The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1917-01-19
FRIDAY AFTERNOON, JAN. -, 1917
CLOSE ELECTIONS.
WEST MiRSTHR, MD.

class the Tilden-Hayes contest was
the most sensational I'd that mem
CRADLE election tine result turned up-
on the single vote of the fifteenth
member OF the electoral commission
who was chosen by four judges or THE
supreme court
Our history abounds with instances
in which the course of events h.
turned upon single votes, and some OF
them may Be conveniently selected
from the compilation made by Speak
er Clark for one of his Chautauqua
lectures,
General Jackson was elected major
general OF Tennessee militia by one
majority without that one vote he
N could mot have fought Tine battle Oh
New Orleans, and politics would have
been different for : quarter Of cen
fury.
Martin Van Buren, won tine preai-
dency through his defeat by one vote
On the confirmation Of his nomination
as minister NO England.
John G. Calhoun, as vice president,
cast THE deciding vote which gave to
Van Buren, what Calhoun never cot
Tor, himself, although his claims were
mot inferior.
Edward Everett lost the governor
ship or Massachusetts, BIZ one vote,
and that took him out w The lit of
@TailableS for the presidency.
Thomas r. Benton was elected to
Tire senate by single vote The loss
of that One vote mot only would have
cost him his career OF thirty years,
but would have meant the loss W the
senate of one OF it, strongest and most
famous members il most trying era.
one w the great characters of Ameri-
cam history might never have emerged
from Obscurity.
Henry Clay cast the deciding vote
in tine constitutional convention which
admitted Kentucky to- the Union as a
slave state. IL Kentucky had entered
tine Union as free state 1T II hardly
doubtful that Missouri would have
done the same, and IT Is conceivable
that there might have been ITO Mis-
souri, compromise, and perhaps even
W. war between the states.
The Walker tariff passed the senate
nv IA single vote. Taft lost the vote of
Idaho through a Tie in the precinct Of
Boise. If ONE more man had voted FOR
Taft Roosevelt would have lost con-
troll Of the state.
INV There is at least one case in which
single vote was the entire election
At the primaries for the Prohibition
nomination FOR judge I'm Schuylkill
county, a., one vote was cast There
being DO other candidate Or voter,
Richard H Kock was unanimously
chosen. a miss il said to IN ~ good
~ mile, and under some conditions
one vote Az I'D good as "a million
On the other hand, a majority of
100000 may be worthless, as was ac-
tually the case in Indiana JAZZ the
general election i'm November, 1900,
= proposed amendment that the gen
eraI assembly shall by law prescribe
what qualifications shall be necessary
FOR admission to practice law to All
courts W justice was submitted to
Tine electors.
Nearly 100000 more votes We're cast
for the amendment than against IL.
But it did not receive VA majority of
the votes cast for presidential cleo
tors and governor. The supreme
court held that it had not been carried
by the constitutional majority requir-
wv for the ratification Of "a proposed
amendment. That was case where
al actual majority at the polls lost in
the courts
There would be no end tO the prece-
dents regarding the value of "a few
votes IL the search were extended TO
foreign history. One example will suf-
nee to show that the count Of the
votes " as important a. the casting
Of them. In 1911 the Monis ministry
fell In France because it was thought
to BE- in minority OF fourteen, when
in fact it had a majority OF i've &C
cording to- the contemporary cable
gram:
The crisis arose over an Interpret
1ation regarding the attitude of the
government as to the chief command
wv the army in the event OF war, and
the official list showed 23S votes
against the government and PA IN
favor.
mi. Monis was still OF sick bed a.
the result Of an accident and his col
leagues decided On resignation
The curious fact has now beer
brought to light, however. that at the
moment of the fatal division there
mas considerable confusion in regard
to the votes for and against.
A number on deputies announced
that their names had appeared on th'
wrong division list. AZ official rec
tiffcatiOn was made, with the result
that ao fan from having been defeate'
the government had the narrow ma
jOrity mentioned above
Though this discovery may To- tn