The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-08-31
PRESS ON MRS. FERGUSON

PRESS ON MRS. FERGUSON
 For woman ito be nominated for the governorship of a state is novelty When, as in Texas, such nomination is regarded as tantamount to election, in- terest in the situation is all the more attentive. Therefore, the success of Mrs. Miriam Ferguson is obtaining the Dem ocratic nomination, and doubtless also the governorship, receives the special at tention of editors. There were two main blanks in Mrs. Ferguson's platform. The first, oddly enough, was the ''vindica- tiQn" of her husband, James B. Fergu- son, who was impeached and removed from the governorship of Texas in 1917. The other was opposition to the Ku Klux Klan. Mrs. Ferguson regards her ma joffty of more than ninety thousand votes in the largest vote ever cast in Texas primary as victory for her attitude. The interest of the country centers itself about the person of the first woman gov : ernor in the United States, provided, of course, she is eventually elected.
 In the view of the New York World, which has long been outspoken against the Klan: "When it came to a straightout issue in the Democratic party, which is dominant in Oklahoma and Texas, the majority of Democrats have decided against the Klan. E. The Ferguson victory, together with the Davis repudia- ton, have sent the Klan reeling politic- ally and probably have begun the process of it's ultimate extinction" Similarly, thinks the Tampa Tribune, the victory of Mrs. Ferguson means "not only the first woman governor, but probably the finish of the Klan as a controlling force Tn pol tics." The other issue of the campaign is emphasized by the Nashville Banner: Mrs. Ferguson let it be known that her husband, who could never have won through, would really be the governor Appeared on the stump and vigorously ad- dressed the voters. All knew that vic tory for the wife would be merely nom- 3nal and that the husband would occupy She chair in, effect, if not at all times actually. So that Texas is to have as governor a man whom the voters of the Sts4s would never have accepted, one whom the courts had declared ineligible, and all because a woman played the game for him and outwitted the old-time politicians and the voting masses"
 Tn comparing the two blanks of the Texas campaign the Louisville Courier Journal concludes: "The victory won by Mrs. Ferguson over a Klan candidate in one of the states where the Klan is strongest has a greater significance than as expression of sympathy for the wife of an impeached governor" The Mem phis Commercial-Appeal recalls that this is not the first case "where domestic TO- nance has figured in the political af- fairs of the Lone Star state. Sam Hous- ton, hero of San Jacinto and the Indian wars, left the governorship of Tennessee
 I..sJ of nf nestle disagreement. He went to Texas and got his own vindication when he claimed the unprecedented honor of be- ing elected governor of Texas also. Quite reminiscent is the fact that Houston lost national caste through utilization with the old Know Nothings,' for the Klan IS but the revival of Know Nottingham After domestic vindications, Sam Hous- ton lost and Mrs. Ferguson won political glory on practically the same issue. 2 Which shows that human beings, senti- ments and convictions do not change much after all.
 As the Republican New York Herald Tribune puts it: "The smashing victory of Mrs. Ferguson is easily the most sen sational political event in generation" Discussing the politics of the situation, the Washington Star remarks: "The Re- publican state convention in Texas de- nounced the Klan. The candidate of that |, party, therefore, is not in position dl- rectly to benefit from any anti-Fergu- son Klan feeling that might manifest it. self at the polls in November by hostile votes. Yet there is no telling. So bitter was the fight led by Mrs. Ferguson, as her husbands proxy, that Klan votes may 70 to the Republican candidate. The Dem J ocratic margin in Texas, however, is very heavy, and a deep defection would be necessary to defeat the Democratic nomi- nee. The prospect is more that Texas will make the record of entrusting it's ad- nninistration to the first woman governor in American history" Which is all right if the Star chooses to ignore the possi- bility that she will be governor in name only.
 Among those who believe that Mrs. Ferguson made her principal appeal on another issue-the vindication of her hus- band" is the New Orleans Times-Pic- ayune. The nominees real attitude to- wards her prospective responsibilities IS more accurately given by the New York Times: "She expects, as she says, to be guided by her husband in the administra- tion of fiscal affairs, in the reduction of taxes and in the management of the pen itentiary But she intends to be guided by her own judgment in matters affect ing education and social affairs and par ticularly the interests of the home, the women and children, the efficient en- forcement of the laws and the mainten- z ance of peace and order" And if she does that, there is no doubt that she has assumed by far the major portion of the burden.
 The Dallas News. regards the election as ''the vindication of popular govern rnent. The outcome is judgment against the Ku Klux Klan as political organiza- fion. As for itself, the News has implicit faith in the desire of Mrs. Fer Ruson and of her husband to serve the people of Texas well, and its faith in their ability to do so is no less" While the Houston Post-Dispatch thinks that Issthose who have tried to establish rul-