Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-11
MINNESOTA FIGHT
VITAL TO FARMERS
Party Born of. f92o DefIation
May Fade Away if 1t Loses
This Election.
Continued From First Page)

elected III lSzz ana Mang1S Johnson IN
1928 at special election to fill
vacancy caused by the death of the
late Senator Knute Nelson. The Farmer
Labor party missed electing Cover
nor in 1922 by narrow margin. 1t
has never yet had the gubernatorial
Office.
Mr. Olson, the party's present candi-
date for Governor, is the son of a Nor
wegian father and a Swedish mother.
He has served as county attorney at
Hennepin County which includes Min
neapolis, for the last 10 years His vigor-
Gus prosecution of the Minneapolis City
Council graft cases brought him par
ticularly into the limelight.
There Is not the slightest doubt that
the Democratic party would like to take
over the Farmer-Labor party, lock, stock
and barrel. The Democratic party,
however. has not been big enough in
Minnesota in recent years to swallow
anything so large as the Farmer-Labor
party. Should 1t, however, succeed in
electing its senatorial candidate, Hoi-
dale. in November, and should the
Farmer-Labor party fail to elect Olson
Governor, the Democrats may make a
bid for the allegiance of the old protest
vote represented in the Farmer-Labor
party.
G. o. p. Angles for Votes.
The Republicans, on the other hand,
have been angling to get the Farmer
Laborites back into the. @. o. p. fold
for several years. Shipstead could have
had the Republican nomination in 1928,
if under the State law he had been
able to show that in the most recent
election he voted the Republican ticket
and had he wished to run as a Republic.
an. The tall Farmer-Labor Senator
is today an outstanding figure in poll
tics in Minnesota. It is freely admitted
that there is no one who could defeat
him in an election there for any once
If 1t were held tomorrow.
II the Farmer-Labor party fails 10
make a good showing at the polls this
year, it would not be surprising to find
Senator Shipstead running as q Re-
publican when he comes up again for
the Senate In 1884 He has admirers
among the Republicans in Minnesota
now who are suggesting that the Re-
publicans should pick him for Vice
President in 1882, on the ground that
he would be a strong candidate in the
Northwest and the other agricultural
States of the West.
Senator ShipStead has been out in
California recently attending a meeting
of Senatorial Committee and also
seeking to improve his health. He was
seriously i'll last Winter. Whether he
will return to Minnesota in time to take
part in the present campaign is not
known. at Farmer-Labor headquarters
here. Magnus Johnson former Senator.
mas come out in strong statement
supporting the candidacy of Olson for
Governor. The Republicans have been
asking publicly where johnson and
Shipstead stood in the gubernatorial
race.
Expect Chase to Win.
The Republicans say they will win
with Chase If the past record in
gubernatorial elections means anything,
they should do so. Chase will have the
support of many Republicans who are
opposed to the reelection of Senator
Schau. He is being supported. for ex-
ample, by the Minneapolis Journal a
strong Republican newspaper, which il
attacking Schall at every turn. Never:
theless, the Republicans are worried over
the possibility that Olson may make a
strong appeal to the voters in his cam
paign and that he may win by a narrow
margin.
Mr.. Chase in his campaign has taken
stand in support of the Hoover adj
ministration. He is the only Republic
an candidate for major office who has
been talking about the administration
up to date. Farmer-Labor and Demo-
cratic candidates have attacked the
administration and are likely to con-
tinue their attacks. Some of the Re-
publicans are questioning the wisdom
OF Mr.. Chase's declarations in support
OF the administration, for there is
opposition to the administration both
en- the part of the grain trade. a pow
erful influence in Minneapolis and
other centers, and on the part of
farmers, who have not been pleased
with the new tariff law.
influential and wealthy Republicans
in the grain trade have been highly
antagonistic. to put it mildly, to the
new farm act and the Federal Farm
Board. They insist that it is putting
the Government into business. a BUSH
ness which has been theirs The farm
ers, on the other hand, are told by the
Farmer-Labor leaders, the Democrats
and many CT the Republican leaders,
that what they need is not the Federal
Farm Board, but the McNary- Haugen
bill and the equalization fee.
Ask Trial of Policy.
Calmer heads among the Republicans
insist that If the farmers will give the
new law and Federal Farm Board
chance. they will find that it is an aid
to them. Reports from Washington
that the Federal Trade Commission.
acting for the Farm Board, is making
an investigation to determine whether
the grain trade is engaged in a gigan-
tic conspiracy to discredit the Federal
Farm Board and its work through a
huge corps CT paid propagandists have
aroused a. great deal of interest here.
The organization of the Farmer
Labor party came about largely because
the farmers have watched for years the
growth of huge fortunes in the hands
of the grain traders, made out of the
produce of the farmers. The party is
a protest against system which the
farmers say does not give them an even
break If the farmers become con-
WINGED, however, that the Federal Farm
Board is a real help to them they are
likely to think much more kindly of
the administration. The decline in the
price of wheat this year has been
real blow to the prestige of the Farm
Board, just when it was getting under
way. On the other hand. the farmers
are ready to concede that the board has
been of assistance to the dairy business,
one of the largest industries of the
State.
the polls In this State who did not vote
for the President. This large number
of voters did not state their preference
for President because they we're I'M
willing to support either President Hoo
yer or his opponent Alfred E. Smith,
the Democratic nominee. Even so, Mr.
Hoover carried the State by $4,000
votes.