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Show ftvr WHO'S NEWS THIS WEEK By LEMUEL F. PARTON NEW YORK. On his record, it would appear that Gen. Edward Ed-ward Smigly-Rydz, Poland's strong man, might be more inclined to fight Germany with-Polish with-Polish Leader out Russia's aid Started Career than with it. He . ... . . made his career Fighting Soviet fighting the Bolsheviks, Bol-sheviks, and news dispatches of the last few weeks have hinted that he has been considerably embarrassed at being drawn into the new apparently appar-ently broken fellowship with Russia. It has been clear that being saved by Russia was the least and last of his ideas. He is beyond doubt the ablest of Poland's military leaders, and, once the bell rings, there is no question that he can and will fight, as he proved in the campaigns to free Psland and in his forays against early-day Bolshevik Russia. He never has quite come through as a dictator. In 1936 there was one of those "ideological" "ideologi-cal" build-ups in which he was to emerge as the head of reconstructed re-constructed Poland. Handsome and imposing, of dominant bearing, he looked the part, but he couldn't seem to manage the big talk necessary for the job. The best they could get out of him was something to the general gen-eral effect that nobody would ever be allowed to take a single button from Poland's robe. On August 6 of this year, when it appeared that Germany might just take the robe and leave the button, he was expected to make a sizzling speech at Cracow. His audience was howling for a knockout punch, but the speech was mostly shadow-boxing, shadow-boxing, with nothing specific about what he proposed to do about Danzig. Fifty-four years old, with an engaging personality, he has been a popular dinner guest and holds the honorary presidency of the Polish academy of letters. The old Marshal Joseph Pilsud-ski, Pilsud-ski, nearing the end of his life, anointed the general as his successor. suc-cessor. He has been supremely efficient in his army job, but, as a strong man, has been somewhat overshadowed by the showier, more facile and adroit Josef Beck, the foreign minister. minis-ter. But fighting is his main business and knowing observers figure that, talking little, he is more apt to fight. A MICHIGAN friend of this writ-er writ-er reports that Gov. Luren D. Dickinson's war on sin may turn out to be good political medicine out there. War on bin while big-town May Be Very political leaders Cute Politics are said t0 be somewhat embarrassed em-barrassed by the aged governor's alarmed discovery of wickedness in high places, the word is that his forces have been intrenched and widened since he let loose about the drinking and dancing orgies of the Albany conference of governors. His Bible class at Eaton, Mich., is crowded to the doors and he is besieged with requests for lectures and participation in revival campaigns. cam-paigns. Currently he tells a gathering gather-ing of Chicago and Detroit "pupils" that this Albany conference was pretty much like Belshazzar's feast and that our Babylonian wastrels will drag us down if we don't mend our ways. For 25 years, Mr. Dickinson has held in fee simple the anti-sin anti-sin vote of Michigan. It has held steadily around 200,000 votes, undivided in its allegiance in his repeated forays against evil, chief of which has been his still continuing prohibition battle. bat-tle. He is a spare, bald evangel of righteousness, his friendly eyes glinting behind his octagonal octag-onal rimmed glasses when he is aroused, his meager frame shaken with piclistic fervor. He employs much of the lexicon of the late Dr. Parkhurst of New York, in assailing sin, and some of his phillipics seem to voice again the pious horror of the author of "New York by Gaslight," Gas-light," written 60 years ago. He is a native of New York, born near Lockport in Niagara county. His parents removed to Eaton Mich., when he was a small boy' There he still lives, happily engaged en-gaged with his Methodist church Bible class, and. more recently with the state of Michigan and unhappily un-happily for his peace of mind, in a bout with evil which he never knew existed before. Shays's rebellion of 1786 jolted the big-town politicians with a reali-zation reali-zation of what a mixture of agrari-an agrari-an discontent and old-time religion may amount to. In Governor Dickinson's Dick-inson's compact voting phalanx things are something like that His allied conservative Republican organization or-ganization appreciates nil this (Consolidated Features WNU Scr'vlc..) |