The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1932-04-15
H00VER-RO0SEYELT
HAVE Big EDGE IN
NOMINATION FIGHTS
Both Candidates. Pillow Forward
During Week; No OPPOSE
ton to President
BY BYRON PRICE

Washington. April l5.-(P)-Heed-
less OF the outcrys Of Republican in
surgcntS and Democratic "bitter-end-
ers,' the presidential candidates. of
Herbert Hoover and Franklin D.
Roosevelt have been rolling relent-
lessly on this week, making little
noise. but gathering delegates with
deadly precision.
With three more states added to
his list OF actually selected delegates,
Roosevelt now has roughly one-third
OF the number needed to nominate.
Another one-third, roughly, seems
fairly assured by convention time. For
the remaining one-third he will have
to fight.
Hoover is approaching, in actually
selected delegates, the simple conven-
ton majority he needs. No new op-
position has arisen and none is in
prospect He will not have to fight
at any stage.
Insurgents Are Silent
His insurgent opposition has almost
stopped protesting and most of it will
either stay away from the convention
or sit In a corner and keep quiet.
But not Roosevelt's opposition. Now
that the battle-smoke of Wednesdays
Democratic harmony meeting In
Washington Is clearing away, it APP
pears the Democratic plum will be
kept dangling until the very last min
ute. Roosevelt will be so close to it
he can almost pick 1t off at once, and
it will take desperate struggle to
keep it out of his grasp.
Two bombshells have landed with
in the past few days in the pathway
of the Roosevelt advance but it does
not yet appear whether they are buds.
ZAP Smiths slashing attack at the
Democratic banquet here disclosed at
last his opposition to Roosevelt ito
the bitter end" but it cast no light
on the number and identity of the
troops that may be counted on to
stand at the last ditch. Smith has
no delegates instructed for him. It
has been assumed New Jersey. Louis
lana. and Delaware. with So votes,
would be irreconcilably anti-RooSe-
welt. Where will the others come
from, to make up veto bloc of 1856?
Favoritc Sons Have ESQ
There are several places they might
come from-or might not More than
$50 will be locked up, temporarily at
least, behind favorite sons. No one
knows how any of these delegations
will perform when the pressure is
put on. Then New York State has "a,
and possession of them may easily
bring on tug Of war. Seven or eight
other states may fairly be classed as
doubtful. Three of these, Pennsyl-
vania, Massachusetts. and California,
have total of 1856 delegates.
Considering all of these possible
sources, the effect of Smiths def is
to center attention sharply on the
Pennsylvania and Massachusetts,
primaries, both to be held April Is.
If Roosevelt sweeps these states, 1t is
entirely possible the bitter END" bat
talon will dissolve before 1t ever goes
into action.
The second major projectile hurled
at the Roosevelt camp this week was
the charge of Alfalfa Bill" Murray
that votes have been bought for the
New Yorker in the west. Senator
threats to investigate have followed,
but the upshot is yet to be seen. This
sort of charge always makes excite
ment and sometimes in the past it has
had very effective reverberations.
Roosevelt now has 255 Of the ITO he
needs. James Hamilton Lewis has
so, James A. Reed SO, Murray %, and
the other 104 selected to date are dis
puted.
The Republicans have chosen al,
and Hoover has 500 Of them. He
needs 578 and in another week or
two it will be all over but the for
malitieS at Chicago.