Evening star., 1932-11-09

It was Herbert Hoover who while
Secretary OF Commerce gave currency
to the idom Of business cycles" When
the President and his Republican CO.
partners in misery get around to it
they will lugubriously recall that presi-
Dental disaster has now, for the third
time, come to the G. O. P. in cycles
of 40 years. Benjamin Harrison failed
of reelection in 1892. Twenty years
later William Howard Taft sought a
second term in vain. This year. after
another cycle Of 20 years. Herbert Hoo
yer aspired In vain to perpetuate him
Harrison, Taft and Hoover take their
places in national annals as the only
Republican Presidents to be denied the
privilege Of succeeding themselves. Mr..
Hoover cannot derive much comfort
from these chronological reflections,
but he can at least take refuge IN the
circumstance that once again history
has inexorably repeated itself.
No American alive has lived through
such all-annihilating political devasta-
ton as yesterday visited upon the Re
publican party. 1t has been stripped
of power not only in the White House
and in both branches of Congress. but
in State Office virtually throughout the
Union. Never in modern times has
such an array of Democratic Govern
ors been swept into authority along
with a Democratic national admins
tration. Seldom have November cleo
ton results produced SO veritable a
landslide, embracing literally the whole
land. The causes which Syalanched
Franklin D. Roosevelt to q sensational
victory also won control Of Congress
for the Democrats and gave them pow
er In the vast majority Of States elect
ing Governors
~ ~
It was a case Of depression, depres-
sion, all the way. Local issues operated
here and there. Prohibition cut its
figure, too. But faithful chroniciers OF
the carnage wreaked against the G.
o. p. on this November will narrate
that the country In the main voted q
national crouch" against three years
of business stagnation, unemployment
farm foreclosures, bank failures and all
the other economic woes which have
depressed and oppressed the United
States since october, 1929. President
Hoover pleaded with the electorate not
to think that matters could not be
worse" It rejected that argument and
voted for q change. That Is the Alpha
and Omega of what has happened.
\
Seldom did early vote omens signal
the final result SO definitely as last
nights indications did. This radio
scribe. broadcasting from New York
City, had just finished general survey
Of the situation, necessarily fragmentary
at the time. The hour was 1921 o'clock.
At that moment an Associated Press
bulletin was handed him, stating that
William H. Hill of Binghamton, N Y,
famous original Hoover man" in 1928
and assistant Eastern Republican cam
paign manager in 1882, conceded the
loss of New York State to Gov. Roose-
welt at 8:07 O'clock" fourteen minutes
previous. With that Information In
hand, the broadcaster felt at liberty to
send spinning along the wave lengths
that the die was now cast-that, with
New York's AZ electoral votes gone,
Herbert Hoover's bark was sunk without
trace From that moment onward, it
became merely question Of how badly
overwhelming Gov. Roosevelt's vote
would be.
y +
Tammany's yeoman loyalty to the
Roosevelt Garner ticket did the trick,
as far as the Empire State Is con-
cerned. The Republicans only hope
was that the Democratic vote below the
Bronx could be held within relatively
narrow limits. As soon as there was
danger that a plurality Of anything
above 350,000 would be amassed for
Roosevelt in the big city Hoover,s loss
of the State became a practical Ger
tainty. Exact figures Of the upstate poll
are not yet available, but it fell i'm
mensely short Of the magnitude nee
cessary TO overcome the tremendous