Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-10-23
No Apathy in the New York Cam
paign
INDICATED RY THE REGISTRATION
Each Side viii Be Surprised by
the Gains 1t Makes.
| POSTAL CARD CANVASS

| Special From Staff Correspondent.
NEW YORK, October 23.-There is no
| apathy in this campaign. The politician
| who thinks there is does not comprehend
| the situation. The registration in this
| state shows the mistake of those who de-
| clared that the people were not aroused.
| What seems to be the truth is that the
people are not greatly excited, but that
| an unusual interest Is taken in the cleo
ton is now made apparent by the regis
| traton, and was evident to close observers
| without that material proof. The calmness
which comes from an intelligent under
standing is what was mistaken for apathy.
Gains for Both Sides.
| There is going to be something surpris-
| ing in the vote of this state, not only in
the size of the vote, which is already in
| dicated, but in the manner of its distribu-
ton between the parties. Both candidates
are going to get votes not calculated on in
the ordinary politicians figures.
By the best judgment l can form the
democrats are not going to get anything
like as many of the gold democratic votes
as they are counting on, and among buS1-
ness men Mckinley will get votes that he
did not have in 90 Bryan is going to re-
| ceive unexpected support from voters, who
not only did not support him in '96 but
who, perhaps, never supported a demo-
cratic candidate before. The evidence that
this is SO disturbs all calculations based on
the character and the distribution of the
registration. IT there were nothing except
the registration upon which to base the
conclusion that Mckinley will carry New
York, it might be misleading. 1t seems
quite likely that in some of the republic
can precincts where the registration has
been extraordinarily large there will be an
increase to some extent in the democratic
| vote, because in those there appears to be
| more decided opinions as to the issues OK
the campaign.
The Influence of Tammany Rules.
If Bryan is going to gain any votes on
the issue of Imperialism it will be in pre-
cincts where they come less in contact with
Tammany bosses and Tammany methods.
Here and there, where Tammany is not too
much in evidence before them, there may
be found a few republicans who have form
ed a theory Imperialism or trusts which
places them in antagonsm with the policy
of the administration as they conceive 1t to
be. No republican who lives in a tough
Tammany ward, however, Is in an atmos-
phere which is conducive of philosophic
meditation on remote theories of govern
! ment, with or without the consent of the
governed The districts which are strong
ly democratic are so because they are DOM
| mated by Tammany. Wherever Tammany Is
! strongly in evidence there is an atmosphere
of ward politics, and the issue is obedience
pathy with that organization who finds him
self in this atmosphere is subject to ois-
illusion if his mind has been dwelling upon
! theories of consent of the governed.
One of the big Tammany captains, giving
a reason why Bryan should be supported.
said:
What have the business men got to COM
plain of? Haven't we kept the streets
clean, and hasn't Tammany been fair with
them? Why, Of course, Bryan is going to
| be elected.'
| In districts canvassed by statesmen like
| this it IS hardly to be expected that there
will be any large number of scholarly anti
| imperialist converts. There Bryan will get
| the Tammany vote and nothing more. OF
course. having the Tammany vote solidly
means a gain over '96, but it takes much
| more than that to carry the state. and If
| conditions were such as to render Bryan's
success In the state probable, the places
where he would have to look for gains over
! and above the Tammany vote would be in
| the strong republican districts, where there
has been marked increase in the registra-
ton. Therefore, an estimate of party
strength made on the registration alone
| might be utterly misleading.
Business Men Opposed to a Change.
The things that make it look as if Nc
! Kinley had the state are that the business
men pretty well down the line from Wall
| street to the moderate-sized commercial
establishments appear to be almost solidly
| opposed to change Of conditions through
| a change of administration; that very
! large per cent of the gold democrats who
| opposed Bryan In 96 for reasons which
| they understood themselves are still op-
| posed to him, and that this so affects the
opinions of men familiar with New York
| life, and capable of estimating the forces
in politics, that the prevailing expression in
| all public places is that Mckinley will
| surely carry the state. Practically the only
men who express different opinion are
| Tammany leaders, men closely in touch
| with them. and democrats who are merely
visitors in the city or are connected with
| the active work of the campaign.
Claims at Headquarters.
OF course, at each headquarters 1t is q
part of the duty of those who talk to be
| cocksure that their ticket Is going to win,
| and usually there is enough transparency
about the claims on one side or the other
| for an experienced man to through
| them In this particular instance l have
no doubt of the sincere confidence on both
| sides of at least some of those managing
| the opposing canvasses. The conspicuous
| thing, however, is that the New York city
| public do not join in the democratic conf
| dence, though the city is going to give a
| substantial majority for Bryan
| Now and then l come across a man of
| some character who tells me that he knows
| personally of two or three or four or some
| other number of men in his neighborhood
| who intend to vote for Bryan, though they
| voted against him before. Generally such
men are located in a republican district.
| But necessarily Bryan is going to get votes
| he did not get in '96 or there would be no
chance of his carrying this city. which no.
| body denies him.
| The Vote Up the State.
The only possible food for speculation sug-
| gested by such reports is whether the mo-
tive for such changes as these are to Bry-
an is such as to indicate the possibility of q
revolution of sentiment up the state such
| as to reduce the republican majority below
| the point where it can be overcome by the
| Tammany vote here. The prevailing opin-
| ion here seems to be that no serious trend
against the republicans has yet been dis
| closed up the state, and that therefore
| there is no good reason to believe that II
1 existsA The only things are the democratic
claims and Bryan's reception on his speak
ing tour neither of which has been enough
| to change the general run of opinion here
Croker's claims and air of confidence fur
nish the unique feature of the situation.
There Is a cult of "metaphysicians'' who
believe that if you think a thing real hard
it will happen. If Croker were high
priest Of this order he could not keep on
a thinking and asserting more earnestly
| than he does. He says that there is great
l tIa l.