The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1917-04-03
CONGRESSIONAL VOTE
WAS REPUBLICAN

Although membership in the House
of Representatives, which convened
yesterday. is evenly divided between
the two leading political parties. there
was no such quality in the popular
votes by which those members were
chosen. Whether computed on the
basis of total votes cast for congress
sional candidates of the two parties,
or total votes cast for the successful
candidates Of the two parties, the plu-
rality of votes is represented BY Re
publicans.
The figures OF the vote for members
of Congress at the last election II
therefore. interesting and illuminat-
ing. They show that Republican can
didates secured a plurality Of votes
in twenty-six States. the Democrats
in twenty-five. According to a list
prepared by the Democratic clerk,
there were elected 215 each Of Demo
Gratis and Republicans in the present
house. One member Of each party has
since died. OF those elected, the
Republican states contributed 193
Republicans and 60 Democrats; the
Democratic states contributed 155
Democrats and p Republicans-show-
ing hat it is easier for a Democrat
to be elected in a Republican state
than for a Republican to be elected
in a Democratic state.
The whole number of Republican
congressional votes cast was 1914
$40; of Democratic congressional
votes the total was -,753,2S6-a Re
publican plurality throughout the
country of 121,4s3.
The us Republicans elected re-
eeived 5,511.429 votes; the us sue
cessful Democrats got 4.057,176-a
Republican plurality by groups OF
1,454,253.
1t required 25,624, votes. on the
average, to elect a Republican con-
gresham; while the Democrats were
elected with an average vote of 1850
votes apiece.
There are twelve states where re-
pressive or unconstitutional laws bar
the Republican voters from the polls.
These states elected loo members of
Congress; the Republicans elected
five! The 100 Democrats received an
average of 12,0S2 votes each; the five
Republicans averaged 19,207 votes
apiece.
There were thirteen states which
returned a solid Democratic congress
sional delegation and ten states which
were solidly Republican. The solid
Democratic states elected 81 congress
men; the solid Republican states
elected 40.
The solid Democratic states have a
population of voting age numbering
~4,S50,574; the solid Republican states
have a like population of 2~,577,142.
The Democratic states cast, however.
only 1.119,756 votes for the 81 Demo
Gratis whom they elected; whereas the
Republican states cast 989,654 votes
for the 40 Congressman whom the
party elected in that group. In other
words. it took 24.766 Republicans in
the Republican states to elect a Con-
gresham whom 1890 Democrats
could elect in a Democratic state.
Handicapped by substantially a
million votes through the iniquitous
election laws of the Solid South, the
Republican party nevertheless Sc
cured a plurality of more than a hun
dred thousand votes for Congressman
throughout the country, and cast a
million and a quarter more votes for
its 215 successful congressional can
didates than the 215 successful Demo
Gratis received.
With free and fair elections all over
the country, where would the Demo-
cratic party land?