Evening star., 1932-03-17
The Political Mill
By C.. Could Lincoln.

Running in what has been held to be
the most radical State in the Union.
politically speaking, North Dakota. Gov.
! Alfalfa Bill" Murray of Oklahoma was
beaten in the presidential primaries
there Tuesday by three-to-two vote,
according to the returns received. This
seemingly would pretty we'll dispose of
the Murray candidacy to the minds Of
most Democrats. Gov Franklin D.
Roosevelt Of New York, who took Gov.
Murray over the jumps In North Da-
kota, looms again as vote getter.
1t seems likely that it may dawn on
the minds Of some of the Democrats
| who have been opposed or lukewarm to
the Roosevelt candidacy that the New
York Governor, after all. is a vote-get-
ting candidate with whom 1t might
be far easier to win victory next No
vember than with compromise can
didate. selected after terrific strug-
gle in the Democratic National Con-
vention. There are Democrats, how
ever, who seemingly would rather
! jeopardiZe the chances of the party
for victory than accept Roosevelt.
r
There will be lots Of alibis presented
for the Murray failure in North Dakota.
1t will be said, and with truth. that the
Roosevelt people were the first in the
field and that Murray was a compare
lively late entrant. AS a matter of
fact, the Roosevelt campaign for the
presidential nomination has been under
way for more than year and 1t will
be found in practically all of the States
that much work had been done for him
before other candidates became active
1t will be urged, too that the 'organiZa-
tion" was back Of Roosevelt in North
Dakota. Well, so it was, and so it will
be in other States, except Massachu-
sets, New Jersey. Texas and a few
OF the other States where favorite sons
have been put forward Roosevelt to-
day Is occupying much the same posi-
tion that his old friend, Alfred E. Smith,
occupied four years ago at this time,
when Democratic State organizations
in many Of the States were working
for him.
That Gov. Murray OF Oklahoma
really has had chance for the Demo-
cratic nomination for President this
year has not appeared within the realm
Of possibility despite the big crowds
which have gathered to hear him
speak. He has been widely advertised,
largely because of his picturesque nick
name and his spectacular comeback in
Oklahoma politics in 1880, when he
returned to that State from South
America ION shoestring' and got
himself the Democratic nomination for
Governor. But the suffrage of the
TlaF1nnTofS Of oil
not strike terror into the democracy
of New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois,
for example. and it takes lot of dele
gates in national convention to nom
mate a Democratic candidate for
President.
Roosevelt has taken his first two
hurdles with success-the primary in
New Hampshire, where he was op-
posed by Smith, and the primary in
North Dakota, where he met up with
Murray He is expected to run away
with the Georgia preferential primary
on March %. If he does, he will have
scored heavily in primaries in the
North, the West and the South. None
Of the three States involved has large
delegation in the national convention.
But Roosevelt's victories in these sec
that he is probably strong with the
voters in other States in these same
sections State lines in the South do
not, generally speaking mean a differ
ence in political sentiment and opirl
ion. The same Is true in the North
and the West. 1t has been held that
the Roosevelt boom for President was
frothy and without substance by some
of the anti Roosevelt Democrats. But
the results of the primaries so far/held
would not indicate this to be the case
The Pathfinder Publishing Co. has
tabulated the results of a presidential
poll in which it sought opinion in all
the States of the Union on Is presi-
Dental possibilities" including seven
Republicans and ten Democrats and one
Socialist. The votes for the Republicans
mentioned for the presidential nomina-
tion showed President Hoover leading
by a tremendous ratio. They follow:
Hoover, 63,5l3; Borah. 3,042; Coolidge,
1,470; johnson, 1.465; Dawes, 1,104;
Pinchot, ISL. and Norris, 73s. On the
Democratic side, RooSevelt's name led
all the rest by an impressive margin,
although some Of the Democratic candi-
dates had much larger votes than did
the Republicans who trailed Hoover.
The Democratic list follows Roosevelt.
30,822; Garner, 10,410; Smith, 8,247;
Murray, 1915; Ritchie. 1867; Baker,
l,947; Reed, 399; Young. 306; Robinson,
270, and McAdoo, 264. The lone
Socialist voted for was Norman Thomas,
who had 673.
%*
Leaders in dry organizations are
threatening to set up third political
party If the Republicans should write
into their party platform in Chicago a
plank for the resubmission of the
eighteenth amendment. 1t Is signifi-
cant that these drys are saying little
about what they would do If the Demo-
Gratis put such a plank In their plat
form. Apparently the drys themselves
believe they have lost their grip to
some extent on the Democratic party
nationally although in the South they
still continue to dominate the Demo-
cratic organization and candidates.
DR.. Clarence True Wilson Of the Meth
odiSt Board of Temperance is quoted
as saying that the drys would 20 to
extreme lengths to punish the G. .. P.
and President Hoover if a resubmission
plank were placed in the party plat
form. If the drys attempt to re-estab-
lish the old Prohibition party, they will
be compelled to admit that they are
on the way down the toboggan. Such a
party was kept alive for years in the
days before the eighteenth amendment
was adopted. But it was not until the
late Wayne B. Wheeler and other dry
leaders undertook to work within the
Republican and Democratic parties
themselves that the movement for ma
tional prohibition got anywhere. What
the Republicans and President Hoover
will do about a reSubmission plank in
the party platform, however, is still in
the making
X II
The Republicans are conducting a
drive CT their own for funds and work
ers IN a measure comparable to the
Democratic victory drive, though not so
WidelY adHertisad ssao-rox,,a,nt