Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-06-29
STRAW
VOTES ARE TOLD OF
Daily Letter by Frederic j. Haskin

WASHINGTON, June 29.-What-
ever the campaign of 1924 may have
in store for the American people as
a whole, and for those individuals
who have dreams of securing a four
yea lease on the White House, rent
free and subject to renewal, it is
certain to be unique in at least one
| respect. The straw vote season
opened earlier, to be exact.
1t is difficult to fix the precise date
of the opening of a campaign. Var
ious organizations and various indi-
viduals may determine upon almost
any date and assert that it marks
the formal opening. With some
candidates it may be said that the
opening dates from the day and
hour when they first grasped the
important fact that any native born
American may aspire to the Presi-
dency, and in event a nomination
should be thrust upon some dark
horse" who was not even in the run
ming it might be held that this cam
paign never had any opening what
ever.
However, it is different with the
| straw vote season.. That dates from
the movement somebody decides to
| start something and sets about as
certaining the presidential prefer
| ences of half a dozen or half a mill
ion of his fellow citizens.
Occasionally this takes place in the
smoking compartment Of a Pullman
when after the usual discussion OF
| prohibition, the League of Nations
and the respective merits of tn email
| or baseball leagues, one of the de-
baters speaks up with the
suggestion, well, let's take a
| secret vote and see how we stand
for President" Such a stunt not on
ly relieves tedium of a railroad jour
ney, but it gives the participants
something to talk about for days at
forwards. Also it may possibly have
an influence in the creation of that
Intangible thing which we call pub
lie sentiment" or public opinion,
and which is supposed to be so po-
tent in this democracy of ours. Some
enterprising newspaper man hears
Of this momentous secret ballot, de-
cides that it is Significant" ano
publishes it to the world.
But as a rule it is the newspaper
or magazine editor who starts tht
ball rolling by inviting his reader!
to record themselves as favoring this
that or the other candidate, and the
Pullman presidential polls are takeI
as the result of the editorial suggest
ion. And heretofore the editoria
minds have never opened up thil
field Of political prognastication I'm
til along about the first of the yea.
in which the election vas to be held
Full Year Prior to Conventions
For the 1924 campaign, however
the straw vote season was inaugur
rated more than a full year prior t
the national conventions that Wi
name the presidential, candidates an
eighteen months before the election
A weekly magazine, Golfers, got tn
jump on all the ~forecasters and es
tablished a political weather burea
that was prepared to make reF+rt
about the middle of May.
The novel feature of this stra'
vote, aside from its early date, lie
in the fact that it is the first on
national scale in which the voter
have been canvassed personally. Or
dinarily when a publication set
about discovering how the politica
wind sare blowing it prints a blan
ballot which it's readers are request
ed to fill out and send in, or it send
our circular letters enclosing a re
} turn post card on which presidentis
preferences may be recrder.
In this instance the magazine sc
lected at random a number of II
subscribers proportionate to the vol
ing population of each State an
then SEM its representatives to max
personal calls on these subscriber
and ask each one to name his fir
choice for President. No question
were asked as to the party afdliatior
of the subscribers, they were M
: asked which candidate they wante
the Republicans or the Democra
r to nominate, and they were not il
vited to indicate their second {
third choices.
Hence when the final tabulatio
Y has been made it will show that OF
of a quarter of a million or so vo
ers, representative of every sectic
Of the country a certain number IA
or one presidential candidate, a ce
tain number wants another, and
u on. There is a bona fide voter bat
OF each vote that is recorded, it
laeserted, and in this respect Il