Evening star., 1934-10-25
COAST DEMOCRAT
PARTY SHATTERED
Reconstruction Held Doubt
full, Regardless of Vote
Outcome.
BY JAY G. HAYDEN.

LOS ANGELES. october Is (N.A.
N.A).-The idea, circulated by Demo
cratic leaders in Washington. that
President Roosevelt and Senator Will
liam G.. McAdoo had taken Upton
Sinclair up on high mountain and
caused him to change his political
spots, Is quickly diSpelled by listen
ing to the speeches Sinclair is now
making and by talking to the men
who are running his campaign.
What appears to have happened,
In fact, is a complete dissolution Of
the Democratic party in California, as
1t previously had assembled in support
of the New Deal, and whatever the
result of the present election, it is
doubtful if any one will be able to
pick up the pieces.
Sinclair has completely captured
the party organization. Almost all
the lesser candidates, running with
him on the Democratic ticket. have
been forced aboard his e. P. I. c."
bandwagon by the sheer force OF
fanatical public opinion, which sup
ports him. The only, notable excep-
ton to this rule in Southern Cali
fornia is Representative John F.
Dockweiler, the present Democratic
member from Los Angeles, who Is
absolved of political worry by the
fact that he won both the Demo-
cratic and Republican nominations
and hence has no opposition in the
election. He has declared himself
against Sinclair, along with practically
all the non-office holding Democratic
leaders OF the pre-Sinclair school.
Plans to Reform Party.
So bitter is the battle and so COM
pletely has the personality and doc
trines Of Sinclair subordinated the
New Deal in popular attention, that
it seems inconceivable that even Presi-
dent Roosevelt can put his party to-
eether again in this State. II Sinclair
wins, ne has made clear he plans to
make the Democratic party over on
his "E. P. I. c." model, not only in
California, but in the Nation, and GER
tainly his election will mean the per-
manent enforcement from the Demo-
cratic organization of the conserva-
tive wing of the party which is now
opposing him. And if he loses, the
host of zealots. who are now storm
ing over the State in his behalf, are
likely to charge his defeat to the
failure of the national administration
to openly support him.
It is true that Sinclair has made
some changes from the program which
he espoused before the primary. with
n view of removing specific criticisms
which had been made against 1t. To
this end he has divided his program
into what he terms immediate
e. P. I. c." and permanent e. P.
I. c." From the former he has
dropped the proposals to repeal the
existing 2I2 per cent sales tax and
exempt from taxation residences and
farms assessed at less than $4,000
pending the enactment of new taxes
to replace the revenue now derived
from these sources.
All over the State, however. minia-
ture bungalows still are being hauled
around on Ford chasSeS, topped by
a sign which declares that these are
the sort of homes that will pay
no taxes under the Sinclair program,
and Sinclair himself has made it
plain that this feature Of his plan
is only temporarily deferred.
Proposes to Rent Factories.
The same it true of the $500, 900, 600
bond issue, which he originally pro-
posed to distribute to present factory
and farm land owners in exchange fol-
their property. In consonance with
his belated assertion that there will
be no "conf1scation" of property, he
proposes now to start by renting idle
factories, to be operated by the present
unemployed, rather than launch a
system of State ownership forthwith
He has erased the word scrip" from
his lexicon because, he says in his
most recent pamphlet, ''Our best law
yers cannot be sure whether they
should say yes or no to- the question
whether a State can lawfully issue
scrip . cities and towns have done
It; but it is uncertain just how the
courts would interpret the provision
of the United States Constitution that