KEY STATE--IOWA

One of the biggest surprises of the 1948 presidential election came from Republican Iowa, the center of the farm belt. Iowa gave its ten electoral votes to Harry Truman. Five weeks before the 1952 election, this is the situation:

Background. Since Iowa became a state in 1846, it has gone Democratic in only six of 26 presidential elections. Only five of the state's 30 governors and only six of its 25 U.S. Senators have been Democrats. After swinging to Truman and electing Democrat Guy Gillette to the U.S. Senate in 1948, Iowa in 1950 gave Republicans 59.3% of the vote for governor, 55.1% for U.S. Senator, and 61.2% for Congress. Iowa's farmers, who produce more corn, hogs, poultry and eggs than the farmers of any other state, make up the most powerful voting group. Today, Iowa is prosperous. Its endless fields of corn, heavy with the best crop in history, may well average a bumper 62 bushels an acre.

For Governor. Republican William S. Beardsley, 51, a wordy, wealthy farm owner, is seeking a third term. Under his efficient administration the state has stored up a $3 million reserve fund, paid an $83 million soldiers' bonus, made marked improvement in schools and institutions, and is carrying on a $70 million annual road improvement program. Personally, Beardsley has some handicaps. A year ago, after the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Justice Department looked into his income tax returns for 1944-49, he paid $8,000 in back taxes and $5,000 in interest and penalties. The governor said his trouble was caused by accountants' errors, but his explanation did not quiet his critics. Another charge against him centers on five head of cattle from his farm. The animals, infected with contagious brucellosis (Bang's disease) turned up at the Knoxville, Ia. sales barn for regular sale. Beardsley's explanation: a hired man failed to carry out his orders to dispose of the cattle in a way that would not risk spread of the disease. Many Iowa livestock farmers, who rank the spreading of Bang's disease only slightly below murder, were not convinced by the explanation.

Herschel Loveless, 41, the sincere and ungrammatical mayor of Ottumwa (pop. 34,000), is Beardsley's opponent. Loveless' chief issue: Iowa, where liquor now can be sold legally only in state-operated package stores, should have legal liquor by the drink.

Despite the tax and Bang's disease charges, Governor Beardsley seems to be leading Loveless.

For President. As Ike Eisenhower campaigned through Iowa in mid-September, he drew the biggest political crowds the state had seen since Franklin Roosevelt's heyday. Stevenson plans one speech in the state--at Fort Dodge, Oct. 4.

Among other Democratic big guns to be rolled in: Harry Truman and Estes Kefauver.

Last weeK Democratic Vice Presidential candidate John Sparkman campaigned through Iowa, talking mostly about prosperity. While Iowa's prosperity will help the Democratic cause with the purse-minded farmers, its effect is at least partially offset by some blunt economic facts: the farmers' taxes and living costs have been going up, while the trend of prices for their farm products has been down. Farm policy --Republican v. Democrat promises to farmers--has not developed as a burning 1952 issue in Iowa. Other issues, e.g., Government corruption and the Korean war, are hotter.

The Republican Party is the healthier in Iowa. Bob Taft's supporters, bitter and unwilling to work at first, have now turned to. The Democratic organization is weak. Senator Gillette, who helped pull Truman through in 1948 (Gillette's margin: 162,448; Truman's: 28,362), has not been working for the national ticket.

There are many varieties of polls in Iowa. Most of them put Ike in the lead, but show a high percentage of undecided voters. One of the most interesting is the Hawkeye Feed & Distributing Company's feedbag poll. Dealers are selling livestock feed in sacks labeled for the candidates, letting farmers choose. Results so far: Ike 53%, Stevenson 47%.

In Iowa, Eisenhower seems to be running well ahead of Stevenson, but the Iowa farmer--as 1948 proved--is a highly mobile political factor.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.