Evening star., 1936-07-17
A Matter of Arithmetic.

A Matter of Arithmetic.
Former Gov. Joseph B. Ely of Massa-
chusetts is making good on his threat to
support the Republican national ticket
II the Democrats renominated President
Roosevelt. In Springfield yesterday Mr..
Ely clearly signified his intention. He
said, after a conference with John Ham,
ilton. chairman of the Republican Ma
tional Committee, that he intended to
follow Democratic ideals of government.
In the present campaign, he added, those
ideals are supported by the Republican
party, not the Democratic.
Mr.. Ely is one of the five prominent
Democrats who signed an appeal to the
delegates at the Democratic national
convention in Philadelphia urging that
they discard President Roosevelt and
nominate a genuine" Democrat. 1t
was not long ago that Ely was a real
leader in the Democratic party in his
own State. He was selected to place
Alfred E. Smith in nomination for Presi-
dent at the 1882 Democratic convention.
Since that time Gov. James NJ Curley
has become the dominant figure in Dem
ocratic politics in the Bay State.
How much effect will the detection of
Mr.. Ely from the Roosevelt cause have
in Massachusetts,? How much effect
will the opposition of former Senator
James A. Reed to the New Deal PreSi-
dent have in Missouri, and how much
effect will the opposition of former Gov.
Alfred E. Smith have in New York?
The Roosevelt leaders insist that these
Democrats are back numbers. They
ridicule the idea that they can influence
an appreciable number of votes in their
States, or in other States.
AS democrat after Democrat an
nounces his opposition to Roosevelt and
his support of Landon, the New Dealers
might, if they wished, do little sum in
arithmetic. They might ask themselves
as starter how many persons are for
Roosevelt today who were against him in
1882. And then they might ask who
is against Roosevelt today who was with
him four years ago.
It is true that Smith and Ely and
other prominent Democrats who are now
attacking Roosevelt and his admins
tration all supported the President four
years ago. Indeed, the aid of Smith
and Ely was eagerly sought by the Roose-
velt leaders in the campaign of 1882, and
to their support was credited Roosevelt
victory in several of the States. There
is evidence that many of the voters who
supported Roosevelt then are against
him today. On the other hand, what
evidence is there at hand that any who
were against him four years ago are for
Roosevelt today? There is even falter-
ing in the ranks of the Republican pro-
greSsiveS who opposed the reelection of
Herbert Hoover in 1882 and supported
Roosevelt. Who believes that had he
lived, Senator Bronson Cutting of New
Mexico would have been a Roosevelt
follower today?
If there has been a swing to the Re-
publican national ticket on the part
of Democrats, what of the Republicans
who stepped into Democratic pastures
four years ago? Does the Roosevelt high
command believe that it will have the
support of those Republicans again this
year? Obviously it does or the claims
of victory made by Chairman Farley OF
the Democratic National Committee
would be baseless-as they may well be
in any event.
Three labor leaders, officers of the So
called "Labor's Non-Partisan League
have recently made claims that much
is being done by the League for the re-
election of President Roosevelt. All three
of them supported Roosevelt four years
ago. They do not, personally, add to his
strength today. They make claim that
they will be able to deliver to Roosevelt
the vast majority of the votes of or
ganized labor this year. They may be
able to do this, although it is by no
means certain. The working men of
America have been singularly independ-
ent in their politics. But the point is
that all of the votes which these labor
leaders are claiming for Roosevelt today
were probably cast for him in 1892.
After all, it will be a matter of arith-
IL