Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1932-06-24

thirds rule and said that he favored
such abolition and the establishment
Of majority rule.
Senator Hitchcock of Nebraska, chair
man of the Resolutions Committee in
its temporary form and a supporter of
Roosevelt, indicated that he thought
the proposal to do away with the two
thirds rule had been a tactical mis-
take on the part Of the Roosevelt
forces. He said that Roosevelt could
be nominated under the two-thirds rule
and that the proposal to do away with
the aged rule would stir up opposition.
Roosevelt opponents were inclined to
believe, they said, that the Roosevelt
forces had undertaken to wage the
battle along line that was less favor-
able to Roosevelt.
II Roosevelt loses the fight to abol-
ish the two-thirds rule, they contend.
he will have lost a great deal OF prestige
in the convention.
Senator Cordell Hull Of Tennessee,
formerly chairman Of the Democratic
National Committee. a Roosevelt sup
porter. said today that he believed the
two-thirds rule should be abrogated.
That rule" said Senator Hull. has
been used in recent years to wreck the
Democratic party, preventing the op-
Grafton of a will of the ma iority. There
have been signs here in Chicago that
it was the purpose Of certain groups
to make use of this rule again to wreck
the party"
Senators Dill OF Washington and
Wheeler of Montana both gave their
approval to the plan to junk the
ancient rule. A
Reed Sees Danger.
Former Senator Jim" Reed Of Mis-
souri,. favorite-son candidate. said of
the proposal to abolish the two-thirds
rule:
ANY change attempted in the CEN
tury-old rule of nominating Democratic.
candidates Is fraught with danger. What
was good enough for Andrew Jackson
should be good enough for us"
Gov Alfalfa Bill Murray of Okla
homa said
I'VE must apologize to the shade of
old Champ Clark If We change this
rule now"
From Texas quarters came yelled
hints that If the Roosevelt forces should
persist in this effort to abolish the two
thirds rule and should nominate Roose-
welt by majority vote, there would be
a bolt" from the convention. Sam
Reyburn. campaign manager for Gar
ner, issues q statement, saying:
Americans have been bred to believe
it unfair TO change the rules In the
middle of the game. If Mr.. Farley
wants his candidate to command the
respect of the party, and of the Nation.
he cannot seriously mean that he will
undertake, after his campaign Of three
years for the Democratic nomination
for Mr. Roosevelt by the century old
two-thirds rule, to now admit failure
and change the rules to suit his con-
venience."
Supported In South.
Many OF the Roosevelt leaders who
last night voted for the abolition of
the two-thirds rule were from the
South, the section OF the country
which has been supposed in the past
to be strong for the two-thirds rule.
They said however, they had seen
enough of party wrecking by minority
group from the North and East and
they did not intend to stand for 1t
further
The Hague statement, issued after
a long conference with Mr.. Smith him
self, was direct, defeatist attack on
Roosevelt. 1t sought to line up all the
favorite sons back Of the anti-Roose-
welt movement. Hague has been the
moving force in this anti-Roosevelt
movement for months. His statement
was as unprecedented as was the de-
cision of the Roosevelt leaders to do
away with the two-thirds rule. Hague
said in part
Il deem 1t my duty as the vice chair
man Of the Democratic National Com
mittee and the leader Of the Democracy
of the State of New Jersey to call to
the attention of the delegates and the
leaders of Democracy in the different
States and counties Of the country who
are gathering here in Chicago, that
Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt, II NOM
mated, has no chance OF winning at
the election in November have felt
out public sentiment not alone here, but
in practically every State in the Union,
particularly those States east Of the
Mississippi and 1 am brought to the
conclusion that he cannot carry a single
State east of the Mississippi and very
few in the far West"
1T has been demonstrated in the
contested primaries in which Roosevelt
was a candidate that he has never car