Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-01-12
IN FIELD
Mayor of Baltimore Would
Come to u. S. Senate.
MAY SEEK THE LONG TERM
Refrains From Making Announce
ment, But Friends Work for Him.
Special Correspondence OF The star.

BALTIMORE. Md, January II. 1913.
Mayor James H. Preston of Baltimore
will be a candidate for the United States
Senate at the coming primary election
This announcement is made upon the
best of authority and without violating
any confidence 1t may be asserted that
he will make the fight for the long term.
The mayor has not made any formal an
nouncement. nor has he set about on
his campaign for the toga, but his friends
are actively at work and his campaign
is practically under way. 1t is expected
that the mayor will come out openly for
the Senate within a short time. and that
he will then start upon a statewide
stumpng tour.
With the knowledge that Preston will
be in the fight. some line may be CLEANED
on the probable lineup of the several
factions now doing business within the
ranks of the democratic party. The
simon-pure. dyed-in- the-wool reactionaries
in the counties will be found lined up be-
hind Smith for the long term and Talbot
for the short term. The regular organ
ization in this city will be solid for
Preston, and may support Lee under GER
tain conditions. In the state the Cor
man leaders and followers will rally
around Preston, while the Crothers ad-
herentS VIII support Lee TO n man. lHeie
are politicians who insist that Preston
will have the support of the Lee-Crothers
wing of the party, because Lee realizes
that he cannot win against Talbot with
out the aid of Baltimore city, and that
the city machine leaders Will not lend
hand to the Montgomery county candi-
date unless that candidate throws his
strength in the counties to the mayor
Could Garry City, Is Belief.
There is not the slightest question that
Preston could carry the city by a good
majority over both Smith and Straus
the two other candidates for the long
term. Adherents of the mayor even go
SO far as to say that such contest
would be only walkover for the mayor,
and that the only contest i'm such q three
cornered fight would be between Straus
and Smith as to which one would come
out second best. And there is cold fact
in this claim. for even the enemies of the
mayor concede that he Will carry the city
in the primary.
A view taken of the situation by the
more astute of the organiZa ton leaders
is that the advent of Preston into the
field as a candidate for the long term
will result in there being no nomination
on the first ballot I'm the legislature. They
assert that with the machine behind him
in this city, Preston will receive the
twenty-eight votes of Baltimore and that
With lfllS lie cOulU corral enough
county votes to prevent a choice on the
first ballot. The intimation is also
thrown out that before the entries close
there may be a city candidate for the
short term well. behind whom the
machine will line up and deliver it's
twenty-eight votes. This would bring
about situation where the whole thing
would be thrown into the legislature set
| ting that body free to elect two senators
without regard to the primary vote
Such condition would present OPP
portunities for deals and dickers which
the city people believe could be used
ladvantageously. They calculate that
in such a situation, with their twenty
leight votes, they could easily make
Preston one of the senator's and at the
lsame time get themselves into posi-
ton whereby candidate for the
lgubernatorial chair who was friendl,
to the city machine would be nominal
ed. The machine counts on twenty
teight votes in the next legislature be-
tcause of it's belief that it can nominate
the legislative ticket in the primaries
and because of the general conviction
in political circles that the democrats
will carry the four city legislative dis
tricts because of the split i'm the re-
publican party.