The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-10-18

PRESIDENTIAL L CAMPAIGNS.
XIV. The Surprise Of 1916.

luls nepuDl1can cnUs.s
based upon an idea whstS
rect discord with the ~
democratic government
often proved to be ii aI,s
with the facts Of Il. ~
10 that the American ~,
peruen Of Independents
and good sense who 49, ~
in obedience to thoss -.
the fact has often appsSS
that he is blinded ~
prejudice. throwing e6oi
= the winds.
In this case the preiu6,,. !.
did not seem to work 10 ~
Wilson at least offered 4 -
statement Of aims and .t,i
while Hughes offered nnIs
opposition to Wilson ~ ~
Of party loyalty. No on l..
decided exactly what ~.
but 1t might be said that ~
smoke cleared away ths ~
can party was found proat,s
the field with the tracks a n
dependent voters all sbout
California, which was TIA ~
state in the election, he yuliss;
90 Independent and tie a
we're so heavily and yaSs
scratched that it took 4 la. \.
to count the vote and manv r.
errors were made.
What happened in Caliiof,h,
always been regarded u
terry. Senator Hiram Johnacn j,
ming on the Republican tlcht
ostensibly supporting Hume =!
ried it for himself by 4 -
majority. Yet it gave Z ~
for Wilson for president. m
hazarded the guess that tha -
pendent and progressive o.
back Of Johnson was not ~
satisfied with the Hughes =
paign. That progressive votsvI7
Roosevelt led back into IL +
did not seem to be as lafye \ !
had been when he led It avn
1912. The west, which had r.
Roosevelt most of his votes b n
| was what. carried the day ioe N
| son in 1916. The result seeial
confirm what had been indiu
four years before-that thero Nj
| reality a body of independent \
thinking voters in the county h
will not travel in partisan lsan
strings, but will follow . leadkI
either party if they think hett
fering something definite. y
Labor Makes Political Prpgls
Next to this emergence Of a!
| dependent vote, perhaps the q
interesting thing was the parudI
ton Of labor in the campaign. ~
| be remembered that in 1904
American Federation Of Lahct |
for the first time taken . pastt
stand. IT was generally "
| afterwards that the labor led
had failed to deliver the labofy
both that year and the follow
one. Nevertheless there Wa
| niflcance in the fact that organ
labor had entered partisan poll
without disrupting its ortas
ton, as it had done at least =
before. In 1916 labor had Z
inducements for supporting
Democratic party than ever b
The Adamson eight-hour law
just been put on the books -
| midst of a storm of denuncia
from capital and of approval
labor.
Whether labor really voted
democratic ticket in 1915 W
least a moot question. The~bil
dustrial centers of the east
Republican as usual, thus IND
ing conclusively that the labor
was at least divided there. Ol
other hand, there seemed to .
doubt but that labor in many
ern states was fairly solid Tor
son in large blocks. This was
haps the nearest thing to . :
vote" that has ever been ca
the United States. No one tnc
much about it at the time, Dut
the intensification Of class le
that the war brought about
the recent formation of a raj
Labor party. it begins to De
apparent that, for better Oh
worse, parties based upon
and occupational interest ar
, most certain to supersede tn'
| cient and now largely meanil
division into Democratic anu
publican parties.