Page:The Galaxy, Volume 5.djvu/51

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THE POLITICAL OUTLOOK.
43

the elections of October and November cannot be mistaken. The following table of the votes of the States in which State officers were chosen, and of New Jersey, is, in this connection, very instructive:

States. Republican. Democratic. Rep. maj. Dem. maj.
California 40,359 46,905 9,546
Iowa 90,789 58,880 31,909
Massachusetts 95,598 68,862 26,727
New Jersey 51,114 67,468 16,354
New York 324,017 373,886 49,869
Minnesota 34,870 29,543 5,327
Ohio 243,605 240,622 2,983
Pennsylvania 266,824 267,751 927
Wisconsin 73,212 68,438 4,774
1,120,388— — — 1,225,355— — — 71,720— — — 76,696— — —
Total 1,120,388 1,225,355 71,720 76,696

Compare these figures with those of the votes cast by the same States at the last Presidential election, to wit:

States. Lincoln. McClellan. Rep. maj. Dem. maj.
California 58,968 42,255 16,443
Iowa 89,705 49,596 39,479
Massachusetts 126,742 48,745 77,997
New Jersey 60,723 68,024 7,301
New York 368,735 361,986 6,749
Minnesota 25,060 17,375 7,685
Ohio 265,154 205,568 59,586
Pennsylvania 296,391 276,316 20,075
Wisconsin 83,458 65,884 17,574
1,374,036— — — 1,135,749— — — 245,598— — — 7,301— — —
Total 1,374,036 1,135,749 245,598 7,301

An examination of these two tables reveals the fact that at the late elections there was in the Republican ranks a large silent vote; even allowing that the gain of 89,606 in the Democratic vote of 1867 in these States came from the Republicans (which is almost beyond the bounds of probability, if not of possibility), there remain 164,042 Republican votes unaccounted for except on the hypothesis that they were not polled. The Democrats, it is clear, voted almost to a man, especially on the negro suffrage issue, but their opponents failed to show their strength. Ohio furnishes a very pertinent illustration of this point. In that State the Republicans polled 243,532 votes for Governor, whereas, on the question of negro suffrage, there were but 216,987 votes cast in its favor; while on these two issues the Democratic votes were respectively 240,622 and 255,340, showing very plainly that at least 26,500 Republicans refrained from voting at all on the question of negro suffrage, or voted against it, yet came to the support of their candidate for Governor. There is, therefore, every reason for believing that the vote of 1867 was intended by the moderate Republicans to convey the same moral to the leaders of their party that the