Evening star., 1935-11-22
Straws i'm the Wind.

4 The fishing for trends of public senti-
sment in advance of the presidential cam
spaign is on in earnest. Polls on the
popularity of the New Deal and the
ERoosevelt administration and polls to
Sascertain which Republican presidential
possibility has the most appeal to the
voters have been undertaken already by
a number of newspapers and periodicals.
The Literary Digest, which has reputa-
Ntion both for the extent and the accuracy
of its polls, is today publishing the first
sreturns in 10000 900 ballot on the New
Deal. These early figures, 40,053 ballots
sreturned in five Southern and Middle
Western States, show majority against
the New Deal. The percentage an
nounced is So % against and 46.72 for the
"acts and policies of the Roosevelt New
Deal to date" the actual votes being
q ,342 adverse and 1911 favorable.
The results so far announced are
meager. They may be upset by later
& returns 1t is of interest, however, that
publications which have been in the
practice of taking polls on political sub
! jects and candidates have found that the
early returns usually are a criterion for
the final results The five States from
which Literary Digest ballots have been
counted are Georgia and Oklahoma, both
of which support the New Deal, and Iowa,
Kansas and Missouri, all of which vote
against it,
The Literary Digest has conducted sew
eral other polls to test sentiment regard
ing the Roosevelt New Deal. These polls
have indicated progressive decrease in
the popularity of the New Deal. For
example in March and April of 1884, a
year and half ago, ballots were sent to
$1,000 persons. OF those voting 6903 per
cent supported the New Deal and only
30.97 were against it. In May and June
of the same year the poll was expanded
to 100000 persons, and the final re-
suits showed 61.15 per cent for the New
Deal and 1885 against it. A third poll
taken in August and September, 1884,
among the same $1,000 persons who had
been asked to vote in March and April,
found 50.97 per cent favorable to the
New Deal and 4sO3 per cent hostile
to 1t.
The poll in Georgia so far shows a
percentage of 1898 for the Presidents
policies and administration. This is the
State which elected Governor Talmadge.
harsh critic of President Roosevelt and
his New Deal. 1t is pointed out, however,
that in the 1884 poll Georgia gave the
President favorable percentage Of S243.
In Oklahoma the vote in favor of the
New Deal was only 5206 per cent. Both of
these States are traditionally Democratic.
Iowa, Kansas and Missouri are among
the great farm States of the Middle
West. They have been flooded with Gov-
ernment checks for farmers who have
complied with the administrations crop
restrictions. 1t is upon those States that
the Roosevelt leaders have counted for
support next year. Perhaps later returns
will swell the Roosevelt column. But at
the present stage OF the poll these farm
states show dislike of the Roosevelt
policies. Yet it was in these States that
the administration recently triumphed
in the referendum" On continuance of
the ccrn-hog program. This referendum,
however, by no means showed all the
farmers voting-which may explain the
apparent discrepancy. If it should de-
Velop that the Midwest is antagonistic
to the New Deal, after all, the Roosevelt
Democrats will be faced with a real prob
lem, provided the Republicans put for
ward candidate next year who appeals
to that section of the country.