentucky and a
Republican victory in Ohio. We think
| Goebel Will win because he has an or
ganization absolutely protected by law
and without scruple in method; and We
think Judge Nash will win because
there ought to be a majority of voter.
| In Ohio in favor of protecting theil
! honored fellow-citizen, the president OF
the United States, against the false i'm.
pressions which a Democratic victory
at this peculiar time, just in advance
of his candidacy for reelection, would
create. But it would be idle to deny
that in both states the existing com.
| pications render predictions unusually
/ hazardous.