The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-07-31

seems to have decided definitely whom
he will vote for.
a Survey OF Four years or eight
the years ago the av-
erage man met on
o"uCdi fieio the street after the
nominations were
mace . answered promptly, Mckinley
or Bryan" This year he hesitates.
ana either asks his interlocutor what
ne is going to do, or he guesses one
is about as good as the other or he
Always has been Republican, and
can see Why" etc., or sit is a salts
Iactlon to know you can vote for
Democrat if you want to-" and so on.
POSITIVE commitments are rare. The
average man is waiting The candi-
yates personally are unexceptionable.
AS Tor the platforms, he will see what
they have to say in their letters of ac-
ceptance. In any case, he is well salts
e aed, ana goes about his work with a
Ieellng of security such as he has not
experienced in recent years. This is
sood. 1t means that revival in bust
ness may not only be expected. but
mas already begun. Exports are in
creaslng, crops are f1ourishing, steel
mills are working overtime, railroads
are getting ready for the greatest traf-
nee next tall they have ever handled,
ldle money is seeking investment
prices are hardening-in all ways are
evidenced the beneficial effects of the
return OF sense to great political
party. The way is clear for the con-
uuct OF campaign upon high lines
upon the relative merits of party or
carnations, party principles and party
e s;nnee ates-Wlthout serious apprehen-
sion OF any kind. Meanwhile the aver
age man waiting is wise When there
is no danger, there need be no haste.
Particularities of the daily and Sun
day and nightly lives of the candidates
are now the most popular features of
our active papers. No detail from this
time ON will escape the sometime
friendly, sometime hostile, but ever
argus eyes of the reporters. Already
we know that the judges favorite
bathing suit is blue, neatly set off with
narrow white stripes, and of propor-
tons shrewdly designed to afford a
striking contrast to the garments worn
by Secretary Tafts Igorrotes at the
Dig fa1r. 1t is expected that this fact
Will be utilized with great effect by the
Springfield Republican in it's mastery
eluc1dauon of the true principles of
neutrality-suspicious.. On the other hand.
the principal meal of the day at Rose
mount is served at o'clock instead of
at noon-a custom wholly diSconsonant
with the traditions of the Grange-and
the judge substitutes a dinner Jacket
Tor the blue oVerallS universally recog-
n1zed as the emblem of best form in
cur agricultural districts. Trust the
Tribune to make the most of this In
eliminating evidence in the weekly edi-
ton founded by II. G. The colonel, be-
ing president, is enabled to draw a
secret service Gordon around his per-
sonal habits, but already sinister ru-
mors are being whispered to the effect
that, on the eve of the battle of San
Juan Hill, he laid himself to rest with
In suit of plutocratic pajamas. Suit
able pictures thereof may be expected
In due time to decorate the artistic
pages of Mr.. Hearst's eolored supple
ments. Thus the good work of APP
peailng to the reason of a free people
will continue undated and unabashed
OF the many estimates of the prob
able outcome of the coming presiden-
tial election, the calculation published
on July 16 by the Evening Sun, though
not entirely acceptable, deserves par
t1cular attention, because the writer is
evidently well informed and disinter-
ested. Before marking what seem to
us some weak points in his computa-
ton, We should remind the reader that
there are now ATS presidential electors
and it follows that, to gain the presi-
dency, nominee must secure 239, or
more than half. Nobody will dispute
the correctness of the assumption that
the Democratic nominee is virtually
certain to carry thirteen states, which,
together, possesses ISL electoral votes
Named in alphabetical order, these
states are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida
Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missis-
sippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South
Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia
The ony state in this list about which
any doubt has been tenable during the
last quarter of century is Kentucky,
which in 1896 gave Mckinley a plural
ity Of Psi popular votes, and twelve out
of it's thirteen electoral votes. 1t is
also true that in 1899 Kentucky elected
Republican governor by a plurality
of 1888, but, in the following year, it
returned to the Democratic column,
where it has since remained.
Of twenty states, which have 1872
electoral votes, and which are set down
as indisputably Republican, we regard
the inclusion of one Eastern and some
Western commemorative as open to
controversy. Disregarding Kansas,
which voted for Weaver in 1892, and
for Bryan in 1896, but which, since
1898, has increased steadily the Repub-
Rhode Island, though, of late, this state
has repeatedly chosen Democratic
governor-we would point out that the
seven electoral votes of Connecticut are
by no means assured to Mr.. Roosevelt
1t is true that the state was carried for
Mckinley in 1896 and 1900, and, dur
ing the last eight years, has thrice
elected a Republican governor; but the
Republican plurality in 1902 was con-
siderably less than third of the figure
attained by Mckinley six years before.
The Democratic nominees for the presi-
dency carried Connecticut in 1876, 1884
and 1892, and if in 1880 Garfield Sc
cured in it a plurality of 1855 it was
because he also managed to carry the
adjoining Empire commonwealth.
Should New York give Judge Parker a
large plurality, he is more likely to be
successful in Connecticut than is his.
competitor. This state, therefore,
should be removed from the table of
certain" Republican states. AS to
Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota,
Utah, Washington and Wyoming, Bry-
an carried every one of them in 1896,
and retained Idaho in 1900. In the last
,oaroad vaar[ MCKINLEY ga ri nv