Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-04-29
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

What price Gov. Roosevelt's refusa,
| TO throw the hooks into Jimmie
| walker? Cynically minded Washing
ton, with its incurable habit of weigh
| ing everything in terms of politics, is
pretty generally convinced that the
price was Tammany's support OF
the Governors presidential ambitions
Without the wigWam's backing, no New
York State Democrat can enter a ma
tloral convention with anything APP
preaching a solid delegation Along
the Potomac it looks as if RooseveltS
unWillingness to purge Manhattan Is
land of Walkerism had effectually
hitched Tammany TO his 1892 chariot.
/ The Tiger doesn't much care who rules
, the rooSt at Albany or Washington as
long as it can sway the sWag in Greater
New York. Any threatened interfer-
ence with its prerogatives in that
region IS an unforgivable act Of hos
/ tillty. Gov. Roosevelt has decided not
to run the risk of Tammany en- rity.
II is thus far the major move in his
campaign for next years Democratic
priz9.
On Friday. May l, Gov. Roosevelt
and Al Smith will be up in the air to-
gether, literally, when from the dizzy
pinnacle of the new Empire State Build
| ing on Fifth avenue they broadcast
dedicatory messages TO the world "a
stories below. Perhaps in those ethereal
heights they'll reach an understanding
about 1892. Roosevelt is not unaware
Of the reputed Smith Raskob- Young
, combination to thwart his drive for the
presidential nomination, and capture it
fer either Smith or Young. The mystery
OF Smiths opposition TO Roosevelt has
never been cleared up. Hitherto theirs
has been a Damon and Pythias rela-
tionship. The commonest theory Is
that Smith feels he is entitled, under
Conditions Democrats consider the
+ rosiest they've faced in years. to
second chance at the White House He
is said to be diseased with the certainty
Of victory over Hoover this time with
the anti-prohibition wave and depres-
sin working in his favor. This being
so. the explanation is that Al resants
Rooseyelt's thru5ting himself into the
picture at moment so vastly more
promising for a Smith candidacy than
1928 was. Al, at any rate, doesn't hold
a bar. "A President doesn't have to
dance" said Smith recently.
X
There's no gainsaying the cumulative
volume of Owen D. Young talk in con-
rection with the Democratic nominal
ton. A lot Of it is heard among women.
I The longer the business slump lasts,
! YOungS boosters say. the more logical
becomes the demand for Businessman
nominee Of his caliber. They scout the
theory that Youngs far-fung corpora
ton ties, especially his cousinly rela-
tons with power, disqu2 lily him. With
the possible exception of George Norris,
few people. as a matter of fact, are ex-
cited about kilowatts or kiloWatt- hours
Few politicians believe that the price of
electric current can be drummed into
, rabb'e-rousing, vote-getting issue
The Radio Corporation of America. of
which Young was chairman until 1929
has just b7en found in violation of the
Clayton aati-monopoly law by the
United States Supreme Court. Perhaps
anti-Young Democrats may see in that
Development a barrier against the
| undoubtedly rising tide of Young
sentiment.
DR.. C. c. WI, Chinese Minister at
Washington, will go to the University
of Missouri at Columbia on May to
deliver three speeches in one day. The
occasion is Journalism week, and his
particular purpose is to hand over to
the School of journalism couple of
ancient stone lions presented to 1t by
the Chinese government. DR.. WI will
also bestow upon the school Chinese
gayel mace out Of a piece Of wood
taken from the temple where the body