Evening star., 1928-06-20
Politics at Large
By G.. Could Lincoln.

HOUSTON, Tex, June 20.-One by
one the favoriteSon candidates for the
Democratic presidential nomination are
| dropping by the Wayside Gov. Ritchie
| of Maryland has declared himself out
of the race and in favor of the nomina
| ton of Gov. AL Smith of New York
! This means that Maryland's l6 votes
will go to Smith on the first ballot at
the national convention in Houston
| Strangely enough, the Smith leaders
now gathering in the convention city
are overenthusiaStic about nominating
| the governor on the first ballot They
seem to feel that 1t might be a good
| thing for harmony to let the favorlte-
/ son candidates have the satisfaction OF
being balloted for once or twice before
| the New Yorker goes over" However,
| If the favorite-son candidates continue
| to take themselves out of the race and
| throw their delegations to Smith. 1T
may be first-ballot nomination, after
| all.
Senator Thomas J. Walsh of Mon
| tana, dry and the McAdoo choice
against Smith in the California pri-
| maries. set the precedent of waving
| for Smith after Smith had won in the
South Dakota Wisconsin and Califor-
MIA primaries against him. Montana'S
delegation is expected to vote for the
New Yorker on the first ballot. For
mer Senator Atlee Pomerene of Ohio.
| the favorite son of the Buckeye State,
it. is we'll understood Is not anta2o-
nistic to Smith, and his big State dele
CATION may slide over to the Smith
column at a moments notice. Senator
Hitchcock of Nebraska Is wet like
| Smith, and has much admiration for
the governor.
The other candidates for the Demo-
cratic nomination are Senator Jim Reed
of Missouri. a wet, although ne has
been urging the Democratic party TO
forget the prohibition issue and make
its campaign slogan Throw the rascals
out!"; Evans Woollen of Indiana, Repre-
sentative Cordell Hull of Tennessee, Sem
ator George of Georgia and Represent
ative Ayres of Kansas, all drys. The
Solid South" by itself does not have
a third of the delegates to the Demo-
cratic national convention. Unless the
favorite sons of the Northern and West
,rn States stand firm with the Southern
State delegations in the convention,
Smiths nomination will be made
quickly.
The whole psychology of the situation
in Houston is favorable TO the prompt
nomination of Gov. Smith. not 10 men,
ton the weather The anti-Smith allies,
if they can be called that, like the anti
Hoover allies in Kansas City. have been
utterly unable to center on any single
candidate to bear the full burden of
leadership against Smith. Ffle anti
Smith people like the anti-Hoover
people. and like Mr.. Micawber, are
waiting for something to turn up"
Senator Reed OF Missouri looms as the
strongest antagonist of Smith. But
Reed has only a pitifully small hand
ful of delegates to line up against the
New Yorker II the Solid South would
back Reed and Ohio, Kansas, Nebraska
and Indiana would do likewise. there
might be a real battle in the conven-
ton. The trouble IS that not few
Southerners would prefer Smith to-
Reed. If they must take wet Senator
Reed made himself unpopular in the
South by his opposition to the late
President Wilson. Reed is a two-fisted
lighting man. If he persists in his cam
paign to defeat Al Smith, the conven-
IT is no secret that Senator Reed
has felt that the Democratic party
could make no headway this Fall
against the Republicans with Smith,
Tammany man. leading the way.
The corruption issue evaporates. in
his opinion, with Smith the party nomi-
nee. Not because Smith himself is
corruptionist, but because he will stand
tor an organization which has been
charged for years with being the most
corrupt political organization in the
country.
Smith, OF course. can be nominated
without the Southern delegates cast
ing their ballots for him, although ii
takes two-thirdS vote 10 nominate in
A Democratic national convention. The
Louisiana delegation is set to vote for
Smith. so he will have that much aid
from the Solid South and some of the
North Carolina delegates may cast their
ballots for the New Yorker While
Southern political leaders have appar-
entity made up their minds to take the
nomination OF Smith with as good grace
as they can, there are lot of Southern
voters who are objecting seriously. This
is particularly true of the women. Many
of them declare that they will never
vote for Smith, and many OF them insist
that they will vote the Republican ticket
If the New York governor is put up.
| They like Mr. Hoover. anyway, they
say A mayor of one of the largest
cities In Texas. talking freely the other
night. is reported to have said that the
Democrats might just as well indorSe
Hoover and go on home. especially ii
the alternative is the nomination of AL
Smith.
The reorganization of Senator Fred
erick Hale Of Maine. who defeated Gov,
Brewster of that State In the senatorial
primary Monday. bids fair to return to
the Senate man who has been a
stanch supporter OF the Republican
party and the Coolidge administration.
Senator Hale, who has served in the
upper house since 1917, Is chairman of
the Senate naval affairs committee, like
his father before him. and believes in
| building up an adequate navy for the
defense OF the United States.
The political order in Massachusetts.
is changing. William NJ. Butler. former
Senator. has retired from the chair
manship of the Republican national
committee and from the committee
itself. Louis K. Liggett of Boston was
elected to fill Senator Buffers place on
the national committee. although not as
chairman. President Coolidge, after
March I. is dropping out of the political
picture, at least for several wears.
| though there Is nothing to prevent his
| re-entry into public life II he desires,
Mr.. Iiggett has been active in Repub-
| lican politics for several years IN the
Bay State under Mr.. Butler. He aided
| largely in raising funds for the Repub-
| lican national campaign four years ago
| in New England