Herbert Hoover arrived in Kansas City one day last week loaded, primed and cocked to fire his best-prepared forensic broadside of the season into Franklin Roosevelt. Its powder: a charge of lowering the morals of U. S. public life. Just then Franklin Roosevelt's second Peace plea was made public (see p. 9), and Mr. Hoover felt obliged to preface his broadside with a non-partisan salute to Mr. Roosevelt's efforts. Next day, completing Jonah Hoover's bad political luck, his thunder was muffled in obscure columns of the press as the Munich settlement exploded on every front page in the land.
> On the same ill-chosen evening, Senator Arthur Vandenberg, addressing the Michigan League of Women Voters, clanged an equally unheard tocsin. His theme: glorification of "Yes, but" statesmen, as preservers of democracy's traditions.
> Last month, Chairman Arthur J. Altmeyer of the Social Security Board threatened to cut off Federal contributions to Ohio's 112,000 aged pensioners unless Governor Martin Luther Davey ceased playing politics with the pension rolls. The Governor dared him to. Last week after a hot political word war. Chairman Altmeyer took the dare, cut off $2,576,000 of October payments, sternly warned that Governor Davey must clean up and improve his State's social security administration before November.
> Two weeks after her primary vote, Maryland last week finally succeeded in choosing her Democratic nominee for Governor. When more than two men in a party seek this office, Maryland voters are asked to indicate their second choices on primary ballots. The nomination itself is voted by county delegates, thus instructed, at a State convention. Even after second-choice votes were counted at last week's convention in Baltimore, neither Mayor Howard W. Jackson of Baltimore nor Attorney General Herbert R. O'Conor had a clear majority. The seven delegates of Prince Georges County broke the deadlock, swung to and nominated Mr. O'Conor on the third ballot.
> Arm in arm into the Secretary of State's office at Lansing, Mich, marched the Rev. James W. Hailwood and Tunis Johnson, both of Grand Rapids, to decide the outcome of their race for Democratic nomination to the House. Each had received 4-533 votes. The Secretary of State said they must draw lots. Rev. Mr. Hailwood delayed the proceedings while he read a statement to the effect that he disapproved of "gambling," therefore would not draw a lot himself, would let a proxy do it for him. His proxy then stepped up, drew out of the hat box for Parson Hailwood the slip marked "Elected."