El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-11-05

marched to the polls and recorded its
verdict It is not improbable that dur
ing the day sixteen million freemen
will have gone to the polls and back to
their work azain. Sixteen million menI
Shoulder to shoulder a string Of them
5000 miles long. Sixteen million men.
An army of sixteen thousand regiments
( Supposlng that eacn voter taxes Only
half an hour from the time he leaves
his work until he returns, it would re-
quire more than a thousand years for
one man to do it all When such
power as this speaks what wonder that
all partisanshIp grows silent and abides
its verdict.
Must Get PCS Electoral Votes.
The great question may not be so
much, who viii VIM" but rather,
'Wiu anyone VIM With a three-cor-
nered fight in which each party is prac-
ticalIy certain to get some electoral
votes it becomes question whether
anyone Of them. can get the necessary
majority Of the 53l votes in the cleo
toral colleges of the several states This
| means that to win, one of the candidates
must have 200 votes when the electors
meet and select a president.
The betting indicates that the pOliti-
cal authorities think Wilson viii do
this but that neither of the others can
do it. Chairman Hilles claims that BIZ
Taft viii carry the election and shows
ESQ votes in his recent forecast But,
unfortunat ely, he includes Missouri ana
Maryland in his total, and If he loses
/ them he pares down his total by 20
votes, which would bring it down to 254
votes, or 16 short Of his need II his can
didate is to win
RooseveIfs Uphill Fight.
The Roosevelt claims have not been
: based on the specific figures that the
I Taft claims. are. but it seems certain
: that if Nj. Roosevelt can win il viii be
/ achieved only by leaving nothing for
I Mr. Taft The eE-president must win
D fool n
{ Wilson. If Taft should carry only the
/ seven states Of Washington Utah, WyO-
ming Vermont. Colorado Rhode Island
and Idaho, and Wilson should carry only
the solid south and New Jersey, ROOse-
! welt would win. But IL he should lose
( New York and any other one state to
; either of them he would fall below the
] requisite of 266 votes or, If he should
, carry New York. the loss of Pennsyl-
vania in combination with either cali
/ fOrnia Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas,
/ Maine Massachusetts, Michigan, Ne
( braska Ohio. West Virginia, or VISION
/ sin. would still leave him outside OF the
/ charmed circle. These figures might
1 be continued indefinitely to show what
/ an uphill fight Roosevelt will have to
wilson's Prospects.
! II woodrow Wilson should carry the
states having Democratic governors. he
/ would win by margain greater than
Z that predicted by chairman H1lleS I0r
his candidate. or, If he carries the p
: states which would cast their votes for
I him If the election were thrown into
the house, he viii win, with y votes 10
! spare. In other words. II ne carries
/ only those states which went Democrat
&c for congress two years ago, he Wlll
( win with a safe margin This does not
/ include the votes OF the states WLlch
{ are divided on a house presidential bal
lOt-Maine Rhode Island. Nebraska, and
New Mexico. The % states which have
Republican delegations in the house
have total electoral vote OF ~ votes
/ while those which have Demccrallc
! delegations have 2SS votes; the four di-
vided delegations have q votes.
May JuggIe for Electoral Vote.
If neither candidate is able to mus
ter 266 votes-cOnfessedly large task
with three men like Taft, Wilson and
Roosevelt running-it is certain that
there will be some desperate maneuver-
/ ing between election DAY and the day
when the electoral colleges meet. II
Taft and Roosevelt together have
Z enough electors to win BY uniting them
for one man, Will that be considered
Are the Republicans apt to throw their
strength to Wilson rather than TO see
{ Roosevelt get into the white house
I again? Would the Progresstves rather
throw their strength to the party they
lately left than to throw the election
Z into the house, Could the peacemakers
I induce the Progressives and the Re
publicans to compose their differences
and unite once again? These are aues-
2 lions that are being asked
! It is asserted in some quarters that,
seeing how hOpelessly the house would
/ be deadlOcked on presidential ballot,
| the Republicans and the Progressives
might make a deal to settle the mat
! ter in the electoral colleges, either by
/ calling national conventions or other
wise
Chance for Republican Gain.
But this scarcely probable. since the
/ Republicans have everything to gain
I and nothing TO lose, by sitting tight
/ should a deadlock occur. Practically
: every political writer IN the country has
fallen into error concerning the sue
Z cesSion in the event that the senate and
house both fail to choose, and the sec
rotary Of state becomes president. The
succession Of law of 1886 says that in
certain events the secretary Of state
shall act as president, and If he is moi
able to do SO, the succession shall de-
scend to the other cabinet officers IN
. order 1t provides that he shall serve
president is elected 1t further pro-
vides for the calling together of con-
2 gress Immediately after the succession
Z if it be not then in session, and prac-
! tfcally every authority has assumed
that the conVening Of congress is a pro-
{ / vision for the authorization of @ special
election to fill the vacancy.
The proceedings Of the constitutions
Z convention indicate that this was eX-
! | actly what was intended by the con-
! I stitution makers. When the cOnven-
ton took up that proposition it was
| proposed that such officer shall ac
! accordingly until the time of electing
/ president shall arrive" The documen-
tary history of the constitution says
; I that thereupon MI Madison observed
that this. as wOrded would prevent tn,
l supply Of the vacancy by an intermedi
. ! ate election of the president and moved
/ to substitute-'until such disability b
removed or a president shall be elected
[ Governuer Norris seconded the motion
I which was agreed to-"
/ The account then adds that some oh
| jected to the substitute because "ac
I | cOrding to the process established TO
I / choosing the executive. there would b
/ difficulty in effecting il at other thar
4 / fixed periods" but that on the motion
, Of Mr. Randolph, the substitute wa
e sought? Thanking you for your kin,
= information, I am