Evening star., 1936-08-23

is cuStomarily used in a Texas pri-
mary Where it came from will prob
ably never be known with any degree
of certainty, but observers who have
followed the race closely are strongly
of the opinion that it all came from
within this district itself. Lots of the
money spent, just as great deal of
the general political activity, was
directed at defeating Blanton, not
particularly at electing Garrett. The
victor in the race conducted a cam
paign that was simple and not spec
tacular; while he was doing it many
citizens of the district were berating
Blanton and urging their friends and
acquaintance to vote against him.
Therein probably lies the secret Of
the whole campaign.
The one factor that probably played
the largest part in the elimination OF
Blanton was the appointment OF post
masters Under an agreement signed
by all members of the Texas con-
gressional delegation, appointment OF
postmasters has rested with the Rep
resentative for each district, subject
of course to the Post Office Depart
ment and Civil Service rules. The
customary procedure in other districts
was for the Representative to allow
each Republican postmaster to serve
out his full term, and then to have
the Civil Service Commission conduct
the examination. From the commits
sion's list of the three highest eligibles
he had made his appointment. All
of the Texas Representatives found
this patronage problem to be filled
with possibilities of political peril, but
none to the extent that Blanton did.
In almost every city and town in his
district it seems that he made an
appointment which from a political
viewpoint was an unfortunate one.
It was charged that in some instances
he instigated investigations by the
Post once Department to bring about
the custer of the incumbent Repub-
licans before the expiration Of their
terms in order that he could get his
appointee named sooner. In some
cities he endeavored to hold unofficial
elections, which often resulted in gen.
eral dissatisfaction and bitterness. It
was charged that before patron OF
the office could vote for his selection
for postmaster he was forced to sign a
card stating that he had supported
Representative Blanton in the two
previous elections. For every person
that his post Office appointments
pleased, hundreds were angered.
Realized Appointment Errors.
That Blanton himself realized his
mistakes in appointments was shown
by the amount of time which he gave
to the subject in his campaign
speeches. He and those speaking for
him had many explanations for each
particular appointment that was un-
der fire. Attempts to defend and ex-
plain the appointments usually only
served to increase the bitterness OF
the disappointed applicants. their
friends and relatives.
There is another important fac
tor that undoubtedly contributed to
Blanton's defeat. It was the second
time in his political career that he
tried to deviate from his customary
tactics, and both efforts were unsuc-
cessful. The usual Blanton campaign
ing strategy has been to assail bitterly
and personally any one who an
nounced for Office against him. The
most trivial shortcoming in the op-
ponent's life has been dragged to light
and widely publicized throughout the
district He has frequently inserted
in the, Congressional Record long til
rades against his opponents and sent
them to every voter in the district.
He has always carried the attack to a
political foe and put the latter on
the defensive from the very start of
the campaign. Few men running for
office against Blanton have had an
opportunity to talk about the Con-