Arizona republican., 1904-11-21
PHOENIX, ARIZONA, NOV. 21, 1904.
The Power of Reform In the People.


 In Massachusetts the democratic candidate for governor ran 10000 ahead of the presidential ticket and was elected. In New York the democratic candidate fer governor ran 100000 ahead of the presidential ticket. In Rhode Island the democratic candi- date for governor ran more than 15,OOO ahead of the presidential ticket. In Michigan the democratic candidate for governor ran 9OCOO ahead of the presidential ticket. In Missouri the democratic candidate for governor ran 5O,OOO ahead of the presidential ticket and was elected In Colorado the democratic candidate for governor ran 5000 ahead of the presidential ticket and was elected. In Minnesota the democratic candidate for governor ran 1s5,0OO ahead of the presidential ticket and was elected. This prompts the New York World to remark that 'the voters know how to split their tickets when they wish to do so."
 Commenting upon these statements of fact, the Washington Post points out that the most significant feature of the election results, aside from the selection of candidates and party tri- umphs, is the emphatic demonstration that the voters can accomplish any re- form they desire within their party organizations. and regardless of rules and ballot regulations. This has been ,Ta cI,1 fv1 hn states in which governors and other state officers of one party have been elected, while the opposing party's can didates for presidential electors have received very large majorities. All the familiar talk of political managers about the impOssibility of any large number of voters scratching their bal lots has been shown to be fallacious and the fact has been demonstrated that the American citizens are begin ming to vote as they think.
 In the old days, fifteen or twenty years ago, the scratched ballot played but an insignificant part in election results. Men voted the straight ticket, particularly in presidential years, when the enthusiasm aroused over the stan dard bearers almost invariably carried the nominees for other offices through with the winner at the head of the ticket. So general was this rule that men with shady regulations whc wanted to run for office waited for the nomination until presidential year. The adoption of the Australian ballot law. in a modified form. by most of the states marked the first long step to- ward independent voting. Possessors of the right of franchise learned to study their tickets and to discriminate between candidates for minor offices, while voting with their parties on na- tional issues. There has been mark ed development of this independent, thinking voting in municipal elections for some years past, but this is the first time in which it has been so emphatically manifested in great na- tionaI contest. The result is a notice that political managers must hereafter appeal to the intelligence rather than to the partisanship of the voters.
 The ilIustrations of this independent sentiment and the courage to record 1t at the polls come from so many diff ferent sections of the country that 1t must be acc ted as general, and not due to issues # differences in any par ticular locality.
 Other states than Massachusetts, Rhode Island Michigan. New York. Wisconsin. Missouri and Nebraska. while not showing such marked con trast in the voting, presented returns which show that the people are very generally placing merit above partis- anship, particularly in the selection of their state officials, the officers with whom they are in closest touch and about whose administration they are most vitally and directly concerned.
 All of these results presage a revi- sion of campaign methods in the future. Nominees for office will have to be nominated on account of their fitness, rather than by reason of their party service, and there will be less of the hurrah and redfire claptrap de- signed to catch the floating" vote.
 The appeal in the future will have to be made to the men who think They have long held the balance of power in election contests, and they seem to have learned how to use 1t effectively. -----s.
 Some investigator with good deal of leisure time at his disposal claims