The Washington herald., 1920-04-15
BY WILLIS J. ABBOT.

Chicago. April 1i-As aforesaid
in these dispatches, the outcome of
the Illinois primaries was a victory
for Governor Lowden. But il Is a
qualified triumph. The voters of the
State indorsed his administration.
and declared for him for Presi-
dent by a'plurality In the neighbor-
hood of $1,000.
In Cook County, where the Thomp-
son-Ludin machine is all-powerfuI.
Gen. Wood was victorious by nearly
10000 votes, while Hiram johnson
rolled up a vote exceeding 10000, al
though his name did not appear
upon the ticket and his supporters
were compelled to go to the trouble
of writing it Upon each ballot
This is the largest "stickerr vote
ever recorded IN IlIinsis. Roosevelt
having received some $4,000 votes
cast this way lin 1915.
ABti-Eewden Innsence.
The size OF the johnson vote.
however. is not credited by poll
ticians to uninspired public enthu-
siasm for the Senator. but rather
to the efforts of the we'll ll-discipIined
voters of the City Hall machine.
whose hostility to Governor Low
den is matter of political no
toriety.
Following so closely upon the
heels of his complete defeat in
Michigan, the Illinois result is a
! serious blow to the candidacy of
Gen. Wood. Yet it was to have
been expected.
1t is serious mainly because the
| Wood managers had been so posi-
tive in claiming success in a State
| which wiser policies would have
, led them to keep out of altogether.
As / pointed out in a letter of two
weeks ago, the Wood people had
/ cmbared on a career of unlimited
claims. They were then claiming
both Michigan and Illinois. They
have since lost both, and will, / am
confident, lose again in Ohio on the
27th.
AInots Solar PIexus Blow.
The defeat in the Wolverine State
was indeed unexpected and for the
moment dazing. No favorite son
wa sthere to be encountered. Only
in the last days of the campaign
did Johnson loom up as the really
dangerous enemy. The reports
made by the county chairmen of
the really impressive Wood organ
ization were of a sort to justify all
enthusiasm. The volume of pub
licity enjoyed by the general was
enough to arouse confidence in the
outcome-and. being mostly paid
for, was also sufficient to enhance
the suspicious of Senator Johnson
that large barrel was being
broached.
There is a quiet story around
headquarters here that, besides af-
/ fording oratorical ammunition to
johnson, some of the publicity was
met in a more sinister fashion.
The report is-and the first
part of it is certainly true-that
|
Wood inserted in a certain sec
tartan paper an advertisement
! pointing out to members of that
sect acts performed by the gen.
eraI when Governor of Cuba and
adjuring them to show their
gratitude by their votes. There
upon the Johnsonites distrib-
uted these advertisements in
quarters where they could not
fail to be offensive, and imme-
diately there was a great crop
of badges, bearing the cabalis-
tic words: I'm for Hiram"
Hiram" I am informed, Is a
word bearing a certain esoteric
signiffcance to members OF a
| great secret organization.
The publication of the advertise
ment and the sudden appearance oi
the badges were matters of common
knowledge. How great the effect
of the incident in enhancing Hiram's
vote must leave to wiser political
estimators.
| Relied ON Treachery.
But while the vote in Michigan
may well have surprised and iisap.
pointed the Wood boomers. they goi
in Illinois just what any. veteran
observer Of politics thought the,
would get-just what at heart the,
probably anticipated.
The only possible chance they hat
for carrying the State lay in thu
hope that some of them cherished
THAT at the last moment the "Cit,
Hall machine" might turn traitor
to the candidacy of Governor Low
den and direct it's henchmen I,
throw their votes to some other can
didate-prcsumably Johnson,