Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-07-17
BY DAVID LAWRENCE
Teasod Wire Service to The journal
(Copyright, 1929

Governor AL SmltN, OF NEW LII r.
is the natural and inevitable cand1-
date Of the Democratic party for
the presidency if the party decides
to be wet. He has made the fight
for state rights on the prohibition
question. He has twice carried New
York state, which has the largest
electoral vote in the union, and ne
has a. sympathetic following in the
other ,populous eastern states.
The general supposition of those
who have been discussing A:
Smiths candidacy is that the Dem
ocratic party would come out fatty
for q repeal of the eighteenth
amendment. Such strategy would
be doomed to failure. What Demo
Gratis would be more likely to urge
if anything is that the entire pro-
hibition question be taken off the
hands of the federal government
for enforcement and left to the in
dividual states to enterpret and reg
ulate. They would say to the drys
You may have prohibition
wherever a majority Of the people
of the sovereign states in the union
want it, but do not interfere with
the people in those wet states where
a majority would prefer light wines
and beer"
States Rights Issue
The issue would be states rights
and not whether prohibition is a
good thing or not. Governor AL
Smiths memorandum signing the
repeal of the Mullen-Gage law would
be the platform of the party. The
document has been analysed and
supported by some of the best legal
minds in the country, and, regard
less of the attitude taken in western
states, the fact is that there are a
great many votes available to
Democratic candidate who stands on
the state rights idea, for prohibition
is still a live issue in the eastern
states. however arid the west may
have become.
The Democratic leaders will have
to decide first of all whether they
can win by a combination of eastern
states and southern states. If that
is their strategy, they will forget
about the agrarian discomfort in the
west and center their efforts on a
wet candidate.
There is one phase about Al
Smiths candidacy which bears no
relationship to the prohibition Ques-
ton. 1t is his religion. Politicians
say that Catholic could not be
elected president Of the United
States and that it would be futile
to nominate him. This is predicated
on the theory that religious warfare
would ensue and that the candidate
of the other party would be the
beneficiary of such strife.
Many Catholic Officials
On the other side of the question
are some interesting facts. For in
stance, a Catholic has recently been
chief justice of the United States,
namely, Edward Douglas White.
Several Catholics have been elected
to the governorship of various states
of the union. Many Catholics have
been members OF the cabinet. There
are great many people, moreover,
who would resent the issue of re-
ligious bigotry and who would take
the position that if the empire state
Of the union could afford to ignore
religious questions and elect Al
Smith governor, so might the fed
eral electorate itself.
AL Smiths opportunity, however,
will not turn on anything but the
prohibition question. His chances
will be quickly determined just as
soon as it becomes apparent that
the party leaders want to make an
issue of prohibition. The fight be-
tween the vets and the drys inside
the Democratic party must be made
first. The last Democratic conven-
ton revealed exactly that kind of
- oil I1a..
side being able to get n plank in
the platform.
Governor AL Smith has behind
him a career which appeals to the
Imagination of the average man. He
is a seIf-made man. He is an
American of the Grover Cleveland
type. He has a keen mind and a
rare faculty of getting at the bot
tom of things. His popularity in
New York state was a fact before
prohibition became acute as a po-
litical problem. He would have
been reelected in 1920 but for the
general Republican landslide. He
was beaten by only 10000 that year,
while Harding carried the state with
a million plurality. None of this
could be attributed "wet" strength.
East-SOuth Union
The question which friends OF Al
Smith are asking is when in the
recent history of the Democratic
party has there been man who
could demonstrate such strength in
the empire state? The elements
that have gone to make up Al |
Smiths popularity in New York |
state are to be found in New Jer- |
sey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and |
Rhode Island.
Elections used to be determined |
largely on what a nominee could do |
in New York state. The solid south |
plus a few eastern states makes a |
combination of electoral votes that |
can win. Ordinarily, this might be |
dismissed as futile, but this time
here is a good chance that Henry |
Ford or I.aFollette will divide the |
Republican electoral vote sin the |
western states, where the Demo
Gratis wouldn't have look-in un- |
less they had a radical candidate.
Under such circumstances the
east, plus the south, makes a win
ming combination. Will the Demo
Gratis try it with a light wine and
beer plank? If they do, they will |
be bold enough to consider Al Smith.
The Democratic party conventions
are controlled as a rule by the ors
of the more populous
states. Al Smith has played ball
with Tammany. He would start out
with New York's ninety votes and
would have the sympa-
thetic support of Illinois and New
Jersey and Massachusetts,. It's too
early to say how far his candidacy
will get, but he will be in the. rum