Evening star., 1936-07-15

IOllOWcTS VI MI. AculkC CIldIkc lllhL
In some States persons who are not
true believers are appropriating the
name Union" and circulating petit
tions to pre-empt that name on the
ballot AS to the accuracy Of this
charge, We have only the suspicion
Of some Of the true Unionites. But
things like that have been done in
politics. About all we can say is that
getting any third party on the ballots
of all the States Is an arduous and
meticulous process attended by many
hurdles, including some hurdles which
are easy to be set up by persons and
groups unfriendly to the third party.
Assuming Mr.. Lemke gets his ticket
on the official ballots in substantially
all the States, how large a vote will
he get? Ordinarily. third parties
don't make much showing. True,
in 1912, Theodore Rooseyelt's Progress
sive party got SO per cent of the total
vote-but that was hardly a third
party. It was rather a division of
the Republican party and 1t got more
votes than the Republicans. True,
also, in 1924, the late Senator La Fol-
lette, ST., got II per cent Of the total
vote-but La Follette's third party was
decidedly more formidable than Mr..
Lemke's is apt to be.
Vote Usually Small.
Omitting the cases of Theodore
Roosevelt and La Toilette, third par
ties ordinarily get less than 5 per cent
Of the total vote. usually much less
The largest vote the Socialists ever
got was that of Debs in 1920, which
was less than per cent of the whole.
For generations there was a sepa-
rate prohibition party" Before ma
tional prohibition came in 1920, the
prohibition" third party used to make
much commotion. But the largest
vote 1t ever got was only about 2 per
cent Of the total. As a rule the total
vote Of all third parties combined is
relatively small. Sometimes there have
been five or six third parties, includ-
ing ones like the Farmer-Labor party,
which had ticket in 1920. Barely
has the total vote of all third parties
reached 5 per cent of the whole.
But the bearings of third parties on
elections is not wholly measured by
their proportion of the total vote.
Ordinarily the new third parties Or
ganized for any campaign have a
special animus against whichever of
the two major parties is in power at
the time. They are against whatever
is. Commonly it is because of dis
satisfaction with the party in power
that they start their third movements.
Rule Holds for This Year.
The rule seems to hold in the pres
ent year. 1t is commonly expected that
most Of the Lemke votes will be votes
which. if he were not running, would
go to Mr.. Roosevelt. Similarly, DR..
Townsend. in conversations with news
paper men, expresses particular hos
tility to President Roosevelt. At the
same time 1t is probable that many
of the Townsend followers are persons
who normally vote the Republican
ticket. An informal estimate made by
New York Republican leader says
that of the Townsendites in that
State. some 10 per cent are Repub-
licans. Assuming there is no separate
Townsend ticket, most of these, fol-
lowing their ordinary attachment. will
vote for the Republican candidate for
President. Gov Landon.
Aside from the third party which
Mr.. Lemke and Father Coughlin are
sure to have, and aside from what the
Townsendites may do, there remains
another group of voters, a distinctly
| different group, who might wish a
different third party These are the
orthodox Democrats, mainly conserva-
tive ones, who strongly disapprove
President Roosevelt.
Copyright, 1850