Evening star., 1932-05-26
The Political Mill
By G. Could Lincoln.

the metropolis in the next day or two
may have a very decided effect on the
coming presidential campaign. Mayor
Jimmie" Walker went on the stand
yesterday In the legislative Committee
investigation Of New York Cfty's gov
ernment and admitted he had received
i $246,692 from joint stock account
with Paul Block, newspaper publisher,
although Mayor Walker made no out
lay whatever. The mayor insisted that
this transaction was perfectly o. K.
He took the money and put 1t In q safe
in his home and spent 1t as he needed
1t. II the mayor gave any return for
this muniflcent gift it has not yet been
developed. He goes on the stand again
today.
The mayor matched his wits against
Judge Samuel Seabury. counsel for the
Legislative Committee, at yesterday 5
session Of the committee and was
backed by Tammany leather lungs, who
had been admitted to the court room
when others were turned away. The
organization" Is not lying down on
the mayor, and its demonstration yes
terday was well staged. However. the
end OF the inquiry into the mayors con-
duct in Office Is not yet. When 1t Is,
Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Democ-
racy's leading candidate today for the
presidential nomination, viii have to
decide whether the mayor shall stay
mayor or be ousted, just as he ousted
Sheriff Farley Of tin box fame. II the
mayor Is shown to be guilty OF i'm
proper action and he is thrown out,
what then may Gov. Roosevelt expect
from the Organization" In New York
City next November? On the other
hand, II the Governor takes no action
against Mayor Walker and permits him
to remain at the head Of the city gov
eminent, what will happen out in the
rest of the country? Big as New York
, CITY may look to New Workers, it can
not elect or necessarily defeat a Pres
ident of the United States The late
President Woodrow Wilson was re-
elected Chief Executive in 1915 de-
, spite the fact that he lost the big
! electoral vote of New York State to his
opponent, Chief Justice Charles Evans
! Hughes.
| The wet and dry issue for the Re-
/ publicsns is becoming more acute daily
| The reports that administration leaders
l have been engaged in drafting plank
| for the national platform calling for
resubmission has set the drys on edge.
| President Hoover, however, has given
! no approval Of any proposed plank 50
far. it is said. More and more it looks
as though the national convention it
self would have to deal with this
matter and settle it one way or another
| There are plenty Of Republicans IN
Congress. some of them who have al
ways voted dry in the past, who are
confident today that the platform VIII
contain a resubmission plank. They
| see no other way out OF the dilemma
! than TO promise vote on the eight
eenth amendment. And sooner or
| later President Hoover may be COM
PEELED to take a stand on this matter.
Prohibition is of interest to too many
| people, both drys and vets, to permit
| either of the presidential candidates
this year to travel along without some
! kind OF an expression OF opinion. Unless
! the President makes statement now
modifying his former position he will
I be considered a dry, as he was in 1928.
/ TIE ardent dryS are against resubniis-
| sion, generally speaking, although a
believer in prohibition might well
| justify support Of resubmission on the
ground that vote is demanded by a
very large section Of the population
| And q dry might vote for resubmission
I believing that the country again would
! go Overwhelmingly for national prohi-
! bition.
! Some of the Republican dry leaders
have feared for weeks that if the ma
tional convention writes into the plat
form a resubmission plank. the drys
will undertake to form a third party
with Gov. Pmchot Of Pennsylvania OF
Senator william E. Borah of Idaho as
/ its presidential candidate. Indeed, the
/ formation of third dry party is a
| threat that has been held over the
heads of the Republicans by some OF
! the leaders of the dry cause. Such a
third party could not elect its candi-
dates. But such a third party might
draw such strength from the Republi-
can fold that reelection of President
Hoover would be impossible. The Re-
publican party has been the dry strong
hold, except in the South, where tbs
Democratic party controls alone. In
the South the drys have controlled the
Democrats. No one expects the Dem
ocrats of the South to bolt their party
ticket this year. wet or dry.
| One hope of the Republicans has
been that the Republican and Demo-
cratic platforms both will declare for
resubmission of the eighteenth amend
| ment, and that with such platform
declarations the prohibition issue would
be lifted very largely from the national
campaign. The renewed threat of the
drys to organize an Independent third
party and nominate a presidential can
didate, however, puts different face
on the matter
Running according to form, Gov
Roosevelt picked up six more delegates
| IN Delaware on Tuesday. They were
chosen in State convention and in
structed for the New York Governor
Delaware Is the State of Chairman John
J. Raskob of the Democratic Nationa
Committee, and the Democratic chair
man has not been one of those sup
porting Gov. Roosevelt. Indeed, he is
declared to have been one of those
strongly opposing Roosevelt. Roosevelt
is expected to get the Colorado anc
Utah delegations at State conventions
to be held Saturday.
Tuesday marked also additions to thu
lists Of delegates supporting Speaker
John N. Garner of Texas and ALFRED
z. Smith of New York for the Demo.
cratic presidential nomination. Tht
Texas State convention instructed tht
46 delegates to the national conven.
ton for the Speaker and New Jerse,
Democrats in State convention boun(
their 80 delegates to Smith. Speaker
Garner as result has 80 delegate.
instructed for him, those Of Texas ans
California. 1t does not appear likel,
he will have more. The Smith peopl,
are claiming that their candidate hal
l37 instructed delegates with Jersey.
delegation. In the selection of dele
gates yet to be made, Smith like Gar.
ner, will have no accretion of strength
Yet Garner and Smith are the twt
candidates for the presidential nomi
nation who will 60 to the nationa
convention with more delegate strength
than any of the rest of the field
opposing Gov. Roosevelt The oppo
sition to Roosevelt does not make al
imposing array. Nor is there the slight
! oct ~, f1r %I,1& @~~