Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-02
BAY STATE DIVIDED
|. ON z MAIN ISSUES
Prohibition and UnempIoy-
ment Basis of Strenuous
Election Campaign.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
BOSTON, November Prohibition
and unemployment have forged ahead
as the chief issues on which the voters
of Massachusetts, will elect one United
States Senator, Is members of Congress
and full complement of State officers
next Tuesday.
The Democrats are solidly and mill
family wet. The Republicans. save for
five Of their congressional candidates.
are apostles of prohibition. Two of the
five have no chance OF victory. Both
sides are unanimous in the opinion that
something must be done to relieve the
unemployment situation created by the
current industrial depression, but the
remedies advanced are not so sharply
drawn as are the opposing views on
prohibition.
The dry Republican candidate for
Senator is William M. Butler, national
ly known through his position as chair
man Of the National Republican Com
mittee under President Coolidge. But
Ter was appointed to the seat in the
Senate made vacant by the death of
years later he was deprived of it in the
election of Senator David I. Walsh.
Magic Name Wins Favor.
Buffers Democratic opponent this
year is Marcus A. Coolidge, whose only
public service has been a one-year term
as mayor of the city of Fitchburg AL
though Marcus is no relation to his
much more famous namesake, 1t Is
conceded that the value of the magic
name in a Massachusetts, election is
far from being negligible.
In the congressional contests is Of
the present members are seeking re-
election George r. Stobbs, Repub-
lican, of Worcester is retiring volun-
tarily and Pehr G. Holmes. another
Republican, is strongly favored to be-
come his successor in the contest
against David Goldstein, Democrat.
Only two of the Is Representatives
seeking reelection seems to be in the
slightest danger. They are Charles L.
Underhill, Republican, who won two
years ago in the ninth district by an
intentionally close margin, and Will
liam ]. Granf1eld, Democrat who was
the beneficiary of the amazing over
turn last February in the second dis
trict special election to choose a sue
cessor to the late William Kirk
Kaynor.
Buffers Chances Improved.
A few weeks ago competent political
observers had conceded the senatorial
seat to Coolidge by q substantial mar
gin in spite of the wide disparity in ex-
perience and ability. but developments
of the campaign have so improved
Buffers chances that he now sees a
faint ray Of hope breaking through the
clouds.
In the Republican primary two wet
candidates combined to poll q majority
vote but they SO divided the strength
that Butler won. His nomination
alienated a block of vets within the
party. Col. Eben s. Draper, his prin-
cipal opponent in the primary, bolted
Buffers candidacy and apprehension
has been expressed lest his detection
take with him many of his supporters
Coolidge was conducting a colorless
and inoffensive campaign, seeking votes
on his position as a wet and also as a
gesture Of punishment to the party in
power for the prevailing industrial de-
preston. He questioned Buffers labor
record rather mildly and apparently
was holding his strength until it sud
denly was revealed that he had removed
the major part of his industrial manu-
featuring establishment from his native
city of Fitchburg to Seneca Falls N. Y.
Campaign Conditions Outlined.
The capitalization of that demonstra-
ton of lack of faith in Massachusetts,,
contrary to the preaching of Calvin, is
the means through which Butler may
upset the early campaign predictions.
If Butler does win, it will be entirely
due to Coolidge's weakness, because OPP
position to prohibition Is firmly in
trenched in the State.
Although the State administration Is
solidly Republican, and has been since
the war, and IL of the Is Representa-
tiveS are likewise of that party, 1t has
gone Democratic nationally in the last
two elections. Walsh defeated Butler
for the short term in 1925 and won q
full term in 1923, when Gov. Smith
carried the electoral vote in his tight
for the presidency.
Walsh a Party Guide.
In the current campaign the Demo-
cratic strategy as outlined by Senator
Walsh, was developed to capitalize what
he foreseeS to be tremendous vote OF
protest against the party in power. He
has frankly and publicly expressed the
opinion that nothing the Republicans
can do will prevail against this reac-
ton AL Smiths visit to Boston did
much to solidify the vote of the Boston
Democrats, who were none too cordial
toward Coolidge.
Republican Representatives Tread
way, Foss, Rogers, Andrew, Balinger,
Tinkham, Luce, WiggleSworth, Martin
and Clifford are strongly favored to W1n
while the Democrats-Connery Doug
lass and McCormack-are so firmly en-
trenched as to make opposition futile.
Holmes Is favored to succeed Stobbs,
but Granfield is facing a stubborn and
resourceful foe In Joshua L. Brooks,
who has made concessions to the vets
by standing for modification OF the
eighteenth amendment.