Evening star., 1924-09-27
NORTHWEST LEANS
TO PROGRESS|VES
Present Indications Show
Peak of La FcI|ette
= Strength.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

EN- ROUTE TO SAN FRANClSCO,
September 27.-Coming out of the
Northwest after tour of Wisconsin
Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana.
Washington and Oregon, the presi-
Dental contest appears at the mo-
ment to have this curious character
istic-hardly any one agrees that the
result, if the election were held to-
morrow, would be the same as it will
be on election day.
The drift toward the La Toilette
Wheeler ticket was first to get un-
der way. The third-party supporters
re making more noise and seem to
lie more active than their opponents.
i;ut they have reached their peak in
Z trength. And at the moment that is
: enough for them to carry virtually
{ IL of the Northwestern States with
: the exception of Oregon. 1t is, there
fore. a question henceforth of La
. Toilette holding his own against the
= desperate battle being waged by the
Coolidge forces to recover lost
: round
John w. Davis is al present writing
third in the race in the States afore-
Mentioned, but his strength is de-
veloping every day. Unquestionabl bly,
Lis spirited reply to Harry Daugherty
ION him votes in this region, for
hat Davis said is regarded as
,ahemence.
Gains From Democrats.
Whatever Davis can do really is
= le key to the whole situation, for
lere is little doubt now that the La
gillette party has made its greatest
aims from Democrats. If Davis can
Z recover Democratic votes he makes it
: "aser for Coolidge to win the North
test. But the Democrats, by a Curl
h n a n ri
re working hard to bring that about.
On the contrary, there are local
issues in several States which tend
ID make the Democrats trade their
= :upport for La Toilette in exchange
IT ballots for the Democratic State
+ ;omineeS. Some of the so-called
y PRACTICAL politicians insist that they
re really helping Davis, for if La
gillette carries enough States to
i've the contest into the House of
representatives, ii is argued that
avis would have a better chance of
ing chosen President. because the
: Z 'nservatives would combine to pre-
ent the Senate from being given
lance to select Bryan.
All this Western country. with the
~ exceptions, gave McAdoo his
r,ngest support in the Madison
: luare Garden convention last July.
was support based on the radi-
= ! tendency of the Democratic party
Vi self in the West. Having failed to
Z; McAdoo chosen, the Democrats
{ 'reaboutS have been rather indif-
rent about the national ticket 1t
not a vengeful attitude, but an
'evitable reaction against the selec-
. IN of a conservative. If John w.
''avis can convince the Western
nmocracy that he is not too conserv-
i've he may win many Democrats
- his side, but he can never be as
Ideal as La Toilette. who suits
ost of the labor crowd and many of
s 'le radically inclined farmers.
Fight Against La Toilette.
The regular Republicans in some
ateS are beginning to see the wis
( )m of encouraging Democrats to
tie for Davis rather than La Fol-
tie. 1t would not be surprising if
tive work along this line were be-
@aaun in many cities where normally
! lere is strong Democratic vote.
Z 'Ehey cannot convert these voters to
I Coolidge. so the next best strategy
( IL to keep them from La Toilette.
incidentally, the vice presidential
= ice is attracting a good deal of at
ntion-more, in fact, than usual. Per-
laps it is the striking personality of
Zen. Dawes or the fiery spirit of Sen
tor Wheeler or the tradition of
ryansm. but on several occasions
y lie writer has noticed newspapers in
le west displaying the doings and
sayings of the vice presidential nomi-
nees, while the presidential candi
Gates were tucked away on inside
pages.
Z In the last few days there has been
T. good deal more comment than usual
/ bout the Lorimer Bank controversy,
: \ which Gen. Dawes bank partici-
( ated. The Oregon Journal, for in
: .tance, calls upon President Coolidge
ask Gen. Dawes to withdraw from
he vice presidential race. declaring
hat Gen. Dawes. according to the
federal Court records, permitted his
-aank to lend sl.250.000 to former Sem
:. tor Lorimer'S bank in Illinois for
one afternoon just for the purpose of
fooling the state auditor" Senator
>Vheeler's attack along this line makes
he story new to a number of people,
or while the whole thing is an old
fair in Illinois. it is hurting the
Dawes case just the same in this part
the country, where La Toilette and
Wheeler are paying little attention to
Davis, and hammering away at Cool
.dge and Dawes.
Republicans Slow Starting.
1t is only fair to say that while the
la Toilette strength is preponderant
Utmost everywhere in the Northwest,
he regular Republicans, with the ex-
eption of Oregon, have not yet be-
gun their intensive work. They hope
get out votes which never before
nave been polled. They may get out
mough to turn the tide. This much
s certain, it is an uphill fight for
president Coolidge in the Northwest,
with his opportunities to carry many,
if not all, of the Northwestern States
growing better constantly as his own
oarty pitches in, for it is a battle be-
tween the radicals and the conserva-
lives, with the Democratic party
tending in the West toward La Fol-
tette. Basically there are no signs of
an upheaval, no universal diSSatiS-
faction with things as they are-al-
though the agricultural disaffection
: is by no means insignificant-no cry
sing for a change for the sake of
change, as in 1920. Indeed, the cam
paign has every aspect that favors
the man in power. One cannot say
with any confidence that La Toilette
has "sewed" up any of the North
Western States or that President
Coolidge will have tremendous ma
: achieve the momentum they desire. 1t
is close race, with 'hfty-flfty," as
the expression goes. describing the
true status today of the whole sit
: uation. BY the last week in October
the writer hopes to make a revised
analysis, based upon later develop