Evening star., 1935-10-20

- talked ABOUT IOT Tie Ncpuu-
lican presidential nomination
4 next year is Gov. ALI M. Lam
don of Kansas His name Is on the
lips of many Republican leaders
throughout the country. In the East
business men, persons of all kinds,
have heard of him; they ask, will it
be Landon?"
This cropping for some one is a
phase of the present situation. 1t
reflects a wish that now, a year in
advance of the election, there might
be general agreement on some one Re-
publican, so that the ensuing year
might be devoted to building him up,
making his name and personality ia
miliar to the public. This sentiment
in turn reflects two things: One is the
wish of opponents of the New Deal
to find some one to rally around and
TO get into action. The other is the
feeling widespread. whether accurate
or no) that the Republican nomina-
tion is not likely to go to any one
already nationally known, such as ex-
President Hoover or Senator Borah
or the two justices of the Supreme
Court occasionally mentioned. Ac-
cepting the premise that the well
knowns' are unavailable, that the
nomination must go to an unknown" :"
people wish to fix upon some particu-
lar unknown" right away. so as to
give time to make him familiar to
the public.
OF this cropping for a candidate Gov.
Landon is the present beneficiary. So
far as is known, he would live up to
the necessary specifications. A con-
crete feature of the present situation
is the feeling that any really good
Republican candidate can defeat Mr..
Roosevelt. For this view there is much
justification.
Those Who Vote Against"
If Mr.. Roosevelt is defeated next
year it will be by Against" votes, by
votes against him. 1t was the same
with Mr.. Hoover in 1892; he was de-
feated. and Mr.. Roosevelt elected, by
the Against" votes The people, in
an abnormal mood due to the long de-
preston, wanted a change, wanted
some one else, new President. Their
minds were directed toward voting Mr..
Hoover out.
In such situation, if 1t lasts. it is
enough that the Republican candidate
be any good man.
Into this specification for a candi-
date Gov. Landon fits: probably he
more than fits. 1t is apparent he is
more than merely "any good man"
He has made fine record as Governor
Of Kansas. Especially a record of
economy and keeping expenses below
outgo-and that is a record which
commends Gov. Landon for the pres
ent national need. Gov. Landon is
recommended to the country by such
diverse persons as progressive William
Allen White of the Emporia Gazette
and conservative former Vice Presi-
/ dent Curtis-than which there could
be no greater diversity.
Against Gov. Landon there is one
potential impeachment which. if it be-
comes actual, will make it impossible
either to nominate him or to elect
him. Il am careful to say the impedi-
ment is as yet potential, and may dis
appearD
A. A. A. Is the Crucial Point.
The impeachment is A. A. A. Whether
Gov. Landon supports A. A. A, dc
not know. I have seen no express
sion of opinion from him. One of his
sponsors. however, Republican Sena-
tor Arthur Capper of Kansas. says
that kansas is for A A A" and
adds that the Republican party must
make no attack upon A. A. A. Il
to be until next Spring. then presum-
ably Gov. Landon can hardly get the
delegation from his own State with.
out. saying that he, too. is for A A A
But if Gov. Landon Identifies himselt
with A. A. A., then assuredly he vii
have opposed to him much more thar
! half the delegates in the Republican
National Convention. For by next
Spring, if not already, the high cost
| of living will be such that among
consumers everywhere no candidate
identified with an artificially high
price for food can avoid their con-
centrated displeasure. And there are
many more consumers who oppose A
A. A. than there are Midwest farmer;
who favor it.
If kansas is for A. A. A." then
Kansas is infatuated; infatuated by
the high-powered propaganda from
/ A. A. A. headquarters in Washington
that floods the farmers and by the
pep meetings." with which. news
dispatches say, the Midwest farmers
are being inspired by employees OF
A. A. A. Kansas is further infatuated
by not knowing fully what A. A. A. is
Because Kansas is mainly a wheat
corn and hog growing State, it knows
only the milder part of A. A. Ait
knows only the voluntary contracts
which the farmer can take or leave
and the twice-a-year checks which
descend as gentle rain from Wash
ington. Kansas does not know the
compulsory part of A. A. A., the re-
quirement that no farmer can raise
and sell more than five bushels OF
potatoes without Government per-
init under penalty of fine and i'm
prisonment. And Kansas does not
know that the inevitable final stage
of A. A. A, unless it is arrested, is
State-owned farms run on the COL
lectivist basis, as in Russia, the Sys-
tenn which any one reading Prof
Tugwells books must infer that he
admireS. Kansas does not know that
infaliioly, as surely as iron ore fed
into a mill comes out steel beams, so
surely must A. A. A., if kept as a
whole, end in a state of society in
which every business and every man
in every occupation will be regi-
mented as completely as potato rais-
ing is now attempted to be regulated.
Would Vote for "Original."
The leaders of thought in Kansas
and the friends of Gov. Landon, who
include the best men in the State,
are seriously lacking in duty and fore
sight If they fail to tell Kansas what
A. A. A. means, and fail to tell both
Kansas and Gov. Landon that no one