Mud & Brickbats

Mud and brickbats came into use during the hot semi-finals of the campaign. Rival headquarters were kept busy tossing and talking, ducking and denying. Principal exchanges:

Money from Canada. Charge--That Chairman Farley, unable to raise Democratic funds in the U. S., had solicited a Montreal shipping man by mail for a contribution to turn out Hoover & Co. Reply--The unnamed Canadian was a member of a New York club from the rolls of which his name was culled by mistake.

Stalin. Charge--That Republicans through secret channels were trying to cook up a press story in London to the effect that Josef Stalin, Soviet dictator, favors Roosevelt, hopes he is elected. Reply--"A bedtime story!"

"Marks & Misery." Charges--That before he became Governor, Franklin Roosevelt headed United European Investors Ltd., a Canadian concern organized "to speculate in German marks and misery," that later he was a director of Consolidated Automatic Merchandising Corp., "a slot machine trust." Replies--United European Investors made a profit for shareholders; the Consolidated Automatic Merchandising Corp. directorship was resigned within a month, and besides, its products were vending, not gambling machines.

"Roorback." Winthrop, Mitchell & Co., New York brokers, circulated a report that 35,000 persons had written to The Literary Digest asking to switch their straw votes from Roosevelt to Hoover. Ray Benjamin, Hoover friend at G. O. P. headquarters, repeated the report to Republican Journalist William Hard who broadcast it by radio. The Digest spiked the story as "an oldfashioned roorback," denied that any voter had asked to change his vote. Mr. Benjamin said he got his information from a Digest employe in Chicago. The Digest retorted it had only admen in Chicago.

Roosevelt & Sugar. Cuban sugar interests congratulated Governor Roosevelt on his nomination and expressed pleasure at "your statement in which you declared as confiscatory and dishonest the duty of 2-c- ad valorem or less." Governor Roosevelt replied: "It gives me a great deal of pleasure to discover that my political ideals are understood and appreciated by my friends in neighboring countries."

Coolies. Charge--Herbert Hoover participated in the coolie "slave trade" to South Africa. Reply--"Lie! Calumny!"

Klan. Charge--John Nance Garner was a member of the Ku Klux Klan and as such helped turn Texas against Al Smith in 1928. Reply--Not so.

Rebates. Charge--Treasury tax rebates are used to repay contributors to the G. O. P. campaign fund. Reply--"Absurd."

Nuts. Charges--Hoover is sick. Roosevelt is sick. Replies--by Drs. Boone (R.) & Copeland (D.): "Sound as a nut."

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