Douglas daily dispatch., 1927-08-03
PRESIDENTS ACTION
FINDS WASHINGTON
HUNTING SUCCESSOR.

w 4OlN3 AllSs q, NhC ACo
ident Coolidges carefully prepared
statement today in the Black Hills
'I do not choose to run for president
in 1928" brought views by politicf
ans of Washington as varied as the
groups which are represented.
The first reaction was a searching
of the political skies for other can
didates who might be honored by the
next Republican national convention
but many, including some of the
presidents closest friends, warned
that Mr.. Coolidge must not yet be
eliminated from consideration should
the nomination be offered him.
While a number of leaders accepted
the statement as meaning that Mr.
Coolidge would not rum others, includ-
ing Senator Smoot Of Utah. admin
istration stalwart, declared there was
nothing in it to bear out the ron
clusion The Utah senator said he
| construed the language of the prcsi-
dent to mean that if the republicans
decided to nominate him he would
run but tkat if it were left to his
! own personal choice he would prefer
not to run.
Although there was pauciUy Of
statements from democratic circles,
Representative ldfield of Arkansas,
the chairman of the democratic con-
gressional campaign committee assert
ed in a statement that Mr.. Coolidge's
utterance "lookS like a feeler." He
added that the third term apparent
| ly was involved.
Most of the administrations poll
tical household kept silent on today's
] development, which created a poiiti-
cal sensation in the first magnitude.
Persons in close contact with the re-
publican leadership professed the ut
most surprise when they learned Of
/ Mr.. Coolidge's action, which struck
out of clear sky.
| A number of cabinet officers are
out OF town, and those here had taken
the afternoon off to go to the Ameri-
can League baseball park to do hon
or to Walter johnson on the tWenti-
eth anniversary of his entry into ma
jor league baseball
Nevertheless, the presidents brief
statement was flashed about as if by
magic, and within half an hour after
it was made the politically minded
were besieging newspaper offices for
its exact text, and within an hour it
was evident that dispute over its
| Interpretation was well under way
| Those who chose to believe the
tpresident had eliminated himself,
turned to other possibilities, while
those who held the opposite view in
| sisted that the question whether he
would or would not be candidate in
/ 1928 remained far from settled. Their
argument they bolstered with the
assertion that there had been pre-
dictions by Mr.. Coolidge's friends that
he would be drafted as the republi-
can candidate, regardless of his own
wishes.
Speculation on possible candidates
other than Mr. Coolidge has revolved
here about Frank O. Lowden, Vice
President Dawes, Secretary Hoover,
Speaker Nicholas Longworth, Senator
Borah and a few others. Some politi-
cal leaders have expressed the opin-
ion that the elimination of the presi-
/ dent would throw the field open for
a free-forall contest, with several
issues, such as farm relief, flood
control, taxation and others and with
out the pressure of an administration
organization dominating the situation
Some politicians who have been
predicting that Mr.. Coolidge would
not run again, however, have been
/. linking the name of Secretary Hoover
with gossip of a possible candidate
sympathetic with the policies of the
Coolidge administration.
BY aligning the group of republic
can possibilities this gossip has point
ed to Mr.. Hoover's support of the
president on the disputed McNary-
Haugen farm relief bill which is a
hot fighting issue, especially in the
middlewest Mr.. Lowden and Vice
President Dawes have endorsed fea-
lures of that measure. Speaker Long
worth is credited with being in oppo-
sition to it, although as Speaker he
was forced to take an active part in
the bitter fight over it in congress.
The effect of the presidents state
, ment on the democratic campaign
plans was a matter of conjecture
Some democratic leaders had express
ed a willingness to go into the cam
: paign with third-term issue, not
, Withstanding the insistence of the
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