Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-09-20
For Vice President
CHARLES W. FAIRBANKS
Democracy's Progress Backward.
Of Indiana.

Democracy's Progress Backward.
The Democratic mnth"maticians are
..tIgurinE M" percentages that show a
Curious Democratic Triumph IN IN"
Marie election. Figures are fr"e TO al.
Fantastic combinations of them ana
radiant ,lcdurtluns ana SoothsayinES
erased" on IN" basel, - fabric of pre-
y:ginr. nr,. nice to anus" the children
with. Is it Il pot Of gold OF ii h"dful OF
,,uIJ tricks that the Democratic pill
trims to The. Land Behind tn" Rainbow
ARE Juggling back with them? In 1870
IN. Formulation Of Main" was 6G1,nH6. In
1900 it WAS G9i, los Here is the Demo-
cratic vnt" for Governor in Pf"sld"ntih
wears beginning with 1872: 1892, 53,0lN;
1886, "a ~: l'oo :'N.'i. 1904 tun"fficiaI).
Il no COMPARED With the figures of
1852 when gold aud silver Democrats
were united Their" is i D"m"'ratc loss ,
Of 3.7i>. The Republican vote for
Goycrnnr in 1892 WAS g. 6o9 The cum
ofirciaD Republican vote this year IS ~ |
49," a Republican gain of 1".Ni. IN"
It,publicans haV" been gaining, and
their gIin is out Of proportion TO the
slight inrrr.s" in population of IN"
Stat. The Democrats have been los
ing. Their apparent gain since ID"
looks large. hut it is Il gain upon IN"
smallest vote hut On" N>g6I which they
have east foe many years. Tn" Maine
election seems to show that Il good
many II, mocr,tts hay" acquired thu
habit of voting tn" Republican, ticket.
II certainly shows that Their. NJ. not as
many Maine Democrats rs there Wcr"
twelve years ago. New York sun.
The great new spnp"r that shines for
IN sums ~ the Main" situation fairly
and strongly in tn" ab"v" paragraph.
II il good expression Of tn" "utsi''"
view Of tin" Maine election. Tn" cleo
tiun of n rrI rrscntativc here or 4 sheriff
there where Republicans had been
elected. in earlier years gives som"
democrats. who enjoy d"r"iVing them
selves nnIy less than d"CciNin- others
a pr,trxt for shouting about gains.
one or two Democratic papers to hid
their humiliation and Chagrin, after
their absurd nntc-clrrtion claims. hay"
even proclaimed to their readers III
great headlines that tn" Main" Demo-
Gratis won "a glorious victory, S"pt"m-
her II. The sun makes il plain that
such radiant deductions are useful only
to 3musr children with. 1t is only n
ho,iful Of gold bricks that the Demo-
Gratis of Main" have gathered in from
the end Of tnrir rainbow.
Exrcpt in 1896 the Democratic party
Of Maine never east 50 few votes in a
Presidential year since the Republican
party was born. as it did in 1000. And
now il is Roasting of "succeSS'' and
victory" ana gains because it has
struggled Il little away from that low
water mark instead Of going out of tx
prratc campaigns it waged. this year,
with the most lavish use of money. and
with the aid OF the appropriately of the
prohibitory law in certain sections. it
Still pollrd several thousand fewer votes
thnn it did 4 dozen years ago. ON
the other hand. the Republicans polled
over l0000 more votes than they did l.
years ago. and rolled the largest total
vote. with the single exception of 1896.
of any year during the half century
that they have dominated Maine polti-
cal affairs. Where the Democrats
gained Il sheriff or two or half Il dozen
representatives.. il was due to local
complications and the enforcement
town or county in question is wavering
in its allegiance to Republican princi-
plies.
The great gain of the Maine Demo-
Gratis may be shown in another way, if
we go back A years to 1860. In that
year. with the Civil War coming as the
result Of Democratic treachery and in
competence in Washington. the Maine
Democrats succeeded in rolling up a
bigger vote than they did this year.
OF course, they were beaten that year.
but they We're beaten almost twice as
badly this year. when they are claim
ing gains and ''victory''. As mat
ter Of fact, the Maine Democrats are so
absolutely dazed ut the extent of their
crushing defeat that they probably
don't realize yet how thoroughly they