Evening star., 1936-08-02
ILLINOIS WATCHES
BIG BILLS" RACE.
Former Mayor of Chicago
CompIicates Politics by
Backing Lemke.
BY JOHN III. CLINE,
Stan Correspondent of The Star.

more CdSCS al uIlCcl Idul sIldOoW al Ooo
the Illinois political battle-ground,
where Republican hopes this year are
running high.
big Bill the Builder" as he was
dubbed during the years he served as
Chicago's most colorful mayor, Is pre-
pared to shoot the works"
After expressing his views on both
major political parties In unprintable
language, Big Bill declared:
I'm going down the line with
Lemke. The people have suffered too
long at the hands OF the Democrats
and the Republicans. I predict that
they will be thrown out this year or
you and will never vote for another
President Of the United States.
They're pretending to laugh at me
now, but wait awhile. You're listen
ing to the next Governor OF Illinois"
Outcome In Doubt.
It Is impossible at this stage OF the
game to appraise the chances Of this
master of mass psychology. The pro-
| fessional politicians. outwardly at
least. are disposed to laugh at him.
Big Bill, they say. Is through. Ger
tainly there is nothing in the present
lineup to indicate that he has real
chance of being elected Governor. but
it is equally certain that he will get
an appreciable number Of votes. The
thing that's worrying the political
leaders Is whether his supporters will
be lured from the Republican or
Democratic ranks.
With Big Bill out OF the picture,
most observers agree that the Re-
publican State ticket has a good
chance of coming in ahead. The
prospects for Gov. ALI M. Landon
and COL Frank Knox do not appear
to be quite so good in this normally
Republican State, which went Demo-
cratic in 1882 by 100000 votes.
During the last two months there
has been an astonishing growth OF
Landon-Knox sentiment in the State,
but there is yet real question as to
whether this sentiment will be trans
lated into votes on November 3. Prior
10 the Cleveland convention the Re
publicans were in the dumps. Many
of them made no effort to con-
ceal their despair and some said
openly that the party didn't have a
chance this Fall. But since the NOM
| ination of Gov. Landon, and partlcu-
larly the selection Of Col. Knox as his
running mate. this attitude has
changed.
Exrl,;~o Had Nou
From party that was beaten before
the fight started they have changed
to an enthusiastic, hopeful crew. They
are working long and hard. Gov. Lam
dons convention kilograms, setting
forth his Interpretation Of the plat
form, and his acceptance speech met
with a favorable response in the State.
The acceptance speech Of Col. Knox
also was well received here. Added
to that is the fact that he Is home
product a factor that may help.
On the other side of the fence the
Democrats are having hard going.
They are in the saddle, it is true, but
unfortunately they are trying to ride
their donkey in different directions.
So bitter is the personal feeling be-
tween Mayor Edward Kelly, Chicago
boss. and Gov. Henry Horner that,
according to their friends. they ignore
each other even to the extent OF re-
fusing to speak when they meet in
public.
The extreme bitterness between
them dates back to the State primary,
when Mayor Kelly. in an excess Of am
bition, put his health officer. DR.. Her
man Bundensen, in the field against
Horner in the race for the nomina-
ton for Governor. Dr.. Bundensen ran
we'll in machine controlled Cook
County, which includes Chicago, but
was badly beaten downstate, and Gov.
Horner was renominated.
Horner Strikes Back.
With the primary out of the way
Gov Horner did not wait long to
strike back at Kelly for this attempt
to throw him overheard
For one thing. he signed the Illinois
permanent registration law despite
the violent opposition OF the Chicago
machine. This bill, beaten twice be-
fore, when it received no support from
the Governor, strikes at the founda-
ton of machine domination in Cook
County. Theoretically, at least, the
legislation should go a long way to-
ward eliminating practices which have
been the subject Of many fraud and
counter-fraud charges in the past
The Republicans claim 1t will enable
them to beat the Democratic machine
this year. At any rate it should make
the stuffing Of ballot boxes a much
more difficult proposition in the future
than it has been in the past.
Gov. Horner also took some SOC
State jobs away from the Cook Coun-
ty machine after the primary fight
These have not been restored, another
factor weakening the machines grasp
on the city.
Democratic National Committeeman
Patrick A. Nash, generally identified
with Kelly, has been seeking to
patch up the difficulties between the
mayor and the Governor. His efforts
have not met with much success and
If he should fail the party will 60
into the election under serious han
dicap.
Relief Situation is Bad.
The relief situation in the State
also is bad. Gov. Horner has been
trying to turn this problem back to
the local communities, which have
been unable or unwilling to handle
it. AS a result relief clients are up
in arms. There are about 145,000
families on relief and some 100000
w. P. A. workers. The latter, in all
probability, are safe for the Demo-
crats-they have been in the past