Evening star., 1932-08-01
The Political Mill
By C. Could Lincoln.

How far Is the evacuation Of the
bonus army by Federal troops on order
Of President Hoover going into the
presidential campaign? Democratic
leaders have refrained from comment
ing publicly on the incident. Here and
| there. as in the case of Senator Black
Of Alabama, there has been denunci-
| alton of the Government and of the
President for calling out the Federal
troops to drive the bonus marchers off
of Government property and out of
Washington after they had rioted and
defied the police. But Democratic
leaders have, generally speaking, taken
the position that it is no time to take
| the side of rioters against the Federal
/ Government. Some Of them believe
that the use of the troops will react
in the coming election against President
| Hoover. They hold that veterans back
| home will resent the action of the
Government and vote against Mr..
Hoover They are not saying this for
| quotation, but that is the angle they
take in private conversation.
To put the Democratic party on rec
| ord-through its leaders-as support
| ing the rioting of the bonus marchers
| is another matter 1t does not seem
possible that it will happen, and II 1t
| does, it will do more harm to the DEM
ocratic ticket than it will to the Re
publican. 1t is not likely that the
Democrats are ready to submerge
| themselves and their party in the
Khaki shirts" army now called for
by W. w. Waters, commandments
| of the bonus marchers. Furthermore,
| they have observed what has happened
| in Italy, where a "black shirt" army
! took command of the situation, and
what is happening in Germany, where
brown shirt" army is tramping
about the country and a democratic
form of government is struggling hard
to continue
| One thing seems sure, the question of
| the payment of the soldiers bonus VIII
come knocking at the door Of Congress
when it meets next December, or before,
should the President call special Ses-
| sion in the interval. Those members of
the House who agitated the matter SO
successfully in the last session OF Con-
greSS that the bonus army was formed
| and marched on Washington will have
| an election behind them instead of in
| front of them, but nevertheless they
may be expected to push on with their
plans for the bonus payment at this
time whether there is money in the
! Treasury or just deficit or what not.
President Hoover stood out against
| the payment of the bonus. He was not
alone in that; a very large majority OF
the Senate voted down the bonus bill at
the session recently closed. although it
had been put through the House. Many
of the Senators who took their stand in
opposition to the bonus payment were
Democrats. Just how the bonus issue
is going to work in the coming campaign
| is a question.
Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt Of New
York is in the throes of dealing with
the case of Mayor Jimmy" Walker of
New York City, which is finally before
him for action after weeks of delay.
| The mayors reply to the Seabury and
other charges against his conduct in
Office are before the Governor. In the
first place, Mayor Walker charges that
| the whole investigation resulting in the
charges against him is plot on the
part of the Republicans to take the
spotlight off their own failures in the
national administration. The mayor
apparently makes the mistake of be-
| lieving that New York City is the United
States and that what is said about him
will serve to obscure whatever may be
said by the people throughout the coun-
try about their National Government.
| That kind of argument scarcely bears
water. His reply to the charges fol-
lows in the main the statement he made
on the stand as witness before the
legislative investigating committee
| The Walker case is admittedly an
| noying to any presidential candidate.
But it would be annoying to any gov
| %f nf
Roosevelt presumably will deal with it
on it's merits. At the same time any
decision he may make will necessarily
have some kind of bearing on the po-
litical situation. If he dismiSses the
| charges - whether the accusation be
! just or not-the criticism will be made
that he has yielded to pressure from
Tammany Hall. On the other hand,
| if he dismisses the mayor-as many
believe he wilI-he will be criticized
by Walker and his friends on the
ground that he yielded to political pres
sure outside of New York city, The
Governor, if he handles the case in a
way which will meet public approval,
can strengthen himself as a presiden-
tial candidate. But it is tough nut
to crack.
4 X 4 X
Col. William J. Donovan, Assistant
Attorney General in the Coolidge ad-
ministration, is back from Europe and
looking over the situation. Some of
his friends have started a drive to
nominate him for Governor Of New
York on the Republican ticket. He
has contented himself so far with say
ing that he might become a candidate
for the nomination, if there was a real
demand for him. Col Donovan is a
young man, had great record as a
| soldier overseas during the World War
and made good in the Department of
Justice. 1t is possible that he may
have the urge to f=t back into public
life, and he may r AXE the race despite
the fact that 1892 has not vet been
considered an specially good year for
G. o. P. car IdateS. There are a lot
Of people liking just now however,
about the likelihood of New York's 60
| ing Rer' Jlican next November in the
presid> -Uial election, which might mean
that also will go Republican in the
gp, material contest.
X X *+
Senator Reed Smoot of Utah. who
has the record of longest continuous
service in the Senate. is to fight for
reelection this Fall. The veteran SEN
ator, who came to Washington first as
Senator in March, 1903, is strong in his
own State. and. despite the hard times
that exist there. he stands a good
chance of reelection. He is co-author
of the Smoot- -Hawley tariff act, which
the Democrats are seeking to make an
issue in the campaign, and which has
been under attack in many parts of
the West as well as in the East. Utah,
however, has approved the protective
tariff system many times in the past.
The Senator is a high dignitary in the
Mormon Church, which is powerful in
Utah. He has no opposition for the
Republican nomination for Senator.
The Democrats, on the other hand,
have a plethora of senatorial poSsibili-