Evening star., 1926-10-05
ERNST FACES FIGHT
! FOR SENATE SEAT
Coolidge Prosperity" Main
Hope for Kentuckian in
! Race With Barley.
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.


Cpe 1d1 IlSpdbcD 10 L ne otdI.
LOUISVILLE, KY, October s..
Coolidge needs Ernst" that is the
legend that adorns the billboards of
Louisville, the telegraph poles and the
barn doors of the rural counties, the
fences that hedge the tobacco planta-
tions and the palings that inclose
the mountain collierieS of old Ken
lucky. The reverse English happens
10 be diSCOncerting truth. 1t is Ernst
that needs Coolidge.
The senior United States Senator
from the Blue Grass Commonwealth,
in his contest for n second term is
leaning so hard upon the President
that if Mr. Coolidge himself were not
an expert in bending backward on
occasions of pressure he might hlm-
self just now be in danger of that col
lapse which it is painfully apparent.
Senator Richard Pretlow Ernst fears
may ovcrtako him on November ,.
None of this means that the Repub-
licanS have thrown up the sponge in
the Kentucky senatorial fight. 1t
merely denotes that they are aware
that Representative Alben w. Bark
lcv Of Paducah. Ernst's Democratic
opponent. is giving the G. O. i. the
~tiffeSt kind Of a race. 1t indicates
that the Republicans know the issue
is in grave doubt. 1t discloses that
in Kentucky, as in Ohio, and nearly
everywhere else. they have decided to
play the G.. @. P.'s trump card in the
1926 congressional campaign, namely,
"lONaltV TO Coolidge.
Campaign Is Launched.
Senator Ernst formally launched
his campaign for reelection in east
rrn Kentucky last week. Heavy
G.. .. i. artillery tianked him for the
occasion, consisting of his colleague.
Senator Sackett. and Senator Lau-
renee G.. PhippS Of Colorado, chair
man of the Republican senatorial cam
paign committee. fresh from confer
once of blessing and good wishes at
the White House. But in the galaxy
that surrounded Senator Ernst at
Ashland was a person of almost more
importance to him at this critical
hour than even President Coolidge.
That person is Mrs. John w. Lang
ley. Republican candidate for the
House from the tenth district and
wife of the former Representative,
now in Federal Prison at Atlanta for
violation of the liquor Jaws.
The significance of her presence in
the Ernst encourage is the fact that
the Langley district" along with the
neiEhbOring eleventh district, is ter
ritorv utterly essential to Republican
success in a Kentucky election. 1t
was the capture of those two districts
that enabled Senator Ernst to defeat
Senator Reckham. Democrat. in No
Nember. 1920 II is their vote in No
vember. 1926, that will be vital to
lErnsts reelection!
Langley Support Vital.
The Langleys are uncrowDed mon
srchs in the tenth district. The i'm
prisoned eX-Representative was re-
elected to the present Congress in
1924, after his conviction, by 10,4S0
majority, the largest he ever received.
At the 1926 primary his wife, run
ming on a ''vindication" platform
after her husbands incarceration in
Atlanta. overwhelmed an opponent
for the Republican nomination.
That she will -be elected is a fore
gone conclusion. But the outstand-
ing fact is that nobody else can be
elected without her support. So SEN
ator Ernst is, in a manner of speak
ing, riding in two band wagons just
now. He is aboard the Coolidge musi-
cal chariot and he is firmly seated
In the bandwagon Of Mrs. Langley
as well.
Throughout the eastern counties
Senator Ernst plans to appear on
the same platform with the woman
who will prospectively be the fourth
Of her sex in the next House.
The Ernst-Langley situation has its
lighter aspect. Once upon a time,
kentuckians say. the Senator was
not fire and flame for John w. Lang
ley's pardon or as active as Langley's s
friends think he ought to have been