Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 18 July 1936 — Page 9
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NEW YORK, July 18.—Holding a Bible in his right hand, the Rev. Gerald L. K. “Smith told the Townsendites, “It is the Russian primer or the Holy Bible. It is the red flag or the Stars and Stripes. It is Lenin or Lincoln—Stalin or Jefferson.” Let me see. How did that other Smith’s Liberty League oration wind up? 'Don’t prompt me. Of course, the name is Al, and he told the Du Ponts that they must. choose “The Star-Spang-led Banner,” or “The Internationale”—Washington or Moscow. Back in 1928 Mr. Smith was out in the red ¢lay parishes of Louisiana telling the boys about the tunnel which would be built under the ocean from the Vatican to the White House if Gov. Alfred E. Smith were elected to the presidency, 4nd now one finds him making practically the same anti-Roose-velt speech. In all honor to Al he dg made it before Gerald picked it up. . But it is curious to find Mr, Sloan of General Motors and Dr. TownTat send of the Revolving Plan both cheering the same phrases. And yet I must admit that my head swims a little when I read that Dr. Townsend, the revolving physician, has bitterly gttacked President Roosevelt for “this crazy orgy of nding.” I am more than a little startled to learn that he has hailed the dead dictator of the South as “that gentleman who drove feudalism from the State of Louisiana.” I am puzzled to hear Father Coughlin hailed as a champion of the common man and wonder whether any blushes mounted to the cheeks of the Rev. Gerald Smith when Dr. Townsend said that his forces were driving toward “justice and security for all our citizens regardless of age, color, sex or creed.” Why, the stain of Gene Talmadge's Negro-baiting Grass Root Conventidn in Georgia is not yet off the boots of Gerald Smith, » ” 2
Mr. Smith Bears Watching
ERALD is the tough guy of the Townsend move‘ment. In fact, I think that the old gentleman had better look into his vest pocket to see if he still has a movement. Indeed, it is about time for the
California currency expert to begin remarking, “What big eyes you have, Reverend, and what sharp teeth!” If I seem to assail a gentleman of the cloth too severely it may be partly because of the fact that every time his name comes up I am reminded what a rotten newspaper reporter I am. Back at the turn of the year in New Orleans the Rev. Gerald L. K. Smith sought me out and offered to put on a special performance for my benefit. His fortunes were then at a low ebb, and any possible scrap of publicity was a straw to which he was willing to:cling. If I would go up to Baton Rouge with him he would put
“on his address, “Who Killed Huey Long.” Newspaper
men had told me he was really a first-class rabble rouser and that I ought to hear him. But if I went to Baton Rouge I would miss a day at the race track. ~ And I rationalized my indolence by saying to myself. “He's all washed up by now, anyway. Why waste the time? I'd rather go out and play Stevenson’s mounts.”
” » ” Clergyman Too Truculent
TEVENSON was a sensational apprentice who was booting home three or four winners a day. At the moment he seemed potentially more important newspaper copy. Besides, the clergyman was too insistent and too truculent. He had called me away from a New Year's Eve party, and every time I said, “I've got to get back to my party,” he laid a detaining hand on my arm. Ltd
; ' Governor, break into the conve : at do you bors oP I OE ah n was ad
he wanted to know. “I'm a preacher,” I told him, “and Smith here is a newspaper man.” “You're a preacher, all right,” said the drunk, “but he's no newspaper man. He's a middleweight prize fighter. I saw him fight in Corpus Christi.” “Look,” said the drunk suddenly, “they've pulled all my upper teeth.” “Hang around here a little longer and I'll knock out your lower ones,” said the Rev. Gerald L. K.
My Day
BY ELEANOR ROOSEVELT H*®E PARK, N. Y,, Friday—What a world of con- ; trasts this is. Hot, dirty, busy cities; crowded trains; and just twa hours later green grass, a quiet home with only three people in it and a drop in the temperature which makes you want to put on a coat. There is something exciting about our sudden changes in temperature and the way storms come up out of apparent calm. It accounts for the temperament of our people, their energy and general quickness of action. I woke early this morning and felt positively cold. At 7:30 I was over ‘at the stable, found. the setters and our big police dog, and started off on our morning ride. The male setter and the male police dog can not always be trusted to agree, but on the whole they know their various duties and privileges and keep to them very well. When I got back to the cottage three of us had breakfast on the porch. Then the mail, which follows us even into peace and quiet, made us sit at our desks for an hour.or so. Today I had my first intimation that any one in Poughkeepsie would ever be interested in me. It was quite a shock. I have always taken it for granted that I was so well known no one would take any interest in my comings and goings. Today I parked my car and didgymy shopping. When I returned to it with my arms of bundles I found a young reporter hanging around. Somewhat apologetically he said: “Mrs. Roosevelt, is there any particular story about . what you are doing?” °
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SATURDAY, JULY
—rr Ln
18, 1936
EWaN ge
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“a po ered 88. Ee at Postoffice, In
LISTENING TO
Ballot Strugg le F orecast in Pen 1SY
(Fourth of a Series) io
BY FRAZIER HU
(Copyright, 1936, NEA Service, Inc.)
For two hours at luncheon in an exclusive Newark ~ (N.J.) club talked with what used to be called “the
upper crust 9
Around the table were a banker, two big business
men, and a political correspondent. All were for Landon, except my host, who was trying his best to be neutral. The banker said: “Of course I am a Republican, but Republican state politics here in New Jersey is so twisted and crooked and tied in with certain equally crooked Democratic elements that you can’t be very passionate about
anything.
“Naturally, I don’t care for ‘the way Federal money °
has been thrown about, nor for the powerful machine that Jim Farley has built up on taxpayers” money. “I think Landon is a good, sound man and would stop a lot of this extravagance. When it comes to the national election, I would say that it will be .mighty close in New Jersey—with the odds a little in favor of Landon.”
The business men said practically the same thing, although one of them was bitter and outspoken against Roosevelt personally. My host, the political correspondent, analyzed the local situation as follows: ‘The shadow of the unfortunate Lindbergh ‘baby is cast over this whole political mess in New Jersey. It is equaled
in importance only by the shad-y ows of tens of thousands of WPA.
workers leaning on their shovels,
I'd say that one just about coun- -
ter-balances the other.
“Hoffman took a big chance and figured that he could become a national figure if he solved the Lindbergh case. Out of the mess popped the Wendel kidnaping— which New Jersey was very happy to dump into the lap of New York. : “Hoffman lost, the Lindbergh mystery is still only partly solved —and the WPA’ers are still lean~ ing on their shovels. “As far as the national election is concerned, New Jersey is still anybody's state—with: Roosevelt having the edge here at the end of June.”
# # s
OW in 1932 Roosevelt carried New Jersey by 30,888 -votes, although Barbour, a Republican, won over the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate by 16,223 votes. In 1934 the former Democratic Harry
Republican Governor, and the fantasy that is New Jersey politics and justice went into its dance. : : Joining forces with some of Frank Hague’s Democratic clique that controls Newark, Governor Hoffman faces the last ycar of his three-year term: with the
| knowledge that things have never
been in such a magnificent muddle in his state as they are at this moment. Golf called the banker and the business men away from - the luncheon table, and my host, in turn, was forced to leave the club for half an hour. I wandered out to the deserted hall to put in a long distance telephone call at the office desk. It was toward mid-afternoon, and three or four of the club staff were lounging about, chatting among themselves. ; I broke in, and soon we were discussing politics. A waiter or two joined us, and one of the elevator boys drifted over. No
banker or prominent business man
was in sight,
’
HERE was a good deal of L stalling at first, and then one of them blurted out: “What's the use of kidding? I'm for Roosevelt. Who else could I be for? If it hadn't been for Roosevelt, millions in ‘this country would have starved to death.” The ice was broken. A whitecollar employe took up the story: “Look what these fellows in this state are doing to us. Hoffman calls a special session for . relief and they adjourn a few days ago —and they didn’t do a single thing for the poor people. . . . Say, we've got to look to Roosevelt.” \ It was the same old story, the working people here in the East —whether they wear white. shirts or blue shirts—were conceiving the coming campaign as a class affair. “ ‘ They had nothing at all against Landon. As a matter ‘of fact, many of them really like his looks. And an equal number of them have no faith in the Democratic Party as such. It is a personal belief in ‘Roosevelt.
” 2 8
GO to this length to tell this particular incident because it dramatizes so clearly what I have found pretty generally over the Eastern states. The outstanding fact that I have discovered here {n the East, since the conventions, is this constantly growing class feeling. As one experienced observer said to me, “The greatest problem the Landon people face here
"will be to break through this
working man’s class vote and win some of it away.” I believe that the defection of Al Smith and the other four
-once-leading Democrats will have
no effect on this particular f tion — except possibly a reve
to be seen, but he will Roosevelt than Landon votes. . ‘Certainly Lemke makes no popular appeal in the industrial East. Buf in a tight battle, as this one in New- Jersey unquestionably will be, even a few hundred votes might conceivably throw an election. o ” ” > : OVING over to the great state of Pennsylvania, one finds in the eastern third of the state this class business looming
up in gigantic proportions.
Like ancient Gaul of Julius
‘ Caesar's day, all Pennsylvania is
divided into three parts. First there is the industrial east, centering around Philadelphia; second, the middle, or rural, sections; and third, the steel and coal districts of the western part, converging on Pittsburgh. ; In 1932 Pennsylvania went Hoover by a plurality of 157,502 votes—Philadelphia alone giving him 70,816 of this total. In ’28 Hoover carried ;the city against Smith by 143,747 votes, while in: the old days the normal Repub-
LET'S EXPLORE YOUR MIND
CONSERVATIVE? MEN hifi
Bs : - 4 . oR § rs 3 A ee EX ¥ 8 =
Workers in a Paterson (N. J.)
~ sion . 7, . they, with many other indusirial plant employes, will be a big factor in the fate of doubtful New Jersey in this fall's election.
silk mill pause for a little discus-
lican majority was close to a quarter million. But returning to the state for a moment. In 1934 Joseph Guffey was elected United States Senator by 112,000—the first Democratic Senator since the Civil War. That same year Earle was elected. Governor by 66,000 — the first Democratic Governor in 40 years. ‘Meanwhile, Philadelphia politics was being scrambled so that even a far-famed Philadelphia lawyer could hardly unscramble it. In 1935 a picturesque, high-powered, and somewhat politically uniden-
Wilson, ran on the Republican
. tified firebrand, named S. Davis
ticket for Mayor. Against him was put up Jack Kelly, an attractive and internationally °' known sportsman. In the hot campaign that followed, Wilson, ex-Demoecrat, inci= dental-Republican—who is not at present even registered as a Republican—carried Philadelphia by 43,000. Wilson promptly got: busy with the Roosevelt Administration and found plenty of money for relief work. And at the same time, he sold
gv eek
ersey Doubtful ||
cause Mayor Wilson, with his Republican: label, really is only a phoney when it comes to the na-
| tional ticket.
“Our city charter declares that no city employe can mix in politics. It’s a swell ‘out’ for the Mayor. And just one thing more: * Holding the Democratic convention hére will swing a good many thousands of -Philadelphian votes to Roosevelt.”
; ® 8 “QO # is that in November Phila-
delphia, dominating - eastern Pennsylvania, faces the first real national political battle in its history. : It is certainly correct to write that Roosevelt has a fair chan of carrying Philadelphia. : If he does that, it appears that he has even a little better than a fair chance of carrying the 36 electoral college votes of the state. And if he does that, he will be doing something that no Democratic presidential nominee has done since James Buchanan, a Pennsylvanian, was elected Democratic President in. 1856—when the newly organized Republican Party made its first national bid with Fremont. ~ Apparently Pennsylvania will
- this autumn furnish another Get-
tysburg for one of the great political armies. You can take your own choice. "I'm only a war correspondent covering this cam-
paign. ; THE END
SEES PETTINESS IN
- BY HUGH 8S. JOHNSON EW YORK, July 18~Politics
makes people petty. The Triboro. bridge in New York
ents of man in the most fas-
e. -How strong Father Cough- or : ; “Hs influence SHI’ 3s hd the greatest: accom |.40 e more
cinating departments of civil en‘gineering—bridge building. It is the product of the hands of no single
person. It would have been delayed for years if it had not been for the efforts of Mayor La Guardia and President Roosevelt. But it would not have been completed in record time, and it might have been a mess instead of a record-breaking achievement, if its building had not
‘been directed by Robert Moses.
‘But Mr. Moses is ‘a Republican, was once a candidate for Governor ofNew York, and is a bosom friend and close adviser of Al Smith. He was a small factor in the Roosevelt
Smith split, and he brought no subsequent balm to the Happy WarHe 1s also a buzz-
rior’s wounds. saw in any fight. He never seeks to avoid one. Thus he has left many scars on Democratic and
other fingers. : Pe The President, Gov. Lehman, the Mayor and Mr. Ickes spoke at the dedication of the great bridge. But only the Governor and the Mayor mentioned Mr. Moses as having had anything to do with the vast accomplishment, and even they sandwiched his name in with the “alsorans.” In: the prepared: speaches of
the President and Secretary Ickes, |
‘the hame of Mr. Moses was made monumental by its absence. . ;
# ” un OW this is small-time ‘and short-sighted stuff. It does not Mr. Moses the slightest harm. : bridge, ‘but phy- of : New York City and its surroundings, Mr. Moses is writing his name in civic beauty and improvement so conspicuously and indelibly that it will remain legible for generations. Long after his genius for controversy, his astonishing self-drama-tization, his searing tongue, and the synthetic and dilute acidity of ‘his: opponent, -Mr. Ickes, have been forgotten, his work will remain, He has relieved squalor, ugliness and meanness in city streets, multiplied avenues of communication, made the town a better place for the poor to live in, turned waste places into perfect parks, and made harmless pleasures permanently available to millions. ~~ You can’t belittle that by ignorIng it or taking from Mr. Moses the credit for even so large a part of it as the Triboro bridge. Much less can you transfer that credit to a political party or to Mr. Ickes, who tried to-obstruct it by attempting to remove Mr. Moses. It is no virtue in Mr. Ickes that he did not—in spite of obvious spite '— withhold Federal funds to ‘make the bridge possible. It is a “self-liquidating” project’ of: the
most . approved. type. Mr. Ickes
‘part in this great accomplishment
Tight-Mouthed Oysters Opened by Applying Electrical Shocks
By Science Bervice
a np
in a patent granted here to H. F. and Vera Koehring,
| ventors, does not injure the meat
‘was only that of a sort of sour and
‘them and the oysters replaced in
The acid treatment, state the. in-
part of the oyster, nor impair its
POLITICS
empty stockings of Uncle Sam’s|.
children from the public treasury. 5 = 'T was the great Wil ‘relaxed the bileary cratic delegates in Chicagd § The best theatrical talent was a
able to put sparkle into a few dull
moments of a sparkling fight. But with Jim Farley and the boys at Philadelphia desperately stalling to
‘keep up a show of life through the
long days, when all but the gin
‘and scotch had failed, it didn’t work that way. ;
Jim sént out hurry calls for the headliners of the air; but all he got, in case after case, was: “Delighted —I'm for you, but my contract requires that I consult my sponsor.” Twelve hours later, in every case save that of Lily Pons, the message came: “My sponsor will not consent to my appearance at a Democratic convention.” Those sponsors were all what the President calls “economic royalists.” | Just some more political pettiness; a man whose stores control more than 20 per cent of one department of retail trade in the whole country,
thus kept one of our most popular]
singers from adding first-class amusement to the Philadelphia attempt to make America safe for ‘He was not the only one. That reaction was universal from that part of big business which relies on radio. advertising, and which seems to have exclusively dedicated
"Beacham’s pills are just the
thing; - Peace on earth and mercy mild, Two for man and one for child.” While this was going on a distinguished ‘statesman took a walk because a colored brother was permitted to pray for him and the rest from. the % ony makes people petty. . ight. 1936, > United Festus
{GRIN AND BEAR IT
pr
§ }
2 r by dy
JEW YORK, July 18.—Willie Upshaw ” 7 the old Georgia prohibitionist and h fire preacher, has been in our town and -have ‘been having words. He was annc about an essay your correspondent wre That made it mutual, for your correspond had been annoyed at Mr. Upshaw for years and } because he was Willie Upshaw, the prohibitionist. The experience goes to show that there is no wisdom in meeting a man and find- . = ing out what makes him tick if p= you enjoy a dislike for. him, We. were sore then, but now we aren't, §f and it may not be as much fun §§ that way. ° 3 Here was an old-style, down-. :
: _South, camp-meeting hallelujah-
shouter who did his worst to keep - prohibition on the books through |i all those years, and here was a ~true-believing, practical lad, sitting down to drink tap-water with him and coming away tolerant. . Your - correspondent never thought the day would come when -he would give up on old Will. For years there, when people would sit ,rooms on the road, nominating: their favorite aversions for the all-time, all-America team, your - correspondent always put Will in for captain and often made him stick in the face of such competition .8s Tom Heflin, William G. McAdoo and Bishop. Cans hon. He seemed to have everything, a tower © strength as we say in the foothall stories, but your correspondent would not guarantee Jo :
on the scrub. : » » : ” Successor to Bryan y /
W 1 was Willing about those Erutches of and why he has to wear them. It seems that because he is such an expert crutch-walker, touching them lightly and nimbly to the ground, some peopl have thought the crutches were part of a costume. He had a row in Washington once Congress because a man said he pile, ignering She guichese. It burned him to be a¢= of ignoring the ¢rutches because he had mastered the trick of Merely oe had
his back. He was just. to go to college at the time and the upshot of it'was that he couldn’t enter college until he was 31 years old. However, that put him into the same class with the late John Roach Straton, and that was something, ‘because Will thinks the late Rev. Straton was a great -American and he regards the association as a great privilege. He does for a fact, but then you have to -understand: that he believes in prohibition, too, even now. Some one once remarked that Mr. Upshaw was the legitimate ‘successor to William Jennings Bryan, not necessarily as to political leadership but as to pros Bijkition. and religion, and Willie has accepted the nomination. That is why he is s and poor at the age of p . al wroupins, crippled : oa osm Can’t Go Atheism ki Venues JB got a little better as the. years went. -Gradus «Irom a wheel-chair” ne ad , Mix. Upshaw goes ding around the United States, hollering up religion and hollering down the devil and communism “whisky and cigarefs wherever his booking takes him,
He Uniks of communism g so tolerant on tap-water and sit there on pleasant terms with the man who used in his all-time, All-America captain, your correspondent asked Mr. Upshaw why, as long as he was in town, +he didn’t go down and call on Earl Browder, the Communist candidate for President. It was only & few minutes away and he. might want to meet ‘the devil and get his angle on things. : : But tap-water doesn’t affect. Mr. Upshaw that WaY. “Oh, no,” he said, slowly. “Not a Communist.” I can’t go that atheism.” . :
Merry-Go-Round :
BY DREW PEARSON AND ROBERT S. ALLEN : ASHINGTON, July ‘1
ble for Landon to substitute for him on the g since Landon’s voice is too high. Both of these, of course, are the bunk. . . . Donald Richberg stands as High I the Tol sais of the President these day. e’ ore e much-maligned dictator of a very wobbly Blue Eagle. Talk is that he:is : much a candidate for a Supreme Court job; when if ‘such a vacancy occurs. . . . Speaking of Sup: Court vacancies, the most likely is'not in the react | ary ranks, where Roosevelt would appreciate: it,
One ambassador who wants to keep his job is A : ting. His wife, ‘w
try. It will cost $125 a volume, _