The citizen., 1913-03-28
BALTIMORE LETTER.


bury Tor the long term United States sen.
atorship has SO far fallen fiat When
Mr. Marbury returned from Trenton.
New Jersey. nearly a month ago, and
| announced his candidacy for the Senate
and declared hat he entered the race ut
the solicitation of the President. il was
believed by his friends that 'he Demo-
Gratis would flock 10 his standard De.
velopments, however, show jhat Mr.
! Mathury'S candidacy did not strike "A
! popular chord. for throughout the state
there has developed aud grown into
1 large proportions decided opposition TO
/ him. and mucb reseutmcnt against the
I alleged interference of the President OF
4 the United States in q purely State cam.
paign In putting Mr. Marburv in he
/ race, it was asserted that Presldeat Will
4 States Senator lohn Walter Smith and is
/ determined that Senator Smith shall
| have strong opposition. President Viii
/ son may. or NAV not, be opposed to Sen
/ ator Smith, but il he is and proposes 10
make an effective fight against him or
! any other regular MARYLAND Democrats.
ii appears as though he must selec;
! DamoCrat OF a different type aud stand
ing with the rank and file Of the party
! than Mr.. Marburv Ii is a surprising fact
/ that not even the so-calIed Independent
4 Democrats, men who pose as Demo
Gratis, but support the Republican parry
| more often than they do the Democrat
party, are openly advocating Mr.. Mar
| bury's election.
The chief weakness of Mr.. Marbury's
| candidacy is his record for party rreg-
! ularitv When the President advised Mr.
| Marburv to be a candidate, he doubtless
did not know that Mr. Marbury has fre
queutly fought the Democratic party
and its nominees. Had he known that
Mr.. Marbury on number Of occasions
| had taken the stump against the party,
| he probably would have strongly advised
Mr.. Marhurv not 10 be a candidate. lust
as soon as Mr. Marbury'S announcement
went forth the Democrats Of this State
recalled bis political record and openly
revoted against him. The feeling today
is more bitter and stronger than it has
ever been and it IS growing worse every
dav. As yet the President has not pub
liCy inumated that he will support Mr..
Marburv and, If his true friends in this
State will take the trouble to inform him
of real conditions. the probabilities are
that the President would see the error
that he has made and urge Mr.. Marbury
to withdraw from the race MIR. Marbury
formally opened the speeChmaking part
of his campaign at Centerville and il is
said that it was one OF the poorest at
tended meetings held in that town for
number OF years. 1t was entirely devoid
of the usual enthusiasm which is typical
of the Eastern Shore Democratic mass
meetings. The smalness OF the crowd
and the lack OF enthusiasm were due to
the wide spread opposition to Mr.. Mar
bury among the Eastern Shore Demo
Gratis. They will not support man who
has knitted the Democratic ticket when
ever he saw fit.
While Mr.. Marbury and his supporters
were endeavoring to arouse enthusiasm
and interest among the voters, the other
candidates. both avowed and prospeC-
tive, kept rather quiet and gave Mr.. Mar
bury clean tit Id They wanted TO see
what strength he could develop and they
did not in any way interfere with his
plans. But they are now convinced that
his candidacy has not made Int with the
people and they are now preparing to
fight him They may not, however,
open up their fight until they have def
nitely ascertaned Just what the President
proposes TO do.
The United States Senatorial primales
will not be held until next Noxember, on
the same day as the general election,
and the other candidates have an abund-
ance of time in which to make their cam
paigns Senator Smith, who is a full.
hedged candidate to succeed himself, has
not turned his hand for the past several
weeks. He has allowed Mr.. Marbury to
hit the all" as the saving goes. Mr..
Isaac Lobe StrauS, who is also a Candi.
date for the loug term, has done like
wise State Senator Blair Lee who is
the only avowed candidate for the short
term, and who according to Mr.. Mar
bury's friends, will be his running mate,
has been conspicuous by his silence
| Mr.. Marbury has had the spotlight on
| him for about three weeks. He has had
! his press agents working over time, but
! from the present indications, they have
not made any headway with the people
| In the counties there are hundreds of
| Democrats who want Mayor Preston TO
be a candidate for the long term, while
| on the other hand, there are also large
| number VITO want him to enter the race
| for the short term. One of the most signii-
| cant developments in the real political
| situation is the fact that nearly every
! close political friend and adviser Is
urging the Mayor to be candidate for
! the short term and also that he form 4
! combination with Senator Smith. This
includes hundreds of Democrats, who
until few weeks ago, were favorable to
I Senator Lee for the short term. Believ-
| ing that later on Senator Lee will JOIN
I hands with Mr.. Marbury IN his fight,
! these Democrats who are Smith men
/ first, want 10 form an alliance with the
| Mayor, believing that Smith-Preston
combination would be invncibe. This
! condition is particularly true on the
| Eastern Shore, as well as in the other
sections Of the State. Before Mr. Mar
| bury entered the race a number of Sen
ator Smith close personal and political
! friends openly advocated Senator Lee for
the short term. They declared that it
was their intention to back Senator
! Smith TO succeed himself and Senator
! Lee as the successor of the late Senator
| Isidor Rayner. When they took this
| stand. however, they thought that Sena
! tor Lee would keep his hand off of the
/ long term fight. 1t was the declaration
| of SO many of the regular organiza-
! ton Democratic leaders for Smith and
| Lee that practically drove Congressman
]. F. c. Talbot out of the race for the
short term. But the situation is now
very different. The very men who were
advocating Senator Lee as the strongest
| candidate are now condemning him and
they declare that they are now ready to