The Washington times., 1923-07-07
FACE LOSS
Of SENATE
SEAT
Must interest New Voters and
: Get Out Old Ones to
Hw Win Victory.
By WILLIAM HARD.

By WILLIAM HARD.
It can be firmly set down that
Washington is not one bit alarmed
by the Farmer-Labor Party,
which has just organized itself at
Chicago, but it can be equally
firmly set down that Washington
is. extremely alarmed by the en-
tirely different Farmer-Labor
Party which is backing Magnus
johnson against j. A. o. Preus
for United States Senator in
Minnesota in the election which
will be held a week from next
Monday.
Parties Are Different.
The Chicago Farmer-Labor party
and the Minnesota Farmer-Labor
party bear the same name, but the
practical political resemblance be-
: tween them comes to a dead stop
at just that point. They are two
absolutely different and separate
!. organizations and propositions.
Washington SCOTS at the one and
gets shiVers about the other.
The Farmer-Labor party of Chi
} cago is a radical balloon sent up
by leaders who are calling for fol-
lowers. The Farmer-Labor party
of Minnesota is a down-on-the-
ground native weed or vine which
has sprung right up from out of
the grass-roots and which has
/ spread all over the State of Mime
sofa with its followers pushing its
leaders on.
This Minnesota new party is
called radical but it is conservative
enough to get the votes of scores
of thousands of heavily propertied
farmers and comfortably circum-
stanced merchants and traders. Its
sentiments in fact are shared by
multitudes of Minnesota Republ-
cans who voted last month in the
Republican primary but who ad-
mittedly in the election on the six
teenth of this month will go over
to the Farmer-Labor party and
vote for Magnus Johnson.
Republicans Aroused.
Information received here by this
writer from authoritative Mime
sofa Republican sources is to the
following effect:
The Republicans hope to win and
they are determined to win but they
realize that in order to do 1t they
will have to put forth a supreme
effort to arouse the sleepy stay-at-
home Republican element which did
not go to the primary.
On the primary figures Preus is de-
feated and Johnson elected.
In the primary the Democratic
candidates got a total of only 1929
votes. It is not believed that the
Democratic nominee has any chance
now against either Preus or John
son. The Democratic party in Min
nesota has been choked almost to
death for the time being by the
Farmer-Labor growth.
Meanwhile in the primary in the
Republican party there were three
candidates whose followers cannot
be relied upon to vote Republican
in the election. These three can
didates were Lundeen, SchaIl and
Power. Between them in the pri-
mary they accumulated more han
fifty thousand votes.
II these fifty thousand votes are
subtracted from the chances of Mr..
Preus and added to the chances of
:, Mr.. Johnson, the Farmer Labor
party is ahead of the Republican
party on the primary figures, and
Mr.. johnson will be elected.
Must Get New Voters.
It is held therefore that Mr.
Preus can be elected only if the
Republican party in Minnesota sue
ceeds In getting out q lot of new
voters TO the polls on Election Day.
1t is believed that the Republican
Party may succeed in this task, but
1t is not believed that success will
DO easy. Every possible assistance,
however, in achieving it will be
gwen TO Minnesota Republicans by
the republican national organiza-
tion. because it is thoroughly rea-
Ized here that the election of
Magnus johnson would be the final
signal for the spread of the Mime
sofa Farmer-Labor victorious idea
into Wisconsin, Iowa. Nebraska
South Dakota, North Dakota. Mon.
tana and Michigan.
1t is noted that Robert Marion To
Toilette, who keeps away from the
Farmer-Labor party of Chicago and
who has steadily for forty wears
abstained from committing his poli-
teal fortunes to any third party
movement. has been willing m
GPCoh All %HlIl1Ccold IOI the dfTnRF-
Labor candidates last year and this
year.
1t is calculated-and, in fact, II "a
absolutely knOwn-that il is not in
La Follette's temperament or in his
intention 10 go into th:rd-party move
ments just for tn sake of having a
wild time. La Toilette did not fol-
low Populism into the wilderness
He did not follow Rooseveltian pro.
gressivism in the wilderness. He
does not like wildernesses. He is :,
prairie fire on the stump. but he i.
q political adding machine in his of.
flee.
1t is felt here that if La FoIIette
now at last has joined himself n
third-party movement il is a
movement which he believes will
actually move; and nobody here no
matter how much he may dislike