Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-13
The Political Mill
By G. Gould Lincoln.


Announcement by William 9. Ware,
veteran Republican boss Of Philadelphia,
that ne would not be q candidate for
the Republican senatorial nomination
ct the primary this year seems to have
cleared the atmosphere in Pennsylvania
politics, which until recently has been
particularly muddled. According to Mr..
Ware, in his withdrawal announcement,
Secretary James j. Davis Of the Depart
ment Of Labor is to be candidate for
the Senate, running against Senator
Joseph r. Grundy. Mr.. Ware has urged
his friends to support Davis and also
Francis Skunk Brown, former attorney
general Of the State, for governor. Mr..
Davis formal announcement OF candi-
dacy Is still to come, although 1t mas
been predicted. Possibly it win be made
this week.
Mr.. Ware Is q sick man. It Is his Ill
health, he says, which has caused him
to withdraw from the senatorial race
himself. His friends and supporters
have for weeks urged him not to eT1dan-
ger his life by attempting q campaign
for the nomination. Now that he Is out,
it remains to be seen just how much
strength he can throw to the candi-
dates he Is backing for Senator and
governor. Will he be able still to retain
his grip on the Philadelphia organiSa-
ton or will his influence fade out? The
Gr1ndy people profess to believe that
they will have an appreciable number OF
former Ware leutenantS in Philadelphia
back of their ticket. Mayor Mackey,
Wares campaign manager when he ran
for the Senate in 1925, Is out for
Grundy. But Mayor Mackey quit the
Ware camp months ago and backed q
ticket in the city election last Fall,
which failed to win because Mr.. Ware
put slate in the field himself.
One reason exists for q feeling that
the Ware organization will continue to
function effectively in Philadelphia,
even though Mr.. Ware Is not member
Of the Senate or the House, or a candt-
date for either. That is the dislike of
the City of Philadelphia to be a mere
province of the Republican organization
built up in Pittsburgh, headed by the
MELONS, with Senator Grundy now
aspiring to leadership also. Further
more, the Ware leadership in Phila-
delphia has become a tradition. William
S. Is the third Ware to hold that leader
ship. When it seemed that the attack
on Ware in the Senate, which resulted
finally in the denial of a seat in that
body to Ware, was to be successful, and
when Ware had suffered stroke Of
paralysis, there was talk of a new
alignment in Philadelphia. But none
of the lesser leaders was strong enough
to seize the reins. Mayor Mackey de-
sired the leadership. But so far he has
not been able to gain control OF the
Republican organization.
+ \ %T
It is conceivable that the Philadelphia
organization may not be interested
primarily In the election to the Senate
of Secretary Davis. He halls from the
western part Of the State. But 1t Is
interested in the election Of a candidate
Of It's own choice, and, further stu, in
the election of a governor. 1t is no
secret that the desire to control IN
measure the ONCE of governor means
far more to the organization than to
have a Senator of It's choice. But In
the factional fights which have de-
veloped in Pennsylvania In recent years
1t has become the custom to place whole
tickets in the field, headed by candidates
for governor and Senator. With Ware
out of the picture, the Philadelphia
organization has swung to Davis in its
contest with the upstate organization.
The decision of Mr.. Ware and his
the coming fight for the senatorial
nomination all the more intense. Mr.
Davis will have many friends of his
own in the State. But hitherto he
has lacked organization support. The
Philadelphia organization, II 1t gets
back of him, with its ramiflcations and
alliances in other counties, is likely
to be a powerful factor.
X y \ X
The contest between Grundy and
Davis, If it comes, is likely to find
manufacturing interests aligned with
Grundy, and organized labor, generally
speaking, supporting Davis. Both men
have so far lodged the wet and dry
issue, Mr.. Grundy's only comment to
date being that I'VE believe in PennSyl-
vania in supporting the Constitution. "
That does not commit him to much in
the eyes Of either the vets or the drys.
So far nothing at all has come from
Mr.. Davis on this subject In some
quarters 1t has been presumed, how
ever, that Mr.. Davis has been able to
satisfy Mr.. Ware on this subject. Mr..
Ware ran himself in 1926 as q wiring
ing-wet candidate and won over former
Senator Pepper, who, for the most part,
was rather indefinite about the whole
matter.
It is reported that Secretary Davis
both desires and intends to remain In
the cabinet while he is making his CAM
paign for the senatorial nomination.
He has strong precedent for such action.
Both President Hoover and the late
President and Chief Justice Taft were
members of the cabinet when they were
candidates for the Republican nominal
ton for President.
X X \ \
The formal withdrawal of Mr.. Ware
from the senatorial race brings to an
end the contests which grew out of
the Senate SluSh fund committees in.
vestigations in 1925. Frank L. Smith
of Illinois and Mr.. Ware, victors in the
elections in that year, were both under
fire. The contests before the Senate
itself dragged along for months and
years. The issue of States rights was
made, the right Of the people of a
State to elect and send to the Senate
any man they desired, But the ma
jority of the Senate turned deaf ear
to such pleas. Neither Smith nor Ware
was permitted to be seated. And so
the issue closes for the time being, at
all events. A new slush fund commit
tee is soon to be appointed, under q
resolution offered by Senator Norris Of
Nebraska, Progressive Republican. With
the record made in the Ware and Smith
cases, it Is likely that contestants for
Senate honors this year will be very
careful what is done by and for them.
y X \ y
Appointment of Judge William S.
Kenyon of the eighth judicial circuit
to be an associate justice Of the Su-
preme Court, to fill the vacancy caused
by the death of Justice Sanford, would
be popular appointment in the West.
This is the Judgment of men who know
the sentiment Of the people In that sec
ton of the country. 1t Is not conce1v-
able. perhaps, that a President should
be guided by merely the popularity of
a choice in selecting men to sit on the