Federal pay to unemployed after war urged by Byrnes
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I DARE SAY —
A good man
By Florence Fisher Parry
The reaction of our Pittsburgh Progressive Republicans to the withdrawal of Wendell Willkie from the presidential race has been interesting and depressing.
“Sinister politics,” they say. “The Republican Party has cooked its goose.” Some even vow that they won’t go to the polls in November.
“We deserve defeat,” others say darkly. Still others come out with the old chestnut that they’d vote for anyone if it meant the defeat of the party now in power.
All in all, the reaction is unhealthy and shows a definite distrust of our political leaders in both parties. One man put it this way:
Politics is, and always has been, a dirty business, a glorified racket, an open exploitation of the buyable man. It’s a game that can’t be played clean. If you’re clean, you lose. And besides, you just clog the machinery of the party that is out to elect you. If people knew how great a part politics, pure party politics, is playing in this war, we’d have an internal revolution. For whether it’s the backslapping local candidate touring his county to get constituents or whether it’s the statesman in high places, it’s a duty, calculating compromise. It’s a shell game. It’s rotten.
Now you and I know many men and women, too, in politics. They’ve been elected to high places and discharge their duties honorably and well. But who is to deny that in order to be elected they have all had to knuckle down to the game, learn its ropes, play them or let their henchmen play them.
Politics! Politics! Say the word, and even as you utter it, it has a sinister sound. It is synonymous with dark and dirty ways. It is a word that invites no trust whatever. It functions everywhere.
They can be found
Yet here and there we come upon honest, selfless, crystal-hearted men and women who set out to be public servants in the most exalted sense, who enter politics in an almost fanatical belief that by their entry into this dirty field they can contribute something that will help to clean it up. They seek office, not for what it can do for themselves, but for what it can do for others. They ask no recompense, no reward, no recognition even for their services. Field worker or candidate, it is one to them. They want only to help keep politics clean.
Why can we not see it, then, that it is among these few and precious citizens that we draw at least our delegates when great issues and great choices are before the country?
We are facing now a great Republican convention. We are choosing our delegates. In their hands will rest the selection of a candidate for the President of the United States. We will have to rely upon their own personal integrity and judgment.
Let us choose them carefully. Let us be sure they are unbuyable men. We have such men. I have in mind one now. An honest man. A selfless citizen. Ralph E. Flinn. A man without an ax to grind, who asks, and will accept, no personal reward for serving his country’s interests.
And there are many such – men who somehow remain untarnished and uncorrupted. Good men. Clean men. I was about to say, innocent men, and would, except that the word is loosely used. And it seems to me that in these times it is well to look for virtue rather than virtuosity in those whom we would choose to represent us.
Slickness, sleight of hand and cynicism in our representatives have been our undoing and have brought our country to its present plight. We have placed too much value upon smartness and sophistication and far too little upon simplicity and homely virtues.
Born at wrong time
I fear that had Abraham Lincoln been born in this present instead of his own generation, he would have been overlooked. We would have mistrusted his simplicity.
And by the same token, it may be that had this faulty but genuine Wendell Willkie been born a little earlier in our history, he would not have been wasted.
Yes, it is true. Some are born great; some achieve greatness and some miss it by the hair’s breadth of a generation or two in timing.
We will not be saved by subtlety or sagacity or shrewdness. We will not be saved by sophistication or cynicism. Outsmarting is not enough. Caution and compromise are not enough. Strategy and statesmanship are not enough.
The emphasis has been away from goodness and has been placed on political finesse instead. The accent is on tact instead of truth.
What we need now is A GOOD MAN; and when I say good, I mean just plain “good;” a man of virtue, a rock of granite upon which the waves could beat with savagery or seduction yet would remain the same strong breakwater against the tides of human greed.
Miss Kellems guns for ‘silly bureaus’
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Men over 26 working on non-essential jobs may still be drafted
But boards will try to fill quotas first from lists of younger registrants
By John Troan
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Write-in vote in Nebraska booms Dewey
Strength is shown among rank-and-file
By Thomas L. Stokes, Scripps-Howard staff writer
Washington –
Outstanding in the Nebraska presidential primary was the “write-in” for Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York, another contribution to the “Draft Dewey” movement which began to pick up real momentum with his Wisconsin victory a week ago over Wendell Willkie.
Governor Dewey was not entered in the Nebraska primary, nor has he even announced he is a candidate for the nomination. Despite that, nearly half as many voters voluntarily wrote in his name as voted for LtCdr. Harold E. Stassen, who was regularly entered and for whom an active campaign was conducted.
This spontaneous outburst of Dewey sentiment among rank-and-file voters in Nebraska, which swept up literally overnight, suggests that the “write-in” technique may develop as a unique adjunct in other primaries.
Willkie poor third
Mr. Willkie’s name was still on the ballot, but he trailed a poor third.
Stassen managers were encouraged, however, by his popular vote, topping the field, and by the fact that six delegates were apparently elected on the “Stassen” slate, which agreed in advance to support at the Chicago convention the winner of the preferential primary.
Five other delegates seemingly were elected on the “Griswold” slate, entered on behalf of Governor Dwight Griswold, presumably to support the Governor. The latter refused, however, to be a “favorite son” candidate.
Four other delegates apparently elected were unpledged and, since the preferential primary is not binding, Cdr. Stassen’s victory was not conclusive, although the public opinion represented must be considered. Returns from 1,632 of Nebraska’s 2,031 precincts gave:
| Stassen | 47,677 |
| Dewey | 21,288 |
| Willkie | 8,160 |
Governor Griswold, who was overwhelmingly renominated for a third term, undoubtedly will have much influence with the delegation. Either Governor Dewey or Mr. Willkie was acceptable to him and now, with the withdrawal of Mr. Willkie, he can be counted in the Dewey camp. He is regarded as an aspirant for the vice-presidential nomination and has kept himself in a bargaining position.
Governor Dewey has strong organization support in Nebraska, the writer learned on a recent visit there, and the “write-in” vote indicated strong rank-and-file sentiment.
MacArthur backing
Interesting in the Illinois primary was the large popular vote rolled up by Gen. Douglas MacArthur in a field in which no other recognized presidential candidate was entered. This, coming on top of the general’s popular vote in Wisconsin last week, will be capitalized in the MacArthur campaign. Thus far the general has attracted no support from practical politicians of standing except Senator Vandenberg. The politicians are fighting shy of the general.
Returns from 8,221 of Illinois’ 8,728 precincts gave Gen. MacArthur 501,481 votes, as compared to 977,225 polled by Governor Dewey in 1940 when his name was unopposed in the presidential preferential primary. Gen. MacArthur’s only opposition was from Riley Bender, a former pugilist and political newcomer who campaigned with the slogan “Go on a bender with Bender,” without significant results.
Both the Nebraska and Illinois primaries indicated lassitude among the voters, in Nebraska, the turnout was the smallest in 30 years and in Illinois the smallest in more than 20 years.
Bricker warns of GOP obstacles
Seattle, Washington (UP) –
Governor John W. Bricker told 4,000 persons at a Republican rally last night that he was confident of a GOP victory in November, which he called the party’s “last chance” to retrieve freedom and preserve “two-party government in America.”
He said:
We have two great obstacles in the way of victory – the vast propaganda bureau in Washington and the tremendous federal payroll. We will have to spot the Democrats the votes of three and a half million government jobholders, plus the votes they can influence, plus the Solid South, but still, I am confident because of the strength of a revitalized Republican Party.
MacArthur warns nation of its internal dangers
Washington (UP) –
Gen. Douglas MacArthur has written Rep. A. L. Miller (R-NE) that the United States “must not inadvertently slip into the same condition internally as the one which we fight externally,” it was revealed today.
Gen. MacArthur voiced the warning in a letter to Mr. Miller which was made public by the legislator. In it, the Southwest Pacific Allied commander also declared:
Like Abraham Lincoln, I am a firm believer in the people and if given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring before them the real facts.
Gen. MacArthur did not elaborate in his letter – dated Feb. 11 – on what he meant by the condition “which we fight externally.” Presumably, however, it referred to military rule and dictatorship in Axis countries.
In another letter, Gen. MacArthur referred to the “sinister drama of our present chaos and confusion.” He also agreed with the “complete wisdom and statesmanship” of comments by Mr. Miller – comments which included an assertion that:
There is a tremendous groundswell in this country against the New Deal… They have crucified themselves on the cross of too many unnecessary rules and regulations.
Speaks of a draft
The exchange of correspondence with Mr. Miller began when the Nebraskan, in a letter dated Sept. 18, told Gen. MacArthur he “should not be a candidate for President but should permit the people to draft you.” Gen. Miller expressed the opinion that “you will carry every state in the Union and this includes the Solid South.”
He also told Gen. MacArthur that if he was a presential candidate, President Roosevelt “will probably not even a candidate” because the New Deal, including Mr. Roosevelt, is “scared to death” of the MacArthur-for-President movement.
A sobering thought
In another letter to Gen. MacArthur dated Jan. 27, Mr. Miller said that he felt Gen. MacArthur’s response to his first letter indicated the general was “interested in some of the political, economic and domestic developments in this country.”
Mr. Miller said he had traveled during the Christmas holidays through Texas, California and Nebraska, and declared he had found “a mass movement by the citizens who are displaced with the many domestic mistakes now being made by the administration.”
Gen. MacArthur’s Feb. 11 reply said Mr. Miller’s second description of internal affairs was a “sobering one” and added that:
We must not inadvertently slip into the same condition internally as the one we fight externally.
South Carolina issues white supremacy call
Columbia, South Carolina (UP) –
Governor Olin D. Johnston today called a special session of the South Carolina Legislature to amend primary laws so that the Democratic Party in the state can maintain white supremacy.
Governor Johnston said the General Assembly would be asked to repeal present laws pertaining to state primaries in an effort to circumvent the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Negroes can vote in state primaries.
The Governor said he firmly believed “in the ability of our people to keep our white Democratic primaries pure.”
Aliens to get radios back
Washington –
U.S. Marshals have been authorized to return to Italian aliens all cameras and radios which they were compelled to surrender as a war safety measure beginning in December 1941, Attorney General Francis Biddle announced today.
Army arranges ballot for 11 state primaries
Washington (UP) –
Information to facilitate voting in 11 state primaries during June and the first half of July by Army personnel has been made available at all military installations, the War Department announced today.
Primaries will be held during this period in Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Washington.
Ten states will make available state absentee ballots covering federal, state and local offices.