Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-29
The Political Mill
BY G. Could Lincoln.


of Kansas and Morrison of North Caro-
lima, that the party pick a dry candi-
date for President in 1882 shows in the
opinion Of other Democratic Senators
failure to grasp the situation which
confronts the Democrats. How, say
these other Democrats, can the party
hope to carry New York, Massachusetts,,
Maryland, Rhode Island, New Jersey,
Illinois and Ohio in the next election If
they nominate a dry candidate for
| President?
OF course, the retort courteous to
this argument Of the Democrats who
| favor the nomination Of q wet candi-
date for President Is that Woodrow
Wilson In 1915 carried the country
without the aid of New York, New Jef@
sey, Massachusetts and Illinois. But
Mr.. Wilson had with him Maryland and
Ohio out Of this group of States men
| toned. Without Ohio, he would have
been sunk in 1916 and Mr.. Hughes
| would have been in the White House.
Furthermore, In that election Mr.. Will
son carried Washington and Montana,
both Of which have gone wet, Judging
the first by the platforms adopted by
| the two parties in the congressional
elections last Fall and the second by
several referenda on the subject of
| liquor. 1t is true, as the drys will say,
that Montana reelected Senator Thorn
as j. Walsh by greater majority than
he ever received before, and Senator
Walsh has always been rated q dry. But
Senator Walsh had said that he would
| be guided by his State in voting on the
resubmission of the eighteenth amend
| ment, and also he is one OF those who
declare that the liquor question did not
cut figure In his campaign against
Judge Galen, the Republican nominee
for the Senate, In the recent election.
And last but not least, Mr.. Wilson car
ried California in 1916, the actual meas
ure of his victory in that year. Now
California, in its most recent contest,
has put in a wet Governor.
X \ X
The Democrats are wild to win this
next presidential race. If some of their
leaders, and among them are drys from
the South, are to be credited, the next
Democratic National Convention will be
hard-boiled affair. 1t will seek to
pick the candidate which it believes can
win. That must be his first qualifi-
cation-the ability to win. They do
not see how a dry candidate, COM
mitted to the eighteenth amendment
and no revision, can win. They do not
see why they should jeopardize their
chances for victory by turning their
backs on some of the big industrial
States where the wet sentiment is
| strong. Southern drys in Congress who
| privately take this practical view of
the situation say they have not the
slightest doubt that the solid South
will remain solidly Democratic in 1882
| if a wet Democrat Is nominated for
President. There is just one posi-
bility-the nomination of Alfred E.
Smith-which might cause some OF the
Southern States to desert again their
allegiance to the Democratic standard
| in 1882. But they insist that Mr.. Smith
is not going to be the nominee, al
though they admit that he has today
the support Of a considerable number
of Democrats for denomination.
Il Il X
Gov. Roosevelt Of New York, despite
his lameness and his Tammany con-
nection, Is still heldl to be the best
| bet Of the Democrats mentioned Tor
| the presidential nomination by these
practical Democrats. IF by any chance
| Roosevelt should not go across, then
they look to Ohio and Senator Buckley
as the man. Newton D. Baker, they
say, has too many things against him
among them his fondness for the
League of Nations and the fact that
he has stood for the open shop" on
many occasions Buckley carried Ohio
by a couple Of hundred thousand votes
against his dry Republican opponent,
| McCulloch, last Fall. Buckley Is COM
| mitted to repeal or revision of the eight
zenith amendment. Ohio is big State,
| a pivotal State, mother of many Presi-
dents in the past.
The Senate is the propagating gar
den of presidential booms, not to men
| ton vice presidential booms. 1t won't
be long now before these boomS will
begin to crop up In this political acre,
the most political In the country. Rob-
inson of Arkansas, Buckley Of Ohio,
Walsh of Montana, George of Georgia,
Hull of Tennessee, q Senator-elect;
Glass of Virginia, are all likely to have
their State delegations for them at the
next Democratic national convention,
| If they desire. On the Republican side,
with President Hoover looming as the
| probable candidate of the Republicans
to succeed himself, the crop of pres
idential booms may not be so large.
| However, Morrow of New Jersey, who
wants a change in the system of liquor
control, is mentioned frequently as a
possible contender for the Republican
| nomination. Then Indiana usually
comes forward with a delegation sup
| porting Jim" Watson, the Republican
leader Of the Senate, and, moving to
| the Progressive West, there is Norris
of Nebraska and Borah of Idaho, whose
State delegations are likely to be for
them. They may have other State
delegations, too, in the Northwest and
| Middle West.
The Democrats turned in 1928 to the
Senate for vice presidential candidate
| and so did the Republicans Senator
| Robinson of Arkansas, leader of his
party in the Upper House, was the
choice of the Democrats and Vice Presi-
dent Curtis, Republican leader, was
nominated by the G. o. p. and elected.
Senators Robinson, Dill of Washington,
Buckley Of Ohio, Barley of Kentucky
the Democratic vice presidential picture
next year, depending upon the geo.
graphical location of the presidential
nominee. Two of them, Robinson and
Buckley, are talked Of it is true, for the
presidential nomination.
X X Il
In many quarters it has been as
| sumed that If President Hoover Is a
! candidate to succeed himself on the
G.. o. P. ticket, Vice President Curtis
will be his running mate. It is logical
conclusion. Mr.. Curtis would add
| strength to the ticket. However, there
are politicians out in Kansas who be-
lieve that the Vice President may de-
clare himself a candidate for his old
seat In the Senate next year, q seat
| which was held for a few months by
Henry Allen under appointment of the
Governor, and to which McGill, DEM
ocrat, was elected last Fall. Mr.. McGill
has to stand for reelection in 1882. It
is generally believed that Vice President
| Curtis could win back his old seat in
the Senate next year If he wishes to do
so. So far the Vice President Is saying
nothing. Why should hep The sena-
torial primary does not take place until
August, 1882.
| \ \ \ y
The soldiers bonus Is taking its place
in the Dolitics Of the Congress again IT.