Evening star., 1940-07-27
The Political Mill
Presidents Threats Of Lost August Give Cue
To Present Foes of His Third-T Drive

nomination, fairly early in the
summer.
So Mr.. Roosevelt and Mr.. Wallace
have not Hoover precedent to fall
back upon. 1t happens that there
is almost billion dollars available
for distribution to the farmers by
the Department of Agriculture.
1t now appears that the President
and Mr.. Wallace have determined
Mr.. Wallace is not to remain at the
head of the distributing agency dur
ing the campaign That is a decent
decision. Mr. Wallace has built up a
tremendous organization throughout
the country to have its part in these
allotments to the farmers-the
State, county and local committee
men numbering around 100000 The
potential political strength of this
organization is enormous, Hatch
Act or no Hatch Act.
w. p. A. Role Recalled.
It is the same kind Of political
strength which the w. P. A. organ
ization under the direction of Harry
Hopkins, now Secretary of Com
merce. in 1886 and 1888 exercised
in the campaigns of those years
Mr.. Hopkins vehementIy denied
there was any wrong doing by the
officials or agents of the w. P A,
but the Senate Campaign Investi-
eating Committee showed up black
picture of that organization at work
in political fields.
There remains SITS 900 900 to be
handed out to farmers of the S225-
100000 appropriation for parity
payments available for this cal
endar year, There is $4,000, 900
for parity payments" to the farmers
in the calendar year 194l. Under
the appropriations for conservation
and use Of agricultural land re-
sources there is available about
$500 900 coo, and for disposal of
surplus agricultural commodities, a
total of S235 900 900 in several diff
ferent appropriations. 1t has been
rumored that all or part of the S2l2,-
100000 for parity payments on the
crops of 1941 are to be released to
the farmers complying with the
Government program by next Oc-
tober-money that would not prop
erly go to the farmers until next
year. But this has been denied by
officials of the department.
The President has about billion
and half dollars to spend for relief,
in the w P. A. and elsewhere.
In no other presidential election
has there ever been such flood of
money to be distributed to the
voters, particularly the farmers and
to industrial workers. all from the
Federal Treasury. That it may be
expected to influence the results of
the election goes without saying
Fractional Votes Curbed.
To Col. Edwin A. Halsey. secretary
OF the Senate and recently reelected
sergeant at arms of the Demo-
cratic National Committee. goes the
credit for the adoption of a rule by
the recent Democratic National
Convention making it impossible for
delegate votes al future conventions
to be split into fractions greater
than halves.
AS sergeant at arms of the ma
tlonal convention, Col HalSev has
the Job of seating the delegates and
their alternates on the convention
floor. He was confronted this year
with seating a Mississippi delega-
ton with l8 votes, but with ll0
delegates TO cast those votes. And
the Texas delegation, with IS votes.
had 1872 men and women on hand to
cast those votes. Each Of them had
also an alternate. The seventh dis
trlct of Mississippi, with two dele
gate votes, sent 81 delegates to cast
them, each entitled to one-twenty-
seventh of vote 1t is easy to see
that if other States began dividing
their delegate votes in such FASH
ion, the number of convention dele
gates would grow out of all bounds.
AS it was there were l 300 delegates
to cast 100 votes in the convention
this year. and an equal number of
alternates. The reform now brought
about was greatly needed