Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1916-12-01
By James Boyle.


cans themselves; even Democrats ar,
asking the question-for the elec
tion result is a startling surprise t,
them, Notwithstanding the boasting
of the managers of the Democratic
campaign. The writer will endeavol
to answer the question in a plain ant
candid manner.
On the face of things Ohio has gone
Democratic "hell bent" for an indie.
finite period. Wilson has a plurality
of over $4,000, according to unoffi
cial but authentic returns; the stats
tics have not yet been completed by
the Secretary Of State; a Democratic
governor and Democratic state Off
cials clear down the line have sup
planted a Republican governor and
the other state officials; and the in
coming legislature is strongly Demo-
cratic, while its predecessor was Re-
publican.
Taking up the national side first:
Until November 7th there was a
general assumption that Ohio was a
sure Republican state on national is
sues, Notwithstanding the fact that
it had gone Democratic on state is
sues many times.
OhiO's Republican Record
Woodrow Wilson is the only Demo-
. cratic candidate for the presidency
who has ever carried Ohio from the
date of the organization of the Re-
publican party in 1856. Fremont, the
first candidate of that party for the
presidency, carried Ohio by 1923
Lincoln, the second candidate, beat
Douglas in 1860 by 34,3S8, and the
next time Lincoln ran his majority
was 60,055. The lowest presidential
majority was for Harrison against
Cleveland, in 1892, when it was only
l,072; and the highest was for Roose-
welt in 1904, 5,421. Strictly speak
ing, the only time that the Demo-
cracy has beaten the Republican party
in Ohio on the presidency was at the
recent election. 1t is true that Will
son was given the electoral vote OF
this state in 1912, when he polled
424, 1874 votes against 278, 8,168 for Taft
This was the year of the "great
split" when Roosevelt had 229,807
votes cast for him. The combined
Taft Roosevelt vote was 507 ,975, OF
S3,141 greater than that cast for Will
son. The. average Republican nation
al mejority in the state up to the
recent election but excluding Roose-
velt's phenomenal majority in 1904,
has been about $4,000.
Is Ohio Now Democratic?
The question from a national stand
point Is, what has happened to turn
Wilson's minority vote of 83,141 in
1912, as compared with the combined
Taft-Roosevelt vote, into majority OF
some $4,000 in 1915?
Has Ohio become a Democratic
state between 1912 and 1916?
The regular" Republican and Pro-
gressive reunion occurred in 1914
and in the latter year Ohio went
strongly Republican, when against the
biggest political machine ever con.
structed in Ohio and unlimited money
and powerful newspaper antagonism
Frank B. Willis beat James M. Coz
for governor by nearly 10000, carry.
ing with him the entire state ticket
and Republican legislature.
Ohio was sturdily Republican two
years ago. Has she become hopeless.
ly Democratic since then?
It is self-evident that something out
of the ordinary has occurred to separ.
ate Ohio from it's moorings. What
is it? There are those who answer
by saying-Wilson's growth of per.
sOnal popularity If that be so, theT
the victory is a personal victory anC
not q political one. But the fact is
that Wilson's personality is not {
particularly popular one in Ohio. Il
will be recalled that when his picture
has been displayed in the movies" il
has never aroused enthusiasm, anC
that eulogistic references to him dur
ing the campaign never ELECTED
hearty cheers. AS to politics proper
the one great measure of the nationa
administration which affected OhiC
industrially and commercially was thu
Underwood tariff law, and that lait
a heavy hand upon the prosperity o
the state. It would seem as if tn
reason is to be found outside of Will
sons personality and beyond politi
cal issues. Without going into de
tails, it can be said that the Pro
gressives and the women suffragist
had nothing to do with the result II
Ohio, whatever may have been tn
situation in other states
The Reason For Defeat
After sufficient time has passe,
to allow a comparison Of observa
tions there has come a consensus o
opinion among political students a
to the reason which turned Ohio owe
to the Democracy on November T.
The first and overwhelming reaso
was the plea that Wilson "kept u
out of war" AS the campaign pro
gressed the Republican manager
were confronted with this until it be
came a haunting night mare. Tn
fact that Wilson really was not en-
titled to the credit for keeping tn
country out of European maelstroT
and the further fact that he reall
was at war on his own initiative wit
Mexico, made no difference. TIL
Democrats persistently urged tn
plea, and in Ohio probably more tha
in any other state the men and wome
became saturated with an almos
hysterical sentiment for peace at an
price. The Republicans were power
less to combat this sentiment
The second reason for the WilsO
deluge was the fact that since tn
European war commenced Ohio ha
had enormous prosperity through Of
ders for munitions and food supple
for the Allies. The farmers hay
never gotten such prices and II
workingmen have never received sue
wages. Both farmers and working
men forgot all about the disastror
effects of the Underwood Tariff la
before the war, and they refused
consider what is to happen after Il
war with that law still in operation
The prosperity is under the Wilsc
administration-and the majority I
change.
The third reason was the Adamsc
law. In most of the industrial STATE
the workingmen had enough "guml
ton" to appreciate that measure |