Evening star., 1900-08-10
Uncertainty How he Will Vote in
Congressional Contests.
REPUBLICANS SOMEWHAT UNEASY
Inability to Estimate the Strength
of This Class.
ARGUMENT TO BE USED

As the fight for control OF the House OF
Representatives progresses. interesting
question arises in the probable attitude of
the gold democrats. The republican mana
gers are anxious to know IL gold democrats
who voted for republican representatives in
Congress in 1896 and 1885, on account Of
the financial question, will pursue the same
course this fall
1t is known that the democrats are set
ting great store the probable return to
the fold Of this class of their disafected
brethren. To this end the democratic man.
ayers are encouraging the nomination in
close congressional districts of conservative
candidates for Congress. 1t is intfmated
that too close scrutiny is not being made
into the past political record of candidates.
The leaders will overlook certain little Do
itical heresies of the past If candidates
show an inclination now to support the
regular democratic ticket. With such men
on the ticket they hope to bring in the
seoeders of former years
Republicans Uneasy
The republicans are uneasy upon this
score. They have already discovered a ten
dency in some quarters of well-known gold
democrats, men who voted against Bryan
in 1896, to support the democratic candi-
dates for Congress in November They pro-
ceed upon the theory, IT is said. that no
great financial issues are actually at stake
In this election, and that the present is a
good time for them to get back into their
party, regain their lost affiliations without
at the same time doing actual violence in
practice, at least. to their financial opin-
ions
Efforts to offset this tendency are being
made by the republican managers, although
with what result is still problematfcal. In
the close districts the gold democrats are
SFd els TOD K1,- +l1f,
can friends, and special efforts directed to-
ward them by the campaign managers.
Personal appeals Will be made later. and
the gold democrats will be men OF conse-
quence In this campaign. They are en-
treated not to mar the good effects of the
aid which they rendered the sound money
ticket in 1896 and 1s9s 1t is pointed out to
them that the work espoused by the re-
publican party and which they indorsed and
helped along by their votes is not finished
with the enactment of the gold standard
law.
Effect of a Democratic House.
Currency and banking legislation yet to
be adopted is part OF the financial policy.
they say, which was entered upon by the
republican party with the aid OF the gold
democrats. Having put their hands to the
plow, the sound money democrats are be-
sought not to leave before the furrow q
turned. The election of q democratic
House of Representatives. II is claimed,
indefinitely. and might be the beginning of
a movement which would unsettle business
conditions and undo the good already ac-
complished
Several districts in New York one or two
in Pennsylvania, a number in Indiana, Ohio
Illinois and Michigan may be affected by
the vote of the gold democrats Indeed IL
is possible, II is said, that the balance of
power in the election of a House of Repre-
sentatives may rest in the hands of this
faction. and therefore too much Importance
cannot be placed upon the course they are
likely to follow
An Uncertain Vote.
The actual gold democratic vote of the
country is hard to estimate. 1t is by no
means represented in the strength given to
Palmer and Buckner in 1896. As a matter
of fact, that is probably but a small pro-
portion Of the whole standing for the men
who could not bring themselves to vote
for republican. The effective gold demo-
cratic vote went for Mckinley and for re-
publican representatives in Congress and is
not easily segregated
The latter class are the men the re-
publicans are after now. The other fellows
served a purpose in refraining from voting
the regular democratic ticket, weakening il
TO that extent. but the really valuable men
were those who realized the perls of the
situation and voted the Straightout reDub-
Hcan sound money ticket
gold democratic representative is not
of much use to the republicans after he
gets into Congress His course is uncertain;
he may be whipped into a party caucus
and in most cases will vote with the regu-
lar democratic party on all but financial
questions. The gold democrat the repub-
licans want is the voter who will help send
republican representative to Congress, and
he will do the rest.
Some encouragement Felt.
The republicans are encouraged, it is
said, by the fact that the gold democrats
who voted the republican ticket are men of
a high order of intelligence, and therefore
accessible to argument on the lines which
are being used The republican managers
entertain a certain degree of confidence in
their ability to demonstrate to this class the
desirability of repeating their vote of two
and four years ago, rather than taking ad-
vantage of the opportunity to regain their
footing in the old party at what may seem
to them small cost, but which, in reality. it
is claimed, would prove to be a dear price
to the country's welfare.