Earlier optimism blamed for lag in war output and drift of workers to peace jobs
By Dale McFeatters, Press business editor
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Senate investigates story about Hillman
Washington (UP) –
Senate Campaign Expenditures Subcommittee today called on Chairman Harvey Taylor of the Pennsylvania State Republican Committee to testify on distribution of campaign literature linking President Roosevelt with Chairman Sidney Hillman of the CIO Political Action Committee.
The committee sought to determine whether the Pennsylvania GOP organization played a part in the reported distribution of three to five million copies of a pamphlet reprinted from an article entitled “Hillman Takes Over the New Deal.” The original article appeared in the Trades Union News of Philadelphia, published by George Simmons.
Mr. Simmons and S. E. Blodgett, auditor of the R. H. Donnelly Company, which was said to have contracted to distribute the pamphlets, were called to testify along with Mr. Taylor.
Jack Kroll of Columbus, Ohio (CIO regional director for Cincinnati), was also summoned to appear in connection with the publication of another pamphlet, this one attacking Senator Robert A. Taft (R-OH) and urging his defeat.
Democratic leaders of McKeesport last night were warned that a Republican victory for Thomas E. Dewey over President Roosevelt in the November election would mean “a return to the old days of sweatshops and the days when to strike meant getting your brains knocked out.”
The speaker was William Morgan, head of the National Citizens Political Action Committee in McKeesport, who addressed Democratic leaders of McKeesport’s 41 districts at a pre-election rally in the Penn-McKee Hotel.
‘Ambitions’ denied
Mr. Morgan declared that the PAC has no political ambitions and “we don’t want to take over the Democratic Party.” He said the only purpose of the PAC was to see that people vote and that records of the candidates are publicized.
Dr. C. C. Kline, chairman of the Speakers Committee of Allegheny County and welfare director for the City of Pittsburgh, told the McKeesport Democrats that Democratic leaders are exultant over the overwhelming sentiment noticeable among the rank and file favoring the reelection of President Roosevelt. He prefaced his remarks by commenting on various endorsements of the Roosevelt candidacy by Republicans.
Others also speak
Other speakers at the rally included Will J. Yester, Democratic incumbent in the 9th Legislative District and Congressman Samuel Weiss, incumbent from the 33rd District who is also a candidate for reelection.
Senator Harry S. Truman, candidate for Vice President, will speak in McKeesport on Thursday.
Boston, Massachusetts (UP) –
The Christian Science Monitor today endorsed the presidential candidacy of Governor Thomas E. Dewey in the belief that “changing horses is the best way to get across the streams ahead.”
In 1940, the Monitor favored Wendell Willkie for President.
Asserting that “we do not believe that Franklin Roosevelt is going to make himself a dictator,” the Monitor said that nevertheless “long tenure smothers alternative leadership. The third term was advocated as a necessity in a crisis. So is a fourth. Will there be no grave national problems in 1948?”
Long tenure, the Monitor added, develops a “papa knows best attitude which is the antithesis of democracy.”
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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (UP) –
Robert E. Hannegan, Democratic National Chairman, yesterday charged Governor Thomas E. Dewey, Republican presidential standard-bearer, with “the wildest untruths” and with borrowing the entire New Deal, including its foreign policies.
Mr. Hannegan, speaking before the annual $100-a-plate dinner sponsored by the Philadelphia Democratic organization accused Mr. Dewey of being tied up with “a gang of political mouthpieces tor big money in this country who represent pre-Pearl Harbor isolationists.”
Mr. Hannegan added that Governor Dewey had “aided considerably in helping President Roosevelt cinch the election in his fourth term bid.”
Chinese leader turned down demand that ‘Uncle Joe’ be given power to unify forces
By Darrell Berrigan, United Press staff writer
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General disarms French militia
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Candidate assails Communist foes
Detroit, Michigan (UP) –
Governor John W. Bricker, Republican vice-presidential candidate, last night asserted that “countless members” of labor organizations will vote Republican because “they know that, for labor’s own best interests, it must choose between Communist domination and industrial freedom in this election.”
Facing the largest and one of the most enthusiastic audiences of his campaign tour, Bricker said that: “Labor can have, and it will get, either Hillman and Browder or respect and independence.”
The speech climaxed Mr. Bricker’s direct appeal to labor for votes for the Republican ticket.
Six-minute oration
The din that greeted him in a six-minute ovation was reminiscent of the cheers he had heard last summer in the Republican National Convention at Chicago when he withdrew his name from the presidential race in favor of New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey. A brass band and an organ were drowned out by the shouting applause.
The mention of Mr. Dewey’s name as “the next President” set off another ovation that Mr. Bricker had to wave down.
Mr. Bricker drew another outburst when he said he did not mind “taking a licking from the Democrats” but that he would “hate to be defeated by the Communist Party masquerading as the Democratic Party.”
Hillman’s name booed
A tremendous boo rose at Mr. Bricker’s first mention of Sidney Hillman who, he said, “helped toss the New Deal convention.” Another boo mingled with hisses when Mr. Bricker called Earl Browder “the No. 1 Communist in this country” and “a draft dodger in the First World War.”
He said:
The man behind Franklin Roosevelt is Sidney Hillman. The man behind Sidney Hillman is Earl Browder. And back of him are the class hatreds, the alien philosophies and the economic slavery of the Old World.
This nation intends to remain American. Nov. 7 is the day to let the world know it.
Detroit, Michigan (UP) –
The campaign speech which Governor John W. Bricker, Republican vice-presidential nominee, delivered here last night was censored by a Canadian radio company representative before it was put on the Mutual Broadcasting System Network in the United States.
Frank Burke, a representative of CKLW, Windsor (Ontario) broadcasting station, read Mr. Bricker’s prepared speech to make sure, he said, that it contained nothing derogatory to Great Britain or Canada. Mr. Burke telephoned his office across the Detroit River that it contained nothing that would be “offensive.”
Mr. Burke said:
This station is owned by Canadian capital – the Rogers-Majestic Radio Company – and for that reason whatever goes out over it must conform to the rules.
Hottest campaign since 1928 stumps experts, who can’t figure out soldier votes
New York (UP) –
The nation’s hottest political campaign since 1928 swept into the home stretch today with pollcasters keeping tongue in cheek and crossing fingers on both hands because this 1944 campaign – the first in wartime since Abraham Lincoln – has become a nightmare for those who take straw ballots.
Even the high politicos of both parties are worried. The main thing that stumps them is the soldier vote. About 4,300,000 servicemen and women are expected to return ballots and the law prevents taking a poll of them.
In some pivotal states, such as Pennsylvania, the soldier vote may well decide the victor. Democratic leaders privately admit they are counting heavily on the soldier vote.
Vote extensions passed
The New York State Legislature, acting on suggestions by Governor Thomas E. Dewey, yesterday passed at a special session legislation extending from Nov. 3 to Nov. 6 the deadline for the return of soldier ballots, and extended the polling time in the state by two hours. The predominantly-Republican body defeated a Democratic move to extend the soldier-vote deadline until Nov. 30.
National Democratic Chairman Robert E. Hannegan told a press conference yesterday that he had “no doubt” the Democratic ticket would carry Massachusetts, and added that “reports are more favorable every day” that President Roosevelt will carry New York.
Mr. Roosevelt swings his campaign activities to Massachusetts Saturday, when he speaks at Boston. En route, Mr. Hannegan said, he probably will make brief rear-platform appearances at Hartford and Bridgeport, Connecticut.
The votes in 1940
Some Democratic claims assert that Governor Dewey won’t carry all the ten states which the late Wendell Willkie won in 1940. Those states and the vote were:
| Willkie | Roosevelt | |
|---|---|---|
| South Dakota | 177,065 | 131,362 |
| North Dakota | 154,590 | 124,036 |
| Nebraska | 352,201 | 263,677 |
| Michigan | 1,039,917 | 1,032,991 |
| Kansas | 489,169 | 364,725 |
| Idaho | 632,370 | 578,800 |
| Indiana | 899,466 | 874,063 |
| Colorado | 279,576 | 265,554 |
| Maine | 163,951 | 156,478 |
| Vermont | 78,371 | 64,269 |
Those 10 states gave Mr. Willkie 82 Electoral College votes in 1940. This year they are worth only 78, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas and Nebraska having lost one vote each as a result of reapportionment.
City vote in 1940
Mr. Willkie’s biggest weakness in 1940 was in the big cities. He lost several important states, including New York, Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania, because the city vote turned against him. Dewey men believe he can cut down that metropolitan advantage.
Important cities which Mr. Willkie lost and the vote included:
NEW YORK CITY: Roosevelt, 1,966,083; Willkie, 1,247,624. State vote, city included: Roosevelt, 3,251,918; Willkie, 3,027,478.
PHILADELPHIA: Roosevelt, 532,149; Willkie, 354,878. State vote, city included: Roosevelt, 2,171,035; Willkie, 1,899,848.
CLEVELAND: Roosevelt, 347,118; Willkie, 209,070. State vote, city included: Roosevelt, 1,733,139; Willkie, 1,586,773.
CHICAGO: Roosevelt, 1,029,538; Willkie, 731,716. State vote, city included: Roosevelt, 2,142,934; Willkie, 2,047,240.
DETROIT: Roosevelt, 447,000; Willkie, 280,000. State vote, city included: Willkie, 1,039,917; Roosevelt, 1,032,991.
The Republicans barely managed to squeeze Michigan into their bag, but they lost the other states mainly because of those large city leads.
And there you have the pattern for the 1944 campaign. Both candidates are making torrid bids for votes in Chicago, New York City and Philadelphia.
New York (UP) –
Senator Harry S. Truman and Vice President Henry A. Wallace will speak from the same platform here tonight for the first time since Mr. Truman displaced Mr. Wallace in the No. 2 position in the Democratic Party.
Both moved into New York to appear at a rally in Madison Square Garden after campaign tours calling for the reelection of President Roosevelt.
WCAE will broadcast the rally at 10:30 p.m. EWT.
Tonight’s rally apparently was intended to be a demonstration of party unity which would allay any discontent which may have persisted among Wallace supporters.
Mr. Truman reached New York after an 8,000-mile tour in which he spoke in 13 states around the rim of the country since he left New Orleans on his campaign swing three weeks ago. He will speak at Parkersburg, West Virginia, tomorrow night and at Pittsburgh Thursday.
Mr. Truman completed the New England lap of his tour last night at Pawtucket, Rhode Island, where he again acclaimed President Roosevelt’s war leadership and said it was “always poor policy to send in substitutes when you have a winning team on the field.”
Mr. Truman also said the record of Senator David I. Walsh (D-MA), who has just announced his support of the Democratic ticket, was isolationist but that the Democrats had “a chance to reform” Mr. Walsh.
Washington (UP) –
The Federal Communications Commission today denied a petition of Milwaukee attorney William B. Rubin that radio stations be required to obtain scripts of political broadcasts at least 48 hours in advance of delivery so that objectionable comments might be deleted.
Mr. Rubin’s petition had also demanded that the FCC require the four major networks and certain affiliated stations to retract alleged “unjustified charges” made against President Roosevelt by Republican candidates.
The FCC denied the entire petition without elaboration, but officials had previously pointed out that the FCC is not a censorship agency and that the Federal Communications Act specifically prohibits censorship of political broadcasts by either the FCC or radio stations.
Dewey’s only hope is in Southern section
By Fred W. Perkins, Pittsburgh Press staff writer
Grant Town, West Virginia –
A factor in the fight over whether coal miners are going to vote for Mr. Roosevelt or Mr. Dewey and possibly swing the electoral votes of the doubtful states of West Virginia and Pennsylvania is Joe Zieminski.
Joe lives in Grant Town, a good-looking community built around a big coal mine of the Koppers Coal Company.
President of local
He was in the midst of his family of a wife and six children and their clean faces contrasted with the soiled head of the family, who hadn’t had a chance to wash up.
Joe Zieminski, a big fellow, is president of Local 4047 of the United Mine Workers and has also been the chairman of the forces working within the miners’ union to bring about home rule for the union organization in which most of the district officers are named by President John L. Lewis.
Joe said 90 percent of the miners in his local are going to vote for President Roosevelt, just as they have three times previously.
Home rulers for Roosevelt
He paid tribute to Mr. Lewis as a union leader and a bargainer with the coal companies, but when it comes to politics – well, Mr. Lewis could vote for Mr. Dewey if he wanted to, but not Joe Zieminski or his friends. They were going down the line for FDR.
All the local unions involved in the home-rule fight have declared for Mr. Roosevelt, so it would seem the home-rule movement is hooked directly with the Roosevelt support, and against Mr. Lewis in his presidential preference. But Roosevelt supporters in the Fairmont district don’t want to put it on that basis. They say Mr. Lewis may be right in his policy of appointing officers for districts unable to select the right kind of officers for themselves.
Dewey hopes in South
Into this comes a strong hint that Communist influence is trying to get a foothold in the United Mine Workers, which Mr. Lewis, according to all published statements, would be against.
Roosevelt sentiment here in Northern West Virginia seems stronger among the miners than it did in the southern section of this state. If Mr. Dewey is to carry West Virginia, it is the southern end which must furnish the margin.
Republicans get some cheer from reports that McDowell County, far to the south and the largest coal-producing county in the country, is swinging their way.
Detroit, Michigan (UP) –
Governor Harry Kelly today called a special session of the State Legislature to consider extension of the Nov. 7 voting hours.
Governor Kelly said here that the Legislature has been asked to meet, in Lansing Friday to consider a bill which would permit individual cities and townships to extend the 8:00 p.m. CWT voting deadline.
Reconsideration of the question came on an appeal from the Detroit and Wayne County Election Commissions, which earlier had declared that “additional facilities” would be ample to take care of the anticipated record vote.
Washington (UP) –
Senator Joseph F. Guffey (D-PA) today denounced “stargazing, done with mirrors,” by which “some political prognosticators” have arrived at the conclusion that the presidential election will be close.
Mr. Guffey predicted a Roosevelt landslide of 390 electoral votes.
Asserting his confidence in betting commissioners as against “prognosticators” making “mythical decisions,” Senator Guffey declared:
The boys who are willing to put cash on the barrelhead give Roosevelt the advantage in enough states to give him 390 electoral votes.