Evening Star Newspaper, October 1, 1927, Page 1

WEATHER." (0. 8 Weather Bureau Forecast.) tomorrow Fair tonight; increasing Closing N.Y. Markets; Pages 10 and 11 ch ¢ Foeni WITH SUNDAY MORNING EDITION No. 30,468. 1oet"omce, Wasl Entered as second class matter hington, D. C. WASHINGTON, D. (BT ocT ny Star. service. ~ The only evening paper in Washington with the Associated Press news Yesterday’s Circulation, 99,841 — OBER 1, 1927 -THIRTY-SIX PAGLES. * (/) Means Associated Press. TWO CENTS. FRANCE'S DECISION IN TARIFF DISPUTE INNOUNGEDTOU. S, Zieply to American Memoran- dum Handed to White- | house in Paris. PUBLICATION AWAITS RECEPTION OF NOTE - Character of Answer to Be Kept| Secret Temporarily, in Line ‘With Agreement. By the Associated Press, PARIS, October 1.—France's reply to the latest American memorandum question has been | Sheldon Whitehouse, the and will be for- gton today. The agreement between N use, in behalf of th Jokanowski, repr h government, was th would be allowed to reach the| lic us to the character of the re it has been received in ires, r. White- v, and the that some em both the Fr ernments by th of previou The-trs been completed had not t noon today and the process of coding it was still to be carried out. Consequently, it is ex- pected that the note will hardly be ailable at the State Department in n before Monday morning. CONTENTS UNKNOWN HERE. @fficials Lack Knowledge of French Decision. the re Dby the embassy of the French reply to the last American tariff communication reached the State Department today, but no intimation as to the nature of the rejoinder on the question of nego- tiating a most-favored-nation com- mercial treaty was available at the department. Department officials declined to re- veal whether the embassy has trans- mitted an advance summary of the French note, or to indicate the signifi- « nce of the new communication in the effort toward friendly adjustment of the dispute over new French tariff rates regarded by the Washington Government as discriminatory against th> United States. Previous correspondence on the sub- Ject between the two governments is $0 be published on Monday, if there is no change in present plans. The French foreign office has been re- Juctant in assenting to such publica- tion, on the, ground that to give the communications uld only further to complicate the situation. Plan May Be Revised. The Washington Government, on the other hand, has been anxious that the press of all countries should have pceess to the communications, in order to make it clear that the United itates has taken a wholly friendly #:and throughout and not engaged in s umed a belligerent atti- tule. In view of the delivery of the new nch note, i lle that on of the receC ay may be ibject to revision to include the en- s> correspondence. In that event it iikely that publication would be de- red until an American reply to the received could be formulated. v event, there appears, in the 3 official word to the con- "ary, to be no reason for an assump- that either government is prepar- to break off the diplomatic discus- and resort to any other means in with the tariff conflict of Cabinet Indorses Plan to Open Nego- tiations With U. RAMBOUILLE ). —Fuil and u October itions with nite com- by Stue i ay, meeting at Summer \White H ident Dour # note to this effect .11l be delivered to th 1o gover shington note of Ser Franco- 1t about the most vorea nation eement | accorded Ger ated in the im- asure the French cxented as will for the hority that on of th SCHOONER HIT BY GALE. fafety of Three-Master Cause of anMNE vuiic | empire looking to Rom approval | s | of counsel for Willis 'South America Looms as Chief Field, With| | Immigrants Looking to Rome for Polit- ‘ ical and Spiritual Guidance. BY HIRAM K. MODERWELL. The Star and Chicago Daily By Radio to News. ' Copyright, 1 October —A vast scheme colonize Italians over the Latin| 1, holding them perpetuafty bound | enship to the mother country, | lly completci by the| 2d will soon begin oper- | tal of not less than $100,000,000. It is expected that these colonists, litering into the po! e of new onstitute coun v ally | a sort of as the center the Latin world—to the Ita vernment for political and cultural guidance and to the Vatican for s . ual guidance, This would appear to constitute the first_concrete move toward the al- n Empire” to which Dictator Mu: of “ITALIAN EMPIRE" TAKES SHAPE IN HUGE COLONIZATION PLANS lint referred somewhat mysteriou in speeches and interviews two ¥ The principal field of the new coloni- zation will be the South American continent. Since the United States and France are virtually closed Italian immigry South Americ hus been regarded as the land of hop but it has been found that emigran to South America were exploited they brought their Under the new. regime Individual tion will be prohibited save in ial instances. The typical emigra n will be in large colenies of 200 to hiefly young men and d couples—and ontained units,” heir own technical d fans, lawye 51 tio GRAVEYARD SEARCH FORGUNCONTINUED Authorities Believe Beach, Accused of Aiding Lillien- dahl Slaying, Buried Gun. By the Associated Pre H MONTON, N. J., October 1.— ch in a graveyard to determine whether a pistol was buried, today occupied the attention of authorities investigating the mysterious slaying of Dr. A. William Lilliendahl. The burial plot in Oak Grove Ceme- tery owned by Willis Beach, fugitiv accused of abetting in the slaying, vieldled no trace of a pistol when partly dug up yesterday, and the diggers were ordered to continue their work. . A few days before he disappeared Beach, a poultry dealer and friend of Mrs. Lilliendahl, said he had a con- ference with a tombstone maker in the graveyard on September 15, the day the doctor was shot while motor- ing with his wife. The authorities had information which led them to believe that Beach might be in Baltimore or Washington, but search for him in Washington 4t tha, home of relatives of Xdison Hedges, Beach's attorney, failed. Attorney Under Bail. Hedges is under $2,000 bail on two indictments, charging him with ob- structing justice. He is accused of urging his client to leave the State. He denies, however, that he made statements to reporters upon Which the charges are based. Beach will face another charge if he is captured and brought back here as a result of a warrant obtained by Frank Sheppard, a builder of South Vineland, who alleged the poultry raiser threatened to kill him during an altercation over a sum of money. Albert Langbein, Egg Harbor youth, who claimed to have seen two negroes kill Dr. Lilliendahl, and whose story corroborated that told by Mrs. Lillien- dahl, has been released. Detectives decided his story was an invention. Mrs, Lilliendahl is under $25,000 bail as a material witness. “Confessions” Recelved. A letter in which the writer “con- fessed” to killing Dr. Lilliendahl be- cause he refused to sell narcotics has been received by Hedges. It was post- marked New York. ~Detectives had little hope it would aid them in solving the case. 5 Another_letter, received by Capt. William Carter of the State police, warned the authorities that Beach was “an expert rifle shot at long range and would never be takeR ve.” This letter, signed “Justice” and mailed in Vineland, also sug- gested that the police make an inves- tigation of “what became of Beach -k rich friends on his trip to Florida five years ago.” HOUSE HERE SEARCHED. Detectives Fail to Find Beach at At- torney’s Brother’s. The home of Lewis Hedges, brother Beach, Hammon- N. J., poultry raiser sought in n with the murder of Dr. m LiLlliendahl of Hammon- »d by a New Jersey and ves last night, when ed that an automobile ew Jersey license had been n perm! after M hat the fu- No trace of hem e T Moscow Executes Five. 1 ) d of throwing a Octol v e commit- Five | Tiniest Portrait, Stolen, Is Sought By Scotland Yard By the Associated Press. LONDON, October 1.—Scotland Yard is seeking an object so small that the sleuths are fidgety for fear they won't recognize it if they find it. It is the world’s tiniest portrait, which disappeared from an exhi- bition of the Royal I'hotographic Society. The portrait is that of Neice, inventor of an early day photographic process. Produced by Prof. Golberg of Dresden, the portrait is so small as to require enlargement 150,000 times to make a picture about the size of a half doliar. Members of the soclety say it was easily the most novel and interesting object in the exhibition. LIGUOR IS FOUND IN FURNITURE GAR Army Officer’s Shipment Brings Probe by Five Federal Agencies. By the Assoclated Press. CHICAGO, October 1.—An alcoholic leak in a carload of furniture con- eigned to Gapt. J. Leland Bass, Quar- termaster Gorps, United Statea” Ay, Selfridge Field, Mich., has started five Federal agencies investigating. The Prohibition Bureau, answering an anonymous telephone tip, found the car in the Chicago junction freight yards. In it, besides many articles of household furniture, they came upon four large packing cases. The leak was from one of these. Breaking open the case, they found champagne, four brands of whisky and 20 gallons of alcohol. The mark ings on the boxes indicated that the shipment gprevicusly ha been held ar the Army warehouse h to be used as evidence in prohibition law viola- tion cases. Capt. Bass, recently trans- ferred to the Michigan post, was said previously to have been assigned to the warehouse, in charge of the liquor. The Federal agencies Involved in the investigation are the office of the district attorney, the special intelli- gence unit of the Internal Revenue Department, prohibition officials, Army officifls and the Bureau of Investiga- tion of the Department of Justice. Capt. Bass, now at Selfridge Field, is to be questioned, the prohibition agents said. iy WIND WRECKS OIL WELLS. Twenty-One Derricks Demolished by Storm in Louisiana. SHREVEPORT, La., October 1 (#). —A heavy windstorm, followed by rain, demolished 20 or more derricks in the Pine Island ofl fleld about 25 miles north of here yesterday, One derrick was demolished in the Homer field nearby. Five men employed on one derrick near Gilliam escaped injury when they sought shelter in a nearby shed. The derrick fell within a few feet of their place of refuge. NEW MOTH CURE FOUND. Repellant Discovered After Six Years’ Work by Two Researchers. PITTSBURGH, Pa., October 1 (#).— v of a new clothes moth cure, cinchona alkaloids, was an- nounced today by the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research. The repellant (which, it was sald, will save millions of doliars in cloth- ing) was found after six years' work son and Miss Helen Wassel, senior and junior indus- trial fellows of the institute. The in- vestigation ied on for the sentence. Munda Technical Socicty of America, composed of dry cleaners and dyers. |Spring rests mation orced to remain s found by a fisherman dated September with na master the beach Tor the rey, of , anchored, 11 fath- e Inlet, North olina, bound m Port Tampa , Baltimore, with cargo of phosphate ck; been anchored since September 2 on account of heavy northeast nd and seas. Advise owners. Crow- 1l & Thurlow, Boston. All well on rd” [ By the Asso October 1.— oing to b And, to let Jimmy tell 5 to peel off his police coat and jump into any kind of a con- test the w b | foot bal 1a more 3 known as Patrolman I, O'Connell at the Springfield {roll call—is only 27, and didn’t reach the nks of full-fledged patroiman un- til last June, 8o he's well qualified to tacklo the newly created job assigned 1((. him, that of mingling with the bud- ding manhood of Springfield. That's the reason he w named for the job \hy Chief William J. Quilty, who, In | taking a leaf from the book of knowl- |aze of Judge Marcus Kavanauih of hicago, decided to appoint an officer to mingle with the city’s boys to et -~ field Assigns Policeman to Win their confidence r of their ways. immy” says he is going to be a friendly father and pal to the boys of | Springfield. He intends to mingle em in all their athletic en- visit playgroun: chools and show them the lar fellow. - In his boyhood and school days O'Connell gained quite @ reputation as an all-round athicte, and he feels equal to the occasion of holding his own against the youngsters who will be his companions on his new “beat.” He also plans to gain the confidence of parents and bring about better co- operation between them and thelr children. Jimmy made an auspiclous start in his endeavor last night when he visit- ‘tered poles, snapped standards and ST LOUS TORNADO 0EAD AND IRED LSTS NCEASIY 89 Killed, 1,152 Hurt, Loss of Nearly $100,000,000 Shown by Recheck. MORE BODIES SOUGHT IN COLLAPSED HOMES 5,500 Residences, Apartments and Small Buildings Wrecked by Storm—Relief Under Way. By the Assoc; ST. LOUIS, October 1.—Hos pital lists of victims, re checked early indicated the number of injured would almost dou blo yesterday's highest figure and reach 1,152. The dead numbered 89, with the certainty that this number, too, would mount higher, drawing its increase from the injured list and possibly from the debris which still provided hunting ground for search- ers. House-to-house canvasses gave 0 as the approximate number of buildings destroyed or damaged. It was this large number that gave pause to the counters, who last night computed the injured between 550 and 600. Collapse of that many buildings, it was pointed out, might reasonably he expected to catch a greater num- ber of victims. That more than a million dollars’ worth of automobiles were destroyed was another reason for checking the earlier hospital lists. Apartments and Houses Hit. Survey of the entire storm area showed that the bulk of serious storm damage was done residence houses, apartment buildings, small stores, small factories and churches. H. M. Bixby, president of the & Louis Chamber of Commerce, expressed the opinion that the total loss would be close to $100,000,000. Other estimates were between $25,000,000 and that gure. Calling upon all members of his organization to respond to the Red Cross appeal, President Bixby said St. Louis would meet the emergency with- out outside help. He wired President W. R. Dawes of the Chicago Associa- tion of Commerce, thanking Chicago for the offer of help, but adding that “from present indications we feel con- fident we will be able to take care of the situation.” Ten gangs of wreckers under the building commissioner started to work this morning tearing down and clear- ing away dangerous parts of dam- aged buildings. Ovérhanging walls were the principal menace, Six hun- dréd more men and 60 additional trucks were added to the army of men sent by the department of streets and sewers to restore streets for traf- fic. Authorities warned sightseers away. Storm Zone Patrolled. - Al last night members of a 6th Infantry, United States Army detach- ment, a contingent”of the Missouri National Guard and the American Legion, supplementing the St. Louis police force, patrolled the storm zone in. darkness. The storm had splin- b shattered $30,000 worth of street lights. They were prepared to shoot at marauders but evidently none was seen, Substantial buildings in the path of the tornado withstood its force, in most cases with little or no damage. Frame houses were splintered as kindling wood, but the better stone and brick structures suffered only the loss of roofs or collapse of inner walls. This fact gave rise to an expression from the Weather Bureau that had the tornado hit open country it would have been insignificant. It swept down upon the metropolls, covering one-fourth of its area, and while doing stupendous damage, did only a minor fraction of what a full-sized tornado might have done. Tornadis Vacuum Damaging. A study of the ruins, where hun- dreds of houses were found with one wall blown cleanly out, demonstrated the action of tornadic_vacuum, com- mon to all twisters. It was pointed out that the air was suddenly removed from around the houses and the inner pressure, seeking relief, forced out the walls or lifted roofs. In many cases clothing hanging on the inner walls was unmoved. Churches of all denominations suf- fered. Twelve of them were enumer- ated by Dr. A. H. Armstrong, secre- tary of the St. Louls Church Federa- tion, in estimating their total loss at one million dollars. Between a million and a half and two million dollars’ damage was done nine schools. Greatest damage was oceasioned by the toppling of the or- namental tower of the Central High School, where five girls were crushed to death, The prosecuting attorney indicated he might ask a grand jury investigation to place responsibility for such defective architecture or con- struction. Red Cross Directs Relief. Relief_was in charge of the Red Cross. Both the St. Louis Globe-Dem- ocrat and the ost-Dispatch headed the relief funds with contributions of $5,000 each. Dr. George Ahrens, the German consul, was one of the first to ex- press sympathy for tornado sufferers to Mayor Victor J. Miller. He said he bore an_expression_of symps (Continued on Page 4, .- BOYS’ DORMITORY BURNS. Loss of Congregationalists in China Blamed on- Malice. FOOCHOW, Fukien Province, China, October 1 (A).—The boys' dormitory at Foochow College, the middle school of the Congregationalist mission insti- tution here, was burned yesterday. Missionaries declare there {is the strongest evidence that the blaze was of incendlary origin. The fire comes as the climax of a three-month campaign against the mission school, seeking its abolition, and follows the inauguration here of a new governmental school. In this campaign teachers have heen threat- ened with bodily harm unless they re- signed. Appeals to the .Chinese au- ed the Springfield Boys' Club, where his beaming countenance drew from the youths a volley of applause that nearly rocked the building. thorities were ignored. . Radio Programs—Page 38 HeLto GEORGE . fw, Go'LoNG)E— ; ESIDES 1 DoNT s~ 3 5&«“& You'R ) 'fi\\‘% THE REAL THING! Z;\ CLUBS, BOTTLES AND CHAIRS DRIVE SMUTS OFF PLATFORM Agitators Pull Down British Flags at Transvaal Meeting. Member~ of Former -Pre- mier’s Party Are Chased From Hall. By the Associated Press. BLOEMHOF, Transvaal, October 1. —Fighting with chairs, clubs and bot- tles, 300 South African Nationalist agitators captured the platform at a meeting here last night and prevent- ed Gen. J. C. Sniuts, former premier of the South African Union, from de- livering a scheduled speech. British flags used in decorating the hall were torn into shreds. The Na- tionalists chased members of Smuts’ South African party from the hall, and free fights continued outside. There were numerous cracked heads, bleelfing faces and other injurigs. After Smuts' supporterg had been routed the Nationalists indulged in singing and danging on the platform. At a banguet later in the evening, Gen. Smuts said: “In the whole course of my life I have never seen anything so shocking. The country GEN. J. C. SMUT! is rapidly becoming a little Russia— but we won’t submit to it!” Gen. Smuts opposes the Natlonal- ists’ aim of independence from the British Empire. In a recent speech he_sald: . . *\We must stand or fall together. South Africa knows that if she gets into trouble, she has the British fleet, and if Great Britain is in trouble every rifle on the Veldt must ring out to help her.” FLOGGERS IN DIXIE FACE RETRIBUTION Attorney General Involves 150 Persons in 95 Alabama Whipping Cases. By the Associated Press. BIRMINGHAM, Ala., October 1.—A “reign of terror” involving 93 cases of floggings, kidnapings and deaths has goaded Alabama authorities into an exhaustive investigation, with a prom- ise of speedy retribution for the per- sons responsible. Attorney General Charles C. McCall, in a statement to the Age Herald, de- slared that 20 of the cases in Crenshaw County alone involve more than 150 persons. In 90 per cent of the cases, he declared, the mask and the hood was employed. False Alibis Cited. “I am not a fanatic on the ques- tion,” Mr. McCall announced, “and I do not seek to exaggerate the situa- tion, but it was virtually a relgn of terror. “I find that immediately after these crimes are committed those responsi- ble get together and frame up false- hoods and false alibis. “But I want to assure.the public and those guilty parties that they will not get by with it. I am going to get them with good grand juries and good trial juries. I am confident I can get indictments and convictions in 90 per cent of the cases.” . Some Floggers Identifled. . A number of the floggers have been identified and their cases will be pre- sented as soon as a grand jury can be convened. Many of the victims involved have been intimidated into refusing to tes- tify as to their injuries, Mr. McCall declared. e LOST PLANE SOUGHT ON ISLAND IN PACIFIC Navy to Send Ship to Point 750 Miles South of Hawaii for Golden Eagle. ‘With the hope that the Golden Eagle, one of the planes which par- ticipated in the Dole Pacific flight and which has not been heard from since, may have flown beyond the Hawalian Islands and landed on John- ston Island, 750 miles south, the Navy Department is to dispatch ‘a naval vessel from Honolulu to that remote spot in the Pacific Ocean. Approval of this plan to continue the search to Johnston Island was given by President Coolidge today when the matter was brought to his attention by Secretary of the Navy ‘Wilbur and Rear Admiral Eberles | { HARMONY LOOMS ATLABOR SESSION Carpenters’ Fight of Six Years’ Standing Ironed Out in Committee. By the Assoclated Press. LOS ANGELES, October 1.—Har- mony omens for the American Federa- tion of Labor convention which will open here Mond as the Nation's labor leaders busily smoothed out organization snarls and settled disputes, one of them a major disagreement of long standing. Yesterday was peace day for the delegates who have been holding pre- convention _departmental meetings here. Reaffiliation with the federa- tion’s building trades department of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, with its 450,000 members, was the outstanding achievement. The brotherhood with- drew from the department six years ago in a controversy in the hoard of awards, but retained its federal affilia- ding trades section settled another “family quarrel” by voting to sustain its executive council in sup- porting the Building Trade Council of Baltimore in its difficuity with the Bricklayers' Union of that-city. The controversy revolved around a con- flict between the bricklayers and plas- terers as to which workers should do certain types of work. Two departmental conventions closed peacefully, with the metal trades and union’ label trades group both re-electing most of their officers. A hint of struggle was given, how- ever, in a wave of telegraphic bids for the 1928 convention of the federation. Birmingham, Ala.; St. Petersburg, Fla. Toronto, Canada, Miami and Lak land, Fla., all announced their inten- tion of malking a fight for the next na- tional meeting. 17 Soviet Sailors Drown. NIKOLAYEV, Ukranie, Russia, Oc- tober 1 (#).—Seven‘een sailors were drowned today in the capsizing of a Soviet schooner five miles west of Lanchers Island, in the Black Sea, over which a great storm is raging. SHORT GIVES UP IN GIRL'S DEATH | Luray Man, After Hiding in Mountains, Denies Shoot- ing at Window. Special Dispatch to The Star. LURAY, Va., October 1.—Thdmas Short surrendered to Sheriff Edward Lucas about 8 o’clock this morning, after hiding in the mountains around Ingram, Va., since Wednesday, fear- | ing seizure by a posse and vengeance i for the death of 19-year-old Elsie Buracker. The girl was shot through the win- | dow of her home Tuesday night and | Short disappeared. In surrendering he denied that he fired the fatal shot and said he was surprised Wednesday | morning when he learned that Miss Buraker had been killed. He said they met Tuesday and parted in the best of terms. Short said he had been on a drunk for 10 days or two weeks, but was sober and clear minded when he met Miss Buraker the last time. They had discussed marriage, he sald, but refused to talk further about this. He will make a fight for exoneration and a lawyer will be engaged to obtain | the alibi evidence. Commonwealth's Attorney F. J. Walton will call a special session of the grand jury for investigating Short's story and if the suspect’s alibi is not substantiated he will ask a first degree indictment and the death penalty. A member of the Buraker family saw Short pass the window a | few seconds before the shot pierced the girl’s head, according to testimony given at the inquest, which held Short responsible. The prisoner is a man 40 years old and seven children are in his home. His wife died more than a year ago. INSURANCE FIRMS AID OPIUM CONTROL American Companies’ Agreement Makes Favorable Impres- sion in Geneva. By the Associated Press. VA, October 1.—A favorable sion was produced in the ad- visory committee on the opium traffic of the League of Nations at today’s session by the receipt of information that an overwhelming number of American maritime finsurance com- panies have adhered to a British pro- posal not to insure goods concealing illicit opium and dangerous drugs. The information was contained in a letter which was handed unofficially to Sir John Campbell, chairman of the committee, by the American observer, S. Pinkney Tuck, showing that out of 77 Ameryi 2 companies 73 adhered to the. pmgf* while three companies declared they would follow suit if the remaining fourth also adhered to it. The committee, which is sitting in an extraordinary session for the pur- pose, is taking up an important Italian proposal for a more strict con- trol of the narcotic traffic. MINE ROW REPORTED. American Owners Lay Men Off After Dispute With Mexicans. NOGALES, Ariz., October 1 (®P).— Dispatches published by the Herald today reported that officials of the American-owned La Dura Mining Co. at La Dura, Sonora, Mexico, had reached an ‘“open rupture” with po- litical leaders of the town and that work on the mining property had been suspended. Several hundred men em- ployed were laid off. The dispatches did not disclose the cause of the strained relations. $15.500.000.000 New York Real Estate Assessment Is Huge Gain Over 1926 By the Associated Pres NEW YORK, October 1.—TFifteen and a half billion dollars is the stag- gering total of Father Knickerbock- er's assessm.nt of real estate next year. This is a jump of $1,430,217,110 over this year, the board of taxes and assessments estimated today. The total personal estate for next year is estimated at $1,106,911,550, an increase of nearly $76,000,000 over 1927, John D. Rockefeller is the only ia- dividual assessed as having personal- ty in execess of $1,000,000, although 17 estates are assessed as having per- sonal property above that amount, 3 of them being assessed at $3,000,000 each. The Equitable Life Building, in the financial district, is listed as the most valua’ e office building, being assessed at $31,000,000; the Commodore as the most valuable hotel, $14,500,000; the Metropolitan Opera House, the most valuable theater, $5,630,000: the Uni- versity as the most valuable club, $4,- 050,000 4 SMITH SENTIMENT IN [OWA OUTRUNS MEREDITH'S POWER Former Secretary May Find Self in Minority if He Persists in Fight. LAW ENFORCEMENT SEEN AS AID TO GOVERNOR Reed Is Second Choice in Tall Corn State, but Donahey Is Al- most Unknown. BY G. GOULD LINCOLN, Staft pondent of The Star. DES MOINES, Towa, October 1.— |E. T. Meredith, former Secretary of Agriculture and sometimes mentioned as the dry Democrat who is to head |off the Al Smith boom in the next Democratic national eonvention, may find himself in a minority in his own home State in his crusade against the New York governor. Not only is it doubtful that Mr. Meredith can win the delegation, or a majority of it, but it begins to look as though Gov. Smith may receive the support of the Towa Democrats in the national convention. The Smith strength is developing here in spite of the fact that Towa is a dry State. His gain is due, not so much to the ct that the governor is opposed to jon-wide prohibition, but to the fact he is recognized as the outstand- ing figure of the Democratic party to- day. s Towa Friends Shudder. When Mr. Meredith recently in New York issued his defy to the Smith forces and suggested a national con- ference of Democrats to find some one to head off Gov. Smith for the presidential nomination he sent B shudder down the spines of some of his own friends and former support- ers of McAdoo in Towa. “Why start a new fight against a Democrat?” is the way one of the most prominent leaders of the party, who aided the McAdoo cause in 1924, put it to me. “We would rather fight a Republican. We are pretty sick of strife within our own party.” The fact of the matter is that some of the leading Democrats who fought Smith and took sides with McAdoo in 1924 are willing to accept Smith “for the good of the party” rather than because they particularly cotton to the governor. They take the view that he has stood for law enforce- ment in New York and they believe that he would stand for law enforce- ment in the Nation if he were in the ‘White House. Backed “Strongest Man.” “He wouldn’t appoint a former owner of a big distillery to head the department which must enforce the prohibition law, either,” another dry Democrat said, who is leaning toward Smith at present. 5 The former McAdoo men who .are now talking of the possibility of the nomination of Smith say that in 1923 they supported Mr. McAdoo because they believed he was the strongest Democrat in the country at that time and had the best chance to win if nominated for President. They are only logical, they say, when they ac- cept Smith for the nomination next year if he is the strongest man in the party. Like their Republican brethren in Iowa, the Democrats are apt to find themselves engaged in a contest over the control of the State delegation in the national convention and the State organization. One faction, repre- sented by Wilbur Marsh and John T. Sullivan of Waterloo and Mike Healy of Fort Dodge, is for Smith for Presi- dent and been for a long time. This is the faction which was ousted from control four years ago, when the McAdoo men, under the leadership of Clyde Herring (the present Demo- cratic national committeeman), Mere- dith and others, came into the ascend- ency. The Marsh faction would like to control again, and means to do so if it can, but the Herring faction is for holding on. The Democrats in Iowa, under the control of Marsh for many years, had become restive under his dictatorial rule and that was one reason he and his group lost out. Road Could Be Easier. The progress of the Smith move- ment in lowa would be made consid- erably easier if the New York Gov- ernor and his friends would undertake to recognize the Herring faction as well as the Marsh faction. It will be the harder and more difficult if the Marsh faction is allowed to claim ex- clusive recognition from Smith and to seek to come back into control of the State politics on the Smith band wagon. Under proper handling, it is said, almost the entire delegation might be counted on to be for Smith. But if the old row between these fac- tions flares up it may result in cut- ting down materially the number of Smith delegates, and might even cause the favorite son candidacy of a man like Claud R. Porter, one of the strongest Democrats in the State. Mr. Porter was the party nominee for the Senate last year. He has run for governor, and always has made a good showing, though he has not heen elected to office. In Iowa, as in the case of other Western States, where the Democratic party has been rather hopelessly in the minority for vears—many of the party workers are of Irish extraction and many of them Catholics. There is no prefer- ential primary for President and the delegates are picked in party conven- tion. makes it comparatively easy for e leaders to control the selection of the delegates. It i{s an added reason for supposing that the Smith supporters will be able to ob- tain a fair share of the delegates next vear, if not the whole delegation. In 1924 there were Smith men in the Towa delegation—though most of them stood out for McAdoo. Tt is estl- mated that 40 to 50 per cent of the TDemocratic voters in the State are Catholics, and still others are wet. Tf Mr. Meredith should enter the lists for the Towa delegation to the na- tional convention he would have prac- tically the same solid opposition of the Catholic Democrats. Tt is said that he has offended the Catholics several times, on one occasion taking up the fight for the movement against parochial schools. Some of his friends think he would be unwise to énter a fight for the delegation, which would bring on an ugly contest, particularly as his health has not been of the best. The opinion seems to be gaining. ground that Mr. Meredith will not un- xomtmwnnl’mtmfl