The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1932-08-24
A Prophet Not Without
Imagination
Minneapolis Tribune)

The Roosevelt landslide predicted
by Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jr., on his
visit to Minneapolis may never ma
terialize, but that is no reason, SO
far as we can see, for denying the
young man foremost place among
the campaign crystal-gazers. Mr..
Vanderbilt says he has been in II
states since the conventions, and has
detected nothing but loud and mean
ingful rumbles of resentment against
the Republican party. Consequently
he is certain, in so far as the VAN
Gerbiltian sense of humility will per-
nit certainty, that Governor Roose-
welt will defeat Mr. Hoover by pop
ular vote of at least 100000 and that
the Democrats will emerge from the
election with IL new senators and 40
new representatives in congress.
Should the Republican national
committee be disposed to sniff at Mr..
Vanderbilt's modest Vaccinations, we
beg of them to weigh thoroughly the
fact that his conclusions have been
reached only after making long and
arduouS contacts with sources of in
formations which, while they cannot
be guaranteed, are believed to be re-
liable. The gentleman in question,
for example, spent almost "a hours
in Minnesota surveying the political
battle-ground, and what a good jour-
neyman prophet can't learn about
the trends of popular opinion in any
given state in "a hours is obviously
something Of such microscopic inSig-
nificance as to be hardly worth the
mentioning. Furthermore, Mr.. Van
derbilt took great pains to commune
while flittering through the state,
with Democratic leaders and it may
be assumed at the outset that the
really ideal method to gauge the drift
Of campaign sentiment is to seat one
self, In a wholly impersonal and un-
biased way. at the Democratic coun-
Gil tables.
The finality with which Mr.. VAN
derbilt Tipped Minnesota into the
Roosevelt column has now eliminated
every vestige Of uncertainty which
fingered in the minds of those naive
individuals who had assumed, after
a lifetime of surveying the states 20.
litical currents, that Mr.. Hoover
might conceivably have wraith-like
chance Of squeaking through to vic.
tory. We should not like to challenge
the accuracy Of Mr.. Vanderbilt's 70.
seate presentiment of a 100000 vote
Democratic triumph, any more thar
we should like to question the ON
niscience Of Mr.. Frank Hague, thu
Democratic maharajah Of Jersey City
who predicted last June that MI
Roosevelt couldn't carry q single STATE
east Of the Mississippi.
Mr.. Vanderbilt, after all, has aver.
aged almost three days per state IL
his quest for campaign signs ant
tokens and should most certainly
know what he Is talking about; quite
as much so, as q matter of fact, a!
some Of our more eminent Republican
prophets who have concluded, aftel
a vigorous search for what they wan,
to find, that Mr.. Hoover simply CAM
be beaten. But what we should likt
TO see, just TO vary the monotony, Il
a political prognosticator who stayee
at home and came to his profound
conclusions through the reiativel!
simple plan of shaking dice for states
The results would be quite as salts
factory, and the method certainly ,
bit more sporting, than Mr.. Wander.
bits more orthodox plan of dialini
In the campaign tune the party au
dience would hke to hear.