Evening star., 1936-06-20

party Will draw more heavily from the
cities than the agricultural centers.
The program of the Union Party, as
1t is to be called, is such as might ap-
peal to agricultural States where the
bulk of the vote has been Republican.
The appeal to labor, on the other hand,
may not be strong enough to WOO DEM
ocratic votes from President Roose-
welt. Also the hold Of the administra-
ton on the city voters through the
large political machines built up with
the use of w. P. A. personnel is rather
strong and is not as vulnerable to the
Union Party's attack as might have
been the case in other years.
The result might well be that the
new party would not draw much from
the cities, but from the country dis
tricts, in which case the Republicans
would not recover as much of their
1882 vote as they have been hoping.
May Draw Dissatisfied.
But it is questionable whether the
New Deal party will get as many of
the Hoover votes of 1882 as they have
been counting on. Many of the
Republicans who voted for Hoo
yer in 1882 have said they approved
of the Roosevelt policieS-at least the
Literary Digest poll showed that rather
definitely. So the effect Of the Union
Party may be to give place of refuge
for those who are dissatisfied enough
with the Republican offering to go
back to that party and yet who are
disappointed that the New Deal has
not gone far enough in the so-called
cleft" direction to please them.
The final outcome, of course, may
show that the Union Party helped to
elect the Republican nominee because
if there is to be a close contest, the
new party may win sufficient num-
ber of votes from the Democrats as to
enable the undivided liberal-conserva-
tive bloc for Gov. Landon to get plu-
ranty but not necessarily to exceed
in totals the combined Union Party
and New Deal party vote.
Such an eventuality, however, can
not be looked for unless the Union
Party can make more definite inroads
on the cities than is to be anticipated
from a reading of the new program or
platform offered.
SpoilS May Be Factor.
Thus the imitation issue is not par
ticularly popular in the cities, though
it does have an appeal to farmers.
Establishment of central bank and
retirement of all interest-bearing
bonds will hardly be attractive to the
laboring elements Of the country be-
cause it will be condemned by the
opposition as dangerous to the pay
envelopes. The protection of small
business and industry, the increasing
of Federal work projects on natural
resources and the argument against
foreign entanglements hardly seem
to have in them the advantages of
concrete issue that can pull votes
away from the Roosevelt-Farley
ticket, though the attack on spoils-
manship may be the most effective
plank that the Union party may de-
veIop for an appeal to city voters.
Obviously, the Republican leaders
will rejoice over the entry of a third
ticket. This is because they think
the New Deal party would naturally
acquire the left wing vote this year
and that in all probabilities the Re-
publican ticket would not have a
chance to get it. In other words, the
anti-Republican voter, if presented
with but one alternative, would natur-
ally accept the New Deal party. But
faced with the opportunity to express
his protest through the Union party
ticket, the Republican leaders here
figure that this will be a natural"
for the believers in the planks of the
Union party. This would mean less
votes for Roosevelt.
Union Campaign a Factor.
1t has long been assumed here that
the Literary Digest poll, which showed
majority of the voters expressing
disapproval of the New Deal policies,
was an accurate reflection of national
opinion because left wing disapproval
was Jumped in with right wing dis
approval of New Deal policies. If this
diSapproval vote can now be Sepa-
rated into two parts, the combined
vote of both the Republican and the
Union party tickets could be ma
jority of the total vote cast and yet
not be enough to defeat the New Deal.
1t is much too early to know how
ever. how intensive will be the third
party campaign. Funds will have to be
raised to buy radio time and to carry
on warfare against the two major
parties and it is doubtful whether
any of the business interests of the
country will be found contributing to
the third party cause. Father Cough
lin and DR.. Townsend make a power
full combination and the effect of their
entry into the campaign may not be
felt in the presidential contest as
much as it will be in the election of
Senators and Representatives to the
next Congress.
Copyright. 1850