Today -100: November 8, 1922: Of elections, klandidates, vampires, and what women’s hands are made for

So many confident but wrong predictions in today’s NYT reporting of election results.

The R’s lose 77 House seats but retain a majority of 225-207. The R majority in the Senate of 60 to 36 is reduced to 53:42 (and one Socialist, Victor Berger of Wisconsin).

In state and national races, D’s are doing much better even than anticipated, which they think shows a rejection of the Republican policy of high tariffs – maybe best not to pass a measure that will raise the cost of living 6 weeks before an election.  All of which bodes well for the D’s for the presidential election in 1924 – why, Harding might not even be re-nominated by his party!  But mostly this is a course correction from the crazily broad R. sweep of 1920.

Al Smith (D) is elected governor of New York for the second time, easily defeating incumbent Nathan Miller. D’s in fact sweep state offices but R’s narrowly hold both houses of the Legislature. Royal Copeland, health guy during the Spanish Flu, is elected to the US Senate.

Governor-Elect of the Day -100:  

Some propositions:

CA: Prop 2 Declares all acts prohibited by the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution unlawful (52%). Among the 30 or so other propositions, one which would have banned unlicensed people acting or advertising as lawyers loses nearly 3:1 and one to ban vivisection gets only 30% of the vote.

-Colorado overwhelmingly rejects allowing Asians property rights.

-Illinois, in an advisory vote, overwhelmingly approves legalizing light wines and beer. Ohio rejects a similar measure.

-Massachusetts overturns the state’s prohibition measure and rejects state censorship of movies. I assume they can still be “banned in Boston.”

-California, Illinois, Montana, Kansas and Iowa vote for soldiers’ bonuses, but in Oklahoma a majority of all voters is required and it only gets a majority (52%) of those who voted on the measure.

-South Dakota votes to retain its Blue Laws.

-Michigan rejects a state income tax.

-Nebraska bans picketing, I guess?

-Missouri votes to strip the word “male” from voting requirements.

-Oregon votes 52.7% to require children 6 to 18 to attend public schools. This is a Klan-backed measure aimed at closing Catholic parochial schools; it will be overturned by the Supreme Court before it can take effect.

-Washington voters repeal the poll tax but refuse to remove vaccination requirements for school children.

John Roberts, editor of a Montreal weekly, The Axe, is hauled up before the Quebec Legislative Assembly for printing the rumor that two members of the legislature, who he does not name in either his paper or when questioned by the Lege, murdered shopgirl Blanche Garneau in 1920. The Assembly finds him guilty of infringing the honor, dignity, and smugness of the Assembly and passes a bill to put him in jail for a year. This is the first ever bill of attainder in Canada. Other rumors say she was killed by a club of the sons of politicians and judges – possibly including the Quebec premier’s son – named... wait for it... the Vampire Club.

The French Senate, where ideas go to die, is discussing women’s suffrage. One senator, annoyingly unnamed, says “Woman’s hand was made to kiss, not to drop a voting paper in a ballot box.”

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