The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1916-11-09

up 10 the time of the election the presi-
and uncertainty. While the confidence
Of the managers was just ny strong ns
II was early I'm the race. II was aplar.
ent that the men who did the hard
work, the men In command In the
trenches, so to speak, were very al,
prehensiye until the end.
Predictions In the newspapers anil
by political writer's have been based
largely upon their personal prefer.
ences. In M close election 1t IL quite
natural that the desires Of n man Will
influence his judgment; hence the
prophecies nave been tincturcd with
p~artisnnship and have beer not OF much
value.
What Democrats Fear.
There Is no doubt that the Democrats
feared the effect OF what was called the
great Republican drive during the
closing days of the canvass. They
had been talking several days about
the use Of money aud knew that the
Republicans had plenty to use ia every
doubtful state. They did not talk Of
actual corruption, but Of the same use
OF money that was SO effective In the
campaigns OF 1896 and 1900, when
Hanna and his l%leutenants got out the
vote. This year automobiles took the
place OF the old spring wagons and
buck boards, and many natural stay-a at
homes were carried to the polls.
Conorsssional Campaigns.
Owing to the interesting show la the
big tent we scarcely realized that n
redhot congressional campaign was In
progress. Yet nearly all the congress
men. especially those In doubtful dis
tricts, were Mt home working hard for
election. The complexion of the house
WAS very much In doubt. There was
= possibility OF a condition which has
never happened before-the election of
Z Republican president and a Demo
cratic house. Back In 1888, when Har.
rison was elected by the narrow ma
jority of 1900 In New York, the Re
publicans carried the house by three
majority.
Looking After Small States.
In a campaign like this the politi-
clans realize that they must look after
the small states as well as those with
large electoral votes. Thus attention
was given to Delaware. Utah, Ida
no, Montana, New Mexico and Arizona.
1t is not really expected, when the
vot0a ara NIL In that thaao StataS wtll
determine the result, but In an elec.
ton such as the present one 1t may
be that one state will decide who
shall be president. There are a few
people who can remember that not
only one state. but one elector deter
mined the result In 1876, when Hayes
was given the verdict, though Tilden
had a popular majority.
Dark Spots on the Map.
Republicans have seen several dark
spots on the political map, Three
cities stand put prominently before
them-Cleveland. Detroit and Buffalo.
or these Buffalo gave them more con
Germ than the others, because that city
might determine the vote in New York
state. They did not believe Detroit
would cast enough votes to carry Mich
igan for Wilson. and as to Cleveland
we'll, Republicans have for many days
been figuring on winning without Ohio.
Sullivan and Palmer.
Several days before election Roger
Sullivan of Chicago wired A. Mitchell
Palmer Of Pennsylvania that Illinois
was safe for Wilson. Palmer repeat
ed the telegram to Democratic head
quarters and to Shadow Lawn, with
the further information that the Dem
scrats had a good chance to carry
Pennsylvania.
Impressed With Crowds.
Men who have travelled with Presi
dent Wilson and Mr.. Hughes have
been very much impressed by the
crowds which have gathered to hear
and see these distinguished men.
More than that, the men about cam.
paign headquarters pointed to these
crowds as reasons why their candi
dates would win.
Then some III recalls the big
crowds which always greeted Bryan
and also the big demonstrations which
were accorded to Judge Parker and
point out that crowds do not always
mean votes.
Polls and Straws.
There are various kinds of methods
used In ascertaining how an election
II going to result. One is the straw
vote. very uncertain at best. The 9TH
er Is the poll taken by county chair.
men and their ~lieutenants. OF course
the poll is more accurate than the
straw vote. The time was in the days
when the Old Guard Of New York had
the most perfect political organization
" known that the Republican man.
agers could tell within a few thou
sand OF what the up state vote would
be. There were more uncertainties
this year.