Coastal Confusion

California's newspapers were last week filled with accounts of strange political tribes: the Roosevelts, the Sinclairs, the McGroartys; the Hoovers, the Landons, the Borahs. The final hour was at hand to file slates of delegates for California's Presidential primaries to be held May 5. Shortly before it struck came a news flash from Topeka, Kans., bringing Governor Alfred Mossman Landon's last word: He would "neither approve nor repudiate" the slate of delegates named for him. It was followed by a flash from Washington. Senator William Edgar Borah, who, ever since the opening of the campaign, has been trying to force Governor Landon and Herbert Hoover into an open primary fight, had finally made up his mind: He would not be a candidate in California's primary. The time for filing closed. Californians blinked, rubbed their eyes, realized that their primaries were going to be a beautiful political confusion.

Donkeys. Simpler half of California's political pandemonium was the Democratic. Upton Sinclair, who in 1934 ran away with the Democratic nomination for Governor, much to the pain of Senator William Gibbs McAdoo, was almost erased from the picture by EPIC's defeat in the election. Nevertheless, he left behind him an organization headed by his campaign assistant, State Senator Culbert L. Olson, who remained as Democratic State Central Committee Chairman. Senator McAdoo, who regards California as his political proconsulate, did not choose to honor State Chairman Olson with more than the scantest patronage. When Mr. Olson threatened to organize a delegation to the Democratic National Convention pledged not only to Franklin Roosevelt but to production-for-use, he was hastily invited to Washington. As a compromise President Roosevelt himself agreed to pick the slate of Democratic delegates. When he did so only ten EPIC's appeared on the list of 48 delegates (with 44 votes) along with six Townsendites and 20 New Dealers.

Taking advantage of disgruntled feelings among the EPIC's, Upton Sinclair, who announced several months ago that he was going to write a book instead of campaigning in 1936, changed his mind and whipped together a slate of EPIC delegates nominally committed to making that onetime Socialist the Democratic nominee for President. Actually, however, Mr. Sinclair stressed that he will support Roosevelt at the Democratic convention, aims only to have EPIC well represented for platform-making purposes. Unfortunately for the Sinclairs, however, State Chairman Olson, EPIC's strongest practical politician, is personally at odds with Upton Sinclair and is not on the Sinclair slate.

A third delegation entered the Democratic primary when a group of Townsendites chose Representative John Steven McGroarty, poet laureate of California, to carry the banner of $200-per-month for oldsters. Some distant observers assumed that the McGroartys had Dr. Townsend's support. Instead, Dr. Townsend and several of his leading followers declared that, as a matter of policy, they would not support Representative McGroarty or any candidate for President on the Democratic ticket. This week Representative McGroarty publicly broke with Dr. Townsend.

Thus last week, the Democratic struggle in California was left to be fought out on May 5 between the Roosevelts, the Sinclairs and the McGroartys, in declining order of tribal strength.

Elephants. California, almost as rich in Conservatives as in Liberals, is a key state in Herbert Hoover's plans. Dear to his heart, dearer even than his desire to be the Republican nominee again, is this issue: Individualism v. the New Deal. To force that issue he must have a deciding voice in the national convention which writes the Republican platform, picks the Republican candidate. To run in California's primary, however, would have been to risk repudiation in his home State, to endanger his whole aim. Three stanch allies he had who shared his aims: Publisher George Toland Cameron of the San Francisco Chronicle; Publisher Joseph Russell Knowland of the Oakland Tribune; Publisher Harry Chandler of the Los Angeles Times. That gave the ex-President one Old Guard paper in each of California's three metropolitan areas. Several months ago the Hoover plans were well afoot: to name an uninstructed Conservative-controlled delegation to the Republican convention at Cleveland. As nominal head of this slate they picked Earl Warren, district attorney of Aiameda County and Republican State Chairman. A steering committee of 21, a slate of 44 delegates, were named to promote this "free ticket" of "uninstructed" delegates. Two bumptious persons were given no representation in the movement. One was California's Governor Frank Merriam. The other was Publisher William Randolph Hearst.

An enemy of Hoover for years and since last autumn an ardent booster for Governor Landon, Mr. Hearst was interested in how much sympathy there was for Landon in this uninstructed delegation. George Gilray Young, general manager of Hearst's Los Angeles Examiner, quietly mailed a questionnaire, "Who is your favorite choice for Presidential candidate?" to the 44 members of the uninstructed slate and the 21 members of the steering committee. Mistaking the questionnaire for a general straw vote, all but one of the 65 replied. The score: Hoover, 47; Landon, 17.

In no mood was Mr. Hearst to support such an uninstructed delegation. Believing there was hope for Landon in the primary, the Master of San Simeon put pressure on Kansas' Governor to run in California. In a spot was Mr. Landon. To run would offend the Hoovers, would expose Landon to possible defeat by Borah, who had the support of many a follower of Senator Hiram Johnson, would cause Landon to be labeled the Hearst candidate--a label that Governor Landon has been trying to avoid since last December when William Randolph Hearst in his private car rode uninvited into Topeka and publicly put his hand upon the Landon shoulder. Not to run would be equally dangerous for Governor Landon. It threatened to drive Publisher Hearst to support a rival candidate. Statesmanlike "Alf" Landon last week solved the problem by doing precisely nothing.

Since in California the consent of a candidate is not necessary in order to run a slate of delegates for him, Mr. Hearst took silence for consent, got up a slate for Landon. Three days before the Hearst slate was filed, Governor Merriam, unable to get himself a place of prominence on Mr. Hoover's uninstructed delegation, startled California by announcing himself for Landon. Thus the Merriams and the Hearsts converged from opposite directions, marched on as an army of Landons.

The shock of that amalgamation so startled the Hoovers that for a time they considered abandoning the field entirely. When they recovered some of their morale, they closed ranks, marched on.

Second result of the new Landon movement was that Carl Bachmann, Senator Borah's manager, seeing there would be an opportunity to force the Kansas Governor to a fight, announced that his candidate would enter in California. Presently Senator Borah himself said he was not sure whether he would enter. Meanwhile Borah supporters, including many Johnson men, applied for the necessary papers, circulated nominating petitions, set to work on a slate of delegates. Not until the last day did Senator Borah decide. That he could not spare two weeks to stump California was the reason he gave for not filing. Perhaps a shortage of campaign money helped him make up his mind, and he may have listened to advisers who told him that if he entered in California he might only split the anti-Hoover vote and run last in a field of three. With Borah out, that left California Republicans a choice next month of marching with the Hoovers or in the Landon-Hearst-Merriam brigade.

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