The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-09-22
THE UPSTATE SITUATION.


because in city and country alike the con
ditions have been the same. Not only
this. but the testimony % Republican,
Fspresenting all sides Of the pressnt fac
tional dispute does not in the least dineI
Whsn il comes 10 discussion OF the prob
able result on election day. Not once,
save in talk with a few Greiner followers
in Erie. have heard the slightest suSgss-
tion that any Republican candidate repre-
senting any faction OF running on any
platform. however progressive could
carry the State against a decent Demo
crat.
The dissatisfaction which the Maine
election revealed in that State Is every
where running riot in upstate New York.
Bn IL IL not in any sense a wrath directed
against one faction OF tho Republican
party: II is not essentially an emotion
roused by the old guard IL IL not IN any
measure a response tn the appeals OF Mr..
Roosevelt. II 10 a great unmisiakaole
disgust with the Republican party OF the
State as a whole. a grim. even vindictiVe
determination TO turn II out Of power. 70
clean house nv destroying party SUI
premacy in New York. II il ccmpre-
neuOeu III we universal N''s
the time has como for a change.
The present contest betwesn n Mr. Roose-
welt and tho New Nationalist bosses on
the ono hand and the old guard bosses on
the other has nowhere been regarded by
the Republicans with whom have talked
as vital. They are interested. they have
their own personal wish as to contestants;
but that its outcome would AFFECT the
party strength or weakness in the state.
this has never been suggested. On the
other hand emphatic declarations TO the
contrary have been made In every com
munity which have visited.
II perfectly clear that while Mr. Roose-
velt's attack pleases many. the pleasure
lies wholly in the fact that II IL hailed a. a
thing essentially destructive. Thousands
Of Republicans seem glad Mr.. Roosevelt
10 attacking certain bosses. because they
are hostile 20 all bosses; hut the moment
you suggest Mr.. Roosevelts constructive
programme, his New Nationalistic doc
trines. instant objection il made. Not all
the apologies at Syracuse for utterances
in Denver have in any measure diminished
thedisapproVal. the distrist these speeches
originally aroused. So far AZ Mr.. Roose-
welt 10 attacking bosses he has the hest
wishes Of q large portion Of the Republican
party. but IL has no bearing on the ques-
ton OF the next State election.
OF the unpopularity % the boss II IL
Unnecessary 20 speak. The boss IN as
unpopular in Erie az in Syracuse. IN
Rochester a. in Troy. But the fact that
Mr.. Roosevelt has allied himself with one
set ~ bosses against another has escaped
no voters notice. In q word. you get the
idea that the voter In determined To act
much moro consistently than Mr.. Roose-
welt. tina, he is against all Republican
bosses irrespective % the side they may
tToversy
IL IN odd 70 SO tho Hughes idea quar-
relling with the Roosevelt theory, the
ideal with the practical In a way,
moreover. u is clear that Il il the Hughes
idea. not the Roosevelt. which has becn
seized upon by tho mass 81 Republican
voters Over and over again Republican
voters have inveighed. not against the
anti Roosevelt bosses but against hos~ism
aRains, the bossism Of Greiner in Erie,
Of Aldridgs In Monroe. They have been
educated by Governor Hughes to believe
all the Republican bosses in New York
a re- had. and should he overturned. Hence
they find little sympathy with Mr.. Roose-
velt's assumption that had boss IL one
that ~ hostile to him.
In precisely the same way il appears
that the mass of the Republican voters
are in no temper TO be satisfied with any
platform declaration. however progress
sive.- They are seeking something much
more satisfactory. they are seeking q way
TO punish party. Starvation for the politl-
clans ~ the party they believe to he the
hest remedy for the existing disease.
The list OF grievances that are st forth
by Republicans to explain their present
temper il monumental. Locally there are
the legislative scandals. the huge increase
Of the cost ~ state government. the daily
revelation Of former Albany corruption.
Also there 10 among the conservative and
business elements the discrimination to
check. " possible. the danger Of a Roo>e-
welt election IN 1912 by a defeat ~ the Re
publican party which will te complete
and unmista kAble A. for the national
issues, tho tariff IN thoroughly unpopular
in Rochester. IN the rural districts the Bal-
linger case ~ often mentioned. hut above
all else there il the intangible discomfort
which docs not explain itself but declares
itself etnphatically.
Alongside % these circumstances muSi
be placed the attitude OF the big politI-
clans, that il. the men capable 81 managing
a state campaign Enough has been said
in this correspondence TO indicate what
the course Of Barnes. Ward. Aldridge
Hendricks. Wadswor,h and Malby will he
Theirs are the counties in which Republi-
can majorities are rolled up; they are the
men Who have conducted State campaigns
To all intents and purposes they have
gone on a strike. Defeat at Saratoga for
them will mean inactivity later The
election Of Hotchkiss. Davenport or Hin
man would mean placing the State patron
age IN the hands Of Mr. Roosevelt: this
would mean their ruin; in Democratic
hands they can take their chance. relying
upon their local machines and city and
county officers.
Equally TO he considered IN the cues
ton OF campaign funds. Mir Roosevelt's
speeches IN the West have alarmed the
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