Evening star., 1936-09-13
FARMERS HOLDING
INDIANA BALANCE
Courted by Both Factions.
G. 0. P. Also Needs Break
With Labor.
BY WILLIAM l. TOMS.


INDIANAPOLIS. Ind, September
12.-f the Republican party in In
diana Is able to command anything
like an even split with the labor and
agricultural votes in November it will
have the Democratic opposition lit
orally backed against the wall.
What proves true with the national
party ticket seems destined to obtain
with the State tickets If present polls
mean anything. In other words, the
Democrats are easing up considerably
in their early fears that the separa-
ton of the State and national ballots
might permit the former to lag. Sys-
tematic Democratic polls indicate that
President Franklin D. Roosevelt and
M. Clifford Townsend, the Democratic
nominee for Governor, will wind up
in about the same bracket.
As to the labor vote, the Democratic
generals feel reasonably secure on the
national score and are doing every
thing possible to soft-pedal the fact
that Townsend as State Representa-
tive l3 years ago fought the full-crew
railroad bill. The fact that Townsend
is running right along with Roosevelt
in the Democratic polls has cheered
majority party leaders.
w. p. A. Men for Landon.
But things are by no means rosy
for the party in power. despite these
wisps of encouragement. When the
head OF a plumbers union in this
city attempted a few nights ago to
commit the organization to the sup
port of Roosevelt a vote was forced
from the floor and the result was a
tie. Polls taken this last week at the
Indiana State Fair showed numerous
instances where unskilled laborers
employed on w. P. A. jobs expressed
their intention of voting for Alfred
M. Landon, the G. o. P. nominee.
Whereas the capital city of Indiana
is national headquarters for several
Of the largest unions, the State can
not be termed strictly an organized
State. The unorgani2ed undoubtedly
predominate and might not be so
easily swayed. Poll takers report that
the principal complaint of workers
on w. P. A. jobs is that there are
few promotions and utterly no future
in that line Of endeavor.
The agricultural vote has both sides
puZzeld as never before, the best evi-
dence of this being the systematic
campaigns of the Democrats to hold
the farm vote and the Republicans
to win it over.
Landon Margin 3 to-.
A daily newspaper poll and one
taken by a large farm periodical
showed visitors at the Indiana State
Fair favoring Landon over Roosevelt
by margin of close to to 2. The
respective gubernatorial candidates
kept good pace with the presidential
nominees. The showing of these
polls actually has given the Repub-
lcan State organization one of its
worst cases of jitterS in many years,
their fear being that the reports will
State organization to greater efforts
than 1t has shown to date.
One of the interesting features of
the State Fair polls has been the fact
that Roosevelt ran slightly ahead OF
Landon on the day the President Wis
ited the fair. 1t was a Democratic
crowd in every sense. Townsend,
present State commissioner of agri-
culture, sent out hundreds Of free fair
passes to his personal and political
friends, county agents, party candi-
dates and Others But the ordinary
visitors to the State Fair paid the
regular SO cents admission.