The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1936-04-30


Party Lines some of the most
amazing oddities in
political alignments that this country
had ever known. 1t was apparent,
even during the battle for ballots In
1882, that gigantic shake-up in the
voting alignment of citizens was in the
making. These things are now being
demonstrated and more proof of the
changing times seems just around the
corner.
We all have seen how such outstand-
Ing figures as former Gov. Alfred e..
Smith of New York, the Democratic
Presidential nominee in 1928, have bold
ly flouted President Roosevelt and his
New Deal theories and we have wit
messed such vitriolic Outbursts as those
by former Senator James A. Reed, that
old-line Missouri Democrat, and we
have watched with interest the hauling
and filling by Jeffersonian Democrats
who find New Deal fantasies to be a
bitter pill to swallow. Lately, there
has come another most interesting stu
alton respecting partisan alignment.
Although the action received much
less attention than l believe it de-
serves, the determination of the Vir-
ginia Republicans in their recent con-
vention at Roanoke to refrain from
placing a Republican candidate in the
field against Senator Carter Glass
constitutes, to my mind, one of the
| i'm fxxyic re 70 FOL
place under our two party system.
That convention, acting utterly without
precedent, took the position that it was
better to leave the field clear for the
election of the veteran senator than to
precipitate political battle by naming
Republican candidate.
The reason for the action of the Vir-
ginia Republicans is quite clear In one
way. They felt that Carter Glass, al
though a lifelong Democrat who has
carried on his share of bombardment
of Republican principles and policies.
could do the country more good from
their standpoint than could be attained
| by placing a Republican candidate
| against him without chance of success.
| To state this premise in another way:
Carter Glass does not swallow the
New Deal as whole and when he
| finds Objectionable features in the
| Roosevelt program, he is independent
enough and has the strength of char
acter TO voice his feelings. Doing this
as member of the majority party in
the senate necessarily has more weight
than all of the criticism of the New
Deal that could be voiced by Re-
publican-if one could be elected in
Virginia-and the Virginia convention
chose a course which it believed would
best serve the nation as a whole.
But it is the, circumstance of
party convention refusing to engage in
battle that interests me most. Under
such circumstances, the old idea of
party loyalty becomes not only illogical
but ridiculous. Instead of a call to
battle, we see what amounts to call
for support of a theoretical opponent.
OF course, in the opinion of many,
Carter Glass is the outstanding ex-
ponent of conservative thought in the
Democratic party and if he speaks for
conservative thought in the Democratic
party he is almost speaking for con-
sentative thought in the Republican
party. 1t is easy to see, therefore. why
the Virginia Republicans adopted the
course they did but where does that
leave party loyalty? What does it
mean as to the future alignment of
political thought?
The course followed by the Virginia
Republicans Is not more strange than
the action of Presi-
| On the dent Roosevelt him.
Other Hand self who has Endorsed
sSenator Hiram john
son of California and Senator George
Norris of Nebraska, with almost boy
| ish enthusiasm. Senator johnson and
! Senator Norris have not been regarded
as regular Republicans but they have
been flying the Republican banner for
a good many years. Yet, the President
verbally pats them on the back and
offers his blessing.
During the same period, we have
watched Mr.. Roosevelt playing touch
and-go with the La Follettes in Wis
consin. OF course, the La Follettes
catalogue themselves as Progressives
but they never have had a great deal
in common with the Old-line Demo-
Gratis.
Likewise, in the senate If one is to
believe gossip frequently banded about,
Senator McNary of Oregon, the titular
Republican leader, has been only half
heartedly fighting the New Deal. In
fact, some of Senator McNarys own
colleagues claim that he has really
given aid and comfort to their political
enemies.
There are other instances too numer-
Gus to mention. 1t has happened in
both parties and has involved some
great and some small political figures.
In the meantime, one can wander
around the halls of congress and hear
private observations from men who
were supposed to be stalwart partisans
that they have been unable to deter
mine yet what their course ought to
be. One of them remarked confiden-
TALLY to me that he believed he would
have to consult clairvoyant before he
could say whether he was going to sup
port the New Deal or oppose it or try
to straddle the fence. OF course, his
remark was in humorous vein but 1t
epitomized the thought and, may say,
the worry of a very great many parti-
sans at this time.
So, we have picture six months
ahead of the actual casting of the bal
lots in which party lines are torn
asunder for countless hundreds of
more or less important party figures.