Evening star., 1924-09-28
Davis Chance for Electoral
Vote Lies in Leaders Run
ming Neck.and.NeCk.
WHISPERING CAMPAIGN
WALSH'S BIG PROBLEM
Senator's Religion Made Basis for
Opponents Attack-Race
to Be Warm.
BY &. GOULD LINCOLN.


HELENA, Mont, September Elm
Montana, it is Coolidge or La Toilette,
with the chances for success now
leaning toward the President. Davis
has but one chance, apparently, for
the electoral vote of the State, and
that admittedly very slim one.
Should the Republicans and the La
Toilette forces SO split the vote of
the State as to leave the Democrats
chance for n slim plurality, Davis
would receive the four electoral votes.
In this State-an empire in extent,
but with a population of only 540,-
000-a different situation, politically,
offers itself from that in the Dakotas
and Minnesota. In the latter States,
which are normally Republican" by
large majorities, the La Toilette can
didacy will cut more into the Repub-
lcanS than the Democrats. Here.
however, the La Toilette strength
will be derived probably just as much
from the Democrats as from the Re
publicans-though this is disputed.
That being the case, Republicans. who
are believed to Predominate in Mon
tana, will continue to do so after the
vote has been divided three ways. I'm
strength should prove to be greater
than it is believed to be in we'll in
formed sources.
Republicans Confident.
Republican leaders here have a
feeling of confidence in the outcome.
which is lacking just now in some of
the other Northwestern States. The
Democrats have only the hope al
ready described. But the La Toilette
workers are not outdone in confidence
by the Republicans. Their only
worry, they say, lies in the difficulty
mere over the place which the names
of La Toilette electors will have on
the ballot.
1t must be admitted that the faith
of the Republicans is based on polls
made in various parts of the State,
but which do not include the widely
scattered farming population, and on
belief that the silent vote will be
cast for the President
Not altogether tangible stuff to
base a prediction on. but they have
the advantage of good crops and i'm
proved financial conditions in the
State.
In Toilette Men Uneasy.
The La Toilette leaders are dis
turbed because it now looks as though
there would be IL set of so-called
Farmer-Labor electors on the ticket
and also the La Toilette electors in
the independent column. Should this
be the case, they fear that many of
the people who would like to vote for
La. Toilette, believing that the
Farmer-Labor electors are his, may
vote for those electors instead of the
real La Toilette group in the inde-
pendent column. The Farmer-Labor
prOun of electors yere named xrbeD
the FarmerLabor party was still to
hold its convention in st. Paul, the
convention which later was repudi-
ated by Senator La Toilette.
Today the Farmer r-Laborites saw
that they are for Senator La Toilette
and ask to be considered as the Off
cial La Toilette electors. But there
is fly in the ointment. The Farmer
Laborites have candidates for State
offices who would like very much to
ride along on the La Toilette band
wagon. La Toilette and his campaign
managers, however, have been op-
posed to this, believing that it might
cost them many votes.
Foster Party Nominee.
In addition, the presidential nomi-
nee of the Farmer-Labor convention
is Foster, the radical, of Illinois, and
should the La Toilette people rely on
the Farmer-Labor electors, it is feared
that Foster might come along with
court action insisting that these
electors are his and not La Foliette's.
The only way in which the La Fol-
lette electors can be placed on the
ballot in the independent column now
is through the filing of petitions
carrying 5,471 names. The La Fol
lette managers said today that they
had upward of 1000 of these sigma
lures and would have great many
more than the requisite number by
September so, when it is proposed to
file the petitions. The time for hllnS
expires October 4.
The La Toilette leaders are count
ing on a very large vote from the
railroad employees and from the dis
affected farmers, sufferers from agri-
cultural depression of recent years.
The railroad labor vote is estimated
at Is per cent of the vote of the
State. Three transcontinental roads
cross the State, and big railroad
shops are maintained in Montana.
Many of these votes were formerly
Democratic. Among the miners, too,
La Toilette will gain from the DEM
ocrats He will take from the Re-
publicans, however, when it comes
to the farms.
Walsh Faces Fight.
Senator Walsh of Montana. the man
who lifted the lid" in the Teapot
Dome oil scandal, and who gained
fresh laurels by plotting the Demo-
cratic bark through the stormy days
of the New York convention, is facing
a real fight for reelection. The Re-
publicanS have named +. P. Linder-
man as their candidate against SEN
ator Walsh. ]. w. Anderson is the
Farmer-labor nominee, though he has
not the La Toilette o. n. In fact.
La Toilette and Wheeler both would
like to see the reelection of Senator
Walsh. Linderman is a former insur-
ance man who has prospered, a hotel
owner, an author of Indian stories
and poems, Mason and, it is COM
monty reported, the candidate of the
Ku Klux KIan.
1t is on the religious issue that
Linderman is making his strongest
bid for the Senatorship against Sena-
tor Walsh, a Catholic This is not
being done openly-through public
speeches and attacks in the press, but
through whispering campaign. 1t
is known that for long time Linder-
man has been violently anti-Catholic.
He is appealing to Masons to aid him
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