Evening star., 1932-04-03

ACldI1NCly lil1lO1 4lCNtA tA1S
less the aggregate of them will be
enough, with Roosevelts strength else
where, to make Roosevelt very formid-
able In the convention.
Gamers Chances Decrease.
Roosevelt has been favored also by
recent developments attending the can
didacy Of Speaker Garner of Texas.
Even the most loyal admirers of Gar
ner, and the most ardent hopers for
his nomination, are obliged to admit
that developments about his leader
ship of his party in the House, center
! ing around the sales tax. have dimin-
ished his availability for the presiden-
tial nomination.
Probably Garner is happy that 1t IS
so. The talk of him for the presiden-
tial nomination did not arise with him
nor near him. For reasons apparent
to close observers at the time, and
now obvious to everybody, the ex-
ploitation CT Garner at this early date
| for the presidential nomination was
distressing to him and to others intel
! ligently interested in his fortunes as
Speaker.
The putting forward of Garner for
the presidential nomination was a
detriment to him in his present func-
oAOAlf l4lC OHS1hSAoAllP. Ii CIedlGu Tile
danger. and in some cases the actual
ity, that Garner's actions as Speaker
would be interpreted in the light of a
presumed wish on his part to be Presi-
dent, and would, therefore, mar his
reputation for disinterested Judgment
in the leadership of his party in the
House
One example is easily recognizable.
The most conspicuous advocate of Gar
ner for the presidential nomination
was Hearst and the Hearst press.
Hearst also was the most conspicuous
advocate of the sales tax. Conse-
quently, when Garner as Speaker and
as leader of his party in the House
Endorsed the sales tax, and when it
was remembered that Garner as an
individual did not like the sales tax
in that combination of circumstances
the suspicious or the malevolent were
able tacitly to charge that Gamers
official Endorsement of the sales tax
had some relation to the advocacy of
him for the presidential nomination by
Hearst.
Ignored Personal Feelings.
The charge was unjust. Garner ac-
cepted and Endorsed the sales tax in
spite of his personal convictions, as
the only Immediately available method
of balancing the budget. Garner in
this respect did not differ from Leader
Rainey, who, as an individual, strongly
opposed the sales tax, but as respon-
sible leader of his party, having the
duty iof balancing the budget, was
willing to accept it and fight for it.
If the record of the detriment to
Speaker Garner, arising out of the
sales tax episode, is to be complete. 1t
must include the fact that the par
ticular way in which Speaker Garner
acted about the sales tax had the effect
Of losing him some support. The sum
Of Gamers actions, when the crisis
arose, had the effect of making him
appear to lack decisiveness in his role
of leader. On the first day of the
crisis he issued a public statement, say
ing, in effect that the important thing
was to balance the budget and that the
means of balancing it did not matter.
A day later, and undoubtedly under
pressure. Garner made a second state
ment. saying he was for the sales tax.
The total of the two statements raised
contrast between Garner and Rainey
Rainey's position was identical with
that of Garner-Rainey as an individual
did not like the sales tax. But as an
official leader Of the majority party in
the House, charged with the response
bility for balancing the budget and
otherwise managing the Government
properly. Rainey was willing to accept
the sales tax-and also to fight for it
forthrightly.
Rainey-and also Acting Chairman
Crisp of the Ways and Means Commit
tee-had the manner not of bowling to
the storm of opposition but of defying
it. Because of that Rainey and Crisp
came out of the episode with increased
admiration both from those who favored
the sales tax and those who opposed it.
Crisp particularly became the outStand-
ing hero of the fight. When Crisp,
after being defeated on the sales tax
offered to abdicate his position of lead
ership. the applause that came to him
from both sides on this question was q
really remarkable demonstration.
Roosevelt's Strength Grows.
The sum of all this, as respects the
Democratic presidential nomination, is
that the status of Garner has been di-
miniShed and the chances of Roosevelt
correspondingly increased. AS it seems
now, Gamers support in the conven-
ton will be confined to his own State,
Texas, with the possibility OF California
and perhaps one or two other States and
And even the delegates from Texas will
not be by any means "anti-Roosevelt
delegates" in "die-hard" sense.
Roosevelt is in a stronger position
than at any time since he and his
friends started after the nomination.
No other one candidate can be said to
be making headway against Roosevelt.
All the headway that is being made by
anybody is being made by the New York
Governor This is the natural conse-
quence of his unique position. He is
the only candidate making a Nation
wide organized drive to get the nomina-
ton.
The picture is the familiar one ex-
pressed in the oft-repeated axiom You
can't beat somebody with nobody" The
axiom is not always understood. 1t
means that when one candidate is ac-
tive, energetic, outstanding, with Ma
ton wide organized campaign in his
behalf, it is pretty diffcult-though not
absolutely impossible-to defeat him
with the sum Of several candidates who,
however strong and admirable as indi-
viduals, are not active on an organized,
Nationwide basis.