Evening star. [volume], May 18, 1948, Page A-8, Image 8

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A_g « TUESDAV.~Moy 18, 1948
They Should Work Together
The President’s veto of the bill author
izing Senate members of the Joint Atomic
Energy Committee to use the services of
the FBI to investigate presidential ap
pointees to the Atomic Energy Commission
rested on two main premises.
Mr. Truman's first point was that a law
empowering a congressional group to direct
the FBI, an executive agency, to investigate
the members and general manager of the
AEC would be an unconstitutional intru
sion by the legislative upon the executive
branch of the Government. If the Presi
dent was persuaded of that, it was his
duty to veto the bill, for the principle at
stake is important. The remedy, if Con
gress is sufficiently convinced to the con
trary, is to pass the bill over the veto and
leave the determination of the constitu
tional question to the courts.
The other premise was that the objective
of the bill was “unnecessary and unwise.”
This is a conclusion which is open to
serious challenge.
The Star has no doubt concerning the
loyalty of the present officials of the AEC
• who would have been affected by this
vetoed bill. Nor is there any reason to
doubt that President Truman, using the
facilities of the FBI, would be careful to
check thoroughly into the background of
any one whom he might select for any of
these important posts. But this does not
meet the point which has been raised by
Senator Knowland. It is conceivable that
some day another President will be in the
White House—another President whose
judgment in the matter of such appoint
ments would be open to grave doubt. And
It is possible that such a President might
name men to the AEC who ought not to
be confirmed without the most thorough
check of their records.
In that eventuality the Senate would be
In a difficult position. For under the law
it is required to concur in the selection of
members of the AEC, and it ought not to
concur unless fully satisfied as to their
fitness. The responsibility involved in this
Is no light matter, since the AEC has been
given great powers and the security of the
country is in the hands of its top officials.
This being the case, it is not possible to
agree with the President that the effort
to enable the Senate to satisfy itself as
to the loyalty of AEC officials, prior to
voting for their confirmation, is unneces
sary and unwise. |
This does not dispose or the constitu
tional question, of course, and it may be
that the courts will agree with Mr. Truman.
If so, that ends the matter. But if the
courts should share the opinion of Congress
on the legal issue, then, in the long view,
there would seem to be more prospect of
gain than loss in the Knowland proposal.
It is too bad that the President and the
Senate could not have worked this matter
out satisfactorily between themselves, but
since that was not done the only alterna
tive is to attempt to pass the bill over his
veto and let the courts determine the
constitutional issue.
Good Example
The $1,000,000 health center to be estab
lished in Manhattan for the Amalgamated
Clothing Workers’ Union is an encouraging
example of what labor-management co
operation can achieve in the field of social
welfare.
According to an announcement made
Jointly by the union and the New York
Clothing Manufacturers’ Exchange, the
Initial outlay will be contributed by the
employers out of a surplus paid by them
into a special unemployment insurance
fund antedating the Social Security Act. In
addition, they will pay $500,000 a year to
cover the center's operating costs, and
they will finance similar projects for the
union's members in Chicago and Phila
delphia.
All this has been worked out in a
friendly and co-operative spirit, and the
manufacturers have made a point of
declaring that it will not entail any in
crease in the price of clothing. This
reflects credit on both the employers and
the union. The union, incidentally, with
Its 375.000 members, has long had a
reputation for fair dealing—a fact that
has made it one of the outstanding
middle-of-the-road forces in the Congress
of Industrial Organizations. The fact
helps explain, too, why the health-center
program has been agreed upon without a
discordant note.
Under the program—which is to be ad
ministered by the union and manufactur
ers together—employes will receive free
and complete medical service. This will
be over and above the hospitalization,
surgical, maternity, retirement and other
benefits they already enjoy in accordance i
with industry-wide agreements with the
employers. In their joint statement with !
Amalgamated, the employers have summed
up the matter in these words: “We are
determined to meet every possible con
tingency facing the clothing workers in
the way of health and security.” The new
project is merely the latest in a series of
Steps to that end.
There are many industries, of course,
*
not in a position to support such an exten
sive program of social welfare. Never
theless the Amalgamated union and the
clothing manufacturers have set an ex
ample worthy of emulation wherever
possible. Certainly, if the spirit behind
it were more widespread, there would be
less labor-management strife in America.
The Responsibility Is Russia's
At Lake Success yesterday, the United
Nations Atomic Energy Commission for
mally voted to suspend its two-year effort
to achieve international control of all
dangerous nuclear-fission activities. At
about the same hour, using guarded lan
guage. the White House revealed a few
additional details of the'recent tests of
A-weapons at Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific.
It has been a long time since there has
been a news coincidence as somber as this
in meaning. The one event represents a
confession by the nations of the world of
their inability to protect themselves against
the misuse of a power so terrible that it
could conceivably annihilate the whole of
humanity. The other event—the White
House announcement—simply and grimly
underscores what must inevitably result
from the continued lack of such protection.
Put bluntly, the result must be the dead
liest armaments race in the history of
mankind.
This race is already on. The EniwetoK
tests are merely one manifestation of It,
and they are still shrouded in portentous
secrecy. Nevertheless, we have been told
enough about them to know that some
10,000 individuals took part in them, that
they involved three atomic weapons of im
proved design, that they were “successful
in all respects,” and that the results indi
cate “very substantial progress” in our
development of the atom for military pur
poses. In other words, although it is
deemed unsafe to give out further in
formation about them at the moment, we
can be reasonably sure that the United
States is taking adequate measures to
remain pre-eminent in the field of A
bombs, radioactive gases and kindred in
struments of mass destruction.
Yet, reassuring as all this must be to
Americans, it amounts to little more than
making the best of a very bad situation.
As long as the atom continues uncontrolled
in the world, we must keep on trying to
maintain our superiority, but we must
recognize at the same time that the Soviet
empire is in the race with us and that it
may one day overtake us. In that case
there would be no foolproof security for
anybody. The only thing we could rely
on then would be thq possibility that the
fear of swift and massive retaliation would ;
stay the hand of atomic aggression.
Who is responsible for this bleak and
dangerous outlook? The record is clear.
The American control plan has been over
whelmingly supported by the United
Nations. The Russians alone have blocked
it. They still insist that agreement is
possible, and they have voted against the
decision to suspend further discussion.
But what have they to offer? They have
nothing to offer but a proposal for the
unilateral disarmament of the United
States—a proposal leaving them free to
make A-weapons of their own behind the
iron curtain.
That is why the U. N., after two years
of Soviet obstructionism, has dropped the
issue for the present. That is why tests
like those at Eniwetok are grimly neces
sary. The men of the Kremlin have taken
their stand in favor of collective insecurity.
If they do not shift to a co-operative
policy, the free world will have no choice
but to strive for such absolute atomic
superiority that they will never dare to
challenge It.
Dr. James E. West
The story of James E. West has been
told many times. All that need be added
to it is a simple statement of the fact that
he was appreciated by the public he served.
If any one man can be said to have
created the Boy Scouts of America from
1911 onward, he was the man. Indirectly,
he had much to do with bringing into
existence the sister organization of Girl
Scouts. His example influenced scores of
other leaders in the child welfare field.
Dr. West loved his work and gloried in
the opportunity to do it. He dramatized
himself without irritating anybody. The
skill with which he developed the ideol
ogy of Scouting and perfected techniques
of operation suited to the youth of
the United States was matched by
tactfulness in dealing with adults as
well as with children. He had definite
convictions, yet he practiced a generous
tolerance which gained him many friends
among all classes everywhere.
His patriotism was a basic element in
his life. Dr. West believed in America as
a free country, a just country and a fair
country—fair to each of its citizens indi
vidually. His faith was the fruit of his
own experience. A crippled orphan, who
literally started his career “from scratch”
on the streets of Washington, he triumphed
over poverty and illness by determination
to win. Horatio Alger at his best never
imagined a more creditable achievement.
The whole Nation eventually was the
beneficiary of Dr. West's labors. His major
monument will be the Boy Scout move
ment, but he likewise will be remembered
for the help he gave to playgrounds, juve
nile courts, the home placement of de
pendent children and—especially through
his editorial direction of the magazine
Boys’ Life from 1922 to 1943—journalism
for junior readers.
Our Busy Feet
To call attention to the fact that
National Foot Health Week will begin on
May 22, the people in charge have come
forward with some mighty interesting
statistics. Chief among them are the fol
lowing: (1) The businessman in his office
makes the equivalent of a New York-to
Boston hike every three weeks; (2) the
housewife at home annually walks the
distance from here to San Francisco, and
(3) the average American takes 18.098
steps a day, which if placed end to end
would add up to a line almost eight miles
long.
These figures should reassure any in
dividual who may at times feel ashamed
of himself for failing to exercise. After
all, if a man takes 18.098 steps daily in
his ordinary working routine, is golf really
necessary? Is tennis? Is weight lifting?
Actually, is it not possible that extra
exertions of this sort are pure surplusage
and that a fellow can keep fit without
making a ritual of them? Whatever the
answer, the walking statistics certainly
constitute a good defense for those among
'us who are criticized for refusing to join
health clubs or for being otherwise loath
to participate in organized muscle flexing.
This is a matter whose pros and cons
merit thoughtful discussion. The truth
is, probably, that exercise is like food.
That is to say, there is no accounting for
tastes. What is one man’s delight, in
short, may be another’s poison, whether
dumbbells, golf, broccoli or parsnips. One
thing is sure, anyhow: If the statistics are
right, all of us do an awful lot of walking.
The organizers of National Foot Health
Week have chosen an apt slogan: “For
ward, America, on Good Feet!’’
The Dewey-Stassen Debate
Millions of Americans must have been
listening in last night to the Dewey
Stassen debate on outlawing communism.
It was an excellent debate. And it sug
gests the advantages of more of them. If
other radio show techniques could be util
ized and the audience invited to !judge the
winner by telegraphing the verdict to the
originating radio station, we might simplify
existing primary machinery and elect a
President in advance of the conventions. *
One question which must have occurred
to many listeners, last night was whether
Mr. Stassen will want to debate with Gov
ernor Dewey again. Last night he seemed
to run second. For Governor Dewey was
able to call on the Committee on Un
American Activities as an expert witness
against outlawing the Communist Party.
If that committee is against such action,
where does Mr. Stassen get support for
his theory that the best course is to outlaw
the party? Such proposals as Mr. Stassen
has made are referred to in the committee
report on the Mundt-Nixon bill, which the
House begins to debate today, as "well
intentioned” but of dubious effectiveness
and validity under the Constitution. It
was abandoned as the wrong approach.
Mr. Stassen indorses the bill, but still
insists on outlawing the party—an incon
sistency of which his skilled opponent took
due advantage.
But if judgment as to the winner of
last night’s debate remains a matter of
divided and personal opinion, there should
be no disagreement on the great value of
such debates. They are educational in
character, they put the speakers on their
mettle, th^y reveal weaknesses which are
obscured in ordinary campaign speech
making. If there were more of them, we
would have better campaigns, candidates
better prepared to discuss the real issues
of the day and an electorate, composed of
the great American radio public, better
able to judge both issues and candidates.
Arctic waters are reported one degree
warmer than in 1938. On the other hand,
things are about as usual with the Pullman
faucet marked hot.
A blue tomato, latest triumph of the
experimenters, can never take the place
of the well-aimed, slightly spoiled red
Ponderosa as a campaign argument.
Marriage, that continued as an institu
tion despite the wartime cotton stocking,
will survive the new look, it is now felt.
This and That
By Charles E. Tracewell
Not every bird lover will see a rosebreasted
grosbeak in migration, but now and then one
will. Such an observer was A. F. J., who
writes:
‘‘I saw a bird today I never saw before In
these parts or any other parts, for that mat
ter. He was hopping around under a small
bush near the main entrance of the Soldiers
Home, seemed to be picking up something.
Very tame, as I was within 10 feet of him.
"I immediately looked him up, and there was
no mistaking his identity, a rosebreasted gras
beak, as I have a book giving all the birds in
color.
“'Do they come here much, or stay in these
parts?”
* * * *
The rosebreasted grosbeak is seen here only
in migration.
Normal spring dates for seeing this one are
May 3 to 17.
In the fall, it is seen between September 4
and October 1 by good observers.
It may be said to be tolerably common in mi
gration, but its stay is brief, and in most cases
it is overlooked.
Our correspondent’s bird must have been a
very sedate grosbeak, indeed.
It is a fact that at migration time birds may
be inclined to be more complacent than at
other times, as after nesting has started.
* * * *
The wood thrush, for instance, in late fall,
just before it leaves for the South, may be ap
proached to within two feet before it flies
away.
And even then it goes only a few feet.
One of our own most beautiful bird experi
ences was with a thrush in October.
He was perched on one end of a fallen log,
and we sat down on the other, and we each
surveyed the other carefully.
The beauty of this species is such that the
closer one gets the prettier the bird becomes.
While this is true of mast birds, of none is
it more true than of our common thrush, now
a bird of suburban areas, rather than pf the
woods, as he was when he got his name.
His cousin, the hermit thrush, still sticks
to the forests, but the wood thrush comes to
town and enjoys the experience.
He likes raisins, and takes ground meat for
his babies. Not inclined to come to an average
feeding station, he nevertheless comes readily
for the special foods named.
* * * *
The rosebreasted grosbeak is comparatively
rare, however, nowadays, no matter where seen.
The nest is flat, so placed that often a heavy
breeze will roll the eggs out.
Just why the bird learns nothing, in this re
spect, must be left to nature, who teaches her
secrets up to a certain point, but goes no
farther.
Can it be that nature never intended living
things to go any farther?
May it not be that the old story about the
tree of knowledge was tremendously true, and
that since man insisted on knowing more, all
it has brought him is the atom bomb?
Can it be possible that nature, disgusted with
mankind, is going to get rid of us by permitting
us to blow ourselves up?
Truly, we need God's aid, now, not man's.
* * * *
The grosbeak is held in great esteem in Colo
rado, where he is known as the "potato bug
bird.”
In some sections it is called the summer gros- i
beak.
The large thick bill is a sure indentiflcation,
along with the breast.
The grosbeak at one time was a favorite
cage bird, when it was said that he Jcept his
cage very clean, and never scattered the food, i
Persons with a real acquaintance with the
bird always are enthusiastic about it. Pew
of us hereabout will be able to watch it much,
so that is all the more reason why we should
watch for it during the periods mentioned, in
early May and in September. Related to the
cardinal, towhee, indigo bunting and all the
sparrows, he is a fine American, one of the real
Americans.
Changing Our Election System
Proposed Constitutional Amendment Would Abolish Some
Harmful Oddities of the Electoral College
By Chalmers M. Roberts
(First of Two Articles)
Congress has an opportunity, before it
adjourns for the presidential campaign, to
offer the States a new constitutional amend
ment to make sure the 1948 election will be
the last under the present electoral college
system.
The amendment, recenfly approved by both
the Senate and House Judiciary Committees,
revolves around these two key sentences:
“The electoral college system of electing the
President and Vice President of the United
States is hereby abolished. The President and
Vice President shall be elected by the peopli
of the several States.”
The amendment makes the qualifications
of voters for President the same as for the
“most numerous branch" of the State Legis
lature in each State. Otherwise, each State is
in control of its own rules on voting eligibility.
Election day will continue, unless Congress
changes it, to be the first Monday in November.
Each State will continue to have electoral
votes figured on the same basis—the total
number of Senators and Representatives the
State has in Washington.
Forty-five days after the election, or as
Congress otherwise determines, each State's
official custodian of election returns must send
the President of the Senate in Washington
“distinct lists of all persons for whom votes
were cast for President and the number of
votes for each” as well as the total number
of votes cast in the State. The Senate’s
President then will open the returns before
a joint session of Congress.
Proportion of Popular Votes Considered.
Each presidential candidate will receive
“such proportion of the electoral votes” of
each State “as he received of the total vote”
cast in that State. The division will be carried
out to the third decimal point unless “a more
detailed calculation would change the result
of the election.”
The candidate with the greatest number of
electoral votes “shall be President.” If two
or more candidates end in a tie, which is
hardly likely with the vote divided down to
one one-thousandth, the candidate with the
greatest number of popular votes, added on a
Nation-wide basis, is elected.
The Vice President is elected in the same
way. No persons constitutionally ineligible for
the job of President can be eligible for Vice
President.
The amendment was offered in the Senate
by a Republican, Senator Lodge of Massachu
setts, and in the House by a Democrat, Repre
sentative Gossett of Texas. For many years the
late Senator Norris of Nebraska sought to write
such an election change into the Constitution.
The amendment’s sponsors feel there is
even more need today for the reform, agreed
to long ago by political scientists. They point,
for one thing, to the recent action of Alabama
voters in naming a slate of Presidential electors
pledged not to cast the State’s electoral vote
for President Truman, if he is the Democratic
nominee. Under the new amendment, the
voters could vote directly for any other candi
date.
Mr. Gossett refers to the present electoral
college system as "a hocus-pocus method" of
naming our chief executive. He says:
We Now Vote for Electors.
“We vote (under the present system) for
electors, who in turn, through a dubious, con
fused, and technical procedure, vote for one
of the candidates for President. The can
didate who received the great number of
popular votes in a particular State gets all of
the electoral votes of that particular State,
each State having a number of electoral votes
equal to the number of its members of Congress.
If no candidate gets a majority of the electoral
votes of the Nation, the issue is then thrown
into the Congress to be decided among the
three high 'candidates."
In. Couett.
Senator Lodge.
It is because we now vote for electors, rather
than the presidential candidate himself, that
the current Alabama situation can arise. Ef
forts in the same direction were made in 1944
among anti-Roosevelt Southerners though the
electors, in the end, did cast their votes for
FDR.
Under the Lodge-Gossett amendment there
would be no electors. The voters would choose
among presidential candidates directly, with
out any intervening group. Each State's elec
toral vote would be divided according to the
popular vote and not cast in a bloc.
This is what its sponsors claim the amend
ment would accomplish:
1. End the possibility that another President
could reach the White House with less popular
votes than his chief opponent. This has hap
pened three times in our history—Adams had
less than Jackson in 1824, Hayes had less than
Tilden in 1876 and Harrison less than Cleve
land in 1888. The winner won by carrying the
big States.
Two Party System in the South.
2. Open the now Democratic solid South to
the two-party system by making it worth while
for the Republicans to campaign in every one
of the 11 States. In 1944, for example, instead
of Roosevelt getting all 127 electoral votes of
the 11 States, Dewey would have won about
28 to Roosevelt’s 99, disregarding the fractions.
On the other hand, the Democrats would have
obtained 3% of the eight votes of Maine and
Vermont, instead of none. The "what’s-the
use” voter would go to the polls instead of
staying home.
3. End the out-of-proportion Influence of
the third party which thrives on its ability
to swing a doubtful State—as Henry Wallace
in New York—from one party to another. It
likewise would diminish the power of minority
pressure groups, political, racial or religious, for
whose support both major parties now angle i
every four years. On the other hand, a third
party would have a chance to build into a
major party strictly on its ability to get the
votes.
4. End the business of “doubtful” States and
“safe” States in presidential elections. Every
State would be a battleground, not just half
a dozen “pivotal” States. Candidates would
campaign all over the Nation, not just in key
sections. Sectionalism would be largely de
stroyed.
5. End the custom of choosing candidates
from the ‘‘pivotal'' States. Of the last 10 Pres
idents, six have come either from New York
or Ohio. Under the amendment, a good man
from any State would have a better chance
for nomination because there would not be
the political scheming to carry certain States.
Every State would be a battleground for votes.
All this would come about. Senator Lodge
and Mr. Gossett say, if the electoral votes in
each State are divided according to the divi
sion of the popular vote.
Why keep the electoral vote system at all?
Why not just a straight popular vote for Pres
ident on a Nation-wide basis? The answer
to this question is the matter of States’ rights.
It will be discussed tomorrow.
Letters to The Star
Recalls Girard Trust Case
To the Editor of The Bt»r:
In recent weeks several letters have been
published In Washington newspapers, includ
ing The Star, regarding “atheistic” activities
in Franklin Park. The letters called for the
expulsion of such wicked people. They further
Implied that people who do not agree with
their particular religious convictions are dan
gerous and should not be allowed to enjoy the
privileges guaranteed by our Constitution.
Unfortunately, this shallow thinking is not con
fined to our public recreation places. It might
be well, therefore, to call attention to an in
teresting case which arose a century ago.
One Stephen Girard, born in France, came
to America before our Revolution and settled
in Philadelphia. When he died in 1831 he left
a trust fund to "cultivate the minds and de
velop the moral principles of orphan boys and
provide for a more comfortable maintenance
than they usually receive from the application
of public funds.” His will read further as
follows: “I enjoin and require that no ec
clesiastic, missionary, or minister of any sect
whatsoever, shall ever hold or exercise any
station or duty whatever in said college; nor
shall any such person ever be admitted for any
purpose, or as a visitor, within the premises
appropriated to the purposes of the said col
lege * • • I desire to keep the tender minds
of the orphans • • • free from the excite
ment which clashing doctrines and sectarian
controversy are so apt to produce.”
The illustrious Daniel Webster was offered
two million dollars to break the trust. After
much controversy the case finally was decided
by the Supreme Court of the United States
in 1844 (2 How. 127). Justice Story stated
the opinion upholding the trust as valid. The
court held that the objections founded on the
exclusion from the college of all ecclesiastics,
missionaries and ministers of any sect were
without merit.
That decision should be brought to tne at
tention of public "servants” who today might
be inclined to pronounce the curse of "atheism”
on the citizen who dared to exercise his con
stitutional rights. Thomas Jefferson, the father
of religious liberty in America, was by present
day standards a heretic of the lowest order.
In fact, if he lived today he might be and no
doubt would be called a “Red.”
LOLA BOSWELL
Blames British for Oil Strikes
To the Editor of The Star:
Leigh White, in an article in The Star for
May 10, asserted that America’s "pro-partition”
policy in Palestine has resulted in sabotaging
the effectiveness of the Marshall Plan In
Europe. '
If I understand his contention correctly, he
believes that the shutdown of the flow of oil
from the Iraqi fields to the outlets on the
Mediterranean is a direct result of our sup
port of partition.
But it is a matter of record that the Jews in
Haifa after their conquest of that city, made
an offer to ■ the Consolidated Refineries, Ltd.,
to reopen the refineries in Haifa and to guar
antee delivery of oil from those refineries to
the Arab states on condition that the Jews
were supplied with their own oil requirements.
It also Is a matter of record that the Jews,
A
Letters for publication must bear
the signature and address of the
’writer, although it is permissible for
a writer known to The Star to use
a nom de plume. Please be brief.
after their victory in Haifa, made repeated
offers to the Arabs, asking them to remain
in the city and to carry on their normal ac
tivities, including work in the refineries.
The strikes referred to in Mr. White’s dis
patch occurred in Arab territory and had no
connection with the Palestine situation. Accord
ing to the New York Times’ correspondent in
Baghdad, many of the strikes were Russian
inspired and many were efforts to win in
creases in pay.
Prom all the Information I have examined
it is obvious that the shutting down of the
flow of oil to the Tripoli and Haifa refineries
is traceable to the British, who control both
the source of the oil and the refineries and
wish to put pressure on world opinion against
the establishment of Jewish and Arab states
in Palestine ROSALYNE COOPER.
Fears Strife in Puerto Rico
To the Editor ot The Star:
It Is time for the United States to act in
Puerto Rico. The Nationalist leader, Pedro
Albizu Campos, again is on the war path, urg
ing the overthrow' of the American Govern
ment by force and intimidation.
Much of the trouble has been caused by
sending men to Puerto Rico who are not pre
pared for work there, who do not know the
language or understand the customs and habits
of the people.
DR. F. M. DIMAS-ARUTI.
Cash Incentive for Army Serv.w
To the Editor of The Star:
Recently Representative Leo Allen offered
a proposal in Congress to increase enlistments
and thus avoid conscription by offering volun
teers incentive payments of about $1.40 a day
during the period of enlistment ($500 a year).
This seems to be a fair and reasonable pro
posal. Our system of free enterprise is based
on the law of supply and demand. If we
cannot get teachers or policemen at a given
salary we Increase the pay and improve work
ing conditions. If one kind of goods is scarce
the price is raised to make increased produc
tion profitable.
We now are seeking 2,000,000 young men to
leave home, delay college or professional train
ing or postpone engaging in business, that
they may serve several years in the Army, with
long hours and low pay, while their high school
classmates and friends are living at home
under pleasant conditions, short hours and
high pay. The boys at home may change jobs,
take vacations, have a fine time. The ones ;
who go in the Army will do as they are told, 1
or else!
It seems only fair and reasonable to offer
adequate incentives to these boys who are
asked to undertake this most unpleasant task.
We cannot conscript patriotism and we cannot .
conscript freedom. Let us avoid this age-old
curse, conscription, which Is un-American and |
the bold enemy of freedom.
Odessa, N. Y. DUTTON 8. PETERSON. |
The Political Mill
G. 0. P. Should Heed Plea
Of Gov. Warren for Unity
Fight on Personalities, Sectionalism
Seen Likely to Divide Party
By Gould Lincoln
Gov. Earl Warren of California haa come
forward with sound advice to the Republican
gladiators now fighting for the party’s presi
dential nomination. “It is important,’* Oov.
Warren said, “that the Republican Party avoid
losing its strength and usefulness in division
over personalities, detail or sectionalism.”
Significantly Gov. Warren added: "We must
not permit the Republican Party to advocate
one thing in one part of the country and some
thing else in another. Leaders of the party
must preserve unity of thought and action.”
Yet, as the California governor pointed out,
today the political headlines all shriek personal
differences. All this was prelude to a Warren
demand the Republican Party get together on
fundamental problems, national and interna
tional, and that the respective candidates for
the party’s presidential nomination submerge
personal pride and position to, national wel
fare.
Bitter Struggle In Oregon.
Gov. Warren’s advice came at a time when
Gov. Dewey of New York and former Gov.
Stassen of Minnesota were locked in a bitter
struggle for Oregon’s dozen delegates to the
Republican National Convention; with a strong
division over the proper course to follow re
garding the-Communist Party. This division
was only another pattern of the fight between
Mr. Stassen and Senator Taft of Ohio, pjior
to the Ohio primary. Mr. Stassen, In that pri
mary campaign, complained that Senator Taft
was too conservative and attacked sections of
•the Taft-Hartley labor law. Senator Taft, for
his part, painted Mr. Stassen as a New Dealer
who had never been stringent In his com
ments on Franklin D. Roosevelt and who had
come away from a visit with Stalin apparently
impressed with the willingness of the Russian
leader to work with the United States.
Gov. Warren, himself an announced candi
date for the presidential nomination, has re
mained on friendly terms with all the rest. In
deed, he has invited both Gov. Dewey and Mr.
Stassen to visit him in Sacramento after the
primary election in Oregon May 21. When
Senator Taft made his swing through the
West last fall, Gov. Warren was cordial in the
extreme to the Senator, and spent several
hours in his company.
The California Governor has stuck to his
plan not to campaign for delegates in States
outside of California. He might easily have
gone into the Oregon primary and made it
extremely difficult for’ both Gov. Dewey and
Mr. Stassen. There are other Western States,
too, where the Republicans were ready to
turn to him—but he stayed out. He lg In
position therefore, should• there be a dead
locked convention, with Gov. Dewey, Mr.
Stassen and Senator Taft all unable to get
the necessary majority vote for nomination, to
reap the benefit of his friendly attitude. Cer
tainly none c£ the candidates need hate G©v.
Warren, not even Gov. Dewey, although the
latter may resent the fact that Gov. Warren
declined to take second place on tjie ticket
with him in 1944.
Revived Old Methods.
The flghtingest man among the principal
candidates for the Republican nomination has
been Mr. Stassen. He has waded in wherever
he thought he could score an advantage. This
much may be said for his course, however. If
he had been content to run along, picking up
the leavings from the Dewey and Taft tables,
he would have perhaps been in position to
seek nomination as a compromise candidate.
Bur he would not have gained the first-string
prominence he now possesses. Indeed, Mr.
Stassen has made all the running in this
campaign, and if he loses it will not be because
he has failed to "try.”
Another thing Mr. Stassen has done. He
has revived old-fashioned methods of cam
paigning. He has worked like a beaver, with
his visits to all parts of the country and his
intensive campaigning in a number of indi
vidual States. He has not been content to
make a few so-called important speeches—
broadcast by radio. He has brought a revival
of the political meeting, large and small, where
the candidate meets his audiences face to face,
and has a chance to do a bit of handshaking.
He has made a success of it—so much so that
he compelled Gov. Dewey of New York to
spend three weeks—almost ringing doorbells—
in Oregon.
That kind of thing has not endeared Mr.
Stassen to Gov. Dewey or Senator Taft or their
supporters. On the other hand it has not
alienated other presidential possibilities whosa
chance seems to lie only in the failure of
Senator Taft or Gov. Dewey or Mr. Stassen
to make the grade. It remains to be seen just
how many will follow Gov. Dewey and Senator
Taft if and when they start to gang up against
the Minnesotan.
Questions and Answers
A reader can get; the answer to any Question of
fact by writing The Evening Star Information
Bureau .116 Eye street N E . Washington 2, D. C.
Please Inclose three (3) cents for return postage.
By THE HASKIN SERVICE.
Q. Is there any country In the world that has
greater fire losses than the United States?—
A. McE.
A. The number of fires per 1,000 population In
American cities is approximately six times as
great as in European cities. Fire losses in the
United States are far greater than in any other
country and last year cost a record $700,000,000
in property damage.
Q. How many proposed amendments to the
Constitution have never been ratified by the
States?—C. C. L.
A. Five proposed amendments have not been
ratified. One of these, the Child Labor amend
ment proposed in 1924, was held to be still
“alive” by the Supreme Court in 1939.
Q. What is the record production of bitumi
nous coal for a single year?—E. D.
A. The record production of bituminous coal
in the United States for one year was 619,
576,240 net tons in 1944, according to the Bu
reau of Mines.
Q. What is the most common type of eity
government?—L. C. I.
A. The most common form of city government
in the United States is the mayor-council,
which originated in Colonial times and is used
in practically all large cities.
Big Top
Each year in spring I capture youth
again,—
Its weightless laughter bubbltng sheer
delight!
All troubles vanish when the circus train
Arrives: the thrilled tense wonder at
the sight
Of big top, cages, elephants, giraffes.
The tawny velvet-spotted leopard roars,
Gargantua grunts his anger, Toto laughs!
Once more the Big Show opens wide its
doors,
The band strike$ up, high-stepping horsey
race
Around the sawdust ring. Then quietly
The Hobo Clown blinking a sad grimace,
Wearing his ragged coat with dignity
Peers wistfully into the cheering crowd—
And thousands watching him, laugh long
and loud.
HELEN BAYLEY DAVIS.