The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED DAILY FRIDAY, NOVEMBER. 9, 1928. THE AMERICAN CALL TO HOOVER.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXVIII, Issue 10739, 9 November 1928, Page 4

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED DAILY FRIDAY, NOVEMBER. 9, 1928. THE AMERICAN CALL TO HOOVER.

The greatest election in the world was held on Tuesday,!' and Mr. Herbert Clark Hoover will he the next President of the United States, and occupant of historic White House. The people of what isf claimed to he the most democratic country on earth do not directly elect the President, for their votes are cast for delegates to an Electoral College, and those chosen in each State meet thereat, and that body elects the head of the great republic. In actual practice, however, the part played by the Electoral College is 'merely nominal, for, as soon as the result of the voting for delegates becomes known, it follows, as a matter of course, that the new President may be announced with certainty. ■The occupant of White House, it is interesting to note, receives a salary of 75,000 dollars a year, and an annual appropriation of 25,000 dollars for travelling expenses. The defeat of Governor A 1 Smith was not unexpected, for Republican sentiment continued to expand during Mr Coolidge’s term of office, no doubt, mainly as a result of the Republican foreign policy, which represents the typical attitude of the. American people towards external affairs, but also on account of the high degree of prosperity which the nation has been enabled, in consequence thereof, to maintain. Since Grover Cleveland’s Administration from , 1893 to 1897, there has been only one Democrat in occupation at White House, the late Dr. ‘ Woodrow Wilson, and his first election, in 1913, was largely duo to the formation of a third party under the late Mr. Theodore Roosevelt, which split the Republican vote. A new feature of the elections that is typically American is the “straw” vote, conducted by magazines and newspapers! among their readers, the intention being to forecast, with a certain degree of accuracy, the result of the election. Prior to the' contest four years ago, the “Literary Digest” predicted that Mr. Coolidge would receive 56 per cent, of the total votes, and} when yhe State ballots were counted, it. wa.t found he had actually polled 55 per cent! That “straw” test also indicated that Mr. Coolidge. wouldl head; the v;o!te in thirty-five States, Mr Davis in twelve' and Mr. La Foletto in one, and, marvellous to relate, this was actually the true - position. That journal is, undoubtedly, the one that was referred to in a cable message a few days ago, which set out that Mr. Hoover would receive 63 per cent, of the total vote. It predicted also that Governor Smith would lead in only four States ,and these would all he in the South. The cable message last week stated that, if the results should bear this cut, the Democrats’ defeat would; he nothing shorfi of disastrous. So far, the actual number of States in which Governor Smith secured a majority is not known, hut the prediction regarding the disaster has, indeed, come true. Ag the result of the election, the Democratic? party, which first came into power with General Jackson as 'President ‘ ;in

1829, has. now* undergone radical disruption and will require to bo reorganised oil fresh lines if it is ever again to have a reasonable chance of .success. Undef these circumstances, the Presidential election of 1928 has proved to lie the most important for many years.