Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-15
Politics at Large
By G.. Could Lincoln.

When Mrs. Ruth Hanna Mccormick,
Representative at large from Illinois,
announced few days ago she would
be a candidate for the seat in the
Senate now held by Senator Charles
Deneen, the expected happened. Mrs.
Mccormick has been active politically
for years, and many of her friends
as we'll as supporters of Senator
Deneen. had figured her election
to the House was merely a preliminary
step toward candidacy for the Senate.
Her entry into the senatorial primary
next year means hot fight. She is a
resourceful, clever politician, with abil-
ity to present her arguments clearly
and forcibly to the electorate. She
demonstrated her ability in this respect
quite clearly during the campaign last
year.
Mrs Mccormick will find however,
in the senior Senator from Illinois an
opponent no less resourceful than hcr-
self. Senator Deneen is an old hand
at the game of politics. He was gov
ernor of his State and then retired
from public life for approximately IL
years. In 1924 he determined to enter
the late Senator Medill Mccormick,
who was the husband of Mrs. McCor-
mick, Senator Deneen's new opponent.
Despite the fact that the former gov
ernor had been more or less out OF the
political game for dozen years, and the
fact that Senator Mccormick was a
member Of the Senate, the former won
the nomination. The margin OF his
success was not SO great-about eight
or nine thousand voteS-but it was sur
ficient.
1t remains to be seen whether Mrs.
Mccormick will furnish any stronger
opposition to Senator Deneen than did
her husband She will have plenty Of
advertisement and publicity. Not only
is she the first woman OF political
prominence to seek a Senate nomlna-
ton in one of the big, populous States
of the country, but she is the widow
Of a Senator and the daughter OF a
master politician in his time, the late
Senator Mark Hanna of Ohio, So far
in elections for public office women
have not given their support, as a
general thing, to woman candidate
merely because she was a woman.
They have divided along political lines
and over issues very much as the men
are divided. 1t is possible that Mrs.
Mccormick will make strong appeal
to many of the woman voters O. I'M
noiS On the other hand, the fact SHAT
she is a woman may initiate against
her, for some of the voters are dis
inclined to support woman for the
Senate, but prefer a man.
What issues Mrs. Mccormick Will
raise in her campaign have yet to be
defined. During the last campaign she
ran for Congress as a dry. Senator
Deneen voted for the now famous Jones
law increasing penalties for violations
of the dry law. This may be held
against him in wet Chicago, although
it is likely to initiate in his favor down.
State. 1t is not likely that Mrs. McCor-
mick will be able to benefit entirely be-
cause of the opposition to the Jones law
since she came out as a dry.
Factions in the Republican party in
Illinois are numerous, especially in Chi
cago. Senator Deneen during the last
year has been riding on top of the
wave. His old enemies, the Crowe-Bar-
rett faction and the faction led by
William Hale Thompson, the mayor,
made poor showing in the primaries
a year ago when an aroused voting
population went to the polls and regis
tered their protests against the condi-
tions which prevailed in Cook County.
If these enemies of Senator Deneen are
taken into the Mccormick camp, Mrs.
Mccormick will have to take with them
the possible liability of their support as
we'll as any benefits which may de-
rive therefrom. Mrs. Mccormick will
have the support of the powerful Chi
cago Tribune, whose ownership lies
largely in the Mccormick family. She
will have the support probably of many
of the social leaders in Chicago, all
though not all of these will desert Sem
ator Deneen.
A little over two years ago a sena-
torial primary in Illinois was followed
by an investigation of campaign ex-
penditures by the Reed Slush fund
committee. In that primary, which
Col. Frank L. Smith won against the
late Senator William B. Mckinley, it
was found there had been huge ex-
penditure of money by both candidates.
Col. Smith was never seated by the
Senate. 1t was shown he had received
large contributions from public utility
magnateS for his campaign, although
he himself headed the Public Utility
Commission of Illinois. Illinois is a
huge State and to make a Statewide
campaign necessarily requires money.
1t may be expected, however, that next
years campaign will be carefully Scru-
tinized when it comes to the amount
of expenditures.
Jouett Shouse, the newly appointed
chairman of the executive committee
Of the Democratic national organiza-
ton, has selected the quarters which
will be used by his organization in
Washington in its effort to build up
ton,
They will be in the Press Building,
where the Democratic national COM
mittee has maintained for some time
an Office. Alterations are now being
completed to give the Democratic ex-
ecutive committee large and commodi-
Gus quarters in that building. Mr..
Shouse, who has been IN Washington
for several days but who has now left
the city. expects to return by May 25.
The first meeting of the Democratic
executive committee, 1t is expected
will be held in June.
Chairman Raskob of the Democratic
national committee, at the time he an
nounced the appointment of Mr.
Shouse to take charge of the drive to
build UP a strong Democratic organiza-
ton. operating 365 days in the year,
said that monthly meetings would be
held in Washington by the executive
committee, which he himself plans to
attend. 1t is rumored here that an
other half million dollars has been
wiped off Of the debt of the Democratic
national committee growing out of the
last campaign. Mr. Raskob said several
weeks ago that the data had been re-
duced from ST 500 900 to about $500. 900.
If another half million dollars has been
Topped off this debt the remainder is
only 100000 Report has 1t that close
friends of former Gov. Smith of New