Evening star., 1900-10-29
Conservative Estimates Give State to
Mckinley by 10000.
PRESENT DRIFT MAY CHANGE
Both Sides Planning to Use Big
Corruption Fund.
NOTED ORATORS ON HAND
Special From a STAFF Correspondent.

|
the republican column by 10000. Par
tisan republican estimates claim the state
| by much larger figure, but only from the
| most radical democratic sources comes a
| prophecy of democratic victory. There is
| great deal of talk in this state about the
| democratic drift and the republican tide.
| There Is no trouble to find plenty of cross
| currents, and 1t is these which perplex the
| political mariners
For instance, the labor vote seems setting
| in one direction, the farmer vote in an
| other; the Debs vote promises TO draw from
| one party, the prohibition vote from the
| other. But when all is considered and all
| is balanced, the conservative and unbiased
| people believe they can perceive a steady
current in the direction of Mckinley. II
| you want to bet on Bryan here you can get
500 to your $40, and even better, with peo-
pie clamoring for your money. over and
above all economic considerations, how
ever, for the determination of the election
IN this state, is that unknown quantity of
now much money is to be spent on cleo
ton day and which side will have the most.
There may be more venal states than In
diana in the Union, but they have not yet
been discovered by old campaigners. Even
the juniors are aware that Indiana in the
past has not sustained the reputation OF
Caesars wife.
Plans for Corruption.
The most casual observer now can see the
preparations for corruption. and the person
who looks deeply into the situation is as
founded. l make no distinction between
parties in this statement Under the pres
ent law, recently amended, the Indiana
man who offers a bribe Is not punishable.
the man who accepts an election bribe be-
comes disfranchised, and the person who
informs on him gets 500 out of the county
treasury. It is easy to see that this little
plan gives entire immunity to the briber
and makes hard lines for the bribee, If he
becomes recalcitrant The boys are going
to have rich harvest in Indiana this fall
and will catch the politicians ''a-comin' and
a-goin.'"
However these matters are of more inter-
est in Washington than locally. Out here
they are an old story and too commonplace
to attract much attention. The one other
feature OF this campaign which impressed
me most was the thoroughness~of the repub-
lican machine organization. People who have
had to do with politics know the value of
such a feature. There are $500 precincts
In the state, and in each of them the re-
! bpublicans have an organized system which
is almost perfect. In the first place, there
are ten men who form a committee which
is auxiliary to the state committee and
whose chairman corresponds with Mr. Han
na then there are subcommittee, execu-
tive. financial and advisory, and that little
precinct is thoroughly organized.
All Contribute to Campaign.
Every republican in 1t is expected to con-
tribute to the expenses of the campaign
His share may be only 81, and 1t is collect
ed on the installment plan In many cases.
The next step is to ascertain the state of
the vote in that precinct Those who are
talking of voting the democratic ticket are
seen and labored with. The result is COM
municated to the state committee and steps
are taken as may be necessary in the prem
ises. The democrats have a good organiza-
ton, better from their view point than any
in recent years, but it can't come up to the
republican standard for real hard. effective
work. In the closing days of the campaign
the democrats seem to be playing right into
the hands of the opposition. They are
sending Tillman, Altgeld, Hogg and Towne
into the state to wind up their campaign.
They sent Towne to Indianapolis the
stronghold of the gold democracy Before
Towne arrived the chairman of the gold
democratic committee was out In an inter-
view warning his wavering followers that
Towne was rahid free silver man, and
that a vote for Bryan was an Endorsement
of the most ultra free silver views. The
democrats are coquetting with the negro
vote in Indiana. Up comes Tillman. with a
fiery red-shirt speech, and from the plat
form tells the audience that South Carolina
will see Indiana "in HI first, before she
will be ridden by the negro"
Working for the Farmer Vote.
The republicans are working might and
main for the farmer vote which went off
on free silver four years ago and is now re-
penting Altgeld, Towne, Tillman and
Hogg are preaching the very doctrines OF
four years ago, and of which the farmers
are now suspicious. The republicans are
pursuing other lines in the campaign.
There were three republicans of national
prominence in Indianapolis yesterday, Sec
retary Wilson Of the Department of Agri-
culture, Speaker Henderson of the House
of Representatives and Col. Dan Ransdell,
nf-9t-armS of the Senate. They have
all been stumping the state. Senator Alli-
son, Senator Beveridge, Senator Foraker
and other big lights of the party are speak
Ing. Secretary Wilson talks to the farm
ers, and he catches them, too. He talks
about rise in prices, tells them how much
Indiana would lose If the times Of four
years ago should come back. He tells
them about the foreign trade of the farmer
gives them figures Of the products sold
abroad. runs in little forecast of the pos
sibiities of the orient and then goes down
in the audience and asks to shake hands
with the people keeping special smile
for the democrats. He will make thou
sands of votes for Mckinley in Indiana.
The general poncy of the republicans is to
talk conservatism. They urge everything
which appeals to the man who has a dollar
and wants to hold on to 1t while he gets
another It's a taking doctrine in Indiana
this year. Conservatism, prosperity. busi-
ness methods in government, expansion of
trade, all are put into contrast with the
doctrines of Tillman, Aitgeld and Towne.
Indiana people are impressionable.
Bryan to Appear Again.
Bryan will be through the state again
this week and may start another whirlwind
of enthusiasm. 1t looks now ii Durbin,
the republican candidate for governor may
run behind the Mckinley ticket. The pro-
hibitionists are expected to poll about Is 900
votes, and to draw mainly from the repub-
licans. The Debs ticket Is estimated to be
good for 5000 votes, drawn principally from
the democrats. If there is any change in
these figures it will be to increase the Debs
vote and decrease the prohibition. The
middle-of-the-road populists are an adjunct
of the republican party in Indiana to all
purposes. though not intent. 1t Is very
dinicult to estimate their strength. They
are making great deal of commotion, but
in that case 1t may be like the old story of
the man who wanted to sell the car load
of frogs. This week in the state will be
the supreme effort. That both parties are
making 1t shows that they consider Indiana
good fighting ground, but there is no COM
cealing the fact that at this writing the
republicans appear to be in the lead.
N. o. N