Essary: Many in capital head for GOP convention
Much hip-hip-hurrahing to be absent this year
By Helen Essary, Central Press columnist
Washington –
Half of official Washington is packing its bags for Chicago and the gathering there on June 26 of the Republican hopefuls. Despite the cut and dried program that awaits the delegates, and the prospect of news scarcity in the goings on there, many newspapers sent their correspondents out a week before the opening day.
I’ve been wondering about the mood of the convention. Would it be the usual compound of bands, waving flags, backslapping favorite sons and smoke-filled rooms? I called Robert Prichard, the Republican National Committee’s No. 2 man at the job of selling the country the virtues of the GOP and asked about the prospect of good cheer at his convention.
Prichard said:
The theme of the convention will be patriotism. We are going to cut down the number of bands. Of course, there will be music. But none of the old-time hurrah… Flags? Oh yes, some in the convention hall. But not all over the plane as they used to be… Elephants? Absolutely not. Tied to a string and being led around to whip up the crowds? No, sir-ee! It isn’t going to be necessary to have party mascots this time. This isn’t a circus we are putting on. We’ve got real business to transact.
All convention speeches will be shorter than ever before, Prichard promised. Seconding speeches will be limited to 15 minutes. Former President Herbert Hoover is allowed a speech of 45 minutes. Mrs. Clare Luce, who some people think may stampede the convention and get herself nominated for the Vice Presidency, will talk for 30 minutes.
Hoover and Mrs. Luce have already sent their speeches in to the Republican National Committee, where they are being peppered up or flattened out as the need calls. How long Governor Warren of California will talk is as yet uncertain. He hasn’t yet submitted his keynote speech to headquarters.
The Democrats have not gotten down to convention routine. Their committee on arrangements met in Chicago June 15 and 16. At the moment there are still some delegates unnamed.
But things will whip up in no time and as for that choice of vice-presidential nominee – why, anything can happen.
Some people think the Northern Democrats can be made to agree with the Southern, the Eastern, the Midwestern, the Northwestern and the Western Democrats (big country this), and line Henry A. Wallace up for Vice President.
Some people – not Democrats – say Mr. Roosevelt has the convention – and the country – and the world – on the spot and can get anything done he wants done. Anyhow the vice-presidential nomination will be the only fun the Democratic meeting of mid-July will provide.
I asked Miss Virginia Rishel, who gets out the Democratic Digest, official publication of the Democratic National Committee, if she thought her party’s Chicago meeting would be a merry one.
The wise Virginia said:
Oh, no! On the contrary, Hannegan, our national chairman, has passed the word down the line, “We’ve got to get down to work at once, get the work done and get out as fast as possible. This is no time for skylarking or cheering.”
Speaking of the international influence, I suppose there will be a lot said in words of many syllables at both conventions about “our foreign policy.”
Well, it is not surprising that we have no concrete foreign policy, actually most of the people in this country aren’t interested in a foreign policy simply because most of the people in this country are not interested in foreign countries.
It will take a powerful amount of sales talk to persuade half the country that the troubles and hates of Europe, Asia and Africa are our responsibility forevermore. And it isn’t impeding the war effort to say this.
I still hope, maybe it is a Pollyannish wish, but I don’t apologize for it, that some day some genius will sell the world the idea of the stupidity of war. Could anything be more imbecile than the way we killed, maimed and starved the Italians when they were fighting with the Nazis, and then suddenly changed to loving, feeding, arming and clothing the Italians the moment we captured Rome?
Before the war is over, we may be killing Italians once more. Four-legged animals aren’t half as dumb as we, the two-legged creatures provided by nature with what is supposed to be a thinking mind. Four-legged animals fight only when they have to and when they are mad.