Valdez daily prospector., 1916-11-21
rometer, or was prior to 1916. If 1t


 is held to be a reasonable assumption that the candidate .,who gets New York is almost certain of election, the addition of Indiana and Illinois can be regarded as a Head pipe cinch, 2 for the reasons that, the party which twins those three states has a total of eighty-nine electoral votes to start with. And besides, as a rule, Indi- ana and Ohio go arm in arm into the presidential arena.
 Every political certainty" was knocked sky high at the election of November 2. Charles E. Hughes won New York, Indiana, Illinois, and Pennsylvania, and yet he was not elected. These four states which would have meant political land slide in almost any election in the past were overbalanced by the com bined votes of nearly all the western states and Ohio.
 Hughes carried only four states west of the Mississippi These were Iowa, South Dakota, Oregon and Minnesota. These four states totaled thirty-f five, electoral svotes for the Re publican' scandidate.' Oregon, with five votes, is the only far western state which went for Hughes. Altho the!votes of all the states Tn the West which supported Wilson are compar- atively small in electoral votes, their total, with the Solid South, which is democratic under almost any and all circumstances, was sufficient to over come Hughes tremendous lead in the East. Wilson's plurality in most of the Western states was uncomfortably small for the most part, but was enough to leave no doubt as to the ultimate outcome. Hughes carried the East with the possible. exception of New Hampshire, and that will ne- cessitate a. recount to-, remove all Edoubt. ....
 The outcome shows that the radi- cal West allied itself with the reac- tionary South, which is now in con- trol of congress. The alliance is one of the inexpicable things of the cam. paign.
 Another strange circumstance is that the East and Middle West which have been the greatest beneficiaries of the European war, voted against Will sons policies, while the West, which has derived no particular advantage from the increased business incident to the war supported Wilson. Fossil bly, one explanation of this is-if ex- plantations can be made-that the East being closer to Europe was more deeply influenced than the West by the presidents foreign policy, and that because of the war it realizes to a greater degree than the Vest if that be possible-the need of protective tariff as the basis of our domestic policy. No doubt the dem- ocratic slogan, "He kept us out of war" had a great deal to do with the vote west of the Mississippi, for the reason that in the East the president does not appear in a haze or a senti- mental halo, as he is seen more, and his policies. appeal less to the com mon people.
 It seems fair to say that the wom- ems vote went largely to the presi- dent for the reason that he carried ten out of the twelve suffrage states Oregon and Illinois are the excep- tions. The cry that "He was against woman suffrage..' undoubtedly lost Wilson votes in Illinois, where he had less chance to reach the population in smaller towns. Yet several Vest ern states, where equal suffrage does not obtain went to Wilson, indicating that the progressives- they did in Washington and California-gave the president strong support.
 That the president is personally popular with the common people is evident. His nimbleness' of mind, his unfailing courtesy and good na- ture and expansive smile appealed to his hearers. Westerners give Wilson credit for some excellent legislation, and they believe moreover, that if he has made mistakes in his foreign dealings. he has faced task of more than ordinary magnitude in keeping this country as neutral as he has. Whatever may have been the un- deriving cause for the spectacular showing of the West in his favor, it is certain that the national commit tees in the future will spend some of their thunder west of the 9Oth meri- i dian as we'll as in New York and h. diana.