Evening star., 1938-07-25

! DALLAS, Tex, July Is lNANA).-
The Ten Commandments, a solemn
/ pledge to eradicate Johnson grass and
a hillbilly band have just proved
Texas most fruitful vote te-getting
/ schemes
Their mployer-untainted by even
the slightest brush of former political
contact-last Saturday conquered a
/ formidable field of professional poll
ticians' and got a stranglehold on
Texas goVernorship by apparently
winning on the basis OF incomplete
returns. clear ajority in the Demo-
cratic primary.
His name is w. Lee ODaniel He
/ is 48, and his home is Fort Worth
He is president of a flour mill, and
his chief public activity before June l
seems to have been leading his own
mountain band over a Texas radio
! network three times week to sell
flour After that the flour program
was turned into campaign hour on
which yip-pee-e wells of his musicians
saluted his every syllable Between
paragraphs they churned out tunes
indigenous to the section Of the State
they were visiting-remote walls for
plney East Texas. cowboy laments for
West Texas and Spanish songs for the
/ Mexican border
The winner of the Democratic pri-
mary in Texas can bet his earthly
possessions against a silver of star
dust he'll be the man to live in the
Governors mansion after next jan
uary. Never has Republican,
since carpetbagger days-made even
! a close race in the November cleo
| ton. And an independent candidate
would have many ballot difficulties.
MI. O'Daniels IL opponents carried
| out their campaigns on the old-line
ideas-blssting big business, promis-
ing economy and more pensions, and
j using the other lures politicians have
found expedient since the days of
Caesar
But it was Mr. ODaniels very de-
parture from these supposedly fool
proof methods that caught the public
fancy. Early in June. some of the
State newspapers carried a paragraph
in which Mr.. O'Daniel told of re-
ceiving 54,499 letters urging him to
run for Governor. Then, on the dead
line for filing. it was noticed he had
paid his $lO0 fee along with several
other unknoWns who weren't con-
ceded a chance against such veterans
as Attorney General William McCraw,
Railroad Commissioner Ernest O.
Thompson, Two-tim Candidate Tom
: Hunter the lost in the run-off bv
. fewer than $4,000 votes four years
ago. and Karl Crowley, former So
llcltor Of the Post Office Department.
week passed and Mr.. ODaniel
launched his campaign at Waco. No
one paid attention until the calls be-
gan coming in for extra police to
corral the crowd. 1t was one of
Waco's largest political demonstra-
tions.
And the guests were treated to rare
entertainment. w. Lee would speak
few minutes, lambasting the "profes-
sional politicians" promising pensions
to all over IS. pleading for square
deal for business Then the hillbilly
boys would twang their strings and
ushers would march through the crowd
with big sugar barrels inviting con-
tributions with signs saying Sugar
not pork" The rain of silver almost
drowned out the music. No one at
tempted to estimate how much cash
was donated in this way
Mr.. ODaniel admittedly had no
bulky promises to bog him down. His
platform he described as the Ten Com
mandments; his motto. the golden
rule; his slogan, Less johnson grass
and politicians and more smokestacks
and business men" johnson grass is
a vicious growth that renders useless
any field and defies efforts to kill it.
Mr.. ODaniel made hit with lots
of business men. He had proved
he knew what it was all about when he
came to Texas in 1925 as flour
salesman and wound up with his own
successful mill. He served as presi-
dent of the Fort Worth Chamber of
Commerce. While his opponents were
heaping vitriol on the interests" talk
ing of running the corporations out