The New York herald., 1922-11-05

Elements in the Election.
There are many men in this State
and some women who think they
know who will be elected Governor
next Tuesday. Considered relatively
the other candidates do not count.
The fight is centered on the Cover
norship.
MILLER and SMITH are the only
figures in the picture seen with the
naked eye. With the aid OF a tele-
scope one makes out the dim figures
of CALDER and COPELAND, candidates
for the United States Senate. Here
the telescope falls down. 1t reveals
no one else in the hazy background.
All these people who are certain
they know just what is going to hap
pen on election day are a good deal
wiser than THE NEW YoRK HERALD,
for THE NEw YORK HERALD does not
know what will happen on election
day.
Seen on the surface in this hotbed
of Tammany-Hylan politics and con-
sidered in respect of the unknown
woman vote, and considered In re-
spect of the very considerable ele-
ment of thinking men in the Demo-
cratic party who will not respond to
the party lash this year, and consid-
cred in respect of certain Republicans
who will vote for AL SMITH because
of the beer and wine plank in the
Democratic platform, though put in
there merely to bunk the voters
considered in respect Of all this nc
one is in himself enough of an X-ray
machine to see the figures before they
come to the surface on election day.
The woman vote is much the
biggest OF the unknown quantities.
One may argue that the women re-
Gently coming into possession of the
vote will be more independent and
will think out the merits of candi-
dates more fully and will be freer
from partisan poison than men who
have had the franchise all their vot.
ing lives and are creatures of habit.
Men of American stock for the
most part have inherited their poll
tics; if foreign born they have
aligned themselves with some party
and, once committed to It, have taker
on the habit, so that they, like those
who inherited their politics, are wont
to follow the party flag.
But again, with regard to women
who have recently come into theyote
Il may as well be argued that as
practically all of them have inherited
their politics they will stick more
closely, more unyieldingly. to party
lines than the men While this may
! be so nobody knows that It is so
Hence in forecasting election figures
, st is not safe to proceed on this
hypothesis.
Still again. with regard to the
woman vote in this campaign, what
will be the attitude of this vote
towards the beer and wine plank of
the Democratic party? II that plank
carries force enough 20 cause a con-
siderable percentage of Republicans
naturally good, straightout Miller
men, 10 vote for AL SMITH on this
wet issue, as they are going to do,
what will be the effect on the woman
vote. for the women are vastly more
keen than the men are for keeping
the bars up against any move that
would mean 10 them the restoration
OF booze?
And with regard 20 the independ-
ent Democrats, thinking Democrats
who want TO see the affairs Of this
state handled In q business way. on a
sound business basis--not on a DO
lltical basis--what OF them? That
there IS a large number Of them Is
certain; no man knows how many.
Another feature having 10 do with
this election and which is tremen-
dously overworked for political effect
in these last days Of the campaign
Is the disaffection in Republican
ranks against MILLER, disaffection Of
politicians because MILLER cut out the
waste and cut out the graft on which
they and their retainers had fattened
and lived.
That MILLER did this is certain.
He aid it handsomely and he did IL
effectively, but there is mighty little
sn this cry of disaffection. The men
who suffered at MuLERs hands be-
cause of his sound business methods
are first, last and all the time poll
ticians and as politicians they do not
dare TO put the knife into MILLER, for
putting the knife into MuIER would
be putting the knife into them selves.
So this phase OF the matte over
~bicb democratic politicians, are