Evening star., 1924-10-22
Extent of La Toilette Strength
Big Question of Interest
in Coming Election.
PLURALITY OF 100000
FOR PRESIDENT is SEEN
Donahey Has Best Chance for Gov
ernor; Democrats May Gain
House Seats.
C.. GoufD LINCOLN.
Staff Correspondent of The Star.


COLUMBUS. Ohio, October 22.-La
Toilette and what he may do is the
riddle in Ohio. The answer will not
be known until November A. This
noes not mean that La Toilette is be-
heVed to have real chance of carry
ing the State. 1t Is rather a specula-
uon as to what his strength will be,
particularly i'll the industrial centers
of the State.
ohi|ans generally take it for grant
ed tkat President Coolidge will carry
the state. They have ceased to spec
uiate about that. This very certainty
mas lent a color of apathy to the
campaign. The Republicans are in
ciiheo 10 say: "Oh. the States safe
TOT Coolidge. SO what's the use of
Aehihs up row." The Democrats,
On the other hand, believing that
Davis has little or no chance to get
.he electoral vote here are more or
iess perfunctory in their campaigninr
but the La Toilette campaign is on
IN earnest. Without the organization
or the funds, which the older parties
can command, the Independent
noise. io' Vi
seem TO nave a monopoly of
en 'husiasm OF the campaign, such
Situation Different.
The situation in Ohio TODAY is
vastly different from what IL was
iour years ago. Then two favorite
sons We're the Presidential nominees,
ana the streets echoed to the sound of
marching feet, bands and speeches.
kind of reaction.
fresident Coolidge has many assets
In the State. In the first place. the
people distinguish between Coolidge
and the Republican administration
which was under fire in WASHINGTON.
The Washington scandals of 1924
seem not to have left a great i'm
preston here, except for the fact
that the Republican organization is
a new deal. Many OF the most prom
inent figures in the Harding campaign
and administration are missing. Har-
ry9 Dansherfy. former Attorney GEN
eral, right-hand man of President
Harding, Is commonly said to have
"gone fishing" He's out of the pic
ture. His interchange of letters with
John w. Davis, the Democratic
nominee, over the CASTOR B. Means
testimony has not added to his stand
ing here. Some of Daugherty's old
friends were, and are, indignant be-
cause President Coolidge eliminated
Daugherty from the cabinet, but it is
not believed that this Indignation
Will figure very much in the election
returns.
zoo, 900 Plurality Seen.
Various estimates are made as to
the strength President Coolidge will
show on election day. A minimum is
that he will lead by 100000 votes,
some place his plurality as high as
800, 900 on a kind of $50 ratio, with
Davis running second and La Toilette
third. Still others insist that he will
equal. II he does not. efficeed, the lead
obtained by President Harding in
1920, some 100000 votes. The con-
servative view is that La Toilette is
drawing about equally from the Re-
publican and Democratic parties in
Ohio, though the Republicans con-
tinue to insist that he is doing more
harm to the Democrats. The combined
vote of Davis and La Toilette may ex-
ceed the vote of Coolidge. But with
the opposition fairly evenly split.
Coolidge should have a large lead
candidate will run second. IL not first.
They do not really hope for the lat
ter, however.
State Firmly Republican.
Ohio is a Republican State. 1t has
voted Republican for President in
every national election since the Civil
War. except in 1912. when the Bull
Moose party upset the regular
routine, and in 1915, when the Wilson
war and peace" issue made it pos
sible for the Democrats to win,
aided by the German-American vote
and many other people in the State
who were opposed to the entry of
this country into the World War
In this State the German-American
vote, estimated at about 10 per cent
of the total, or 100000, in the past
was pretty well divided between the
Democratic and Republican parties,
varying according to location. La
Toilette will dip heavily into this
vote, but 1t will not be taking votes
merely from the Republicans, as. for
example, in st. Louis.
The negro vote Is set down as ap-
proximately 150.C coo. While Democratic
claims are made in regard to this
vote, the great majority will vote
the Republican ticket.
Another advantage the Republican
ticket has lies in the fact that Ohio
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