Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-04-14
WEST GAINS ASCENDANCY
In NEW POLITICAL TREND
Congress That Meets Tomorrow Faces
Change In Geographical Point of
View of National Control.

VI bilcIcaDOuLS were HleTeIy IdU-SlZ6Q
cities have become very large cities.
They are Los Angeles, In California, and
Detroit, in Michigan Consequently, in
the new apportionment, California will
get six additional Representatives and
Michigan will get four. CThe migra-
tons of population that have resulted
In the growth of Detroit and Los
Angeles, would seem as picturesque and
significant, II understood clearly, as
some of the past migrations that are
considered historically importantly
In Ohio no single city has grown
as Detroit has grown in Michigan and
Los Angeles in California. But in Ohio
a large number of middle-sized cities
and smaller towns have grown greatly
What has happened in Ohio probably
reflects the tendency of factories and
business to flee from the high taxes.
high wages and high costs in large
cities to the more reasonable condi-
as respects Ohio, is that the State will
have three more Representatives.
States That Will Lose.
The States that will lose are. in the
main, States that have no large cities,
or are mainly rural, and. therefore,
have failed to grow in population. The
State that will lose the largest num-
Missouri. Missouri, Il
is true, has two large cities, Kansas
City and st. Louis. But these cities,
especially st. Louis, have failed to show
the same degree of; growth as cities
generally. Iowa, a prevailingly rural
State, with only one large city, will
lose two Representatives. Indiana.
likewise prevailingly rural State, with
one really large city. will likewise lose
two Representatives. Precisely the
same phraseology can be used about
Kentucky, which also will lose two.
1t seems to run counter to what has
so far been said 70 point out that three
States which have very large cities
New York. Pennsylvania and MasSa-
each lose one Representa-
tive. There are curious cross-currents
all through the redistribution of pop
ulation that is taking place in America.
The inference has been made that
the % changes which will be made by
the coming reapportionment will be.
speaking generally. from dry to wet.
That is. % Representatives who now
represent dry districts will in future
represent wet districts. This inference
is fairly correct.
Congress will make a reapportion-
VI OOIlkI EoS. III CaCA
State there will be a reapportionment
of the districts within that State In
this latter reapportionment within the
States the decline of rural populations
and the increase of city and suburban
populations will express itself in more
Representatives representing urban dis
tricts that are prevailingly wet. and
fewer Representatives representing rural
districts that are prevailingly dry.
Witness Is Scented. .
1t will take more than this change,
however. and more than any change
now forseeable. TO make the Lower
House of Congress Tor the Senate.
either really wet or anywhere near wet.
In the Lower House Of Congress there
are and will be AS members. Speaking
roughly. about 100 of these are wet.
I'm the recent Congress the total wet
vote against the so-called Jones act
was 90) Nearly all the remainder of
the 435 are dry. (The vote in favor OF
the Jones act was 294) Persons COM
petently informed estimate that in the
present Lower House there is a de-
pendable dry majority Of about $50 out
OF a total Of 435.
There is another shift of political
power that will take place as a result
of last Falls presidential election. 1t
is too complex 10 describe at length In
what remains Of this article. 1t IS i'm
portant and it works toward making
The Republican party increasingly dry.
To state it briefly and partially:
In the recent election the Repub-
licans carried four Southern States thai
they never carried before-Texas, Fol-
ida, North Carolina and Virginia T2e
result will be that these four States viii
have much larger delegations in future
Republican national conventions than
they have had in the past. Under the
Official Republican rules each State will
get. so to speak. a bonus of three extra
delegates for going Republican.
Souths' Vote Will Count.
In addition. each congressional dis
trict in a State that casts 10000 Re-
publican votes gets bonus of one extra
delegate. BY the working of this part
of the rule the large Republican vote
cast all through the South last Fall will
count heavily The result, speaking
will be that 2 State like Texas
will come to have approximately as
much weight in Republican national
conventions as Ohio and not much less
than Pennsylvania.
All the Southern states IN winch
these increases in power will take place
are strongly dry and presumably will
send solid dry delegations to Republican
conventions.
Running in the same direction-that
Is. in the direction of making Repub-
lican national conventions increasingly
dry-is what happened last Fall in Mas
sachusetts and Rhode Island. Those
States went Democratic. They will,
therefore, each lose three delegates in
Republican national conventions-that
is, in the next Republican national con-
vention there will be six fewer dele.
gates from wet States.
The net of all this may be stated,
roughly and partially, thus:
There is a steady drift of population
from the farms, which are dry. to the
cities, which are wet. This will ex-
press itself in the law-making body.
Congress. in a slight but not material
increase, in wet strength.
To turn to the Republican party,
however. the increase Of Republican
votes in the dry South will work out
so as to cause material increase in
dry strength in Republican national