The Washington times., 1936-02-24
TWO OPPOSED
TO JOHNSON
IN W. VA.
By RANDOLPH BLINN


Members Of the House Of Rep
resentatives who have gone down
to defeat and then, after a lapse
Of several years, have staged a
comeback, seem to be greater IN
number in this Congress than ever
before. One of these Is George
william johnson. who represents
the second West Virginia district.
known as the "shoestring district"
because of it's geographical layout.
johnson has had two terms
since he had himself elected again
in 1892. Originally he came to
the Sixty-eighth Congress, in 1922,
but went the way of another
West Virginian, John w. Davis,
in 1924, when the whole Demo
cratic ticket was Swamped.
Two In Opposition
This year, johnson will not
have a walkover for the Demo
cratic nomination. Already two
aspiring members Of his party are
in the field. w. w. Roberts, a
young lawyer of Huntington, was
the first to announce. He was a
member of the legislature last
session.
The second candidate Is State
Senator j. Pat Beacon. likewise
from Huntington, but not a law
yer. He is district Manager for the
National Carbide Company. Bea-
com still has two years OF his four
year term to run in he State SEN
ate.
Huntington, by the way, Is in
Cabell county. which contains one
fourth Of all the voters in the sec
ond district. Good use Of this fact
has been made at times by candi-
dates in the primaries to influence
the judgment of the party leaders
because it Is understood that with
out the vote Of Cabell county no
Democrat has much chance OF
success in the second district.
Will Play Ball
While johnson. the sitting mem.
ber, Is an active candidate for re-
nomination, he said today that ne
is not a bitter ender." He said:
II am for the success Of the
Democratic party and that
means IL It Is necessary for me
to eliminate myself to assure
this success, I'll do it,"
But party war-horses do not
seem to think this Self-abnegation
will be necessary. For one reason
they cite Johnson'S vote getting
record. In 1922 he defeated the
Republican incumbent. Harry c..
woodward, hitherto considered un-
beatable.
Even in 1924, with the Ku Klux
issue rampant in West Virginia
and a general Republican sweep
throughout the country. he lost
to woodward by only 5000 votes.
It was in this campaign that
John w. Davis made his vehement
attack on the xxx.
In spite of JohnSon'S strong
Democracy, he did not vote for
all Of the Administration meas
ures in Congress this time. But he
has, nevertheless, been more than
ordinarily successful in getting
through PWA and WPA projects
for his district.
Has Five CCC Camps
| His is, largely an agricultural
district and one Of the problems
has been to preserve the bluegrass
for the feeding of cattle. In fact.
his district stands second in the
amount of funds obtained from
these agencies for West Virginia
projects. He has five CCC camps.
the members of which are work
ing on the grass preservation.
The second congressional dis
trict is not affected by labor be-
cause there is virtually no coal
there Farming and manufactures
predominant.
On the Republican side of the
fence Harry Hiteshew, a Parkers-
burg lawyer, is most frequently
spoken of. He has been in the
forefront Of the Republican bat
tie heretofore, in spite Of the
fact that one-half of his family
is as ardently Democratic as he
is COP. HitShew married the
daughter of former Gov. A. P.
White, likewise a Republican.
Economic Problems
The fact that West Virginia
and especially the second con.
greSsional district is considered
normally Republican does not
seem to worry johnson much.
West Virginia Democrats make
no secret of their private belief
that they must have what are
considered Republican votes in
order to win. But they do say
that present day issues are SO
shaping themselves - that party
lines are not. as much an issue
as are economic problems and
that where certain Democrats are