Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1936-07-23
SEEN and HEAR
around tie
NATIONAL CAPITAL
By Carter Field

could if he wished GO any of the
three things authorized. He so far
T has taken advantage of only one OF
these powers. This was when he
marked down the gold value of the
dollar to 59.06 cents. So that, I'm
der the powers in this act, he
could still mark it down to SO cents
of the original dollar. This would
be considerably in excess of nine
cents of the present dollar. 1t
would be 9.06 cents of the original
gold dollar. It would reduce the
present dollar slightly more than IS
cents in it's present gold value.
Which would be Immediately effec-
tive in making the dollar just that
much less valuable in foreign ex-
change, hence making it that much
easier to sell American goods
abroad, and that much more expen-
sive for Americans to buy foreign
goods.
President Roosevelt, it so hap
pens, has no present intention OF
exercising this power. There has
been firm conviction in Wash
ington for some time that France
would devalue the franc, and that
then Britain would let the pound
sterling drift down to equalize the
French cut. AS a matter of fact,
there has been surprise in Wash
ington that this has not occurred
long since.
When and if this occurs the Pres
ident will face real problem as
to whether to meet the change
so vastly important in foreign
trade. But the best information
obtainable is that he is not in
clined to exercise his further pow
er to devaluate the dollar even I'M
der this provocation.
Murray Causes Worry
"Alfalfa Bill' Murray of Okla
homa is really causing more con-
Germ among Democratic chieftains
by his ''walk" than is Alfred E
Smith. Or James A. Reed. Or
cambridge Colby. Or Joseph B.
Ely. Or Judge Daniel F. Cohalan.
The answer is very simple. Elec-
tions are decided by electoral votes
mot by the size of popular major
tiles in any particular states. A
majority of 700, while little
nerve-racking when the returns are
coming in, is just as good as 3O0,-
900 when the electoral votes are
counted.
1t so happens that the Democrat
ic strategists do not regard the
three states in which the "quintup-
lets' reside as doubtful. New
York, the home of Al Smith, Colby
and Judge Cohalan, they regard as
Gin the bag" Massachusetts,, the
home of former Governor Joseph
B. Ely, they regard as cinch on
account of their confidence in Gov
ernor James M. Curley's oratory.
Missouri, the home of Former Sem
ator Reed, is conceded even by the
Republicans as probably for Roose-
welt. Naturally the Democrats are
not worried about the "Show Me"
state at all.
But Oklahoma is something else
again. 1t is normally Democratic,
but two factors are threatening to
upset this normal alignment. One
is the fact that, over long period
of years, Governor Alfred M. Lam
don, as an independent oil opera
tor, has been building up friend
ships. AS told in a recent dis
patch, it was one of these friend
ships-that with Former Repre-
sentative Charles Hamilton of
Western New York, who went to
Kansas to go in the oil business
about 16 years ago-which was so
potent in lining up the New York
delegation for Landon.
In fact, it is the old friendships
of Landon with men who happened
to be influential in a number of
eastern states that made the eff
forts of the "Old Guard" to stop
Landon so futile. ...r
Lehman Relents 1,
The oil fields of Oklahoma hap,
pen to be mostly in the northern
part of the state. Whereas it hap
pens that the influence of "Alfalfa
Bill' Murray is strongest in the
southern part. Putting the two
things together, friends of Landon
who have been sizing up the situa-
ton are predicting he will carry
the state by a very comfortable
majority. Which would not worry
the Democrats so much if the Re
publicans were not offering to bet
on it!
This, plus the situation in Mime
sofa and North Dakota caused by
the prospect that the Lemke-
LCoughlin-T Townsend ticket will pull
votes away from the New Deal, is
the explanation of why there was
such terrific pressure on Cover
nor Herbert H. Lehman of New
York to reconsider his determine
ton not to run again for governor.
The pressure proved successful.
The private view of many New
York Democrats is that the state is
fairly safe for Roosevelt if Leh-
man is on the ticket, and doubt
full, if not swinging toward the Re
publican side, if Lehman is not