Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-10-26
LEAGUE Of NATIONS
ISSUE. WILL CARRY
KENTUCKY FOR COX
Ell DAVID LAWRENCE
Leased Wire Service in The Journal.)
Downright, 1920.)

Copyright, 1920
LOUISVILLE, KY, Oct. 25.-f
Chairman Will Hays Is basing his
predictions of Republican success in
the nation on the factors that are
expected. for example, to make Ken
lucky a Republican state, then there
is something wrong about the infor-
nation at Republican national head
quarters.
For Kentucky is Democratic. Weeks
ago it was claimed by the Republic
ans. Today they admit it is close. And
the Democrats are talking about
landslide with absolutely the same
kind of confidence that one gets in
Republican circles in New YORK
state.
Something like a religious ferVor
is sweeping Kentucky on the League
of Nations issue. The drift here Is
very much like that in lndiana-an
eleventh-hour turn on the League o.
Nations-though in Kentucky the
growth Of sentiment has been more
gradual and is coming now ike
tide.
G.. O. p. Had Chance
The Republicans really did have a
chance to carry Kentucky. There's no
doubt about it. Last year they car
ried the state for governor by a
10000 majority. But the Republican
and has developed some weaknesses
that will cost the national ticket
mary votes.
The biggest mistake the Republic
ans have .72de, however, is the rails
ing of the race issue. Woman suf-
frage came and the Republicans d.
rectly or indirectly encouraged the
hIy lyin1 of
the negro newspapers. the church.
the schools. And in the Louisville
district, more than 10000 n~gro wom-
en- registered as Republicans % not
more than twenty affiliated as Demo-
Gratis. Fully $4,000 negro males have
registered as Republicans. e..
The city Of Louisville, therefore.
Will go Republican. The effect of the
registration or so many negroes has
been to antasoniZe and arouse the
whites. The women Of the state have
done more even than the men to get
things going. The Democratic cam
paign organization here has more life
and ginger than any the writer has
encountered in the whole country.
League, the Big Issue
Unquestionably the race question
has been a material factor. but the
100 per cent use of the League Of
Nations as an issue. They have
refused to allow anything else to
divert attention. Three big newspa-
pers. the Louisville Times and the
Louisx FId Evening ven e. Post; in the eye
in the morning, are hitting on four
cylinders" every day. as one poll
tician phrased it. and they are wag-
ing better fight for the league than
anywhere else in the United States.
More space is being given to Dem
ocratic speeches and campaign effort
than elsewhere. It is not unusual to
find practically the whole first page
filled with stories calculated. to make
Democratic votes. Throughout the
state, the Democrats also have the
with the press.
The Republican leaders are basing
their hopes entirely upon a heavy
woman vote in the mountain dis
tricts, which are Republican. And
they are counting upon majority
think the state will go Republican
d di pGsoHu' first. if the weather
is bad in the mountains and the
women don't go to the polls. and sec
ond if the majority in Louisville
should turn out to be less than cal
culated.
VIII Not Desert "solid South"
The writer happened to meet.
among others, Swagar Sherley. who
for years has represented the LOUIS,
VILE district in congress. and who
was beaten last time he ran, by
Republican He said that If the en-
thusiasm and interest displayed by
the Democrats when he made the race
was only half Of what it is this
year, he would have been elected by
decisive majority.
The Democrats have polled many
precincts in the state and have a
splendid organization-and the can
vass looks rosy for them. They nave
the ADVANTAGE on registration outside
of Louisville, as more voters nave
expressed their affiliation with the
Democratic than Republican parties.
The Republicans reapportloned the
voting districts and caused some
hard feeling by so doing. Some OF
the precincts where negroes vote
were given a small area while the
whites were grouped in large area
so that they will have to vote "eV-
erv twenty seconds" as one man put
it, to get out the full Democratic
vote. r
There's a good deal of anonymous
literature going the ROUNDS some o.
it on religious issues. But the MAN
factors in the campaign are the
league issue and the way the negroes
have been modified. If the race
question had not been raised, the, Re-
publican chances would have been
excellent. Kentucky may be put
down as safely Democratic. she Will
not desert the solid south.