THE WHITE HOUSE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 83, 8 April 1940, Page 5

THE WHITE HOUSE.

SPECULATIVE BETS. A HULL-FARLEY TICKET. GARNER AND HIS FORCES. , (By JOSEPH ALSOP AND ROBERT KINTNER. WASHINGTON. Despite John Nance Garner's shrewd handling of the position, the VicePresidency is not an office to attract a normal man. Garner himself did not want it, and only consented to accept the nomination in 1932 because there was no other way to swing his rebellious Texans into line for Roosevelt. Thus, it is extremely curious to see the Vice-Presidency being played with as though it were one of the biggest counters in the political game. The New Dealers, for example, hope to use it as the blue chip of their third term movement. House majority leader Sam Rayburn is their choice for the office. They want him because they imagine that, with Rayburn second on the ticket, Rayburn's friend and patron, Garner, might be induced to approve of a third term for Roosevelt. Scheme Has "Bugs." The scheme has a good deal of surface ingenuity. Rayburn is a wise, tolerant fellow who has managed to get on with all factions in the party feuds. The New Dealers have a great liking for him, remembering how well he worked, hand in hand with the team of Corcoran and Cohen, to put over the Securities [and Exchange Acts and the Public I Utilities Holding Company Act. At the same time he is Garner's particular protege, served as Garner floor-leader j in the 1932 convention, and will serve I again in the same capacity in 1940. I Being from Texas, he would give representation on the ticket to the south, where the conservative Democrats are strongest. * Beneath the surface, the scheme has obvious bugs. In the first place, there is no reason to suppose, as yet, that,

Rayburn wants' to be Vice-President. In : the second, there is no solid foundation ' for the supposition that Garner would abandon his anti-third term stand in order to make a deal in Raybunvs favour. In the third, it is distinctly doubtful whether the Garner type of convention delegate will etand for such a deal if it can be made. But the New Dealers are still full of hope. Meanwhile, there is more and more talk that, if a third term is out of the question, Postmaster-General James A. Farley will accept the Vice-Presidential nomination in return for throwing his support to Secretary of State Cordell Hull for President. Jim Farley has as hard a head as any man in politics. He is fully aware of the obstacles in the |way of his own Presidential candidacy, among which the most important are his religion, his build-up as a strictly practical politician and the probable attitude of the White House. At the same time, he has the experience and the following to make something real of the Vice-Presidency, just as Garner has. Altogether, a Hull-Farley ticket is an obvious bet. Hull will have no great strength in delegates, but, if he survives the attack on his trade agreement policy, the convention will see him as the biggest figure in the Roosevelt Cabinet. Even the New Dealers now pushing for the third term acknowledge that Hull would be an acceptable second-best candidate. There is no question that he meets the specification for a candidate always laid down by Farley, being a man whose nomination the President could not help but approve. He is also close to Garner. Farley and Garner will have the biggest groups of delegates, and for them to get behind Hull would be easy indeed. While he| 1 would miss the nomination himself, Gar-i ncr would have the satisfaction of seeing the ticket headed by two men he likes I and admires immensely. The Woods are Crawling. The Garner forces, meanwhile, are • looking round for a suitable Vice- • Presidential possibility of their own. As Garner is known as a Conservative audi , not loved by Labour, they want a strong] Liberal with a 100 per cent labour' .'record. Overtures are reported to have ■ lx-en made to Senator Burton K |\Vhecler, who fills the bill admirably. II Wheeler is a Presidential candidate hini- ! self, however, and it is reported that he .Iwas not interested, Now there are

slightly surprising rumours that the Garnerites are courting New York's bustling Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia. Nor does this exhaust the list. Both Justice William O. Douglas and prospective Justice Frank Murphy have been mentioned as the President's running mate if he attempts a third term race. The Federal Security Administrator,! Paul V. McNutt, might be glad to settle! for the Vice-Presidency now that his| Presidential band wagon seems to have! stalled. A whole covey of Democratic! Governors are ready to" be persuaded to' do their duty by the party. In fact, thei woods are crawling with political song] birds.