Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-10-27
BY WILLIAM HARD,

LOUISVILLE, KY, october 90
After travelling about bit in the Mid
die West, in the trail of the Hoover
party and elsewhere, this writer finds
a considerable public interest in almost
anything except what the United States
Senate is talking about.
The degree of disinterest in the tariff
bill and in the flexible provision of 1t
and In the present export debenture
from Washington, extremely astonish-
ing. He does not hesitate to say that
back Of the export debenture idea,
rightly or wrongly, there is in this re-
gton no important agricultural enthusi-
asm and pressure whatsoever. The
Senate. in the matter of the export
debenture, seems to be either so far
behind the farmer or else so far ahead
Of him that most Middle West farmers
apparently cannot even catch sight of
the mighty debenture struggle which to
the Senate looks so important.
Impressions on this point were en-
phasized in Illinois by observations of
the fight being conducted In Illinois
by Ruth Hanna Mccormick against
nomination for United States Senator
Mrs. Mccormick is pre-eminently a
farmers candidate. Mr.. Deneen halls
from Chicago. Mrs. McCormick's resi-
dence Is on a farm "doWn-State." She
Is great breeder and exhibitor of
heiferS and bulls. She Is a great raiser
and merchandiser of milk and hogs and
chickens. She is great personal friend
Of those arch-championS Of the farmer,
Mr.. Frank o. Lowden and Mr.. Charles
Gates Dawes. She followed them into q
firm faith In the McNary-Haugen bill
and the equalization fee." She became
at Kansas City last year the Joan of
Arc" Of the Lowden forces and almost
immortalized herself by her confident
assertion that Hoover Is stopped
From Mrs. Mccormick in Illinois at
this time, If from anybody, this writer
expected to hear little sympathy for
the export debenture Senators in their
desperate endeavor to compel the Presi-
dent to open his mind to their bright
new, thought.
From Mrs. Mccormick, however, who
travels every county in Illinois over and
over again by motor and who keeps In
the closest contact with farm sentiment,
this writer heard nothing of the sort.
Mrs. McCormick'S public speeches to
farmers in the course of her efforts to
make a strong appeal to them are based
on the following propositions:
X n u X
That the Hoover farm relief law Is
entitled to q fair trial.
That the Hoover Federal Farm Board
deserves the farmers confidence, since
it overwhelmingly consists of men who
were recommended to the President by
the farmers own organizations.
That the flexible provision now in
the existing tariff law whereby the
changing of duties is done by the Presi-
dent rather than by the Congress has
benefited the farmer and should be sat-
isfactory to him.
That she stands by her vote in the
House Of Representatives against the
export debenture.
That she proposed TO do her best to
make the present farm relief program
better cooperative organizations and
increased prices and incomes for the
farmers Of Illinois.
Now there are various views OF Mrs
McCormicks talents for craftsmanship
but here is only one view OF her talents
as a campaigner: She Is one Of the best.
male or female, that ever harangued
an audience or contrived O machine"
She Is unique among all politicians in
having behind her. a club Of scores OF
thousands OF members who all actually
pay dues. She knows the field she Is
blowing and she finds so little ex-
port debenture sentiment there that
In her speeches she almost laughs at It,
This proves nothing, Of course, re-
garding the intellectual and economic
merits of the debenture idea, because
Mrs. McCormick's audiences and Mrs.
Mccormick herself may simply not yet
have been able to grasp that ideas
beauties and benefits; but it does seem
strongly to indicate that in the great
est of prairie States the senatorial pas
sion for the debenture has thus far
found only a scanty rootage.
X X X X
The humor of this situation is deep
ened by the fact that, while the sena-
torial debentureS do not seem to have
aroused any vivid and vigorous support
among Middle Western farmers. neither
do the senatorial Republicans high
tariff regulars" seem to have aroused
any such support among Middle West
ern big business men. In Chicago, for
instance, the home of Secretary of
Commerce Lamont, the most highly
situated business men seem for the
most part to be singularly Indifferent to
the higher industrial tariff duties which
the Republican regulars" are pressing
Secretary Lamont bears to the
cabinet no urgent demand from ms
Chicago big business associates for IN
creased tariff protection: on the con-
/ trary, he brings from them an impres.
sion to the effect that IL they did not
read about the proposed higher duties
in the newspapers, the subject would
~ tI,ie reUIon on the vvhole. thu