Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1912-11-06
bulletins and throwing them on their

bulletins and throwing them on their
screens.
1t is certain that never before in
the history of the country were there
so many candidates directly interested
in the returns. 1t takes fingers on
both hands to count the candidates for
president and vice president, and In
the majority of states each ticket had
its electors. Supposing there were an
average of six tickets in the field in
each of the states, that would repre-
sent 1856 electors on the presidential
tickets. Then, suppose there is an
average of three candidates for con-
gress in each congressional district,
that would represent total of 1900
men with ambitions to go to the house
of representatives. Then there are 33
states which elect governors and other
state officials. members of the legis-
lature, etc. There are thousands of
counties which select their local Of
ficers thousands of school and road
districts which choose school and road
officials, magistrates supervisors and
the life; and thousands of cities and
towns which join in the general Of
/ fetal choosing program of the Tues
day after the first Monday of every
quadrennial year. Someone has fig
ured that moro than a million jobs
are filed as a direct or indirect result
of the elections of the presidential
year. When it is considered that this
is only one place to every 90 people, it
| is probable that the figures are con-
| servatiVc.
Long Wait for Victory.
The Democrats felt that they were
entitled to some enthusiastic specula-
| ton last night No Democrat under
Al years of age has had the privilege
/ of seeing his candidate win since he
became voter in presidential cleo
tons, and more than 40,0O0,000 of the
country's population cannot remember
the day when the returns showed a
Democratic presidential victory. or
| the nearly $4,000, 900 men in the United
States of voting age, only 1000, 900
were old enough to vote when the
Democrats last secured the country's
verdict, if we except the congressional
election of two years ago. In the 90
years that have elapsed since Cleve-
lands second election. there have been
10 presidential and congressional cleo
] '-''''7' f'ii'' III an pSIolt Tic
sional election of 1910, it was the Re-
publicans who could cheer the returns.
Yesterdays election was the first
held under a completed flag. Since the
last time the country passed its judg-
ment upon the account of stewardship
rendered by the party in power. Ariz-
ona and New Mexico have come into
the union, bringing with them six
lAlnPtnrl1 nfn 49,
elections in the history of the country
in which those six votes could have
determined the election They might
have given Jefferson the election over
Adams. In the first Jefferson election
they could have thrown the presidency
to Burr, and in 1876 Hayes might have
been prevented from winning even by
the aid of an electoral commission.
Votes Counted Rapidly.
The rapidity and accuracy with
which 100000 votes are counted in
a presidential year is not the least re-
markable feature of the election of a
president. With ballots in some states
so large that they look more fit for a
billboard than for a ballot box a COM
parison of the unofficial with the Of
fetal returns always shows a surpris-
ingly small margin of error and re-
markable care in conducting the count,
From many thousands of precincts In
the rural districts the returns come
In over the telephone to the county
seat, and yet, with everybody keyed
to the pitch of the evening. there are
comparatively few mistakes.
The returns last night were the most
elaborate in the history of the coun-
try. Every telegraph and telephone
company throughout the United States
lent itself to the early announcement
Of the result. and every newspaper and
press association did Its part. OF
course New York led off with an cleo
ton night crowd. 1t always does A
reporter. despairfng of success in an
attempt to portray the amount of noise
made by the New York election crowds
In desperation wrote: IF 400 lunatic
asylums had turned loose their en-
tire list of inmates, and the biggest
band of Apaches and Commanche In
dians that ever gathered had been
commissioned to help them make wierd
and uncanny noises, 1t still would
have been but the soft sigh of love-
sick maiden as compared with the
noise that started below Newspaper
Row and swept on uptown and across
the Harlem"
The clock and the sun give the west
|