Campaigners

The Brown Derby's outriders, invigorated by fresh campaign developments, were ubiquitously active.

Nominee Robinson, stumping in the restless Northwest, made full use of the Hoover cry of "Socialism!" and of Senator Norris' consequent declaration for Smith. He translated "Socialism" into what most of the Northwest's successful politicians call "Progressiveness." A typical Robinson excerpt: "His [Nominee Hoover's] denunciation of the proposal to make the tariff effective for agriculture as 'State Socialism' not only proves his utter lack of sympathy for the desire of farmers to enjoy prosperity, but also his very prejudiced viewpoint. . . ."

James Middleton Cox, the Democratic nominee of eight years ago, went to the Border to counteract the big Republican push there. At Nashville, Tenn., he flayed the inconsistencies of loud-spoken Senator Borah and read long passages from Borah speeches in the Senate flaying Hoover in 1919. He described the Hon. Mr. Borah as a "political adventurer who, in some fashion or other has been under every political flag that has flown in the breeze from the days of free silver until now.

"For sixty years the Republican Party kept a politically solid North by creating and maintaining a bitter sectional feeling," he said, "but disintegration has come, and like a pack of timber wolves, smelling for the scent of fresh preserves, the leaders, orators and propagandists of the Republican Party are moving into the Southland.

"To invade and win the South, the conventional Mark Hanna Republican of the brewery and bloody shirt will not do. There must be some disguise. The window dressing, this stalking horse, this bearer southward of the Judas kiss, seems to have been acquired in the person of Senator William E. Borah of Idaho." He described Senator Borah as a "peddler of political wares which he himself did not believe in when they were being made."

Of Prohibition, he said: "I cannot speak for Tennessee, but in our State [Ohio] every man or woman who wants a drink can get it, and I am willing to ... assert that whoever wants liquor anywhere in any State can easily procure it. Senator Borah knows that. Mr. Hoover knows it. Mr. Coolidge knows it. And so does Governor Smith. The difference is that Governor Smith frankly tells the truth about it. ... Now why can't we be perfectly honest and candid and frank with each other on this subject? . . . It's not a new thing for public men of character to oppose Prohibition. Roosevelt did it, and Taft and Wilson. . . ."

John William Davis, the Democratic nominee of four years ago, was also on the Border. He pleaded with Kentucky to come back to the fold. With him was a surprising, brown-derbied travelling companion, Baseballer George Herman ("Babe") Ruth of the world's champion New York "Yankees." Campaigner Ruth addressed club and school audiences and spoke on the radio. To the consternation of Democratic leaders in rural sections, he related Nominee Smith's leadership in legalizing Sunday baseball. At Louisville, he caused excitement when his burly frame crushed the chair in which he was sitting on the platform.

Governor Albert Cabell Ritchie of Maryland left his own re-election campaign to go north with speeches for Nominee Smith. At Camden, N. J., he warned voters that Nominee Hoover is "a cold, silent individual who has refrained from discussing the issues of the campaign because he considers the average voter a boob." In the Bronx, he said: "This anti-Catholic crusade may or may not be serious so far as Smith's election is concerned, but it is vitally serious itself. . " . Once started, no man can tell its end. Remember that intolerance breeds intolerance, just as hate breeds hate and invites revenge. History shows that it is perhaps the most insidious and uncontrollable emotion that can sweep people off their feet."