The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-11-19
DOWNING THE kINc-PINs.

uncti0n to his soul that ne could pre- dict the result of the late elections that man must have experienced se-
 we're jar when the returns were all in While in some instances the results
 were what might naturally have been
 expected. in others things went decid-
 ediy and essentially wild.
 | Take the great Western State of
 Ohio as beginning. Normally, 1t is a Republican State. Leaving out the I phenomenal vote for Roosevelt, and
 going going back to 1908 we find the 1 Republican candidate for Governor
 elected by d plurality of nearly IT,
 to in round numbers. That plurality
 has gone gfimmering and in its place I the Democratic candidate has plu- | rality of thousands. We have not the exact figures in mind, but the plural | ity is a large one, sufficient to aston
 ish both parties.
 Then there is Pennsylvania as an-
 other object lesson. Again leaving out | the Roosevelt vote and gong back to l 1908 we find the Republican plurality I for the State Treasurer was slightly
 over 2ss,o0o. That plurality disap- | peared like last years snow and in its place the Democrat, Berry. is elected by really large plurality. Without I having the exact figures, we know 1t
 runs up into the five figure class. It is amply large to make the Republi- cans feel upwards for the ground. In New York City as we all know po- litical affairs have been at ~sixes and sevens for some time. In a square fight between Democrat and Republi- can the latter would stand no show, but 1t was not square fight. There were varied interests at stake that would have caused confusion, without the intervention of Hearstism, but when he projected himself into the fray. with his unadulterated gall, his unlimited bank account and his spec tacular and discreditabie methods of campaigning. he knocked out all call culations.
 If we should be asked to give some reason for these anomalies in the po- litica1 world, the reply would be in one word--Bosses. There was no special reason, for example, why Governor Herrick should have been so complete ly showed under in Ohio. While he has not made a model executive, there was nothing In his record that should have caused such slump. But there was Boss Cox. of Cincinnati, who cast his baleful shadow over the entire State. There was a revolt against him and his methods among the decent Re- publicans, and because they Yconceived
 that he was trying to dominate the entire State, and because they thought
 he was dominating Herrick. they downed both of them. While we can not speak of the result as straight
 Democratic victory, we can safely re- gard it is as a distinct rebuke to, and victory over, the Republican boss. It was a good lesson. and will serve a good purpose.
 In Pennsylvania we know that the heart of the trouble lay in Philadel- phia. NIn no city of the Union had conditions become more unbearabic than they. were in that one, When shAh9S SCb tO tAtCiA hhdoN always be exchange. we are told, and they had reached a condition in Phil adeiphia that could no longer be borne by the decent people of any party. While the better classes of Republi- cans in other portions of the State felt no direct interest in the affairs of the great city. that city had be- come such a foul, sweltering mass of corruption that good people through out the State determined to rebuke it. and the result was a large plurality for Berry, the Democratic candidate for State Treasurer. Again it was not a straight Democratic victory, but a victory of decent citizenship against corrupt Republican bosses. Another needed lesson was given.
 And the boss was in evidence in New York city. United, the Democrats would have everything their own way there. but when Tammany with its arrogance and intolerance. contemptu- ously brushed Jerome aside and nom- gerous mine. Jerome has made one of the best prosecuting officers the city has had in a long while. He was fear less. honest and detWmined In the dis charge of his duties, land theNbest ele- ment of New York citizenship wanted him retained. They resented the ac- tion of Tammany in refusing to nom mate him and Mcclellan suffered in, consequence. If the Tammany bosses had endorsed and nominated Jerome, McClellan's plurality would have been a safe and decided one, as it should have been, for he deserved it. Now, If he retains his office. it will only be by a scant plurality and that after bitter legal Eight. Again the boss and the lesson.
 Our Republican contemporary, The New York Mail. feels somewhat disap- pointed and aggrieved because it's par ty friends refused to vote their straight party ticket, but it should rather re- joice that so many of them had the honesty and manhood to turn against bosses who were known to be corrupt, and to lend their assistance in the good work of elevating the political citizenship of the country. It is an evidence tbat mere party name will not always bind men in support of