Presidential Nomination Possibilities: Liquor Trouble.
An old resident in China, who is! a Keen student of international polities, as well as Chinese and! American, and who has just returned from a trip round the world, told a representative of the "North-China Daily News" on Wednesday of conditions in America in this election year. As is usual during the six or nine months preceding a presidential election, our informant, went on to say, "Big business" America is marking time, in other words huge corporations are not} entering into contracts of expansion, which entail Inrge expenditure at the present time. When visited some of the larger American cities, he was definitely told by directors of concerns that, not until they knew "which way the cat would jump," were they prepared to make further investments.
As a result of these decisions, there are larger numbers of men without positions in certain sections: of the country than for seve years. Of course, he added, essential businesses have not been forced to cut down their staffs.
'A peculiar situation had arisen {in the Southern states, the reasons! for which he attributed to the collapse of the Florida land. boom. The glowing prospectuses of land companies, city organizations, etc., had enticed many persons to For fda, persons whose capital was exhausted shortly after they arrived. Unable to return to the North, they' had wandered about through ad-Jacent states, in many instances becoming a burden upon the country. No small amount of the petty) crime of the past year has been due to this element, Hoover or Smith?
Questioned regarding the presidential possibilities, our informant believed that perhaps neither Mr. H. Hoover or Governor Al Smith] would be nominated by their res-Pective conventions. Mr. Hoover was extremely popular with the man with the necessary political and—as the fact is daily becoming more apparent to. the commercial world—necessary commercial training for the office.
Whether East ican Party was doubtful.
Still more doubt existed regard: ing Mr. Smith's chances. "Mixed sentiment existed throughout the country. On the one hand the Wets wanted Smith, All churches, ex: ent the' Catholic, and organizations with Protestant' tendencies, - were dead against his, nomination. There ras even some doubt if New York, his own state, "could. be. counted Spon, "secre he nominated. The solid South preferred another man. non-Catholic, Many political students are of the opinion that, because of the two-thirds majority] nomination rule in the Democratic Convention, Mr. Smith cannot be nominated.
On the other hand many express sions by individuals are heard. the South to. the effect that they} prefer a Catholic Smith to a pronegro Republican president. "From such and similar assertions it, may deduced "that should Smith be nominated, the South will vote solid, as in the past. the United States, our informant went on to say, for abatement of the liquor evil. "The law should altered so as to permit the sale of liquor with necessary restrictions—Congress has the power to modify the "Volstead Act—or the Government should act.firmly in suppressing hontlegging and hi-jacking. The ethical sense of right and wrong of the masses has been roused, nation-wide feeling of shame over the apparent weakness of governmental departments is growing, while the existence of a personal shame is evident. The crystal ion of these may force Congress, into doing "one of two things:—appropriate G.$200,000,000 annually until bootlegging is suppressed, of modify the Act.
In cities like New York, Washington and San Francisco, liquor seems to be sold openly. It Is everywhere in evidence. Washington, the national capital, is said to be the most
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.