El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-11-06
AsHINGTON. D. G., Nov.

NJ Perhaps never in the history
Of the world were so many
people bent upon hearing. as soon as
possible the outcome Of great political
battle as last night. More than 49,
100000 people 1--WE IN the cities and
towns of the country having a popuIa-
ton of 25OO and upward. Add to these
the millions living in towns and villages
WheIe Ihere are telegraph offices, and
It will be seen that more than half of
the population Of the country is within
the zone Of telegraphic news of the
election, and a census of election night
might snow that tWO-thirds of the
/ homes within this zone were represent
ed by someone who stood before a bull
Ietin board, sat in theater. or spent
the evening at his club watching the
returns come in.
Add to these the millions of rural
( telephones which are used to call up
| the nearest newspaper offices. and it
/ Is probable that more than twO-thirds
/ Of all the people of the country learned
I something Of how the election went
before going to sleep last night. Even
/ IN the little towns Of four and five
I hundred population the moving picture
/ theater was able to capitalize uDOn the
/ universal interest in the result by get
/ ting the bulletins and throwing them
/ on their screens.
A Record for Candidates.
/ 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
/ It's electors Supposing there We're an
/ average of SIX tickets in the field IN
! each OF the states, that would repre-
! sent S,lS6 electors on the presidential
! tickets. Then. suppose there is an av-
| erage OF three candidates for congress
/ IN each congressional district, that
/ would represent total of 1900 men
] with ambitions to 90 to the house Of
! representatives. Then there are 80
/ states which elect governors and other
/ state officials, members Of the Iegfsla-
D ture, etc.
/ There are thousands Of counties
I which select their local officers: thou
sands Of school and road districts
( which choose school and road officials
! ana thousands OF cities and towns
! which join in the general Official
choosing program OF the Tuesday after
: the first Monday Of every quadrenniaI
: year Someone has figured that more
I than a million jobs are filled as a df-
rect or indirect result Of the elections
I OF the presidential year When il is
/ considered that this is only one place
/ to every 80 people. it is probable that
( the figures are conservative
Enthusiastic Speculation.
Ihe Democrats felt that they were
l entitled to some enthusiastic sDecuIa-
u
/ years Of age has had the privilege Of
seeing his candidate win since he be-
Z came voter IN presidential elections,
and more than 40, 000 900 Of the cOun-
try's population cannot remember the
day when the returns showed a Demo-
! cratic presidential victory. OF the
nearly 23,00O,000 men in the United
States of voting age. only ii COO 600
were old enough to vote when the
Democrats last secured the cOuntry's
Ferdlct, II we except the congressional Z
election Of two years ago In the 20
years that have elapsed since Cleve-
lands second election, there have been
ten presidential and congressional cleo
tons, and in all before the congress
sional election OF 1910 il was the Re-
pubhcans who could cheer the returns
Yesterdays election was the first
held under a completed flag. Since
the last time the country passed its
judgment upon the account Of steward
ship rendered by the party in power,
Arizona and New Mexico have come
into the Union, bringing with them six
electoral votes There have been three (
elections In the history OF the country (
in which those six votes could have
determined the election. They might Z
have given Jefferson the election over
Adams. In the first jefferson election Z
they could have thrown the presidency
to Burr, and in 1876 Hayes might have
been prevented from winning even by Z
the aid Of an electoral commission.
Task Of Counting Ballots.
The rapidity and accuracy with !
which 16,O0O.O0O votes are counted in 4
q presidential year is not the least re-
markable feature Of the election Of a I
president. With ballots in some states g
so large that they look more fit for a (
billboard than for a ballot box, a COM /
par1sOn Of the unofficial with the Of !
uclal returns always shows a surpris- /
lngly small margin Of error and re-
markable care in conducting the count !
From many thousands of precincts IN I
the rural districts the returns come in 1
over the telephone to the county seat, I
and yet, with everybody keyed to the I
pitch Of the evening, there are COM /
parauYely few mistakes.
The returns last night were the most /
elaborate in the history OF the country. /
Every telegraph and telephone COM /
pany throughout the United States lent /
itself to the early announcement Of the
result, and every newspaper and press /
assoclatlon old ITS part OF course New /
1Ork led or with an election night !
crowd 1t always does. A reporter,
despair1ng of success in an attempt to i
portray the amount Of noise made by ]
the New York election crowds. in des- /
perattOn wrote: If 400 lunatic asy-
lums had turned loose their entire list
OF inmates, and the biggest band Of /
Apaches and Comanche indians that I
ever gathered had been commissioned I
to help them make Wierd and uncanny
noises, Il still would have been but I
the soft sigh of a lOvesick maiden as I
compared with the noise that started /
"
town and across the Harlem"
West Has Advantage.
The clock and the sun give the west I
the advantage Of the east in the matter
Of election returns. The voters of the
Pacific coast can usually know how the
Atlantic states have gone almost by
the time the sunset-land quits voting.
California cannot begin its count until 4
several hours after New York has
started counting.
The voting machine is gradually ex-
tending its field, and it is predicted by
many that it will not be more than
a decade until it will take the place
of the ballot throughout the country.
As 1t works like an adding machine 4
and gives its totals as soon as the last
vote is cast it viii 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 ball
lot. But where the two have been tried
the voting machine has proved the IA
vOrite.
Early Day Elections
In the early days of the republic
~. &