Evening star., 1938-10-31
6. 0.P. Chances Good
To EIet Governor
In Massachusetts,
, Cleun Government Issue
Stressed by SoItonstoII
In Fighting CurIey
BY G. GOULD LINCOLN,
Star Stan Correspondent.

BOSTON, Mass, Oct. 3l.-Massa
chusetts, as a result of the Novembe
8 elections. is likely TO have its frs
. Republican Governor since 1890.
However, if Leverett Saltonstall
the G. o. P. nominee for Governor
succeeds in defeating former Gov
Jim" Curley, it will not be becaus,
Massachusetts loves the Republican
party. but because it intensely dis
likes Mr.. Curley. While the New
Deal is waning in popularity in thi!
State. as it is in other New England
States, the Democrats with another
candidate than Curley would have
real chance for victory this year
And If President Roosevelt were
running today for reelection -
without the third-term isSue-h,
would carry the State. in the opinion
Of well-informed political leaders
some of whom dislike Mr.. Roosevelt
and most of his works
Mr.. Curley, the most resourceful
campaigner Massachusetts, has seen
in many day, still insists that he
will win, and Democratic State
Chairman Joseph McGrath predicts
he, Curley, will carry the State with
a 100000 plurality. Whether Mr.
MeGrath says this with his tongue
in his cheek or not, he says it.
Clean Government Issue.
Mr.. Saltonstalls main issue in
this campaign is good, clean govern
ment, which he insists, Curley denied
the State when he was Governor
and the city of Boston when he was
Mayor Stories of Curley graft and
corruption would fill a book. Cur
ley's answer is succinctly: Il am not
in jail, am ~" inferring that if the
attacks upon him were justified, he
would be behind the bars.
MIR. Curley, for his part, has made
Saltonstalls labor record, as men,
her of the State Legislature and as
Speaker of the House, his principal
issue against the Republican candi-
date. Curley's favorite indoor sport
is to compare his own votes and his
own attitude toward legislation de-
sired by labor and the votes and
attitude of Mr.. Saltonstall. Unfor-
tunately for the G.. O. P. nominee,
he did vote against or otherwise
oppose a long list of bills brought
forward by labor. Curley has never
failed to back any measure the labor
people put forward, no matter how
extravagant in its demands.
The thinking people and the in
tellgentla in both parties will op-
pose Curley; the independent vote,
which is always large in this State,
will oppose him, and the Repub-
licans will be against him almost to
a man-although Curley has set up
a Republican organization, COM
posed of some Republicans TO whom
he gave jobs or other favors when
he was Governor. Furthermore,
Curley has lost strength among some
OF the foreign groups in the State.
Mr.. Curley's chief weakness lies,
however, in the fact that many
Democrats hate him and will vote
against him. Probably only an over
whelming Democratic sweep in the
State, such as happened when
Roosevelt was running in 1882 and
1886, could save Curley this year
Such a sweep, as a matter of fact,
failed to save him two years ago
when he was candidate for United
States Senator against Senator
Henry Cabot Lodge, jr.
There are factors in the present
campaign, however, which would
indicate more strength for Curley
this year than in 1896. The first is
that Saltonstall is not as strong a
candidate as was Senator Lodge
Lodge with a record of fighting for
labor legislation and of progressive
thinking that would have amazed
the late Senator Lodge. his grand
father. The second is that Thomas
G. OBrien. candidate of the Union
party for Senator in 1886 and who
polled 134,245 votes, is now support
ing Curley.
In the election of 1886 Senator
Lodges vote was 875,16O and
Curley's, 739,751. Lodges plurality
over Curley was 135 ,4O9, or some
thing more than a thousand votes
greater than the vote cast for
oBrien.
In Massachusetts, there is a
strongly organized Townsend old
age pension group, lined up for the
Republican ticket, generally speak
ing. which is likely to make it more
difficult for Curley. William H.
McMaster was the Townsend candi-
date for the gubernatorial nomi-
nation in the Republican primary
in September. He ran second to
Saltonstall, though far behind him.
The Townsend vote was approx
mately $4,000 votes. Mr.. McMaster
has declared himself for Saltonstall
and has urged all his followers to
turn in for the Republican nominee.
His own name, however, has been
placed on the ballot-he intended
to run as an independent Townsend
candidate and decided to withdraw
after it was too late to remove his
name from the ballot. The court so
ruled when McMaster tried to have
that done.
Davenport a Townsendite.
William A. Davenport, another
Independent candidate and a Re-
publican, is running as a Townsend
lite. However, his vote is likely to
be negligible, it is said. McMaster
Is actively campaigning for Salton-
stall.
The platform adopted by the Re-
publicans in State convention makes
the old-line members of the party
rub their eyes in amazement-and
disgust. The plank dealing with the
Townsend plan has reused the ire
OF some Republicans-bu probably
not enough to cause them to stray
away from support of the ticket
Here is what the platform says:
Realizing that there are mil
lions of thinking citizens throughout
the Nation who have studied into
and believe in the principles of the
Townsend national recoverv nlap