The Washington herald., 1922-01-01

Democrats are in States which for
the most part cannot by any means
be called safely Democratic. Rhode
Island, Nebraska. Wyoming. Utah,
Montana, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio,
Arizona and New Mexico. are States
which, in one degree or another,
are as likely to go Republican as
Democratic. In fact as to a few
of these States, especially. Wyo-
ming, Utah and Rhode Island. 1t
can probably be said that their
present appearance on the Demo-
cratic side of the Senate list Is due
more to the extraordinary Wilson
strength in 1916 than to normal
political conditions. The net of It
is that the Democrats cannot rea-
sonably expect to retain all of their
fifteen seats that come UP in the
election this year.
Six Republicans Safe.
AS to the seventeen seats now
held by Republicans which come up
in the elections this year, at least
six are in States in which Demo-
cratic success in the past has been
so rare that they can almost be
considered as the Republican equiv
VI tic SOllu soOulIi. II
not normally to lie expected that
the Republicans should lose States
like Vermont, Maine, Pennsylvania.
Michigan. Minnesota and wiscon-
sin. 1t is barely possible for the
Republicans to lose Scholarships in
two of these States. Minnesota and
Wisconsin, but it is unlikely. The
other four are always counted upon
as ''rock-ribbed" Republican. AS to
the eleven other seats now held by
Republicans, 1t would be in one de-
gree or another possible for the
Democrats to win them. 1t is al
ways a chance whether the Repub.
licans or the Democrats carry such
states, for example, as New York,
New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware,
Connecticut and West Virginia.
The net of it all is that it is al
most a practical impossibility for
the Democrats to take the control
of the Senate away from the Re-
publicans this year. Only an I'M
paralleled landslide could accom-
plish it. The Democratic party
managers know this and do not
count on that particular kind Of
victory. What they do hope for.
with confidence quite justified by
the conditions, is to make marked
gains In the Senate and to get the
psychological benefits Of such
gains. They especially hope to win
away few of the seats held by
conspicuous Republican leaders.
AS TO the House of Representa-
tives, ii is a different story. The
Democrats fully hope to make a
great reduction in the present Re-
publican strength of more than two
to one. Some of them go so far
as TO hope to win d majority for
themselves In the Lower House. This
is more possible than in the case of
the Senate. 1t just happens that
the particular States which hold
Senatorial elections this year are
so distributed in a political sense
as not to give encouragement 70
the Democrats. But the lower
house elections will take in the
country as whole. The con-
ditions are curiously such that it
would take less Of a landslide to
carry the House of Representatives
in the country as a whole than to
carry enough of the restricted
number of States in which Sena-
torial elections will be held to give
Democratic Senate majority.
Would Like to Win House.
The Democrats would be more
pleased to win the House without
winning the Senate than to win both
rms sounds like the fox AMI grapes
fable. but from the standpoint OF DO
litical strategy there Is soundness in
II. In fact some Of the Democrats
limit their desires as we'll MS their ex-
pectations to merely making gains in
the Senate and House without going
so far as to control either. The theory
Is that, looking forward to the Presi-
centiaf election. the Democrats would
prefer to have the responsibility fer
the management of the country on the
Republicans rather than on them
selves. They say that from their
party standpoint IL would be dis
advantageous to have the RESPONSE
bility for legislation at a time when
the Republican President could veto
their work. The end OF all this is
that the principal Democratic hope
this year is to make gains so strik-
ing that they will be received as an
expression of marked dissatisfac-
ton with the Republican regime.
in connection with some OF these
Senatorial elections, strikinSly inter
esting situations are Just now in
course of development. OF the en-
tire thirty-two seats involved, 1T
is now expected that all but one.
or possibly two. of the incumbents
viii seek reelection. One Senator
to whom there has been attributed
disposition to, retire voluntarily
is that veteran Democrat, John
Sharp Williams of Mississippi. 1t
Is probable that only voluntary
refusal to run would eliminate
him. He has long been in such
favor in his State that he has been
able to serve fourteen years in the
Senate and before that fifteen years
in the House. On the last occa-
sion of his reelection to the Sem
ate he had no opposition in the
Democratic primary, and that in
Mississippi is the equivalent of
election. If Mr.. Williams should
retire it is likely to mark the re-
entry into politics of that extraor-
binary figure. who was retired by
his State four years ago and who
is credited with the wish for a
new lease of power, James X.
Vardaman.
New to Have Opposition.
One OF the most interesting situa-
tions of the year will develop in
Indiana. The incumbent, Harry S.
New, will seek to return, but he Is
sure to have formidable opposition.
For some months there have been
desultory calls for ex-senator AL
bert l. ReveridCo IN ra.antar acfiye