The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-06-14
UTILITY FIGHT
MADE MINTON
SENATE CHOICE
$4,000, 900 Rate Cuts Put
Democratic Hope in
PubIic'S Eye.
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ton and his conversion of the Gov
ernor to his views have left dis
cord in the party by affronting
United States Senator Frederick
Van Mugs.
Mr.. Greenlee has established Gov
ernor McNutt as the head of the
Democratic party in Indiana and
Senator Van Mugs may have had
some illusions along that line him
self.
If he had, they should be dissi-
pated thoroughly by now in view of
the Governors refusal to accept the
senate choice of the senator-Mayor
Reginald H. Sullivan of Indianap-
oils.
Van Nuys' Hold Fails
The Van Mugs leadership failed
dismally except in its iron control
of the big Marion county delegation,
which stood practically steadfast
under the stewardship of E. Kirk
Mckinney, Van Mugs appointee to
the head of the Home Owners Loan
Corporation.
Inability of Senator Van Mugs
and Governor McNutt to get to-
gether on a senate choice was
marked by a series of deadlocked
conferences.
The senator didn't show up the
morning of the convention, after a
parley lasting until 5 a.. m. Many
thought he vas Sulking in his tent,
like a modern Achilles, but the
facts are that the senator is in i'll
health and shortly will take a trip
for a rest.
The Governor and his lieutenants
were in charge of the convention,
and the voting went as scheduled,
except that the administration pro-
gram slipped one ballot.
Three-Way Deal RumOred
Minton was scheduled to win on
the third instead of on the fourth,
wherl a landslide swept him to the
nomination.
There are reports that the pro-
gram went almost completely awry
because of a three-way deal be-
tween the forces of r. Earl Peters,
Clarence Manion and the Marion
county delegation, but they can not
be confirmed.
A switch of the Peters delegates
and the Marion delegates to Mr..
Manion would have done the work,
but it was Manion's st. Joseph
county delegation of n~inety-Six that
definitely swung the tide to Mr.
Minton.
When Mr.. Minton didn't win or
the third ballot, the administration
forces obviously scented danger.
There was a hurried conference on
the convention platform between
the Governor, MI. Greenlee and
Frank McHale, another of the Gov
ernor'S astute advisors.
Hurried Farley Heed
Worried looks and a few words
were exchanged and Mr.. McHale
and Mr.. Greenlee hit the convention
floor. 1t was all I'VE then except
the shouting and that came when
Mr.. Manion, or rather his advisors,
switched the st. Joseph delegates.
The Minton victory, it generally
is agreed, did more than establish the
Governor as the party'S chief. 1t
also placed squarely on his should
erS the responsibility for a senate
victory in the fall.
Republican strategy is being
planned carefully now.
Where the Minton campaigning
will be attacks on Robinson, and
dwelling on Mr.. Minton'S record for
utility regulation, the Republican
blasts will be directed, not at Mr..
Minton, but at the McNutt admin
istration.
The gross income tax law and the
liquor control act probably will be
the focal points of attack.
The Governor will be the "candi-
date" ~campaigned against because
Mr.. Minton is the administration
choice.
Monument to Greenlee
1t was this administration label
attached to Mr.. Minton, it is agreed,
that led Senator Van Mugs to in
sist on Mayor Sullivan as the one
acceptable candidate in the fielo of
eight, against whom nothing dam
aging could be said and to whom
no odor of factionalism clings.
Mayor Sullivan, the senator is
reported to feel, was the one Dem
ocratic candidate who could be
counted on this fall to get Repub-
lican votes that ordinarily would
have gone to Senator Robinson.
The Republican strategists, it is
no secret, feel the same way and
more than one of them has ex-
pressed satisfaction at the Demo-
cratic choice.
Whatever the result this fall, the
Minton nomination stands as a
monument to Mr.. Greenlee's power
in Indiana Democracy.
His position in the party appears
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