Evening star., 1938-05-03
THE POLITICAL
MILL
BY G. GOULD LINCOLN.

in Florida. He has had White House
blessing ng--administered by and through
James Roosevelt, son of the President
and one Of his secretaries. This Demo-
cratic Senator, seeking denomination in
a Democratic State Is Senator Claude
Pepper. He has two principal op-
ponents-one of them Representative
]. Mark Wilcox and the other, former
Gov. Dave SholtZ. Mr.. Wilcox has been
of the Roosevelt reservation just about
as much as Senator Pepper has been on
it. Dave SholtZ has strong personal
following In the State.
Presumably there will have to be q
run-of primary, in which the two con-
tenders receiving the highest number OF
votes will be pitted against each other
With three strong candidates in the field
the general belief has been that no one
of them would receive sufficient votes
to win the nomination. The run-off
primary, If there is one. will take place
May "a, three weeks hence.
The administration has been turning
every stone it can to put Senator Pepper
across. Postmaster General Farley,
chairman of the Democratic National
Committee, reached Florida last week
He has been explaining to the voters
since he arrived what a fine job the
Roosevelt New Deal has done for them
and incidentally explaining what it pro-
poses to do for them with the new re-
covery and relief appropriations asked
by the President. The intimation is
that those people and States who sup
port the Peppers in the party primaries
Will beneft to greater extent than
those who support the WilcoXes.
The Florida campaign has been "hot"
from the drop Of the nat. Dave Sholtz
started out with friendly remarks about
the Roosevelt New Deal but cooled off
after the visit Of James Roosevelt and
his pronouncement for Senator Pepper.
More recently both Wilcox and Sholtz
have charged that the w. P. A. workers
are being lined up for Pepper and
Pepper has retorted that a slush fund
Is backing Wilcox. Wilcox insists he
Will demand an inquiry into the political
use OF the w. P. A. as soon as he gets
back to Washington. Whether he will
ever get 1t Is another matter. For sew
eral years now the lid has been pressed
flrmly down when demands have been
made for congressional investigations of
w. P. A. and Its activities in political
campaigns.
wrapped up In the race between
Pepper and Wilcox is the issue of the
Wage-hour bill, one of the Presidents
pet measures which has been bottled up
again in the House Rules Committee by
an adverse vote. Pepper, one of the
hundred d-per-cent is for the bill, hook,
line and sinker-although most of the
southern members Of Congress are op-
posed to it. Wilcox, on the other hand.
is violently opposed to the bill and voted
Tor lts recommital In the last session of
Congress. If Wilcox defeats Pepper.
some OF the Democrats who have been
hesltatlng about what to do on the new
wage and hour bill-when they are asked
py MRS. Norton to sign a petition dis
charging the Rules Committee from
1urther consideration Of the measure
may nnd 1t easier to make I'D their
minds. The same will be true if Pepper
wins. pi01-
way oack IN February. 1897, the very
month that President Roosevelt sent his
now defunct bill to increase the member
snip OF the Supreme Court, Representa-
i've wilcox rose in the House and
denounced the measure. Although he
was In the thick Of his campaign for
the senatorial nomination, Wilcox a few
weeks ago f1ew back to WASHINGTON to
vote 10 recommit the Presidents re-
organization bill. Mr.. Wilcox. there
lore, cannot be considered in any sense
OF the word a 100 per cent Roosevelt
democrat, although he has supported
3 number OF the New Deal measures
II ne WINS, 1t will be black eve for
tne administration. If he wins, he will
De the second Democrat nominated for
sne senate this year who opposed the
PRESIDENT on the court bill and the wage
nour Dill. Representative Scott Lucas
OF Illinois was the first.
~ ~
The Townsend old-age pension vote
may have good deal to do with the
outcome OF the senatorial primary in
FIor1oa. There are lot of old people
who have gone to that land of sunshine
to spend their declining years. They
would like to have the 5000 a month
which DR.. Townsend promises them.
They claim to have nominated Pepper
Tor the Senate the last time he ran.
Sholtz Is for them, too. Wilcox, on the
other hand, has opposed the Townsend
plan and said so vigorously. The Town.
sendites sought to beat him two years
ago when he was a candidate for the
House nomination but failed
Wilcox has been telling the Town
sendites that Pepper has been in the
Senate for two years and has done
nothing for them-has not even men,
toned the Townsend plan on the floor
OF the Senate, although he made q
speech lasting over five hours on one
occasion. Wilcox adds that he himself,
on the other hand, has asked the dis
charge of the Ways and Means Com
mittee from further consideration OF the
Townsend bill, so as to get the measure
before the House for a vote. He has
done this, he says, despite the fact he
is opposed to the bill, so as to give the
Townsend plan its day in the House
at least.
If Pepper is in the run-off primary,
as many think he will be, he may find
the supporters of the other two candi-
dates combined against him. Any way
you look at 1t, the Florida senatorial
primary Is something Of test of the
Roosevelt policies in the South. If
Pepper wins, it will be hailed as a VIC
tory by the administration forces. If
he loses, they will have a tough time
explaining the defeat away.
\ X
President Roosevelt on the eve Of the
Florida primary sent Mrs. Norton, chair
man Of the House Labor Committee, a
letter expressing the wish that the
House will vote on the wage-hour bill at