Evening star., 1936-03-13

Col Frank Knox's presidential boom
which hitherto has not doomed very con-
spicuouSly-is expected by his friends
to flourish on a more impressive scale,
now that it is off to an official start
with the blessing of his one-time adopted
State of New Hampshire. If the Chi
cago publisher beats Senator Borah in
the Illinois Republican primary in April,
his supporters are confident he will 60
to Cleveland as a formidable contender.
They base that belief on the alleged ex-
istence of Knox second-choice sentiment
in many States. The theory is that if
neither Landon nor Borah advances into
invincible position in early balloting,
Knox strength will be uncovered in va
rious directions and place him effectively
in the running The Illinoisan is said
to have the backing OF key" Repub-
iicans in numerous regions. They're
described as feeling that Knox has
paramount claim on consideration be-
cause he was a pioneer and persistent
assailant of the New Deal long before
the Republicans generally awakened to
the necessity of aggressive opposition to it.
Borah and Knox movements" to the
contrary notwithstanding, there's an
amazing lot of opinion among political
observers that Gov. Landon is already SO
far out in front that the Kansan, as OF
today, virtually has the Republican
nomination in the bag. About the only
question, some of these wiseacres think,
is whether Landon will be put over on
the first ballot, or whether the field"
arrayed against him, including pri-
marily Borah, can "stop" him for while.
The Governors tactics in refraining
from an active campaign appear to have
stood him in good stead so far, although
that passive strategy will be Scrapped
as soon as Landon's national organ
izer," John Hamilton, clears for action
on a Nation wide scale, as he presently
will do. Announcement that Gov. Mer-
RAM of California has climbed onto the
Iandon bandwagon reveals that the
Governor commands favor on the coast,
as well as in the Middle West and East.
A scramble for second place on Lam
don ticket may soon be in order. Names
like Borah, Knox, Vandenberg, Wads-
worth, Smell, Teddy Roosevelt and Mills
already figure in the running Innate dope.
Fred c. Perkins of York, Pa, the bat
terry manufacturer who became the cen.
ter of national attention because of his
prosecution for alleged violation OF the
N. r. A. code at the zenith OF Blue Eagle
days, has decided to run for Congress
from the twenty-second Pennsylvania
district. He has Just filed petitions as
a candidate for the Republican nomina-
ton, having previously been proposed as
.I%o - al fn Clavntand THE
York district is now represented by q
Democrat Harry L. Haines, who is serv-
ing his third term in the House.
Chester C. Davis, Roosevelt farm ad-
ministrator, who is about to survey Eu-
ropean conditions, especially soil con-
servation, will doubtless inquire ex-
haustively into the state Of affairs
brought about by A. A. A., whereby the
United States became heavy importer
of agricultural produce, including wheat
and corn. We have also been importing
some meat, considerable quantities OF
dairy products, and other foodstuffs for
which we formerly depended almost ex-
clusively on domestic supplies. Mr..
Davis is sure to give careful scrutiny,
too. to the international cotton situation.
Following drastic crop curtailment in
this country, many foreign lands in
creased their cotton output In order to
supply both their own and other mar
kets that used to draw regularly on
Dixie. Broadly, it's supposed that Davis
means to learn just what, II anything,
can or should be done to restore the
United States old-tine status in the
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