If the Republicans had not bravely faced the issues thus forced upon them they would have lost the State, for the Democratic liquor combination polled 15,000 votes more than the Republican candidate—Colonel Quay, an exceptionally strong man—had received in 1885; but the bravery of the Republicans and the fact that their attitude was right called out 60,000 more votes than the party cast in ’85, and in this way increased its majority despite all combinations.
These are the leading facts in the most novel of all the campaigns known to Pennsylvania’s history. The situation was much the same in New York.
The total vote for State Treasurer was:
| Hart, Republican | 385,514 |
| McGrann, Democrat | 340,269 |
| Irish, Prohibitionist | 18,471 |
| Kennedy, Greenback | 8,900 |
| Total | 753,154 |
An important feature of the year was the interest shown in the question of prohibiting the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors. Four States have voted on this issue, Michigan leading off in April, Texas voting in August, Tennessee in September, and Oregon in November. Prohibition was defeated in each instance, but its advocates succeeded in polling a surprisingly large vote. The poll in these States was as follows:
| For Pro. | Against Pro. | |
|---|---|---|
| Michigan | 178,488 | 184,429 |
| Texas | 129,273 | 221,627 |
| Tennessee | 117,504 | 145,197 |
| Oregon | 19,973 | 27,958 |
| Totals | 445,238 | 579,211 |
| Majority against prohibition | 133,973 | |
To this should be added the defeat of prohibition in Atlanta and Fulton counties, Ga., by 1122 majority, where it had won two years before by 228 majority. The interest shown in local option and high license as a solution of the temperance question, and its popularity wherever adopted, is also a marked feature of the year’s politics. In Michigan local option succeeded the failure of prohibition, while in Pennsylvania the people are promised a choice between high license and prohibition.
The elections of 1887 as a whole, without removing doubts as to the future, were generally accepted as favorable to the Republicans. The following is a fair comparison with Rhode Island omitted, for the plain reason that her spring result was reversed in the fall:
| 1883. | 1887. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rep. | Dem. | Rep. | Dem. | |
| Mass | 160,092 | 150,228 | 136,000 | 118,394 |
| New York | 429,757 | 445,976 | 452,435 | 469,886 |
| New Jersey | 97,047 | 103,856 | 107,026 | 104,407 |
| Penna | 319,106 | 302,031 | 385,514 | 340,269 |
| Maryland | 80,707 | 92,694 | 86,644 | 98,936 |
| Ohio | 347,164 | 359,793 | 356,937 | 333,205 |
| Kentucky | 89,181 | 133,615 | 126,476 | 143,270 |
| Iowa | 164,182 | 139,093 | 168,696 | 152,886 |
| Nebraska | 56,381 | 41,998 | 86,725 | 56,548 |
| Virginia | 144,419 | 124,080 | 119,380 | 119,806 |
| Totals | 1,888,036 | 1,893,364 | 2,025,833 | 1,937,607 |
| Democratic majority in 1883 | 5,328 | |||
| Republican majority in 1887 | 88,226 | |||
| Gain in the Dem. vote in four years | 44,243 | |||
| Gain in the Rep. vote in four years | 137,797 | |||
The vote in Rhode Island would probably reduce the Republican gain of the year about 5000. But as the figures for Virginia are disputed and not the official vote, which it is known would add several thousand to the Republican total, the above result can be taken as a just estimate of the gain made by the Republicans in these eleven states, where general elections were held. It would be at least 25,000 larger if the vote of the highest candidate, instead of the head of the ticket, were taken.