Evening star., 1936-06-07

in the matter and not put him in
such a position.
Despite the fact that the Landon
band wagon has been rolling fast,
the KanSan has not been without op-
position in the pre-convention cam
paign. Borah, great American, a
great orator, has been one of his
most insistent competitors. Borah's
weakness as a candidate for the
nomination, however, lay in the fact
the great industrial States of the
East were afraid Of his ideas on
currency and imitation, and disliked
his attacks on the Republican organi-
zation and big business. 1t was this
very opposition to Borah in the East
that aided Landon in that section of
the country. Col. Knox, a forceful
speaker, a follower of Theodore Roose-
velt in the Rough Riders of '98 and in
the Bull Moose party Of 1912, sought
vigorously to overcome the Landon
boom.
Vandenberg. although he held aloof,
declaring that he was not candidate
for the nomination, has in recent
months come more and more to the
front as the most effective critic of the
Roosevelt administration. There are
plenty who still believe that Vanden-
berg. if nominated, would make a
more effective candidate than Landon.
Spell of Landon Dominant.
The great mass of delegates to the
Republican National Convention are
uninstructed for any candidate. They
might, it is true, do anything they
wished in the matter of selecting a
candidate. But the Landon spell is
still on them. The Landon strength
and it seems minimum strength
on the first ballot may be summarized
as follows: l83 delegates have been
instructed to vote for him by State
and district action, and there are 165
uninstructed delegates who have
formally announced that they are
for Landon. This is a total of 348
votes, that may be expected to be
cast for him Immediately. The
chances are. however, that with such
q large vote, others will swing to
him as the roll call of the delegations
proceeds in the convention.
The convention has two other major
tasks besides nominating a presi-
dental candidate. It must nominate
vice presidential candidate and
write platform If it is conceded
that the nomination of Landon is
almost certain, the convention still
has important work to do. The party
platform must be liberal, the great
majority of the Republicans insists,
as well the party nominee for Presi-
dent. At the same time, the plat
form must attack the Roosevelt New
Deal. Two of the planks which will
take much care and consideration are
those dealing with agriculture and
the currency. The Republicans are
intent upon giving the farmers salts
faction-while doing away with the
agricultural adjustment administra-
tian as it has been and is now
operated to cut down production.
While some of the Republicans are
demanding declaration for return to
the old gold standard in currency
matters, there are many in the agri-
cultural West, who are opposed to such
a move. The Republicans are ex-
pected to-, write into their platform
promises Of social security and old
age pensions-but in forms far diff
ferent from those Of the New Deal.
vandenberg May Be on Ticket.
Landon insists that he has made no
deals" with any one for the vice
presidential nomination. There is no
evidence that. he has However, there
is little doubt that many of his
friends would be glad to see Senator
Vandenberg nhave second place. on
the ticket with him .Vandenberg. it
is reported, does not want this
second place nomination. But he
might not decline It,, 1t might be
worthwhile for the convention to take
chance. -.
Certain Republicans have clung to
the idea that there should be a
coalition ticket with a Democrat
opposed to Roosevelt nominated for
second place. It is not going to
happen, for !thes simple reason that
the great majority Of the Republicans
feel it would be "a foolish move and
serve no very good purpose.
Stiewer, Taft Of Ohio, Dickinson
of Iowa, wadswortll OF New York,
Lowdsn e6 Illinois and Knox Of