The Washington times., 1931-11-03
VOTES REVEAL
TRENDS FOR
NEXT YEAR
Leaders Of Both Parties Have
Ears to Ground; Roosevelt
Smith "Test" In New York
CONTINUED from First Pass)

(continusd from First PGss)
An interesting test Of strength
between Gov. Franklin .. ROOSe-
veIt and ex.GOv. AL Smith, on .
local issue. It concerns Governor
ROosevelt'S reforeStatiOn program,
which Governor Smith has criti.
cised as being useless and mad
Visable. Because Of their reported
strained relationship and ftS pos
sible bearing on Governor Reese
q VeIt's presidential aspirations,
there is large political interest in
this purely local issue.
The expectation in Washington
Is that the Democrats viii organ
ize the next House. The results
today may clinch numerically su-
periority for them.
The existing lineup OF the
House is 214 Democrats, 213 Re-
publicans and one Farmer-Labor'
ite, with seven vacancies. Five
of these vacancies. will be filled
in today's balloting.
CONGRESSIONAL CONTESTS
The districts and the candidates
are:
First Ohio (Cincinnati) John
s. Hollister (R.) VS.. David LOhr-
. bach (Dl.
Twentieth Ohio (Cleveland)
ID. H. Parry (R.) vs.. NJ. L.
Sweeney (D.).
Eighth Michigan ISaginawl
floss o. Eldred (R.) vs.. M. ].
Hart d..
Second PennsyIvania (Phila-
delphia) Edward L. stokes (R.)
vs.. Charles S. Hill o.
= Seventh New York (Br0Oklyn)
WILLIAM L. Padgett (R.) W.
Joseph Delaney (D).
The Democrats are expected to
have comparatively easy VIC
tories in Brooklyn and Cleveland,
where those districts are normally
Democratic. The Republicans,
similarly, are expected to have
little trouble in retaining the
Philadelphia district.
Other Two in Doubt
The other two, however, In Gin
cinnsti and in the Saginaw dis
trict of Michigan, are expected to
provide a sterner test. The Gin.
: Cini1ati district is the late Nick
Longworth'S old district, and the
Democrats have put forth un-
usual efforts to capture it, not
only because of the seat itself,
but for psychological reasons os
: well.
With the exception Of 1912, the
year of the big Republican split,
the Cincinnati district has regu.
larly returned a Republican to
Washington. It nearly always
!; turned up fat Republican majori-
ties in the past. but last year the
popular Mick" barely squeezed
through by $500 On the basis
Of that fact, and the protest vote
anticipated because Of unemploy-
ment and business conditions, the
Democrats have built high hopes.
The eighth Michigan similarly
Is normal Republican territory.
Gu LA1CAS UL4C kJIO11lU1VkO11 4SSu5
has been injected into the cam.
paign with some heat, the Repub-
lican being dry and the Demo
crat wet. Both Republican and
Democratic leaders here privately
consider the outcome in doubt.
-,.s Only Prohibition Test
Oddly enough, this district Is
the only one Of the five where
the prohibition issue enters to
any extent. In all of the other
contests, both the Republican and
; Democratic candidates are wet.
Should the Democrats win these
two districts they would boost
! their membership in the new
house to 216, an actual majority,
and thus remove all doubt as to
their ability to organize.
And even if they lose them,
the Democrats will be In an ad.
vantageouS position, for they will
still be so close to numerical su
periority that with the disaffec
ton Of the Western ProgresSives
from the Republican standard
they probably can organize.
The gubernatorial contests In
Kentucky and New Jersey, largely
fought out on local issues, are
considered here Of national i'm.
portance only insofar as they dis.
close drift to either party.