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About The courier. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1894-1903 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 19, 1896)
i &--. !-!, . v ffr " VOL. 11 NO ZG F.STABLISHED IN 18SC PRICE FIVE CBNTh LINCOLN NBB., SATURDAY. SEPTEMBER 19, 15:00, nmssD in Tins post omc at i.ntcoL AS SECOND-CLASS MATTXB PUBLISHED EVEBT SATURDAY BT TR COURIER PRINTING AND POBLISHllfi d Ofllco 1132 X street. Up Stairs. Telephone 384. SAKAII B. HARRIS Editor anil Manager W. MORTON SMITH Awmciato Editor Subscription Rates In Advance. Per annum 12.00 Six months 1-00 Three months 60 One month 20 Single copies 6 m. iHiHLflLHiLLLBLvtii. !GSJ I OBSERVATIONS Will Bryan carry his own state? Mr. Bryan is so sure of Nebraska's eight electoral votes that he does not think it necessary to make any personal cam paign in the 6tate other than the inci dental speeches in this city. Senator Thurston has repeatedly said Nebraska will go republican by 20,000 plurality. The republican state central committee does not admit that there is any doubt of a McKinley victory. The truth is no accurate information as to the probable result is possessed by either side. Both committees have attempted to poll pre cincts, counties and districts, but the work has not been carefully done, and the estimates thus Tar made are unsatis factory. Nebraska is a doubtful state. Election figures of the last four years, when considered in connection with present political conditions, yield en couragement to the supporters of Mr. Bryan. On the other hand there are modifying circumstances that seem to indicate a republican victory. Nebraska has gone republican in every republican election since 1872. Republicans were elected to state offices until 1800, when James E. Boyd, demo crat, was elected governor under pecu liar conditions. The second break in republican control occurred in 1S94 when Silas A. Ilolcomb, demo-pop, was elected governor. In 1888 the total vote cast in the state was 202,663. Cleveland electors received 80.552, and Harrison electors 103.42-1. The republican plur ality was 27,873. That was before the birth of the populist party. The popu list forerunner, the Farmers Alliance, had not begun to dabble with politics. Four years later, in 1892, there was a great change. The populist party had then become an important factor. The total vote in 1892 was 199,814. The average vote for republican electors was 86.891 The average vote for populist electors was 82,537. The vote for the democratic national ticket was 21,913. The republican plurality was 4,307. Populist strength was not so marked in the vote for Btate officers. C. II. Van Wyck, the populist candidate for gover nor, received 08,617 votes. The dem ocratic, candidate, J. Sterling Morton, received 44.195 votes. Crounse, repub lican, was elected, receiving 78,420 votes. The political situation was very much mixed that jear. The republican candi date for governor fell behind the repub lican electoral vote 8,408. The demo cratic candidate for governor ran ahead of the democratic candidates for electors 20,000 votes. The next year, 1893, there was an elec tion for judge of the supreme court and regents of the state university. Candi dates were nominated by the republi cans, democrats, and the peoples-independent party, or populists. T.O.C.Har rison, republican candidate for judge who was elected, fell a little behind the Crounse vote of the year before. He re ceived 72,032 votes. Silas A. Ilolcomb, the present governer, was the candidate of the populists. His vote was C5.GCG, practically the same as that cast for Van Wyck. Frank Irvine, who represented, as did J. Sterling Morton in the election of 1892, the straight democrats, and who was oppcsed by W. J. Bryan, received 37,515 votes. The vote for regent was practically the same as that cast for judge. In 1S91 there was a general state elec tion. Ilolcomb, his time running as a domopop, was elected governer by a vote of 97,815. There was complete fusion that year, eo far as the head of the ticket was concerned. Ilolcomb received all the populist votes and all of the demo cratic votes, except G.G95, which were cast for the straight democratic candi date, who was nominated for the same reason that Palmer was nomirated for president this year to preserve the or ganization of the party. It is interest ing to note that these G.G95 votes grew to 18,000 the next year, as will be seen further on. Most of the democrats who wanted to see the demopop candidate defeated voted for Majors, the republi can candidate. The latter received 91, G13 votes. There was a bitter tight on Majors, and a considerable number of republicans voted for Ilolcomb by way of protest againet what they considered a bad nomination. The republican can didate for auditor of public accounts received 93,723 votes, leading the ticket. While Majors ran behind his ticket Ilol comb ran ahead of his. He was the only populist elected to a state o(lice. Re publicans were elected to congress in rive out of the six districts. Labt year the people of Nebraska voted for candidates for judge of the supreme court and regent . The split in the free silver party was widened. Mr. Bryan conducted a vigorous cimpatgn as ed tor of the World-Herald and as a stump speaker in behalf of Phelps, the nominee of the free silver wing of the democracy for judge. Five candidates forjudce were named. Samuel Max well, ex-justice of the supreme court, having been several times elected by the republicans, was the candidate of the peoples-independent, or populist party. Judge T. L. Norval was enomi nated by the republicans. The straight democrats named T.J. Mahoney. Phelps represented the free silver democrats, and the prohibitionist? supported A. G. Wolfenbarger. The vote stood: Norval, 79.291; Maxwell, 70.560; Mahoney, 18, 030: Phelps, 10,079; Wolfenbarger, 4,344. The tight between Mahoney and Phelps was made on the money issue. There was no expectation of electing either candidate, but a determined effort was made by both sides to get out a large vot j. The sound money democrats were jubilant over the result, and anti-Bryan democrats who claim that Bryan will be defeated in Nebraska this year very largely base their claims on these figures. But the figures of 1895 do not repre sent the actual conditions in Nebraska at the present time. While the vote for Mahoney represented the entire strength of the sound money democrats including all the federal office-holders in the state, the vote cast for Phelps did not represent the full strength of the free silver wing of the democracy. A great many silverites in the democratic party, looking upon the election of Phelps as hopeless, cast their vote for Maxwell, who was as strong a free silver advocate as Phelps. There were prob ably 4ft,0C0 democrats in Nebraska last year. The combined vote of Mahoney and Phelps was less than 29,000. At least 10,000 democrats who had up to that time withstood the blandishments of the populists went over to Maxwell and populism. The vote of 15,000 cast for Mahoney and sound money in 1S95 cannot remain intact this year. There is complete fusion between the populists and freo silver democrats in this campaign, the fusion arrangement covering both the electoral and statu tickets. The sound money democrats have no state ticket, and thoy will not put a Palmer and Buckner electoral ticket in the field. Secretary J. Sterling Morton said, sev eral weeks ago, th 1 1 ho did not believe there were more than 5,000 democrats in the state who would not vote for Bryan. Tobias Castor, the deposed national committeeman thinks the number may not be more than 3,000. The post masters and other federal office holders who voted for Mahoney last year will vote for the Bryan ticket thiB year. The accepted estimate of the total vote this year is 205.000. If the populists can hold the 70,000 votes cast for their candidate in 1895 and capture all of the votes cast for Phelps and all but 5.0C0 of those cast for Mahoney there would be a total of 93.000 for Biyan. But this is presi dential year, and the populist vote may reasonably be expected to show an in crease. If there ip an increase of 10,000 votes Bryan will have a plurality. If the demo-pop vote that was cast for Ilolcomb in 1894 can be held together the Bryauites will have to secure only 6.000 additional votes to give the state to their candidate. It is conceded that there is some republican disaffection on account of free silver. H this disaffec tion is onlv 5,000 votes it -ould, appar ently, put the demo-pops very near to victory. But on the other hand there is much dissatisfaction over the details of fusion as at present arranged. Under the preliminary agreement, the popu lists and democrats were to divide the candidates for elector equally between them; the populists were to have a ma jority of the state offices, and three con gressional nominations were to go to each party, each candidate to be sup ported jointly. This arrangement has been carried out with the exception that the populists have taken four out or the five candidates for congress that have thuB far been named. This is not wholly satisfacto-y to the democrats, and there is a growing complaint on the part of the middle-of-the road populists that Senator Allen and Governor Ilolcomb have sold out the party in this state to the rival party. The visit of Tom Wat son has aroused a considerable protest against the naming of Bryan and Sewall electors. The republicans expect some desertions from the populist camp, and this, with a rigid lining up of their own ranks, is expected to carry the state Tor McKinley. The largest republican vote ever cast in Nebraska, excepting that for Harrison electors in 1S33. be fore the populists mixed up things, was 93.72S, cast for Eugene Moore in 1S94. That vote with the vote of 5,000 demo crats, would give McKinley a plurality. It is contended by the republican man agers, and not without som reason that McKinley will gain a populist vote for every republican backslider. Ne braska is debatable territory. W. Morto.v Smith.