The Daily Alaska empire., 1932-05-24
lBv SCOTT c. BONEl

CBy SCOTT C. BONE)
 Within month the country will be in the throes of a ouadrennal National campaign The outlook IS dsouietng to the two old parties alike boVn are in dilemma. Herbert Hoover has been oealihs the brunt of blame for the depression for three weary years: now a Democratic Congress IS sharlhg the burden with him and the outcome at the polis is charged with uncertainty and potent wlth tearS which will become acute as the summer ana autumn come and pass and the ldes of NoVemoel appear. Not since the Nineties, has the general situation been so admittedly demoralzng and laden with trouble to the Ins and Outs. A panic was developing when Benjamin Harrison came up for reelection in 1892 His party did not approve him, as is largely the case with Herbert Hoover today but indorsed him and his Administration in convention and he went down to defeat at the hands of Grover Cleveland, who however re-appsared on the Ma tional scenes only to encounter financial storm uneoualled in fury and to relinquish the helm after four of the most troublous years of political record Whether history will repeat itself the early future will tell. great upheava is anticipated and clearly impending.
 The party in power is in dilemma over Pro- hibition It's quasi commitment to the Eighteenth Amendment and Volstead Act is producing no end of truble Its frendliness toward the Noble Ex- pertinent" unmistakably has waned.5 The eountrys interest in the cause everybody can sec has cooled off The "dryss themselves are less militant than formerly Some of them as well as many states men who year ago. would not give the "wets" an inch are now assenting to a proposed referen- dun Continued failure to enforce the law and the spectacle of crime running rampant everywhere have contrived to render the experiment. unpopular and put its champions the defensive. The East and New England and the Central West are ir- revocaby hostile and in countless cases have chosen delegates to the convention who will stand adamant ly for re-submisson, if not outright appeal Either horn of the dilemma will alienate a large element of the electorate and endanger the result. dodg- ing of the issue is impossible and would only intensity the hazard.
 The Democrats in dilemma over cand- date and almost likewise harrassed Avowedy wet, the platform is not seriously disturbing them. Only of their candidates Speaker Garner, is classified as dry" yet he voted against the Eighteenth Amendment fourteen years ago on the score of its unconstiutonaty, and although his State is dry, he has not been to recant his act, and today shows no sign of a change of front. Governor Franklin D Roosevelt long somewhat non-com- initial finally aligned himself with the "wets" and all the other candidates, prospective or receptive, save Governor White of Ohio. in sympathy with the demand for modification repeal. The Solid South broken in 1928 on this issue, re- fusing to follow Governor Alfred E. Smith but is believed to be falrly sure 10 remain Tn line IllS year regardless of nominee or any plank in the platform.
 Governor Roosevets candidacy was given a dis astrous blow, almost a quietus, in California, on the third instant. Until then, prophecy giving him he nomination the first ballot. Gamers spectacular triumph upset all Democratic calculations By common agreement. in spite of his pronounced lead the New Yorker will be far short of a two thirds majority in the convention. Smith will have the bulk of the Empire State delegation and prob ably the most of the votes from Pennsylvania Hi put himself out of the by suggesting Roose- welt and Garner the compromise standard bear CTS. There is both expedieney and wisdom in this suggestion A reversal of the ticket to Garner and Roosevelt would be equally appealing. Tam many appears to be and more estranged iron Roosevelt Should he harken to the legislative de mand for the impeachment Mayor Walker fol the alleged acceptance of bribe, the Tiger would Ast once exercise it's claws merclessly The scandal in the very nature of things, will injurously affec the New Workers candidacy, whether he asserts hi. powen locally or defers action. The South and Wes have scant respect for Tammany, and the fac that Roosevelt maintains law office in Wal Street. across the way from the House of Morgan and i1h close proximity to the Stock Exchange vii not prove helpful to his ambition in final analysis Nevertheless, he is still picking up delegates in al sections, and the isstrgent group in the Senat continually boosts his candidacy. Norris of Ne braska who espoused Smith in 1928, yet retained his standing as Republican, and who might have