New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-11-10
The Real Answer

turns from those states when nave
hitherto been regarded as pivotal in
national campaigns indicated large
majority for Mr.. Hughes, The
Tribune editorially wrote OF the re-
suit that II was a reputation Of Mr..
Wilson and an answer TO his declara-
tons of policy and purpose. The
returns which have subsequently
been received have demonstrated
clearly that The Tribune was mis-
taken in its conclusions and that, far
from a reputation Of Mr.. Wilson,
the returns that are now at hand
constitute the most remarkable per-
sonal Endorsement that has come TO
a Democratic President since the
days of Andrew Jackson.
IL is relatively a minor thing
whether the few hundred votes that
will decide the electoral votes OF
California and Minnesota fall to Mr..
Wilson or to Mr.. Hughes. The very
fact that these great Republican
states have been in doubt to this
moment indicates the extent Of the
failure Of the Republican candidate
and his party and not less clearly
the amazing triumph of Mr.. Wilson.
There is a tendency to overesu-
mate the influence Of the West in
the decision and to ignore the ver-
dict of the East, of New England in
particular. Yet the votes of Massa-
chusetts and Maine, the almost I'M
believable figures from New Hamp-
shire. indicate that the same spirit
which was abroad in Kansas and
Minnesota was TO be felt and seen
in New England.
1t is possible to debate the cues
ton as to whether the larger part of
the result was due to Mr.. Hughes's
personal failure as a candidate and
his resolute refusal to meet the
great questions Of the campaign
fairly and bravely, or to a general
enthusiasm for Mr.. Wilson and for
his policies. But such a discussion
is in the main academic. How
ever much Importance one may
attach to Mr.. Hughes's failure,
only deliberate and intentional in
justice could obscure the extent Of
the personal triumph of Mr.. Wilson.
He has done what none but his
friends and partisans believed he
could do. and he has won an in
dorsement in portions of the nation
which have never before given q
similar tribute to a Democratic can
didste for the Presidency, save in
years of Republican fractional strife.
Long before Election Day there
ceased TO be any question about an
affirmative vote for Mr.. Hughes.
Long ago the single question Of the
canvass became that Of the rejec-
ton or Endorsement Of Mr.. Wilson.
On Election Day the real problem
was not whether Mr.. Hughes or Mr..
Wilson would be elected, but
whether the public would accept or
reject Mr.. Wilson. In the first
hours Of the count. when Mr.. Will
sons defeat was conceded by the
newspapers which had supported
him most Loyalty and was written in
all the returns then available, The
Tribune said that Mr.. Wilson had
been rejected and his policies repu-
dated. In all this The Tribune was
mistaken. and It does not believe that
any such conclusion can now be
drawn from the election, even il
Mr.. Hughes succeeds Mr.. Wilson by
virtue of the turn Of a few hundred
votes in two disputed states.
Such personal satisfaction as can
be drawn from the result belongs
to Mr.. Wilson; he is entitled 10 Il.
The Tribune hoped there would be
a straight out issue between Mr..
Wilson's policies and those that it
believed were Drawer and better.
No such issue was raised because
Mr.. Hughes steadfastly declined to
raise IT. Had such an issue been