Evening star., 1936-09-03

by 10000 to get n..:s 1..s...
a majority. This '1 A~"ien'''
was because the La Toilette third
ticket subtracted materially from the
Democrats. Hoover carried Arizona
against Smith in 1928 by $4,000
majority.
Today as against 1882 there is no
thought. even among the Democrats,
OF another $4,000 landslide for Roose-
welt. A conservative estimate given
me by the Democratic side was about
10000 majority for Mr.. Roosevelt,
which in a State that will cast more
than the $4,000 votes it did four
years ago is not a very comfortable
margin and is, therefore, subject to
considerable variation as the cam
paign progresses.
1t is quite significant that the Re-
publicans do not even privately con-
cede that the State will go Democratic.
They are counting on a swing toward
Landon as the campaign issues are
evolved, but their primary hope lies
in the possibility of a repetition in
principle Of the 1924 result.
Lemke Ticket is Factor.
For there will be a third party
Lemke ticket on the ballot in this
State and that means a number of
Townsend votes separated from the
Roosevelt banner where good many
of them might otherwise go. Until
the strength of this third party trend
is more accurately determined, it
would appear that Arizona is leaning
toward the Roosevelt electoral column.
To get at some of the common
denominators of pro and anti-Roose-
welt sentiment here, I found that
among those opposed to the New
Deal there are accumulated grievances,
growing out of importation of
Canadian cattle, resentment by cattle
rangers against the provisions of the
Taylor grazing act, to some extent
criticism by cotton farmers that they
are losing foreign markets and alfalfa
farmers that the Federal Government
Is encouraging an increase of alfalfa
planting in other sections of the
country, where cotton production has
been curtailed.
Among business men, I found a
rather intense feeling that the national
administration was engaged in q
spending orgy that might have dire
results when the time comes to pay
for it. But was advised on the other
hand, that some of the retail business
people feel very much gratified with
the increase in their business and are
inclined to attribute it to the New
Deal.
Relative Contentment.
Business conditions in the State are
on the whole, good and there is a rela-
tive contentment here which is Of the
kind that usually helps the party in
power. The Democrats boast about
the amount of Federal money that
has been spent here. It interested me
to ascertain upon questioning several
citizens that they did not know
exactly how much had been spent
they had an idea it was way up in
the millions. Actually. it is several
times the annual cost of State govern
ment in Arizona.
Official information made available
to me at the local office of the Ma
tional Emergency Council reveals
that as Of March 81, 1886, the State
OF Arizona was allotted $40, ,445, ,153
for Federal P. w. A. projects and con-
tracts had been let for all but $2,000,-
600 of that sum with actual expendi-
lures being about $38,000,000 on
March 81.
Now exclusive of P. w. A., it appears
that as Of July 10 the total expendi-
lures in Arizona under the 1885
emergency relief act amounted to
100000 of which $5,000,O0O went
to the w. P. A.
Arizona had about $72,O00,000 of
Federal aid of which practically none
is reimbursable. The finances of the
State of Arizona are in fairly good
shape. The Legislature appropriates
about $5,370,000 a year and two
thirds of it is raised by sales tax
and the other third by a direct prop
erty tax. The budget is nicely
balanced.
Likes Santa Claus.
I was curious here to find out what
might have been the sentiment of the
people Of Arizona if the Federal policy
in 1888 and thereafter had been to
loan the money to the States, taking
some sort of promise to pay in the
future over perhaps period of so
years. The answer given me by some
of the most substantial citizens of
both parties was that Arizona would
never have borrowed that much Fed
eral money and would have taken care
of relief and unemployment with only
o fraction of the sum.
But since Federal money was dow-
Ing like the milk and honey of old,
this State has had presented to it
various kinds of improvements which
Arizona not only is glad to have but
the final cost of which it doesn't in
the slightest degree feel embarrassed
about loading on the taxpayers of
other sections of the country. With
such bounties from the Federal Santa
Claus, why Arizona should be re-
garded as a close State and one that
the Republicans believe they have a
fighting chance to win seemed bit
puzzling to me. But maybe the citi-
zens of Arizona, so many of whom are
Independent of party lines, are
counted upon to learn during the
campaign more than they now know
about what's going to happen to busi-
ness and prices of necessities if Fed
eral finances continue as they are
today and invisible sales taxes begin
to make a real dent in the family
budget.
tCopyright. 1936.D