Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1916-11-17
REPUBLICANS ASK RECOUNT
No Charge of Fraud is Made, but
the Possibility of Error in
Count Is Seen.
Race in Several States So Close That
Result Was Not Known Until
Practically Every Ballot Had
Been Counted.


New York, Nov. 11.-President Will
son and Vice President Marshall have
been reelected on the face of the un-
official returns, but with result in
several pivotal states that is so close
that the Republican leaders say they
will not be satisfied until recount of
the votes has been made in these
states.
The situation Is extraordinary and
has resulted in days of nerve-racking
strain for the people of the country.
If the election officials of few remote
precincts in few states know how the
nation has been waiting breathless to
hear from them, they must be swelled
up enormously with a sense of their
Importance. For on those few pre-
clncts has depended the nations choice
of its chief executive.
That Mr.. Wilson's victory over MIR.
Hughes will not be conceded without a
recount In the close states, such as Cal
ifornia. New Hampshire, New Mexico
and North Dakota, was determined at
conferences of the Republican leaders
here. Chairman Wilcox asserted a re-
count would be demanded wherever
the margin of Democratic victory was
so small that comparatively few votes
would turn the scales. He and his as
socrates say they take the position
that there should be no cloud upon Mr..
Wilson'S title to the presidency. The
Democrats, for their part, declared
that there must be a recount in New
hampshire, even though the returns
gave the state to Mr.. Wilson.
That the returns are still incomplete
is Que to the presence on the border of
the National Guard of a number of
states. The soldiers are permitted to
vote by mail, their ballots being for
"arded to the auditors of their home
counties, and In Minnesota especially
the vote of the Guardsmen is likely to
cut figure in determining whether the
state goes into the Wilson or the
dugheS column.
Minnesota was as bad as California
IN the matter of shifts, and as it's dele
Sauon Is nearly as large, it, too, was
watched with the intensest interest.
through days and nights of counting,
Nhe race was a see-saw, with but q
thousand or so of votes separating the
candidates. Neither side would ad-
init defeat, and even now both are
awaiting the soldier vote and the off
cial count.
New Hampshire a Surprise.
Perhaps the most surprising of all
Rhe states was New Hampshire. II
alone of all New England failed 60 give
'he Republican candidate a substantial
plurality, and for days no one knew
ih which column it would land. The
astonishing clOseness of the vote was
SHOWN by the rival claims, three days
al'er the election, of 100 plurality for
hughes and "a for Wilson. In the cir
0ulhstaneeS 1t is no wonder that the
managers of both parties should de.
mand recount.
New Mexico, with three electoral
votes, attracted national attention by
pacing itself early in the list of doubt
lC' states, and as 1t soon appeared that
o.hoSt every electoral vote would be
''@l' the returns from down on the
1oruer were grabbed hot off the wires
"ltef Yeering back and forth for days
,e" Mexico was definitely placed In
.us wilson column, though there, too
ne presidents margin was so scant
siat basis was afforded for the call
' recount. A. few mistakes dis
.oFefed In the figures of the precinct
uciaiS might well swing the state
N'er to Hughes.
Wilcox Demands Recount.
Vh Friday National Chairman Will
SN OF the Republican party handed
wy lhe following statement:
Inc result still depends upon the
V'e IN few close states. 1t must be
s' Olue IN mind that the returns thus
80 announced are, in most states, un-
r@ cial' and may be changed by the
M ciai count required by the laws of