Evening star., 1924-11-07
The Busted Bugaboo.

Nhen the La Toilette third party
movement was launched last spring
II was freely predicted that it would
prove to hold a balance of power in
enough States to determine the cleo
ton, perhaps to the extent of throw
ing States to the Democrats sufficient
ly to give them a majority in the cleo
toral college. Later the belief pre-
vailed in many quarters that it would
cause such a loss to the Republicans
In the West as to prevent Mr.. Cool
adge from securing an electoral ma
Jority, thus throwing the election into
Congress. Toward the close of the
campaign the latter possibility was
virtually the sole hope of the Demo-
Gratis.
In those States where the third
party movement was strongest the
Republican party conducted an in
tenslve campaign, aggressively at
tacking the anti-constitutional pro-
posals of the third party. Good times
brought great numbers of farmers
back to their traditional allegiance.
The chance of a default in the cleo
toral college served as q challenge to
the voters to determine the choice for
themselves. And, above all, the per-
Sonality of the President served to
bring into the Republican lines many
wavering voters. who had earlier been
drawn off by specious promises, by
recitals of the scandals attaching to
earlier administrative conduct.
A study Of the tables of votes. as
far as it is possible to compile them.
shows that the La Toilette movement
did not draw enough strength to hold
the balance Of power. In eight States
that are now carried in the Coolidge
column the La Toilette vote was
greater than the Presidents plurality,
in some of them La Toilette leading
Davis, in others trailing. But the elec-
toral votes Of those eight States are
small. They only total 43. This num-
ber, deducted from the 3S2 which are
now accredited to Coolidge, according
to the latest revised returns, which in
clude Arizona. New Mexico and North
votes, or far more than enough to
elect.
The States in which the La Toilette
vote at the present recording was
greater than the Coolidge plurality
are Arizona, Idaho, Kentucky, Mary
land. Montana. Nevada, New Mexico
and North Dakota. Had the Davis
and La Toilette votes been combined
in these eight States in favor OF the
leading one Of the two Davis would
have carried four, Arizona, Kentucky,
Maryland and New Mexico, with 81
electoral votes. and La Toilette four
Idaho. Montana, Nevada and North
Dakota. with 16 votes. Thus a COM
paete coalition in favor of the DOM
inant minorities in all of the eight
States named would have given Davis
163 electoral votes, La Toilette %
and Coolidge 339. thus giving the
President an electoral plurality over
Davis of 173 votes and an electoral
najority over all Of 147.
To throw the election into Congress
1t would have been necessary for La
Toilette to hold the balance or secure
the plurality in such States as Cali.
fornia. where the President had 206,-
600 plurality at the present reckoning;
Colorado, where he had Ill 900; Iowa,
where he had 257.ooO; Kansas. where
he had 218,000. If, asit is now indi-
Gated. he polled 100000 votes it is
plain that those votes were too widely
:. scattered to have affected the result.
For example, approximately $50. 900
. OF them were cast in Ohio, 450, 900 of
them in New York, 30O,000 Of them in
Illinois and 100000 of them in Penn.
sylvania. Thus 100000 of his votes
were cast in four States in which he
had no chance whatever of victory,
and where they had no effect upon
the result
The La Toilette bugaboo thus ap-
pears to have been a very fiimsy af-
fair, after all.