"AL."

Hokitika Guardian, 1 September 1928, Page 4

"AL."

(By a New Iforkcr)

The farmhouse, in the past, has provided tlio United States with a number of its Presidents. Should Alfred K. Smith, the Governor of New York State and the Democratic nominee, come into that office as a result of the next national election in Nu-> veuiber of this year it would mean a break with the farmhouse tradition; for “Al,” as lie is known to all and sundry, is a big-city product who lias won through id tlyo battle of life alter a start which would have crippled the outlook of most men.

Between the years 1918 and 1926 Alfred E. Smith, now 56, has been elected Governor of New York State three times, which is upt oiyly a testimonial to his popularity with the electorate but shows that his businesslike manner of administering Hu State’s affairs is appreciated. Although a Democrat and supported by Tammany Hall, tho organisation in New Yo'rk City which is r

maker and breaker of politicians, lie counts many Republicans (or Conservatives) among his friends and supporters. Governor “Al” hears nc Tammany taint. He has always chosen a man for Hie job because of merit. The Tammany idea has been to hand out the political plums to members oi tlie organisation or. party.

Although there is nothing in the American Constitution barring a Catholic from the Presidential chair, no party in the past has had the temerity to nominate one. That fact liad to he taken into consideration by the Democratic Party leaders when “Al” was first suggested as a candidate, for the South, the solid Democratic section of the nation, is largely Protestant.

But the New York Governor’s proved ability, his popular appeal in the country because of his rise from the pavement, left no alternative, despite the fact that he is a recognised “wet.”

Governor “Al” > R a ' man of intense human sympathies, hut lie can he ns firm as a rock. The agitation some months ago to secure tlie reprieve of a woman sentenced to- death in the electric chair proved futile. There is no window-dressing about him or he policies. No politician with an axe to grind could find a less receptive medium on which to sharpen it. lie is, in American parlance, a good mixer, hut not because of expediency. As a campaigner, or public speaker, he has few superiors, if equals, in the country.

If this one-time news urchin of tinstreets of the East Side of New York should he installed in the White House ip Washington it will hp a had day for privilege seekers. “Good Old Al” can pick out such persons at a glance. Governor “Al’s” favourite form of reireation is golf and for a man of his age lie is no mean exponent of the game.