The Washington herald., 1920-04-04

brought disaster to Truman New.
berry.
In working class circles. the con-
demnation of the Newberry method
Is more general than among busi-
ness men. But IL seems to be based
rather on class feeling. The res
mark is common that "at last a
millionaire malefactor has got what
Is coming to him." Even at that,
however. there seems to be no in
clination to charge the offense
against the Republican party in the
State. and I do not believe that
IT will have any observable effect
upon the Republican vote In the fall.
Gen. Woods Advantage.
Among the Republican candidates
il seems apparent that Gen. Wood
has far and away the best organi-
zation in the State. He not only
has with him the greater part of
the old-time Roosevelt power in the
State. but has managed to hold the
regular Republican leaders as well.
II one could Judge political senti-
ment entirely by the size of the
meetings and the receptions accord
ed to candidates. II might be said
that Senator Johnson was in the
lead. Possibly this is because Of his
unique personal characteristics, pos.
sibly because he alone among the
candidates, IL we except Senator
Poindexter. who Is evidently not a
leader. represents the anti-league
of nations sentiment. At any rate,
he has managed to get the biggest
meetings and the noisiest crowds;
>v.lx
a. nebulous organization, probably
because of his lack of the barrel
which so comfortably maintains the
heavy campaign costs Of his two
chief rivals.
Attorney General Palmer will in
all probability have a walk-away
in the Democratic contest. Palmer
has spoken here once and made. as
he always does, a most favorable
impression, but 1t must be kept in
mind that he has announced him
self as the champion of the ad-
ministration in all its acts. and
the administration Is not popular
among Democrats here. He is the
avowed defender OF the treaty and
Of the league of nations covenant,
and upon those topics Democrats
are at least divided. He was fur
thermorc the alien property Gus
todian, and in that capacity had to
effect the liquidation for govern
ment benefit Of various properties
held in the United States by alien
enemies. There is a large German
population in Michigan which has
always been active in politics, and
very considerable part of 1t has
been Democratic. Mr.. Palmers ac-
tivities in this particular direction
have necessarily made many enc
mics for him in this class. 1t is
probable that this would very seri-
ously affect his chances of carrying
the Democratic primaries IL there
were more active candidates against
him. Mr.. McAdoo Is doing nothing.
BefoEging the Presidential Issue.
In Detroit the primary Issues
are going to be materially confused
by the fact that the city Is once
again undergoing its regular re-
current struggle over its street car
problem. Talking with an old resi-
dent of the city today, / commented
upon the apparent immortality OF
this particular issue in Detroit.
YES" he said. II happened to look
at some files of papers of nearly 81
years ago the other day and I
found that even then the people
were fighting the street-car COM
pany as they are today, and" he
continued with q sigh. there Is
every reason to believe that they
will be doing 1t q years from
now"
I have no desire to touch upon
this historical quarrel except to
point out that because of 1t. an
enormous number of Detroit voters
will go to the polls Monday who
never would think of going to a
primary election. Whether they
will merely vote on the street-car
issue and leave the question of
selecting Presidential, candidates
alone. can only be a matter of
speculation. When added to this
unu sualIy large city vote, we have
the first woman vote cast in the
primary election to reckon upon,
1t becomes clear that the elements
Of doubt are unusual this year.
Doubtful as the outcome may be,
1t Is Of the utmost Importance to
all the candidates affected, for
Michigan Is the first of the great
central States to speak on this moot
Gu quCSNiOh. hihucSOId n6iu
primaries under a foolish regula-
tion of the State Republican COM
.mittee that limited the time for
casting ballots to an hour. AS a re-
suit, the outcome was indecisive and
|, has been wholly repudiated. While
the vote so far as completed put
Gen. Wood in the lead in that State,
with Johnson second, Hoover third
and Lowden a bad fourth, yet the
conditions, under which the ballot
was taken were so faulty that the
whole result has been set aside and
the. delegates win be selected by q
State convention, after the old time
fashion. This leaves Michigan the
thrst considerable State to act,
While the result in the primaries
will not be binding on the State
conventions 1t will nevertheless In
dicate the sentiment Of the State
and produce a certain moral effect.
II the primary nominee seems hope
less, he will not get more than one
v q a.