Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-09
The Political Mill
BY C. Could Lincoln.

Before the week is over, or to b,
mole exact, on Saturday, the FIRST Re.
! publican to announce his candidacy FOL
the 1892 presidential nomination, for.
mer Senator Joseph I. France of Mary.
land, viii have launched his campaign
The Marylander Is to hold q meeting
at his own home, Mount Ararat Farms
near Fort Deposit. to make his first
| extended speech. In addition to Sen.
ator France, other speakers will b
former Senator Jonathan Bourne Of
Oregon, Lyell RAIDER of New York and
Jerome e. Brumfield. who win act a.
chairman Of the meeting. 1t is tt
be an outdoor meeting and arrange.
ments are under way to take care of q
crowd Of 1000 or more persons.
|
Mr.. France is one Of those Re-
publications who do not like the way
the Hoover administration has beer
! performing. Also he does not like ma
tional prohibition. On Tuesday night
| speaking in Baltimore, Mr.. France de-
| nounced the eighteenth amendment In
measured terms, declaring 1t was or
| illegal statute, enacted in an illegal
manner by men who were disloyal to
! the American faith" In that same
address, however, Mr.. France gave In
| dorsement to the Presidents debt sus-
pension plan. 1t has been the Mary
| lander's contention for q long time that
something must be done to tighten the
burden imposed by the victors in the
World War upon Germany. It Is his
view apparently that in the end some
tnlng much more permanent than q
years postponement of Germany's repa-
ration payments must be done.
Mr.. France is the first Republican to
loss mis- hat in the ring for q nomina-
ton which Is generally conceded to be
President Hoover'S II he will have it.
, AS time goes on there are likely to be
others, but there does not seem to be a
single one of the Hoover opposition
VINO can make the slightest Roadway
against the President in a race for the
q. .. p. nomination. There may be
Progressive" Republicans who will
enter In this State or that against Mr.
! Hoover, favorite son candidates But
at the present writing Mr.. France and
the others might as we'll save them
selves the bother Of campaign.
1t Is too early yet to say Just what
effect on Mr.. Hoover's political future
his debt moratorium plan. now going
into effect. will have. 1t has been
hailed widely as a master stroke. Ger
tainly 1t was bold thing and a neces-
Sary move II there was to be any halt
in the onward march of depression and
financial disaster in Germany and in
other European countries. and. indeed,
In the United States. Politically, how
ever. the proof of the pudding is in the
eating. If the moratorium increases
business confidence in this country and
abroad and makes more work and Jobs,
it cannot fail TO be n big boost for Mr..
Hoover. II the final reaction Is much
less than had been hoped. there Is
bound to be a lot of criticism of Mr..
Hoover in this country, criticism from
all those voters who have been down
on Mr.. Hoover ever since he defeated
Alfred E. Smith and the Democratic
party In 1928, even though they may
have approved Of the Hoover plan up
TO this time.
There appear TO be a lot of people
today. however. who believe that the
Hoover debt suspension plan is likely
10 work we'll. Indeed, in a mild way
there has already started q campaign
to take away from President Hoover
the authorship OF the plan and to place
it in other hands. Some are insisting
already that really it was an emanation
from Democratic minds, and one group
has 1t that it came from owen D.
Young. the New Yorker whose name Is
connected with the present German
reparations payments plan. Mr.. Young
is being urged by a lot of Democrats
to run for the presidential nomination
idea came first from the British. or
from the Germans themselves. or from
any one except the President of the
United States. The Acting Secretary
Of State. William Castle. jr. in an
effort to keep the record straight ma de
a statement to the press on Tuesday
in which he declared that as early as
May President Hoover had it very
strongly in mind that something must
be done to improve the economic stu
alton Of the world, and that he began
working out plan which eventuated as
the debt suspension plan now getting
under way. 1t might be thought that
such statement from such a source
would be enough to quiet all this talk
of who was the author Of the Hoover
plan. But not at all The Castle
statement was straightway seized upon
by some Of the authors of other theories
and efforts were made to show that it
was in conflict with this or that state
HhCAlt, 4AOLl ACLGt b1lCIC VI
anywhere. Well, so 1t was, and so it
was intended TO be. President Hoover
in the last analysis. was the man who
took the bear by the tail. It was his
declaration of the intention OF this
Government to suspend payments due
from our foreign debtors. provided
they would agree to an all-around sus-
pension Of intergovernmental debts.
Mr.. Young might have made such
declaration any number Of times with
out its having the slightest effect on
tive to put 1t across. The plan stands,
therefore, Is the Hoover plan.
When Congress gets back to WASH
ington in December, If 1t is not called
earlier, there is going undoubtedly to
be a lot Of talk by Hoover opposition
regarding the debt suspension plan.
That has already been indicated It
Is to be hoped that the plan will have
been in operation long enough so that
its usefulness may not be impaired by
this kind Of conversation and public
speaking. Between domestic and IN
to be busy place. Those who attack
the Hoover debt suspension plan are
likely to do o lot Of predicting regard
ing what 1t will lead to in the future.
Some will see it as an end Of the COL
lection of Americas war debts. Others
will see 1t as an abandonment of isola-
ton by America and an entry in Euro
pean affairs. And then, too, the pro-
posed adherence of the United States
to the World Court is likely to be
thrown into the Senate, unless the
administration should decide that other
pressing matters must delay that issue
for while. There Is bound to be q
lot Of pressure brought to bear on the
President, however, to take up the World
Court matter. It was not so long ago
that supporters Of the American entry
into that court were criticizing the
President for not insisting upon having
the Senate take the protocol up at its