Evening Star Newspaper, May 31, 1940, Page 13

1940 Race Is Mirror Of 1916 Willkie in Hughes’ [ Place, With [ Election a Possibility By DAVID LAWRENCE. ‘Will political history repeat itself? | Events are shaping up toward a/ repetition of the remarkable cam- | paign of 1916 for the presidency.| Then as now a World Wer was | on. - Then as now . & Democratic & d mi nistration was in power and the Presi- dent was a can- didate for re- election. Then as now the issue was the capacity of the incumbent ad- ministration to : maintain an rdequate defense and protect . American rights. David Lawrence. Then as now the Republican party Jjust before convention time had | not crystallized its desire for any | particular candidate. The poli- cians had various candidates to offer of the usual type, but a dark horse was constantly being men- tioned. | The name of the “dark horse” | was Charles Evans Hughes. For eight years he had been serving on the Supreme Court, having re- | nounced political life when he left the governorship of New York in 1808. The political leaders didn't want him. Efforts here and there of friends to corral delegates were publicly discouraged by Mr. Hughes. He went so far as to repudiate the sponsorship of the late Frank Hitch- cock, a political general of re- nown, who tried to line up delegates for him. | vinced that the prospect of rapid German victory Only People Wanted Him. The main reason the old guard | politicians didn’t want Hughes was because they had had no part in bringing him into prominence and | they knew he would not be under | any obligations to them if he were elected. Nation-wide sentiment for Hughes was obvious. The late George Harvey, then editor of the North American Review, expressed aptly the peculiarities of the situa- tion when he published an article in the spring of 1916 entitled, “No- | body Wants Hughes—Nobody but the People.” The parallel today is that a dark | the most highly favored by the third-term drafters is Justice William O, | tually be law. horse is again being mentioned prominently for the Republican nomination—Wendell Willkie. The politicians don't want him. They have had no part in grooming him for the nomination and he would be under no obligations to them. The evidences of his popular strength as distinguished from dele- gate strength are such that it might be said of Willkie that no- body in the Republican party wants him—nobody but the rank and file | of the voters. | The arguments advanced in 1916 fagainst the nomination of Mr. | Hughes are similar to those now be- | ing advanced against Wendell Will- kie. It was said that the people wouldn't vote for a man who had been on the bench for eight years— he was out of touch with the peo- ple. It was said that Hughes was inflexible, that he would not know how to deal with political problems. 8o it is being said that a business- man is detached or handicapped. | Yet Wendell Willkie has in the last | few weeks shown he can debate public issues as well as the veterans of politi Narrowly Defeated. | Mr. Hughes came so near winning that but for a fluke of insurgency | in California he might have been | President. It was the closest con- test with one exception in nearly 100 years. He was drafted that year by public sentiment because he was the strongest candidate the Repub- licans had. The coming campaign will be based on war issues—on the alleged | incapacity of President Roosevelt | to organize America for defense be- cause it will be asserted his New Deal policies have sapped the eco- | nomic vitality of the Nation and | paralyzed industrial capacity at a time of greatest need. The argu- | ment behind the Willkie candidacy will be that at this of all times a man of industrial background and executive ability is needed in the | White House. | Against the nomination of Willkie it will be contended that a utility | man could not be elected, that he | would have to bear the burdens of the financial mismanagement by | utilities in the past even though his company and his own leadershin | have not been besmirched. But while this type of debate would have been important a few weeks | ago, the situation in Europe has changed the picture, Public opinion 1s changing rapidly. | A few weeks ago it was believed the re-election of Mr. Roosevelt | was certain. Today this is doubt- | ful because confidence in the ad- ministration has been sinking rapid- ly ever since the revelation of the | mistakes made in the defense pro- gram of the last few years and in the failure right now to make effec- tive plans for the future. The American people have no hesitancy in changing horses in midstream, as the British did with Chamberlain recently. In Novem- ber, 1918—in the middle of the war {tself —indeed at the climax of the big battles on the western front, the people voted the Democrats out and Republicans into control of both houses of Congress, not- withstanding President Wilson's ap. Clothes FIT YOU and your A Mertz & Mertz Tropical .50 Worsted SPEC”AL $24 Others up to $50 (Including All-Around Weights) Mertz & Mertz 105 11th Street THE EVENING STAR, The Capital Parade World Crisis Seen Hurting Dewey'’s Chances for Presidency By JOSEPH ALSOP and ROBERT KINTNER. Attention has been too anxiously concentrated on the tragedy in Europe to leave much place for domestic politics in most people’s minds, | Nevertheless, it is already becoming clear that the crisis in world affairs will have its repercussions in domestic politics as in everything else, On the Republican side, the cause of Thomas E. Dewey has obviously suffered. He unquestionably enjoys a large and probably inalienable following. Having completed one full somersault on the subject of foreign policy, he has now boldly bounced up in a new roll, discussing national defense in a tone some- what reminiscent of the hero of a radio soap opera getting after the cattle rustlers. This is smart stuff, 2 i for the Dewey dramatization of \ \ % Dewey as a shining champion in the < unending conflict between good and HE w‘; f‘ | evil has always gone over remark- s | ably well. | But the fact remains that in a period of grave national danger, even | the most victory-hungry politician is likely to hesitate before nominating | for the presidency a man so inexperienced as Dewey. The Dewey bandwagon was beginning to roll down the road when the war crisis started. Now reports from the country indicate that it has | lost much of its momentum. Simultaneously, Wendell Willkie has come up in the betting from a dark horse position to the place of third favorite. | while Senator Robert A. Taft of difficulties. The Proffered Crown On the Democratic side, the fact that the President will probably seek | a third term is now almost universally accepted, whether with dismal resignation or jubilant delight. In his reiterated denials of any intention to run again, the President always inserted an escape clause. He might run, he invariably said, if the national security should be directly threat- | ened. Virtually every informed official and observer in ‘Washington is con= seriously endangers the | welfare of this country and this hemisphere. If the President wishes to | invoke his escape clause he can do so with consistency. The question still remains what the President’s wishes will be. The New Deal managers of the third-term draft are now convinced that their draft movement is too strong for the President to resist even if he wants to. They are hoping to make it even stronger, in the near future, by add- ing the voices of leading citizens of independent, non-political stature to the calls of the Democratic party politicians. Judging by their anxiety | on this point, the President is slightly sensitive about the fact that to date the loudest demands for his re- nomination have come from his own subordinates and from the Ed Kellys and Frank Hagues. There is no doubt at all that if he chooses, the President can be tri- umphantly renominated. His Sun- | day fireside chat was sufficiently po- | litical to suggest that his mind is not entirely free of third-term | thoughts. He is in a tactical po- | sition infinitely stronger than ever | before, since many important anti-third termers, Postmaster General | James A. Farley among them, gave lip service at least to the presidential escape clause. But in these last weeks, for the first time in his administra- | tion, the President has been noticeably tired and overburdened by the | heavy duties of his office. Although most of the men around him will tell i him that seeking a third term is his plain duty to the country, he may still | decide to push aside the proffered crown. Throttlebottoms | | If the President does run, it is also taken for granted that he will | be in a position to nominate the vice presidential candidate. At present | Ohio has also benefited from Dewey's | Douglas. Justice Douglas and Attorney General Robert H. Jackson, who as a New Yorker cannot go on a ticket with the President, are the two biggest political figures produced by the New Deal. If anything Douglas is even better liked by the President than Jackson, and strange as it seems that a justice should leave the Supreme Bench to have a try at the | vice presidency, the possibility must be considered. Next most favored after Douglas is Senator James F. Byrnes of South Carolina, who has done yeoman service as a congressional leader. House Majority Leader Sam Rayburh of Texas, who would conciliate the remain- | |jothers | concerned. | jurisdiction be more than advisory. | National Defense, without any au- | | Knudsen are not used to that sort WASHINGTON, D. C, FRIDAY, HE opinions of the writers on this page are their own, not necessarily The Star’s. Such opinions are presented in The Star’s effort to give all sides of questions of interest to its readers, although such opinions may be contradictory among themselves and directly opposed to The Star’s. Washington Observations Defense Commission, Unless Charged With Authority, May Prove a Dud By FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. For aero-dynamics experimental purposes, the Government is build- ing & wind tunrel, which will pro- duce blasts up to 1,000 miles an hour. It would be of practical aid to the re- armament pro- gram to em- power the Na- tional Defense Advisory Com- mission to con- sign to the wind tunnel all New Dealers and over- charged with “social signifi- cance” schemes, and every poli- tician with an Frederic William Wile, ax to grind, in so far as defense is | Unless Messrs. Stet- tinius, Knudsen and their associates are insulated against interference by visionaries and self-seekeys, their usefulness is imperiled. . It is equally essential that their If confined to making suggestions to the cabinet-controlled Council of thority to carry out its own rec- ommendations, danger is great that | the commission will be a dud. It would be a criminal waste of the capacity typified by its members to condemn them to such a fate. In- dustrial giants like Stettinius and of shackling. Their readiness to serve the Government full time in the present emergency is a hopeful sign that the advisory commission will in fact be something more than decorative. Definite White House assurance on that score would be welcomed. Nothing is more vital. * ok % x Munitions Administrator. War-experienced Herbert Hoover | would create a “munitions admin- istrator,” with wide powers exercised | through deputy administrators for labor, agriculture and industry. The head man, the former President urges, should be an industrialist, not a politician, and his word. with presidential approval, should vir- Many thoughtful persons believe the Stettinius ad- visory commission might safely be | clothed with such sway. President Roosevelt's appointees form an ex- ceptionally able outfit. Their aver- | age age is about 551;. In the inter- locking fields of production. trans- | portation, labor and agriculture, it would be hard to outmatch them. | Phillips, now Ambassador to Italy, | ment for instant armed American help for the Allies, short of an ex- peditionary force. Hamilton Fish Armstrong, Gen. O'Ryan, President Conant of Harvard, Tom Dewey, Wendell Willkie and Mrs. Dwight Morrow are the latest notable ad- vocates of such a policy. It does not lack support in Congress, where Senator Pepper, Democrat, of Flore ida is its chief proponent. Editor Armstrong, now in Paris, thinks American planes and supplies, promptly and plentifully dispatched, might enable the British and French to hold off the Germans until aircraft and other sinews can be sent the Allies in quantities necessary to wipe out their present inferiority. Mrs. Morrow, Col. Lindbergh’s mother-in-law, licly disassociates herself from his isolationist war attitude by pro- claiming her “wholehearted ap- proval” of the Armstrong proposal. | Mr. Willkie, declaring Britain and | “our first line of defense France against Hitler,” would have Secre- tary Hull ask the Allies “publicly | and openly, in the name of the American people,” just what aid, | short of troops, this country can at once render the western powers. * Kk % % Navy and Public. Navy's public relations, never more important than now, are in new hands. Lt. Comdr. Barnard L. Austin succeeds Comdr. Leland P. Lovette, recently transferred to | sea service, as officer in charge. Austin, who served under Lovette during the last two years, is a South | His | Carolinian and Annapolis '24. previous service included an instruc- torship in physics and chemistry at the Naval Academy and com- mand of a submarine. sistant in public relations is Lt. Comdr. Robert W. Berry, a New| Yorker, appointed to Annapolis (at | large) from the Marine Corps by Secretary Daniels in 1917. He was once an assistant professor .in the naval R. O. T. C. unit at Harvard. * x ok Diplomatic Dynasty. Few diplomatic appointments ever aroused so universal approval capable Jay Pierrepont Moffat's promotion from the State Depart- ment to the ministership to Canada. He is a son-in-law of Joseph C. Grew, Ambassador to Japan, Uncle Sam’s ace diplomat, all three of whose daughters are married to for- eign service officers. Moffat is the third career envoy we've sent to Ottawa. Predecessors were William ing Garnerites, and Senator Burton K. Wheeler of Montana, who would be | A combination including the chief | and Norman Armour, now Ambassa- popular in the West, are also talked of. But this, like the main problem is up to the President alone. (Released by the North American Newspaper Alliance, Inc.) peal for a vote of confidence. The:eminently fair. Notwithstanding the immediate cause of the turnover | was the mistaken request of the President for a Democratic Con- gress, even though both parties had been contributing patriotic support. The parallel today is that the ad- ministration insists on keeping New ticians .the nomination of Willkie, | which was believed impossible a few | weeks ago, is decidedly within the | realm of possibility now. (Reproduction Rights Reserved.) executives of United States Steel, General Motors, - the Burlington Railroad and the Clothing Workers, supplemented by farm and economic experts like | Second assignment to a British do-! Chester Davis, Leon Henderson, nolds. “has what it takes” for the | job. All depends on the extent o” their authority. It should not be hamstrung in any direction. * * % x There is rapidly growing scnu-\ PP Tropical Worsteds are Both Cool and Dressy —but you can't feel really comfortable in Clothes that are not designed, cut and made expressly for YOU. 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ANNOUNCES UNUSUAL WEEK END TRADE ALLOWANCE FOR YOUR CAR ON A NEW 1940 S 12 A Symphony of Smooth, Quiet Power All Big Car Features at A Low Price 1707 14th St. N.W. MiIch. 6900 Distributors NEW HOT-WEATHER SUITS ! r months, starting in June. No interest EISEMAN’S F STREET AT 7th dor to Argentina. Apparently no more deserving politicians are to be Amalgamated | rewarded with the important Cana- | dian mission. It will be Moffat's minion. He had a tour of consular : i i v~ | duty in Australia. | opposition of the Republican poli-- | Dean Elliott and Willlam McRey y * ok X X Secretary Johnson? Most forecasts of a cabinet shake- up in connection with emergency defense measures omit mention of Col. Louis Johnson as Secretary of pub- | Austin’s as- | as | MAY 31, 1940. This Changing World Bombing of England’s Industrial Centers May Shut Off Vital Supplies of Allies By CONSTANTINE BROWN. The French Army under Gen. Weygand is working feverishly, build- Rivers. Weygand, who is an officer of the never-surrender type, also has ordered erection of a fortified line along the Loire far into the heart of France, where he intends to put up a serious resistance in the event the Germans manage to break through the present lines after the remnants of the army in Flanders have been wiped out. According to all reports from neutral sources, the spirit of the French has not been broken by the recent defeats although there is naturally a good deal of grumbling and discontent. This is directed mainly against the leaders of France, who have permitted the country to be invaded and- have lulled the French people into a feeling of sectrity because of the existence of the Maginot line. The atmosphere of gloom is further increased by the arrival of millions of destitute refugees. An American who arrived last week by the Transatlantic clipper told that he left London by plane on a Monday. It took him 36 hours to make the trip from Havre to Paris—a trip which generally takes between 214 and 4 hours. The distance from Paris to Biarritz, which is usually covered in 10 hours, took him the better part of three days. The roads were crowded with refugees coming from the north, making their way towards the Spanish border. Women and children were starved and almost hysterical with fright. The impression created by the arrival of these people in the peaceful zone of France was naturally distressing. Yet, it appears that the determination of the French to carry cn the war has not been changed by these hardships. Supplies Become Question Of course, nobody can forecast these days what will happen to the Allies in the course of the next few weeks, in spite of their determination not to be disheartened by the reverses they have suffered so far. But a good stout heart aloue cannot win the war these days. The main question is whether they can get enough supplies for the stout hearts to carry on the fight. 2 The invasion of northern France has deprived the army of the most important manufacturing centers, which were delivering many of the essentials of war. Roubaix, Turcoing, Lille and other centers have an important industry, which is now in the hands of the Germans. If Hitler decides to go after the British industrial section with his bombers and succeeds in destroying the principal British manufacturing centers, the position of the Allies will be lost. In this war, man power alone is secondary; it can do nothing without tanks and airplanes. And is appears that the Allies lack even small arms. Their losses have been terrific. So also have been the German losses. But Hitler's ammunition plants are well out of the range of the Allies. Besides the Essen on the Ruhr factory he has a number of subsidiaries in the interior of the Reich and also the important and modern plant at Skoda in Czecho-slovakia and an important and modern factory near Vienna. All these are working day and night. Hitler is supposed to have the necessary raw materials for the manu- | facture of war materials for another 18 months on the basis of a total | war. The tanks and the airplanes lost during the last battle are replaced quickly—almost immediately. He also is reported to have found sub- stantial quantities of gasoline and oil in Holland and Norway. Allied Supply Lines Dwindle | Thus Germany, which was supposed to be brought to her knees by | the blockade of the Allies, is still self-supporting, while the Allies must rely on whatever arms and ammunitions they can obtain abroad. | The European continent is closed to them for such supplies. The ‘ Balkans have nothing. Turkey and Greece must rely on them for their | own war materials and Sweden, which could provide them with cannon | and machine guns—to say nothing of the precious iron ore—has ceased all traffic with Britain and France. | The only source which might supply the Allies with the needed war | materials is Canada and the United States. The Canadians have Just started their war industry and in the United States the national defense preparations require most of the output for ourselves. Such is the need for arms and ammunitions in this country that even the obsolete stocks of old British rifles and French guns which the | War Department decided in 1920 to sell at bargain prices to anybody who | in the | wanted them, are now kept for the National Guard—presumably event that that force has to be increased.” It is such considerations which are more likely to bring about the complete defeat of the Allies rather than their losing heart because they have been defeated in the first major battle. ) War in succession to Harry H.| Col. Johnson has preached the nec- Woodring. As Assistant Secretary, essity of adequate preparedness as Johnson has given a yoeman ac- | the Nation's inescapable duty. Had count of himself. The law clothesisome of his far-sighted proposals him with principal responsibility | been carried out, the country would for military-industrial organization | not be nearly in the unready state | and mobilization. He was a pioneer | in which the current emergency in calling for vast expansion of our | catches it. The West Virginian’s air forces and for harnessing of | friends believe Johnson should rank | America’s industrial plant to de- l high in the running for a new War fense needs. Day in and day out | Secretary, if there is to be one. Colorful Gliders to add to your com fort Coil Spring Glider Above, 2475 Get the full joy and comfort of outdoors by providing your home with comfortable Summer Furniture. A colorful Glider from the Mayer & Co. collection will afford you Tuxurious comfort and add to the joy of your leisure Summer hours. See the many distinctive Gliders in the present Mayer & Co. display. Other Smart Gliders, $26.75 to $39.50 FU. RE See Our Summer Furniture Display MAYER & CO. Seventh Street Between D and E ing up a line of defense in front of Paris along the Somme and A‘\.me‘ U. S. Replies: Democracy Can Function "Real Power Is Seen for New Commission By CHARLES G. ROSS. Democracy can function. The pace in Washington in these preparedness days is that of the war period of 1917-18 or the first hun- dred days of % Roosevelt. Responsive to a great and un- mistakable wave of public senti- ment, Congress, with hardly a * dissenting voice, votes new bil- lions for the Army and Navy. Because the soft mood of the country has changed, Con- gress goes Charles G. Ross. ggaingt all polit- lcal precedent and undertakes the levying of new and onerous taxes in an election year, On the heels of his first emergency defense budget—that of May 16— comes a request from the President for a supplemental appropriation of more than a billion dollars. Two | more weeks of the war in Europe have shown the inadequacy of the | first proposal. More money is need- ed for the modern tools of war. Like the earlier sums requested by the | President, it will be voted. The total | will run to well over four billion dol- _lars—the greatest total for defense In any peacetime year of our history, Spending Plans Go Forward While Congress is voting the money and taking steps to increase the debt limit and impose new taxes, plans go forward for spending the | money. The President meets with his newly created seven-member National Defense Commission, mod- eled on the defense council that | functioned during the World War. | They 2nnounce themselves ready for work. So at both ends of the Avenue an | urgent need is beginning to be met, | It remains to be seen, of course, how effectively the President's de- fense commission will operate, | Even the sharpest critics of the | President have feund but little fault | with its personnel. Very little fault 1can properly be found. The objec- | tions which have been raised aginst ! Sidney Hillman are singularly un- enlightened. He is a labor leader of the highest intelligence and character—the best man ir the country for the job to which the President has assigned him. Per- | sonnel aside, the question is whether or not the board will be given | enough power to do an efficient piece of work. No Stooges, They. Critics of the setup have pro- fessed to see in the board nothing more than a showy bit of window- dressing. On that point it would be fairer to suspend judgment until we see the board in operation. On the face of things, the complaint that it will have no real power but will be subordinated to the cabinet appears to the writer to be unwar- ranted. It doesn't seem plausible, | whatever one may think about the | New Deal members of the commis- sion, that Mecsrs. Stettinius, Knud- | sen and BucY are going to allow | themselves to become stooges to the cabinet. Though the President did not fully settle the question at his press | conference yesterday, he gave the | impression that the board will have far broader authority than has been predicted for it by the viewers- | with-alarm. The board will report directly to him and not to members of the cabinet. We shall soon know whether it is subject to hamstring- ing by cabinet or other officers, Meantime, it ought to be given the benefit of the doubt. What evidence | we have had is reassuring rather | than otherwise. Sumners’ Views. To return for a moment to the legislative branch. There was a speech the other day by Representative Sumners, Demo- crat, of Texas that is worth notice ing. He generally thinks down un- derneath the surface aspects of an issue, and he did on this occasion, He called attention to the heartene ing unity between the parties on na- tional defense, spoke of the re= sponsibility resting upon Congress, and went on: “This emergency is going to do a great thing for America. * * * We have gotten mighty soft. We have taken our liberties and blessings as a matter of course, without grati- tude and without responsibility * * ¢ This is & day of preparation in America—not ogly preparation to defend ourselves against attack, but preparation to live. This is one of the times when nations and civiliza- | tions stand at the bar of judgment and must answer for their right to | live. “We have rough going ahead of us. Before we get through. our muscles are going to be harder and | we are going to be fitter to live than we were when we started.” Virginia U. to Open A New Laboratory | 8pectal Dispateh to The star. CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va, May 31.—The University will open a new laboratory and classroom building at tHe Mountain Lake Biological Station for the 11th summer ses- sion, June 24 to August 31. This new building has been made possible by the General Education Board and has cost $55,000 for con- struction and equipment. It pro- vides space for classrooms, profes- sors’ offices, laboratories for stu- dent and research workers and li- brary. | Dr. Ivey F. Lewis, dean of the University of Virginia and Miller professor of hiology, is director of the station. Others on the staff this year are Dr. Robert K. Burns, jr., University of Rochester; Dr. Robert E. Coker, University of North Caro- lina; Dr. John M. Pogg, jr, Uni- versity of Pennsylvania; Dr. Mary S. MacDougall, Agnes Scott College; Dr. Paul M. Patterson, Hollins Cole lege; Dr. Bruce D. Reynolds, Uni= versity of Virginia; Dr. Jacob G, Harrar, Virginia Polytechnic Ine stitute, and Dr. Lorande L. Wood- ruft, Yale, L A ]