Evening star., 1926-10-12


for him as votes for me and not
against the President" Inferentially.
Pomerene admits the popularity OF
President Coolidge in this statement.
His Democratic supporters are doing
their best to get away from the stand
by-the-President' plea and to make
it a contest between personalities OF
Willis and Pomerene.
Even Gov. A. Vic Donahey, Demo
crat. and a possibility for the Demo-
cratic presidential nomination in 1928.
admits the popularity of the President
in Ohio. The people, the governor
thinks, are satisfied with President
Coolidge, and if he was running to-
day, he believes, Coolidge would carry
Ohio again.
Senator Willis, however, is not free
by any means from Democratic at
tack. They have raised against him
his vote for Senator NeWberry of
Michigan, who was charged with eX-
cessive expenditures in his race for
the Senate against Henry Ford back
in 1918. They have raised against
him also his defense in the Senate of
former Attorney General Harry M.
Daugherty, whom Willis proclaimed
"clean as a hounds tooth" They
have referred to the recent trial of
Daugherty for alleged conspiracy to
defraud thu Government. But 1T is
admitted, even in Democratic circles,
that Daugherty has ceased for a long
time to be q factor in Ohio politics or
the Republican organization, and the
attempt to link up Senator Willis
with him has not been a success. The
failure of the jury in New York to
return a verdict of guilty against
Daugherty has taken some of the
sting out of this avenue of attack
against Willis. Had the former
Attorney General been declared guilty
the Democrats would have used
Willis defense of him more effec-
lively.
POmerene Highly Regarded.
Senator Pometene is highly regard
ed in this State. His integrity and
ability are admitted on all sides His
prosecution of the oil lease cases has
enhanced his reputation, but he has
been on the wrong side of too many
popular issues in the past and is suf-
fering from the fact. He has attacked
the debt settlements made by the Re-
publican administration with the Eu-
ropean war debtors on the ground
that they have been too generous
to the foreigners and without Suffi-
cient regard for the American tax
payers. 1t has been rumored that he
might even declare himself against
American adherence to the World
Court, which Senator Willis supported
vigorously in the Senate last Winter.
But so far he has said nothing about
the court.
1t is no secret that some of the
business men Of Ohio have not been
pleased with Senator Willis, but the
Willis campaign managers are now
attacking the record of Senator
Pomerene on the tariff while he was
in the Senate, insisting that he in
variably voted for the lowest duties
or for no duty in many of the sched-
ules. This iss giving these business
men something to think about They
are strongly for the protection of
American industries. Ohio is pros
porous, there is little unemployment
in the State. The farmers have good
crops, especially bumper corn crop,
while this crop is short in some of
the other States of the corn belt. |
So the Coolidge and prosperity"
slogan makes a particularly strong
appeal here.
Wet Vote Divided.
1t appears that Senator Pomerene
strength in the State. Some of it re- |
sides in these same business men, who |
nationally are strong Republicans. |
Some Of it Is found in the ranks of |
labor, which is opposing Pomerene be- |
cause of his record in the Senate.
With the exception of the Enquirer |
of Cincinnati, which is wet, and the |
Plain Dealer in Cleveland, practically |
all the daily newspapers are support
ing Senator Willis.
The Columbus Dispatch, following
its usual custom during political cam
paigns, is conducting a secret straw
vote" The Dispatch is careful, it IS
explained, to make q. balanced canvass
of sentiment through this straw vote,
not going into territory that alone is
favorable to one or the other of the
but obtaining a croSs-sec-
tion of the sentiment throughout the
State. Without attempting to get
like a complete vote, this
straw vote to date shows a. total of
$3.50 for Willis, against $685. for Pom
creme. While on the surface this ap-
pears very close, If such a percentage
is maintained in the entire vote cast
on election day, the plurality of SEN
ator Willis will be considerable. 1t