Pennsylvania "Wilds"
Pennsylvania "Wilds"
Pennsylvania's Senator David Aiken Reed had good reason to be glad he was in London as a delegate at the Naval Conference. Had he been in Pennsylvania, he would undoubtedly have been sucked into one of the most complex Republican tangles that a State long famed for its political complexities has ever experienced. Such a shifting and swapping, real and imaginary, went on last week that even Pennsylvania's own G. O. Politicians grew dizzy.
Reduced to its simplest terms, the situation was as follows:
William Scott Vare in Philadelphia bosses the eastern end of the State. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew William Mellon and his nephew William Lorimer Mellon in Pittsburgh administer the western end. When the U. S. Senate refused to seat Mr. Vare, Governor John Stuchell Fisher, a Mellon man, appointed Joseph Ridgeway Grundy of Bristol, arch-lobbyist for the Tariff, active raiser of campaign funds. Long used to dictating to politicians though never before a large officeholder, Mr. Grundy greatly enjoyed his transition and soon regarded himself as the G. O. P. boss of the whole State. An upright Quaker, he scorned Boss Vare. Solidly intrenched with industrial interests, he did not worry about a few enemies he had made among women, fraternalists, volunteer firemen, and certain labor groups.
The May 20 primary was approaching. Senator Grundy was a natural candidate to succeed himself. Boss Vare chose as his candidate for Governor Francis Shunk Brown, onetime State Attorney General, Vare attorney in the Senate fight. Varemen approached Senator Grundy about a Grundy-Brown ticket. Senator Grundy not only spurned this alliance but also, without consulting anybody, announced that his candidate for Governor was Samuel S. Lewis, onetime State Treasurer. Promptly, with the help of William Wallace Atterbury, President of the Pennsyl- vania R. R. and Republican National Committeeman, Boss Vare chose Secretary of Labor James John Davis as his senatorial candidate, made a Davis-Brown ticket to oppose the Grundy-Lewis ticket (TIME, March 24).
Senator Grundy had blundered badly in selecting Mr. Lewis to run with him. Mr. Lewis fought Governor Fisher last year in the Legislature on a gasoline tax, incurred the Governor's enmity. Mr. Lewis has few friends among the rank and file of the party. When Gifford Pinchot announced his candidacy for Governor, it seemed likely that Mr. Lewis would be stripped of what small rural following he had.
How badly Senator Grundy had blundered soon became apparent, at Secretary Mellon's 75th birthday party in Pittsburgh. Mr. Lewis was present. He watched the Mellon leaders offer the governorship over his head to three men, saw each turn it down. Before he left the party, it was made entirely plain to him that he could expect no Mellon support.
Senator Grundy last week departed suddenly from Washington. When asked where he was going, he rapped back: "Into the wilds of Pennsylvania." But before he could get there, Mr. Lewis, realizing the futility of his candidacy, had withdrawn.
Left alone on a shattered ticket. Senator Grundy was furious. At first he thought of quitting also. His pride was pricked. He could imagine the yelps of delight that would go up from low-tariff States if he eliminated himself. He decided to make the race, come what might.
As the week closed he turned spitefully on the Vare machine, charged it with saddling Philadelphia with a huge debt, with "feeding at the public trough." His charges were reminiscent of those that George Wharton Pepper, Mellon senatorial candidate, made in vain against Mr. Vare four years ago. Always quick with a retort, Varemen accused Grundy of helping to "unload" on Pennsylvania some land at Valley Forge under the false pretense that it was George Washington's camping ground.
Political observers last week seemed generally agreed upon these Pennsylvania points: 1) The Mellon influence will from now on dimmish in Pennsylvania politics; 2) Senator Grundy, with no ticket-mate, will be badly beaten by Secretary Davis; unless 3) with Mr. Pinchot contending formidably for the nomination for Governor against Mr. Brown, a Vare-Mellon deal has to be made, with Secretary Davis dropped as the price of electing Brown; 4) William Scott Vare remains more of a political power in Pennsylvania today than he ever was before the Senate rejected him, by simply waiting until the other element of his party got off-balance and then giving two ambitious friends of his a push.
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