Evening star., 1935-12-16
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

Presidential candidates. and discus
sion thereof are officially taboo at the
current session of the Republican Ma
tional Committee in Washington, but
are uppermost in members minds, Tor all
of that Chairman Fletcher's cohorts
foregathered in spirit Of militant conf
dence They radiate impressive hope OF
a victorious fight against the New Deal.
Optimism is so fervid that q. Q. +.
leaders profess to believe that the 1den-
tity of their nominee is Of secondary
importance-that any good man can
make the grade. Hence the assertion
that the scramble for the nomination is
lively because the party no longer looks
upon it as an empty honor, but as
prize worth winning. This rose-tinted
vision. coupled with prospects of a Fat
campaign fund, clothes the National
Committee conclave with an all-per-
vasive atmosphere of good cheer.
Unquestionably the momentary fea-
ture of the Republican preconvention sit
uation is the Landon boom. Without
ANYTHING in the nature of a formal Lam
don-for- President organization, the Gov
ernor's star is visibly in the ascendant,
with more and more party authorities
veering around to the belief that ne
personif1es on the whole higher per-
centage of logical eligibility than any
other aspirant It's expected not to be
long now before the Landon movement"
will be officially launched and a still
hunt for delegates conducted by profess
sionals who know the art. Some admir-
ers of the kansas Coolidge" feel that
the weakest Joint in his armor is that
he has been trotted out too early in the
game and can be correspondingly shot
at. Indications are diScernible that the
Democrats look upon the Topeka man
as the most formidable timber at the
Republicans command. All of the pos
sibilities"-Landon, Hoover, Borah Knox,
Vandenberg, Dickinson, Mills, Fish. Nc
Nary and the rest Of them-have listen
ing posts carefully manned in their re-
spective interests during the National
Committee powwow. Nomination pros
poets should be clarified after the meet
ing of the elephants managerial minds.
Townsend plan talk is rampant among
Republican chieftainS, not in the sense
of its espousal, but as matter OF Won
der about the extent to which the thing
will cut across and into regular party
lines. In the quest for popular issue
politicians are curious as to whether any
of the Republican BarkiseS might be
willing to fiirt with Townsendism. More
than one candidate for Congress, yearn-
ing for f-perpetuation, is expected ere
long to take the $200-a-month panacea
to his bosom. But it's doubted that any
would-be Republican opponent of F. D.
R., even though conscious Of its vote
catching possibilities, would succumb to
the temptation, and, rising above prin-
ciple, swallow the good California doc
tors prescription.
President Roosevelt's desire to increase
the strength of the Naval Reserve to
10000 men, as compared to what he
calls the much too low present COM
plement of, roundly, 10000, has IN mlno
the necessities of the treaty fleet" which
the United States will possess IN 1897
as well as national emergencies OF the
invisible future. Although the plan has
these long distance requirements in view,
its revelation at this time is probably
not wholly unrelated to the London
Naval Conference. 1t is a plain lndlca-
ton to all whom it may concern that
Mr.. Roosevelt is welded to the idea OF
a fully manned and fully trained fleet
of the maximum strength in tons, guns
and men that treaty limits may permit.
y
Alice Roosevelt Longworth is about to
Join the grand army of newspaper col.
umnists. Beginning early In JANUARY