Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1934-12-03
TheP oliticalMil
By G.. Could Lincoln.

Senator william Z. Borah OF Idaho
has called for q showdown Of strength
between the old guard Republicans
and the progressives. He believes that
the great mass Of the Republican
voters wish a change, with the old
guardsmen out of the picture as party
leaders. 1t WILL be interesting TO see
what the reaction Of the party leaders
Is to the suggestion Of a plebiscite
made by the Idaho Senator. They
are likely to sit tight and let the storm
| blow over Indeed, that Is Just wnat
Charles d. Hilles, vice chairman OF
the Republican National Committee,
has suggested in letter sent to one
of the other members OF the COM
mittee, a letter which called for de-
| nunciation of the old guard by Borah.
Whether the Young Republican
Clubs throughout the country and the
Republican progressives and all those
whom Borah says are through with
the present leadership Of the national
organization follow the revolt plan
advocated by the Senator it is impos-
sible to say at this writing. Undoubt-
edly there is a lot Of strong feeling
about the matter Of reorganization,
and Senator Borah understands it.
There must be strong central figure
to lead a revolt, however. Borah him
self Is such a figure. Whether he will
take that leadership, If the call comes
| 81 III he Itv,,roIf mill houa m danidn
There seems just now to be no other
strong rallying post, no one else in
the Republican party who could rouse
so much interest in such cause.
| Senator Norris of Nebraska, Senator
! Hiram johnson of California and the
| others in the progressive group have
ranged themselves SO strongly with
President Roosevelt and his New Deal
that they do not seem to be enough
| interested in such a movement among
| the Republicans to make bid for
leadership or perhaps even to join it.
r
Forcing reorganization Of the
national committee Of either of the
| major political parties is no easy job.
Some Of the dry Democrats tried
| their best to have John J. Raskoo
| relieved of the national Craftsmanship
after the defeat Of Alfred E. Smith
for President in 1923. They made no
impression whatever, and Raskob
went right on functioning, and in
| the end RaSkob, although he did not
succeed in bringing about the second
nomination Of Smith, had the salts
| faction of having dripping wet plank
written into the 1882 Democratic ma
tional platform After the Roosevelt
landslide in that year, the Repub-
licans agitated for the retirement of
Everett Sanders of Indiana, who had
been former President Hoover's choice
for national chairman. Mr.. Sanders
stayed on until last June. He prob
ably could have remained national
| chairman until today if he had not
voluntarily withdrawn, and perhaps
until the 1886 campaign. The So
| called reorganization of the Repub-
| lican National Committee in Chicago
last June was not much of a re-
| organization at that. There had
been much demand for a new chair
man from the Middle West or the
| West. The selection of the commit
tee, after Mr.. Hilles and Walter
Brown of Ohio had fought it out for
day or two. was Mr.. Henry P.
Fletcher Of Pennsylvania.
49,
Mr.. Fletcher admittedly has been
up against hard job this past few
months. The Republicans faced a
united Democracy, to which had been
added some millions of Republicans
who were disguised with the G. o. P.
and many of whom were receiving
benefits from the administration
under the New Deal recovery laws.
| He found it almost impossible to raise
| adequate campaign funds, either be-
cause the former contributors in gen.
| erous amounts to the Republican
campaign chest felt that the Repub-
licans had no chance to win this year
or because they had gone over to the
enemy. It takes money to run a
campaign, no matter what the purists
in politics may say. The Democrats
really did not need much money. The
| expenditures for relief in the hun
| dreds of millions were right down
their alley. Some Of the Democrats
did not hesitate to tell those millions
on relief rolls that unless the Demo-
Gratis were elected relief would be
| cut of by the Republicans. 1t was
! an amazing campaign in more ways
than one.
Despite Mr.. Borah's demand for
| reorganization of the party, it may be
that the G. o. P. will just have to
| let the New Deal run its course. When
enough Of the people become dis
gruntled, for one reason or another,
they will turn away from the Demo-
Gratis and back to the Republicans.
As long as the country continues to
improve-and there are some EVIL
dences Of business improvement-and
the administration can continue to
! give relief to the destitute, there is
not likely to be an upset. If the
administration will let business run
/ itself more and more. business may
be able to bring quicker revival of
employment and trade. Recent utter
/ ances of administration leaders have
tended to encourage business What
| the next few months bring forth on
| these lines may be of great impor-
] lance.
4 + y
Mr.. Borah not long ago jabbed a
harpoon into the New Deal, declar-
| ing that there had been tremendous
waste in the dealing out of relief and
perhaps worse. He is receiving infor-
nation from lot of different sources.
| If the F. E. r. A., under Harry L.
Hopkins, does not come through with
| a thorough inquiry, Senator Borah
may take the matter to the floor of
the Senate.