Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1903-12-23
FROM WASHINGTON
Washington. Dec. %.

y
have been INDUCING in a good deal
of discussion and speculation as to
presidential candidates lately. Ii
is a fovorite theme of conversation
wherever politicians do congre-
gate. Apropos of this subject the
information given me the other day
by one of the leading democrats
of New York State may prove of
intense interest to the democrats
of the country and may guide them
right IN making up their choice of
candidate. l asked him the
straight question about Judge Par
ker and his strength in the State
of New York, inasmuch as the
Parker boom seems 20 have taken
on new lease of life since the
withdrawal of Grover Cleveland.
He answered me unhesitatinolv
that there was much misinforma-
ton concerning Judge Parker and
his strength in New York. He
said that Judge Parker. instead of
being a strong man really was a
weak man.
All that the people know about
him is that he was elected Chief
Judge of the New York Court of
Appeals by about 10000 majority
in 1897, but they do not know how
that result was brought about,
said he. The truth of the matter"
he continued, and to quote him
almost literally, is that he is the
result of a huke election, and that
under normal conditions he would
have been defeated from 10000 to
$4,000 majority.
Any man can take the official
election returns of the State of New
York for the year 1897 and figure
out the result for himself. Ii will
Toe remembered that there were
three tickets for Mayor of the city
of Greater New York in that year.
The democratic, or Tammany tick
ct. was headed by Robert Van
Wyck, the republican ticket 10y
i. +. Tracy, Platt's candidate.
and the citizens Union ticket by
Seth Low, the present Mayor.
The democratic candidate for
Chief Judge of the Court of APP
peals was Parker and the republi-
can candidate was Wallace, a very
unpopular candidate. because he
had been forced on the ticket by
Platt. On the Citizens Union
ticket there was no candidate for
Chief Judge Of the Court of APP
peals, and on that very circum-
stance hangs the election of Judge
Parker. The Citizens Union tick
ct got nearly 100000 votes in
Greater New York, and of this
number Of votes about three
fourths of them were republican
on account of the unpopularity of
Tracy, Plat 5 candidate for Mayor,
and the other one-fourth were dem
ocratic votes. Very few of these
voters were sufficiently interested
in the election of either Judge
Parker or Wallace to mark vote
for them outside of their own
column. so il will be seen that
nearly the whole of the 5000
votes were practically thrown away
so far as the election of Chief
Judge was concerned. If the three
fourths of that vote thus thrown
away had been cast for the republic
can candidate for Chief Judge of
the Court of Appeals and the other
one-fourth had been cast for the
democratic candidate, the dem
ocratic candidate would have had
only about So, 900 majority in the
city of Greater New York, instead
of the 1877 900 majority that he did
get. Inasmuch as the republican
candidate Wallace beat Judge Par
ker up the State, which always is
republican, by about 10000 it will
be seen that Judge Parker would
have been defeated for election by
over 10000 majority. Indeed, by
a greater majority than that if the
republican candidate had not been
very unpopular. The people did
not like him because Tom Platt
had forced him on the ticket to pay
a debt. Wallace had few years
before made Tom Platt receiver of
a New England railroad when the
former was a Judge Of the United
States District Court. That gave
Platt the opportunity to make a
few hundred thousand dollars for
doing nothing, and he in return for
the favor forced the nomination of