The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1908-05-22
THE NEGRO VOTE

The Chicago Inter ocean discusses
the negro vote in a way which indi-
Gates that it is seriously alarmed
about the effect of this vote upon the
coming presidential struggle.
BY the census of 1900 there were
in the country 2,O65, 989 negro men OF
voting age. 1t is assumed that this
numebr has increased by this time
to 2,273, 900. In the south these votes
will not avail to give the states to the
republican candidate, unless we con-
slider Delaware, Maryland, and West
Virginia as belonging to the south.
! They were once included in the Sun
ny South and Maryland is still called
| Southern State, and has become a
doubtful state But in a number OF
! Northern States the negro vote is 50
| large that it threatens to hold the bal
ance of power. In other words, in
comparatively close years the negro
vote, if thrown sOlidly for one or an
other Of the great parties, will deter
mine the result
Illinois has been giving large To-
publican m9jorities. but in 1888 il
COVE but $4,000. and in 1892 it gave
the democrats a plurality OF 27,00O.
Should the state revert to as close
elections as in 1884, 1889 and 1892 the
negro vote, which is estimated at 3d.
/ 600, might decide the issue. OF course
| it is possible that the election this
year will not be so close, and it is also
| likely that the negro vote will not BE-
solid for the democrats. But there
are other northern states where the
negro vote is likely 10 have much
more influence.
In Indiana, where the pendulem
habit long prevailed, the republican
plurality never reached 1000 in any
presidential year from 1880 to 1892.
inclusive, and in two of the presiden
tial years it went democratic Since
1892 it has been steadily republican.
but it is not by any menas certain
that this year the white republican
plurality may not be so reduced that
the 10000 negro voters may hold the
balance of power. How many of thees
voters the republican party may be
able to hold is uncertain.
Ohio has $4,000 negro voters. and
they have a decided hostility to Mr.
Taft and President Roosevelt New
York gave great republican majorities
in some recent years, but at the cleo
ton of the last state ticket it elected
all democrats, except the candidate
for governor. It, has $4,000 negro
voters, and if they vote together
against the republican nominee, it is
not improbable that they will holI
the balance of power
1t is estimated that the $4,000 negro
voters in New Jersey. 5000 in Dei;.-
ware, 5000 in Connecticut and 1900
in Massachusetts might change the
political complexion of those states.
and it is certainly possible that some
of them may be found in the Demo
cratic column.
The Inter Ocean says that Pennsyl-
vania has given less than 10000 in a
national election and that the state
contains almost $4,000 negro voters.
Calculations on Pennsylvania going
democratic in a national election are
however, pretty wild. The negro vot-
ers of Kentucky and Missouri are also
mentioned, but if the democrats of
those states are only ordinarily rea-
sOnable it will hardly need any negro
vote to give them to the democrats
candidates.
OF course, discussions of this sort
are largely speculative. The Nation
al Conventions of both parties are vet
to be held, and what takes place a:
each will have much influence on the
result. 1t is plain that the republi-
cans are alarmed about the negro vote
but how it is to be divided, if divided
at all, remains yet to be seen. If is
pretty clear that every possible means
to reconcile the negroes to the party
they have always supported will find
favor, but to what 20 what extent
they will succeed in doing so is as vet
-COurier-Journal
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