The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1912-02-13
C0MPLEXITY OF SITUATION.

!, p'SNlOuS elecIlOnS ana on actua
:, indications of popular sentiment
. was more interesting and NOR,
=, puzzIing than it is on the eve o.
the approaching campaign. Leav
ing aside any estimate of the cur
rents of opinion or the effect OF
particular nominations by the
two parties, there are certain fig
ures which will bring out the
complexities of the situation.
Mr.. Taft was elected by 321
electoral votes to 1854 for Bryan.
a majority Of 159 in a total of
4S3. His total vote was 7,O78-
9O8, and his popular majority was
1,209, 804, little more than II
per cent. But, decisive as this
looks, there were five states in
which 50 Electoral votes were
won by pluralities of less than 5
per cent Of the total vote, or, in
other words change Of one vote
in twenty in those states would
have made a difference of 1O4
in the Electoral College. The
incident shows, as like incidents
have shown in the past, the ex-
IRENE intricacy of our system of
election for the Chief Executive
office, and how it tends to battle
calculations when political parties
are nearly equal in strength and
feeling is fuctuating.
This year there will be 531 Ell
ectoral votes, counting Arizona
and New Mexico with three votes
each, and 266 votes will be re-
quired for an election. If the
states could be relied on to vote
as they did in 1908, much bother
and expense would be saved and
our readers would not be inter
ested in this article. But let us
suppose that in this year in each
state the party which was the
stronger in the latest election for
Governor should again win in the
vote for President. The Elector-
al vote would then be cast as
shown in the following summary:
Republican-Calif'a. II; Colo
RADIO, 6; Delaware, 3; Idaho, A.;
Illinois, 20; Iowa, 10; Kansas, 10;
Michigan, Is; Minnesota, IL; Mis-
souri,, is; Nebraska, 8; N. Hamp-
shire, 4; Pennsylvania, SO; Ride
Island, 5; South Dakota, 5; Ten
nessee, II; Utah 4; Vermont. 4.
Washington, 7; w. Va, 8; Wis
consin, Is. Total, 321.
Observation-Disclosures II; Ar
kansas, 8; Connecticut. 7; Flori-
ola, 6; Georgia, ID; Indiana, Is;
Kentucky, 10; Louisiana. Ia;
Maine, 6; Maryland, 8; Massa-
cfusetts, IL; Mississippi, 10;
Montana, 4; Nevada, 8; New Jer-
sey, ID; New York, 45: North
Carolina, II; N. Dakota, 5; Ohio.
"a; Oregon, 5; Oklahoma, 10;
South Carolina, 9; Texas. 20:
Wyoming, 2. Total, 294.
Democratic majority, GO.
Arizona, 8, and New Mexico,
3, omitted.
This remarkable change is due
to the states of Connecticut, In
diana, Maine, Massachusetts.
Montana, New Jersey, New
York, North Dakota, Ohio, Ore
Gon and Wyoming, all of when
have elected Democratic Cover
nOrs, after giving their votes in
1908 for Taft, while Nebraska
and Tennessee did just the con-
trary, electing Republican
Governors after having
voted for Mr.. Bryan. We have
placed the states in alphabetical
order, and they show the more
clearly how the changes have
broken out in every part of the
Union. On the face the table
! with its heavy Democratic ma.
: Jority, may well suggest a "tida
wave" sweeping over every sec
b ton Of the Union. It does no
take a very close inspection t.
b see that it is not so simple q,
/ that. For example, the impor
T tant states of New York and New
b Jersey, with IA votes for one anc
10 votes for the other---59 in a,
latter clecting Democratic Gov
ernors in 1910, elected a Repub
lican majority i'm the nonule,