Evening star., 1928-10-11
st. LOUIS GERMAN
VOTE MAY SPLIT
: CoIored Defections Put City,
Normally Republican, in
Unusual Position.
Continued from First Page.)

Continued from First Page)
iieved to be strongly aligned against
Hoover and for Smith, although some
of them are sticking to the Republican
ticket. it is said. On the other hand.
there is a large number of German
American Lutherans here. Indeed, the
German Lutherans are said to equal
In number the German Catholics. ana
the LutheranS are lining up for Hoover,
generally speaking. So it does not ap-
pear that the German American vote
is to be cast solidly for either of the
candidates. The so-called religious issue
IS cutting both ways in this group.
That there was strong drift among
the German American voters toward
Smith and away from Hoover was shown
in a poll which was undertaken by
the Westliche Post. German language
newspaper. which has been consistently
Republican, Of total of 6,951 in this
poll, 534l were cast for Smith and
1910 for Hoover The voters gave their
former political Affiliations as follows:
for Smith Democrats, 1928: Republicans,
1857; independents, 2,l6l; Tor Hoover,
Democrats 0; Republicans. 1893; nde-
pendents, II. The poll was abandoned
some time ago. Most of the persons
of ST. Louis, but SINE of them live In
st. Charles and Franklin Counties and
still others reside in other States than
Missouri, where the paper is circulated.
The Republican leaders here insist
that the drift toward Smith has been
checked, especially among the German
Americans, who hitherto have been
Republican. Men and women who for
nerlv announced they would vote for
Smith are coming back into the Re-
publican fold, they say.
Registration Is Large.
Both sides in the contest are taking
comfort from the very large reglstra-
ton in ST. Louis, which has reached
the unprecedented figure OF 36l 800,
with an increase over previous regis
tration of $4,000. Of the voters added
to the registration 10000 are women.
The Republicans insist that the women
generally are for Hoover, and in many
Instances this apparently is tue. But
the Democrats are claiming that thou
sands of Democrats who have never
before registered have put their names
on the registration lists and that
great number of Catholic women, VINO
have not voted in the past, are among
them.
The negro voters in st. Louis add to
the puzzle. There are some $4,000 reg
istered negro voters in the city, and
the great majority of them in the past
have voted the Republican ticket. But
now. it is said many of them are
lining up for Smith, and the matter is
giving the Republican leaders concern.
They express confidence that before
election day these colored voters will
get in line for the Republican ticket
as they have in the past.
For the first time in history certainly
for the first time in Missouri which
Is a near-Southern State. a negro has
the Democratic nomination for Con-
gress. He is Joseph L. McClemore,
running against Representative Leonidas
c. Dyer Of the twelfth congressional
district, located in this city. McClemore
has the Endorsement of the city Demo-
cratic organization, which is working
for his election. 1t is obviously a bid
regarded here.
Dyer Well Intrenched.
McLemore is a colored lawyer He is
making an active campaign against
Dyer, but the latter is well intrenched
and it is not believed that McLemore
can win. Mr.. Dyer is the author OF the
anti-lynching bill which he has intro
duced year after year in Congress, and
which once caused determined flllbuS-
ter in the Senate, led by former Sen
ator Underwood of Alabama. He has
served IA years in the House, having
been repeatedly reelected in his dis
trict. Some of the wards in his district
are almost solidly colored, and about
10000 of the registered negro voters in
st. Louis live in that district How
ever, in 1920, when a popular negro
candidate ran against Dyer for the Re-
publican nomination to Congress, Dyer
polled 1873 votes to his opponents ,406.
In the past there have been approx
imately so, 600 negro votes in Missouri in
a presidential election The detection of
the colored voters from the Republican
ranks this year is not confined alone
to ST. Louis, but is found, it is said, in
other sections where the negro vote is
heavy. There are several reasons given
for the detection of the colored voters.
They like Gov Smiths wet stand for
one thing; they have been up in arms
because of the activities of the Ku Klux
Klan, which is opposing Smith, and
they have been dissatisfied with the
treatment accorded them by the Re-
publicans and threaten to go over to
the Democrats in the hope of more
recognition.
Republicans Are Hopeful.
While Democratic leaders are pre-
dieting they will carry ST. Louis 10000
to $4,000 for Smith, the Republicans
say the vote in this city in the end,
will split about $3.50, and that if Smith
has a lead it will be a small one. They
say they do not believe that Gov
CV11ifI xati1I aE rf
to the wet, German American and in
dependent voters in ST. Louis than did
Senator Hawes. who ran on wringing
wet platform two years ago. against a
Republican candidate who was political
ly weak And Senator Halves, they
point out. carried the city by only l 200
votes. They do not regard the victory
of Senator Reed in this city in 1922 by