Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1912-11-13
: 4. = :. :. :. 80
:. CONTEMPORARY OPINION ::
= I:
Why Wilson Won.

Kansas City Journal: President
Elect Wilson can make no more ser
ious mistake than to construe his cleo
ton as meaning that even a large
plurality of the American voters, TO
say nothing of a majority, were either
in favor OF him personally or were for
the policies to which he stands pledg-
ed. Especially will he blunder If ne
believes, and acts upon the belief, that
he was elected because the American
people are in favor of a tariff for rev.
enue only. 1t is announced that al
ready several tariff bills, radically re-
vising downward the existing sched-
ules, are ready for presentation and
that only considerations of courtesy
toward the presidentelect prevent the
details from being announced.
Mr.. Wilson hastens to explain that
nobody need be alarmed, that he med
itates no assault upon the legitimate
business interests of the country, de-
spite the fact that his platform de-
clares un%equivocally for a tar
#. 1t is asserted, with considerable
plausibilty, that he has agreed to exert
his influence toward practically shelv-
ing the tariff plank Of the platform
upon which he was elected and to do
all in his power to discount the gener-
al prophecies OF a democratic panic.
This. of course, is the sensible thing
to do, but it is too much to hope that
a democratic administration will be
% sensible as to see that a revenue
tariff measure means business disast-
er and inevitable defeat four years
hence.
Woodrow Wilson is probably the
first president yer elected by the de-
Gliding votes of those who were neither
personally nor politically in sympathy
Win him. He is president-elect be-
cause the American voters were de-
termined to repudiate the ambitious
egotism of Theodore Roosevelt. No
sloppy heroics over the gallant lead.
ership' of the third term candidate
car alter the fact that, in round num-
bers, only about n in five of the
American voters wanted Roosevelt for
president. Four out of every five of
the votes cast at the Tuesday election
were cast against him, and if that is
a vindication and prophecy of future
triumphs the average unbiased stu
dent of political affairs is previously
at fault.
1t is true that by practically the
same vote President Taft was defeat
ed, but there is this immense and con
elusive difference in his case, that
many hundreds of thousands of votes
were cast against him and for Wilson,
not because the voters did not want
Taft elected, but because they wanted
to make sure of Roosevelt's defeat.
Despite the fact that something like
1000, 900 more votes were cast last
Tuesday than in 1908, and despite the
hundreds of thousands of republicans
who voted for Wilson, the democratic
candidate received only a few thous-
and more votes than Bryan received
four years ago. The pretense, there
fore, that his election was a "great
popular uprising" in behalf of him and
his policies is palpably fallacious.
Grand Forks Observer: l.. B. Han
ma has been elected governor of North
Dakota by a vote sufficiently decisive
to determine definitely that he is the
choice of the voters and taxpayers of
the state. Mr.. Hanna has the abilities
OF giving the state a most excellent
administration and the Observer be.
lieves he is sincere when he says he
will use his best efforts. He should
be given the heartiest cooperation
by all. North Dakota is more interest
ed in having a successful administra-
ton than a democratic progressive or
stalwart administration that lacks
this element.