Big New Guinea air base taken
By William B. Dickinson, United Press staff writer
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Liberators hit Wake Island
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Labor fights NLRB plan to ease rules
Murray protests employer challenge
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WLB to probe union dispute of foremen
Fact-finding panel to be appointed
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Allied victory in 1944 doubted –
Germany’s shortages won’t beat her – great military blow needed
Veteran war correspondent sees little chance of crackup inside Reich
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State’s delegation to GOP convention to meet tomorrow
Philadelphia caucus unlikely to endorse a candidate but majority favor Dewey
By Kermit McFarland
Pennsylvania’s delegation to the Republican presidential convention, which meets in caucus tomorrow in Philadelphia, is unlikely to endorse any candidate for the presidential nomination.
However, a majority of the delegates – and probably all of them – will vote for Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York on an early ballot when the convention meets in Chicago next month.
The delegates are posing a noncommittal attitude at present, mainly at the request – implied in some cases and direct in others – of Governor Edward Martin.
May face minor fight
This plan may face a minor fight, however, because W. Clyde Haret of Williamsport, who is Lycoming County register-recorder and a delegate, disclosed today that he will offer a resolution endorsing Mr. Dewey.
He said:
It is the plain patriotic duty of Pennsylvania’s delegation to resolve unanimously to cast the state’s entire 70 votes on the first ballot for Dewey.
Several reasons given
There are several versions of the Governor’s reasons for this noncommittal policy being bruited about. But the most authoritative is that Mr. Martin looks with disfavor on any endorsement by the Pennsylvania delegates prior to the Governor’s Conference which opens at Hershey May 28.
The delegates have been asked to withhold comment until after the conference, at which Mr. Dewey will be a principal speaker. Governor John W. Bricker of Ohio, another presidential candidate, is also a scheduled speaker. The conference will be attended by nearly all the 48 governors, both Republican and Democratic.
Mr. Martin is represented as feeling that as host state it would be a breach of courtesy for the Pennsylvania delegation to pledge itself at this time.
Other versions offered
Other versions of the story less credible include one which holds that Republican state leaders don’t want to get caught out on a limb of Mr. Dewey refused to run, another which maintains that the Governor is endeavoring to show that he holds the delegation in his vest pocket and a third which contends that state leaders don’t want to “embarrass” Mr. Dewey before he formally announces his candidacy.
Adhering, in the main, to this noncommittal policy, the 10 delegates and 10 alternates from Allegheny County are maintaining a loose disguise over their obvious pro-Dewey sentiment.
A poll of the 10 delegates drew a flat commitment from only one, although several indirectly indicated a preference for Mr. Dewey. All of them were elected on an uninstructed basis.
Estep favors Dewey
Harry A. Estep, former Congressman who is a delegate from the 32nd district, said Mr. Dewey is his “personal preference” although he would be satisfied, under the circumstances, if the delegation voted no endorsement at tomorrow’s caucus.
Three of the alternates said they would vote for Mr. Dewey, if they get a vote (Alternates vote only in case of a delegate’s absence).
David H. Anderson of Homestead, alternate from the 23rd district, and Ray E. Schneider, North Side insurance dealer, agreed as candidates to support the popular choice – Mr. Dewey, on the basis of the write-in vote cast at the primary. The other alternate who declared himself is McKeesport physician Dr. Thomas A. Steele.
One alternate, Flora Von Hofen of Sewickley, elected by write-in votes in the 30th district, said she would not attend the convention. She declined to explain.
Mrs. Mary Hart Poling of Dormont, an alternate from the 31st district, is out of the city and couldn’t be reached in the poll, but she ran on an agreement to support the popular choice.
The statements of delegates and alternates from Allegheny County on their presidential preferences follow:
- Frank J. Harris, 31st district delegate:
Any delegate should be guided to a great extent by the sentiment of the people in his party. It is very apparent that the people of Pennsylvania seem to be for Governor Dewey. The write-in votes cast at the primary definitely indicated the wishes of the people. Therefore, the duty of every delegate at this writing is clear and definite.
- William B. McFall, 31st district delegate:
The overwhelming number of those whom I have consulted favor Governor Dewey.
- James F. Malone, 32nd district delegate:
Right now, Governor Dewey appears to be the outstanding candidate.
- Harry A. Ester, 32nd district delegate:
I was elected as an uninstructed delegate, but my personal preference is Governor Dewey/. However, I’m perfectly satisfied if the delegation doesn’t want to act at Philadelphia but decides to wait until we meet again in Chicago.
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Paul W. Mack, 33rd district delegate: “No comment.”
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John S. Herron, 39th district delegate:
I prefer not to make any statement until after the caucus.
- William P. Witherow, 29th district delegate:
I am uninstructed. I intend to give the question of a nominee every consideration, but I wouldn’t like to mention any names now. I feel that the Pennsylvania delegation will do the best job possible.
- Ralph E. Flinn, 30th delegate delegate:
I wouldn’t want to answer. In fact, I don’t know. I’m not instructed. I ran unpledged and unsupported by the organization and I don’t support it matters much whether I’m for a candidate or not.
- William H. Robertson, 30th district delegate:
I’d like to give Governor Martin a complimentary vote, but I don’t want to miss the boat. I think Governor Dewey will be nominated very early in the game.
- C. J. McBride, 33rd district delegate:
I am not committed to any candidate, but I think the Pennsylvania delegation will support the people’s preference.
ALTERNATES
- Mrs. Adelaide Rigby Conly, 39th district alternate:
I am going to wait until the delegation meets. I want to see if there is going to be any group action.
- Mrs. Anna M. Conley, 32nd district alternate:
I want to wait until the caucus in Philadelphia before I make any statement.
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Dr. Thomas A. Steele, 33rd district alternate: “I like Tom Dewey.”
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David H. Anderson, 33rd district alternate:
I think Dewey would be it.
- George R. Hann, 30th district alternate:
I think the delegates should sit down and have two or three conferences before any of them make any commitments.
- Ray E. Schneider, 30th district alternate:
If I have a vote at the convention, I personally would like to be for Governor Dewey.
- Mrs. Nelle G. Dressler, 29th district alternate:
I feel we should wait until the delegate caucus.
Oregon voters go to polls
Portland, Oregon (UP) –
Two senatorial contests feature the Oregon primary today, in which voters balloted on nominees for Congressional, state and local offices.
Senator Rufus Holman (R-OR) was opposed in his campaign for renomination by Wayne L. Morse, former member of the War Labor Board and dean of the University of Oregon Law School.
In the battle for the GOP nomination for the senatorial vacancy created by the death of Charles L. McNary, Guy Cordon (the interim appointee) was opposed by former Governor Charles Sprague.
Willis Mahoney of Klamath Falls was unopposed for the Democratic short-term nomination, while Walter Whitbeck and Edgar Smith sought the regular-term nomination.
President Roosevelt was unopposed in the Democratic preferential primary, while a heavy write-in vote was anticipated on the Republican side, where no candidates were listed.
Poll: Midwest backs participation of nation in world affairs
By George Gallup, Director, American Institute of Public Opinion
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Stokes: Roosevelt, CIO worry Democrats
By Thomas L. Stokes, Scripps-Howard staff writer
Washington –
The House of Representatives’ lobbies and cloakrooms are somewhat gloomy with what might be termed “Democratic pre-election blues.”
They are inspired by two fears.
One, presumably common to Democrats of all shades outside the Solid South, is that President Roosevelt may not run again. This anxiety would not seem to be well-grounded from all the preparations that are going on to “draft” Mr. Roosevelt, but the ordinary rules don’t apply to politicians who are a timorous lot. Many, outside the South, are afraid they will be swept out of office if the President does not head the ticket and give them a coattail ride.
They would like some word from on high. They are not going to get it. To keep them on tenterhooks is part of the clever game being played by the President, for that tends to keep them in line and will make the “draft” this year more closely approximate a real call, without the synthetic tomfoolery of four years ago.
The other fear, especially plaguing to conservatives still to face primary tests, is the sudden and surprising strength exhibited by the CIO through its militant and aggressive Political Action Committee which broke out in the South, of all places.
The tall, spare Rep. Smith (D-VA), co-author of the Smith-Connally Act and outstanding anti-labor leader in the House, gave voice to this undercover dread that he sought to calm the fears of his colleagues.
He pointed out that although Attorney General Biddle says the CIO Committee has not violated the Smith-Connally Act by raising a $700,000 fund for political activity, he had introduced a resolution for an investigation into contributions by both corporations and labor unions to political committees. Such contributions are forbidden by the Smith-Connally Act.
This resolution represents the counterattack of the conservatives. It is the brainchild of Rep. Smith and Rep. Cox (D-GA), subsequently it was broadened and was reintroduced in the name of Rep. Gathings (D-AR), who comes from a plantation district safe against any invasion from CIO, so that Mr. Gathings can proceed freely.
During the floor discussion, no one mentioned expenditures by corporations, obviously large in the Florida and Alabama primaries against New Deal candidates. New Dealers will see that this part of the story comes out if the Smith investigation is authorized.
Young woman corporation vice president instructs girls how to merit advancement
High turnover rate for feminine employees provides incentive for ambitious workers
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Friends reveal ‘dance of death’
Indian entertained just before drowning
New York (UP) –
Less than eight hours before she drowned in the Hudson River, Valsa Anna Matthai, 22-year-old Bombay, India, heiress, wearing a luxurious native gown, danced a “dance of death,” her friends revealed today.
The girl entertained fellow students living at International House, and after the “dance of death,” consented to do her own improvised version of it in “jive.”
Her friends said she was cheerful as she went to the stage at a formal bazar.
As police traced the last hours of her life, they envisioned her returning to her room soon after 11:00 p.m. ET. Sometime during the early morning of March 20, she changed to slacks and brown polo coat at 4:35 a.m. She walked from the hotel into a snowy night never to be seen alive again. The body was found in the river Wednesday night after a two-month search.
Her watch stopped at 5:17 a.m., indicating she died 42 minutes after leaving the warm lobby of the hotel.
Dr. Alexander Gettler, city toxicologist, yesterday began an analysis of the internal organs, in an effort definitely to determine the cause of death, although pathologist Dr. Thomas A. Gonzales had announced the cause as drowning after an autopsy and said there were no indications of violence.