Election 1944: Pre-convention news

[NormanStewart]

The Pittsburgh Press (April 17, 1944)

MacArthur opens door to draft by Republicans

Sole ambition is to help win war by fulfilling ‘such duty as may be assigned to me’

Allied HQ, Southwest Pacific (UP) –
Gen. Douglas MacArthur, in a statement interpreted as meaning that he would be available for the Republican presidential nomination if drafted but would not seek it, said today that his sole ambition was to aid in winning the war “by the fulfillment of such duty as has been or may be assigned to me.”

Gen. MacArthur, in a statement on his correspondence with Rep. A. L. Miller (R-NE) who urged him to run, said his letters were not intended for publication, that they were not politically inspired and that he repudiated the “sinister suggestion that they were intended as criticism of any political philosophy or of any personages in high office.”

He said the American election system was of “so imposing a nature as to be beyond the sphere of any individual’s coercion or decision,” and added in conclusion:

I can only say, as I have said before, I have not sought the office nor do I seek it. I have devoted myself exclusively to the conduct of the war.

My sole ambition is to assist our beloved country to win this vital struggle by the fulfillment of such duty as has been or may be assigned to me.

Two years ago, Gen. MacArthur said he was not a candidate; in March 1942, when he arrived in Australia, he said: “I began the war as a soldier and I will end it as one.”

Last year, when American politicians started demanding that Gen. MacArthur declare his intentions, he said, “let’s get on with the war.”

Hence Gen. MacArthur’s statement today tended to confirm the growing impression in the best-informed quarters here that he would not seek the Republican nomination but would accept it if the party drafted him.

The final sentence of his statement, regarding duty that might be assigned to him, was taken to mean that, if drafted for what he believed the country’s good, he would accept.

‘Personal correspondence’

Gen. MacArthur said:

My attention has been called to the publication by Congressman Miller of a personal correspondence with him.

Their perusal will show any fair-minded person that they were neither politically inspired not intended to convoy blanket approval of the Congressman’s views.

Mr. Miller, urging Gen. MacArthur to run, had said that “unless this New Deal can be stopped this time, our American way of life is forever doomed” and that “I am certain that this monarchy which is being established in America will destroy the rights of the common people.”

Gen. MacArthur called these letters wise, statesmanlike and scholarly and said Mr. Miller’s description of conditions “is a sobering one indeed and is calculated to arouse the thoughtful consideration of every true patriot.”

In his statement today, Gen. MacArthur said:

I entirely repudiate the sinister interpretation that they [his letters] were intended as criticism of any political philosophy or of any personages in high office.

The letters, Gen. MacArthur said, were “amiable acknowledgements” to a Congressman’s letters “containing flattering and friendly remarks to me personally.”

Warns of misrepresentation

To continue them otherwise, he said, was to misrepresent the intent.

Gen. MacArthur said he had not received Mr. Miller’s third letter, urging him to announce his candidacy, and commented:

The high constitutional processes of our representative and republican form of government in which there resides with the people the sacred duty of choosing and electing their Chief Executive are of so imposing a nature as to be beyond the sphere of any individual’s coercion or decision.

Then he continued with his final paragraph saying that he did not seek office but would do the duty assigned him.

Regrets publication

Well-informed quarters expressed belief that Gen. MacArthur obviously regretted the publication of his letters and felt that he had been put on the spot.

Of Mr. Miller’s letter saying that “unless this New Deal can be stopped our American way of life is forever doomed,” Gen. MacArthur had written that “I do unreservedly agree with the complete wisdom and statesmanship of your comments.”

Mr. Miller’s second letter, saying a monarchy was being established in the United States, Gen. MacArthur had called scholarly.

It was felt here that publication of the letters had done Gen. MacArthur no service and, in fact, would seem to be the very thing his supporters would want to avoid because it might antagonize some people.

Finally, it was felt here that the whole Miller affair was a teapot tempest because Gen. MacArthur never had more than an outside chance and that was lessened by Wendell L. Willkie’s withdrawal.

Out here, so far from the United States, it had been felt that any chance for Gen. MacArthur would have been in a Dewey-Willkie deadlock but that now it appeared that Governor Thomas E. Dewey probably would be nominated on the first ballot.

When Mr. Willkie announced his withdrawal, one MacArthur supporter commented:

I’ll bet the Democrats are laughing like hell this morning. Willkie has won the election for them by assuring the nomination of the one man they are sure to beat.

[NormanStewart]

Johnston denies he’s in politics

Detroit, Michigan (UP) –
Eric Johnston, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who has frequently been mentioned as Republican presidential material, denied today that he had political ambitions and asserted that he was doing a job for business in which politics had no part.

[NormanStewart]

Bricker: Great era near

Los Angeles, California (UP) –
Governor John W. Bricker of Ohio will arrive today for a 36-hour visit to wind up the West Coast lap of a swing around the country to spur his nomination as Republican candidate for President.

He will deliver three major addresses and confer with Republican leaders before returning to Columbus, making a brief stopover in Phoenix, Arizona, to attend a special session of the Arizona Legislature.

Mr. Bricker, speaking before the California Republican Assembly at San Jose last night, said he was convinced that America “is at the threshold of its greatest era.”

He said:

Let us have faith that in the period ahead, America may help bring a better life and greater freedom to the peoples of the world, that the wounds of war and bitter hatreds which follow may be healed.

Earlier, in a press conference at Sacramento, Mr. Bricker said he was “shooting at the top” and would not be satisfied with being Vice President.

[NormanStewart]

Washington opinion –
MacArthur puts self on ‘available’ list

Vandenberg, leading supporter, silent

Washington (UP) –
Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s statement on American political affairs was interpreted here today as indicating his availability for a draft to the Republican presidential nomination despite his decision not to press active candidacy.

Political observers counted it significant that Gen. MacArthur did not specifically eliminate himself for consideration as the GOP’s 1944 standard-bearer, although his statement could have been a vehicle for such an elimination.

With ‘availables’

The statement thus appeared to place Gen. MacArthur alongside New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey and LtCdr. Harold E. Stassen as “available” for the Republican nomination. Of the leading GOP possibilities, only Ohio Governor John W. Bricker is an announced candidate.

Gen. MacArthur’s statement was issued primarily to clear up his part in the publication of correspondence between him and Rep. A. L. Miller (R-NE), an active MacArthur-for-President supporter who released the letters last week.

Gen. MacArthur said the letters were neither intended for publication nor politically inspired, strongly implying that Mr. Miller had violated confidence by revealing them to the press.

Vandenberg silent

Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg (R-MI), a leading MacArthur supporter, declined to comment on the general’s statement.

Rep. Hamilton Fish (R-NY) said:

It bears out Gen. MacArthur’s earlier assertions that he is not a candidate for office. He might accept it if were offered to him – as anyone would.

Senator Styles Bridges (R-NH) said he thought the letters made public by Mr. Miller:

…indicated MacArthur’s availability but his statement that he is interested solely in winning the war must be taken at face value because of the magnificent and courageous job that he has done.

[NormanStewart]

Editorial: Wallace’s junket

The President seems to have a dual purpose in shipping the Vice President off to China. He wants to take the heat off Henry here at home in the pre-convention period. And he wants to counteract, with a few kind words to the Chinese, the British reverses in Burma and India. But we wouldn’t put much money on the line that this junket will succeed.

It is not hard to figure why the President would like to get Mr. Wallace out of the country for a while. Though the Senate has a heavy schedule ahead, he is not particularly needed there as a presiding officer – in fact some are unkind enough to suggest that things will go better without him. He is unpopular with the Southern and conservative groups of the party, which the President is trying to butter up in a campaign year.

If the President decides to force him as a vice-presidential candidate on the next Democratic convention as in 1940, will that task be easier if Mr. Wallace remains out of sight and sound for two or three months? Our guess is that the President has not yet made up his mind whether he will run again, or if so, made his choice for second place on the ticket.

But since left-wing help will be needed in the campaign, he apparently intends to use Mr. Wallace in some capacity. We doubt, however, that Mr. Wallace’s absence will have made the party heart grow any fonder by the time he returns for the convention.

The Chinese situation is more important than the political fortunes of Mr. Wallace, and even less likely to be changed by the President’s simple device of sending him on a trip. Chinese morale is low, because they have fought a long time without appreciable help. Repeated promises have grown dangerously thin. Words, however eloquent and sincere, will not serve for weapons – the weapons required to stand off the Japs, much less lick them.

Why expect Mr. Wallace, a year later, to impress the Chinese with American good intentions if that was not achieved by Congress and the President personally when Mme. Chiang Kai-shek came here asking aid? Americans, for selfish as well as for humanitarian reasons, know that China must be liberated before Japan can be defeated. But it is now a matter of performance.

Our real ambassadors of goodwill to China are Adm. Nimitz, Gen. MacArthur, Gen. Stilwell and Gen. Chennault. Messengers of regret to Chungking, with alibis for the failure of the over-advertised Mountbatten offensive to get started before the rainy season, can accomplish nothing. If Mr. Wallace has powers of persuasion, he had better spend them in London and New Delhi.

[NormanStewart]

The Pittsburgh Press (April 18, 1944)

I DARE SAY —
Many a true world–

By Florence Fisher Parry

One of the most pungent comments on the Willkie defeat can be found in Newsweek for April 17 in Raymond Moley’s excellent column, “Perspective.” Not only does it apply to Wendell Willkie, but it applies to every one of us who thinks that he can accomplish anything single-handed. No one so strong but needs help. This is what Mr. Moley has to say:

It was Mr. Willkie who defeated Mr. Willkie. Ever since his nomination in 1940, he has tried to enjoy the sweet satisfaction of two irreconcilable roles. He has tried to lead a party and be independent of it. He has tried to be a free commentator on public affairs and an actor in those affairs. It can’t be done. Not in this world. The thousands of average people who pay for theater tickets at night, the next morning pay for newspapers which pan the play. They don’t want actors’ opinions or critics’ acting.

Let us take an example from the dust of the last century – William E. Gladstone. Whenever, in his long career as opposition leader or Prime Minister, Gladstone decided to bring his party to a new course of action, he labored incessantly, patiently and earnestly with his fellow leaders. He made more speeches in a year than Willkie has made in his life, but they were mostly in the homes of his colleagues or in the cabinet room, and the net of it all was that Gladstone ultimately brought his party around to almost every position that he thought best. That is party leadership.

Public speeches are easy to make. A crowd doesn’t talk back. It cheers or boos; but the private persuasion of doubtful colleagues is hard labor, for it must be achieved by a mastery of facts and endless patience…

The loss of Mr. Willkie has been serious to him, to the party and to the country.

I read this passage over twice. It struck home. It is true what Mr. Moley says. The old saw, “Hew to the line and let the chips fall where they may” is a good metaphor so long as one is adjured to disregard the “chips” only; but if, when hewing to the line, one cleaves so deep that the timber which one would plane falls apart, that is not good carpentering.

Bristling facts

Lawrence Sullivan wrote a peerless report on our present federal government which, for candor and bristling facts, is matched only by Senator Harry F. Byrd’s report to the nation after having investigated non-essential federal expenditures. Here are some facts which Mr. Sullivan divulges:

Our federal government has a payroll of $522 million per month. That’s $18 million a day; $42,500 a minute. This payroll pays 3,300,000 federal employees. That means that to every three men now in the Armed Forces, there is one government jobholder. That means that our government employs twice as many people to do its civil, not military, mind you civil work, than are employed by this country’s entire steel industry, one-half again as many as are employed in ship construction; several times as many as the states employ. For example, Pennsylvania has 44,500 state employees and she has 215,000 federal employees.

And how do you suppose these 215,000 federal employees are going to vote in November?

Senator Byrd’s report

It’s too bad that Senator Byrd’s report was not required reading for every voting citizen of the United States. Here are a few sentences of its testimony:

Our government is the chief offender in wasting and hoarding manpower. At no time in history has there been so much waste and inefficiency as now exists in the multitude of bureaus which sap the strength of our nation. It is imperative that the people of the United States become aware of this shocking abuse on manpower in the federal government, and that they promote the transfer of all unnecessary government workers to essential war industries.

Unless this is done quickly, the overstaffing in the federal establishment will constitute a serious peril in our war effort. Excluding those engaged in mechanical and construction work, one may say that one-third of the entire civilian personnel of the federal government could be dismissed.

Mr. Sullivan offers the development of OPA as typical of our present government’s tendency to extend its authority, expand its payrolls and invite voting support. The OPA began in April 1941, with a staff of 84. In one year, its staff numbered more than 8,000, and by its second birthday, it employed 90,000 persons.

[NormanStewart]

Simms: Parties look to Roosevelt and Churchill

U.S., British political situations likened
By William Philip Simms, Scripps-Howard staff writer

London, England –
A very interesting parallel is developing between the political fortunes of Prime Minister Churchill and those of President Roosevelt.

Some of Britain’s shrewdest observers tell me that the Prime Minister may not be able to retire in the full flush of victory as he would like.

Immediately after the European War, Great Britain will have a national election. With Mr. Churchill as leader, many are saying the Conservative Party will remain in power. With anyone else in his place, the chances are it would be defeated.

The Prime Minister would like to retire from public life as soon as possible after victory. As a student and a maker of history, he knows that would be the moment to step down. But he has yet to reckon with his party.

Today in America, scores of Democratic candidates are plugging for a fourth term for President Roosevelt.

Without Mr. Roosevelt at the head of the ticket, they are afraid the Democratic Party will be defeated. And as their best, if not their only, chance of election is by riding on the President’s coattails they are doing everything in their power to keep him in the race.

Just as the Democrats want President Roosevelt to run, the Conservatives here want the Prime Minister to run.

The big question is whether Mr. Churchill will let himself be persuaded.

Like others in his position, I am told, he is not without a strong feeling of party responsibility. Whether President or Prime Minister, a political leader doesn’t like to “let his party down” at a critical moment and certainly Britain’s post-war election will come at such a time.

Should Mr. Churchill listen to his party’s call however, I am told, he would almost certainly seek an early opportunity to withdraw after the elections.

[NormanStewart]

Clare Luce boomed for GOP keynoter

Vandenberg also strong contender

Chicago, Illinois (UP) –
Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg (R-MI) and Rep. Clare Boothe Luce (R-CT) were mentioned today for the keynote address at the Republican National Convention as the committee on arrangements, headed by Harrison E. Spangler, national chairman, met to pick a temporary chairman.

One chore of the committee will be the selection of the keynoter, but Mr. Spangler refused to speculate on any possible choice.

Republican leaders, however, talked most of Senator Vandenberg, who recently named Gen. Douglas MacArthur as his choice for the Republican presidential nomination. This might preclude the selection of the Senator since supporters of Governor Thomas E. Dewey were reported to be in a position to veto selection of a keynoters unacceptable to them.

The actual selection of the keynoter and other convention officials will be made tomorrow. Subcommittees on such convention activities as housing, concessions, and the radio, press and motion pictures met today to draw up their reports for presentation to the whole committee tomorrow.

Mrs. Luce was boomed by J. Kenneth Bradley, Connecticut member of the committee who was reported to have written letters to the 11 women members emphasizing her availability. Mrs. Luce, a freshman in Congress, would be the first woman keynoter in history.

However, it was pointed out that Mrs. Luce’s New England background would be against her being elected for the post.

Mr. Spangler conceded that Rep. Joseph W. Martin Jr. (R-MA), minority leader in Congress, has a “good chance” of being named permanent chairman, a position he held four years ago at Philadelphia.

[NormanStewart]

Dewey will gain, capital believes

MacArthur’s backer await announcement

Washington (UP) –
**House Republicans today believe that Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York will be the GOP presidential nominee despite latest indications that Gen. Douglas MacArthur may be available for a draft.

Most Republicans declined comment on the state of Gen. MacArthur, who disavowed office-seeking but suggested that he would accept the nomination if he were drafted by the Republican National Convention.

Privately, however, House Republicans believed that nothing would stop Governor Dewey’s rise in popularity among convention delegates. Many Democrats expressed similar sentiment.

Rep. A. L. Miller (R-NE), whose recently publicized exchange of correspondence with Gen. MacArthur gave added emphasis to him as a possible candidate, was certain the general would make an announcement within six weeks “regarding his receptiveness” to the nomination.

Rep. Miller revealed last week that he had written Gen. MacArthur urging him to announce his candidacy.

Meanwhile, pre-convention talk that Associate Supreme Court Justice Owen J. Roberts was a good bet as a dark horse candidate was evident at the Capitol and elsewhere, but found no general support.

Gerald L. K. Smith, head of the America First Party and a presidential aspirant, issued a statement saying that Justice Roberts “is worse than Wendell Willkie” and has a “repudiation for internationalism which is more completely and dangerously developed even than it was in Willkie.”

[NormanStewart]

Editorial: Guessing game

This year’s election will be harder to figure in advance than most of its predecessors.

Of course, the dopesters often have been wrong in trying to foretell elections in normal times.

But this one ought to make their hair curl. And that will apply to the candidates, as well.

This is the first presidential election since the draft. Some 10 million men are in the Armed Forces. How many of them are voters is problematical, but undoubtedly an overwhelming majority.

How many will cast ballots will depend on how well the states assume their obligation to provide them with the machinery for voting. It will also depend on the exigencies of war, for the Armed Forces’ personnel constantly is on the move and it will be impossible to get ballots to thousands of men in actual combat.

But there is another factor which will make election guessing a dubious assignment this year.

Thousands of Americans at home have been uprooted by the war. Eleven states are estimated to have gained population since 1940 despite the loss of many thousands to military service. Millions of workers have left their homes to take war jobs in distant spots.

Voting requirements among the states differ, some requiring only six months’ residence, others a year. Many of the war workers who have transferred probably haven’t caught up with the voting requirements.

All this will total up to a lot of confusion.

It is enough to drive an election prognosticator nuts.

[NormanStewart]

Background of news –
MacArthur complications

By Jay G. Hayden

Washington –
The letters exchanged by Gen. Douglas MacArthur and Rep. A. L. Miller of Nebraska and which Gen. MacArthur now says “were never intended for publication,” seem certain to have far-reaching repercussions with regard both to presidential politics and the war situation in the Pacific.

By the indirect process of approving statements made by Mr. Miller, Gen. MacArthur reveals himself as bitterly critical of the New Deal policies of President Roosevelt and at least a receptive candidate for the Presidency.

Further he sustains the inference contained in some of his earlier official communiqués, that he is dissatisfied with the tools of war that have been allotted him by Washington.

Not that Gen. MacArthur’s presidential prospect is advanced by this incident. To the contrary, it is the opinion of most of the neutral-minded political analysts that if anything further was needed to remove him as a serious contender, the letters have accomplished it.

A much more intriguing aspect of the letters is their added aggravation of an already-strained relationships between President Roosevelt and Gen. MacArthur.

It was Mr. Roosevelt’s removal of Gen. MacArthur as Chief of Staff in 1935 that caused him to resign his commission and become Commander-in-Chief of the Philippine Army.

Scope of command in doubt

When war broke, the President had no other recourse than to accept Gen. MacArthur’s tender of service and make him Commander-in-Chief of Philippine Defense, but even then, there were marked signs of White House perturbation over the situation.

When Gen. MacArthur made his dramatic exit to Australia, there was loud public demand that he be made commander-in-chief of all anti-Japanese forces. The President’s first announcement seemed to give him overall command of land, air and sea forces in the Southwest Pacific, but a little later, dispatches from that front pictured the Navy as refusing to accede to this arrangement.

A subsequent clarification gave Gen. MacArthur control of naval as well as land forces in the Australian area, but when the Battle of the Coral Sea came along, it developed that most of the ships and planes engaged were from the Hawaiian Command of Adm. Chester W. Nimitz.

Just now a situation is developing which may necessitate new chances in command. In the recent attack on Palau and other islands in the Western Carolines, the naval forces of Adms. Nimitz and Halsey for the first time were jointly engaged. Plainly the hour for grand assault by the whole American force in the Western Pacific, operating as one unit, is rapidly approaching, and this would seem to call for the designation of a single directing head – presumably either Gen. MacArthur or Adm. Nimitz.

If he’s demoted – look out!

If Mr. Roosevelt pursues his own inclination, there is very little doubt that Adm. Nimitz would be accorded command of at least all naval forces in this area.

But there is no gainsaying the existence of a political complication, now accentuated by the Miller-MacArthur letters. If Gen. MacArthur’s command is diminished, however slightly, the charge will arise that he has been demoted.

There is a historical parallel in the relationship of President Lincoln with Gen. George B. McClellan.

The latter, who reentered the Army from civil life when the war broke out, was a Democrat with powerful political connections. From the earliest stages of his command of the Army of the Potomac, he made it plain that he considered himself too important for the President to dare to fire. And when Mr. Lincoln’s great patience was finally exhausted and he did oust Gen. McClellan, the Democrats made him their presidential candidate in 1864.

[NormanStewart]

Primer for primaries –
Tickets will be chosen for 6 statewide races in Tuesday’s election

Candidates to be nominated for 33 seats, in Congress, 25 in State Senate, 208 in House
By Kermit McFarland

Pennsylvania this year will elect a U.S. Senator, an Auditor General, a State Treasurer, a justice of the State Supreme Court and two judges of the State Superior Court.

In addition to these statewide offices, the voters in Pennsylvania will elect 33 Congressmen, 25 State Senators and 208 members of the State House of Representatives.

At the primary next Tuesday, Republican and Democratic candidates for all these offices will be nominated. In addition, the voters at the Tuesday primary will elect delegates to the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, members of the state committees of both parties and members of the county committees of both parties.

Five contests

Among the statewide offices, there are actual contests for two Republican nominations and three Democratic nominations.

For the Democratic nomination for Auditor General, the candidates are John F. Breslin, now executive assistant in that office, and State Treasurer G. Harold Wagner. Mr. Wagner has been endorsed by the Democratic State Committee.

Mr. Breslin, 47, comes from Summit Hill, Carbon County, and has been executive assistant in the State Treasury, personnel secretary to Governor George H. Earle and a member of the State Labor Relations Board. He has been in the general contracting, lumber and building and loan business.

Completing term

Mr. Wagner, 43, comes from Dallas, Luzerne County, is completing a four-year term as State Treasurer, is a former burgess and has been in the accounting and publishing business.

The only other primary contests are for the two Democratic and the two Republican nominations for 10-year terms on the State Superior Court.

Entered in the Democratic primary are former Governor Arthur H. James, Judge Chester H. Rhodes and State Treasurer F. Clair Ross.

Entered in the Republican primary are Mr. James, Judge Rhodes and Judge J. Frank Graff of Kittanning.

Mr. James, former lieutenant governor, served on the Superior Court six years until he was elected Governor, and recently was reappointed to this bench by Governor Edward Martin. He is 60 and lives in Plymouth, Luzerne County.

Judge Rhodes, 56, comes from Stroudsburg and is the only Democrat on either Pennsylvania appellate court. He seeks a second 10-year term. He was a district attorney four years and a state legislator 10 years.

Lost to Governor Martin

Mr. Ross has been Auditor General, as well as State Treasurer and is a former deputy attorney general. He ran for Governor in 1942, but lost to Governor Martin. He is 49 and comes from Butler. If elected, he will be required to resign from the Treasurer’s office to be inducted as a Superior Court judge in January. His term as Treasurer will not expire until May 1945.

Judge Graff, like Judge James, has been endorsed by the Republican organization. He has been a judge in Armstrong County 20 years except for three months on the Superior Court by appointment in 1930. He resigned after losing in the Republican primary and was reappointed to his Common Pleas Court position. He is 54.

Davis runs again

For the other statewide nominations, candidates endorsed by the party organizations are unopposed. U.S. Senator James J. Davis of Pittsburgh seeks renomination on the Republican ticket for a third full term. He is 70 and was Secretary of Labor in the Harding, Coolidge and Hoover administrations.

The Democrats have slated Congressman Francis J. Myers of Philadelphia for this nomination. He is 42, a lawyer, and has served three terms in Congress.

Also at stake are nominations for a 21-year term on the State Supreme Court. The only Republican candidate is Justice Howard W. Hughes, now serving by appointment of Governor Martin, and the single Democratic candidate is Charles Alvin Jones, now on the Federal Circuit Court.

Graft trial judge

Justice Hughes, 52, lives in Washington, Pennsylvania, and before his appointment was a Common Pleas judge in Washington County nearly 15 years. He presided over some of the “graft” trials during the Earle administration. Mr. Jones, Democratic nominee for Governor in 1938, is 56 and comes from Edgeworth. He was appointed to the Circuit Court by President Roosevelt in 1939.

The nominations for the two parties for State Treasurer are also uncontested. The single Democratic candidate is Ramsey S. Black, 63, of Harrisburg, now third assistant postmaster general. The only Republican candidate is Edward W. Baird Jr., 46, of Philadelphia, now City Treasurer in the eastern city.

[NormanStewart]

Keys to GOP campaign held by governors

Dewey-Warren parlay favored in betting
By Thomas L. Stokes, Scripps-Howard staff writer

Washington –
State governors and state governor psychology are predominant in Republican affairs this election year. They lead among candidates for both the presidential and vice-presidential nomination.

There are 26 of them, executives in more than enough states to win the election. They will dominate the National Convention. Also, they will be effective in shaping one of the major issues of the party, revolving about what Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York calls “personal government.”

The Governor, the leading candidate for the nomination, set the tone for this issue in his latest speech giving an account of his stewardship in New York, a speech undoubtedly directed to the nation.

Cooperation cited

He spoke about the “spirit of teamwork” exhibited in his state “between the legislative and executive branches, working in cooperation with each other, with the people of the state, and with the local units of government which are closest to the people.”

He added:

We are striving to establish and maintain a genuinely competent and progressive government – in sharp contrast with that type of personal government which talks fine phrases of liberalism while seeking to impose its will and its whims upon the people through centralized bureaucracies issuing directives from a distance.

One of the surest bets anyone can make this year is that a governor will fill each end of the Republican ticket.

List named

Almost as sure a wager is that both the candidate for President and Vice President will come from this group of governors: Dewey, Saltonstall of Massachusetts, Bricker of Ohio, Baldwin of Connecticut, Griswold of Nebraska, Warren of California, and one not so long out of the governor’s chair, thrice elected, Stassen of Minnesota, now in the Navy.

Favored in betting odds is a Dewey-Warren parlay.

The Governors bring to the party vigor and practical experience in government. For the most part, they are more forward-looking in their thinking, both on domestic and international affairs.

Stress state rights

For the last two years, the Governors have concentrated on recovery by the states of some of the powers and functions they had yielded up to the federal government in the Depression years.

To their credit, the Governors did not content themselves with merely shooting about “state’s rights” as an abstraction as is so fashionable in some quarters. They recognized that if the states are to recapture some of the functions they previously had exercised, they must accept responsibility and take the initiative and see that the states meet the needs of the people in matters of social and economic welfare.

They saw the immediate need in planning for the post-war period. Many states have detailed plans for providing work for veterans, for retraining programs to fit former soldiers into industry, and have laid aside surpluses for this purpose.

[NormanStewart]

The Pittsburgh Press (April 19, 1944)

Warren selected to keynote GOP

Martin to become permanent chairman

Chicago, Illinois (UP) –
Governor Earl Warren of California was selected today to deliver the keynote address at the Republican National Convention in Chicago June 26.

The choice of Governor Warren as temporary chairman and keynoter was made by the 26-member convention arrangements committee headed by Walter S. Hallanan of West Virginia.

The keynote speech outlines the party’s views on national and international questions and generally sets the tone of the convention but the keynoters’ views are not binding upon the candidates.

The 1940 keynoter was LtCdr. Harold E. Stassen, who then was Governor of Minnesota.

As had been expected, the committee recommended Rep. Joseph W. Martin of Massachusetts, as permanent chairman of the convention.

Mr. Martin, minority leader of the House, was permanent chairman of the GOP convention four years ago.

Governor Warren was nominated for temporary chairman by William Reichel, national committeeman from California. Mr. Reichel, in proposing the California Governor, said he was not a candidate for the presidential nomination.

Approval is formality

The committee’s recommendation of Mr. Martin as permanent chairman must be approved by the convention, but the action is regarded only as a formality.

The selection of Governor Warren was made by acclamation after others who had been nominated withdrew.

Among those nominated only to decline later in favor of Governor Warren were: Rep. Clare Boothe Luce (R-CT), Iowa Governor Bourke Hickenlooper, New Jersey Governor Walter E. Edge, Nebraska Governor Dwight Griswold, Pennsylvania Governor Edward Martin, Illinois Governor Dwight Green, Senator Chapman Revercomb (R-WV), businessman and president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Eric Johnston, and Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg (R-MI).

Other officers selected

Other temporary convention officers selected by the committee were Harold Mason of Vermont, secretary of the Republican National Committee, as temporary secretary of the convention; Victor MacKenzie of Oregon, as chief sergeant-at-arms, and Carroll Cate of Knoxville, Tennessee, as sergeant-at-arms.

Governor Warren, 53, has been Governor of California since Jan. 1, 1943. He was formerly Attorney General of California, and from 1925 to 1936 was District Attorney of Alameda County.

Although he is not an announced candidate for the Presidency, he is in line for support by the California convention delegation as a favorite son. The California Republican Assembly has voted to pledge the state’s convention delegation to him.

[NormanStewart]

Primer for primaries –
13 districts to name state legislature ticket; 2 nominate Senators

One contest involved Tuesday in 43rd and 45th; legislative races offer a wider selection
By Kermit McFarland

Allegheny County is represented in the State Legislature by 27 members of the House and six members of the Senate.

House members are elected every two years but Senators serve four-year terms. This year, Allegheny County will elect only two Senators.

House members are elected from 13 districts – one to four from each district.

Two Senators to be named

At the Tuesday primary, both primaries will nominate senatorial candidates in the 43rd and 45th senatorial districts. The 43rd takes in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th, 10th and 15th Wards of Pittsburgh. The 45th covers all of the wards and municipalities south of the Monongahela and Ohio Rivers except the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th Wards of Pittsburgh.

The only contest for a senatorial nomination is the Republican primary in the 45th district. The candidates are Thomas Lewis Jones, Charles W. Beckman and David C. Davies.

Mr. Jones, 35, is a Brentwood attorney, solicitor for Castle Shannon, a former assistant city solicitor. Mr. Davies, 50, is secretary to the County Controller, lives in Bethel Township, and was a candidate for County Treasurer in 1943. Mr. Beckman, 52, is a Mount Oliver auto dealer, served two terms as burgess and was a candidate for Congress in 1943 and for County Treasurer in 1939.

Cox is unopposed

The incumbent, Senator John Fremont Cox (Munhall lawyer), is unopposed in the Democratic primary. He was the Democratic nominee for District Attorney last year. He is 40.

In the 43rd district, the only candidates are Senator Joseph M. Barr, 38, of Shadyside, who seeks renomination on the Democratic ticket, and Joseph J. Conway, 47, of Morningside, candidate for the Republican nomination. Mr. Barr is secretary to the Democratic County Committee; Mr. Conway is a civil engineer.

In the legislative primaries, most of the nominations are being contested.

Here is a summary of the contests in the first six districts:

• FIRST DISTRICT

This is composed of the 1st, 3rd and 5th Wards. Reps. Homer S. Brown, an attorney, and Daniel A. Verona are candidates for renomination on the Democratic ticket, opposed by John L. Clark, a writer for The Pittsburgh Courier. Unopposed Republican candidates are William Tucker, a waiter, and Lucius Davenport, a food checker.

• SECOND DISTRICT

The 2nd, 6th, 9th and 10th Wards of the city make up this district. Four candidates seek the two Republican nominations: Bernyce Lysle (an “adjuster in service work” and former schoolteacher), Harry L. Truxell (a mechanic), Rudy Weber (a salesman) and Alexander Dlugonski (an assistant service manager for an auto company).

Unopposed for renomination on the Democratic ticket are Reps. George J. Sarraf (a physician) and Thomas P. Mooney (a glassworker), both of whom have been legislators five terms.

• THIRD DISTRICT

This district, electing one legislator, is composed of the 4th and 15th Wards. The Republican nomination is being contested by John H. Carr (a clerk and former alderman), Paul E. Doelfel (a wireman, formerly employed in the sheriff’s office) and Michael R. Chasser (pharmacist for the State Welfare Department).

Democratic Rep. Edward A. Schuster is unopposed for renomination.

• FOURTH DISTRICT

The 4th is the only legislative district in Pittsburgh represented by a Republican, real estate dealer O. B. Hannon. Mr. Hannon, who has served one term, is opposed in the primary by Harry Berger Ackermann (former legislator) and Edward W. Brinling (a painting contractor).

On the Democratic side, the nomination is contested by Michael J. Holland (a city fireman) and former Mayor William N. McNair, who has been endorsed by the organization. The district is composed of the 7th, 8th and 11th Wards.

• FIFTH DISTRICT

Made up of the 12th, 13th and 14th Wards, this district elects one legislator. Seeking renomination for a third term is Democratic Rep. John R. Bentley, an attorney. He is opposed by Julius Zangrille, a plumber put in the race by Charles A. Papale, 12th Ward Democratic boss, who has split with the organization over patronage.

The Republican nomination is sought by Charles M. Christler (lawyer and former legislator), Thomas J. Jones (14th Ward constable), William F. White (restaurant operator), Samuel Avins (attorney) and Kenneth H. Davies (14th Ward alderman).

• SIXTH DISTRICT

Each party will nominate three candidates in this district. Four Democrats and nine Republicans seek these nominations. Because there has been no legislative reapportionment in 40 or 50 years, this district has been chopped up by annexations to the city, and takes in the first nine precincts of the 16th Ward, the 17th, all except parts of two precincts in the 18th, the 19th and most of the 20th and 28th.

The three Democratic incumbents face opposition only from Stanley Poremski, a county maintenance man. The present representatives are Thomas J. Kirley (police lieutenant), John J. Baker (water assessor), and Louis Leonard (a personnel manager and former steelworkers’ union official).

Running for the three Republican nominations are Nelson T. Miller (public school teacher), William J. Crowley Jr. (a tool room attendant), Paul A. Schullo (secretary at a shipbuilding company), John A. Manzione (insurance dealer), Frank Petrolio (a deputy sheriff), Harry R. Hooton (chiropractor), Basil Onyshkow (an attorney), John A. Weiland (insurance salesman), and Martin P. Burke (buyer for a grocery concern).

[NormanStewart]

Roberts balks at rumors of candidacy

Pew may woo judge of Supreme Court

Washington –
Associate Justice Owen J. Roberts of the U.S. Supreme Court is not a candidate – dark horse, favorite son, or any other variety – for the Republican nomination for the Presidency.

Published statements that several groups in the Republican organization are eyeing Mr. Roberts as a possible candidate on the ground that he could make a stronger campaign, and appeal to more elements of the party than New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey, left the Supreme Court jurist unimpressed.

Earlier talk scorned

There was similar mention of the Supreme Court member from Chester County, Pennsylvania, in 1932, 1936 and 1940, but Justice Roberts each time ignored talk of his possible candidacy.

He is ignoring it this time, in the same way. He will make no statement, since he considers the whole thing “silly.”

Mr. Roberts, a member of the court since 1930 and now its second ranking member, is one of the two Republicans on the highest bench.

On world politics

This year, there is even more substance to the talk of Mr. Roberts, in view of his announced stand for strong participation by the U.S. in international affairs in the post-war period.

Joseph N. Pew Jr. Philadelphia oil man, has reportedly as many as 100 Southern delegates to add to Pennsylvania’s 70 delegates in the Republican convention. Four years ago, he and Joseph R. Grundy, Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association leader, rallied the state’s 64 delegated and a few others around the then Governor Arthur H. James until after Wendell L. Willkie was assured of nomination.

Pew’s strategy?

Should Mr. Pew decide to join the “Stop Dewey” movement, he could augment his strength by allying himself with other GOP factions who want to see a candidate with a stronger record as to foreign policy and as to governmental service, according to this line of reasoning.

Mr. Roberts is 69 and in vigorous health. A former University of Pennsylvania law professor, he was special prosecutor for the government in espionage cases in Eastern Pennsylvania during the last war and in the Teapot Dome oil scandal after the war. He was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Hoover.

[NormanStewart]

The Pittsburgh Press (April 20, 1944)

Primer for primaries –
Legislative contests slated in all but two districts in county

Endorsements by party organizations unopposed in 11th and 13th
By Kermit McFarland

Contests for legislative nominations in one or both parties are underway in all the legislative districts of Allegheny County except the 11th and 13th, where organization endorsements by both the Democrats and Republicans weeded out all opposition.

A summary of the lineups by districts follows:

• SEVENTH DISTRICT

Composed of the 22nd, 23rd, 24th and 25th Wards on the North Side.

Rep. John L. Powers, who was first elected in the Roosevelt landslide of 1932, and Rep. Martin C. Mihm, elected in 1936, are Democratic candidates for renomination with organization endorsement. Mr. Powers is a decorator and Mr. Mihm is an attorney.

They are opposed by Paul W. Trimbel of Arch Street (operator of a laundry equipment service) and Raymond J. Wiegand (a patrolman).

For the Republican nominations, the only two candidates are Clarence A. Schaub (business agent for the hotel and restaurant employees’ union) and Louis M. Hubert (a drayman who is also Republican chairman of the 24th Ward).

• EIGHTH DISTRICT

Composed of the 21st, 26th and 27th Wards, this district also elects two members.

Candidates for the two Democratic nominations are Maurine L. Reynolds (seeking a third term in the Legislature), Thomas V. McNally (a clerk in the Prothonotary’s office and formerly

Republican rivalry is divided among three candidates: John R. Callahan (owner of a transportation line), Albert M. Bell (who lists himself as a defense worker) ad Ward C. Sanders (a police lieutenant). Mr. Bell and Mr. Sanders have been candidates before. Mr. Callahan is a fresh candidate.

• NINTH DISTRICT

The 9th district is McKeesport.

Rep. William J. Yester, seeking a third term, is opposed for the Democratic nomination by Joseph M. LeRosa (manager of a beauty salon). Mr. Yester is an optometrist. Richard F. Watson (paint engineer) is unopposed for the Republican nomination.

• TENTH DISTRICT

This district, taking in the Turtle Creek Valley and the municipalities east of the Monongahela, elects four legislators.

Six candidates are out for the four Republican nominations:

• Robert J. Strathearn of Swissvale (an auditor and former deputy in the local Internal Revenue Bureau office)

• Albert E. Beech of Wilkinsburg (a clerk for the State Labor and Industry Department)

• William P. H. Johnson of Penn Township (an auto dealer)

• Walter C. Feick of Glassport (a dentist and former school director)

• John Wayne Judge of Pitcairn (clerk for a machine company)

• Paul M. Bardes of Oakmont (real estate and insurance broker, former legislator and former squire).

The Democratic organization’s slate in this district is unopposed. It consists of Reps. Thomas J. Heatherington of Versailles Township (a foreman for the County Public Works Department), J. P. Moran of Turtle Creek (a machinist), and B. Frank Hunter of Wilkinsburg (assistant County Paymaster), and also William L. Shaffer (North Braddock lawyer who served one term in the House and two years ago was a candidate for the Senate).

• ELEVENTH DISTRICT

There are no contests in either party for legislative nominations in this district, composed of the 31st Ward of Pittsburgh, Clairton, Duquesne, Dravosburg, Homestead, Munhall, West Elizabeth, West Homestead, West Mifflin, Whitaker and Jefferson Township.

Reps. Thomas E. Barrett of Homestead (secretary in the Clerk of Courts office) and David M. Boies (Clairton dentist) are unopposed for renomination on the Democratic ticket. James F. Lawry (West Mifflin steelworker) and Lida R. Lutz (Clairton hardware merchant) are the candidates for Republican nominations.

• TWELFTH DISTRICT

This is a big district, electing four legislators, taking in the 29th, 30th and 32nd Wards of the city and all the boroughs and townships south of the rivers not included in the 11th district.

Six candidates seek the four Republican nominations, including the four incumbents.

Aspiring to renomination are Reps. Edwin C. Ewing (Mount Lebanon sales engineer), George W. Cooper (Mount Lebanon lawyer), John R. Haudenshield of Carnegie (secretary to a building and loan association), and Norman H. Laughner (a hauling contractor of Glenwillard). Running against this slate are Irwin I. Tryon of Baldwin Township (attorney) and Samuel K. Calhoun (ret.) of Mount Oliver.

• THIRTEENTH DISTRICT

This district is without primary contests for legislative nominations.

The Democratic candidates for the two nominations are David M. Huston (son of Register of Wills), John M. Huston of Allison Park, and L. C. Lockerman (Cheswick merchant and president of the borough school board).

Republican candidates are Rep. Robert D. Fleming (Aspinwall insurance agent) and George D. Stuart of Tarentum (editor of the Valley Daily News).

The district takes in all the boroughs and townships north of the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers.

[NormanStewart]

Stokes: Warren out of race for Vice President

Eliminated by choice as GOP keynoter
By Thomas L. Stokes, Scripps-Howard staff writer

Washington –
The selection of Governor Earl Warren of California as keynote speaker of the Republican conventions eliminates him as a possible vice-presidential nominee, for which he had been mentioned as running mate with New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey.

Instead, the inclination of Republican leaders is to pick their vice-presidential candidate from the Midwest.

This was the word received here from the meeting of the arrangements committee of the Republican National Committee which also recommended that the convention again elect Rep. Joseph W. Martin (R-MA) as permanent chairman, as it did in 1940.

3 others suggested

It is customary to select both as keynote speaker and as permanent chairman men who are not candidates for the presidential or vice-presidential nomination, for the obvious reason that these positions should not be used to promote candidacies or influence the convention.

It was with the understanding that Governor Warren is not a candidate for second place on the ticket that he was chosen to deliver the keynote address, it was learned.

Among Midwesterners available for second place on the ticket, those mentioned most prominently are Ohio Governor John Bricker, now campaigning for the presidential nomination, Rep. Charles A. Halleck (R-IN), a House leader and chairman of the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee, and Rep. Everett M. Dirksen (R-IL), who is also an announced candidate for the presidential nomination.

Gesture of governors

The selection of Governor Warren for the keynote address was recognition of the importance of California in Republican consideration, and a gesture to the 26 Republican governors who have assumed major influence in party councils and affairs. The governors will be powerful in the convention.

Governor Warren will have control of California’s 50 votes at the convention. Delegates will be elected at the May 2 primary. The delegation will be uninstructed.

Prefers Cabinet post

The Governor, it is said, was averse to the vice-presidential nomination, for which he has been prominently mentioned. He would prefer a Cabinet post as Attorney General, should the Republicans win, it is reported, because of experience fitting him for such a position. He was Attorney General of California for eight years.

The elimination of Senator Arthur Vandenberg (R-MI) as the keynote speaker, for which he was considered, was regarded here as due to his championship of the nomination of Gen. Douglas MacArthur who has won virtually no support among Republican leaders.

The Senator is reported now as cooling off considerably toward the general as the result of his letters to Rep. A. L. Miller (R-NE), recently made public by the Congressman, and the Senator said to be drifting toward the Dewey camp.

[NormanStewart]

The Pittsburgh Press (April 21, 1944)

GOP given policy outline

Washington (UP) –
Chairman Robert A. Taft (R-OH) of the Senate Republican Steering Committee, today submitted to his GOP colleagues a list of legislative topics for study in developing an affirmative Republican program “in this and the next session of Congress.”

Mr. Taft suggested the following topics for study and action “within the next year and a half:”

• Current legislative problems – such matters as the anti-poll-tax bill, reconversion and Lend-Lease.

• Post-war program – including stimulation of business and employment, Social Security, government reform and foreign policy.

[NormanStewart]

Editorial: Disagreement, not disunity

As the presidential election draws nearer, criticism of the present administration is bound to grow sharper and more frequent.

This is only natural in a democracy where the pros and cons of vital issues may be debated publicly even during a war.

Though this precious privilege carries with it the grave responsibility of refraining from loose invective which may harm the nation’s relationships with its Allies, it does not – as many administration leaders would have us believe – require silent acquiescence to error in the name of unity.

Disagreement in a democracy is not a sign of disunity. On the contrary, it is a sign of vigor an outward reminder that a people united for victory in the battle for world freedom remains ever-jealous to safeguard its own.

Political hatchet men who always are anxious to brand administration critics as breeders of disunity will perform an invaluable service to democracy – and help maintain national unity – if they will desist them such national unity – if they will desist from such charges and accept the challenge to discuss the many vital issues in open, frank debate.

As Senator Bridges aptly put it:

The consent of the governed is not an unlimited license conferred upon government, once in four years, to do what it pleases, and no questions asked. On the contrary, if democratic self-government is not to be perverted into arbitrary authority, that consent must be continuous…

The free interplay between government and people, day after day is what gives democracy its living quality. It is a current of contact, a flow of popular energy, that cannot be broken without doing violence to the heart and vitals of our democracy. Its expression must remain varied and manifold; not only approval but dissent, not only applause but sharp protest, not only hurrah-shouting but open and courageous opposition…

Public opinion is a force that constantly reaffirms that mandate residing in government; but it is also a constant brake and corrective on officialdom as well…

A lively and unhampered public opinion is not a luxury reserved for bright, clear days. It is a necessity, basic and indispensable, especially in periods of trouble and social challenge. The test of any system of government is in times of crisis, and American democracy is no exception in this respect.

The next administration, faced as it will be by the difficult task of restoring order at home and abroad, cannot hope to succeed without the support of a well-informed people united in common understanding.

Disagreement is not disunity – and silence does not bespeak patriotism.