AMERICAN PRESIDENCY

Northern Advocate, 16 April 1932, Page 11

AMERICAN PRESIDENCY

HOOVER CHANCES IMPROVE SPLIT AMONG DEMOCRATS. SMITH ATTACKS ROOSEVELT. (United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) (Received 10.30 a.m.) WASHINGTON, April 15. • President Hoover's chances of reelection in November have materially improved with the appearance of, a I widening split among the Democrats, No matter what Democratic interpretation may be placed upon a denunciation, of Mr Franklin D. Roosevelt, Governor of New York, by Mr Alfred Smith this week, and there are several schools of thought, it is clear, from the comment of the leaders and the press, that Mr Roosevelt’s chances have diminished. Mr Smith, with some return to that personal fire and magnetism which lie

displayed in 1928, without actually naming Mr Roosevelt, but nevertheless making it clear whom he meant, has accused the latter of being a demagogue and setting class against class.

| He also proposed a 20-year war I debt moratorium, with a provision for debt reduction to an amount of •25 ■ Per cent, of what the debtor nations j bought from the United States. In j short, he drove a wedge into the Democrats by setting forth, in round ! periods, the programme of Democratic big business and incidentally Eepubli- [ can big business. By stating that Mr [Roosevelt’s speech of several days I ago was a general harangue and an appeal to the disgruntled vote, he took from the Governor considerable support in New York and the East. On the other hand, the arithmetical odds are still heavily with Mr Roosevelt for nomination. If he can hold the South, and get the West, he can get the Democrat nomination. Mr Smith’s proposals for the 20-year war debt moratorium have laid him open to effective attacks by the Roosevelt supporters throughout the country. The consensus of opinion in Washington is that a party which is divided on economic policy, into which now enters the religious issue, cannot hope to defeat the vigorous solidity of the Republicans behind President Hoover.