Evening star., 1928-10-30
Smith Shows an Amazing
Strength in Philadelphia,
But Hoover Has State.
GOVERNOR HAS GIVEN
MINORITY NEW VIG0R
Keystone Expected to Give Repub-
lican Candidate 100000 or
100000 Majority.
BY G. GOULD LINCOLN,

~ 0OOAO AAAANOOAN1
Staff Correspondent of The Star.
PHILADELPHIA, Pa, October 3d.
Here is an amazing thing. AL Smith
may poll 100000 to 100000 votes In
Philadelphia, where Davis four years
ago had only $4,000 and Cox in 1920
received 10000. 1t sounds like politi-
cal miracle, but there are reasons for it.
Despite this big gain in votes for a
Democratic presidential candidate, Gov.
Smith will fall short of carrying the
city. The most conservative estimates
give Philadelphia to Hoover by $4,000
and the estimates of sanguine Repub-
lican leaders here place Hoover's prob
able lead at 225.000. While there are
Democrats in Philadelphia who have
been swept of their feet, apparently.
by the great greeting which Smith had
here Saturday, and are suggesting that
Smith may even carry the city or that
the Hoover lead will be cut down to
$4,000, there seems little real sub
stance to such claims.
hUVVcE 10 Narry State.
Whether there is anything in poetic
justice or not, Herbert Hoover. the first
Quaker ever nominated for President.
is going to carry the State of Pennsyl-
vania. Those who seriously consider
the figures and the situation in the
keystone State must arrive at this con-
clus1on, or throw overheard all the
data and information that come from
f1a yn1sfr ~s&a -
Fisher has asserted that Mr. Hoover's
lead will run as high or higher than
100000 votes. He continues to stick
to these figures, although to many OBJ
servers they seem far and away too
great. The more conservative believe
that Hoover'S plurality over Smith will
be 100000 or 100000 To all i1tents
and purposes of the election It matters
| little whether Pennsylvania goes Re-
publican by 100000 or by 100000
votes. The effect in the electoral col
| lege will be the same. and Pennsylva-
MAS S8 electoral votes viii be cast for
| Hoover
But to get back to the probable big
Smith vote in Philadelphia. Gov.
Smith has Just been made. The streeis
are full of reverberations of the big
demonstration accorded him. Little
groups discuss it on street corners and
in hotel lobbies. His visit has put
added ginger into an already aroused
and working Democratic host At the
same time 1t has caused the Repub-
licans to redouble their activities. For
these popular demonstrations work
both ways IN politics.
Personality Counts.
It Is an amazing thing that one
man-Al Smith-should be able to turn
spiritless minority, mere shadow of
party, into a fighting group that has
multiplied itself many times. Gov.
Smiths own forceful personality has
played its part in this transformation.
1t is freely conceded here that no other
man the Democrats might have put up
could have turned the trick Then,
Gov. Smith makes strong appeal to
some of the racial groups in Philadel-
phia. Further, there is a very large
Catholic population and great per-
centage of these Catholic voters will
support candidate of their faith who
Is opposed in many quarters because
of his church connection.
There is the wet issue to aid his can
didacy too-an issue which has brought
him much support in this city as it has
in other great industrial centers.
Other contributing factors to the up
rising here for Smith are found in the
present investigation into the alliance
of the police with organized lawlessness,
in a desire to build in Philadelphia a
real minority or protest party and In
the fact that the. political machine in
Philadelphia has to some extent been
a bipartisan affair, due to the hunger
of certain Democrats for jobs. These
Democrats found out years ago that
the only way to get jobs was to play ball
with the Republicans. They have
played 1t. But now many of the rank
and file who have been content to fol-
low these Democratic leaders are In
revolt, and so, too, are some Of the
minor leaders themselves. They are
drifting back to the old party allegiance.
It may have been a coincidence that
"Bill" Ware, Senator elect, but never yet
delphia, motored back to the city from
Atlantic City to register and arrived
here just about the time that Gov
Smith was putting an appearance in
the City of Brotherly Love.
Return Stiffens Party.
Mr.. Ware, who suffered a stroke
months ago following the Republican
national convention in Kansas City, is
much improved, his friends say. He re-
manned in Philadelphia just long
enough to register and to greet some
of his old friends and then was driven
back to Atlantic City He is coming
here to vote on election day. The ap-
pearance of the old boss of the ma
chine has done something toward
Stiffening that organization, it Is said.
1t is in the wards where Ware has
been particularly strong, however, that
the great wave of Smith sentiment has
particularly manifested itself. In some
of these downtown wards the situation
has gotten out of hand, lesser leaders
have reported. However, there Is one
thing that Is having its influence to-
day-jobS. AS election day approaches
division and ward leaders and precinct
leaders are wondering what Is going
to become of their jobs If they cannot
deliver" It Is a cold-blooded organi-
zation and failure Is not rewarded.
The leaders sometimes have been re-
quired to sign on the dotted lines their
agreement to carry precinct and ward.
In spite Of the Smith sentiment, the
Jobholders, OF whom there are many, do
not exactly visualize Democratic city
government in Philadelphia--not yet.
While Mr.. Ware has made a remark
able recovery, he still is unable to walk
md he was rolled in a wheel chair TO
7gister and then back to his automo-
lie. It is doubtful indeed that he
ill ever be able to resume such active
control of the politics of his city as he
has had in the past. 1t Is generally be-
lieved here that the big fight for con-