Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-10-29
VOTERS INDIFFERENT
Hard to Arouse Enthusiasm
in Ohio.
LEADERS ARE UNEASY
PROBABLE THAT REPUBLICAN
PLURALITY WILL BE LOWERED.
The Real Contest is Over the Legisla-
ture and Election Of United
States Senator.

Special Dispatch to The Evening Star
COLUMBUS, Ohio. October @.-On 'he
eve of the election an omlnouS cam oFei
comes the field of politics in this state Use
republicans claim to be no less confident OF
carrying the state by the normal repup-
Ncan plurality, and yet there are unknown
factors enough in the contest TO make TIE
leaders wonder. after all, whether the foiit-
ical cycle in Ohio may not have returned TO
the point when the democrats are Que 10
return to power for a biief space. Ii mas
been hard to get an expression from 'hS
people in this campaign. In the political
meetings on both sides there have been
demonstrations by the regular ciaquers,
but applause and cheers from these are
not m staken even by the casual observer
for real expressions of popular interest ana
sympathy in the campaign.
For the most part the audiences at tie
meetings have not heen responsive: Inc
addresses have mostly teen listened 10 IN
silence. Fairly large aud:e noes nave greet
ed the better class OF the cdin1,dish
speakers as n rule, but the speakers nave
rarely been able to tell whether their arsu-
mentS were effective or not.
Both sides have done great deal OF
campaign work. The stump work has
been attrs ctive, Because it has been move.
mayor Johnson, fly ns from county 10 coun-
ty in his automobile, with the circus teht
hardly more picturesque than Sen itof
Hanna, Colonel Herrick and Senator Hard
ing in the special tran which tn rei'uo-
lican state COMMITTEES placed at the + q $
posai.
Change in Campaign Tactics.
A change In campaign tactics. which has
been coming on for the past ten years. VS.
most noticeable in the present amp Ign.
The oId-time plan of holding political meet
ings in the country school houses has peeii
abandoned in Ohio. aud withit the small
orator has been laid on the shelf Ire
country newspaper carries the political ar
guments to the back districts now, Whca IL
was the cross roads orators business 10
discriminate in days some b.. Win the con-
struction of good reads and the hu ldl3G CT
the electric interurban railroads. the farmer
finds himself now able to come 10 the cites
to hear the big speakers. and he Tow de-
nlands the best. So the Campa .gn man.
ayers find it cheapes ana best TO put the
money they have to eXpend for speake s IN
a few really able men and send them over
the state in style and comfort, 50 that
they speak III all the popular ce1feTs
during the campaign. In political manage-
ment as in business and industries. the
movement of the day seems to be toward
concentration and combination.
But what has been the result of all this
campaign work? What are the people OF
Ohio really thinking about the issues and
the parties? That is what Chairman Dick
ana CHAIRMAN oaleH WOuiu llhe " Alo"
just now Next Tuesday night they will
know. Until then they may speculate and
hope. The general public seems to think
the republicans will win. Probably one
even bet on the result anywhere in the
state But the general public is generally
expecting that what has happened will hap
pen again. 1t may be that this opinion is
based on nothing more reliable than the
knowledge that Ohio has been giving Il re-
publican plurality quite regularly for some
years.
Normal Republican Plurality 10000.
The average republican plurality in the
last ten years has been about $4,000. That
seems to be pretty substantial plurality,
and well sustained To overcome that the
republicans must be demoralized as to their
organization. and the democrats enthusi-
astic and united. The fact is that the re-
publicans are somewhat troubled with dis
sensions but it nowhere amounts to de-
moralization, while the democrats are not
united. On the contrary, there is very
considerable element of anti-Johnson deInc-
Gratis who take no pains to conceal the TACT
that they propose to vote against him IN
the hope that republican plurality may
be rolled up against him sufficient to bury
him out of sight as political factor in the
State for all time.
Most of this Johnson opposition In the
democratic party, however, will express
itself at the polls in q stay-at-home vote
The Ohio democrat is a stckler as rule.
and when he votes at all is pretty sure to
vote the straight ticket of his party. Re
publicans are much more easily induced to
vote the ticket of the opposition. Ohio
prosperous. There will be big rural vote
and the republicans will get their full
strength out there. But they will lose in
the iron and coal regions The shutting
down in the iron and coal industries will
lose the republicans thousands of votes. for
these employees are mostly republicans.
MI Hanna an Arbitrary Leader.
Senator Hanna has proved too arbitrary
a party leader to be popular with all the
elements. He deals too directly, and lacks
the diplomacy and tact of Mckinley. The
result is that there is an element of the
party always on the point of revolt against
his leadership 1t is sure to cost the parry
some votes. On the whole, it seems prob
able that there will be considerable falling
off in the total vote this year. and that the
republicans will get little the worst of
this. The registration is fairly good, but
registration is required only in the cities.
There politics is developed into fine art,
and perfect organizations force the voter to
register. TIL voter must dodge the ward
committeeman on four days to escape regis
tration. There is but one day for voting
-Four years ago IN the guberratorial cleo
ton there were about 100000 votes cast.
The vote next Tuesday will probably fall
short of that by 10000 or 5000. 1t there
fore seems reasonable to expect that the re-
publican plurality win be reduced we'll down
toward C0.000 on the head of the state
ticket.
But many who regard the result on the
state ticket certain to be a republican
victory think there is a chance for Tom l..
Johnson to succeed in his attempt to elect
a democratic legislature-the chief object
being, of course, to prevent the return Of
Mr. Hanna to the Senate.
A glance at the present condition In the
general assembly, however. shows that he
has only chance to do this There are
thirty-three members of the senate. john
son must secure seventeen members to con-
troll that body. The present senate is COM
posed of twenty-one republicans and twelve
democrats. Last fall ON the vote for sec
rotary of state. there being no legislature
to elect the democrats carried only six SEN
atorial districts, having a total member
ship OF ten senators. Ii Johnson can carry
the Columbus and Toledo districts and
those which Bigelow (democraD carried
last fall he will have thirteen senator's The
twelfth district went republican last fall by
thirty-two votes, the thirtieth republican
by o22 votes and the thirty-third republican
by 369 votes. The joint fifteenth-sixteenth
district. now represented by republican, is
also fairly ranked as doubtful one so
that johnson must hold all the senatorial
districts carried by Bigelow. last fall. the