Evening star., 1934-12-02
Member Of the Associated Press.
Republican Strife.


Charles D. Hilles, Republican ma
tional committeeman from New York,
has added his voice to the chorus of
old, regular Republicans who demand
that the G. o. P. stand firm for the
principle that private American citi-
zens shall continue to own and control
and manage American business. The
Republicans, MIR. Hilles said, cannot
initiate the New Deal, cannot vacillate
between two opinions, cannot stagger
toward the Left What Mr.. Hilles
intended to say, apparently, was that
the Republican party cannot initiate
.he New Deal, vacillate and stagger
toward the Left and remain a great
national party. Yet that is just what
many Of the Republicans-and by no
means only of the progressive, in
surgent type-are urging the party
to do.
This group which is demanding a
"liberalized" G. o. P, with the adop-
tion of much that the New Deal stands
for, is really composed of two groups.
One is made up of the out-and-out
progressives in the party who believe
the G.. o. p. should long ago have
moved over to the Left and who be-
lieve that 1t missed its chance. The
other group is made up of more timid
souls who have no particular love for
radical measures and would be content
to have things return to what they
were, but who fear that unless they
step along with the New Deal winners
they may lose personally.
The fight in the party IS coming
between the regulars, who believe as
do Mr. Hilles of New York, Senator
Fess Of Ohio and Senator Reed Of
Pennsylvania, and those Republicans
who are clamoring for a liberalized
party and swing to the Left. The
regulars claim that to follow such
course would be merely to compromise
with State socialism, and that if the
G. o. P. undertakes such a compro-
mise it will be as lost, certainly, as
was the Wing party when it undertook
to compromise the slavery issue before
the Civil War.
The bona flde progressives in the
Republican party reply that there
must be no compromise in the re-
vamping of the G. o. P. along liberal
lines; that there must be an elimina-
tion OF leaders who have been identi-
fled In the public mind with stand
patism and big interests" These
progressives assert that to the ordi-
nary voter the leaders personify the
party, and until there can be a new
picture presented to the voters they
will fight shy of the Republican party
It looks as though the progressives
are too late. The Democrats, under
President Roosevelt, have not only
stolen all their thunder but they have
gone beyond the widest dreams Of
many of the progressive Republicans.
Two liberal parties, two parties that
stand for the same thing, are likely to
result In the elimination Of one and
the growth of another. To Mr.. Hilles
and other regular Republicans Of a
conservative turn of mind there prob
ably seems no good reason why the
Republican insurgents of radical tend
encies have not joined the Democratic
party. In fact, Mr.. Hilles has said as
much In letter calling upon the Re-
publicans to stand firm and against
new dealism.
The struggle within the Republican
party is not new. 1t has been going
on for the past quarter century, with
the conservatives continuing to have
the upper hand, despite the revolt of
the late Theodore Roosevelt in 1912
and of the late Senator La Toilette In
1924. The conservatives still seem to
have the upper hand. They had the
upper hand at the Chicago meeting Of
the Republican National Committee
last June to pick new chairman.
The conservatives are seeking to bol-
ster their position by showing that the
G. o. P. cast 46 per cent of the total
vote in the recent elections. despite
the big Government spending pro-
gram for all kinds of relief carried on
by the Democrats.
II the G. o. P. compromises" on
the issue Of private control Of industry
versus Government ownership and op-
Grafton, 1t is entirely likely that new,
conservative party will arise in its
place. While the American Liberty
League maintains stoutly that it is in
no sense political party, it might Of
fer q nucleus for new political align
ment.