MINOR ELECTIONS IN THE U.S.A.

Otago Witness, Issue 2856, 9 December 1908, Page 77

MINOR ELECTIONS IN THE U.S.A.

Bt E. P. Pkkntts.

Perhaps next in importance to the election of the President comes the various State elections for the governorships, for in the background of tht mindrf ot gubernatorial candidates and electors alike is the belief that if the Governor "makes good," he may, later on, proceed to the White House. If the electioneering is more local than when the chair of the chief executive has to be filled, it is fully as exciting. Buttons, embellished with portraits of the candidates, are seen on ev«ry coat. The whole State is flooded ■with campaign literature, while posters enliven city streets and rural lanes alike. Little booklets, giving details cf the candidates, appear~as if by magic in homes, offices, and public vehicles. They give the fullest personal accounts not only concerning the man who is running for office, but also has people, -even anto the third and fourth generation. If he were born on a farm or ever lived there; the fact i 3 accentuated, for this is a curiously strong passport to the American heart. The church he attends and the regularity of his appearance there is another point, as is also the number of his children and whether part of his education was obtained at a night school. Then his past career is dealt with, and the virtuous acts he has performed are brought out from under their bushels, and arranged in the limelight in such a variety of ways that their number seems increased. . Be he a lawyer, which is the case in a large number of instances, details of his most prominent cases are unearthed afresh, and the criminals he prosecuted are slackened to form the better background. If the booklets issued by the rival factions are obtained they make humorous reading ; through each runs the thread of truth, but the candidate is made a hero or a villain according to the light ehed upon him ! Usually men on the list for «Sta.te Governors are of an exceedingly good type of American. However, nothing is considered a bar to the holding of the position, so long as the candidate is an American citizen, born or by naturalisation, and 'is over a certain age. Men have been nominated- for this, and even higher offices, ' while in gaol awaiting trial for .murder. W. D. ' Haywood' was proclaimed as the Socialist candidate for the Presidency before his trial for complicity in the murder of Governor Steunberg had come to an end. The grounds on which they asked his election were that he was " a man whose personal integrity had never been stained, one who had* never been praised by the capitalist press as 'the greatest labour leader in the world,' and who, as a Labour leader, had never betrayed his trust nor sold out a strike." Whoever the candidate, feeling runs high as the crucial moment approaches. The conventions wherein the fate of the Tunners is ultimately decided are often the scene of bitter fights, though matters may be enlivened' by a considerable amount of horseplay. In some caises flags have led to disorder that they have been forhidden. Then it is held to be "up to the delegates" to get. such emblems in, perhaps swathed Tound their bodies, in order that the sudden enthusiasm engendered at a crisis by the sight of " old <Mory * may help on a stampede in a £iven ' direction. Of course the opposing forces always try to steal each other's fla£T6. It is during ihe wait for the roll call that the delegates are at their wildest. Then bulging pockets are emptied and candidates' portraits appear as if by magic, are nailed to the wall or dangled from rafters and projections. Horseshoes, and such good-duck emblems, are also produced from secret places, and amid cheers and derisive howls the hall is decorated. It is such interludes as these that give colour to the scene, and make the general populace so eager for admission that there are a thousand claimants for every seat. In point of excitement engendered the . election of a mayor of one of the^ larger si ties ranks closely after that of a State Governor. * True, lie has rw\ great insignia of office, as has the Lord Mayor of London, and jjoes to the inauguration clad in a citizen's ordinary garb, topped most probably by a bowler hat, but he has in his gift some thousands of offices, according to the size of the oity he represents. In. America a man may spruwr direct from his business to the height of mayor without first filling lesser offices and submitting to re-election.

These American mayors have exciting times, despite the fact that there are no

sovereigns for them to welcome at the gates. They are appealed to on topics which rend the city and stir up public feeling. In times of riot and stress theirs is the responsibility of sending for the police a'gninst the rioters and of deciding which party shall have official countenance and protection. ( The personal note in such campaigns is every whit as prominent as when higher post* a:e the objective. Monster pori traits of the candidates hang on the hoard- . ings for days before the election, together with lists of their achievements up to date. As usual the scheme is always to make one black in order that the contrast may be greater. Hence rival "literature" is sown bioadca-st. and "Broken Pledges of the Present Office-holder" confront one from the walls of a skyscraper beside -the large- writ promises of the new man who undertakes to right the wrongs of all. On one occasion the publicity men of one party were hard put to it after the first \ few days to find men to post their bills. ' For some time the reason was difficult to locate. There was no scarcity of , labour, and' the wages offered were higher than those paid by the oppositon forces |of the mayor who held office. At length j it dawned upon them — the few men they , had sent forth had been arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct. It was an ' election scheme, to which the police, knowing that the incoming of a new mayor might mean their downfall, Teadily lent , their aid. Small wonder that the bill- ' stickers preferred to paste the hoardings ' with gigantic heads of the then occupant lof the mayoralty chair (even at lesser , wages) than to run the risk of facing trumped-up charges Political life is always turbulent in American cities, and lovers of tranquility do not seek public office, for no man knows ' what his acceptation of a post may lead to. ; Mayors have been hailed as heroes, j branded as criminals, and cheered agnin !in the course of a few short months. AVit- ! ness the career of Mayor Schmitz of San I Francisco. Others have had fully as I thrilling if less onerous adventures than his. Mayor Weaver, of Philadelphia, is a notable example. He has had the extraordinary experience of having thousands of his citizens publicly praying for his "change of heart." The fact that the praj'era for "the sinful mayor" ivere to be offered was proclaimed from the churches on the Sunday, and all Christians were asked to assemble fasting in the public squares in order that their prayers might be more spectacular. Some 7000 pledged themselves, and kept his pledge. Sandwich board men advertised the prayer meetings yet further, and the City Hall was besieged by white-clad women and children eager fco add their quota to the rescuing of the mayor and so help to free him from the influence of "the (gang." . . . "Break the chains of Satan," they chanted, "Cast out the evil spirit!" . . . After these elections, and svhen all the talking is over, comes the inevitable outcry regarding campaign funds, legitimate and illegitimate, and the hot battle as to whether there shall be a recount or not. Hardly an election of any importance occurs without the cry of corruption going up and a fierce dispute being waged as to which is the real victor. At one time in Denv-er both sides claimed a victory, and tlie leaders barricaded themselves in the capitol, where they were fed by their supporters. The affair was really serious, and the eitv was filled with militia to prevent possible bloodshed. A spark would j have set the whole district in a blaze, i for the camps were full of armed men, who would have fL«en at a word from their 1 candidate. As it was. cooler counsels prej vailed, and both governors held the posij tion until the supreme power decided bej tw-een them. Almost as exciting a scene j as this was witnessed in Chicago on the ; occasion of a recent mayoralty election, , when some scare started a rumour that j the City Hall would be dynamited in order to prevent a recount of the ballots. The city was immediately seized by that extraordinary hysteria to trhich American ; communities fx*em peculiarly liable. The City Hall was filled with police, armed to j the teeth. Tliey guarded the doors and ' windows, they lined the corridors. Elbow ' to elbow they kept the passage to the elevators. Two hundred of them were on j the fourth floor alone. They could be seen ' on the look-out on the balconies and paraI pets, while a cordon of them held the , surrounding roads. Only the meekent and ■ best-known citizens were permitted to pass within the lines. The tension was almost at breaking point, especially among the trustees, who, gun in hand, stood the 24 hours guarding the locked vaults in which reposed the precious ballot boxes. "We have them ; only physical force shall take them from us !" sound-ed the party cry. . . . And then the excitement fizzled out suddenly. Some wag computed that there was "70,0001b weiglrt of

police on the job," and interest swung to the latest divorce case."

Sometimes whole bal'ot boxes have been "lost," and wild has been the outcry by the .defeated party. In New York on one occasion five, were- found ir- the river after Lawson had made his famous offei of 10,000doi reward to the first election official who could show proof Chat there had been fraud. But in very truth such charges of fraud are often too A-ell founded. Perhaps fox the Teason that few men hold ideals and many lack understanding of their fellows. In one little village in Tennessee the usual cry of "fraud" had gone up after a certain election, when theMayor came forward to protest and explain that he knew the affair had been "honestly conducted," because he had paid to have it so. He had learnt that a certain official was intending to stuff the ballot boxes with marked sheets, so had sought him out and given 125d0l that the thing might not be done.

. American political life will never be raised to the high place on which it stands in other lands until the -taint of commercialism is removed from it, and men no longer become politicians for the sake of the plunder which may be theirs. That they still do so is instanced by the story of the congressman in his first term who not long since complained to a friend that he "did not like toe game in Washington," for there he only received his salary. In the State Legislature, wherein he had previously served, there had always been "some business on the side." While this little tale illustrates the commercial fide of State politics, it shows also that there is some foundation for the almost pathetic belief to which the average American clings — "No matter how dirty our municipal and State politics • are, Federal affairs are clean !"