Evening star., 1928-12-09
Continued From First Pageo

and he thinks he can win more votes
out in the sticks by friendly greetings
and by letters than he can by Grating
Performances in the past have proved
that whether this was the reason CT not
he always piled up the votes. Only once
since 1907, when he was first nominated
for Congress, has he been beaten, and
that was in the Republican debacle Of
1912, wen Joseph L. Bristow, a Pro-
gressife, was elected. Two years later,
how/ser, he came back to the Senate,
DEBATING Senator William Thompson,
3 Npocr2t Since then it has been mere
question of the size of his ma
5ority.
Now the question is this: Will Curtis
realize that he is really national fig
ure and that it is impossible to reach
the entire country by his old methods,
proved successful so abundantly IN
Kansas, or will he, his campaign assign
ment concluded, relapse to his former
political habits?
What Interests Capital.
What interests Washington is the old
tradition that consigns the Vice Presi-
dent Of the United States to obscurity.
Tom Platt of New York, who, wanting
to get Theodore Roosevelt out of the
way, forced Mark Hanna to nominate
him for Vice President along with Will
liam Mckinley in 1900. OF course this
failed rather notably, but there are
those who believe that If Mckinley had
lived Platt'S purpose would have been
served. They are in the minority, of
course, for the majority believe RooSe-
velt would have forced some other op-
portunity had not fate intervened to
put him in the White House.
But there is considerable in the old
theory. 1t can readily be proved by
asking some one to name the last six
Vice Presidents. The present incum-
bent is as colorful figure as can be
Imagined. But Curtis Is totally unlike
i1awes, so far as the public viewpoint
kS concerned. He WORKS smoothly and
'nder the surface for his results, while
;lawes charges with lowered lance and
, eighing steed. to the delight of the
. ,orting instinct of all observers, wheth-
e. they want him to win or not.
Different Methods.
Dawes storms into a House commit
tee and electrifies the country with
printable profanity. Curtis gets his
colleagues, one at t,.ne, usually into
o comfortable eaSv chair with good
cigar and eme.seS oftener than not
with a vote Cor what he wants. Dawes
violates I'd precedentS and makes a
speech at his Inauguration denounc-
ing che Senate rules. Curtis gets elect
I'd chairman of the rules committee,
with never ripple showing how he
got there, and works to bring about
such changes as he thinks necessary.
Dawes appeals violently to public senti-
ment to force violent SolonS into line.
CllrtiS YllllrlrS them hv the hIlttnnh0la
and points the way to something they
want If they come along and be reg
ular"
Regular" is Curtis watchword. He
Is almost always regular. Even when
he goes of the reservation because of
popular sentiment in his own State, as
in the McNary-H -Haugen farm relief
fight, he is likely to come back as he
did in that case, when it becomes nec-
essary to be regular" and support
the leader-in that case the President
of the United States and the regular"
leader Of his party.
Friends of Curtis wanted him to be
Nominated for President at Kansas City.
He had considerably more strength at
that convention, as matter of fact,
than was anticipated by his opponents.
Nor was it only regulars" who were for
him. For example, Senator William E.
Borah, perhaps the least regular of
those who have never bolted their party
Senator George w. Norris might have
he came out for Smith this year,, would
have been greatly pleased had Curtis
been named for the higher Office. Nor
ris himself has praised Curtis to the
skies, saying he would rather take Cur
It's word than most mems bonds.