PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1904

The Republican convention met at Chicago, June 21, and on June 23 nominated Theodore Roosevelt for President.  President Roosevelt’s nomination was a certainty from the beginning.  This action was demanded by the rank and file of Republicans, for his achievements were popular.  Among the problems which he had helped to solve were those growing out of the war with Spain; settlement of the anthracite coal strike; creation of the Department of Commerce and Labor; and the investigation and prosecution of dishonesty in the post-office department.

Plans for the convention had all been matured in advance with the exception of the selection of a candidate for Vice-President.  By the time the convention assembled the opinion was general that for geographical reasons some one from Indiana should be named for this office.  Charles Warren Fairbanks, a leading lawyer in Indianapolis, who was serving his second term in the United States Senate, was nominated without any real opposition.  He had served as a member of the Joint High Commission to adjust international questions of moment between the United States and Great Britain.  Grover Cleveland and William Jennings Bryan had declared they would not be candidates for the presidency and the Democratic party was in a dilemma.  Both the conservative and the radical elements of the party declared they would write the platform and name the candidates.  Alton Brooks Parker, Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals of New York, who was supported by Grover Cleveland, came gradually into prominence as the candidate of the conservatives and William Randolph Hearst of the radicals.

The chief contest came in the Democratic convention of New York.  There Judge Parker was supported by David B. Hill, ex-United States senator, and August Belmont, a New York banker.  In consequence it was declared by the opposition that Judge Parker was the candidate of the trusts, Wall Street magnates, and a class of politicians of which Hill was the type.  This view was taken by Bryan.  In spite of the opposition of Tammany leaders and the Hearst faction, twice as many Parker as Hearst delegates were chosen.

In the convention, which met at St. Louis, July 9, Judge Parker received 658 votes for President on the first ballot, Hearst received 200, and there were a few scattering votes.  The requisite two-thirds came to Parker before the result of the ballot was announced.  Henry G. Davis, of West Virginia, was named for the office of Vice-President.

He had served two terms in the United States Senate, had declined the office of Post-Master General under President Cleveland, was very wealthy, and noted for his philanthropy.

Bryan demanded that the platform should be silent on the question of the money standard, but Parker declined the nomination unless it should be understood that he would maintain the gold standard, and his declaration was endorsed by the convention.

There were no distinguishing issues between the two leading parties.  The money question had disappeared and both parties were outspoken in their declarations against trusts and combinations of capital.

The Populist party, in a convention made up of delegates from one-half the States, nominated Thomas E. Watson, of Georgia, and Thomas H. Tubbles, of Nebraska, for President and Vice-President, respectively.  There were two Socialist conventions:  one, that of the Social Democratic party, nominated Eugene V. Debs, of Indiana, for President, and the Socialist Labor party named Charles H. Corregan, of New York, for the same office.  The nominees of the Prohibitionist party were Silas C. Swallow, of Pennsylvania, for President, and George W. Carroll, of Texas, for Vice-President.

The campaign was noteworthy on account of the apathy which was very general.  Heated discussions so characteristic of previous political contests were seldom heard, and arguments were addressed to the intelligence of voters rather than to passion and prejudice.

It has been called a reading rather than a speaking campaign.  The leading Republican document was a pamphlet containing two notable addresses.  One of these was delivered by John Hay at Jackson, Mich., on the occasion of the celebration of the semi-centennial of the founding of the Republican party.  He attributed to that party the success in the conduct of public affairs since 1860, and praised President Roosevelt as a man and great administrator.  The other speech was similar in content, and was delivered by Elihu Root as temporary chairman of the Republican convention.

Toward the close of the campaign, the charge was made that the Republicans were endeavoring to win through a wholesale purchase of votes.  It was asserted that George B. Cortelyou, manager of the campaign, having obtained secrets of the conduct of some of the great corporations, was using that knowledge to force them to contribute to the Republican fund.  A second charge proclaimed that the administration had changed its attitude toward certain corporations and that the magnates of Wall Street, having decided to elect Roosevelt, were contributing generously to the Republican campaign fund.  Shortly before the day for the election, Judge Parker in a series of speeches announced his belief in these reports.  President Roosevelt declared that no proof for the statements could be produced, and ended as follows:  “The statements made by Mr. Parker are unqualifiedly and atrociously false.  As Mr. Cortelyou has said to me more than once during this campaign, if elected I shall go into the presidency unhampered by any pledge, promise, or understanding of any kind, sort or description, save my promise, made openly to the American people, that so far as in my power lies I shall see to it that every man has a square deal, no less and no more.”  In his reply, Judge Parker reiterated the charge, but gave no concrete instances of money having been obtained from corporations.

Out of a total vote of 13,544,705, Roosevelt received 7,630,893 votes, or 2,524,244 more than his leading competitor.  His majority was 1,717,081.  Debs received 397,308 votes; Swallow, 258,039; Watson, 114,306; Corregan, 32,516.  Thirty-three States gave Roosevelt majorities and twelve Southern States returned majorities for Parker.  In the electoral college Roosevelt received 336 votes and Parker 140.  A surprising feature of the election was the large number of independent votes cast, as shown by the fact that Minnesota, Massachusetts, Missouri, and Montana, while giving majorities for the Republican candidates, elected Democratic governors, and in several other States a similar tendency was manifest in the divergence between the vote for the national candidates and local candidates.