DEWEY WILL ‘TIME’ ARRIVAL IN CHICAGO
He will accept tomorrow night if nominated in morning, Sprague says
Trip by plane is planned; Governor, however, would not leave Albany until named by the delegates
By James A. Hagerty
Chicago, Illinois – (June 26)
The arrival of Governor Dewey to accept the Republican nomination for President will be timed to suit the convenience of the delegates to the national convention. This was made known today by J. Russell Sprague, National Committeeman from New York, who has been leading the “Draft Dewey” movement, now approaching success.
Should the Resolutions Committee, as expected, present its report tomorrow evening, or if no fight of sufficient strength develops to prevent adoption of the platform tomorrow night, the Dewey supporters, now in a large majority in the convention, intend to press for nominating speeches at the Wednesday morning session and the continuation of that session to permit balloting and the nomination of Mr. Dewey in the afternoon.
Arrangements for a dash
In that event, every effort will be made to get the New York Governor here in time to accept the nomination at the Wednesday night session.
As Mr. Dewey, according to present plans, would not leave Albany until he is actually nominated, it would be necessary for him to come to Chicago by plane. This will be possible if the nomination is made by three or four o’clock Wednesday afternoon and if priority for plane transportation for Mr. Dewey can be arranged.
In no circumstances will Mr. Dewey’s arrival be delayed until Thursday evening. Leaders of the Dewey movement believe that this would be unfair to the delegates and alternates, many of whom have reservations on trains departing.
After his speech of acceptance, in which he is expected to state his position on leading issues of the campaign, Governor Dewey will confer with members of the National Committee and other party leaders about a new chairman of the committee to succeed Harrison E. Spangler of Iowa.
With Mr. Sprague continuing to insist that he is unavailable because of the provision in the Nassau County Charter that he must give full time to his post of county executive, the choice seems to have narrowed to one between Herbert Brownell Jr., close friend and New Yorker.
Mr. Sprague, who will be reelected to the National Committee by the convention, will be active in the campaign at the New York City headquarters. It has long been the party custom to permit its presidential nominee to name the national chairman.
Reaction to Griswold good
The choice of Governor Dwight Griswold of Nebraska, to make the speech putting Governor Dewey in nomination before the convention, has had a good reaction among the delegates and has been accepted as recognition of the Midwest.
It has not been forgotten by the delegates that Mr. Dewey was born in Michigan and graduated from the University of Michigan.
Rep. Leonard W. Pall of New York’s 1st Congressional district is scheduled to second the nomination of Mr. Dewey.
The nomination for Vice President will probably be made at the Thursday morning session. There is a possibility, however, that if there should be no difficulty in the selection of a candidate – which means that Governor Warren of California will take second place on the ticket – the candidate for Vice President might also be nominated Wednesday and adjournment of the convention come after a three-day session.
With Mr. Dewey’s nomination assured, Messrs. Sprague, Jaeckle and Brownell were busy all day receiving members of delegations who had declared for the New York Governor.
Among these was the North Dakota delegation of eleven, which, at a caucus this morning, decided to vote for Dewey on the first ballot. Delegates were introduced by William Stern, National Committeeman, who assured Mr. Sprague that North Dakota would go Republican at the November election.
Governor Dewey was assured of Connecticut’s 16 votes when that state’s delegation, under the leadership of Governor Baldwin, voted to cast its solid vote for the New York Governor.
Dewey’s air trip linked to radio
Maximum night audience is sought for broadcast – Taft fails to consult Governor
Albany, New York – (June 26)
The speed with which the Dewey bandwagon is rolling along at Chicago made it possible tonight that Governor Dewey would fly to the Republican National Convention to accept the nomination for the Presidency rather than travel by train as originally scheduled.
It was learned that the Governor, if nominated on the first ballot Wednesday, would take the air route of less than five hours, instead of the 14-hour train trip, so that he could broadcast his speech of acceptance in the evening when the widest radio audience can be reached.
On the other hand, travel by train would delay the speech until Thursday evening to obtain the same big radio coverage. And this would prolong the convention beyond schedule.
The plane trip would make it impossible for most of the press corps here to accompany the Governor, and probably only one representative from each of the major news services would be able to cover him en route.
The Governor’s own party will include Mrs. Dewey, his secretary Paul Lockwood, his executive assistant James C. Haggerty, his personal secretary Lillian Rosse, Hickman Powell (an adviser), and State Banking Superintendent Elliot V. Bell,
During the day, Mr. Dewey was in frequent contact by telephone with Herbert Brownell, who is directing the Dewey “draft” at Chicago; Edwin F. Jaeckle, state chairman, and J. Russell Sprague, National Committeeman.
There was no call, however, from Senator Taft, with whom the Governor had volunteered to talk by telephone should his advice be desired on shaping the party’s platform.
The Governor was kept in touch with progress through two state members of the Resolutions Committee: Mary H. Donlon, vice chairman of the committee, and Kenneth X. Mccaffer, Albany County chairman.
The Executive Office here also explained that the Governor’s past expressed views were known to the drafters of the platform.
In the forenoon, Mr. Dewey posed obligingly at routine duties for a battery of newsreel photographers. There he devoted considerable of his time in his office to dictating letters.
The Governor finally quit his office at 6:30 this evening, went to a downtown barbershop for a hair trim, and then went home for dinner. His barber, Pasquale Pugliese, said that the Governor and he talked exclusively about the war. He added:
I didn’t ask him about the convention because I didn’t want to get too personal.
