THE AMERICAN ELECTIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20098, 8 November 1928, Page 10

THE AMERICAN ELECTIONS.

The United States elections have resulted in a sweeping Republican victory. Mr. Smith has suffered an overwhelming defeat at the hands of Mr. Hoover in the presidential contest, and the polls for Congressional vacancies have assured a dominating Republican majority in both Houses. Altogether, there seems to be ample justification for the cabled description of the result as the greatest Republican victory in history. The Democrats have been so soundly beaten that there is raised the question of their possible disappearance from American politics as a separate party; it is suggested that an outcome of the defeat will be the merging of the party with certain smaller political groups. A feature strengthening this judgment of the effect of the elections is the destructive inroad made by the Republican cause into portions of the country hitherto regarded as more or less implacably hostile. From the losses thus inflicted the Democrats will certainly find it difficult to recover. In the political cross-currents moving through the last weeks of the struggle there were distinguishable certain influences setting strongly for and against the candidates for the presidency. The religious issue was revived with considerable bitterness, and accounts, as is shown by some details of the voting, for the breaking away of some of the southern States from their tradition Democrat affiliation. Since the end of October, also, Mr. Smith became more openly aggressive against the Anti-Saloon League, and ran, as was prophesied by his most ardent supporters, as '"'irrevocably wet" and opposed to '" Volsteadism." and thereby seems further to have divided the Democrats without winning any appreciable gain from the Republic,ms. Among influential lactors in the Republican success must be reckoned as well the force of the party appeal to the prosperity of the country under the existing political regime, while its frank standing bv a high protective tariff doubtless played an important part. Whatever deductions are to be drawn from the Republican victory, however, it is notable as giving the United States an assurance that the existing order of things political will remain for some time to come without serious challenge.