The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-08-07

draw to himself half of the progress sives in the doubtful states he would stand fair chance of being elected But he will hardly be able to win a third of them.
 Mir. Hughes will do some vigorous campaigning on the Pacific slope. He will appeal with all his earnestness to the electorate of California, but that state is pretty well assured for Will son. In 1912, Roosevelt, with Gov. Hiram Johnson as his running mate, carried California by a plurality of less than 200. Wilson lacked only 4088 of having as many votes as Taft and Roosevelt combined. In Novem- Der the democrats will probably poll a large plurality over the republican ticket.
 Besides the ex-Confederate states, with an electoral vote of 126, Wilson can count on Oklahoma, Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland and New Jersey. He will need New York and two or three small states now in the doubtful column, but it is a safe wager that he will carry them.
 A reunited republican party is only a dream.
 THE number of presidential tickets j. reached high water mark in 1900 when there were eight in the contest. Six has been about the usual number, although there were seven in 1896 when Bryan first ran,
 and seven again Presidential Tickets in 1908. Thus Not So Numerous far for 1916
 only five tickets are in the field, including the headless progressive offering, but the social ists, somewhat late this year in con- vening, can be counted upon to get in the race, encouraged as they must have been in 1912 by gain of more than 100 per cent in the popular vote for MT. Debs as compared with the same candidates vote in 1908.
 The tickets already presented to an eager electorate are the democratic, the republican, the prohibition, the progressive, with John M. Parker nominated for vice president, bearing the moose standard aloft, and the American. The last named is new party and William Sulzer, deposed governor of New York, is it's nominee for President.
 More than ordinary interest will at- tach to Mir. Parker's awkward posi- tion. He is the tail of the Roosevelt kite, the colonel having declined the presidential nomination in favor of MT. Hughes. MT. Parker's vote will be small, no doubt, but he and those who support him will have the satis- faction of feeling that they are pro- pressives of the simon pure grade.
 While only the democratic and the republican tickets are taken seriously, the prohibition party is expected to show a small gain over four years ago. RTO recent action of Congress has IN given such satisfaction to the railroads, especially those of the south, as the adoption of the Cummins amendment transferring from the postoffice department to the interstate commerce commission the authority
 to fix the rail- Railway Mail Pay way mail pay. Controversy Ended The department
 is glad of the change, too, for the controversy over the matter of pay and the character of service required by the govern ment was perennial and was singu- larly vexatious, particularly when it got into Congress.
 The carriers claimed that under many of their contracts they lost money, and it is known that some of them seldom "broke even."
 The railroad companies, having had years of experience with the inter- state commerce commission, know that mail pay contracts are to be made hencefofth on a strictly business basis.
 Among the provisions of the new law it is seen that the interstate com merce commission is directed to fix and determine from time to time the fair and reasonable rates and com pensation for the transportation of mail by railway common carriers and the service connected herewith, "pre- scribing the methods, by weight or space, or both, for ascertaining such rate or compensation, and to publish the same; and the orders so made and published shall continue in force until changed by the commission after due