Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-12
|BR|AND'S ELECTION
APPEARS CERTAIN
Selection as President of
France Seen on First
or Second Ballot.
By the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
PARIS, May 12.--Aristide BRAND,
veteran French foreign minister, today
seemed slated for election to the French
presidency by the National Assembly
upon the first or second ballot tomor-
row.
Friends of M. BRAND and Of Paul
Doumer, the president OF the Senate
and his principal opponent, engaged to-
day in wide canvasSing in an effort TO
get votes for their leaders, but 1t was
not believed generally that Senator
Doumer could stave off beyond the Sec
ond ballot the absolute majority neces-
sary for Brands election.
The candidacy of Jean Hennessy,
wealthy French distiller. member 1of
the Chamber OF Deputies and former
minister, was not considered in polit-
ical circles as affecting the situation.
He and other possible Shark horses,
however, may poll enough votes on the
first ballot to prevent either M. BRAND
or M. Doumer attaining majority.
Absolute MAJORITY Necucu'
The Paris press, largely predicting M.
Brands election, argued that so shreWd
and experienced a political strateglsC
would not have consented to yesterday S
announcement of his candidacy unless
after careful calculation OF all the ele-
ments in the race he believed himself
certain to win.
The French presidential elections
are not popular voting tests In the
sense that an election for President
of the United States Is. The French
President Is elected by an absolute ma
jority of votes, cast in separate urnS
by the 926 members of the Senate and
Chamber of Deputies united in ma
tional Assembly"
If M. BRAND is elected he will be
French Republic. His immediate pre-
decessors will have been CASTOR Dou-
| mergue, the incumbent; Alexandra
Millerand, Paul Deschanel and Ray
mond Poincare, who held the office
| during the war and probably brought
1t to its place of greatest influence.
Doumer's Friends Active.
During the night Doumer's partisans
were doing their best to get out as big
| vote as possible for their candidate
but there was a general impression that
they had not cut into Brands support
Doumer, perhaps unconsciously, has
became the "nationalistic" candidate as
opposed to BRAND, the International
ist." The result Of the election seems
to turn on the vote of the Socialist par
| ty from which BRAND resigned a quar-
ter of century ago to become a cabinet
minister for the first time
Their leader, Leon Blum, has beer
backing BRAND openly for some time
and their newspaper, LIE Populaire, has
| been particularly bitter against Dou-
] mer. The party vote will not be de-
cided, however, until its parliamentary
| representatives meet tomorrow morning
The Socialists in Parliament number
about 100 and if they vote solidly fol
BRAND they might well swing the day
| for him.
The National Assembly constitution
ally comprises 926 members of Parlia-
ment-612 Deputies and 314 Senators.
If BRAND is elected, Premier Laval
probably will serve as foreign minister
until June Is, when the new President
takes Office. He is likely to go to &C.
neva with BRAND for the League OF
Nations Council meeting.