The Washington times., 1911-11-08
A GREAT DAY FOR THE IN
DEPENDENT VOTER.

People who try to calculate the gen
eral partisan significance of yesterdays
elections will have hard time. De-
cidedly, there is no significance save as
the remarkable melange of results in
dicates that the voters are more and
more facile in the gentle art of split
ting their tickets, more and more de-
termined to vote for the sort of men
in whom they have confidence, more
and more set on getting the govern
ment back into their own hands.
Maryland would have gone Demo-
cratic by an easy majority this year
if Blair Lee had been nominate for
governor, or if German had been hon
estly nominated. The Republican VIC
tory tells the story of Maryland's pro.
test against debauchery of elections,
against gang rule.
And that is just the story that may
be read in the Democratic victory in
Cincinnati. The Democrats had nomi-
mated for mayor Hunt, the courageous
prosecutor who came near sending
George Cox to prison for perjury. Cox
was especially determined to defeat
him; and Hunt wins, despite that he
was opposed by President Taft and the
utmost resources of the Cox machine.
Likewise, the overthrow of Demo
cratic control in New York's Legis.
lature is protest against the sort of
incompetent, and worse, control that
was demonstrated by the assembly
which is now voted out of power
Tammany barely squeaked through in
New York county, but Murphy loses
control at Albany, and it means that
Murphy will be vastly smaller factor
in the national Democratic convention
next year than if he had retained his
grip on the Empire State and the EN-,
pire City.
Governor Wilson, in New Jersey, is
defeated in his effort to retain Demo
cratic control of the Legislature. and
it will be a real blow, though very
likely of temporary effect, to his
Presidential ambitions. 1t may be
however, that he gained as much in the
unhorsing of Tammany in New York
as he lost in his own State; for Tam.
many has been accounted intensely
hostile to him, and its unquestioned
control of the big delegation would
have been a serious thing for the Jer.
sey governor.
Foss carries Massachusetts, again
though by a majority only about one
fourth as large as that which he polled
year ago. This result will be ac
claimed by Democrats as the most sig
nificant single one in the country be-
cause the Republicans made a pc
culiarly bitter fight for Foss' over
throw. Their failure to control Massa
chusetts against a tariff reformer will
weaken the hand of the New England
standpatters in the Republican conven
tion next year, exactly as the failur,
of Tammany to hold New York will
injure it's influence at the Democrati,
convention.
The results in the municipal elec
tions throughout the country are sig
nifcant, even more than those in tn,
States, of the rising tide of independ
ence and of demand for better govern
ment. First of all comes Philadelphia
choosing Rudolph Blankenburg mayo
over so good man as George H. Earle
The Penrose machine nominated Earl
because it was in such disrepute tina
it simply was compelled to name BIZ
concession to the better sentiment o
the city. But the concession came to-
late; even so good a candidate coul
not shake off the burden of his unfor
tunate associations, and Earle wen