Evening star., 1932-07-06
ROOSEVELT SPEED
MAY Be HANDICAP
Political Veterans Question
Wisdom of His Spontaneous
Acceptance Speech.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.
special pIspatch 10 The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
CHICAGO. July 6.-Was the hastily
prepared and quickly delivered speech
Of acceptance of Gov. Roosevelt a wise
move or is there much to be said for
the precedent which compels a lapse
Of several weeks between conventions
and the usual notification ceremonies?
Political veterans discussing this sub
ject as an aftermath of the conventions
are inclined to take different views.
One outstanding leader said he
thought the old custom was safer from
the standpoint of the candidate, though
the prompt acceptance speech may be
spectacular and temporarily an ad-
vantage.
There always has been a good rea-
son for the lapse Of time," he said. 1T
gives an opportunity for consultation OF
party leaders and efforts can be made
to bring harmony. II ever there was
a time when a nominee needed few
weeks to consider a situation, 1t was
needed by the candidate of the last
Democratic National Convention. He
afforded no chance for those opposed
to him to be consulted. He wrote his
speech without f1rst-hand knowledge
Of the scars the convention had made,
He made it harder for an anti-Roose-
velt man to come into his camp, for
he virtually read out of the party and
out Of his following many OF those who
have differed with HIM"
Ignored Beer Now" idea
Another comment heard is that Mr..
Roosevelt omitted in his speech all ref
erence to modification of the Volstead
act. He mentioned the repeal plank,
but did not touch at all on the beer
now idea, which is bound to be one
Of the big issues Of the prohibition
fight. The Democratic plank declared
for modification of the prohibition law
so as to legalize the manufacture OF
beer and other beverages Of such al
coholic content "as is permissible under
the Constitution"
Can there be manufactured under
the Constitution anything which is
really Intoxicating" and If not, when
is the drinking world going to be sat
isfied with anything that Is not In
fact intoxicating? These questions are
being asked as the lines Of battle open
between the Republicans and Demo
Gratis. Was the Roosevelt omission an
oversight due to haste or was 1t delib-
crate? The reaction Of Congress to
the beer bill in the closing days OF
the session is being watched care
fully. The Republican vets OF the
East are preparing to argue that the
platform plank means nothing. since
the Southern drys in the Democratic
party will block modification OF the
Volstead act as well as repeal, and that
the Republican vets of the North alone
can be depended upon to follow through
on the wet issue.
Uncertain as to Effect.
incidentally, now that the shouting
Is over, the political managers are not
SO clear about the effect OF the Re
publican and Democratic prohibition
blanks. One prominent Republican
ventured the comment that the Demo-
cratic wet plank would be helpful 70
Roosevelt in the East, where other fac
tors like radicali5m would hurt him,
while In the West this very radicalism
would aid him and the extreme wet
plank would impair his vote-getting
power.
Certainly the Republicans are count
ing on getting the dry vote OF the
West. while not losing much Of the
wet vote in the East, because OF tradi-
tional Republicanism. Though smart
ing under the criticism Of "straddle"
plank, Republican managers are vigor-
ously defending the idea that. along
with repeal should go substitute.
1t would not be surprising to see the
Democrats soft-pedal prohibition as an
issue in the dry States and emphasize
economic questions while the Repub-
ucans try to subordinate prohibition in
the East and place their hope on the
issue of economic stability and Sound
Government" as opposed to exper-
imentalism.
Bigotry Issue Revived.
From an unexpected quarter an issue
Is arising that may play part in the
East. ProhibitioniSt speakers in In
dianapolis pointed out the Southern
States which bolted Smith in 1923,
giving his wetness as their reason, now
stand convicted of religious bigotry as
the real cause for their detection,
inasmuch as they all voted through
their delegates at the Democratic Ma
tional Convention for a wetter plank
than the one on which Al Smith lost
the South four years ago. Some trace
Of this controversy came up in the
Democratic National Convention and
may rise to plague the Democrats in
some of the Northern cities where the
pro-Smith vote is considerable.
This is all the more reason why the
Democratic leaders would like TO get
Smith out wholeheartedly for the ma
tional ticket. Anybody who polled
is 900 900 votes is of far-reaching i'm
portance In the development of presi-
Dental campaign. Some Of the Smith
friends here insist that mad Roosevelt
waited with his speech of acceptance
~ Iaa f1 haT
views with those Of the nominee, instead
of rushing into action, there might have
been a better chance Of Smith Roose-
velt reconciliation. They declare the
Smith, Roosevelt br sak Is not personal
hut haged IN Indannellfal enfna1ata az