Evening star., 1928-01-30
HOOVER AND SMITH
LEAD IN CONGRESS
Poll Shows Neither Has Ma
iority Support-Strong
r Coolidge Sentiment.

Smith Of New York lead Tor the Re-
publican and Democratic nominations
Of beth houses of Congress for
conducted by Theodore G. Joslin,
waShIrgton correspondent of the Bos-
ton Transcript Neither Hoover nor
Smith. however. has anything like ma
,cr:ty support 50 far. according TO the
roll. Furthermore. there is still per-
S,s;ert demand for the denomination
of President Coolidge on the part of
Republican members of Congress. In
. c0pvr,ghte6 article Mr. JoSlin says:
Neither Herbert Hoover. the Secre-
tsrv of Commerce. nor Gov. Alfred E,
Smith Of New York. widely recognized
as the leading aspirants for the presi-
ceNcv. can claim the nominations OF
their respective parties on the basis OF
..ef support IL the Seventieth Con-
gree By the same token, President
Coolidge sill is a dominant political
TG:re his y 60 not choose" statement
ot Angus: last and his supplementary
announcement 10 the Republican ma
t:oHs, committee 70 the contrary not
w.tAS.arraiDe.
These ard other facts are proved by
3 po.l az The members Of the House and
Senate. Wl?i!e Secretary Hoover and
Gov. Smith received more support than
acy Q. the other candidates. ayowed or
receptive. they failed 10 command any,
thing approXlmatirg rnaioritieS. The
members % Congress, IN common with
voters throughout the country, are un-
certain whom 70 select as :lleir stand
a-6-besrers II the coming campaign
that gives every promise Of being the
most interesting and perhaps exciting
1e< -. ~ Of
Republican Ballots Divided.
"The Republicans divided their bal-
lots aE,ong no less than Is prospective
candidates, whereas the Democrats split
takir votes among 19. OF equal s!gni1i-
canoe. almost one-third Of the member
ship was non-con1municatire large
number of the members affiliated with
the majority party making II clear that
they still are hopeful that Mr.. Coolidge
can be induced TO be their candidate
again. and as many members OF the
minority party, particularly from the
South. demonstrating that they are
unalte-ably opposed 10 Gov. Smith as
their nominee.
The sentiment IL Congress was de-
te-mlned by a QUESTIONABLE which was
addressed 70 the $50 members on jan
uary IS last, requesting each Senator
and Representative 10 indicate his first
and second choice for the presidential
nomination Of his party and asking
each one 10 indicate whether he did or
Gid not object 10 the publication OF his
name. A total OF 462 replies were OBJ
tanned. All but SO asked that their
names be withheld from publication.
If the tabuIation given al the begin
ming OF this article proves anything at
al. il proves that any one OF a num-
Der Of candidates can win either the
Republican or the Democratic presi-
Dental nomination. Congress Is repre-
sentative Of the country in political
matters. Various Of its outstanding
members will be delegates 10 the two
conventions, having much TO say about
the choice Of candidates because OF
their influence nationally. and, TO a
greater extent. because of their infiu-
ence IN their respective States. But
even they cannot agree as 10 candi-
dates, al least cannot at this time.
While Mr.. Hoover received three times
as many votes as any other aspirant,
his total was smaller than the total for
al the other candidates. Similarly Gov.
Smith recetI I'd twice as many votes as
his nearest opponent, but his total was
only half Oh the total for the others.
When the non -commit1al totals are
added thN, uncertainty Is Increased.
Many Favor Coolidge.
1T is impossible TO place too much
emphasis on the number Of Senators
and Representatives who declared that
President Coolidge was thetf choice.
This Is especially true when his sup
port is considered In connection with
the members who insisted that they be
placed IN the non -committal column,
many Of whom stated In confidence
that they still were TO be convinced that
he wSuld not accept the nomination II
il s<Juld be given TO him by the Kansas
CT gathering, and for that reason
- /e4erre6 for the time being al least. 10
refrain from expressing choice. They
do not question the sincerity OF his
position But they do say that develop
Tneats may be such as 10 compel the
convention ~ nominate him and 10 In
cuce him TO reconsider his decision.
Second IL importance only 70 the
t-1Els.ence OF the part OF certain OF the
Republican Senators and Representa-
tiYes that the services Of the President
be conScr!pted is the opposition among
many Of the Southern Democrats tc
the nomination Of Gov. Smith. This
poll shows that the governor. popular
and able thuogh be is, has made hardly
a dent IN the solid South during the
Last four years. His support, which
gave him larger total than other
axp.rantS. came. practically in is en-
tsrety. from members IN the North and
East, with scattering votes from tne
West.
The South is suffering from no de-
l1glon that u can nominate a Southern
man, much as u would like 10 do 50
Il .eels tEaat the tine has not yet ar
ylYec when Eo1taerner can ride iut
the White House. However, !. believes
i can cictae the selection Of the nom
.ylee ard II Is evident that this is what
IL intends 10 do this year. notgith-
standing the assertion made on every
hand II ,rae North that II Gov. Smith
: .4ot nominated, then the chances o!
the Democratic party VIII Dc hopeless
TO GATE the South has not been con-
WINGED hat these assertions are accu-
rae Or, 10 pa: ~ little more accu-
Yateiy, there are some Southerners wnt
vouIc rather take q bt-aiing now than
MAKE Smith President Tor four yeaTS u
cyI2e.
Hoover Lacks Ma jority.
There Is ample opportunity for con-
5ectlge regarding seDoslc CHOICE !or tnt
I.eyJ1..cza nomination. ia Congress
&c n TIE EJlEIy, i>tcstbafy f1Ib'sI
hzs tne Iesd, provicing no attention u
gwen " .l,s p1teDtla! strength of Pres
icsnt Cygllcge. Tr4e ipoll proves. how
ever. L4at Ar. HD1ser has Eot IN
sypgsc sVpport tJcay q! 4 majority o.
u.s IvpJbllca4gs IN ti4e Eo53>e and SEA-
az True. i4e Aas the respect ~ q
great many u t1e non -cognnditia
tDenihers J4st a@ re is popular wiz
TIE people ia many sectpBls ~ nt'
sy,tlnlFy r. sigllC ~ desirable fo< Lin