Evening star., 1938-09-11
BY ]. A. O'LEARY

When the New Deal purge meets
its major tests in Maryland and
Georgia this week the county unit
system that governs primaries in both
States may prove more decisive fac
tor than some Of the economic issues
that have filled the air during the
campaign.
The first battle will be staged in
Maryland tomorrow, where the voters
will choose between Senator Millard
E. Tydings, seeking denomination. and
Representative David j. Lewis, on
whom the administration pins its
hope Of removing Mr.. Tydings from
the Senate
Two days later Georgia will de-
eide whether to renominate Senator
Walter F. George. another veteran
democrat. who, like Tydings, incurred
White House opposition by not 60
ing along on all Of the New Deal
program. Mr.. George has had to
combat not only the New Deal favor
lite, District Attorney Lawrence Camp,
but also the outspoken anti-new Deal
er, former Gov. Eugene Talmadge,
who has sizeable personal follow
ing in the rural areas of the State.
w. G. McRae. a Townsend plan ad-
vocate, makes four in the Georgia
race.
Majority Not Decisive.
While the Maryland and Georgia
county unit plans are not identical
in detail, they both embody the es-
sential feature that could easily
swing the result one way or the other.
That feature is the fact that no mat
ter how large a majority a candidate
piles up in the localities where he
is strong, it will be of no benefit to
him in ofIsetting the strength Of his
opponent in some other section.
In other words, all OF the unit votes
OF q county or city district go to the
candidate who carries the area, but
1t will make no difference whether
his margin Of victory is by a few
votes or thousands in that area. Thus
1t would be entirely possible for one
candidate to get the popular vote Of
the State as a whole and still not
be nominated. If he polled big ma jor-
tiles in certain places, while his op-
ponent corralled more unit votes by
carrying many counties by small
margins.
That paradox is not likely to occur
in the Maryland primary but is
mentioned to show how the county
unit system opens up = wide field
OF possible developments in these two
momentouS primaries. In which the
New Deal Is facing its major battles.
1t Is merely a coincidence that the
two States in which the administra-
ton is making the hardest fight
against democratic incumbents-
Maryland and Georgia-both happen
to have the county unit system.
In Use Long Time.
The system has been In use in both
States for q long time-in Maryland
for more than quarter Of a cen
tury-and In ordinary times 1t would
not attract much attention beyond
the boundaries OF these States. But
the New Deal fight has turned the
national spotlight on both States.
0Lo Vic llSAl OSSlVO Va AAVNACcI LA
who will win has focused attention
on the system Of voting that will
govern the contests.
The Maryland primary law is some
what fairer than the Georgia plan in
the application Of the county unit
system, but in both States 1t has the
same objective, namely, to keep
thickly populated cities from domi-
mating the rural counties. The ef-
feet is to give the agricultural areas
the balance Of power. Thus, in both
Maryland and Georgia, the state OF
mind of the farmers toward the New
Deal at the present time is likely to
to be an important factor in deter
mining the result.
Here is how Maryland will make
its decision in one of the important
political battles in its history. The
% counties and Baltimore City, which
Is q separate entity in the political
apportionment Of the State, have q
total of 149 unit votes. OF this num-
ber Baltimore has AZ, divided into six
districts with seven votes each. Out