Evening star., 1936-06-21
BY LEMOYNE A. JONES.

TOPEKA-John Daniel Miller
Hamilton, the new chairman Of
the Republican National Com
u mittee, was on train en- route
to Topeka last Sunday when Post
master General James A. Farley's lat
est barrage of epithets aimed at his
favorite target, the Republican party,
appeared. He had just passed an excit-
ing week In Cleveland, winning the
presidential nomination for his man,
Gov. Alfred M. Landon, and he was
evidently tired.
But Mr.. Farley had made the mis-
take of centering his attack on the
man for whom Mr.. Hamilton had won
the nomination, branding Mr.. Landon
a synthetic candidate" and describing
the Landon-Knox ticket as the weak
est" in he partys history. That was
too much for Mr. Hamilton.
The next morning the Democratic
chieftain, who has been blasting away
at the Republican party for four years
and receiving only lengthy, erudite and
polite responses, must have received
something of shock. The morning
papers announced that Mr.. Hamilton
had dismissed Mr. Farley's charges
with the explanation that Mr.. Farley
was scared to death" because he had
lost the East for year and now knew
the West was gone, too. and that he
was just "whistling in the dark as he
goes by the cemetery"
Let Farley Set Tempo.
"If it's going to be a dirty cam
paign,' Mr.. Hamilton's statement con-
cluded, well let him set the tempo
for It,"
In this manner did the gentleman
from "a typical prairie State" let the
gentleman from New York know that
his days of firing away in safety were
over. He was now up against a man
who could answer him in spades, and
could think of nothing he would rather
do than just that.
The alacrity of Mr.. Hamilton's reply
and its terse phrases may have sur
prised some of the older party leaders
who had elected him two days before
almost as much as it did Mr.. Farley.
But residents of Topeka and of Kan
saS. who had known him for years,
merely smiled when they read it.
"John'll teach him, all right" they
opined. That's only start"
The respect which his fellow towns
men have for his political astuteness
was not won overnight by Mr. Hamil-
ton. 1t is the result of years of pa
tient plugging and hard work, during
which he fought at one time or an
other almost every politician in the
State, including the man for whom
he finally got the presidential nomina-
ton. While he may answer Mr. Farley
In his own language, he is as unlike
the Postmaster General as Mr.. Lam
don is unlike former President Calvin
Coolidge. Mr.. Coolidge could never
have been an oil man and Mr. Farley
could never have been a political
leader in Kansas.
Crowds Cheer Return.
Just how much the townspeople
think of Mr.. Hamilton was shown last
Monday, when he returned after a
two-months' absence, during which he
had succeeded in winning the nomina-
ton for Mr.. Landon. The station plat
form was jammed with cheering
crowds, while relocated band played
vigorously.
The rather tall, well-built man who
stepped off the train in a dark Sum-
mer suit and Panama hat seemed to
know every one by his first name, and
was bowling greetings all the way to
the State House from his place in the
impromptu procession. In Kansas al
most every one is known by his first
name, and Mr.. Hamilton knows a lot
Of first names.
1t is not unusual that he should,
either for he has been active in To-
peka politics since he returned from
the army in 1919. At that time he set
up law offices here with Ralph T.
ONeil, a prominent Democrat and a
former National Commander of the
American Legion, but business wasn't
too good, apparently, for, as he ad-
mltted recently. Il felt needed Job"
He went to the late Dave Mulvane,
Tor years Republican National Com
mitteeman, with the suggestion that
he be the party's candidate for pro-
bate judge, but Mr.. Mulvane only dis
missed him with laugh and the ex-
planation, you're. too young" That
wasn't enough for Mr.. Hamilton, how
ever, and he filed for the nomination.
While the organization candidate