Show ° l i ° THIS WEEKS ELECTIONS tl t Elections either State or county J have already been held in the following fol-lowing States Rhode Island Ore i Arkansas gon Kentucky Tennessee U and sas California Maine Vermont Georgia but none of them was im poitanfc beyond its own limits or significant in the matter of influencing influenc-ing the vote elsewhere indicating r what will be the result of the great 1 r struggle in November This week f pa r 1 however the hard fight begins in earnest and before the world is many days older we will be able to i 1 I venture a pretty straight guess as F d I 1 to which of the great parties will I be victorious in the contest next I year On Tuesday there will be = elections in Indiana Iowa Ohio and West Virginia In the Buckeye Buck-eye State the chief interest centres 1 j J where a Governor and State officers 3 are to be chosen It Is true there is J If a good deal of attention in Iowa IJ but no doubt exists as to which party will be successful the State I i 1 being as usual conceded to the a Republicans however the Democrats Demo-crats are running a very popular and have man for Governor they f f i made a more vigorous fight than ever before They expect i I 1 w 4 to greatly reduce the accustomed i i ac-customed Republican majority L 4 f in which event the effect will be 1 I good upon the States that vote in t J W November stimulating Democrats I 1 J i to greater exertion and discouraging j discourag-ing Republicans The latter party 1 t H has for years been losing ground in ti I Iowa The principal element in J I the present struggle is rum which t 1 has been carried out of the saloons r r I where it belongs and pounced into I party politics The Republicans J f I have mailed prohibition into their I platform and they propose for this j 1N eletion at least to stand by cold j J water while the Democrats think I the liquor question can be bests 1 best-s handled by imposing a high license i on its sale That is the leading 1 r the usual ii + 1 issue in the campaign party questions being practically J E r ignored and on Tuesday the people r i will say whether they will be taxed l for a vain attempt to suppress the 1 t traffic in whisky or whether they 11 I p 1 will make the drinkers of intoxicants j t 1 intoxi-cants pay the expense that rum M 3 i fastens upon the community There j 1 1 l t is a rum contest also in Ohio where e 1 t the parties occupy somewhat different 1 t I dif-ferent positions to those held in 1 f Iowa but the Buckeyes have not i I I lost sght of party issues while 1 E i discussing temperance questions i 4 Ohio for some years past has been J one of the doubtful States the 1 j parties being so evenly divided that y 1 J it was unsafe to predict a month 4 i before the election which would 1 win In 1881 voting for Governor I J out of a total vate of 617758 the Republicans i Re-publicans elected Foster by a majority 1 i f I ma-jority of only 7712 Last year the ii 1 highest officer chosen was secretary 1 i of state and the Democratic candidate t j candi-date was elected his majority being 1 t i 6913 This majority however did l i t + not represent the party gain which JI + s was 28448 the total vote being j I wi it e 627835 It will thus be seen that 9 < 4 J + i a f ordinarily the Democrats wouJd i j 4 il + j t have a decided advantage for the 1 1 j 1 1 election on Tuesday Unless a considerable con-siderable percentage of those who i i f i f voted that ticket last year have t il i 1 since changed their minds the Democrats t i Dem-ocrats will win The Republicans e 1 I I are counting upon the prohibition J1t i vote and seem to believe it is considerable A9 i j f t i siderable and that it comes largely I f L 1 t from the Democratic ranks Four L i II years ago it amounted to only 16000 f t i and last year it had fallen to 12000 i 41 t It is also rather a new departure to 11 1 look for prohibItionists amongDem r l t ocrats who as a rule go no further fur-ther in the direction of La l II d temperance than to advocate I i high license It is more probable F f that the Democrats have gained j from the Republican ranks than r z I that the latter have won prohibition rJii t t prohibi-tion Democrats The campaign r 1J l has been among the most energetic j I in the history of state politics each J I party realizing to the full extent the I t i = importance of carrying the State l t f 1 1 f1 oJ f1LI x < p LI f iii J I q ri rilli I fr pi 1 < d 3r8ats more for its influence on the Presidential Pres-idential contest next year than from any immediate local benefit The ablest speakers in the State and some of the best stumpers in the country have taken active part in the campaign and after all there is today greater doubt than has existed ex-isted at any previous time during I the campaign Both parties are hopeful and both exceedingly dubious i du-bious The only thing that seems certainand is conceded by all is that should the Democrats chose theGovernor now Ohio will cast her vote for the Democratic candidate for President next year and carry with her an influence that will make the election of Tilden or whoever who-ever may be selected by that party a certainty This week ought to tell us whether we are to have a change of administration politically |