East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1912-10-03

the candidates round the post Wilson
apparently is in the lead, but-a
homestretch of five weeks confronts
the runners
A large portion of the $4,000 600
voters in the country are still ION the
fence" They are undecided as to
how they shall cast their ballots; they
are in a ruminative mood. All indi-
cations are that the contest will be
decided only in the closing two weeks
or more of the campaign.
The vote that is at present silent
will perhaps be the most powerful of
the factions in deciding who wins
November 3.
Vote shows Many Are Undecided.
The magnitude of this undecided
vote is just now one of the most pro-
nounced phenomens of the campaign.
Wherever the canvassers work its
proportions are disclosed. At detroit,
for instance, 1900 of the Record-Her-
aids test ballots were distributed at
the Michigan state fair. They We're
not handed out haphazard but were
I given to voters with a direct request
that they mark and drop them in the
ballot box. OF the 1900 ballots only
$50 were deposited. When the count
ers opened the envelopes they found
only 255 had been marked.
In the labor of making a compre-
| hensive canvass of the country the
Record Herald has associated with it
six other great metropolitan journals,
the New York Herald, the Boston
! Globe, the Cincinnati Enquirer, the
| st. Louis Republic, the Los Angeles
| Times and the Denver Republican,
each of which has covered section
assigned to it. Thus it has been pos
sible to make a detailed story of the
| conditions from coast to coast, the
| only territory not embraced in the
work being nine states in the solid
south, where there are no signs that
! traditions are to be shattered.
| Wilson Retains Old Bryan Strongholds
The canvass shows Wilson is hold
ing the seventeen states carried in
1908 by Bryan while in addition he
! is the favorite candidate in states that
until this year, with its intricate po-
litical complexities, have been repub
llcan StrOngholdS.
In the home states of all three can
! didates Wilson is leading. In Ohio,
where the republican party is split
perhaps worse than in any other COM
| monwealth. surface indications and
| the logic in the situation favor Will
son. All three forces are making a
desperate battle in Taft's home state.
In,
state. Wilson is in the lead, and un-
less there is a change in sentiment in
the next five weeks the democratic
candidate will win the forty-five cleo
| tOral votes of the empire state, which
| has not been carried by democratic
| presidential candidate since the elec-
tion of Cleveland in 1892. New Jer-
| sey, of which Wilson is governor, will
! go democratic, unless all the prophets
! prove failures.
! Leads Also in New England States.
! In rock-ribbed New England the
canvass places Wilson in the lead.
! Maine and Rhode Island would go to
! Wilson if the election were held to,
| day. according to all indications;
I Massachusetts, where for two years
! democracy has been steadily ascend
| ant, is tending toward Wilson and
so are Verment and Connecticut. In
all this territory the contest now is
between Wilson and Roosevelt. In
New Hampshire at the present time
it lies between Taft and Wilson.
! In the western states, which are re-
garded as the great battlefield of the
| campaign, Roosevelt is displaying
great strength. The question of final
supremacy depends on how the voters
who are now noncommittal decide to
vote.
Illinois, for instance, which Is con-
sidered a pivotal state, is the scene of
q battle between Roosevelt and Will
son, in which the bull moose has the
better of it in all the polls made to
date in the Record-Herald's canvass
but where, on the other hand, the de-
fection of republicans to Wilson APP
pears by the straw ballots to be some
what larger than the movement OF
democrats to Roosevelt. Wilson
however is losing many democratic
votes to Debs.
= ! NIScOIiSln IOf Idlt III tIOSc contest
Michigan is now a Roosevelt state
and if the election were held tomor-
r row the chances are the progressive
candidate would make runaway
race of it. Wisconsin is the scene OF
a neck-and-neck race between Wilson
and Taft. with Wilson apparently los
, ing ground and Taft gaining it, the
La Toilette vote being the great fac,
tor in the badger commonwealth.
, Minnesota, on the other hand, i.
regarded as Roosevelt's by 10000
were the election held next week, bu
strong Wilson sentiment has mani
tested itself within the last few week.
and from now on it will be a hare
fought contest between the democrat!
: and the progressives.
The Dakotas are the seat of ram
pant Rooseveltism, but even ther,
conditions are so mixed that it is M
G ones victory at present-the La Fol
Q lette element in the two states hold
, ing balance of power position, al
in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Iowa, like Illinois, contains a grea
Roosevelt sediment, but third part,
complications are favoring Wilson
Indiana the home state of Thoma.
y Marshall, democratic candidate 70,
vice president, is regarded as demo
cratic this year.
The progressves are showing thei