Evening star., 1924-10-05
'STRAWS WRONG OR
GREAT UPSET NEAR
Democrats Third in informal
PoIls-Party Overhaul
ing Is Seen.
BY ROBERT r. SMALL.


Either the people of the United
States are going to get the. surprise
or their lives the. morning after the
national fiction or else the poiitical
straw NoteR' which are being taken
today may be written down as the
- ,coifoAaI farce of all times.
These votes, being gathered under
Nar.0us auspices in different sections
of the country. would indicate at this
time that outside OF the solid South
and one or two OF the so-callcd Dor
der States the Democrats promise
to DC the third party in the race This
would seem to be true, even o. New
York State, where the Democrats.
with the aid OF Al Smith as candi-
date for governor. have been hoping
to win against Mr.. Coolidge and have
had no thoughts at all about running
third to Coolidge and La Toilette.
Yet, one OF the straw polls. most
painstakingly organized. appears to
show that Coolidge IN New York vii
rave Il wakaWay, that La Toilette
VIII pol about 80 per cent as many
votes as Coolidge and DAVIS viii poll
but % per cent AZ many.
Lea.ers Alarmed.
OF course, the Democratic managers
are sweeping these straw polls aside
DIS UNIV orthy of even In. siSnteSt
consideration. They point to the fact
that straw votes alleged to have been
taken at the thealerS in New York
City have shown the saline result IS
,ltt supposedly iucr CanvaS.fcs--,ha, a,
the Democratic ticket would run third
This naturally is out of the question.
New ork City is Democratic to the
core and vii. roll Up wonderful
plurality for John W. Davis. If there
should be an upset in this calculation
then. inqeed. all political signs must
go by the boards.
1t must be set down that either the
New York polls are fakes. that only
Republicans and La Toilette folk 70
to the theaters or else the pemoCra tie
party is in a condition bordering on
dissolution.
Despite the brave talk OF the ma =
tIonal managers, ii is apparent the
results of the widely published straw,
votes are having depressing effect
upon great many Democrats. who
are worried not little at the SLOW
pace at which their campaign l.
moving. Candidate Davis is doing
ali that any human being could be
expected to do. but it Is becomin G
more and more evident that the
brunt of virtually the entire cam
paign is being placed upon him. just
As ii was saddled upon the shoulders
Of Gov. Cox in 1920. In New York
State. Gov. Smith is promising to
"whoop it up" but his principal joL
Will be in trying to whoop !ounR
Col. Roosevelt down. Gov Ar has
said that the only thing running
against him is a name. but he is go
ing to take no chances on that name
getting by the post a winner.
See Overhaul Needed.
The election still is four weeks
away. The straw polls are far from
complete. But If it be true that they
! represent even the slightest tI.EC
of the political winds. Democrats ar.
of the opinion that their party viii
| have to undergo thorough over.
hauling and perhaps a reorganization
! The democracy has lived long. IL hs
withstood some powerful knocks il
the past and it will continue to liv,
in the future. If the party is de
feated in November II will prove
anew that different paths must b.
trod. that the older issues like tn,
| tariff are dead. the country beins
reconciled to a protective system ant
! satisfied with 1t.
The straw votes naturally have
caused great elation in the ranks OF
the La Toilette followers They have
visions now of bu ,lding party
hich may take second place on the
ballots of the future in a number OF
( States They think they really have
started some thing.
liberals &. o. p. Objective.
The Republicans are apparently
taking much the same view and ar.
| directing their attacks more and NOR,
against the lnde ndepcndent-Progressi
! The straw votes are being credite
with this change in tactics Cha r
man Butler of the Republican ma
tional committee is going so far as
to say that the Democrats abandon
ing thoughts of victory in several
States. are trying to combine with
the La Toilette folk in an effort tc
give the latter enough electoral votes
to throw the election in the Con.
gress.
Generally speaking. the major
| moves at this period of a campaign
must be put down to camoufiage OIL
| mere braggadocio, so one mans guess
| Is as good as another as to the actua
| results.
One thing is certain, the .olc
| straw vote is having its acid tes1
| this time. If it proves incorrect
| straw votes must be set down as the