The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1922-10-09
|PO|NDEXTER SURE
TO WIN IN IDAHO
He Is Breaking Away From
Radical Element In His
State
REPUBLICANS TOO
SURE OF WINNING

Many Voters May Not Trouble to Go to
POlls-"Lunatic Fringe Not Well Or
ganized Idaho People Anxious to
Avoid Any War Issues This Year.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE,
Especial Dispatch to The Reformer.)
Copyright 1922
SPOKANE, WASH Oct 9.-Senator
Miles Poindexter will be reelected
That's u foregone conclusion What is
more interesting is the kind of attack
being made against him and the plat
form on which Mr.. Paintexter is seeking
reelection.
10 begin with, critics say Poindexter
is no longer a Progressive and this, of
course, is a Progressive state. .Poindex-
ter answers that he is just as much
Progressive as he ever was but if by the
word Progressive is meant radical he
doesn't care to qualify. In fact. Mr.
Poindexter brings to his side the eminent
Progressive, William f. Borah, senator
from Idaho, who speaks here soon for the
Republican nominee. If Mr.. Borah puts
the stamp of approval on Mr.. Poindex-
ter that is considered sufficient to still
the cutlery of ''reactionary."
But Mr.. Poindexter has changed The
situation has Characterization are
far different today than they were in
the Roosevelt days. The ultra-radical
has had his fling here and the eonserva-
tive elements have the upper hand Mr..
PoindeXter hasn't hesitated to speak his
mind plainly on the question of capital
and labor, and he has spoken boldly in
towns where labor was strong. He is
making much the same kind of campaign
here that Senator Pomerene. Democrat.
is making in Ohio. All of which goes to
monopoly on the conservative tendencies
of the hour.
Democrats Solid With Their Man
But it is significant that behind Mr.
Poindexter are practically wings and
factions of the Republican party. That
is his strength and at the same time his
weakness. Too many Republicans are
too cOcksure that Poindexter has an easy
race and that they will not take The trou-
BILE to vote. The Republican leaders
have more to fear on this score than
any other, and while they don't like to
say it they recognize that Representative
G. c. Dill, Democrat, has a united party
behind him and is something of Il vote
getter himself. Mr.. DilFS position is
unique. If his party associates were to
confess they would concede they wanted
somebody else to run. They thought ii
would take another type of candidate
to beat Mr.. Poindexter They claim to
be satisfied. however, and are counting on
the natural protest vote and the cumu-
lative dissatisfaction to help them on
election day. Mr.. Dill, by the way,
voted against American entrance into
the war and later voted against cOnscrip-
ton. Ii is amusing TO see this issue
side-stepped. The Republicans are mind
! full OF the overwhelming victory won by
both la Toilette in Wisconsin on an out
and out anti-war record and they want
no such issue raised. The Democrats
| are just as happy 10 let it die also, so
! the chances are neither side will make
| fuss about what happened in 1917.
VIII Not Repeat La Toilette Move.
The psychology of this is worthy of
more than passing mention. Do AmerI-
cans really regret that America entered
| the war and saved the world from what
seemed at the time n domination of kai-
serism? The truth of the matter is the
burdens of war are much more widely
! known and felt today than they We're in
| 1917 and the fact is warmaking is more
unpopular now than il ever was. As 10
whether in the circumstances that eX-
/ listed member of congress was right in
voting against war is quite another mat
| ter. The probabilities are that persecu-
| ton of Americans who tried to exercise
an independent Judgment. mistaken as
| it may have been, leads to the counter
attack. The Republicans have no in
| tentiOn of making Mr.. Dill martyr and
| the Democrats are busily engaged in
/ showing that out of 16S opportunities TO
| support President Wilson on his war
| measures. Mr.. Dill voted 1876 times with
| the Democratic executive. So 1t would
| not seem as if either side cares to make,
1 in Washington at least, campaign on
| war issues and il is suspected here that
| if Mr.. La Toilette hadn't been singled
| out for such extensive criticism he might
| not have been so fortunate in the vote
| this year in his own state. Persecution
| or what seemed to be persecution for
| independent judgment--was really voted
| against in the La Toilette case and the
/ people here are not anxious TO make the
/ same mistake.
| AnaIyzing the situation throughout
| the state one finds that the radicals,
| FarmerLabor voters and other elements.
| which Roosevelt termed the "lunatic
| fringe" are not organized. Had they
combined they might have overturned
| Mr.. Poindexter in the primaries. Mr..
| Poindexter received about 43 per cent of
| the Republican vote. This is more to
| be sure, than he got six years ago, but
/ ii proves that nearly go per cent of the
vote in the Republican party is scattered
| and might some day be combined to the
| distress of the regulars. The Non-Par-
tisan league followers have preferred TO
work through a third ticket instead of
| through the regular parties, which ac-
counts for the difference between Wash
| ington and its neighboring states in the
| West.
Little Antipathy to Japan.
Senator Poindexter is making much
| of the conference on limitation of arma-
| ments. 1t is true one hears less talk
of war with Japan than ever before
The Washington conference together
| with the demonstration of land and sea
| power in the recent war have removed
the war bpgey and the Pacific coast is
doing a better business with Japan than