Evening star., 1901-11-04
Political Experts Cannot Forecast
Situation in New York.
CANVASSES PROVED UNSATISFACTORY
The Campaign Has Been Along
Extraordinary Lines.
TAMMANY OPENS ITS BAR'L
pecial From Staff Correspondent.

|
day, the distribution of the fund for th,
| incidental expenses of election day Tam
many put out about 100000, it is said
| dividing the money among the district
leaders. Tonight the dough- as this fund
is called, will be passed around by the dis
trict leaders to their followers to be used
| where it will do the most good
Tonight the campaign closes in blaze OF
| oratory and fireworks. The east side will
| be the battle ground of the last skirmishes
| Today that territory is being traversed by
| scores of ice wagons bearing legends re-
| minding the poor population of the scan.
dals of the ice trust and limiting at Var
| Wycks connection with the same. 1t is
| one OF the most effective campaign methods
yet adopted. Wherever the wagons appear
| they recall the terrors of last summer to
| the mothers of children, and remind lem
OF the ruthless avarice of the trust.
| Uncertainty as to the Result.
Upon the very eve of the election there is
! still uncertainty Of the outcome and claims
| are put forward by both sides with half
| hearted confidence. Even such a we'll
| posted politician as Senator Platt declines
| 10 estimate maJorities. He says he Is con-
| ndent or the success of the anti-Tammany
| ticket, but he cannot forecast the vote.
Mr. croker for his part is equally cautious.
1T is understood that the estimates of his
district leaders failed him this time and
! they were forced to confess that the un-
| usual conditions puzzled them.
Inc polls that are annually made by some
| of the newspapers failed to bring satisfac-
| tory results. The political experts on the
great dailies who know their New York
and in the past have been able to Judge the
game in advance, will tell you confidentiallv
oil lal
t1ng men are cautious and the odds flicker
Iammany has failed this year to dunn a
Dig fund into the betting ring as usual,
and the Tammany ileelers are holding ia ST
| to their dough"
Committees Making Prophecies,
The campaign committees of the two par
| ties are making prophecies, to be sure, but
1t Is well understood that they are for ef-
feet. The Tammany committee claims a
democratic victory by 1900. The republic
can county committee claims plurality of
10000 for Low. But the people who are
best posted won't claim anything
The main cause of all this uncertainty is
the probability of the extensive scratching
of candidates. 1t is already in the air that
Tammany will trade off, If possible some
OF its candidates for the county offices and
the district attorneyship. The head of the
ticket is not of much concern to Tam
many as some of the subordinate candi-
dates.
After ALL the main fight is for the district
attorney ship SO far as Tammany is con-
cerned. Not only is Tammany interested
in getting its own man in that place, bat
1t Is more vitality necessary to keep Jerome
out. 1t would be far preferable to have a
republican mayor than to have Judge
Jerome in the district attorneys chair. He
has declared in advance what he will do to
Tammany and it's abuses, and there is no
doubt for an instant that he will do It,
There are some gentlemen in Tammany
who would take to the tall timber If Jerome
were elected.
Others Fighting Shepard.
But the knowledge Of the importance OF
carrying this Office is not confined to Tam
many. Those who are fighting vice realize
| that their hands will be tied without a
district attorney who will conscientiously
! aid them, and they are concentrating their
efforts upon this part of the ticket. 1t is
said by those in a position to know that
down on the east side there is tremendous
undercurrent of support for Jerome. Those
poor denizens Of the tenements have not
very much in this world; many, to their
misfortune, have daughters. and the rule OF
Tammany's police has made it come to pass
that men curse the day their daughters
were born. Jerome has promised to rectify
the evils which Tammany fosters, and the
people believe he will.
If Jerome is elected it will be by this
silent, protesting vote of the tenement
house residents. and not the phillipics of
the clergy and press. These fathers know,
as no one who lives out of the east side
knows, the real extent of the horrors of
Tammany'S police miSrule. 1t is only a
question of whether they have the power
to overcome Tammanys influence in their
own midst 1t Is no light task and one
cannot find people in that section who con-
fidently predict Tammany's overthrow. The
cheerful predicters are found up town,
where every mans neighbor feels the same
way about Tammany's abuses, but where
not every one knows Tammany's strength
and the insidiousness of it's power.
Sentiment North of the Tenderloin.
North of the tenderloin the Indictment
against Tammany is for the misuse of the
public money and the prostitution of public
office to private ends. On the east side the
indictment charges the spoilation of the
home-the meager. squalid, dirty home per-
haps, but all the home they have.
Within the past few days it has become
more evident that the sympathies and in
fiuence of many great corporate interests
of New York are with Tammany That is
explained by the fact that the corporations
are timid of change from the compact
organization of Tammany to a conglom-
crate fusion of opposition factions Then.
too some OF them find 1t easier to get what
they want from Tammany than from a
stricter organization.
1t Is uncertain how far this sympathy of
the corporations will help Tammany. The
ballot is sacred; no man knows how his
neighbor votes. 1t thus becomes possible
for voters to disobey orders and vote ac
cording to their conscience. Coercion is
not possible and moral suasion a doubtful
quantity.
City Normally Democratic.
One remembers that New York is DEM
ocratic city, normally; that in the last cleo
ton it rolled up big democratic major
ity; that Tammany is strongly intrenched
and fighting against threatened extermina-
ton; that 1t possesses organisation, money
and influences which reaches in many direc-
tions and one asks, why will not Tammany
win?
But then, there Is the murH1ur of a popu-
lar revolution; a combination of all civic
elements of honesty, good citizenship and
hostility to vice. Some think they can feel
the trembling of landslide which IL it
should materialize, would sweep everything
before 1t in one tremendous expression of
disapproval OF Tammany.s rule But who
can gauge in advance the area OF popu-