Evening star., 1932-09-30
BREAD1[|NE VOTE
PIVOT IN MICHIGAN
Democratic Hopes High, but
Hesitate at Claiming State.
F4 6. @. P. Reused.
Continued From First Page.)

a Hoover label and a banner also at
tacking Henry Ford.
The fight over the State ticket enters
into the campaign picture. The Re-
publicans have renominated Gov WILDER
M Brucker and along with him the
lieutenant governor. Luren D. Dickin-
son. Brucker, formerly dry has in
dorsed President Hoover's interpreta-
ton of the prohibition plank of the Re-
publican national platform. Dickinson
has been prohibition advocate for
years and is still regarded as the dry
est of the dry. Brucker has running
against him for the nomination three
other candidates, all wet, who piled up
q huge vote. He had plurality. how
ever. although he trailed one OF these
candidates in Detroit.
Democrats Completely Wet.
The Democrats, on the other hand,
have gone completely wet, and are hop
ing for help from the Crusaders and
the womens organization for proh1-
biton reform, both of which are strong
in this city and have finances to back
their choice. The Democratic NOM
inee for Governor is William A. Com
stock. who has carried the Democratic
banner for years in this State. Com
stock is popular and widely known and
had little trouble defeating his op-
ponents for the nomination. He has
been engaged in some large real estate
operations and in the depression, &C
cording to his own admission, has gone
broke.
Indeed in public address before
the Democratic State Convention last
Tuesday Comstock discussed his losses
frankly and predicted that before the
November election one or more OF his
creditors would force him into invol-
untary bankruptcy for political rea-
sons. He declared that he expected to
pay all his debts, however. His imam
cial situation was known during the
primary campaign and failed to check
Comstock's victory in the gubernatorlal
nomination race There are so many
hard hit by the depression in this State
that his plight may win him votes
rather than lose them. But the Re
publicans are asking why the voters
should jut in Office to handle the States
finances a man who has not been able
to handle his own.
The Republicans seem to have for
gotten their factional differences in the
peril of the whole party. They had
both harmonious and an enthusiastic
State convention here yesterday. when
400 delegates renominated without a
dissenting vote their candidates for
State office, including secretary of State
and attorney general, and put through
the State platform with no discussion
whatever But the speakers at the
convention, from Gov. Brucker down
the line, all warned the Republicans
that they must get out and fight this
year es they never have done before.
The Democrats have certainly thrown
the fear of the depression into them.
Foreign Voters Numerous.
There are large blocks of Polish. Hun
garian and colored voters in Detroit
and most of the first two and some of
the third group seem to have jumped
the Republican reservation. The city
is said to hold more Poles than any
other city outside of Warsaw. In the
past they have been Republican. In
the first congressional district the Poles
and colored voters are particularly
numerous. When the primary election
was held there the Poles swarmed over
TO the Democratic side and nominated
one Of their own people. In the Re
publican primary, Mahoney, colored,
ocratS polled "a, ,551 votes in their pri-
mary to 1880 for the Republicans in
that district. The fourteenth district
saw 38157 voters on the Democratic
side and 26,120 on the Republican. This
is Representative Bob Clancy's district.
For various reasons he still has fight
ing chance for reelection. But the
Democrats are expected to pick up
several congressional seats in the COM
ing election and to hold the seat they
now have from the eighth district rep
resented by Michael Hart. The Repub-
licans have nominated William M.
Smith. a great mixer, to oppose Hart,
and they hope to win the eighth dis
trict back. Unless there is big change
in sentiment, however, it does not seem
probable they will.
The Republicans may receive aid
from disgruntled Democratic support
ers of Al Smith, disgruntled because
Smith was denied the presidential NOM
ination in Chicago at the hands Of
Roosevelt and McAdoo. Quite a con-
troversy has been waged over the
Smith Roosevelt affair in the Michigan
Catholic, between Rev. John A. Nc
Clorey, S. j.. and William F. Connolly,
former Democratic national committee
man and also a Catholic. Father Nc
Clorey has urged the Smith Democrats,
and particularly the Catholics. to "go
fishing" on election day, certainly not
to vote for Roosevelt, whom he charges
was nominated over Smith because OF
religious prejudice and by men who
have had the support OF the Ku Klux
Klan in the past.
Believe Revolt Halted.
Judge Connolly, on the other hand
who was an ardent Smith supporter.
but is now out for the Roosevelt
Garner ticket, has replied to the charges
brought by Father McClorey, urging the
Catholics not to be "bigots" ana prais-
ing Roosevelt for his support of Smith
in the past. The Democratic leaders
claim Judge Connolly has succeeded in
halting the revolt against Roosevelt
among the Catholics here and that while
there may be some defections they will
not number more than 5000 and GER
tainly will not be deciding factor IN
the election.
While the prohibition issue has
largely been taken out Of the picture
in Michigan as between Hoover and
Roosevelt by the Presidents acceptance
speech, the Democratic candidates do
not expect to get the votes of the ardent
drys. If there are many Of them left
in the State, they may be deciding
factor in favor of the Republican
ticket No one seems to know definitely
just how many of these dyed-in-the-
wool drys there are.
Some of the veterans-a lot of them
It Is said in some quarters-are against
the Republicans because Of Hoover'S
opposition to the payment in cash OF
the soldiers bonus. The Democrats put
into their State platform a pledge to
pay the bonus in cash. The Republicans
ignored the bonus issue.
Real Trouble Defined.
But the real trouble Of the Republic
cans was summed up in sentence by
one of the Republican candidates for
Congress:
You can't talk against bread line"
At the present writing Michigan must
be placed in the column of doubtful
States. The Republican drive may
change this, now it is getting under
way The Republicans have the ad-
vantage of organization in all parts OF