Milford chronicle., 1928-06-22
BY CALEB r. LAYTON
Former Congressman for Delaware
(From The Philadelphia Record)

nolitical storm now impending in thu
~ coming campaign will be the ques
4ion of county rotation" as applied
Z to the office of Governor. More anC
= more it creeps out that this Office
- will be the principal bone Of tierces'
e contention. The Outlooker, contri-
e butor of political articles in The
: Sunday Star, gives away what the
/ writer has contended all along, that
: there is a determination on the part
of the New Castle politicians to dc
2 awav with the old rules and preced-
= ents of the party, to abolish the sett-
y led practice of county rotation" and
, in this way get control of all future
nominations. He says that a promi-
pent Republican declares that 1.-The
strongest ticket argument is prompt
ed by those who have the interests
of all Republicans at heart. ..... even
though it was necessary to cast
aside the rotation system" which
to his mind should have gone out of
existence long ago. Here is the
whole nut in the political kernel. 1t
lis clearly evident that New Castle
county-reaIly the city of Whining
ton-wants supreme control of the
Republican party. 1t is silly to at
tempt to disguise the fact any long
er unter the camouflage of the
strongest ticket" It's leaders as
sumo that New Castle can furnish
the strongest ticket. They seem to
think that whatever they decree will
be satisfactory to the two lower
counties. These leaders are devel-
oping an acute case of pernicious
purblindness. They seem to have
forgotten the constitution Of the
State. They seem blind to other facts
in their mad haste to snatch the
Governorship. Sussex and even Kent |
Republicans, want to know if Re
publican Legislature is worth any
consideration. They want to know
whether it has become material or
immaterial as to how the election
shall go in November, not so much
as to the State ticket, but as to the
county tickets. In other words, have
the Republican leaders of Whining
ton become so inflated that they feel
but their own swell-headed-
ness?
Power Of Democratic Legislature
Suppose as "Peneader Republican"
there be a great Republican
majority in New Castle county-sup-
pose it were in excess of the total ,
voting population of both Kent and +
SusseX-what would be the result if =
Kent and Sussex were to become +
Democratic? What c
power would a Governor have, or the U
New Castle Republican leaders, for r
hat matter, over the very important a
natter of State legislation? A DEM =
,cratic Legislature could play hob G
With a thousand things over which +,
he Governor would have no control, f.
md in which the party generally, Fl
the city of Wilmington, q
would be deeply interested. What n
bout the matter of appropriations? q
imagine a policy of inaction in up G
Suppose a Democratic h
legislature cut heavily down appro- 81
already established. What -
over would the Governor have, or G.
republican party leaders, to compel Ie
n appropriation even for the Gov ii
rnor's salary? re-
Again, what an exceedingly fool "a
III, short-sighted and even futile h,
ming it was for "Pencader Republi- sC
an" to raise the question of party IN
egularity. Has this gentleman for ca
often that the great majority of ke
ew Castles Republicans were non m
irregulars, party bolters
ON 1896 to 1907? It was rumored III
the time that Henry A. DUPONT nm
mself was not in accord with the in
ational ticket. In 1904 itAwas cur tb
,ntly reported and believed that T. 20
0leman DUPONT issued widespread mn
'ders to his followers both in Kent as
Id Sussex to cut the Union Repub- ON
3an candidates for the Legislature, ab
though at that time by solemn
there was only one ticket. Su
The proper way to settle this ques- wa
IN of party regularity which "Pen- MI
der Republican" raises is for him ar,
come out in the open and let ev- 1ov
yone see whether he himself has m,
ways supported the entire ticket. nm
lie man who claims that he has an
yer cut ticket should be exhibit cee
in dime museum. He belongs mi
the class Of "pudding-heads." He the
brain-bound fanatic. In the bo,
lguage of the late Theodore 4
an exceedingly undesir- car
lie citizen. ior
IL Is the man OF courage and dis be
the independent thinker tv
actor who is the salvation Of ple
rites and the preserYer Of good me