Evening star., 1927-05-11
Politics at Large
By G.. Could Lincoln.

VI
New York with more kindly feeling
than might have been believed pos
sible few months ago. This is not
mere gueSsWork, but the result of in
tervieWing Democrats from a mum.
fjCr Of the States south of the Mason
and Dixon line--DemOCrats who rep.
resent the sentiment certainly of con
| siderable groups. 1t does not mean
that Gov. Smith will have the dele
cations from Dixie Land at the Dem
0cratic national convention next wear.
He will not. in all probability, have q
single delegation from the South
whom the halloting begins. unless it
be that of Louisiana. But it does
mean that when the battle opens for
the nomination of a standard bearer
the contest may not be quite so bitter
as it otherwise might have been Not
few Of the Democratic leaders re-
aliZe that they must, for their own
political lives, cast their ballots
against Smith in the convention. But
having registered their votes in op-
position to the nomination of the New
0rk governor, they will not be
strongly averse to seeing the gov
ernor nominated in the end, provided
he shows real strength.
x X X X
Gov. Smith has pleased many Of the
Southerners, as he did many Of the
Northerner Democrats, with his an
sWcr to the Marshall letter, stating
his position in regard to the Consti-
tuition and his church. They liked
the ring of it. They believe that Gov.
Smith Is entirely honest and that he
is efficient. Some of them would like
to have him make a statement. not
declaring himself a prohibiti0nist, but
rather asserting that he will stand
for the enforcement of the dry laws
as long as they are on the statute
books.
One Southern Democrat, who has
hcen potent in party councils for
years. but who shall be nameless,
frankly says in private conversation
that Gov. Smith is the party's best
bet for the presidential race next
wear. Furthermore, this Southern
Democrat believes that the party will
gain by nominating the New Yorker,
that 1t Will go farther toward cement
ing the Southern Democrats and
those Of the North than any other
single factor. AS he put it, the Dem.
ocrats of the North and East, Catho-
llc in large part, will be so disgrun-
tied if Gov. Smith Is turned down
merely because he is Catholic-as his
followers will believe if he be turned
doWn-they will have little or nothing
10 do with any other candidate who
may be named
Should the Democratic convention
hnally nominate Gov. Smith. it is
falrly probable that Southern Dem.
ocrat will be named for the second
place on the ticket. Possibly this
might placate the South. Certainly
that would be the object of such a.
nomination. Strange as it may seem.
the feeling that no Southerner can be
elected President Of the United States
is more strongly grounded in the
minds of Southern Democrats than it
IS IN the minds of Democrats of the
North. They might take a chance.
however, with a Southern Democrat
for Vice President, especially if AL
Smith is to be at the front end of
the ticket.
X X X
Just at present the people Of the
states in the lower Mississippi Valley
are thinking more of the flood than
they are Of politics. But some of the
politicians are seeking to make
capital while the flood overfiows the
banks Of the Father, of the Waters.
Demand after demand is being made
apon President Coolidge TO call the
Congress in special session. 1t is
pretty clear that the President is
going to make no such call, but will
rely upon Secretary Hoover, the War
Department and the Red Cross to see
the flood through. But there are
those who believe that they can ''put
the President in a hole" by making
the demand and having him turn a.
deaf ear Doubtless, there are sincere
men who believe that Congress could
help-though it is not quite clear
what more Congress could do in the
present situation than what is being
done today. But if Congress were
summoned to Washington now, it
would be only a matter of hours or
days at the most before the political
battle was staged and the flood sink
to second place in the picture. How
could 1t be otherwise with the Frank
l.. Smith and William S. Ware sena-
torial contests due to come I'D for
consideration Immediately after Con-
gress meets? How could it be other
wise when the supporters of the
McNary Haugen farm relief bill,
vetoed by the President last March,
are itching for q chance to broadcast
from Washington attacks upon the
administration because of the veto?
Coolidge luck" has become proven
bial in the political parlance of the
day. Things just happen" accord
ing to some Of the opponents of the
President, in way that helps
Mr.. Coolidge. A closer examination
might show, however, that these
things happen" because of some we'll
thought-out course of the President
and his advisers. If there is any
thing in the so-called Coolidge luck,
it seems to be working during the
congressional recess. The trouble
some spots in the foreign relati of
the country are clearing up. A
settlement of the Nicaraguan muddle
is in sight at last. President Coolidge
believes that Mexico is becoming
more reasonable, and finally America s
policy in China is having it's effect for
the good of that country and for bet
ter relations with the Chinese.
, AS the weeks roll by, the belief
grows that President Coolidge is to
dent in 1928. Chairman William NJ
Butler of the Republican national
committee, after months tour of
the West, has reported to the Presi-
dent that the Republican party is in
fine shape in that section of the
country. He has reported that there
is no revolt against the President, but
on the contrary that Mr.. Coolidge is
popular there as he has been in the
past.
Mr.. Butler his friends believe, has
about decided to make the race for
the Senate in Massachusetts, next
year against Senator David I. Walsh.
who defeated him in 1926 by $4,000
votes. Mr.. Butler is not the kind of
man to relish defeat. He has the
cali. apparently, for the Republican
for the Senate if he de-
sire$ it. Other potential candidates
fol. hn Ppnnhljpo cono torial ynr,ino