New Britain herald., 1930-10-25
Presidency Looms In Background Of Gubernatorial Race In Empire
 State Causing Acrimonious Fight

one or the most eXCltlnS pTlHldTleS III 1 the history of the commonwealth. has been deserted by the Philadel- phia republican organization which
 heretofore had been counted upon to return a majority of 250,00o for the republican nominees.
 John M Hemphill, the democratic and liberal candidate. heretofore un- heard of in the political arena, has been made the beneficiary of the fadelphia republican organization support. In addition leaders of the wet wing of the republican party, which sought to nominate wet can didates at the republican primary, the liberal party.
 Atterbury Quits Post
 The secessions from both candi- dates for governor have been in numerable. A new bolt has been
 recorded in the press nearly every day of the campaign. Among the
 sensations were the withdrawal of w. W. Atterbury, president of the
 Pennsylvania railroad. as a member of the republican national commit tee because he could not support the
 entire republican ticket. and the de-
 scrtion of Hemphill by William B.. Wilson, secretary of labor in the
 cabinet of Woodrow Wilson and the democratic candidate for the United States senate against William S. Ware in 1926,
 While Pinchot is a strong ex- ponent of prohibition and Hemphill is an ardent advocate of repeal so
 many other issues have entered into
 the campaign that few political eX-
 perts have hazarded guess as 10 the outcome. Chief among these factors is the much debated public
 utility issue. The Pinchot promise to eliminate the public service com
 mission, which he claims is con- trolled by the utilities, and to sub stitutc a fair rate board. is credited
 with having alienated powerful in terests throughout the state.
 Interest in the gubernatorial fight transcended all other contests al
 though a United States senator, a lieutenant governor, a secretary of internal affairs, a judge of the state supreme court, two judges of the
 state superior court, half of the state senate. and an entire state house of representatives and S6 con- sressmen are to be elected.
 James J. Davis. secretary of labor under three presidents, is the repub- lican candidate for the senate. Sedgwick Kistler wealthy Lock
 Haven manufacturer, is the demo-
 cratic nominee.
 A break in the solid phalanX of
 republican votes in the Pennsyl- vania congressional delegation was assured at the primary last May when Patrick J. Roland. a demo-
 crat, won the democratic, republi- can and labor nominations from the 11th Nackawanna county) district.
 He will succeed Col. Lawrence H.
 Watres of Scranton. who was not a candidate for reelection. Strong
 fights arc being waged in several
 other districts by democratic candi- dates but republican leaders said they were confident of reelecting nearly all the present members.
 No picture of the present political
 mIddle in this state is complete without a recollection that Pinchot,
 when he was governor of Pennsyl- vania, refused 10 issue the usual certificate of election to William $. Ware after the election of 1926 and
 instead transmitted to the United
 States senate the memorable "ccr- tificate of doubt" in connection with which he said Nare's election was partly bought and partly stolen.' This action republican leaders be-
 lieve, was partly responsible for Nare's subsequent rejection by the senate.
 The intense antagonism between
 Pinchot and the Philadelphia re-
 publican organization often has f1ared up to fever heat, but never
 more intensely than during the primary campaign in which Pinchot defeated the Ware candidate-Fran- cis Shunk Brown-by 2o.000 votes III a tnTeG cOTHtICu llS IlL III "lll II tn wet candidate. former Congress-
 man Thomas w. Phillips, drew more
 than 2So,0o0 votes.
 With the primary over, most of the state organization leaders up-
 state swore in behind the entire re- publican ticket as nominated and approved by tho courts. But the
 Philadelphia organization leaders, almost tofa man, turned to Hemp hill.
 Thus it came about for the first time since the democrat. Robert E. Pattison, was elected in 1890, that a democratic candidate for governor
 is conceded by some political lcad- CTS a chance of election. It remained , for Unite States Senator Joseph R.. Grundy. who was defeated for the republican nomination to succeed himself. to remind the state of the
 national significance of the cam-
 paign. He recalled that election of & democratic governor in Pennsyl- vania in 1882 and again in 1890 was followed by election of a democratic
 president of the United States.