Evening star., 1935-10-20
A Party in Search
of a Leader
By Otoen L. Scott.

tereSt workers without 1rlgntenlng puSl-
ness men, and armed with plan that
will provide for the Nations unemployed
while still balancing the budget.
Judges of qualifications: Herbert
Hoover, former President and William
Edgar Borah, senior Senator from
Idaho.
For the political leader who can fill
the above bill to the satisfaction of the
judges named there awaits the chance
to unite the Republican party and guide
it as presidential candidate into the
coming battle with what promises to be
a divided Democratic party.
A full year before the 1886 election
and nine months before national party
conventions, one after another applicant
for the job has raised his head, only
to find that it served as a target for
sharpshooters within the party.
Now some of the applicants are Won
dering If the judges themselves don't
banker for the job and if the real fight
for leadership isn't between them.
Revealed is the sharp cleavage d.
viding the West from the East and the
South from both the West and the East.
Bounties to farmers that are pleasing
to the West and the South are decided
pain to the East. But tariffs that are
wanted by the industrial East and the
industrial regions of the West are poison
to the cotton South.
That is just sample. Money tinkerlng
that worries the East pleases the rural
portions of the West and the South.
Taxes that upset the East are less i'm
portant in the West and South. But
industrial combinations and controls over
production and prices that are sought
by the industrial East are strongly OPP
posed by much of the West.
In the past both parties have straddled
sectional issues and got away with IT..
But now there is an A. A. A. for the West
designed as an Offset for the tariff that
protects the East; there was an N. R. A.
intended to help the industrial regions;
There is a P. w. A. and w. P. A, with
their spending that spells taxes to come;
there has been money tinkering and
more may be on the legislative fire.
Democrats, while as sharply divided as
the Republicans on experiments OF the
last two and half years. are in office
and can afford to cover up their family
troubles The Republicans as outs de-
string to get back in, must fight their
battles in the open. Cleavages that
showed under the party'S surface for the
last IA years now are out where every one
can see them.
AS a result, the process of creating
and appraising and eliminating aspirants
for the place Of Republican leadership
proves to be highly interesting.
Col Frank Knox. Chicago publisher,
was early in the field as a prospective
seeker after the presidential nomination.
His interest in balanced budget and
the Constitution pleased Eastern leaders.
| Then he fired a broadSide at the high
cost of foodstuffs. Immediately the
| Western section of the party wanted to
know if he was in favor of lower prices
| for farmers. Did he or did he not
| favor the A. A. A?
The colonel sidestepped by coming
out for plan to use Federal funds as a
means of subsidizing the export OF sur
plus farm commodities This plan may
| get much attention if the Supreme Court
| kills the present farm plan, but thus far
| it has failed to touch off more than a
| spark of interest in the West.
& X
After that experience, Col. Knox de-
| cided to let some one else come out in
| front. The honor fell to Gov. ALI Landon
| of Kansas. He is successful western
| Republican Governor who has talked
| economy in Government and has sought
to apply it in Kansas. This suggested
| that here was a man who would interest
| both the East and the West.
But then William Allen White of the
Emporia Gazette revealed that Gov.
Landon was not likely to be deeply moved
| by the constitutional issue. Furthermore,
| Mr.. Landon believed with Harold 1ckeS,
Secretary of the Interior, that the oil
| industry needed Federal Government su-
pervision. He might even favor the
| Guffey little N. R. A" coal law if he
| found that the soft coal industry needed
Federal regulation.
But evidence that the Kansas Gov
ernor might not differ greatly from Presi-
| dent Roosevelt on many issues was not
| all. He appeared to fit the description
of a new Calvin Coolidge" in the matter
| of governmental economy. His State has
a balanced budget.
| X r X
Now the sharpshooters reveal that
| Kansas may have a balanced budget,
l
| funny about it. Official figures show
| that the State contributed 81 per cent
| of the money that went for relief of its
| citizens in 1888 and in 1884, and thus
| far in 1885 has contributed nothing. Mr..
Roosevelt has poured about s54,0O0,00O
into Kansas to feed and care for its
| citizens, while Mr. Landon has been
balancing his budget. The Federal Gov
| ernment met SIS per cent of the bill
| in 1888. 70 per cent in 1884 and 794
per cent in 1885, with localities paying
| the remainder.
Also through the A. A. A. the Federal
| Government has Syphoned around $70,-
| 1000 into Kansas agriculture. Other
| scores of millions were provided by the
Home Owners Loan Corp. and the Farm
| Credit Administration Democrats assert
that Franklin Roosevelt and not Gov,
Landon balanced the Kansas budget
When the shooting around Gov. Landon
had subsidized bit, Herbert Hoover moved
into the limelight.
Mr.. HooverS ideas on spending and
his insistence that the Republican party
attack the New Deal lock, stock and
barrel, appeals to the East. But the
! Western wing of the party quickly re-
vealed its opposition to a Hoover boom.
| It recalls the Federal Farm Board expert
| f1ent and the veto of the old McNary-
Haugen plan of farm relief.
Also on the matter of spending, figures
Il u,aro Y,rcri,1cod tn Sh0uy that Mr. Hoover