Evening star., 1916-11-17
The Evening Star Newspaper Company
llth St and Pennsylvania Avenue.
Honor in Defeat.

It Futi clc1it udS uetn given " tiiS VIII
ner in the presidential race for his
marvellous achievement. What kind of
a run did the loser makel Is there no
honor comforting quality in his per
torrance:
Mr.. Justice Hughes was drafted
against his inclination by the unani-
nous vote of the republican convention
in order to rcunite the republican party.
His patriotic and self sacrificing can
didacy effected this reunion, broadly
speaking, cast of the Mississippi. This
reunion was not effected in California.
The republican candidate for senator in
that state. upon whom both factions
united. won by 100000. MIR. Hughes, to
whom reunion was denied. lost by 5000
votes. If in this state alone this re-
union had been even approximately eff
feeted. Mr. Hughes would have won the
presidency.
As a candidate MIR. Hughes showed
himself strong man. just man, a
brave man, a man OF brains. of VIM OF
integrity. of manly independence.
How did the people respond to the
appeal of his candidacy? He received
approximately 100000 votes. He polled
approximately $4,000 more votes than
were given to Roosevelt and Taft com
bined in 1912. Everybody knows and
: nobody denies that in the south there
arc hundreds of thousands of consti-
tutional voters. represented by votes in
the electoral college, who are not per-
mitted 10 vote because. if they could,
they would vote for the party OF which
Mr.. Hughes was the candidate. II these
constitutional voters might, solely for
statistical purposes. be viewed as e1-
isting. and their votes be counted as
largely for Mr.. Hughes he would over
come Mr.. Wilson's 100000 plurality and
himself have a distinct plurality of the
popular vote.
If the electoral votes representing
these disfranchised but constitutional
voters were nulli6ed like the voters
themselves. and not transferred to Mr.
Hughes, but merely withdrawn from Mr..
Wilson, Mr.. Hughes would win in the
electoral college.
Or to view the situation from another
angle. 1t is conceded that in the south
ern as distinguished from the border
states there is no pretense of genuine
struggle in national elections over po-
iitical economic issues Irrespective of
their individual beliefs concerning such
issues as protection, sound money, pre-
paredness and yirilc Americanism, both
whites and blacks are restrained from
voting for the candidates and doctrines
of the republican party. even though
that party may be disguised under an
other name. and even though as the
party of protection IL comes "bcarine
gifts" In those sections and states,
therefore, where genuine national elcc-
tions are held, where men after full
discussion vote as they think, and where
the ballots are not perfunctorily east
and are not meaningless or misleading,
Mr.. Hughes was on the aggregate vote
overwhelmingly elected.
The defeated candidate in this cleo
fIon won practically the solid north and
east, including the ever-doubtful states
Of New York, New Jersey and Connecti-
cut, and of the middle west such states
as Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michi-
gan, Minnesota, Iowa and South Da-
keta- He lost California, and with it
victory, by the narrowest of margins
by "fiuke"-through the monumental
and almost incredible laundering or
treaehery of nominal supporters.
The record of the loser in the presi-
Dental race thus rivals in honorable
achievement that of the winner. The
greater the glory justly bestowed upon
the loser, the greater becomes that won
by the man who beat him The same
principle applies as that utilized BY
Carear TO magnify himself when in his
Commentaries he euloyizcd enthusiastic
ally the bravery and fighting qualities of
the Gauls. For Caesar conquered the
Eauls"