The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1902-11-13
News and Observer.

News and observer.
The result of the election in Nortl
Carolina shows that every calcula
tion made by the Republicans mis-
married. We were told early in tn,
campaign that, wherever the hum o
machinery made the music of pro
gress, there the Republicans woult
make their largest gains. This pa
per, in reply to such claims, predicted
that where business was most activ.
and wherever labor was most intelli
gent and skilled, there the Demo
cratic majority would be the largest
AS in other instances the result show.
that these predictions have beer
verified.
The history of politics in Nortl
Carolina, with few exceptions, has
been that with the increase of the
factories has come the increase o.
Democratic majorities. The ninth
district is full of factories and diver
sitied industries. The opposition &c
the Democrats determined to test
the sentiment of the mill owners and
mill operatives in that district. and
they nominated Mr. George B. Hiss,
president of the Cotton Spinners
Association, for Congress against
the Democratic candidate. The only
counties in the district not at all
affected by town, city and manu-
featuring interests are the big Re.
publican counties of Madison and
Mitchell. The great manufacturing
counties of Mecklenburg, CASTOR,
Lincoln, Cleveland and Catawba were
relied upon to give Mr.. Hiss enough
majorities, when added to the Re-
publican majorities of Mitchell and
Madison, to elect him to Congress.
What was the result? Mr.. Hiss lost
Mecklenburg by $500, CASTOR l..
400, Cleveland 1,6OO, Lincoln 500
and Catawba 300, and did not carry
single county in which there is a
cotton mill or other large manufac.
turing establishments. He was de-
feated by more than 5000 majority
in the district. What does this
prove? Plainly, that the skilled
mechanics in North Carolina and
other capable workers are as strong
Democrats as the farmers, and have
not been Influenced in the least by
the Pritchard protection sOphistry
Take the vote in the other big cot
ton mill counties in the State and il
will be found that every one of them
is in the Democratic column. Here
they are: Alamance 500 majority
Durham 900, Forsyth 200, Guilford
800, Rockingham 1,6OO, Cumber
land 400, Cubarrus $50, Rowan /,
400, Richmond 700, Stanly 600
Rutherford 700 The same thing il
true of such counties as Wake
Wayne, Johnston, New Hanover
Halifax, Vance, Granville, Franklin
and other counties which have cotton
mills and other large manufacturing
establishments.
This item from the Greensboro
Telegram shows how the men who
work in the Cone mills voted as be
tween Mr.. Patterson, whose nOmina
ton was '.granied" by one or two
Republican mill men, and Mr.. kitchir
in the Fifth district:
"Mr. Patterson got poor comfort
in Proximity-a cotton mill settle
ment where he must have thought
his commercial Democracy woulC
prove especially attractive. He re
ceived a smaller vote than either Hill
or Long,
1t is well 10 bear these facts il
mind. 1t shows how the sO-called In
dependent and Republican campaign
utterly fell down in the only section
and among the only people upol
whom they relied to make gains il
the campaign.