Evening star., 1934-02-25
BOILERS DECLINE
c. ?. D|NNERb|D
Republicans Appear Enter
Ing Fall Campaign Split
Three Ways.

The Republican congressional cam
paign opened last night at a dinner
at the Shoreham Hotel and special
efforts to bring in the insurgent Re-
publican Senators who bolted the
PARTY presidential ticket in 1882
proved unavailing.
Despite a promise of support from
the combined Republican Campaign
Committees on Capitol HILL Senators
johnson Of California, La Toilette OF
Wisconsin and Cutting Of New Mexico
were absent.
Senator Johnson gave no reason for
his declination. Already Endorsed by
the Roosevelt administration, he is
understood To be on the point Of
leaving the Republican party to run
as a Roosevelt progressive" in a
California primary reviving the old
Progressive party of 1912 and 1914. in
which he ran with Theodore Roose-
velt
Senators La Toilette and Cutting
were believed reluctant to jeopardize
their chances Of Democratic support
by any move tending to align them
with the Republican campaign Or
ganization. While the Roosevelt ad-
ministration has withheld indorse-
ment of them pending Qualification of
local Democratic intentions in Wis
consin and New Mexico, Senator
Lewis of Illinois. chairman of the
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Com
mittee, has indicated a distinct dis
position to break over party lines and
support them.
Left Wing" Annexation.
This Is in line with President
Roosevelt's effort to annex the Re
publican left wing TO the Democratic
party and bring about Q broad
political realignment.
The dinner, given by Senator Hast
ings of Delaware, chairman of the
Republican Senatorial Campaign
Committee, inaugurated the campaign
plan announced Friday. BY this plan,
the Republican Senatorial and Con-
gressional Campaign Committees are
uniting to run the campaign inde-
pendently of the Republican National
Committee, whose leaders disagree
with the Republican congressional
leaders on fundamental campaign
strategy.
Invited to the dinner were the II
Republican senatorial candidates who
come up for reelection this year; the
20 members of the House Campaign
Committee, the nine members of the
Senate Committee. the key men Of
the Joint Board Of Strategy and two
score newspaper correspondents. The
guest of honor was Warren w
Wheaton. who is resigning from the
Philadelphia Public Ledger bureau to
take charge of the Republican cam
paign publicity.
Sanders Is Absent.
Senator Hastings, presiding as h
spoke briefly, emphasizing that 1t va
a personal tribute to Mr. Wheaton.
At the same time, he touched on the
campaign plan announced in a public
statement Friday by Senator Hastings
and Representative Bolton of Ohio.
chairman of the House Campaign
Committee. Everett Sanders, chair
man of the Republican National Com
mittee, was not present. Neither was
Bennett Gordon, for years research
director Of the Republican National
Committee and author Of the pointed
pamphlet attacks on the Roosevelt
administration which have been
issuing spasmodically from Republican
national headquarters.
An advocate Of a direct and i'm
mediate frontal attack on the Roose-
welt administration, Gordon has been
offered no place in the new campaign
organization. While the Joint Con-
gressional Committee awaits the find-
ings of highly systematized research
bureau before formulating its cam
paign platform, national headquarters
will proceed, independently, with its
own mode Of old-fashioned direct
campaigning on the theory that this
is what the country expects of the
minority party.
Gordon will continue as the reseach
director of the National Committee
to that end. The National Committee
and the joint congressional commit
tees. officials said, will go their own
ways, prepared, if necessary, to pur-
sue separate courses toward the sane
objective.
Party Split Three Ways.
In view of this division in the r
publican high command, with former
President Hoover avoiding direct po-
litical involvment, the party. at first
glance. appears to be going into the
campaign split three ways. With the
position of the National Committee
as a hole undetermined National
Committee headquarters reflects the
attitude of the party's extreme right
wing, the element called tories" by
President Roosevelt. The insurgent
Republicans represent the party ex-
treme left wing, close enough TO the
Roosevelt Administration to hope to
benefit by the Presidents popularity,
I If it continues.
The Joint Congressional Committee
is the center group, which hopes TO
be able to 60 into the campaign on
a platform broad enough to hold "any
reasonable Republican"
This platform would be developed
on the basis of an analysis and cor
relation of the findings of the 2,750
research bureaus in the United
States. The analytical work and
production of findings would be done
by a special research bureau under
the direction Of Sidney Brooks, for
years head Of a similar bureau for
the International Telephone g. Tele-
graph Co.
The House and Senate Campaign
Committees have unanimously in
dorsed this program centering around
q research bureau
Republican congressional leaders
suggested that the apparent three
way party split would disappear were
the National Committee to meet and
express its views. There has been
no meeting Of the full committee
since the 1882 campaign.