SMITH PICKED BY LIBERALS AS PRESIDENTIAL CHOICE

The Liberal Club, in a straw vote conducted among its members, elected Alfred E. Smith of New York as its choice for next President of the United States. Liberal Club members voted by the preferential system instead of naming a nominee from each party.

Herbert Hoover, of California, placed second to Smith in the vote, getting 19 votes to the New Yorker's 27. Charles G. Dawes, of Illinois, with nine votes, was third.

The remainder of the votes was divided among six candidates. Ritchie got 5 votes; Walsh 4; Curtis, Reed, and Lowden 2 each; and Norris 1 vote.

Smith not only received the greatest number of total votes, but also obtained twice as many votes for first place as Hoover, his nearest rival. Dawes received four firsts, while Reed, Lowden, and Norris got one each. Curtis, Walsh, and Ritchie got no first places.