New Britain herald., 1930-10-07
THE SMALL TOWN "TREND"
 IN THE STATE

HE SMALL IOWN "IliEND"
 IN THE STATE
 It is said in Connecticut that it doesn't make much difference in an of year how the small towns vote except in the towns. What one thinks about this. however, depends upon personal political prejudices. Certain it is that the grand moguls of ea1. party like to make a good si--Ting in the small towns, even in an off ' year and when the main political contention in some of the towns is as to what farms the new road is to pass or, whether the first select man made a profit over and above the $ a day allowed for grading a dirt road under his jurisdiction. Even the color of the water that flows from the towns main pump sometimes has a devastating effect upon somebody's political fortunes They have personal politics in these small towns-and the smaller the town the more strenuous the politics. : None of this big city stuff. with hall the voters not knowing what the leaders are talking about. They take things "close to home" seriously and yesterday 130 of the 1e9 went through the crucial test of balloting for their favorites.
 Democrats naturally like to see signs of 8 trend" in the small , town elections; that is to say, they like the small towns to be the straws which show which way the larger political wind is blowing. Perhaps the Democrats have an opportunity ,t7t0i gloat a little today, seeing that more than a score of municipalities showed political changes and that seven of them, according to early reports, had jumped 70 the Demo- cratic column.
 Of course, it is possible to take in hand the State Manual and figure out more or less laboriously just what the figures indicate in the light of past performances; which leads up to statistical enumeration that leaves the mind in daze. It is held. however, that figures inthe off years do not amount to much, depending entirely upon the fervor of the con- tests over the town offices; while the figures in the major elections also do not amount to much in most of the small towns because they in- variably poll Republican. \The acute observer" therefore, is left in what < is termed "quandary," and natur- : ally concludes that nobody knows ; what may happen in an off year and everybody knows what happens dur ' ing a presidential year.
 Some of the towns identified with ; yesterdays political melee are "small' only in theory. Among the most interesting in this group was ! the election in Middletown, where Mayor F. J. Bielefield, Democrat, was elected for a third term and ; with him went into office almost the entire Democratic ticket. MT. Biele- field got more votes by a thousand 4. than Cox obtained for President in I 1920, or 1900 more than Davis ob- tained for President in 1924, and 700 less than Smith received for . President in 1928. MT. Bielefield ob- tained 700 less than Morris in that same year, and about an equal total less than the other Democratic can- didates of that period. Mylchreest, his Republican opponent, received 140O fewer votes than Hoover did in 1928, and so on down the line. We think Middletown Is quite a good town upon which to base any kind of state trend, and the outlook is that 1t Is Democratic. Whether such an assumed trend is sufficient to in- sure a Democratic state victory Is another matter entirely. To judge from the returns in such a typical small town as Newington happens to be the Democrats in the state are at least progressing favora bly,, but how far they will progress is an- other matter.