Evening star., 1936-10-11
BY MARK SULLIVAN.

to Mr.. Roosevelt and acutely
disturbed by his administration
have nevertheless reasoned out
for themselves q justification for vot-
ing the Democratic ticket next month.
Many are in the South. They admit
that about every reason why the South
should vote Democratic has been de-
stroyed by Mr.. Roosevelt and the New
Deal. They admit that the New Deal
makes a head-on assault against States
rights. long dear to the South. They
understand fully that the Democratic
party as q national organization Is
soliciting and apparently receiving
masses Of colored votes in the North;
that the Democratic party as o ma
tional organization is now committed
to the policy of encouraging Negro
voting and Of electing and appointing
Negroes to office in proportion to their
ratio Of the population. The Southern
Democrats do not see how the party
can do this as q national policy-and
at the same time permit the South to
retain its local policy of discouraging
colored voting. Much Of the South
thinks it imperative to discourage
Negro voting in sections where the
colored population 'outnumbers the
whites. and where therefore mass vot-
ing by the Negroes might result in
complete sets of colored office holders.
Yet other Democrats feel acute dis
approval of the fundamental theories
of the New Deal. Nevertheless they
hesitate to vote the Republican ticket
In their dilemma they do what men
similarly situated often do, they in
vent an argument which justifies them
in remaining Democratic in November.
The argument is plausible. 1t is not
merely an excuse; it has some sub
stantial Justification It Is sincerely
made by conscientious men. It calls
for consideration and respect.
Senate Majority Certain
The argument begins by saying that
no matter what happens on November
there Is bound to be a Democratic
majority in the Senate This is true
So many Democratic Senators were
elected for six-year terms in the land
slides of 1882 and 1884, that even if
every senatorial election next No.
vember were won by Republicans, the
Democrats would still have a majority
of the Senate. The Senate Is abso-
lutely certain to have a Democratic
majority for two years at least.
Starting with this condition, the
reasoning runs thus: If Gov. Landon
were elected President the Democratic
majority in the Senate would in
stinctiyely resist him. They would
become self-consciously and aggres-
sively Democrats. They would in
stinctively and naturally be an op-
position party-opposition, that is, to
Mr.. Landon. The Republican Presi-
dent presumably would be following a
conservative course, while the Demo-
Gratis In the Senate, instinctively pre-
senting q contrast, would tend toward
radicalism.
There would be a duplicate Of the
condition during the last two years Of
Mr.. Hoover's term, when the Presi-
dent was a Republican while the DEM
ocrats controlled one branch of Con-
gress, the House. The Democratic
majority in the House, led by Speaker
Garner, was actively partisan in op-
position to the Republican President.
That division-the President Repub-
lican, the House Democratic-made
it difficult for the Government as a
whole to make headway against the
depression. Speaker Garner was re-
ported to have said that the Demo-
Gratis would do just enough to save
the country-but not enough to save
Mr.. Hoover, In the presidential elec-
ton that was just ahead. The division
was a material handicap to recovery,
q material contribution to the depres-
sion going farther than it needed to.
1t was an unhappy condition. 1t is