Evening star., 1935-10-28
THE POLITICAL
MILL
By G.. Could Lincoln.

ton on Saturday by margin OF some
thing like to 1. The favorable votes
were cast by farmers in 48 States, farmers
who have been receiving Government
checks for cutting down production of
hogs and corn, and by some farmers who
have not received the checks, but who may
like to receive them in the future. 1t
seems almost strange, under all the cir
cumStances, that one-seventh Of the vote
was cast against the continued payment
of these Government benefits, by farmers
who apparently prefer to run their own
business rather than to be dictated to
by the Washington Government.
If Republicans in the farm States Of the
West have hesitated in the past to attack
the A. A. A., are they any more likely
to attack that part of the Roosevelt New
Deal in the light of the results of the
corn-hog referendum? 1t does not seem
likely. And will the Roosevelt New Deal
erS fail to advance the A. A. A. as a
prime issue in their favor during the
coming national campaign? 1t seems en-
tirely likely. The farmer vote in these
States of the West is of vast importance
The farmer will either be in the act Of
receiving checks for his compliance with
the A. A. A. programs when election time
rolls round next year, or he will be look
ing forward to getting his hands on the
checks.
This A. A. A. business. however has
another side in the political picture.
How far is the administration going in
praise Of the farm program and the
higher prices which the consumers are
vi M Nrn -. III
in the great cities of the country, in the
industrial centers, where they do not
raise pigs or corn or wheat, but merely
consume them? On the other hand,
will not the Republicans attack the
A. A. A. and all its works in these urban
sections of the country, and with some
success?
If the Republicans, in their national
platform next year, attack the A. A. A.,
where will they get the votes in the
States OF the West regarded as q sine
qua non for G. 0. P. victory? It's
tough problem. The G. o. p. is worried
about the whole matter. Republicans
are striving to work out some substi-
tute farm program of their own. They
may keep it under cover until the time
of the national convention next June,
IL lAiSy Noll lIIlQ d SuDSlllulC lIldt lllCy
think will appeal to the farmers and at
the same time not make the consumers
antagoniStc.
The corn-hog referendum of Satur-
day is accepted as an Endorsement in the
West of the Roosevelt New Deal in ad-
ministration circles Another referen-
dunn on the New Deal is coming a week
from tomorrow. 1t will take in the
Empire State. where an election of the
State Assembly is to be held. At pres
ent the New York Assembly is controlled
by the Democrats by narrow margin.
The Democrats have 76 seats in the
Assembly. the Republicans have 70 and
there is one vacancy in normally DEM
ocratic Assembly district, caused by the
death of the late Louis A. Cuvillier, long
prominent in Democratic politics in New
York. The Democrats are striving des-
perately to hold their present seats and
to gain others. The Republicans are
bent on recapturing control of the
Assembly.
The New Deal has been made the issue
in the New York Assembly campaign.
The election there will not be confined
to any one class of persons-as was the
corn-hog referendum confined to the
corn-hog farmers. If the Republicans
win. the victory will be interpreted as
a definite swing against the New Deal
and as presaging q defeat for Presi-
dent Roosevelt next year in his own
home State. If, on the other hand, the
Democrats keep control Of the Assem-
bly,. the administration will heave a
sigh Of relief and proclaim broadly that
the President is just as strong as he ever
was in New York and elsewhere.
If the Republicans can win in New
York next week, in spite of all the
Government spending that is going on.
and in spite of the fact that farmers
| in New York have been receiving bene-
| fit checks under the A. A. A. program,
the victory will have some significance.
Indeed. 1t is likely to be held to be even
more significant than the election of q
Republican to Congress in Rhode Island
| last August, which startled the country
| at the time.
While the Democratic chieftains con-
tinue to talk, for publication. about the
| sure victory of the President next year,
they are uneasy over the situation in
| the East. and they are not any too
| sure about what is going to happen in
| that big tier of Middle West States, which
| includes Illinois, Ohio. Indiana and
Michigan. They have had reports, as
| well as the Republicans, that conditions
| have been changing politically. While
| the President may believe that the
| people who ride in the day coaches are
| for him, even if those who ride in the
Pullman cars are against him, his aides
| are not SO certain.
Political sentiment throughout the
| country is being tapped through polls
| Of one kind or another, some conducted
by newspapers. Whether these polls
| have any result on public sentiment,
because of their psychological effect and
the desire of many persons to be on q
! winning side, is constantly recurring
question. However, such polls get under
| the skins of the leaders of political
| parties if they happen to be adverse to
those parties. The Democratic Ma
tional Committee, through Charles
Nicholson, its publicity director. has
launched an attack on polls, particularly
where newspapers supposed to be anti
administration are publishing the polls,
Some of these polls show that President
Roosevelt has lost considerable degree
of popular support.
Election day this year is limited. It
is an OF year in every sense Of the word.
Outside of the election Of the Assembly
| in New York, q Statewide contest, and
| the election Of Governor In Kentucky,