Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-10-29
MANAGERS OF COP.
SHOW NERVOUSNESS
Still Claim Harding's Election,
Eut Reduce Figures; Demo
Gratis Are Cheered.
Special to paliimore sun


ngn secucd to bc rcsistless Republican
tide Is no Ion or = matter of argument
here
Il is only question OF how far the
pendulum has swung and how mucn
further u must swing IN the closing days
ul the campaign III order that the two
parties may hc fairly balanced against
each other
Nothing more clearly indicates the
change IN the campaign atmosphere than
The state ~ mind of the two national
headquarters in this city In the Demo
cratic camp there has Sten sudden re-
vival of hope An cleventh-hour enthusl-
aSm has been generated, as encouraging
reports come IN almost hourly from
states and sections which had been count
81 oS lost the rcnuinencss Of which can
not hc doubted
Among the Republicans there IS an
obvious nervousness. There Is still a
profound belief that Harding will win,
II is true. hut many Of the more ex-
pcrlcnccd leaders are beginning 10 won
,icr II thCv have not taken too much
Tor granted: If there has not been q
dangerous measure Of overconhdencc on
the part OF Republican field marshals,
ana Il. after all. there may not be a
powerful silent vote in the country which
they have iaileu to capture.
Tins uneasincSs IS heightened by the
recollection of 1916. campaign which
ou the surface seemed To bc rs satisfac
tory as any Hughes manager could desire,
hut which. 10 the CONSERVATION of every
Republican politician in the cast, ended
in disaster And in spite Of all the ad-
vantages with which they entered this
contest there is n fear that they have
otcrcStimatcd their strength; that they
may have ovcrplaved their hands, and
that tho history OF four years ago may
repeat itself
Orc concrete circumstance might be
c,tcd ~ showing Republican discom-
h;lrs. II not discouragcment he
Harding leaders arc no longer claiming
cNtravagant maloritlcs IN many OF the
States ordinarily regarded ss debatabie,
\ month sgo for example, they were
talking IN terms ot 100000 plurality IN
Illinois 10000 m lodiana. 200.000 IN
Oh,e 100000 in Nv York 10000 III
Niasssc chusctts, 5000 IN ConU ectIcut
sud 80 OuO IN Cahfcrria They We're
making tho sweeping clam that Mary
land Nc,t Virginia kentucky and
Missouri Ncrc dccisivrly Republican, and
that virtually every important state
Vcst ~ the Mississippi uver would be
found IA tho Republican column hy ma
loritica only rivaled hy those gwen Roose-
volt m 1908
None ~ those States Is now cor ceded
- cox hy Republican leaders. II Is true:
Isn't the maiortIes which were counted
upon a few weeks ago. IN most lnstarces
have hccn reduced In private conver-
sstior they frankly admit that they
would II, satisfied Il they Get hall OF the
original majority Ohio WIS expected 10
produce. half that which New York was
~ one time counted upon 10 give Hard
ne and that they would be more than
satisfied Il Indiana gocs heavily enough
for Tho national ticket TO save Senator
Watson from defeat
II also frcrlv i admitted that both
MARYLAND and kertucky arr Tow ~ the
doubtful class and perhaps Vest Nir-
cila They still maintain, however.
that Missouri j. safely Republican. ss
arc Kansas Nebraska. Iowa. Niinr esota
California. Noshir gton and Oregon A.
though Republican leaders seem sincerely
convinced that hey viii elect their tick
- bv an ovcrv hclmirg electoral majority,
fhcN arr hN io meats sure that HArGi"g
vii have IS great a popularSia!ority :s
appeared 20 hc d store ior HIM ia the
earlier stagcs of the campaign
Democratic hoDcful0css Is based upon
thc rislug tad, 81 ieagCc seu.ne.t PHI
marIlv lu the east Although the vest
icNoud the Mississippi river, has Of
bon nbaudo, ed. II is rot looked upon
h.rv as promising Democratic territory
largely l,cal.sc local grIcvaTo ocs agar 81
fhr Marty ia power are difficult to deal
with The area east Of the riVer, how
over. leaving out Ilirois, Michigan and
p,uI svlvafla X regarded IS hghtlng
grouad ard such States as lLdlaEa,
Ohio Kertucky. Maryland, West Nr-
glnIa. New York. Now Jersey. CorT ccti-
~ Nia-sachlsctts ard New Hamrshre
hay, not hceu surrendered and VIII not
h. uutIl ths vote has been coui ted.
There seems ~ be no doubt whatever
that he ecrtlun IN the east Will turn
upon the League of Nations. In The
west the issue of peace has not stirred
IN, ucoplc profoundly SIS did : similar
~.Ir four wears ago. he people out
there are gvrC far more thought 70
hear intimate domestic troubles. hold
rg h. Democratic party reSpoi sIble lor
n,,st Of them. They are dcmardln
charge of government IS the shortest
rut 10 possible relief from the low prices
they rcc.ly. FOR what thcy sell and the
h gh prlccs they pay for what hey buy.
m country. east of tn, Alcghenies,
on tho other hand, appears 10 be moro
deeply concerned over the tate OF the
League nf Nations. over the Harding
proposal for separate peace with Ger
rnanv and over the state OF world affairs
generally II j. here that tho Demo-
,ratic stand upon tho league issue has
mad. ts most effective appeal. Nobody
has been lcfi Ia doubt Democratic lead
ers point out, rs to where Governor
Cox stands upon tins question, whereas
nobody Is certain a. To he position Of
Harding hcvond his straightforward
statement that hC Will undertake direct
regotistions with Germany for q con-
clusion Of peace. il he Is elected
These facts, it Is argued by Democrat
ic managers, have gwen Cox a degree !
of strength which Republican forces |
have greatly underestimated This |
strength Il now manifestlug itself in New |
York and IN New England particularly, |
and u belng counted on 10 overcome tho |
handioaps with which the Democratic |
nominee entered this campaign, handl-
caps that were apparent to most Of his |
supporters from the start.
One other circumstance has served to |
encourage Democratic campaign man
agers This \ the decided return Of the !
Irish vote 20 the party. In almost every /
state where this vote Is a factor il ap-
pearcd for a time 10 be of the Teser-
vatlon. This was true particularly in
such states as New York, Ohio. Indiana