Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-10-11
DAVIS GAINS FAST
III KANSAS. CLOSING
ON COOLIDGE 6 HEELS
BY DAVID LAWRENCE
Especial Leased Wire to The Journal-Copy-
\

rlSntJ 1J-4.J
Topeka, Kan, Oct. 9.-Some i'm
portant shifts may be looked for in
the last three weeks of campaign in
Democratic nominee for president,
may be the beneficiary thereof.
Kansas, as usual, is different.
When in 1916 it turned over d solid
ly Republican majority and was car
ried for Wilson, everybody was sur
prised, including many of the Demo-
! cratic leaders. There are possibili-
ties here of an upset. One thing
| seems certain-John w. DAVIS in
stead of Senator La Toilette will be
| second in this state, if not first.
Informal polls taken by precincts
cannot always be relied upon but al-
| lowing for the usual inaccuracies
| thus early in the campaign, they in
| dictate that Senator La Toilette has
not made the inroads into the Demo-
cratic vote here that he has III other
| states. Railroad labor in many SEC
| tons of the country is solidly for La
| Toilette but in Kansas it isn't. The
| railroads have formed what IS knoWn
as company unions" and they come
much closer to influencing the.I en-
| rloyes than is the case in ether
| states.
Just now the drive is on to recover
votes that were originally inclined
| to be for LaFollette. The Demo
Gratis admit that their losses at the
outset were heavy but they insist
| that they will regain a great many
| Local issues are also a vital factor
| in an analysis of Kansas. Governor
Jonathan Davis, Democrat, carried
| the state by a substantial majority
| two years ago. This means that the
| Democratic party has an organiza-
| ton and plenty Of fight. John w.
| Davis made a favorable impression
when he spoke here and there seems
| to be more enthusiasm to the square
! inch among the Democratic organi
zation workers in Kansas than the
writer has discovered in any state
yet visited.
Spike G. o. P. Strategy
The Democrats have spiked one
bit of Republican strategy which
has worked we'll in other states. The
Republicans have been hammering
away at the idea that John w. Da.
Wis would be a poor third. The pur.
pose of this was to steer conserva
| tive Democrats to the Coolidge
| IlShCI Will lIIG dI uulSHI IIldI ln6
common enemy being La Toilette
no changes should be taken in de.
feating him, or preventing him, at
least, from throwing the election
into the house of representatives.
Kansas also isn't in a radical
mood. The state is enjoying un.
usually good fortune. Not only was
the wheat crop good but the corn
crop was splendid, too, and to have
two good crops when prices happen
to be high is a stroke of good luck
| that few states can boast Under
these economic conditions there isn't
| much of a protest vote. Indeed,
| there will be apathy instead, and the
party workers will have difficulty
| in getting out a big vote.
What are the issues? President
| Coolidge was at the height of his
popularity in June, but there have
been recessions since. The Demo
Gratis have literally flooded the state
with copies Of Frank r. Kent's re.
| cent magazine article describing
President Coolidge as having less be.
hind his silence than the public
! generally imagines.
So the situation has resolved itself
into Democratic and Republican
fight and with a state inclined to
be conservative this year the choice
| appears to be between two safe and
| sane enthusiastically and John
w. Davis, instead of between Cool
| idSe and La Toilette.
The Ku Klux Khan is very DO.
| tent factor on the surface. How
much it will count on election day,
| nobody pretends to know. William
| Allen White entered the guberna-
tor1al race as an Independent candi-
| date. He says the attitude Of the
| Republican candidate for governor.
Ben Paulen, on the khan issue, ism t
satisfactory. He says he would pre-.
fer another term by the Democratic
| governor, Jonathan M. Davis, to the
| election of the Republican nominee.
La Toilette Out of 1t
| The Republican managers have
| for some time been scared bv this
flank attack from one of the best
known natives of Kansas. Now
they are beginning to pursuade
themselves that White will simply
split the Democratic vote, which is
largely anti-klan, and that the cleo
| ton Of Paulen will be assured. Not
so in Democratic circles, where they
| point with significance to the fact
that scarcely q day passes that some
| negro lodge or organization doesn't
! send copies to headquarters of the
resolutions they have passed on tC
| the White House petitioning Presi.
| dent Coolidge to come out squarelv
| against the khan in a statement over
his own signature.
The negro vote Is estimated at
| $4,000. The Democrats cannot ex-
pect all of this, but every vote they
get is gain over previous years,
for it IS quite out Of the ordinary
for negroes to invite the Democratic
state chairman to attend their meet
ings, and that's what has been hap
pening out here.
The shift in the negro vote, the
recovery Of La Toilette votes by
John w. Davis, and the steady anti
Coolidge campaign being carried on
by the Democrats, is the main source
Of their optimism. They may be
right but the writer is inclined to
believe that as the race approaches
a climax the president will have the
advantage in the contest for the cleo
toral votes of Kansas. Those who
have been counting on La Toilette
to carry Kansas, however, might as
well cross that off their list of con-
lectures.
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