Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1910-09-15
What Next In Politics?


| (Boston Transcript.
| While this is a good day to renem-
her that one swallow does not make
summer. Names returns are so sehsa-
lticnal in character as to make 'heh
INTERPRETATION Impossible ON any baS;s
other than as a portent of Republican
ldisaster. In 1890, when the party sui
fered throughout the land the most
serious defeat in its history. Maine
elected its four Republican congress
men as usual, q Republican governor
and. of course, a Republican Legisla
Itura Today. Maine has permitted two
Republicans to go to Congress pE
| nmraIitieS of three hundred and two
hundred, respectively, while the two
| successful Democrats have won by
pluralities of as many thousands. u
has elected a Democratic governor ana
mira bile dictu-a Democratic Legis-
| lature. If Maine proves real barom-
| eter of the rest of the country. the
Democrats will have majority OF tW"
| or three to one in the next House OF
congress: they would soon recover the
Senate while the next Presidency
would almost inevitably be theirs. The
one ray of Republican comfort in the
situation lies in the possibility that per
haps in those States where the insur-
gents have come into control az the
party machinery. it may he more sue
cCssful. The candidates in Maine have
| been essentially REGULAR: that per
chance. may be the trouble.
| Aside from the results in Vermont
which. intelligently interpreted. We're
not abnormal. this overturn in Maine
seems entirely in keeping With the
| course of events. Mr.. FOssS election
in our 18th District last spring seemed
| a remarkable achievement. Followed
by the election of Ravens in a rock
ribbed Republican district in central
New York. and both coming after an
extraordinary increase in the Demo-
craft, plurality in DeArmond's Mis-
souri, district. the politicians began to
| take notice tina, something was coming
pretty fast. While in two of these
| cases it YVES easy to say that the Re-
| puh!canS by a laundering nomination
had played into the hands OF their OPP
ponents. it could not be forgotten that
in Republican Years Republican blum
| dcring escapes punishment, if not in
deed attention altogether. The meT
| whom the dominant party in this and
| other states has elected in its years Of
| plenty suggest that an injudiciouS
! domination is not in itself sufficient to
account for party defeat. Similarly the
| liquor question may now be assigned
| for large share of the blame but in
some form this issue has been troubling
| the Maine voters for IA generation.
Win the Stur9iS law the members of
| Congress have nothing to do. and the
| Maine voters are sufficiently intelli-
/ gent to split tickets On the Australian
ballot as occasion requires. If they
have beaten the Republican state tick
| ct on the liquor question. they have
| overwhelmed the national ticket by
lmajori.ies nearly as decisive and much
more surprising for totally different
reasons.
| But straight-Out Democratic vic
| tories tell only half the story of the
present unrest. Changes within the
| republican party are quite as full of
| meaning. The voluntary retirement
OF Hale, Aldrich, Flint and Piles, all
| regulars of the old guard, proved an
early straw. The defeat in the pri-
marjes OF other Republicans of the
same brand who sought to remain in
public life, like Senator Burrows of
Michigan, Representatives Hull of
Iowa and Mckinlay and McLachlan of
| California. besides all the Kansas
| regulars, betokened strong drift
| of the tide. The nomination of Bass
| in New Hampshire, and the over
whelming success of LaFollette in
| Wisconsin. seemed but q continuation
| of the same story. Everywhere the
| conservative forces seemed marked
| for slaughter. either by their own
| party associates or by outsiders This.
| in most cases. meant the Taft Admin
| is-ration. Where is this thing likely
| to stop? What are the limits of pub
| lie discomfort?
1T is useless longer to discuss the
| Speakership of Mr.. Cannon. The Re-
publican caucus will be relieved of
| the task of choosing. With the dis
tricts of nearly third of the coun-
try Democratic for the asking-with
ballot counting only a formality--it
Is comparatively easy for the Demo-
Gratis to pick up enough Northern
districts to make their total a major
ity fraction, and this they now seem
sure to do. But the loss of the House
is the lesser part of the danger. If
the Democrats should carry a number
OF Legislatures. notably that of New
York, giving them the power of APP
portionment under the new census.
they would select for themselves the
inside track in all the congressional
races Of a decade, and the country
would be embarking on ten years Of