Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-06-14
FORT IS CONCEDED
OUTSIDE CHANCE TO
WIN IN NEW JERSEY
Protestant Churches and
nti-SaIoon League Back
ing Representative.
DRYS HOPE FOR SPLIT
OF VOTE FOR MORROW
Ambassador Forcing Prohibition to
Forefront as Issue in Sena-
torial Campaign.
BY G. GOULD LINCOLN,
stan Correspondent Of The Star.

NEWARK, N. j., June 14-Franklin
W. Fort, eleventh-hour entry into the
Republican senatorial campaign in New
Jersey, is carrying the hopes of the drys
In Jersey and in the rest of the country.
Should he win, it will be against heavy
odds. His most ardent supporters,
when talking privately, declare that he
has fighting chance" They hope
he will win and they are trying to con-
vince themselves he will. They are
looking for political miracle, for Fort
has no support from the regular organ
ization leaders. OF the 10 Republican
members of the House from New Jersey,
s OF them, including Fort, are said to
be "drys" Yet all of the members of
the House delegation, except Fort him
self, are said to be supporting Dwight
W. Morrow.
Mr.. Forts support lies not in the
political organization nor in the lead
! ers, with whom he is now conducting
Q fued. It lies in the Protestant
churches and the Anti-Saloon League.
It lies also in the fact that Fort is
widely known native of New Jersey,
whose father was governor of the State
and whose great uncle also held the
same Office.
Supporters of Fort assert that the
way in which the church people have
rallied to the Fort candidacy in the
short space of time since Fort cast his
hat in the ring, four weeks ego, has
been little short Of marvellous. The
State Anti-Saloon League Is the real
organization back of him, however, and
the league is doing its best to arouse
the church people and to hold them
in line for Fort because of his declara-
ton of faith in the eighteenth amend
ment League officials admit that dryS
all over the country are deeply in
terested in the success of Fort.
Another way to put it would be to
say that they are vitality interested in
killing of Morrow, who has become
dominant figure in the anti-national
prohibition ranks since his now famous
the liquor traffic. Contributions to the
Anti-Saloon League campaign war
chest, to be used in the present fight
have been received from far distant
States, it is said.
Frelinghuysen Is Factor.
Much is going to depend upon how
s. Frelinghuysen obtains in the pri-
mary next Tuesday. Frelinghuysen
left the prohibition cause high and
. dry and came out for modification of
the dry laws, with the Government
acting as dispenser of intoxicating bev-
erageS. The Fort people are counting
. greatly on Frelinghuysen to divide the
wet vote with Morrow, thereby enabl-
ing their man to slip through to a
victory.
The drys insist that ma jority of the
Republican voters of Jersey are dry.
Some of them put the ratio of drys to
vets among the Republicans as high
as so or 10 per cent. If they are right
and all should support Fort, it looks
as though he must be nominated. But
even officials of the dry league admit
that not all the drys are lined up for
their candidate. Many of the dryS are
under the influence of the Morrow
claim to being an exceptional man
not a claim put forward by Morrow
himself, be it well understood. Prob
ably no more modest man ever entered
q primary than the Ambassador to
Mexico.
There has not before been any good
test to show how the Republicans of the
State are lined up on the wet and dry
issue. Frelinghuysen, when he ran for
the senatorial nomination in 1928, was
. dry. Senator Kean, who received the
nominate ton, was regarded as more lib
eral There were five candidates in
that primary. The others included for
ner Gov. Stokes, also regarded as lib
eral, and an out and out wet candi-
date and a bone dry candidate. The
last two polled in the neighborhood of
IS 900 each. Kean had 1877 900 votes,
Stokes was second with 100000 and
TryCDfyrUad on pace Q C.ollyoD II