Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-05-04

begin with the Republican party Of New
York State.
The horoscope, let it be emphasized,
Is tentative. It Is subject to change
without notice. It could be changed by
the Republican party In New York State
suffering from a sudden attack Of po-
litical wisdom and prudence-of the
sort that Republicans rather habitually
catch pretty readily. In further eStop-
pei, let 1t be said that what Is here writ
ten about the Republican party in New
York State Is based on current and cas-
ual information only. 1t may be that
some wise leader, or fate, has better
program in store than the newspapers
now record as probable.
In New York State the Republican
party is divided into two factions which
appear, for the moment, to be happily
united In o common purpose. The COM
mon purpose Is mutual murder. The
wet Republicans say they are going to
introduce into the State convention q
resolution favoring wetness. The dry
Republicans, Of course, are going to
fight 1t. The fight will be very bitter.
It will be very much like that Jolly
harakiri the Democrats enjoyed at Mad
tson Square Garden, New York, in their
national convention of 1924.
In this coming fight within the Re
publican party Of New York State, after
the vets and drys have chewed at each
others Threats for q SUFFICIENT length of
time, they are then going to nominate
candidate for governor-if, after that
sequence Of events they can find any
one sufficiently lacking In political acu-
men to take the nomination.
Alternatives Of Doom.
Such q fight as is apparently on the
program for the Republicans in New
York State commonly, and obviously,
ends in one side winning, and in nam
ing, candidate satisfactory to 1t. That
Is, II the drys win they nominate q dry
candidate; II the vets win they nomi-
nate wet. In both cases the candidate
Is doomed. So much hard feeling will
have been worked up in the intra-party
tight. that, whichever side wins, the
other side will knife him. The other
side. In short, will be in q mood to vote
for the Democratic candidate for COVER
nor without inquiring what his name Is,
what he looks like or what he stands
for.
have said that this kind Of fight
commonly ends In victory for one side
or the other and in extreme anger on
the part, of the side that does not win.
Occasionally such fight does not end
that way. The three weeks Of merry
their national convention in 1924 did
not end in victory for either side. That
was only because the Democrats have
o two-thirds rule-a rule which enables
a stubborn minority to prevent the ma
jority from nominating its man, from
enjoying the fruits Of victory. For this
reason the Democratic carnival Of hate
at Madison Square Garden in 1924 thus
ended in o compromise Of q sort-the
fnA ~ fAyN otia 1tIf w
the time the two factions had chewed
each other to pieces to as great a de-
gree as that 1t did not matter who was
nominated, whether dry or wet, or
a Catholic or O Protestant, or q Jew
or q Gentle or an atheist. A party
convention which has as bitter q fight
as apparently the Republicans Of New
York State are going to have. or as
bitter as the Democratic national con-
vention had in 1924-such Q party Is
bound to lose In the election.
In contrast, in 1924 the Republicans
had amiably refrained from getting
angry at each other about or reviling
each other about either prohibition or
religion or anything else. The Repub-
licans did not say much about prohibit
ton or about any other controversial
question. With serene decorum the Re-
publicans in 1924 nominated Calvin
Coolidge-and went on to the easiest
victory the Republican party had ever
had up to that time.
Democrat TO BE Elected.
The return now to the situation in
New York State this year and its bear
ing on the presidential campaign in the
Nation in 1882: AS 1t now appears, the
Republicans In New York State, after
tearing each other to pieces for a sum-
GENTLY enjoyable period, will, Of course,
elect the Democratic candidate for gov
ernor. The Democratic candidate for
Governor-it goes without sayings go
ing to be the Hon. Franklin Roosevelt,
the present governor.
Mr.. Roosevelt at this moment and for
some time past has been going serenely
on toward denomination and reelection.
Part Of the serenity Of his progress con-
sists In his saying nothing whatever
about prohibition. Presumably he is
wet, else he never would have been
elected Governor Of the wet State Of
New York by the wet Democratic party
parently, Gov Roosevelt Is not too wet.
Apparently he is rather satisfactory to
the drys. A quite extreme dry, the Hon.
William e. Sweet Ex-Governor of Colo
RADIO, was quoted in the papers the other
day as saying that Gov. Roosevelt would
be acceptable to dry Democrats as
presidential candidate in 1882"
Gov. Roosevelt does not need to talk
about prohibition. And 1t doesn't mat
ter much whether he talks about pro-
hibition or not. He might be the wettest
person in the world, or he might be the
dryest. In either event he would be re-
elected governor. He would be and will
be reelected through and by the pas
sions Of whichever faction Of the Re-
publicans happens to have been beaten
in the Republican convention. (All this
Republicans Of New York State should
happen to be overtaken by political wis
DOM
Talking to Good Effect.
But II Gov. Roosevelt Is not talking
about prohibition he Is, nevertheless.
talking. He is talking to extremely good
effect in the political sense. He Is talk
ing about. and against, public utilities
Because Gov Roosevelt Is talking about
public utilities, public utilities IS going
identified when he wins mis- reelection
for governor this coming Fall. Not to
one voter In 10000 will 1t occur that
Gov. Roosevelt was really elected by the
Republican split over prohibition. They
will all think, and the newspapers will
say, ana the POLITICIANS Will say, that
Gov. Roosevelt was elected because Of
his position on public utilities.
Meantime, Gov. Roosevelt will have
had, and Is already having, a good deal |
Of help in making public utilities a ma
tional political issue. The thing was in |
the making even before Gov. Roosevelt |
took 1t up The critics Of the Supreme |
Court are talking about public utilities |
All the rancor about Muscle Shoals |
contributes to it. So does the contro-
versy about Boulder Dam. So does for
mer Gov. Pinchot's talk about Giant |
Power" in his present campaign to be