The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-10-16

From the New York Evening Sun. Columbus CA few days ago there was a widespread impression in political circles in the east and throughout the country that in the Ohio election this year Judson Harmon, the democratic candidate for governor, would win, and that Judge Taft would carry the state.
 Today there is not one democrat in authority at the state headquarters here who will even predict for the billboards or private consumption the election of Harmon unless Bryan can sweep the state by something like tidal wave; yet the best informed campaign managers insist, with some show of reason that Bryan will carry the state by 4o.OOo.
 At republican state headquarters State Chairman Williams says without hesita- tion that Governor Harris, who is can didate for reelection. will run 25OOo to 30,OOO ahead of Taft in the state. and, by bringing out a full vote, may pull Taft through. Maybe United States poli- ticians have seen stranger conditions, maybe not.
 Chairman Williams says further that 50 days ago 1t looked hopeless for Taft in the state, but that conditions are now improving everN day, and that Governor Harris may be Able to pull him through. Williams says that the state may poll this year total of 100000 votes, and that the Debs and Hisgen votes com bined will not exceed 50,000, not enough to affect the result one way or the other.
 He says that Taft and Bryan must fight 1t out, win or lose, on practically straight party lines.
 ~ 1P fl,a 6orr1 ocratic national committee for Ohio, made a statement today which may make Ma tional Chairman Frank Hitchcock and other managers of Judge Taft's campaign sit up and take notice. Garber, by the way, is the real power behind the throne in the management of the democratic campaign in this state, and is one of the best informed politicians in Ohio. In reference to the labor vote turning to Bryan, he said:
 q" T want to say publicly. and make it just as emphatic as possible, that labor organizations, as such, are not working in the interest of MT. Bryan in Ohio. It is true that the labor vote is turning to Bryan, but as individual voters, and not as unions or organizations.
 ".As for Samuel Gompers, he has no more influence in the Ohio campaign than the man in the moon. We don't know him in this campaign, and our state com mittee has had no communication with him whatever.
 The labor men are turning to Bryan because so many of them are out of em- ployment, and they blame the present in dustrial conditions to the enforcement of the policies of President Roosevelt. They fear that those policies will continue if Taft is elected
 Scores of labor men, many of them republicans, have come to me and said that if Bryan should be elected he could not paralyze the railroads and other in- would hold him in check, but if Taft should be elected he would have the same Senate to back him up in carrying out the Roosevelt policies.
 The Roosevelt policies and the threat of their continuance will carry Ohio for Bryan and elect him. You may class Ohio as one of the northern states ab- solutely safe for Bryan.
 Chairman Williams of the republican state committee, said today that he was hopeful that the speeches to be made by Judge Taft this, week in the small manu- featuring towns of eastern Ohio would do some good toward saving the state.
 iDemocratic National Committeeman Garber in his talk went into details of past and present history of Ohio politics to explain why he counts on Bryan car rying the state by at least 40,0O4 plural ity. Like State Chairman Williams of the republican committee, he figures that third party votes will not affect the main result this year.. MT. Garber said at the outset of his remarks:
 Tn the campaign of 1896 the demo- cratic state committee of Ohio received and expended exactly $27OO, and we did not get a dollar from the national com mittee. This year we are spending more than s27o0 every week, and have already sent several thousand dollars to the na- tional committee to help out in other states. In 1896 the republican candidate. Major Mckinley, an Ohio man, was one of the most popular men with the peo- ple who ever ran for the office of Pres ident.
 ".M A. Hanna, the republican na- tioual chairman. never had an equal as an organizer, and campaign manager. Yet with all that. however. and prestige