Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1912-11-06

the Pacific coast can usually know
how the Atlantic states have gone ale
most by the time the sunsetsiand quits
voting. California cannot begin its
count until several hours after New
York has started counting.
The Voting Machine.
The voting machine il gradually ex-
tending its field, and II is predicted
by many that It will not be more than
a decade until 1t will take the place Of
the ballot throughout the country. As
1t works like an adding machine and
gives its totals as soon as the last
vote is cast. It will enable the country
to know how the election goes almost
as soon as the last vote is cast. In
some places the voter is given the
choice of voting by machine or by bal
lot But where the two have been
tried the voting machine has proved
the favorite.
In the early days of the republic
there were no big November elections
such as we know today. In the begin
ming only a few states allowed the peo-
pie to have any choice Of the electors
at almost of them allowing the leg
islature to choose the electors. And
they had as many different times for
choosing electors as they now have
for selecting United States senators.
Each state could select its electors at
any time before the electoral colleges
were scheduled to meet. 1t was not
until 1928 that the people had d.
erect voice In the choosing of electors
in all of the states except South Car
DINA, and South Carolina did not give
its citizens that right until 1t came
back into the union after the Civil
war. In the early days first one state
and then another would choose its
electors, and it would be many weeks
before the full number was chosen.
Pennsylvania could know how New
York voted before 1t began to vote.
Not until 1S4S did all the states
make their choice of electors on the
same day. Before that. some of them
| would vote in the latter weeks of
October and others on varying days
up to the last of November. There
| fore, election returns as we know
them, were impossible until Ga years
ago. There are nearly. million ma
| tive born Americans living today who
We're old enough to vote when the pres
ont general election was an unknown
institution. Congress passed a law in
| 1916 providing that the electors should
be chosen in all the state on the same
day, and fixing that day as the Tues
day after the first Monday of Novem-
| Der.
That accounts for the fact that the
| first election bulletins were given cut
in 1S48, and 1t was the New Orleans
Picayune which started the idea. Gen.
eral Zachary Taylor was a Louisianian
and the people there wanted to know
| how things were going. Hence the
| innovation
| Special efforts were made last night
to reach everybody with the election
returns In some cities giant flash
! lights throwing swinging beams to the
west told thousands who could not
go down town that the returns were
| favoring the Democrats, to the north tc
tell of a Progressive drift. and to the
| east to tell of the Republican drift
Finally, pointing directly and steadily
to the west, they proclaimed tc
the stay-at- homes the election of Mr.
Wilson, as president for a four year
term. Every ship equipped with wire
less tried to keep in touch with the
situation, and down at Panama the
! thousands of Americans who are put
ting the finishing touches to the cana
waited breathlessly to see whether II
would be William Howard Taft
Woodrow Wilson, or Theodore Roose-
Welt who would officiate at the great
est dedicatory celebration since Sol
ONION completed his temple.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Elections
XVIII abinet making