Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-09-12
MIDWEST |SSEEN
AS HARD FOR SMITH
Issues in Ohio, Indiana,
Illinois Held Different From
G. O. P. States in East.
BY BYRON PRICE,
Associated Press Stan Writer.


COLUMBUS. September 12.-As II
looks toward November from back
ground of traditional Republicanism the
Midwest presents serious problems for
those Democrats who hope to capture
electoral votes hereabouts for Smith and
| Robinson
Although they still arc spoken OF
as normally debatable. Ohio. Indiana
and Understanding the North from
| the Pennsylvania line to the MiSsiS-
| Sippi-have been voting the Republican
| ticket for these many years now in ma
| tionsl elections with almost unbroken
| regularity and for the most part by
overwhelming majorities. BY long habit
they have become almost as regular
as Maine or Michigan. Furthermore
their political antecedents coincide in
many respects with the Republican poll
cies of 1928. particularly in the matter
of prohibition.
The whole situation is quite dissimi-
lar to that which colors political calcu-
| lations in the normally Republican
States OF the East It is so different
that whereas the Democratic national
organiza ton has made the Eastern
! group one of its principal detectives, it
| has shown no particular haste about
! spending its money and its efforts here
1 in the Midwest and has mentioned this
! section only casually in its electoral
| claims
Home of Presidents.
| OF the three States, this is par
| ticularly true of Ohio. In Indiana and
| Illinois special considerations. having
/ to DO largely with the farm problem and
local political tangles. have aroused
hopes that may eventuate in determined
offensives for the Democratic national
ticket. In Ohio Democratic prognostica-
tors base their prediction rather on the
demonstrated independence of the
electorate. although in the past it has
been the Republicans who have almost
invariably proflted nationally bv the in
clination of Ohioans to split their
tickets.
Home Of long succession of Re-
publican Presidents this State has
voted for but one Democratic presiden-
tial nominee since Buchanan. It is the
native State of the Anti-Saloon League,
which still maintains its national head
| quarters at Westerville and keeps care
full vigil over local politics. The
country towns and even a good per-
centage of the cities of Ohio are dry
| territory. The State is reckoned two
! tAliA Oo dtlu UuI
| agricultural. In the country sections
| McNary- HaugeniSm is said never to
have been the factor it is farther West
Besides all of this. Ohio as a whole is
overwhelmingly Protestant. and al
| though the religious issue has not re-
ceived the prominence given it else
where in public political debate, the
leaders of both parties agree that it IS
talked about throughout the State by
the voters themselves.
Arrive in Cities.
In their struggle to offset these ham
dicaps, the Democrats are centering
their attentions on the cities. hoping
to make such sensational gains as to
overcome the Hoover strength in the
country and land the State in the Dem
ocratic column for Smith. where 1t went
in 1916, on a different set of issues, for
Wilson.
In 1920 choosing between two favorite
sons. Ohio gave Harding a plurality of
402, 900 over Cox. and in 1924 Coolidge
polled $4,000 more than Davis and
La Toilette together. Thus If the DEM
ocrats can corral all the votes cast
four years ago for both Davis and La
Toilette, they still would be far short
of majority.
The remainder they hope to make
up from several sources. They will talk
farm relief in the country sections.
where many votes were cast against
Hoover in the Republican preconvention
primary In the cities they expect to
get q certain number of Republican
vets. They also count on a statewide
turnover in the negro vote, estimated
at $4,000 or more. At this writing the
lsnfs
that this vote will 60 almost solidly
for Smith, but the Republicans are
fully alive to what is happening among
negro voters. and say that before cleo
ton day the bulk of negro defections
will have been cancelled.
1t is to Cleveland, the country's fifth
largest city. that the Democrats look
for their greatest gains. They say they
foresee a Smith plurality of $4,000 or
more in Cleveland, and the Republicans
concede that the going there will not
be so easy for Hoover. The city has a
very large percentage of voters of for
eign extraction, who agree with the
Democratic nominee on prohibition.
| and who are mostly Catholic. 1t like
wise has a large negro population. and
the Republican organization there has
been having trouble keeping Its own
lea0eTS In line. La fOIIeCUe carried the
city in 1924, and the La Follette-Davis
combined vote was $4,000 in excess of
! that cast for Coolidge.
Cincinnati Doubtful.
Cincinnati. normally a Republican
stronghold, has long counted the Ger
man element one of the strongest in
its civic life. and is rated one of the
wettest cities in the Midwest. Co.
lumbus and Toledo likewise are nor
mally Republican. but this year each
of them is under the scrutiny of a
strong Republican city organization
In Columbus moderation committee"
has been organized by substantial bust