National Affairs: The Brown Derby

(See front cover.)

Last week was Smith Week among the Democrats. East coast, West coast, all around the land, the Smith candidacy seemed to have reached a new high-tide line. In Washington, a Southern Senator who would not permit his name to be quoted because he and his State have been thoroughly anti-Smith, said: "Smith already is nominated." Other Washington politicos were discussing, not the probability of the nomination but its manner. Perhaps, they said, it could be managed by acclamation, which would be a very good thing for the chances of the Democracy in November, the precise reverse of much-haggled, half-hearted 1924.

In Manhattan, having bided its time, the Democratic State Committee formally offered New York's "most distinguished son" to the nation. The chief speechmaker used the words "progress" and "progressive" nine times in ten paragraphs, and made the customary references to Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln. A woman, Mrs. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, said that women "crave" a President with an understanding, a human heart. She quoted Kipling's Recessional and wound up: "The country needs a leader and we offer, with entire confidence and affection, Governor Alfred E. Smith, God bless him."

In other States, the progress of the Smith boom in Smith Week was as follows:

Georgia's two largest cities, Atlanta and Savannah, invited Candidate Smith to visit, through chamber of commerce and board of trade.

South Carolina's senior Senator, Coleman L. Blease, scouted the notion that his State, outstanding exemplar of secession, would bolt the Democratic ticket if Smith were nominated. This and other statements quieted the talk of Smith's "splitting" the South.

Illinois and Iowa verified their support, binding 58 and 26 votes, respectively, at state conventions.

Ohio, with a primary imminent, was conceded to Favorite Son Pomerene, an outspoken admirer of Candidate Smith.

Pennsylvania, with a primary imminent, was heavily pro-Smith.

Massachusetts, with a primary imminent, was conceded to Candidate Smith.

California, with a primary imminent, was claimed for Candidate Smith ahead of Candidates Walsh and Reed. Here, really, was a crux of the Smith candidacy which its supporters were taking on a surprising amount of faith. The California primary, first direct contest between the leading candidates, is of great importance psychologically as well as numerically. California is farthest from New York. California contains a curious mixture of wet Protestants, dry Catholics and vice versas. Thousands of Republicans were registered to vote in the Democratic primary. To predict a decisive Smith victory in California the margin of 10,000 votes quoted last week by Smith men seemed inadequate, senseless. Behind Candidate Walsh is William Gibbs McAdoo. Behind Candidate Reed is William Randolph Hearst. Behind Candidate Smith is onetime (1915-21) Senator James Duval Phelan, locally no less potent than McAdoo or Hearst but not clearly the Democratic strong-man of California able to combat the other two and confound them by division. The California primary, set for May Day, loomed large and inscrutable.