Evening star., 1934-10-29
ThePoliticalM Mill
By g. Could Lincoln.

! PHILADELPHIA, Pa, October as.-
Upton sincl&ir's sensational candi-
daey for Governor Of California on
] the Democratic ticket, which shot up
like rocket dwing and Immediately
after the primary, is threatening to
fall to the ground. Failure to receive
Roosevelt administration support,
plus the aroused sentiment Of all the
people in California who own any
thing and wish to keep on owning 1t.
seems to have turned the tide against
4 the former Socialist and his i. p. ]. G.
plan.
Sinclair has the Democratic nomi-
nation. II he u to be defeated at
the polls, that will probably mean
the victory of the Republican candi-
date, Gov. Frank w. Merriam. This
would be q bitter pill for the Roose-
welt New Dealers any way you look
at 1t. Furthermore, such q victory
might mean trouble for the Demo-
Gratis In the II congressional districts
which they low hold, serious trouble.
In some Democratic quarters . hope
SINNERS that Sinclair may stage an
eleventh-hour withdrawal from the
gubernatorial race and throw his sup
port to Raymond L. Haight, candi-
date Of the Progressive and Common
wealth parties, on the ground that
Mr. Haight might accept the Demo-
cratic party platform, which contains
much of the Sinclair program. Haight
would be more acceptable to the DEM
ocratic administration and his cleo
tion would be considered far less of
a political rebun than the victory Of
Merriam.
Sinclair'S nomination by large vote
In the Democratic primary upset all
the calculations Of the national DEM
ocratic leaders, who had favored
George Creel. With Creel nominated
by the Democrats and with Senator
Hiram johnson having the Demo-
cratic as well as the Republican nom
nations, things would have looked
particularly rosy for the Democratic
party in California. The organiza- =
tion hoped for the johnson Progress
sive support for all its candidates
under such conditions.
Sinclair hurried East Immediately
after his nomination to call upon
President Roosevelt at Hyde Park. He
spent q couple Of hours with the Pres
ident and emerged radiating conf
dence. In his opinion the President
was going along with him. He saw
Chairman James A. Farley Of the
Democratic National Committee, who,
according to Sinclair, said, Call me
Jim" Mr.. Sinclair headed West again,
confident that he had the national
organization with him. If he did have
that support then, it seems to have
vanished now. The President has
declined to say q word for him, and
more recently Mr.. Farley has re-
pudiated letter sent to . Democratic
worker in California indorsing Sin
| clair and the whole Democratic ticket,
saying that the sending of such q
letter was mistake" made by one
Of the ONCE force. In addition, Mr..
Creel, who had indicated he would
60 along with Sinclair after the adop-
tion Of the Democratic platform, has
charged that Sinclair u still cam
paigning on his Z. P. I. c. plan a.
originally written and has deserted
him.
| +
Whether the administration has
decided that support Of Sinclair
would injure Democratic chances in
many other States or whether 1t Is
not favorable to the Sinclair pro-
gram 1t seems to be definitely of
Sinclair. Furthermore, the gathering
storm clouds Of opposition to Sinclair
have made his election extremely
doubtful. From q political point Of
view 1t would be more desirable to
have Sinclair defeated without OH
cial administration support than to
60 down as q favored candidate Of
the Roosevelt New Dealers. The Cali
fornia political mess has become de-
cidedly an aggravated cause Of en- =
barrassment to the administration. Up
here in Pennsylvania, it is reported
that q letter giving Endorsement to
George II. Earle, candidate for Gov
ernor, apd Joseph r. Guffey, candi-
date for Senator, on the Democratic
ticket, written by Postmaster General
Farley, to q Democratic worker, Is
couched in the identical language of
the letter sent ''by mistake" to Cali
fornia indorsing Sinclair and the en-
tire Democratic ticket In that State.
Word for word, the letters read the
same, 1t Is said. Republicans are
chuckling over the incident, although
no one has suggested that the letter
supporting Earle and Gufiey will be
withdrawn. Sinclair and his pro-
gram would not sit well with the
people OF Pennsylvania right now,
and to have the Democratic eandi-
dates here placed on the same terms
with Sinclair by the Democratic ma
tional chairman would be q sad blow
to the Democrats Of Pennsylvania.
-
| Politicians and the rank and file
voters are waiting in Pennsylvania to
see what the senatorial Investigation
Committee intends to do about its
inquiry into the expenditures made
for Senator David A. Reed, Repub-
lican, in the primary campaign. Will
1t undertake in the last week of the
campaign to go ahead with a public
inquiry, or will 1t wait until after
the election? Reed supporters say
there Is nothing to the charges. Money
expended for the candidacy Of William
A. Schnader, Republican candidate for
Governor, 1t is explained, cannot be
charged UP to the Reed campaign,
even though the Democrats may wish
to do So, Gov. Pinchot, who was
Reeds opponent in the Republican
senatorial primary last May, has issued
blast asking why the senatorial
committee did not respond to his
request for an investigation Of the
Reed expenditures at the time of the
primary campaign, instead Of waiting
until just before the general cleo
tion. He charges that it is merely
an attempt now to help Guffey, the
Democratic nominee, whom Pinchot
has attacked as UNIT for the ofice.
In some quarters it is suggested that
the inquiry has been launched by
Senator Byrnes, Of South Carolina,
and his committee In an effort to
head on material spending Of money
by the Republicans in the general
election. The late william s. Ware was