The Pittsburgh Press (October 30, 1944)
Dewey accused of ‘doubletalk’
Chicago, Illinois (UP) –
Vice President Henry A. Wallace yesterday charged that Governor Thomas E. Dewey, Republican presidential nominee, was guilty of “doubletalk” in dealing with his own Fair Employment Practices Committee in New York.
Mr. Wallace, speaking before a rally on the Nonpartisan Roosevelt Unity Committee in Chicago, said Mr. Dewey had named a “good” committee which, after three years of investigation, recommended state legislation to establish a permanent Fair Employment Practices Committee in New York.
The Vice President asserted:
Governor Dewey, however, disregarded and dismissed all of this great effort. The people of New York will understand double talk when they hear it.
Compared to Roosevelt
Mr. Wallace compared Governor Dewey’s position on the issue with that of President Roosevelt, praising the President’s concern for all people, including all minority groups.
The future belongs to those “who go down the line unswervingly for the liberal principles of both political and economic democracy, regardless of race, creed or color,” the Vice President said.
Mr. Wallace said:
Mr. Roosevelt stands for all this. That is why certain people hate him so. That also is one of the outstanding reasons why the President will be elected for a fourth term.
Outlines program
He outlined again his own program in race relations, asserting that there must be no inferior races in the United States and that the poll tax must go and equal educational opportunities must come.
Mr. Wallace said:
All the people must be included in the economic, educational and political progress which we will make if the liberal cause is victorious. By all of the people, I specifically include the Negro and every other minority group in this country.
Dewey aide scoffs at Wallace charge
Albany, New York (UP) –
Paul E. Lockwood, secretary to Governor Thomas E. Dewey, challenged a charge by Vice President Henry A. Wallace that the Republican presidential nominee was guilty of “doubletalk” in connection with the Fair Employment Practices Committee.
Mr. Lockwood said:
Mr. Wallace is a little balmier than usual. What Governor Dewey said on the radio was: “We shall establish the Fair Employment Practices Committee as a permanent function authorized by law.”
That is exactly what the Republican platform pledged while the Democratic platform did not dare mention the subject.