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Frank R. Kent ' ■ *•> if I The Great Game of Politics Republicans, After Futile Decade, Seek To Recapture Vital Negro Vote It was In 1836 that the great Negro vote in the pivotal Northern States, which had been the basic Republican asset since the Civil War, was transferred almost solidly to the Democratic party through the Machiavellian machinations and low guile of the Hon. James A. Farley. For 10 years, covering three presidential and three off-year congressional elections, tne Negroes have remained in the Democratic eamp. registering Democratic and voting Democratic all the wav from 75 to 98 per cent. In this year's campaign — the first since the Roosevelt death —the Republi cans have real hope of regain ing this great group of voters whose defection counted so heav ily against them. The Republican suffe rings on this score can be easily under stood. particu Frank R. Kent. lai iv wueu 11 is euusiueivu mat tarn Negro vote lost counted twice. It not only had to be subtracted from the Republican total but added to the Democratic. And now the Republicans, after more than a decade of futility, are making their first hopeful attempt to recover this practically indispen sable party asset, which from 1861 to 1936 helped elect their presidential candidates and since then has been potent in defeating them. Neither time, money nor work will be spared this fall. The effort will be inten sive and extremely earnest. All of which makes it pertinent to list, first, the means by which these votes were taken over by the Democrats, and. second, the reason the Repub licans believe they can get them back now. Farley Engineered Transfer. It was Mr Farley, with Mr. Roose velt's enthusiastic co-operation, who engineered this transfer in 1936. In the order of their importance he would list the means as follows: (1) The WPA, then under Mr. Harry Hopkins, and upon the relief rolls of which an amazing percentage of Negroes was placed: <2» Mrs. Roose velt, whose fraternization was ex ceedingly effective—a million copies of her picture taken with a group of male and female Negro students were distributed among Negroes in 10 selected States by the Democratic National Committee: <3) Federal patronage, a larger proportion of which went to Negroes in the early Roosevelt days than had been given by any other President: employ ment by the Democratic committee of an unprecedented number of Negro teachers, preachers and speakers who, well paid both a* to salary and expenses, traveled the selected States spreading the Roose velt gospel: (5» the Negro press, which. In one way or another, had become strongly pro-Roo6evelt. GOP Sees Time as Ripe. Bv these means was accomplished what. Mr. Farley, with reason, re gards as the most effective coup in the history of national politics. Now the Republican grounds for feeling this is the time to "right the great wrong." as some have referred to it, are these: <1) Mr. Roosevelt is dead: ^2> the WRA no longer exists; <31 the Democratic Party failed to repeal the poll tax or to pass a Federal Fair Employment Practices Act, whereas one was passed by a Republican Governor in New York; <41 the Federal patronage has moet ly been distributed; (5) the Negro press, like a number of Negro lead ers. has become disaffected and is now largely Republican again; (6> the present Democratic chairman, Mr. Hannegan, is many grades be low Mr. Farley in skill, judgment, knowledge and tact. He appears too busy proclaiming TROUSERS Odd Pant* $4.95 UD Ta Match ^ UP EISEMAN'S—F at 7th dr6p in your sports or drug store and ask for the NEW TRIPLE ACTION • It lubricates • Prevents rust • Helps clean metal COOD EQUIPMENT 40C N**ds « Premium Oil Hob* or Workshop 1 «P*Vt <*A McCsBbodqs & McCsmbrtdf* Co —__iMit,M^,e 23. HD DON’T RENT .. (Bwj' Invest in your future independence by starting to save today towards the purchase of your own home. Stop the monthly drain of renting upon your salary—own your own home. Liberal dividends every six months when you save here. Federal Insurance on savings up to $5,000. Columbia FEDERAL SAVINGS b LOAN ASSOCIATION 716 llth St. N.W., RE. 7111 oven until t 39 F ht Friday Closed Saturdays himself a ‘ true liberal" and carry ing on hia personal feuds within the cabinet to give the necessary time and attention to blocking this Re publican effort or to appreciate what its success will mean to the Demo cratic ticket in about 10 important and debatable States. Checking the first list against the aecond, it does seem that the Republicans have about a 60-to-40 chance of achieving their objective in this struggle for the Negro vote this time. It is one of the basic reasons for their general confidence. Answers to Questions A reader ran gat the answer to any queanon of fact by writln* The Evening 5t'»r Information Bureau 31 fl I afreet N E Washington ■>. D C. Please ln close 3 cents for return postage. By THE HASKIN SERVICE. Q How fast do the propellers on airplanes move?—B. T. H. A. Propeller tips rfiove at speeds faster than sound—1.088 to 1,266 feet a second, depending on the temperature. Q What Is the meaning of unit voting in elections such as the | recent primary election in Georgia? !—N. R D. A. Under Georgia's county unit system every county has a minimum of two unit votes, heavily populated counties have six unit votes, coun-: ties of medium population have four; unit votes. There are 410 unit votes | in the 159 counties. Of these, 121 i counties have two unit votes each ! Whichever candidate has the ma-, Jority of the votes in a county j receives the unit votes of that county, regardless of the size of the majority. Q When will the new Trade Mark' Law go into effect?—O. S. F A. The Lanham Trade Mark bill,' signed by President Truman on July 5. 1946. will go Into effect July 5, 1947. Q What are the principal foods exported from the United States?—1 A. T. B A. For the fiscal year 1945-46. over 16.000,000 tons of food were ex ported from the United States. Over i 10,000.000 tons consisted of wheat and flour, over 1.000.000 tons of other grains and smaller amounts of fats. oils, meats and dairv products. Miscellaneous foods exported in cluded sugar, beans and peas, flsh, eggs, poultry, vegetables, fruits. Q How much does It cost the United States Government to main tain an enlisted man In the Army?, —F. P. F. I A. The over-all monthly cost toi the Government of maintaining an : average enlisted man in 1945 was $158. This Included food, $20;1 clothes. $20; medical and dental care. $3. Pay and allowances make up the rest. Q What percentage of homes in the United States are without elec tric lights?—A. 8. A. It is estimated that in 1945 over 20 per cent of the total oc-; cupied dwelling units in the United States were without electee lighting. Q Is the uae of espionage by gov ernments a recent development?— E. 8. L. A. Espionage is as old as history, but organized espionage did not exist until the 17th century under Cromwell in England and Richelieu; in France. ! McLemore— Movie Trailers Declared 'Surplus' By Henry McLemore Far be it from me to knock Holly wood. > To start with, there is no telling how many stars I have been in love with since I have been going to the movies, i Marguerite Clark, Mary Pickford. Mabel , Normand. Bessie Love, Billie Dove, i Blanche Sweet, Mary Miles Min ter, to name a few. And, to name a few more, Barbara La M a r r, Lila Lee, a roomful of Talmadges, Clara Bow, Nita Henry McLemore. i waiai ana rtene oaoree. Furthermore, many of the manly i qualities which have served me in such good stead throughout the j years, were learned at the celluloid knees of Dustin Farnum, Jack Holt, ’ Antonio Moreno, Rod La Roque, John Gilbert, Neil Hamilton, Wal lace Reid and Carlyle Blackwell. Besides, it is so easy to get to so many nice places from Hollywood. Santa Anita is only a few miles away, and in a few hours a man may reach Palm Springs and the calm of the desert. Dave Chasen’s restaurant is a matter of minutes from Hollywood, and for those who like skiing, fishing, hunting and kindred sports, the nearby moun tains and lakes beckon. And, smack in Hollywood, connoisseurs of the nutburger and double frosted with marshmallow topping, can feast as they can nowhere else on earth. One Tiny Complaint. No, far be it from me to knock Hollywood. But I must make a tiny little complaint to the fabled flicker folk. Just a tiny little voice, crying from the mezzanine, an almost imper ceptible larynx from the loge. This is it: Must theater-goers be subjected to trailers? In case Hollywood has become so drugged by trailers that it has for gotten what trailers are. let me re mind it that trailers are those patch work-quilt things that are shown before and after each feature to advertise what the theater manager would like to trap you and me into seeing next week, the week after that, and, sometimes, next season. When I go into a movie theater, and pay my good money to see "The Strange Big Sleep of Cluny Brown and the King of Siam,” I don’t want to spend my first 30 minutes watch ing a trailer advertising the coming appearance of "Notorious Smoky in Canyon Passage.” I don’t like It any more than I would like It if, when I walked in a grocery' store to make a purchase, the manager stopped me at the door and talked half an hour on what the store was going to have in the way of mer chandise next week. So Little Time. Movie people never have seemed to realize that there are thousands of movie-goers who have just so much time to spend In the movies, and no more. Not every one who goes to a movie Is a vagrant seeking a warm place, or a cool place, or a comfortable place to relax. Many, many folk have to budget their hours. The trailers are dishonest, too. That is. the great majority of them are. Only the most exciting mo ment or moments of the film they advertise are shown. If all movies were as good from beginning to end as their trailers would have the pa tron believe, Oscars would have to be handed out by the basketful. If something can be done about this matter, millions would be grate ful. (Distributed by McNaught Syndicate, Inc.) VETERANS [S.I.] Real Estate Loans We invite Veterans who are considering the purchase of a home to discuss with us their plans of financing. Servicemen can obtain full information here on the provisions of the Revised Serv icemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944. (G. I. Bill.) Our years of experience in financing home loans are available to any Veteran without cost or obligation. BANK OF COMMERCE AND SAVINGS 7th & E Sts. N.W. H St. at North Capitol NAtional 7000 NAtional 7000 BRIGHTWOOD BRANCH: 0424 Georgia Are. N.W. MARVINS HOME OF MAGIC CREDIT 726-734 7Hi St. N.W. Open daily and Sat. to 6 P.M. Dl. 1549 WASHINGTON’S LARGEST CREDIT STORE WOMEN'S A LL-WOOL Fur-Trimmed COATS '29.80 [ Fitted models trimmed with lush, squirrel, grey fox or mouton lamb collars. You'll love the way they hug your waist line, the comfortable warmth of their quilted lined. Black only, sizes 38 to 50. Pay as little as $1.25 weekly! Harold L, 1ekes Man to Man President’s ‘Hit-and-Run’ Policy Revealed At Unfortunate Time Once again the “hit-and-run" pattern of the Truman admin istration has been impressed upon the country. But, unfortu nately, the Wallace episode could not have occurred at a worse time. We are deep in negotiations with the other powers at Paris and the curtain is about to go up on the last act of a national election which bids fair to have an unhappy ending for prac One may be permitted to be lew sorry for Henry A. Wallace than amazed at his apparent inability to appreciate tne Truman form and be prepared to avoid the ! consequences of | it. In perspec i tive it seems \ perfectly natu ! ral that the j President should have read the draft of Mr. Wallace's Madi son Square Gar den speech and ! smilingly a p - j proved it wtth | out suggesting Harold Ickea. ; tne crossing oi a single * r. it I was just as natural that at his press conference, on the morning j of the speech, President Truman should publicly again indorse the I speech, and cheerfully assure the i newspaper correspondents that the Wallace policy of "spheres of In fluence" was not at variance with the "one world” theory of inter national relations to which most of us thought that the country had been committed. Even a last-min ute ringing of the alarm bell by Acting Secretary of State Clayton, although in time to deflect the lighted match from the tinder that would presently break into flames, did not disturb the self-assurance of President Truman or penetrate the dense ignorance of his "inti mate” advisers. And so Henry A. Wallace un suspectingly marched on to his des tiny with the cheerful approval of the President of what was to prove to be his valedictory address as a public official. Truman "Run-Out” Charged. When the bomb burst, President Truman was the first to dive head long into the bomb shelter, or. to put it another way. when the po licemen of public opinion were seen, < dashing down Pennsylvania avenue swinging their night sticks, Mr Truman ran out of the White House pointing his index finger in the direction of Mr. Wallace and yelled i ‘ Stop thief.” He ran out on hie pal when they were both caught robbing the Byrne* safe. Before stepping onto the platform at Madison Square Garden, Mr Wallace, if he had had any of his Scotch caution left, would have delivered his resignation as Secre tary of Commerce. Apparently he had forgotten the Pauley incident where the Truman form was first clearly displayed to the plaudits of the ‘‘Missouri gang.” In the Pauley case. President Truman deliberately closed his mind to the possibility of a political explosion. When the Secretary of the Interior showed the President the telegram from Senator 1 Walsh summoning him to appear I as a witness at the hearing on Mr. ' Pauley, the President's only com ment was, “Of course you must tell the truth, but be as easy as you can on Ed Pauley.” Which was the equivalent of saying: ‘‘I know that this is a hot potato, but try not to drop it.” The Secretary of the Interior did tell the truth. Whereupon Presi dent Truman ran out on him just : as he was to run out on Mr. Wallace later on a more critical and more important occasion. As President Truman in the case of Secretary Wallace In effect repudiated his clearance of the Wallace speech, in order to protect himself, so in the Pauley case did he attempt to re pudiate the testimony of the Secre 1 tary of the Interior by publicly cast ing doubt upon its credibility. Sees an “Iron Curtain.” Here we have two outstanding instances of the President’s disposi .COTTAGES HONES GARAGES On Easy Terms [ ARLINGTON. VA. TaCKSON 2164) Our 18th Year BE ON TIME ALL THE TIME WITH A FINE, DEPENDABLE WATBH Hamilton — Elgin — Gruen — Bulova Watches Fully Guaranteed Fine Jewelry Repairing Pearl Restringing USE OUR LAY AWAY PLAN sTvETt WADE’S JEWELERS 1009 E St. N.W., 3 Doors From 11th GUARANTEED DIAMONDS AT A SAVINGS Always Proven* Styled. But It to Last tor Man* Tomorrows Tl JOH PPHY IOC An exclusive Snyder & Little brogue . . . made of imported Scotch Al bion grain calfskin, to complement your au tumn tweeds Expert detailing throughout. Snyder®. Little Fine Footwear Sinee 18RS 1229 G St. N.W. $22-50 WE ARE NOW PAYING FOR NEWSPAPERS WE BUY METAL, IRON, RAGS ond PAPER SCRAP Parmount Go. GEORGIA AVE. and W ST. N.W. DE. 9797, Next to Bond Bokory tl<» to run out on members of hi* own team. Probably hi* own neck i* too preclou* not to be saved even at the cost of loyal and honorable behavior, but his disposition, which constitutes a glaring weakness of the President, may be one answer to his inability to get th'e "good men" whom he complains he cannot get for his administration. Another explanation might be the constitu j ency of the "Missouri gang" and the ability of that gang to surround the White House with an Iron curtain. Of course, Secretary Wallace should not have delivered the speech, even with the cobwebby I support of the President. He should jhave resigned before giving it. How ever, whatever Henry A Wallace {might or might not have done does j not tend to serve the reputation of i President Truman. The people like forthrightness and courage and loy alty. They do not enjoy the sight of one man being made to suffer for the misstep of another. (Copyright. 19*fl ) Brakes Helmed PLYMOUTH ! 50.50 CHEVROLET \ V PONTIAC ' 511.60 BUICK "Special"* B 1 Trtt Ad’ustmtnti. 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