Evening star., 1938-08-26
LEWIS KILLS HOPE
Of JOINT DEBATE
Rival of Tydings Charges
Intemperate DeniaIs
Warn of Defeat.
BY JAMES r. CHINN,
Star STAFF Correspondent.

BY JAMES e. CHINN,
Star sta1 Correspondent.
BALTIMORE, Aug 26.-"I'm like
the Irishman who said be would rather
knock a man down than argue with
him"
In these few cryptic words Repre-
sentative Lewis presumably has an
swered the challenge of Senator Tyd-
ings, his opponent in the hotly con-
tested campaign for the senatorial
nomination in Maryland's Democratic
primary September IL, to public de-
bate on the same platform.
Little Davey." as Mr.. Lewis is af-
fectionatelys known throughout Mary
land, replied to the challenge last
night at one of the two curbstone
Democratic rallies he addressed in
Northwest Baltimore.
Again Defends Purge.
At both of these rallies Maryland's
so-called great liberal, continued his
attacks on Senator Tydings for being
a Republican in Democratic cloth
ing" and again defended President
Roosevelt for his efforts to purge" the
House and Senate Of those members
who failed to support his New Deal
program.
Mr.. Lewis also criticized his oppo-
nent for objecting to the proposed
invasion" of Maryland by the Presi-
dent on the invitation Of Harry C.
(Curly) Byrd. president of the Uni
versity of Maryland who now has
definitely aligned himself with the
Lewis for Senate" movement.
Senator Tydings and his support
ers." he declared, don't want the
President to come into Maryland be-
cause they fear he will recite the Sem
ators record against the New Deal.
But why shouldn't the President
come to Maryland? The Constitution
of the United States guarantees him
the right of ingress and egress into
and from every State. I am certain
the citizens of Al other States would
welcome him, and why shouldn't those
of Maryland?"
Bitterness of Fight Brought Up.
The bitterness which has injected
itself into the campaign was reflected
by Mr.. Lewis in one of the two
speeches when he declared:
In every political campaign there
Is a tendency to lose tempers, call
names and hurl the charge of liar
Mr.. Tydings unfortunately lost con-
troll Of himself during the early part
Of the week and issued sweeping state
ments branding as false almost every
thing said about him.
There are just two observations I
wish to make about these frenzied
denials. One is that the people of
Maryland are entitled to something
more convincing than blank state
ments. The other is that the most
important issue in this campaign is a
candidates sincerity and integrity.
The two are interdependent'
Mr.. Lewis then pointed to the de-
mails Of Senator Tydings to his charges
that he had accepted New Deal money
for his personal benefit while at the
same time voting against the New
Deal program. He had particular ref
erence to improvements which. he
alleged. had benefited Senator Tydings'
property.
Hints at Other improvements.
Il could tell you lot more about
the Improvements benef1ting Tydines'
property" said Mr. Lewis, both his
house at Havre de Grace and his
country estate in Oakland. But all I
am interested in at the moment is
puncturing these frenzied denialS of
my opponent. When man is in rage
when he sees himself in imminent
danger of defeat-then the easiest
thing to do is to deny everything. This
is especially so when he has behind
him the powerful Baltimore press,
which delights in publishing his de-
malls in extent, while sometimes bury
ing the real facts"
Mr.. Lewis first spoke at an open-air
meeting of the Park Heights Demo-
cratic Club, and when he finished
walked across the street and ad-
dressed another political rally spon-
sored by the Trenton Democratic Club
Crowds jammed the sidewalks and
overf1oWed into the street at both
places. Pimlico-bound street cars rum
bled by intermittently, but this inter-
ference did not drown out his remarks
as they blasted out of loud speakers
Spectators were chiefly young men
and women who are taking their poll
tics seriously. A resident of Wash
ington who lacks the privilege of
voting misses the color of these Balti-
more political rallies and the scenes
where they are held.
In Residential Section.
The rally OF the Park Heights Demo-
cratic Club was staged on a vacant
lot in the middle of a block of a
The Trenton Democratic Clubs rally
just across the street was in a private
home, in which only score of per-
sons could sit comfortably There
Mr.. Lewis made his speech, but a
public address system attached to a
sound truck parked at the curb in
front of the house carried his re-
marks to those on the outside.
Sporadically there were cheers,
which Mr.. Lewis, of course, did not
hear. Neither did he see the young
men and women who packed the
lawn and sidewalk in front of the
house, eating peanuts or munching
hot dogs" as he spoke. Even though
the loud speakers we're blasting on
both sides of the street simultane-
ously, there was no complaint from
the residents in the immediate neigh
borhood. In Washington. however,
the police reserves might have been
called out under similar circum-
stances.
One of the usual attractions of these
is tl,a .ixl,