Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-06
The Political Mill
BY G. Could Lincoln.

group IN the senate, 10 SuCCeeo I'M
self, has in large measure located the
ravages of the drought which hit other
States of the Union so hard this sum
mer and Fall. What effect this may
have on the election is predetermined.
The Nebraska farmers have mad a
bumper wheat crop. Most OF inns
wheat was sold it Is said, before the
extreme low levels in the price OF wheat
were reached, and the abundance OF
the lower prices, giving the farmers
good return. Corn, on the other hand,
Is somewhat lower than usual in the
size of the crop harvested this year,
but the price of corn is high. This also
gives the Nebraska farmer a better
break this year. Including the returns
the Nebraska farmer will receive for
his cattle and hogs, 1t is estimated that
the farm yield for Nebraska this year
will be about $600,000,000.
The fact the farmer has done
much better than was hoped in this
State couple of months ago may have
some effect on his attitude when he
goes to the polls. The Republicans hope
that it will benefit them.
Reports from Colorado indicate, too,
that the State escaped injury from the
drought and that the farmers there are
better of this year than they have been
~
their crops. From North Kansas and
Western Iowa there are good reports of
the crops and the farmers success with
them.
k*
The business people in sections of
the prairie States say that conditions,
generally speaking, are better this year
than they were last. Perhaps for ~0at
reason there is less inclination in
Omaha to criticize the Hoover admin
istration than there is farther East. At
any rate, President Hoover still has a
large number of admirers and followers
in Nebraska notwithstanding the on
slaughts of Senator Norris. Quite true,
there are plenty of people ready to
take a crack at the administration in
! Washington. Many of them, however,
are Democrats and others have been
struggling along for number of years
trying to meet a situation that found
agriculture not partaking of the gen.
eral prosperity of the country, a pros
perity which the stock market crash a
year ago shook to its foundations. 1t
should not be understood that Nebraska
is without large number of critics of
the administration. On the other hand,
the attacks on the administration are
not as vigorous in this Western country
as many people in the East have been
leu W suppose.
Nebraska, like other States-even
some Of those in the arid West"-has
its wet spots. For example, the second
congressional district, in which Omaha
is located. has two wet nominees this
year for the House-Baldridge the Re-
| publican, and Burk, the Democratic.
This means wet gain in the House, for
Sears, who has represented the district,
has been rated a dry. The drys have
no candidate to turn to. They must
has announced his opposition to ma
tional prohibition, and the Democrat,
who has taken a similar stand.
Generally speaking, the Republicans
are dryer than the Democrats, just as
| they have been in other States. If
enough of them resent the stand now
taken by their candidate and do not
vote in the congressional contest 1t may
elect Burk.
Robert G. Simmons, Representative
from the sixth congressional district of
| Nebraska, looks to be a sure winner
again this year. Mr.. Simmons, a mem
| Der of the House Committee on Appro-
| priations, has delved into the affairs of
| the District of Columbia in the last
| year or two and has become a storm
center so far as those affairs are con-
cerned. The consensus Of opinion here
seems to be that he will be reelected
He is a vigorous campaigner, mem
Der of the American Legion and popu-
lar In his district.
Il X
Mrs. Lottie Holman O'Neill, indie
pendent Republican candidate for the
| Senate in Illinois, is a good deal more
| of a person politically and otherwise
than the opposition is apparently will
! ing to concede. She Is in the race for
the Senate against the regular Repub-
| lican nominee, Mrs. Ruth Hanna Nc
Cormick, and Democrat, former Sen
ator J. Hamilton Lewis. She's a dry
and in a measure she was pitchforked
| into the senatorial race because Mrs.
| Mccormick straddled the wet-and-dry
issue, saying that she would vote wet
or dry in the Senate according to the
outcome of the referendum which Is
| being held in Illinois this November on
the prohibition question. Mrs. O'Neill
is the first woman ever elected to the
| Illinois Lower House. She won her seat
there in 1922 and has held 1t ever since
But there is more to Mrs. O'Neills
| contest against Mrs. Mccormick than
the dry issue, although Mrs. O'Neill
| does not go into the reasons for enter
| ing the contest when she Is interviewed
except to say that her candidacy is a
protest against the Republican leader
| ship of the State. But a two-year-old
fued exists between Mrs. O'Neill and
Mrs. Mccormick. Mrs. O'Neill has ac-
cused Mrs. Mccormick of seeking to
block her advancement in the field OF
| politics. If what she says Is true, Mrs.
Mccormick was responsible for her
! failure to be chosen Republican ma
tional committeewoman for Illinois at
the Republican National Convention IN
| 1928, in Kansas City. Mrs. Mccormick
has held that post. The Illinois dele
cation, however, chose Mrs. Bertha
Baur.
Mrs ONeill believed that her defeat
| for the place was engineered by Mrs.
Mccormick, but she restrained her re-
: sentiment until later. Last January
Speaker Shanahan declined to give
Mrs. O'Neill the Craftsmanship of the
| Committee on Education, which she
| was seeking. Right there Mrs. O'Neill
blew up, fguratively speaking. She
issued statement accusing Mrs. Nc
Cormick of having again tried to put
a spoke in her wheel.
| Under the seniority rules OF the
House. Mrs. O'Neill insisted she rated
this Craftsmanship. Mrs. ONenl re-
signed her vice presidency in the Hi
nois Republican -Women's Club, an or
! ganization that has been fostered par
ticularly by Mrs. Mccormick, and
issued a call to the rank and flle OF
the Republican women to join her IN
revolt against the "bossism OF Mark
Hanna's daughter. She was ot1ered
other committee chairmanshipS, but
replied: I'll take no chairmanshlp.
| The hand Of Ruth Hanna Mccormick
has baked me at every possible turn,
and not only me, but every other
woman in the party with leadership
possibilities. Her personal ambition for
| Dersonal mower brooks no interference.