Evening star., 1938-09-21

= REVEALS tIldL TO-.
472099 voters took part in the pri-
maries this year, as compared with
14,179,17l In 1885 and l4,2640l3 In
1894.
Thus the 1888 increase over 1894,
which is really the better year for
comparison purposes, was about IS
per cent. If this percentage Is main
tanned in the final elections, 1t may be
that 100000 votes will be cast in
this years congressional election, as
compared with 33.o0o,o00 in 1884 It
Is not unusual for congressional
election to bring out smaller vote
In some instances than q presidential
race because often q primary race
settles the issue for a given district
or State. The signs point to
heavy vote in the Northern States,
where interest in many primary
contests has not been intensified by
presidential intervention.
Unquestionably the Presidents ef-
tort to form a conservative-libera
cleavage has accentuated interest in
the primaries this year. but public
attention has been focused only on
those contests inside the party where
this division can be made. In the
vast majority of cases New Dealers
have been renominated without oppo-
sition in the party primaries and they
face the barrage Of independent Demo-
cratic and Republican votes for the
drst time when the final election takes
place. Assuming the same type of
controversy which brought out the big
vote for the primaries, the final con-
tests should be participated in by an
unprecedented number Of voters for
congressional off-year election.
Iowa Vote = Surprise.
1t Is interesting to note that Of the
2S States from which reports on the
primaries are available, the only ones
In which the 1898 vote was less than
1884 were Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi,
Missouri, Nebraska and North Dakota.
The main surprise was Iowa, where it
was believed that the Presidents oppo-
sition 20 Senator Gillette would GER
tainly bring out the vote. Farmers
may have been busy at the time or
else local opinion held that close
contest wak not foreshadowed. Some
times when the outcome is foregone
conclusion. many voters do not take
the trouble, especially in rural areas,
to 60 to the polling places.
There may or may not be. inciden-
tally, some substance to the Presidents
recent contention that Republicans
have been voting this year In the DEM
ocratic primaries. The % States show
. slightly less Republican total as
compared with 1884, while the Demo-
cratic total is about 100000 larger
than four years ago. Many Republic
can contests, to be sure, were tame
affairs with no excitement, whereas the
Democratic contests were in the lime
light and naturally attracted more
attention.
Just why primary votes increase or
decrease, however, may be related to
various causes. Thus In Florida, where
the poll tax has been repealed since
the 1884 elections, the increase
amounted to about 100 per cent,
whereas in Mississippi, right next door,
there was q decrease Of 40 per cent.
That the region where the primaries
are held makes little difference but
that local issues do may be inferred
from the fact that Of the 2,000,0 900 in
crease In the Democratic total, almost
100000 came from the increased pri-
mary vote in four States-Florida,
North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas
three Of them widely separated from
each other geographically.
1886 Prompted Unity.
Perhaps the reason why 1896 had
smaller vote over 1884 is that party
unity Is much better in q presidential
year than in an off-year election. Mr..
Roosevelt's efforts to influence the
primaries Of his own party may leave
scars which will carry over into the
1910 pre-convention fights and con-
gressional contests of that year, but
there Is no precedent on which to
base = judgment because no party
leader with the prestige and power of
the presidential office has ever carried
on such far-reaching or intensive
campaign for his own candidates as
Mr.. Roosevelt has this year.
The full significance Of the con-
servative-liberal controversy, however,