Evening star., 1932-09-30

CHICAGO. September 3o-Out here,
where the Midwest begins, the real
battle for Herbert Hoover's reelection
is about to begin. The opening gun
will be fired at Des Moines next Tues
day by the President himself. Thence
forward. as far as the Republican Ma
tional Committee is concerned, and the
cash on hand permits, the fighting Is
to be fast, furious and unceasing. The
battle-ground. from the G. o. P. stand
point. Is in the States lying between the
Alleghenies and the Mississippi. Re-
publican managers concede that they
must win Ohio. Indiana. Illinois and
Michigan, or at least three Of those four
pivotal States, or run the grave risk OF
losing the election. If any two Of them
slip away from Hoover. the danger OF
his defeat is regarded by the Chicago
high command as serious in the ex-
treme. Should the two States that go
Democratic happen to be Ohio and
Illinois, with total of SIS electoral votes
between them. almost any responsible
Republican leader is ready to admit that
the Presidents cause would be well-nigh
hopeless.
Because of this touch-and-go situ-
alton all the party nabobs at Palmer
House headquarters are on the tlptoe
of excited curiosity over President
Hoover's impending utterance at Des
Moires. What Chairman Sanders and
his coadjutors. Ralph Williams Henry
j. Allen. Bob Lucas. Senator L. j. Dick
inson, Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg
Mrs. Lenna Yost and the other organ
izers Ct victory, are anxiously and hope
fully waiting to see is whether Mr..
Hoover can ring the bell again as he
rang it with his speech OF acceptance.
When the President delivered that ad-
dress his stock was in a heavy slump.
The speech materially checked the
anti-Hoover trend and to a consider
able extent reversed it in the Repub,i-
cans favor. Then came the G. o. p.
disaster in Maine and in its train
revival of the pro-Roosevelt tide conse
uuent upon the Governors swing
through the West If the President next
week can capture the country's i'm
agination as effetually as he did on
August II the men and women In
charge of his campaign seem convinced
they can stem the Democratic onrush
and save the day-not by anything very
impressive in the electoral college, but
by a majority perhaps net so far from
the % or 23 George Moses has prog
nosticated.
Many authorities at Chicago feel that
Des Moines is the @. o. P's battle of
the Marne-that it will make or break
the Hoover candidacy.
Republican confidence at Chicago Is
based on the theory that New England
New York, New Jersey. Pennsylvania
and Delaware are as safe for Hoover as
Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama are
for Roosevelt. They are calculating on
at least an even break among the
lucky, Tennessee and Missouri. They
are certain of carrying Kansas and
confidently claim Iowa, Wisconsin, Min
nesota and California. 1t is Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois and Michigan, account
ing for an aggregate Of 88 electoral
votes, or almost exactly one-third Of
! the number necessary to elect, which Is
the great, ominous "X," the unknown
quantity, in Republican crystal-gazing
as the campaign tapers into its final
| five weeks.
Gov. Rooseyelts western expedition
ends in Chicago tonight, on the eve Of
what the Republicans call their real
campaign. Hoover managers are re-
lieved that the Democratic nominee has
now shown his whole bag of tricks. As
they analyZe then-the banking speech
at Columbus, the prohibition speech at
Sea Girt, the farm speech at Topeka,
the railroad speech at Salt Lake City
the silver speech at Seattle and the
power speech at Portland-they profess
to find the Rooseveltian legerdemain fal
less dynamite than they thought they
had reason to fear. The G. o. p. cap
tains rejoice that at length they have
something to shoot at, and they intend
to blaze away at it.