The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-09-30
But Large Number of Voters
LIS NOncOmmittal.
BOTH ROOSEVELT AND TAFT
Seem Likely to Lose Home
States to Democrats.
The Election May Be Thrown
Into the House.

national political canvass made by the
Record-Herald show that, with election
day FIVE weeks away. the race at pres
ent lies between Roosevelt and wilson
with Taft running third. As the can
didates round the post Wilson appar-
entity is in the lead, but--a homestretch
of five weeks confronts the runners.
A large portion of the 15,o00,oOo voters
in the country are still ''on the fence.
They are undecided as to how they
shall cast their ballots; they are in a
ruminative mood All indications are
that the contest will be decided only
n the closing two weeks OF more of the
campaign.
The vote that is at present silent
will perhaps be the most powerful of
the factors in deciding who wins No
vember =.
The magnitude of this undecided vote
is just now one of the most pronounced
phenomena of the campaign. Wherever
the canvassers work its proportions
are disclosed. At Detroit, for instance,
15OO of the Record-Herald's test bal
lots were distributed at the Michigan
state fair. They were not handed out
haphazard, but were given to voter:
with a direct request that they mar
and drop them in the ballot box. OF
the 1,5OO ballots only $50 were deposit
ed. When the counters opened the en-
velopes they found that only 255 had
been marked
Wilson Holds Bryan StrOnghOIds.
The canvass shows Wilson is holding
the II states carried in 1908 by Bryan.
while in addition he is the favorite
candidate in states that until this year
with it's intricate political complexities
have been Republican strongholds.
In the home states of all three can
didates Wilson is leading. In Ohio
where the Republican party is split per-
haps worse than in any other common
wealth, surface indications and the logic
in the situation favor Wilson All three
forces are making a desperate battle IN
Taft's home state.
In New York, Roosevelt's home state
Wilson is in the lead, and unless there
is a change in sentiment in the next
i've weeks the Democratic candidate
will win the 45 electoral votes of th'
Empire state, which has not been car
ried by a Democratic presidential can
didate since the election of Cleveland
in 1892. New Jersey. of which Wilson
is governor, will go Democratic, unless
all the prophets prove failures.
Leads in New England.
In rcck-ribbed New England the can
vass places Wilson in the lead. Maine |
and Rhode Island would go to Wilson |
If the election were held today ac-
cording to all indications; Massachus- |
etts, where for two years Democracy !
has been steadily ascendant, is tending |
toward Wilson, and so are Vermont |
and Connecticut. In all this territory |
the contest now is between Wilson anC |
Roosevelt. In New Hampshire at the |
present time it lies between Taft and |
Wilson.
In the western states, which are re
Sarded as the great battlefield of the |
campaign Roosevelt is displaying great |
strength. The question of final supre-
macy depends on how the voters who
are now noncommittaI decide to vote.
Illinois, for instance, which IS con-
sidered pivotal state, is the scene of
a battle between Roosevelt and Wilson,
in which the bull moose has the better
of it in all the polls made to date but
where, on the other hand the detection
Of Republicans to Wilson appears by
the straw ballots to be somewhat
larger than the movement of Democrats
to Roosevelt Wilson, however, is los
ing many Democratic votes to Debs.
Wisconsin for Taft.
Michigan is now a Roosevelt state
and if the election were held tomorrow
tne chances are the Progressive can |.
didate would make & runaway race ii
and neck race between Wilson and
Iatt, with Wilson apparently losing
ground and Taft gaining it, the La
Toilette vote being the great factor in
the Badger commonwealth.
Minnesota, on the other hand, is re-
Sarded as Roosevelt by $4,000 we're
tAAS VACCtAoii lSitl next week, DJ1E q /
strong Wilson sentiment has manifes-- :
ed itself within the last few weeks,
and from now on it will be a hard
fought contest between the Democrats
and the Progressives.
Iowa, like Illinois, contains a frrea. ! '
Roosevelt sentiment. but third party {
complications are favoring Wilson S
Indiana FaVors Wilson; Also Reveri6Iae i
Indiana, the home state of Fhomas {
Marshall, Democratic candidate. for 3
vice president, is regarded as Demo a
cratic this year.
On the coast. California is doubtful v
but inclines toward Wilson now; orc c
son is for Taft, while Idaho and | i
NNashin gton are for Roosevelt ,
To the southwest, New Mexico is
doubtful while Arizona looks lik,. , f
Wilson state Oklahoma, where tn, c
Democrats hove a normal majority of '
$4,000. is Wilson's.
In the Rockies, Colorado which was +
in the Bryan column in 1908, is 50 r
split that the situation is full of un- h
certainties- a
! Wyoming. naturally Republican is n
tnis year deba table. and so is Montana. +
4 Utah is Taft's just now. y
Missouri the mysterious stranger
1at appeared in the Republican ranks
1904, shows indications of giving =
.ilson a plurality of 10000 this wear.
Kansas is claimed by all three pa
es. while in Nebraska it appears tFat
Wilson viii be stronger in Bryan's
home state than Bryan himself.
me great state of Pennsylvania
With its thirty-eight electoral votes IS
shown by the canvass to favor TAFT at
present. although some OF the Sur-t